Re: Imagine

[Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
Imagine trying to build a bench before the starting 5. We're far from solid
at starters, we need a center desperately. That's why Fortson will go, I've
seen starters, and he's no starter. A center would help solidify our
defense. We are heavy with players that can't run, and the one's that do,
don't know where the hell their going. This team is looking more and more
like the old slow days of Bird, but with out the same talent. Notice the
physical ability of the 10 teams ahead of us in the East. 
--- end of quote ---

So, how do you propose we get that center? Not for Fortson, since he's crap, according to you and other Fortson bashers. Not as a FA, since we don't have any cap space to sign such a center, even if he were willing.  In the draft, perhaps?  But, even if we get extremely lucky in the lottery (I don't see us making the playoffs - that 10-of-13 road stretch will do us in), is there any center in the draft who is better right now than Pot? The last promising true center, picked #1, of course, is still not better than V, and only has the potential to surpass him. Others don't even have that. Trade Walker or Pierce? You won't get one of the premier centers, only the second tier, or projects like Olowokandi, while giving up a near All-Star-quality young player. How does that improve the situation? The only reasonable scenarios involve situations that Alex described, going for someone like Mutombo - an aging but still excellent center in a potentially rebuilding situation. Everything else is pretty much idle talk: "we need a center", we need a PG" etc. Everybody needs them, and Boston is by far not in the most advantageous situation to get them. 

I personally think that new, qualified  coaching/management would be the quickest and cheapest way to improve our performance, but that's also not likely to happen in the near future. So, we just have to hope that the current management drafts wisely (i.e., not Billups @ #3) , scouts the CBA dilligently, signs the right people to the few mid-level slots we'll have, and doesn't trade core players for other teams' garbage. 

And we can only hope that Pitino adapts to NBA realities and learns to maximize his players' potential. I think our players often look a lot worse than they are precisely because they're misused, drowning in a torrent of instructions emanating from the sidelines, yanked quickly due to Pitino's arbitrary criteria for substitution, and generally treated as interchangeable parts in a machine. I don't understand why our plays (presuming we had them in the first place) break down so frequently - often, someone like Battie or Williams is left standing at the top of the key with the ball, not knowing what to do with it, because everyone else is just standing around, covered by his defender. If it's Walker, Pierce, or Anderson, they then usually just do one-on-one stuff, which is not optimal. (BTW, is it my imagination, or does Walker get stripped more often than a groupie  on his drives to the hoop?).  I also second Tommy in questioning why our players (other than Pot) refuse to run fast break unless they have the ball. Worse yet, why don't they get back on D, and why do they give wide berth to anyone willing to drive the lane and slam it home (e.g., Rice and Kobe numerous times last night). Talent aside, I thought we weren't supposed to have these problems under Pitino. Didn't he himself say so during his coronation? Forget winning, I just want to see some effort consistently.