Thoughts after the game (long)

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Very sloppy performance by both teams last night. A lot of new, young
players on both sides. Toine clearly was the best player on the floor.

It's clear Pitino is sticking to his pledge to evaluate players in the first
four games, which is smart. 

A few observations:

Toine really played well. He ran the floor, played under control most of the
time and was thinking pass. He was the primary ballhandler and brought the
ball up the floor when Randy Brown was in at the point. I like this for a
number of reasons--it forces Toine to think about initiating the offense,
forces him to give up the ball early and then move to incorporate himself
back into the offense, and it takes some pressure off of Brown, who isn't a
classic, natural point. I hope this is the way we see Toine play this
season.

Randy Brown showed exactly what kind of player he is. He missed some open
jumpers, and he isn't a gifted ballhandler like Kenny. We knew that. We also
knew he would defend hard, think pass first and do all the dirty work good
players do. He did all those things. Since the Celtics are blessed with a
talented ballhandler at the forward spot in Toine, Brown's limitations don't
seem so glaring (same as when he was with Pippen in Chicago). The guy is a
much better complement to this team than Kenny, but he won't be able to
handle much more than 25 mpg over the course of the season. Which brings us
to...

Chris Herren. OK, the numbers aren't pretty (1 point, 5 turnovers), but a
few of those TOs weren't his fault. He drove the lane twice on
pick-and-rolls with Battie and twice laid the ball back for a rolling Battie
and Tony was still standing at the foul line. Tommy H. made the point that
the Celtics big men aren't used to getting the ball on those plays (zing
Kenny) and once they realize Herren will make that pass, you'll see them
rolling hard to the hoop. Of course, that implies active brain waves in Tony
Battie's noggin... Anyway, even with a so-so debut last night, Herren
convinced me he's good enough to make Kenny expendable. I believe I heard
Mike Gorman say a knowledgeable basketball source told him that Herren has
the best point guard instincts on the team, and that's true. The guy pushes
the ball hard, passes upcourt and thinks pass first every time. He had a
beautiful touch lob pass to Battie from the top of the key that Tony fumbled
(surprise) before retrieving and laying it in. I'm sold on Herren. Let the
guy learn his teammates and he could be a legit starting point guard.

Bryant Stith looks like he will send Chris Carr to the injured list. The guy
defends hard and, unlike Calbert Cheaney, isn't afraid to take an open shot.
He didn't always connect last night, but he's willing to shoot. If he can
shake some rust off and stay healthy, he will play a lot.

Jerome Moiso didn't play much and didn't do a lot when he did play. He
grabbed some tough rebounds and blocked at least one shot, although I don't
know if he was credited for it. His only basket was a beauty. He faced up
his defender at the top of the key, faked left, took one dribble to the
right and pulled up for an 18-footer that he drained. I'll take that from a
7-footer any day. Plus, the guy just looks like he belongs out there.
Remember Chauncey, when he came in and gave you that nagging feeling that
he's just in over his head? Well Moiso isn't in over his head. I think we'll
see him play some small forward this year.

Tony Battie actually was more active than usual, which isn't saying much.
Still, if he just played like he did last night he'd have some value. Of
course, we won't hear from him for two weeks.

Vitaly was solid, as usual. Nothing else really to say. He doesn't have good
hands, so he isn't as effective as he should be on the pick and roll.

Eric Williams, if used properly, actually could fill a role on this team. If
Pitino just inserted him to take advantage of a matchup against a slower
small forward (Chris Crawford qualified last night), Williams would be fine.
Isolate him and let him drive the lane and get to the line. But that's all
he contributes. He has no idea how to move the ball. It stops when it
reaches him so he can face up, jab step two or three times, drive and shoot
or draw a foul. That's fine if you're isolating him in a mismatch, but too
often he just cripples crisp ball movement. Anyway, he'd be a situational
bench player in my rotation.

Pitino actually played that new point guard quite a bit last night (he's
terrible). If I was the suspicious sort, I'd say the Celts were looking for
a third-string point guard because they are planning to trade their
incumbent starter. I mean, I think it's great foresight to have these guys
in camp and let them learn the system in case they're needed because of an
injury, but it seems odd that they'd take away preseason minutes from guys
who will be here when the games count.

Mark Blount didn't play, and I didn't hear anyone say why.

Opposition player of note: Lorenzen Wright is much better than I thought. I
had him pegged as a lumberer, but he's a big, solid guy who gets up and down
the floor pretty well. If the Kenny-Lorenzen trade rumor has any validity at
all, he would be a nice pickup and not just a way to dump Kenny.

Finally, I thought the press was effective tonight. Not sure how many
turnovers they forced, but there were a few, and several times it forced
Atlanta into rushing bad shots from players who shouldn't be shooting.
That's as important as anything when evaluating the press.

To wrap up this ridiculously long post, I'd say I came away thrilled with
the outcome of the Herren/Stith trade. That was the one thing I took away
from last night's game. Encouraged by good Toine, and hoping his evil twin
is locked away somewhere. Still a long way to go, but Pitino seems to know
what he's doing in getting this team ready during the preseason.

Mark