RE: Westphal

[David A Wickerham <aw623@freenet.buffalo.edu>]

There are really only twwo choices when your team is shooting.  Eiter
crash the boards or bust ass back on defense.  Unfortunately, many of the
Celtics have opted to hang around, hoping an offensive rebounder will kick
the ball out for a jump shot.  This is the mindset that must change if the
Celtics are to move to the next level.  I firmly believe that they already
have the talent to be a playoff caliber team.

****dave

On Tue, 28 Nov 2000, Berry, Mark  S wrote:

> I have a theory about the death of the fast break. Teams began to see the
> opponent's fast break as the ultimate back-breaker, and they started making
> the commitment to transition defense. Sounds simple, but what it meant was
> pulling players back from their offensive rebounding duties and having them
> sprint back on defense as soon as a shot goes up. Watch the game today and
> you almost never see good fast breaks off of missed shots. Today's breaks
> come off of turnovers. The philosophy makes sense, because a fast break
> almost always ends up with an opponent's basket, whereas an offensive
> rebound translates to a basket of your own probably closer to 50 percent of
> the time.
> 
> I don't have any facts or numbers to back this up. Just an observation.
> 
> Mark
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hironaka [mailto:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2000 5:26 AM
> To: Simon Kean; Celtics@igtc.com
> Subject: Re:Westphal
> 
> 
> Simon Kean wrote:
> 
> > Damn, always thought Westphal was a decent coach too. Had some great years
> > in Phoenix. Don't think he is the problem in Seattle. They were an average
> > team before he got there. Biggest problem is that Vin Baker can't decide
> > which he wants to put in his mouth first - the beer or the donuts.
> >
> > Only slight I can remember on Westphal from his Phoenix days, was that he
> > was a little too leniant on Barkley in practises. Seems to be a great
> > players coach though. Tough luck
> 
>     I don't know if this is a fair statement or not, but I guess I'm under
> the
> impression that Westphal didn't really put much emphasis on defense or coach
> it
> particularly well. I'm still intrigued by Rick Carlisle as an option, if
> Bird is
> part of the ownership group. He's young and smart, and if Bird liked him
> enough
> to name him his assistant in Indiana then there must be a lot of respect
> there
> (after all, Carlisle was an 11th man his entire brief career with Boston).
> It's
> not like Bird would likely hang out with other benchwarmers like Duerod,
> Kite or
> Thirdkill unless he really thought these guys had impressive basketball
> minds.
> In Bird I trust. He's not going to fall for any slick-talkers.
> 
>     p.s. Westphal made some incredible shots you just hardly see anymore in
> that
> triple OT game in 1996 (like °360 jumpshots and layup-style bankshots from
> 10
> feet away). It is what I imagine Jerry West must have been like in his
> prime, or
> what it must have felt like to be Danny Ainge in that BYU-UCLA game. And yes
> Dorine is right about the Celtics fastbreak. The Bird era was nice, but
> there is
> no comparison in terms of precision to Cowens/JoJo/Havlicek/Silas (and I'm
> sure
> those who came before). At first it looks almost primitive and mechanical,
> because it is so repetitive and lacking in variation and much less
> above-the-rim. It seems almost scripted (the defense is a step slow each
> time),
> like you're watching the game footage from a Hollywood movie or reruns of
> the
> "White Shadow".
> 
>     I'm not at all sure, but maybe the league really has gotten bigger,
> better
> and more sophisticated on defense. For example, I often wonder why Pat Riley
> can't try to recreate the 1980s Lakers fastbreak in today's NBA.  I despise
> the
> "greasy one" more than any other NBA personality out there, but he's one
> heck of
> a versatile and formidable coach (unlike Poultrino). He can teach defense
> for
> one thing, and he's made a lot of journeymen into better basketball players
> in
> all facets (especially on defense) than they likely would have been without
> his
> teaching/coaching. Look out for Weatherspoon tonight for example. This guy
> was a
> Larry Brown reject. Based on his body type (short and squat), he has no
> business
> averaging over 10.6 rebounds plus blocks per game.
> 
> -------
> 
> 
> 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
	  Dave Wickerham
	  aw623@freenet.buffalo.edu
	  Saratoga Springs, NY