Re: Bucks game

["John Lyell" <johnlyell@hotmail.com>]

Maybe a reason to move Moiso or Battie for Jerome Williams  to toughen us up
? Although I think Tony did have 13 boards last night.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
To: "'Hironaka'" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>; "Berry, Mark S"
<berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
Cc: <davied99@netzero.net>; <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2000 11:38 AM
Subject: RE: Bucks game


> Fair enough, Joe. Certainly Caffey spent some time at center, and Pierce
> probably matched up with Tim Thomas at times... I didn't keep track of who
> was guarding who on every possession... but a lot of the damage was done
> against Walker and Pierce. They're just not good defenders. I'm not sure
> Toine has much of a chance physically against most power forwards because
> he's undersized and not very strong (although was this really true against
> Caffey, Thomas and Kersey?). With Pierce, there's no excuse. Whether he's
> playing SFs or SGs, he should not be overmatched. He generally gets the
> weaker of the two opposing players at those positions (last night was a
> pick-your-poison game). He's not alone, by the way. George Karl reportedly
> is pulling his hair out trying to get Ray Allen to play defense.
>
> The numbers from last night aside, you have to admit there has been a
pretty
> consistent pattern from the players guarded by Walker and Pierce--namely,
> the opponents tend to have big nights. And my point stands--the Celts need
> more than a push from Walker and Pierce. They don't have the depth of
talent
> to compete if those guys aren't winning their personal battles.
>
> And you're right about Garnett, but I'd add one more thing to your
> assessment--he's one of the best defenders in the league. He'll guard the
> opposing team's best player and generally shut him down (regardless of
> position). The T-Wolves are able to play Wally Szcerbiak significant
minutes
> at 2-guard (when they want to go big) because Garnett is capable of
guarding
> the opposing 2-guard at the defensive end, allowing the slower-footed
> Szcerbiak to guard the opposing small forward. He's capable of guarding
Kobe
> Bryant one night and Tim Duncan the next. And he never takes a night off.
He
> might not play well, but I've never see him not play hard at both ends.
>
> Anyone else think Chauncey is beginning to look like a poor man's Joe
> Dumars?
>
> Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hironaka [mailto:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
> Sent: Friday, December 1, 2000 2:02 PM
> To: Berry, Mark S
> Cc: 'davied99@netzero.net'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
> Subject: Re: Bucks game
>
>
> "Berry, Mark S" wrote:
>
> > I shouldn't single out Pierce. Jason Caffey (!), Tim Thomas and Jerome
> > Kersey (!) combined for 13 for 19 shooting and 30 points from the power
> > forward spot (hmmm... ) So Walker and Pierce score 54, while their
> > counterparts at their positions combine for 55. The Celts aren't going
to
> > win many games if Walker and Pierce don't beat the men they're matched
up
> > against.
>
> Eric Williams started and played 30 minutes presumably at small forward,
so
> Pierce might deserves a share of the credit with Stith for Ray Allen
getting
> held to 11 points in the game (I didn't see the game). Similarly Caffey,
> Thomas
> and Kersey combined for 72 minutes played....I doubt Walker was out there
> that
> long.  I'm making these points based on the boxscore. Like I said, I
didn't
> see
> or hear the game.
>
> I'll say one thing...Pierce and Walker sure perform the "talk the talk"
part
> of
> the equation pretty well. The quotes attributed to them (especially
Pierce)
> after the Cleveland game about the importance of defense gave me a lot of
> hope.
>
> That was just a tough loss.  It's always demoralizing when your defense
gets
> beat up by a great passing team, but Boston made a nice comeback and now
> need
> to rise to the bigger challenge of trying to win a back-to-back (at home
for
> once) tonight.
>
> Not that he is coasting this year, but Garnett is so far not the
> staggeringly
> well-rounded player of last year. This year he is merely a guaranteed
double
> double scorer/rebounder big guy (hey, there are a few others like that),
> whereas last year he put up monster numbers in every category (5 assists
per
> game last year, compared to 3.5 this year). His rebounding is also down
from
> 11.9 to 11.1. Still he is in the NBA top ten in five NBA categories, at
the
> age
> of 24. This is as bonafide a basketball superstar as you'll find in any
era.
> A
> gem.
>
> The second big story is Chauncey Billups. The 24-year-old is averaging 16
> ppg,
> 5.7 apg and ranks in the NBA top ten in three categories, most notably
three
> point and free throw shooting percentage. Obviously, he is starting at
> shooting
> guard and not point guard (still an iffy proposition for him I think). But
> his
> assists-to-turnover ratio is finally above 2, and that's not bad for a
> shooting
> guard. Welcome home, Chauncey! Great kid he is.
>
> The 24-year-old Rado Nesterovic is also coming into his own a bit. He's a
> 7-foot, 250 pounder averaging 7 boards and 7.5 points in 28 minutes. He
gets
> to
> the line only once or so per game. Lucky for him and his team, because he
> makes
> just 40% of his free throws. He'll block some shots (1.4 per game).
>
> Brandon and Szczerbiak are the other double figure scorers. Wally World's
> three
> point shooting is merely "okay", but he is hitting a solid overall .472
from
> the field and 12.4 ppg.
>
> The "Fonz", LaPhonso Ellis, averages 7.3 points and 5.3 boards in Joe
> Smith's
> vacated role. Anthony Peeler (9.7 ppg) is one of only six players
averaging
> 20
> or more minutes, and is the third cog in a pretty undersized backcourt.
>
> Although the T-poodles have only 7 guys contributing over 3.7 ppg. Old
> friend
> Todd Day hit a big three-pointer two nights ago, in what turned out to be
a
> loss to the Denver Nuggets.
>
> Minnesota is 3-5 on the road, 8-7 overall. Two of their three road wins
have
> come against lowly Atlanta and Chicago. On the other hand they've already
> been
> tested against some of the best teams in the NBA, including the Lakers,
> Spurs,
> Jazz, Kings and Sixers. They've lost three of the last four coming into
> tonight
> so don't expect to see them on cruise control, although their scouting may
> be
> already half looking ahead to the second leg of this road back-to-back
> against
> New York tomorrow.
>
> Basically tonight is a chance to see one of the top five players in the
> game,
> Kevin Garnett, along with a homecoming for Chauncey Billups. I don't think
I
> could have standed all the ups-and-downs had we waited on Chauncey to
> develop,
> but boy is he a likeable player. He's clutch, he plays D, he's articulate,
> and
> he has the size and skills. It's nice to see his outside shot is working
for
> him. He was a way too streaky outside shooter for my tastes.
>
> I remember in that first Pitino season always checking Chauncey's boxscore
> stats before anyone elses. I wanted that draft pick to succeed so badly,
yet
> I
> could see the numbers just not adding up. The "backcourt of the future"
that
> never was to be. I feel the same way about Herren now. Every game I look
at
> that damn boxscore and think "c'mon you can do it!". His shot (15-55) has
to
> start falling soon, or he'll play himself out of this league once Kenny
> comes
> back. Pitino's got too much at stake to keep him on for sentimental value
> (look
> how sentimental he was with Chauncey).
>
> -------
>
>