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Re: Globe/Herald: Walker Not Yet Ready For Small Forward; C's Still Like Cheaney; Battie Injured
So goes pre season camp. Hard to tell if is an indication of improvement.
Last years was certainly a surprise. So if we lose to Charlotte again and
Utah, we'll say we need more development, if we win it doesn't count
because their aces weren't playing. We'll know by 20 games into the season
what's what.
At 08:55 AM 10/19/99 -0400, you wrote:
>The upcoming games against Charlotte and Utah won't reveal a whole
>lot, since Malone and Coleman are injured. Malone's definitely out;
>Battie and Turner are hurting for the C's...
> Boston Herald
>
> Cheaney quietly grows on Green
> by Steve Bulpett
> Tuesday, October 19, 1999
> He has been perhaps the most invisible Celtic in the first two
preseason
> games, but he's the one player coach Rick Pitino probably worries
about
> least.
> Calbert Cheaney has played 27 largely nondescript minutes thus far,
but
> there is no cause for concern in regard to the free agent signee.
> ``He's looked much better in practice than he's looked in the games,''
> Pitino said as the Celts head off to Charlotte for an exhibition game
> against the Hornets tonight. ``He's the kind of player who lets the
game
> come to him, and that can be tough in the first few games in preseason.
> ``Calbert Cheaney is the type of guy that everyone's always going to
> appreciate. He's very unselfish. We know he's going to be there for
this
> team. Everyone will see.''
> In the first two games, as the Celts have struggled to find their
offense
> (much of it in Friday's win over Atlanta came from their defense),
Cheaney
> has looked a bit out of place in the madness. If others are running
wild
> around him, Cheaney is the type who tries to stick with the play.
> So, in essence, he's not trying to catch up with the rest of the
Celtics -
> they're trying to catch down to Cheaney.
> He went 21 minutes in the opener, missing all five of his shots,
picking
> up two rebounds, a turnover, three blocks and six fouls. He was one
of the
> wild cards in the second game, getting just six minutes as Pitino used
> others for pretty much a two-platoon system (he's going back to more
> traditional substitution tonight). Against the Hawks, Cheaney didn't
> register a single number on the stat sheet besides minutes played.
> ``I'm still in the process of getting my legs back so I can get out
and
> try to play this style of basketball,'' said the 6-foot-7 swingman,
who
> will play mainly at guard. ``I knew it was going to be tough coming
in, so
> I just have to continue to work hard and it's going to come soon.''
> More than most, Cheaney needs a role to use as a base. From there,
he has
> the basketball intellect to make it work for the Celts.
> ``That's what I'm trying to figure out, and that will come,'' he said.
> ``In the meantime, I'm just trying to play hard and do what the
coaches
> ask.''
> Right now, the coaches are asking Cheaney to relax and wait for the
> rotation to unfold. They also want him assimilating the offense better.
> ``Like I said, he's having good practices, but he's been one of those
> guilty of not knowing where to go and what to do,'' Pitino said. ``But
> that will come for all of the new guys.
> ``Calbert's a very cerebral young man. He's very patient.''
> Patient, sure. But he admits things can be a tad frustrating during
this
> part of the long process.
> ``Oh, it is a little bit,'' Cheaney said. ``But coach Pitino's
practices
> make you work hard and they get you ready. ``We have to know the
plays so
> we can capitalize on things. That's the way this system is set up.''
> Celtics notes
> With Antoine Walker not yet ready in the coaches' eyes to open at the
> small forward slot, things appear to be fairly crowded at the other
two
> frontcourt positions. Danny Fortson has done well, but Walker will
start
> there and grab a large handful of minutes. Meanwhile, Tony Battie,
Vitaly
> Potapenko and the hard-to-count-on Pervis Ellison will be fighting for
> time on the inside as well. Are there enough minutes to go around?
> ``I think the big guys are always going to be in foul trouble,''
Pitino
> said. ``And the big guys all know that nobody's going to play a
dominance
> of minutes. These guys are all really close in ability.
> ``I coached Bernard King and he played 32-34 minutes a game, so if
you're
> playing really hard and you want a career, you shouldn't be playing
much
> more than that. If you're playing really hard.
> ``So I think having two units - not substituting five at a time, but
> having two units - makes us able to play a little differently with
both.''
> The coach also isn't concerned about his team's overall lack of
height in
> the post.
> ``I think if you have a body like Danny Fortson and Vitaly, height
is not
> a big factor,'' Pitino said.
> While horror stories have emerged from other preseason games of
drawn-out
> foul-a-thons - the result of greater rules enforcement - the Celts
have
> played two relatively quick affairs. There have been some cheapie
fouls
> called, but nothing too much worse than the every-season crackdown
in the
> exhibition outings.
> The Celtics suffered a couple of minor nicks before departing last
night.
> Battie sustained a mild left knee sprain, and Wayne Turner bruised a
bone
> in his right foot during the late-afternoon workout. Both are
day-to-day
> and are with the club on the trip.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
> [Boston Globe Online / Sports]
>
>
>
> Celtics are on the run
>
> Unhappy Pitino closes practice
>
> By Paul Harber, Globe Staff, 10/19/99
>
> WALTHAM - It was Blue Monday for
> the Green Machine.
>
> Blame it on the Red Sox' Sunday Night
> Massacre or the Patriots' stupefying loss
> to the Dolphins in the afternoon. Heck, it
> might have been the dismal, rainy remnants
> of Hurricane Irene.
>
> Whatever it was, coach Rick Pitino was not
> pleased with his troops at the Celtics
> training center. The workout began at 2
> p.m. and lasted until the team had to
> leave to catch a 6:30 private charter to
> Charlotte, N.C., for tonight's exhibition
> game with the Hornets.
>
> The standard practice is that the final 15
> minutes of practice is open to the media,
> and the coach and players are available
> for interviews later. Not yesterday.
> Practice was closed for its entirety and,
> according to the team's director of media
> relations, Bob Prior, ''Coach isn't in the
> mood to talk. He's not a happy camper.''
>
> While the media sits in a room adjacent to
> the court and cannot see the proceedings,
> the sounds of practice are evident, and
> there was plenty of hollering during the
> marathon workout.
>
> Prior said that injuries to Dana Barros
> (knee) and Danny Fortson (twisted ankle)
> are healed, and both should see action
> tonight.
>
> However, Tony Battie sustained a mild
> sprain to his left knee during yesterday's
> practice and is questionable for tonight.
> Also hobbling is Wayne Turner, who sat out
> practice with a bruised bone in his right
> foot.
>
> After tonight's game with the Hornets, the
> Celtics (1-1 in the preseason) face Utah
> in Nashville tomorrow night. Then they
> wrap up the preseason with games against
> Utah in Lexington, Ky., Saturday; Atlanta
> in Biloxi, Miss., next Monday; Washington
> at the FleetCenter Oct. 27, and Washington
> Oct. 28 in Springfield.
>
> This story ran on page E04 of the Boston
> Globe on 10/19/99.
> © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
>
>
>
>