Cleveland preview

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

Happy new year to everyone on the Celtics list!

Just got back from vacation in Illinois, where I had the misfortune of
seeing the Bulls play on TV several times. Elton Brand looks like a
promising player though, and I think the concerns about his height
were overblown. He'll have a long productive career in the NBA
(barring injury).

Anyways, I've missed the Celtics list and watching the Celtics so I'll
do a quick preview of today's game with Cleveland. Cleveland, with a
12-17 record, has lost 8 of 9 games after drubbing the Celtics 115-88
on December 14. Of course, the Celtics were without the services of
Pierce, Fortson, and Potapenko back then. Cleveland is also 2-10 on
the road this season.

They are led by Shawn Kemp who is averaging 19.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, but 
shooting only 40% from the field this season. However he still gets
to the line frequently, where he's shooting 80%. Bob Sura is having
a breakthrough season averaging 16.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.1 apg and 
shooting 46.1% from the field and a blistering 44.3% from three-point
range. Other major contributors are Lamond Murray (12.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg),
Brevin Knight (11.4 ppg, 7.7 apg), Wesley Person (47% 3pt FG), and
old friend Andrew DeClercq (9.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg). DeClercq has come off
the bench in the past two games behind Mark Bryant.

Cleveland favors an uptempo style, frequently sending two players
running off opponent's shots. Boston probably needs to take care of
the ball and avoid hasty shots so that our players don't get caught
out of position where they can't get back in time. At the same time,
Cleveland is vulnerable if we can grab some offensive rebounds, so
hopefully Danny Fortson can begin returning to his old form in this
department (only 1 offensive rebound in 36 minutes so far). As a team
they're shooting an incredible 42.6% on three pointers, so defending
the three is vital. Of course, stopping Kemp is a problem - he's
averaging 21.5 ppg on 62% shooting against us in two games this
season.

Hopefully the Celtics begin the new year on a good note by smashing
this struggling team on the new parquet floor! They play tomorrow
in New York so hopefully they can put the game away relatively early.

Alex