RE: change, change, change

["Sampath, Venkatesh" <Venkatesh.Sampath@microcell.ca>]

At the risk of stealing Cecil's thunder from him, may I point out that he and I beg to differ when you say that "we're all being impatient." Neither Cecil nor I have had any hesitation in counselling patience - to the point where we've probably lost whatever credibility we had as Celtics fans. 

If the solution to every problem a player on the current Celtics' roster has is to trade him for one that doesn't have that particular problem; then, by mere trading, we should be able to win the Championships. Team-building, getting players to learn one another's strengths and weaknesses (in short, to get the players to jel) are of no account then. 

Yes, this is a young and immature team. Yes, there will be swings - 3 or 4 winning streaks followed by 5 or 6 losing streaks - especially on the road. Yes, there will be occasions when, on the road, we blow 20 point leads and lose the game in the fourth quarter. Only by sheer dint of experience will this bunch of youngsters learn that there is no substitute for showing up night after night, ready to play. 

But what keeps me coming back to this bunch even after the worst losses? The fact that there is talent in this crop. Pierce, Anderson, Griffin, Walker and Potapenko - sounds a lot better than Todd Day, Billups, Mercer, Dino Radja, DeClerq, Montross, Acie Earl ........

venkat 

-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
Sent: 31 January 2000 13:40
To: 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: change, change, change


Took some time to really think about the Celtics this weekend and came to
the conclusion that we're all being impatient. We keep pointing to all the
thing that are wrong with this team, but the truth is, the one real problem
is we can't win on the road. No, we don't play great defense or always take
good shots, but we're pretty damn good at home. We're terrible on the road.

What does that tell us? I think it says we're young and immature. Maybe our
guys don't take care of their bodies quite as well as they should. They
certainly could stand to be more professional. But those problems aren't
solved by drastic changes in personnel or coaching. Those are solved with
experience. Next year, if we play this way at home and improve to say a .400
winning percentage on the road, we'll be the talk of the league.

I'm all for a little tinkering if it will make us better now or in the long
run (a Fortson trade, maybe), but I hope we don't give up on Toine now.
We're close to putting this together. This team is learning some hard
lessons right now away from home. It's taking longer than we'd all like, but
it will sink in. When it does, we're on our way.

Mark 

P.S. Anyone else think the talk of Walker to Indy for Rose and Harrington
might be Pitino's way of bringing in our PG of the future? That's where Rose
wants to play (and where I think he's best). I hope it doesn't happen, but
it wouldn't shock me.