Great discussion (also long)

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Wow, the passing of the trade deadline has sparked some great posts. I'll
catch up with a few things:

1.	Please, please, don't sign Fortson to a long-term contract. The guy
just isn't going to make it. I've said it before, but here it is again: he's
too short and too slow to defend well, provides less than nothing on the
offensive end because he's either out of position or committing a silly
foul, or (most often) on the bench in foul trouble. I know we all hate to
admit the terrible mistake we made in the Mercer trade, but it's true. Don't
compound it by filling our bench with another bad player.

2.	I know that first point is going to bring out the "let him play"
crew, but a.) it won't make a difference and b.) we can't afford to do that.
We have a terribly thin frontcourt. Vitaly is also foul-prone, as is Battie
to a slightly lesser extent, so Pitino has to protect Fortson as a way to
guard against second-half foul trouble for VP. Plus, fouls aren't just
fouls. They're points. Teams shoot 50 percent against us on field goals,
which is bad enough. They shoot 75 percent on foul shots. And one last
thing: Don't you think that when Pitino sees Fortson go in the game and draw
his typical two fouls in two minutes, he realizes "Danny can't handle
(insert opposing PF or C here)." Don't you think it's strange that the guy
Fortson is guarding always seems to end up with the ball as soon as Danny
enters the game? Opposing teams see Fortson enter the game and realize it's
either an easy bucket or a foul.

3.	Why don't we fast-break more? We don't rebound especially well (here
come the Fortson faithful), when we do rebound, we don't outlet it quickly.
Our point guard has one speed-half-hearted. Our point guard thinks the only
safe pass is a handoff. The only real finisher we have is Pierce. Antoine
hasn't run hard since they stopped selling Big Macs for $1.99. Griffin,
bless his heart, is over. And we wonder why we don't run the break?

4.	What we need: Where do I start? Bigger, stronger, faster at PF and
C. That's why I've been preaching Olowokandi for months. Also, Kenny has
been better this season, but has he been good? He is what he is. We need a
bigger, tougher, more aggressive point guard. Before this season, I was
never a big fan of Mateen Cleaves, but I decided to watch him more closely
this season. Now I know why he is so highly regarded. The guy is 6-2, built
like a linebacker and sees every rebound as a chance for a layup at the
other end. You want to see a PG committed to pushing the ball? Watch Cleaves
and MSU. He absorbs contact and finishes because he's strong as an ox. He
defends like a madman. He's an emotional leader with a knack for making the
big play. He's not a good shooter. Neither was Jason Kidd or Andre Miller.
When it comes to the draft, I always say take the best player, regardless of
position, but we could do a lot worse than Mateen Cleaves.

5.	Predictions: We trade Walker in the offseason for a big, strong PF
or C or the chance to draft one. Olowokandi? Chris Mihm? Kenyon Martin? We
need to add shotblocking to this team. Build the Celts like you would a
baseball team: up the middle. C, PF and PG. Take away the post and
penetration and force things to the wings. This team is built the opposite
way. We invite attacks to the basket.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I have thoroughly enjoyed catching up on this
weekend's posts.

Mark