Catching up

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

Been away for a few days spending time with my growing family. My wife
delivered our third daughter last week. Maybe I'll be a WNBA fan after
all...

On the Celts and the last two games. (As has been the case with our first
two girls, I'm trying to make No. 3 a Celtic fan from the start. She's my
Celtic-watching buddy at this point. Hard to tell, but I think she's a Chris
Herren fan.)

Herren is the real deal. I wish I had thought to do a plus/minus rating on
him when he was in the game, because it seemed that in both the Chicago and
Washington games, when Chris was on the floor, the Celts dominated. He
really sparks great ball movement and pushes the pace. Let's hope the injury
isn't serious (today's news is good) and he's back later this week. He's
only going to get better as he spends more time with his teammates. Anyone
out there tape the games who might be willing to check that?

Toine is playing great. I'm hoping the outstanding 3-point shooting so far
isn't fool's gold that encourages him to settle for the jumper too much. His
mid-range game has improved tremendously, and he's really playing in the
flow of the offense. When he plays like this, he's a pleasure to watch.
Should only get better as his conditioning improves. Hopefully Evil Toine is
gone for good. (Yeah, right.)

Pierce looks fantastic. I can't believe how much slimmer he looks. He put on
too much weight last year and lost some of his quickness. Now he's thinned
down and looks sleek. He also has improved his mid-range game and is using
it rather than settling for the 3-pointer. Nothing but optimism so far.

Mark Blount is showing he belongs, and that he may supplant Tony Battie in
the frontline rotation sooner rather than later.

Kenny Anderson is playing well. Maybe the obvious challenges from Herren and
Brown have sparked a change in Kenny. I doubt it. My guess is it's just a
hot streak and we'll see the ball-stopping Kenny resurface soon. Still a
great talent, but just not the floor leader this team needs. He'd be a great
option off the bench, but we all know he won't accept that role quietly.
Didn't get them any quality shots down the stretch against Washington. You
just know that Herren would have. I see the Kenny situation getting ugly at
some point.

Griffin and Stith look solid. Chris Carr is improving. Vitaly has improved,
although I was disappointed in his defense against both Elton Brand and
Jahidi White. His offense is fine.

Biggest disappointment from those games has to be Moiso, who seems to be
deferring to the veterans too much. He just isn't being aggressive
offensively. Defensively he seems to be holding his own and is altering or
blocking some shots, but on the other end he is far too willing to be a
"spare part." He has some offensive skills and should use them. Let's hope
he becomes more aggressive as the preseason progresses.

Let's hold off on the "insane Pitino substitution" posts until the games
count for more than player evaluations. We'll never see the lineup he used
in the second quarter of the Washington game again (at least not after Oct.
31). I don't care if they win these games or not as long as they accomplish
what Pitino wants to accomplish. Get this team ready for the opening bell.
That's all that matters.

Overall, I'd think Pitino has to be pleased with where the team is at this
point in the preseason. He has better depth than at any point in his tenure
here, and the new players seem to be fitting in more quickly than you might
expect. Toine and Pierce seem to have improved. The team is being unselfish
and racking up a lot of assists. I've seen more ball reversals in six
quarters with Chris Herren than I have in three seasons with Kenny Anderson.

Of course, the team looked good last preseason as well, and got off to a
good, unselfish start. Then the wheels fell off and they reverted. The true
test comes not in the first 10 games, but once the grind starts.

Mark