RE: Don't stop with Pitino

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

Joe may be right.  How many open jumpers from the left baseline did the
Sixers get?  I mean, over and over again.

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Hironaka [SMTP:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
> Sent:	Tuesday, November 21, 2000 1:05 PM
> To:	OzerskyJA; celtics@igtc.com
> Subject:	Re: Don't stop with Pitino
> 
>     I'm not on the same wavelength at all with you guys obviously. The
> issue of
> coach v. player matches the visual evidence you all now seem to see,
> namely guys
> like Stith or whomever scrambling from ten feet away to get a late hand in
> the
> face of a wide open shooter. I saw this so many times last year. It is the
> halfcourt traps, with players switching assignments sometimes three times
> in a
> 15 second sequence. I'm sure it is discouraging as hell, and fine I'll
> even
> agree that running a failing defensive system wears out the players to the
> point
> that it may cut into their decision-making ability on both ends due to the
> fatigue (and anxiousness to rush shots to get back in a blowout game). But
> honestly I recommend everybody videotape the next game, cue up to the
> point
> where an opponent takes a wide open jumper, then rewind and follow how all
> that
> "bad defense" actually transpired. Is it because a Celtic was daydreaming
> or
> blew an obvious assignment? Or was it because the logical, nearest
> defender was
> assigned to do something else? As far as I can tell it is almost always
> the
> system. I see a gimmicky, counter-intuitive, no-question tricky to
> implement
> system that fails regularly and places no measure of accountability on
> individual players, as a byproduct of the constant schitzophrenic,
> headless
> chicken switches and traps in the halfcourt set. If the players don't "get
> it"
> after all these years together, or the system continues to fail on its
> own, then
> ditch it. Ditch the coach. I say this admitting full well I'm no
> basketball
> coach and just an avid fan and game video watcher. Take it with the grain
> silo
> of salt it deserves.
> 
>     But if you said to Larry Brown: "Look sucker we are taking away Geiger
> and
> Lynch and giving you Potapenko and Pierce instead" (or whatever similar
> defensive swap on the face of it), I guarantee you Brown would have these
> guys
> looking just as good or even better on defense as the guys they replace.
> Similarly if George Lynch or Theo Ratliff spent the last three years in
> Poultryville, they would look like crap defenders just like Battie and
> we'd all
> be trashing them for not hitting the weightroom or being for "not being
> athletic
> enough".
> 
>     If you ask me, the Celtics as a team have shown a great attitude this
> year
> and last year. I doubt I have their work ethic or faith.  But the system
> (.462FG% allowed) is making all the efforts and hopes of the playoffs go
> to
> waste. This was the year when fans would finally read the writing on the
> wall
> (the headless chicken outbreak system fails against NBA caliber players).
> I know
> that even Poultrino must be weighing this evidence, and looking for an
> exit
> strategy. Maybe it really was ALL Fortson's fault last season, but the
> Celtics
> this year have good enough athletes and good enough conditioning. Good
> enough
> for most coaches. These new guys were hand-picked by Poultrino and
> applauded by
> the list.  Now I should have known Pitino apologists would keep digging
> for
> excuses, but there are no more of these excuses left if you ask me.
> Antoine
> played really hard under ML Carr according to my recollection and he'll
> play
> hard under the next coach. Same with Paul Pierce. No problem. Let's get
> ready to
> move on already. At this stage I am happily rooting for Antoine, Paul and
> one or
> two other young players to have great individual seasons, because you
> can't
> start winning next year without a bonafide talent base and that is still a
> bit
> uncertain. If at the same time Pitino can turn this whole thing around,
> all the
> better.
> 
>     In general, I think we are a bit too doom and gloom when the Celtics
> lose a
> game. The team can bounce back with the upcoming schedule and one of these
> days
> you'll see the big momentum kick in and take us to a new place.
> 
> 
> 
> ------
> OzerskyJA wrote:
> 
> > I really am in a bad mood after tonight's win, but I think all this
> stuff
> > about Pitino and the team misses the point.  They're really stupid.
> We're
> > used to smart teams in Boston, and these guys are stupid.  I don't get
> > them at all, and I'm not going to pay attention to them any more until
> they
> > start showing they have brains.  They are just dumb.  I just don't get
> it.
> >
> > Josh Ozersky
> > Marketing Communications Specialist
> > Corning Museum of Glass
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Berry, Mark  S [SMTP:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
> > > Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 11:15 AM
> > > To:   'damekmo@teleport.com'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
> > > Subject:      Re: Don't stop with Pitino
> > >
> > > Walker and Pierce are working hard to score their points, but they've
> been
> > > a
> > > disaster defensively and in the team concept. Pierce especially. And
> let's
> > > see, we've played 10 games, and Pierce has stunk in Cleveland, in
> Toronto,
> > > in Washington and now against Philly (and for all but two minutes in
> > > Philly). He's shown up a little more than half the time. And even when
> > > he's
> > > scoring big, it's sometimes at the expense of the team. He's
> "unleashing
> > > the
> > > dragon" by thinking shoot-first every time he touches the ball. I've
> > > encouraged him to be more aggressive, but there are limits.
> > >
> > > Am I being too hard on Walker? Maybe. He's improved his outside shot.
> He
> > > still makes terrible decisions and his refusal to commit to either
> > > slimming
> > > down to play SF or muscling up to play PF has handcuffed Pitino since
> he
> > > got
> > > here.
> > >
> > > Look, I'm willing to admit it's time for Pitino to go... and that's a
> big
> > > change for me. I don't think a guy who has won as much as he has gets
> > > stupid
> > > overnight. But he's made some terrible personnel decisions and he's
> > > responsible for the team on the floor.
> > >
> > > But let's say you're right and the team has decided Pitino's system
> > > doesn't
> > > work... is that OK with you? When did they decide? When they were in
> the
> > > playoff race during Pitino's first year? During the playoff race last
> > > year?
> > > Did they decide before or after that 10-game losing streak? This year?
> 10
> > > games in? And that's OK in your book? These guys are paid incredibly
> well
> > > to
> > > come to work, work hard, and listen to the coach. That's it. It's not
> > > hard.
> > > If they can't do that, find someplace else for them.
> > >
> > > Mark
> 
> 
>