Re: Peter May On Fortson & Blount

[bird <bird@pixi.com>]

>From: "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
>
>1.	I think the Celtics' defense has shown a
>marked decline as they've gotten away from the press. Of course, that has to
>do with poor personnel decisions (Potapenko, Kenny, Fortson), but that's for
>another argument.

You're right, though.  I don't understand your opinion of Fortson as 
a weak player, but, either way, he doesn't fit on a pressing team, 
nor do Kenny and V.   We probably need some sort of big body in the 
paint, though, regardless of whether he fits "the system," but having 
too many of the kinds of players that don't fit just isn't going to 
help the team at all, if "the system" is going to be adhered to, and 
that certainly seems like the case.

>In truth, Pitino's teams historically become more
>effective as time goes by (including his Knicks teams), despite the fact
>that opponents almost certainly become more familiar with the press.

It's hard to say which year of Pitino's reign has been the most 
effective defensively, since they all were lousy, but at least the 
C's forced more turnovers in his first year.  All other things being 
equal, that's not too bad.  If the trade-off is that we give up fast 
break layups, though, then it's bad.  Real bad.

You might as well go out swinging, though.  Is it really true that 
Pitino's teams get better defensively?  Why is that?

>  after the game they
>asked Pitino about something he said to Walter. Pitino said he was
>chastising him for passing up a 3-pointer on the break. "Son," he said,
>"This is Kentucky. We take that shot." And that was Walter McCarty, not
>Jamal Mashburn or Tony Delk.

This is a chilling anecdote.  Not suprising, mind you, but chilling.

Regards,

Bill