Re: Celtics stats for Boston - Philadelpha game on 7/20

["Jim Meninno" <jim_meninno@hotmail.com>]

>From: "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
>I have to say, I'm as excited about Blount as Pitino seems to be. He's the 
>kind of player who won't score much or blow you away in the box scores, but 
>has an impact on the game with his shot-blocking and defensive presence.

Me too, Mark, although I haven't seen him play.  What we're hearing is that 
he's got the size to play center and has defensive abilities and shot 
blocking instincts.  If he could cook, I'd marry him!  Who was it that was 
saying they didn't see any Adrian Griffins coming out of the summer league 
this year?  Well, if Blount is what he's being billed as, his impact on the 
team will be far greater than anything Adrian can provide.  Adding him and 
Moiso certainly seems to have addressed some of the 4/5 position problems.  
Problem is, though, can you play Walker/Potapenko together without one of 
these guys in there as an intimidating presence?  If the answer is no, then 
either Potapenko has to go or Walker has to play another position.  It 
really is that simple.  Losing Pot would be a risk, though, because neither 
Blount, Battie nor Moiso are a sure thing at center for one reason or 
another.

Now, for all those that have been afraid of losing the "instant offense" 
that Dana Barros provides, let me just point out that we were waiting for 
about three quarters of last year for that instant to occur.  Dana has been 
nothing but a wonderful guy to have on the Celtics, but he is simply useless 
if he can not play point guard, and last year he could not.  I thought he 
was getting the hang of it at the end of 1999, but last year he was abysmal. 
  The loss of his grandmother is only part of it.  He is simply too small, 
and not a good enough distibutor or confident enough dribbler of the ball.  
Finding another point guard is right now this team's most important need.  
Bimbo Coles could be a good enough answer for a few years while they draft 
and develop Kenny's replacement.  I think we all remember how last year the 
second unit got absolutely skunked game after game.  That's going to happen 
again, with or without an Abdul-Wahad/Mercer providing some bench scoring, 
if they don't get a decent distributor/defender at the point.

Jim
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