[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Toronto etc.
Apologies, this previous post was meant to stay off-list in reply to Dave Wickerham's
original (off-list) e-mail to me. I typed in the IGTC address out of habit. I guess I
should have gone with a double espresso this morning.
Go Celts!
I've pledged to not post another message between now and Monday morning, as part of my
"detox" campaign to spend more free time with my wife and doing a better job at work. I
can hear some of you going: "Yeah! We'll see!"
-----
opi@unesco.org wrote:
> Thanks for that information and for the general thoughtfulness of your reply. I
> guess I'm heaping a lot of abuse on Walter mainly out of frustration about the
> Fortson situation. I do think Danny Fortson won't complain about playing fulltime
> backup center for the rest of the year, but he will leave at season's end (almost
> regardless of money) for a chance to win and a chance to play. This season has been
> a major demotion from last year.
>
> Also, I don't think Oakley or Malone can guard the mobile fours. It's really not the
> issue, unless your coach fixates on monkey outbreak athletes (and in fairness,
> Antoine's perceived and real shortcomings at small forward). The real issue is do
> Danny's strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Fortson should be out there getting
> repetitions at power forward.
>
> Take care, sorry to be such a basher and an armchair coach. :-)
>
> Joe
>
> ****
>
> David A Wickerham wrote:
>
> > Your comments are excellent, but I'm guessing you didn't actually get a
> > chance to see the Washington game. Actually, Walter did very well. By
> > running the wings hard, he seemed to bring Antoine along with him and was
> > involved in quite a few early layups for the Celts. The Cs didn't really
> > become stagnant until Battie came in to replace him. Walters one basket
> > was a 3 pointer which came as a great option of a hard push of the ball.
> > Walter actually did a great job of defending Howard in the first half.
> > The majority of Juwan's points came against Antoine in the second half.
> > I'm not sure what to think of that, because Antoine seemed to be playing
> > him tight. However, he was shooting from about 16 feet and everything was
> > going in.
> >
> > As for Fortson, I love the guy. But so far, he just hasn't shown the
> > mobility to guard any of the mobil 4s in the league. I'm beginning to
> > think that Center is the place for him despite his height. He and Vitaly
> > give us a toughness that has been lacking for several years.
> >
> > I'm optimistic about the rest of the season. We have a legitimate shot at
> > the playoffs (we also have a legitimate shot at a top 5 lottery pick). At
> > least its February and we're still talking about the games rather than who
> > will be available in the draft.
> >
> > ****dave
> >
> > On Tue, 18 Jan 2000 opi@unesco.org wrote:
> >
> > > Hi David:
> > > Good points but my differing interpretation is that the game was another
> > > example in a week of Pitino starting and giving 36 emergency minutes to a 4
> > > ppg bench guy (Walter) in order to match up with the established strengths of
> > > opposing teams. McCarty shot 1-5 in his 36 long minutes and gave up 12-17
> > > shooting to Howard. Among other things, that's a lot of ground for the rest of
> > > our starters to make up.
> > >
> > > There's no reason Antoine couldn't have guarded Howard and let the projected
> > > pre-season starter Danny Fortson box out the non-scoring Michael Smith or
> > > Jehedi White (the other two Wiz starters). Howard is not even remotely as
> > > mobile or a threat to dribble as Antoine so you can't compare perceptions of
> > > his failings at small forward to what might happen in Walker's transition to
> > > that position. What irks me is that Fortson himself could probably have
> > > guarded Howard no worse than Waltah. Letting McCarty start was a matter of
> > > coaching preference, not something dictated by the matchups on the floor.
> > > Letting McCarty hog 36 forward minutes was another preference, nothing more or
> > > less. I don't know precisely what actually happened in the game in terms of
> > > ultimate matchups, but before the game Pitino clearly told the Herald that Wiz
> > > alum Calbert Cheaney won't start because Pitino needed to start Waltah on a
> > > guy like Howard. In the same paper he said he preferred his team to grow
> > > together instead of being blown up at year's end, mentioning the usual names
> > > plus Battie as core players he'd like to keep (no mention of Fortson).
> > >
> > > So now you've got Griffin down anyway, you've got Eric Williams down, you have
> > > a Wizards team that starts three power forwards at once and you have had
> > > Fortson back for his 11th game since being deemed fully recovered from his
> > > fracture and 8 pounds lighter. I guess the "no-brainer" coaching decision was
> > > to give McCarty 36 minutes....not.
> > >
> > > If this game didn't constitute an ideal opportunity to test Fortson and Walker
> > > together for the first time alongside a center (as opposed to writing it off
> > > without even trying), then there probably may NOT be a better chance on paper
> > > for the rest of the season (especially once Griffin comes back) period.
> > >
> > > Here's an idea. Put them together alongside a center for the first 5 to 8
> > > minutes of the first quarter, then sit "Pukemon" and his fat butt down for
> > > the rest of the game for all I care. Just try it! Unless I'm missing
> > > something, our only two choices are 1) try it just once so people will stop
> > > "unfairly" bashing the idiotic, lopsided trade for the NBA's fourth leading
> > > rebounder, or 2) frankly admit your team has temporarily leased a nice 6-7
> > > backup center (with grossly inflated rebounding stats last year). To add
> > > insult to injury, it's at least plausible that Ron Mercer may even have to
> > > settle for a Eric Williams-size guaranteed contract this summer from Denver (6
> > > million a season for four more long years).
> > >
> > > I know Pitino will eventually get around to giving Fortson his first power
> > > forward minutes, at which time I and others will happily shut up. Fair enough?
> > > I think so.
> > >
> > >
> > > ****
> > > David A Wickerham wrote:
> > >
> > > > Tommy Heinson made the point that Juwon Howard has been a huge
> > > > disappointment to the Wizards (only averaging 14 points until yesterday's
> > > > breakout performance). He opined that it was a result of being moved to
> > > > SF where his quickness edge is neutralized. I think a similar case can be
> > > > made for Antoine. His natural position is the 4, and his offense and
> > > > defense will suffer at the three. Fortson is an easy guy to like and a
> > > > tough competitor, but he will generally have to find his minutes backing
> > > > up VP and Antoine until he has proven he can handle more and stay out of
> > > > foul trouble. the odd man out may be Tony Battie.
> > > >
> > > > ****dave
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm very much in favor of letting Walker go get "abused" at small
> > > > > forward. I say make the other team adjust to our mismatches for once.
> > > > > Some of the best Celtics teams from the 80s had very grave defensive
> > > > > matchup problems at small forward, if you wish to dwell on it. When a
> > > > > team is forced to make McHale a perimeter defender because Bird couldn't
> > > > > cut it, that to me is a serious issue. McHale was a great overall
> > > > > defender but please don't reply to this post by overrating his ability
> > > > > to stop wing forwards. In one of our last 60 win type seasons, the most
> > > > > non-descript small forwards (say Johnnie Newman) were literally lighting
> > > > > it up one night after another against us.
> > > >
> > > > -----------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > Dave Wickerham
> > > > aw623@freenet.buffalo.edu
> > > > Saratoga Springs, NY
> > >
> > >
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
> > Dave Wickerham
> > aw623@freenet.buffalo.edu
> > Saratoga Springs, NY