Re: In defense of Potapenko

[Dan Parker <danp@town.ipswich.ma.us>]

On Wed, 12 Apr 2000, LadyNada wrote:

> last two games to see the worse he has done.  Overall Vitaly is a superstar
> in the making, in my opinion, and based on his current contract, the Celtics
> have him for "cheap".

Well, I don't think he's a superstar in the making, but he is a solid
center who is young, signed to a reasonable contract, plays hurt, has a 
cool nickname, and is working to get better.  I just saw a piece either on
Celtics Central or during a halftime of a game where it showed how Vitale
worked with Andy Enfield to change the mechanics of his jump shot.  He
used to bring the ball back almost behind his head, but now keeps it more
in front of him.  The change has helped increase his range and allowed him
to get his shot off quicker.  If you've ever tinkered with your shot after
getting comfortable with it a certain way, you'll know there's a
significant adjustment period.  It's a tribute to Vitale that he's shot as
well as he has this year while working on this.

>             games   mins    PPG     RPG     Blocks  Ave     Fouls   Ave
> Vitaly      74      1707     9.3    6.4     29      .391    225     3.04    

This doesn't look that impressive, but it *is* in only 23 minutes/game.
He would probably average 12 points and 8 boards with a reasonable 36
minutes per game.  That's a solid center in today's NBA, and who knows?
Maybe he'll put in the time to develop a few nice back-to-the-basket moves
and nudge up his scoring average even more.

At least he hasn't become the fouling machine many feared before the start
of the season.

I don't understand why so many people think the Celtics desperately need
to improve the center position.  Sure, a top-flight center would be
*nice*, and can be a cure-all for the worst of teams, but it isn't very
realistic to expect the Celtics to get one any time soon.  The C's could
go a long way to improving their record by upgrading positions other than
their center.


> In closing, Celtics would be making a grave error if they trade Potapenko.
> Good centers are hard to come by in today's NBA.

Well, if the *right* deal came along (V + Antoine or Paul for a top
center), I'd ship Vitale out without blinking.  But I think he's a pretty
good player and can be part of the solution.  He certainly isn't part of
the problem.

Dan