BILL REYNOLDS Thin talent is bane of Celts

[kevin <kevin.lok@lycosmail.com>]

http://www.projo.com/report/pjb/stories/03500993.htm
4.11.2000 07:29:44
BILL REYNOLDS
Thin talent is bane of Celts
THE CELTICS
I watch a lot of NBA games.
Judging by the TV ratings, I might be the only one who does.
But I have come to learn one thing, which sometimes gets overlooked
recently in all the furor over Rick Pitino -- namely, that the Celtics
are simply not very talented. There are very few games in which the
Celts' lineup is better than their opposition's, even when they swim
against the bottom fish of the NBA. Or, if you take away Antoine Walker
and Paul Pierce, is there anyone on the Celtics' roster anyone wants?
Not really.
Kenny Anderson always has been a trick-or-treat player, a scoring point
guard who rarely makes the people around him better. Tony Battie is a
tease, little more. In a perfect world, Vitaly Potapenko would be a
backup center. Adrian Griffin i s an overachiever, not talented enough
to play all the time. Danny Fortson is too small for his game.
After that?
Forget about it. A roster full of flotsam and jetsam, replaceable parts.

And that's not even getting into the fact that both Walker and Pierce
are defensive liabilities, still young players trying to learn what it
takes to win in the NBA.
This is the Celtics' plight right now, and it transcends the question of
whose fault it is. You can play the blame game all you want, but the
real problem is not failing to motivate players well enough, or not
getting them to play harder, or any of the other supposed trials and
tribulations of the NBA. The challenge this franchise now faces is
upgrading the talent. Because judging by their talent now, the more
appropriate question might just be how did the Celtics manage to win as
many games as they did?

my comments:
Draft choice idea : why not draft a defensive-minded PF/C, who has
shot-blocking as his motto, hoping driving up the defensive adrenaline
during games, we have enough offense already

cheers
kevin