Re: The Truth about Cats and Pitinos

["Cecil Wright" <cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca>]

Mark, you are right to a degree about teams winning based off the play of
their star players.  But not always in the playoffs however.  That is when
teams design their defenses to make someone else beat you rather than the
stars.  Remember the old Sixers when they had Moses and the Doc?  Where
would they have been without Andrew Toney or Bobby Jones or Mo Cheeks?  Or
the Pistons without Vinny Johnson or Rodman?  Or even the Bulls without
Paxson?  Or the Spurs without Elie?

Imagine where the Suns would be without Cliff Robinson or Rodney Rogers.
I'm not sure if you are old enough to relate to the old Celtic teams, but
guys like Larry Siegfried rose to the occasion in the playoffs to save our
bacon many times.  Don Chaney was probably invisible many times on the
court, but he was especially invaluable in the playoffs with the job he did
on the opposition's best guard, allowing JoJo just enough freedom to take
chances which paid off more often than not.

I do understand your point but it ain't always that simple.  If it were, the
Spurs or Lakers wouldn't lose a game.

Cecil








----- Original Message -----
From: "Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
To: <j.hironaka@unesco.org>; <celtics@igtc.com>; "Celtic Lists (E-mail)"
<celtic_pride@egroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 1:02 PM
Subject: Re: The Truth about Cats and Pitinos


> Joe, you make some valid points, but I'm going to disagree. Here's why:
> Teams win or lose in the NBA based on the play of their "star" players.
The
> Lakers go as Shaq and Kobe go. The Knicks as Houston and Sprewell go. The
> Spurs as Duncan and Robinson go. Stockton and Malone. Kidd and Marion.
Look
> at Minnesota. They win with one real star, Garnett. Get past Garnett and
> Brandon and that roster looks pretty similar to the Celtics'.
>
> Very few teams in the NBA today have great depth. A lot of 3-12 men
compare
> pretty closely with Kenny Anderson, Bryant Stith, Tony Battie and Vitaly
> Potapenko. Are Rick Fox, Robert Horry, Horace Grant and Ron Harper that
> great? Do the Celtics have a weak bench? Absolutely, but they're far from
> alone in a watered-down NBA.
>
> So, we all seem to fall into one of two camps. Some say be patient, Walker
> and Pierce may become the kinds of players we need. Others say we've seen
> enough and they are what they are.
>
> Personally, I see Walker in his fifth season and Pierce in his third and
> neither of them really make their teammates better. Is the draft a sure
> thing? No. Are trades guaranteed to make things better? No. But are things
> getting better by exercising patience? I certainly don't think so, and I
> don't think it's simply a coaching problem.
>
> The team needs difference-makers. Stars who make the players around them
> better. Sure, you say, who doesn't? Well, if you don't believe they're on
> your roster, you have to get them somehow. That means draft them or trade
> for them. That's what I'm calling for. And I'll sacrifice anyone and
> everyone on this team to get players like that.
>
> Mark
>