Re: RP show - Feb 6, 2000

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

I'm not so sure Fortson is toast because RP said only if they can get what
he and Wallace perceive to be equal value.  In the event that another injury
occur to anyone in our frontcourt, Fortson could still serve a useful
purpose.

Great job by Alex on recapping the show.  Just a couple of other
observations:

* He mentioned that against the Pacers, we played brilliantly in spots.  He
wouldn't go so far as to say that the referee blew the Travis Best call, but
termed it an "unfortunate call".  Wonder what he really meant :-)?

* He didn't think Alonzo travelled on that last shot during the Miami game
because he bobbled the ball and didn't have control at first.

* Regarding our talent level, he said that we don't have enough talent to
take a team like the Bulls lightly, but we do have the ability to beat
anybody on any night.

Cecil

----- Original Message -----
From: John Lyell <johnlyell@hotmail.com>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>; Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2000 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: RP show - Feb 6, 2000


> Interesting. From this it sure sounds like Fortson will be gone by the
> deadline. Do we need to get a player to keep or the cap room to shop the
> market ?
>
> Fortson for Mo Taylor would be an possibly although it has been rumored
> Taylor wanting to return to the motor city. But if we could make him an
> offer him a good offer. Although I am not sure Taylor is really what we
need
> as he has not shown he is a real physical inside player.
>
> Some other possibilities: ?
>
> Jerald Williams ?
> Brian Skinner ?
> Adonal Foyle ?
> Rick Fox ?
> Kendall Gill ?
> Wes Person ?
> Alan Henderson ?
> Gary Trent ?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex Wang" <awang@mit.edu>
> To: <celtics@igtc.com>
> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2000 10:09 AM
> Subject: RP show - Feb 6, 2000
>
>
> > Most interesting comment this week: Pitino is not looking to trade
anyone
> > because they are working hard and have great attitudes, with one
> exception:
> > Danny Fortson. Danny is not happy with his situation and it's difficult
> > to find him minutes, so if Pitino would trade him for equal value, for
> > the Celtics' benefit and his own. Goodbye, Danny.
> >
> > - He gives the team an A+ for effort. However, they are young so the
> team's
> > execution needs improvement. They'll take quick bad shots at times
still.
> > To improve their offensive execution, they have to get it into Kenny's
> hands
> > right away, because he's the coach on the floor. He's more likely to get
> > them good shots and make good decisions. The defense is currently tough
> > during the fourth quarter, but it needs to be tough the whole game.
> >
> > - He talked about the last play in the Miami game. Pierce came up a
screen
> > too early in the play and didn't have an open look. He compounded the
> error
> > by taking an ill-advised fallaway shot instead of what he was supposed
to
> > do, drive and dish to Kenny on the right. After Griffin got the rebound
> > and gave to Walker, Walker dribbled back and took a 3 falling away.
Unlike
> > the many critics who felt he should go up with it and take the midrange
> > jumper (which is not Antoine's shot), he preferred Antoine to drive to
the
> > basket and create. But he wasn't upset with that shot, and he said that
> > Bird has done the same thing in games when he was in his prime. Pitino
was
> > upset about that 3 pointer after the missed free throws.
> >
> > - They replayed a shot about Pitino talking about non-negotiables at the
> > beginning of the season. Put the team #1. Think pass before shot. Think
> > defense before offense. Think like Bill Russell, who evidently had just
> > talked to them about things like making good passes instead of trying
for
> > great ones (Jason Williams could benefit greatly from this advise) and
> > running the floor as a big man. Pitino evaluated the progress of the
team.
> > The team is learning to pass better than it ever has. He said that
Pierce
> > has trouble thinking pass before shot because he was such a great
scorer.
> > Everyone is putting team before self, and they are generally taking
> Russell's
> > advise. They still don't put defense before offense.
> >
> > - Bob Lobel asked about the love-hate relationship between the
Fleetcenter
> > fans and the Celtics. Pitino said that he comes from a "different
school"
> > than the Fleetcenter fans. Booing only hurts the team. He said, for
> instance,
> > that the fans at Kentucky would never boo their own. He cited the
example
> > where Walker missed three free throws and they booed him, saying that it
> > probably makes him tighten up, thinking, "Man, if I miss another one
> they're
> > going to get on my case." Booing the home team hurts players' self
esteem
> > and hurts the team. He said that last year, he could understand since
the
> > team was selfish and didn't play hard. But this year, "Antoine Walker
> > deserves nothing but applause and praise."
> >
> > - He went out of his way to refute trade rumors again. At the beginning
of
> > the year, he said that he told Antoine, "Unless Michael Jordan says that
> > he'll give me 5 years, I won't trade you." Pitino told him to listen to
> > everything he said and give him total effort, and promised not to trade
> him.
> > He told him to ignore the rumors ("the Internet is out of control")
> because
> > Pitino couldn't control them. He said that his relationship with Antoine
> > has progressed: from father figure, to disciplinarian, to coach, and now
> > good friends. He said that as long as he is coach, he won't trade
Antoine
> > Walker.
> >
> > - He said that he told the whole team that he wasn't looking to trade
them
> > because he liked the effort and attitude. With the exception of Fortson,
> > as I mentioned at the beginning of the post. He said that he loves the
> > nucleus of Vitaly, Antoine, Griffin, Pierce, Anderson and wants them to
> > grow together. He does want to see more out of Tony Battie. He said that
> > last year, he didn't like the team so he did want to trade, and
"polished"
> > up his players to improve their value. He admitted that it's his style.
> > But he said that this year he genuinely liked the nucleus of the team,
> > and that they were continuing to improve.
> >
> > - The Coaches' Clinic was on last second shots. He showed how New Jersey
> > ran last second plays against a couple of other teams. They tried to
> > get it to Marbury for a drive to the basket, and their second option was
> > to get it to Van Horn. Since the Celtics knew that, during the last
second
> > play earlier in the year, Overton denied Marbury the ball. When Van Horn
> > came out for the pass, Walker, who Pitino said has a "tremendous
> basketball
> > IQ", knew it was coming and made that big steal. He also showed how many
> > teams have plays where the inbounder takes the shot.
> >
> > - He showed the last-second play that the Celtics' ran in Miami and
> > Indiana (same play). The ball is in Anderson's (1) hands coming from
> > midcourt. The four other players are on the left side of the court,
> > Vitaly (5) and Antoine (4) at the high post, Pierce (2) and Griffin (3)
> > further down. Pierce sets a low screen for Griffin to cut baseline down
> > the right side of the court. The opposing team is usually reluctant to
> > screen because they don't want to put their 2 on the 3. The 4 and 5
> > go down and "decapitate" Pierce's defender, and he comes off the screen
> > to hopefully get an open look. After Anderson makes the pass, he goes
> > right, where Griffin screens his man to give him space. Pierce is
> > supposed to hit him for the jump shot. In the Indiana game, Barros was
> > the 2 and Anderson was actually open, but Barros didn't see him.
> >
> > - To make the playoffs, which would be a very positive experience, they
> > need to get it done on the road. The team is improving and a lot of road
> > games are close, and if they keep improving they will win those. He
> > mentioned how he doesn't play a second unit anymore; he keeps either
> > Walker, Pierce, or Anderson on the floor to avoid scoring droughts. It
> > means that the bench players get less minutes though.
> >
> > Alex
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>