May/TSN Says Keep An Eye On Derek Anderson

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/celtics/index.html

Boston Celtics
Team Report posted APRIL 22, 2000      

By TSN correspondent
Peter May
Boston Globe


The Sporting News looks at the Celtics heading into the offseason. 

WHAT WENT RIGHT 

The Celtics can look back on an otherwise disappointing season and take
a away a few things. They improved on offense, they won at home, they
forced turnovers and they rebounded. Those are areas that Rick Pitino
shouldn't have to worry about for next season. 

The team's offense didn't miss Ron Mercer at all. The Celtics were one
of many teams which averaged close to 100 points, a big leap over the
year before, and shot the ball decently, above the league average.
Antoine Walker started to show signs of being a devastating all-around
player on offense towards the end of the season. The team also
established a base at the FleetCenter, going 26-15 at home. That's a big
improvement over Pitino's first two years. 

The Celtics were among the leaders in steals, more a result of their
traps, either halfcourt or, in some cases, fullcourt. They also,
statistically, were the league leaders in defensive and overall
rebounding. But that's a misleading stat because it deals only with the
gathering of available rebounds. You don't rebound when the other guy
makes his shot. 

WHAT WENT WRONG 

Just about everything on the defensive end. The Celtics were uniformly
soft all season on defense, particularly in the frontcourt. They simply
don't have the personnel to stop other teams inside and it killed them.
They were among the league leaders in a dubious category: field goal
defense. More than half of their opponents shot 50 percent or better and
its hard to win games when that happens. Pitino wants to lower the field
goal percentage from 47 percent to 43-plus percent. That'll be a
challenge. 

The team also needs to upgrade its free-throw shooting. They lost a
bunch of games with poor free-throw shooting down the stretch in tight
situations. Overall, they were in the middle of the pack statistically
in that category. The Celtics also led the league in personal fouls, an
extension of its troubles on defense. Opposing teams averaged more than
31 free throws against them while no other team averaged even 30. That's
an area which has to be cleaned up. 

Another killer was their road record. The Celtics were 9-32 away from
the FleetCenter and 2-20 against playoff teams on the road. Pitino
actually said he thought the team made strides here. It's hard to see
how. The games might have been close, but they ended up being losses,
which is what counts in the end. 

Finally, the team was next-to-last in blocked shots, which, given their
interior defense, is no surprise. That area also should be addressed. 

OFFSEASON GAME PLAN 

Likely departures: Pervis Ellison, Doug Overton and Danny Fortson are
all free agents. Ellison has no shot of returning; Pitino likes him
personally but can't understand why Ellison can't get himself into the
proper shape, mentally and physically, to showcase his undeniable
talents. 

Overton came aboard as a third guard, but was rarely used. He could come
back, but the team won't spend a lot of time wondering how it will
happen. Still, he's a solid locker-room guy and the club needs those. 

Fortson will be the big question mark. He wants to play and he doesn't
figure to get more than 20-plus minutes, if that, in Boston. The Celtics
tried to trade him once already and then saw him play like he could down
the stretch. They're already well over budget, so even in a
sign-and-trade, they'll be taking on an extra contract. 

Draft needs: The Celtics will be thinking defense first on Draft Night.
That's assuming they keep the pick, which will be either 10th or 11th
overall, barring a lucky break in the lottery. The last thing Pitino
needs is another young player who doesn't have a clue. If they keep the
pick, they should use it on a four-year collegian who knows a thing or
do about stopping people. A big guard probably is the best bet. Pitino
has said that if he doesn't find anyone he likes, he will be tempted to
package the pick with a player and make a deal. He should think
seriously about doing that. 

Cap moves: The Celtics are like most teams: they are over the cap and
will be solely dependent on the league-allowed exemptions. Pitino plans
to use at least one of them, the so-called ``middle class'' exception.
He got Calbert Cheaney last year via that route. They also have the $1
million exception, which the Celtics have not used in recent years. 

Free-agent targets: Pitino has targeted as many as 30 players who he'll
investigate prior to August 1. Again, the needs will be the same:
defensive players and inside intimidators. The team won't have the money
to compete with the under-the-cap teams so it will essentially be
competing against the other 25 or so teams with the middle class
exceptions. 

One player to keep an eye on: Derek Anderson. He played for Pitino at
Kentucky and isn't staying with the Clippers. A sign-and-trade with them
including Fortson and perhaps another Celtic (to balance out the
salaries) might be pursued. He's a big guard and Pitino knows his game.
Also available as a big, defensive-oriented guard is Tariq Abdul-Wahad,
who is with Denver. Another target should be Bo Outlaw, but with no
means to sign him, that is probably a futile gesture. But Outlaw is the
kind of player Pitino wants. So is Theo Ratliff, but he's already spoken
for. 

The guess here is that the Celtics will use Fortson as bait to get one
decent free-agent while also ridding themselves of one salary (Dana
Barros comes to mind) to balance things out. 

Coach status: The entire month of April was spent wondering whether
Pitino was going to stick around for his fourth year. Apparently, he
will. He makes too much money to be fired, but he also has said he will
walk away from his contract at the end of next season if things haven't
improved. That would be leaving $22 million on the table, however, so he
might walk very slowly. And, as we've seen, Pitino changes his mind
quite a bit, often within 24 hours. 

Pitino has overhauled the roster almost every year, but the facts of NBA
life may preclude him from doing it again. He says he's happy with his
team, but are they happy with him? He has a strained relationship with
the owner, who, much as he might like, can't eat $29 million so Pitino
is going nowhere. No one works harder than Pitino. His team played hard
until the last whistle of the last game. But results are what count and
he hasn't even come close to the playoffs in three seasons. He thinks
the team is not ``far away,'' but from what? Eighth place? Everyone,
including Pitino, thought the team would be farther along by now.