Adrian Griffin

[opi@unesco.org]

The Celts badly need Adrian Griffin to recover from his ankle injury and
horrible slump, in order to get back in the playoff chase. Apart from
the Indiana game --where he was finally benched for all but 14 minutes--
he has shot .242 from the field (9-37) and contributed only 5.8 points,
3.7 boards, 2.1 assists, 1.28 steals despite more than 31 starter
minutes per game since his return.

I'm sure the Celts coaching staff believe "Old School Adrian" is not
just a flash in the pan. I also have seen videos of all the early season
wins when he won co-Rookie of the Month.

Chances are that he'll recover, just as Pierce did last year. He needs
to be a big part of our turnaround. It is important for him to not lose
confidence.

On the one hand, I'd like to see AG get some PT and confidence in
tomorrow's Rookie Game. On the other hand, he needs to rest that ankle.

The problem is that there are only two other guards on the rookie roster
(Andre Miller and Steve Francis). Look for Lamar Odom and Szczerbiak to
monopolize the small forward minutes. James Posey could conceivably play
guard in place of Griffin.

Paul Pierce is arguably the biggest talent on either team.

He tends to play well in All Star games. I have a video of him coming
within a point of breaking the scoring record in the McDonald's All Star
Game held by Michael Jordan. That roster was very strong, featuring HS
seniors Kevin Garnett, Shareef Abdur Rahim, Vince Carter, Stephon
Marbury, Ron Mercer, Robert Traylor, Antawn Jamison etc.

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