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Re: Globe/Herald: Walker Not Yet Ready For Small Forward; C's Still Like Cheaney; Battie Injured
So I guess this answers the question about where the
team plans on playing Antoine. They want to put him
in at 3, but he's not ready YET. I wonder why not?
Maybe they feel he needs to be more in shape? Also,
does anybody wonder about why Pitino was pissed off at
yesterday's practice? (see below). I wonder if he
was mad at Kenny for not advancing the ball, or
Antoine for shooting too much. I would really love to
see a really good game from either of these guys
tonight. I wonder why Twon is doing so much posting
up? Even as a 4, he should still be doing a lot of
his perimeter/penetration stuff, particularly his
spin/teardrop move from last year. I hate those
little weak hooks he takes. I never even liked them
when Kevin took them, although they usually went in.
The refs might give him a break now and again when he
takes it inside, too.
--- Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com> 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.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >
>
> [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.
>
>
>
>
=====
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