Toine at point guard and other things...

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

What does everyone think of the Toine at PG experiment? I'm cautiously
optimistic, although his "I'll still be guarding the power forward" comment
disturbed me. Just another sign that the current regime sees PF as the only
position Toine can defend, even though he can't defend it at all and it's
killing us. But that aside, Toine probably is better than any of the current
PGs on the roster, and you could keep Palacio and Herren around as
change-of-pace backups. My biggest complaint about Toine at PG is the fact
that in the two games O'Brien has tried it, it has meant lots of court time
for Eric Williams and Walter McCarty. Ugh. There isn't another team in the
NBA that would start those two guys together (Walter's 27 points aside). I'm
all for Toine at PG, but not if Williams and McCarty are the best we can do
at the forward spots. 

That brings us to Moiso. We're willing to try Toine at PG, but unwilling to
give Moiso extended minutes?? Maybe he's the kind of guy who needs some
consistent playing time to get comfortable and confident. He looked like a
different player in the summer leagues, when he was playing long stretches
at a time (granted against lousy competition, but I thought he compared
favorably to Blount). What do we know about Moiso today that we didn't know
when he was drafted? Answer: Nothing. It really has been a wasted year for
him. This team desperately needs a player like Jerome Moiso (a tall,
athletic PF), but the Celts have done nothing to prepare him to be a factor
next season. Why not whet his appetite a little in these final two games and
try to make him understand that an opportunity is there for him if he takes
it this summer?

The draft... Here's hoping Wallace (or whoever) is smarter than Peter May or
Antoine when it comes to the draft. Both have been quoted as saying the team
doesn't need anymore youth... they can't afford to wait... I swear,
sometimes I think people are retarded. The scenario when it benefits a team
to take the best player for "today" is so rare--a team moving into its
"championship window" that needs a polished player for two or three years
during that title run. A team at any other stage of development in today's
NBA has to take the best player for "tomorrow." Trades are so difficult,
free agency is a non-factor for most teams, and rookies are locked in with
the team that drafts them for so long that it would be crazy to pass up a
superior young talent for an inferior mature one. You do that and you end up
with Ron Mercer instead of Tracy McGrady. The Celtics absolutely can't worry
about what their draft pick will do next season. They have to think about
the season after, and the one after that. Don't pass up for example, a
Dasagna Diop--a potential franchise center--for a Jamaal Tinsley or Shane
Battier just because those guys will contribute next year. If the Celtics do
that this year, I'm jumping out the window. It's absolutely painful to watch
players like McGrady, Kobe and O'Neal develop into major talents when all
were there for the taking if the Celts had just had any foresight and
patience. Will we ever learn???

Ray's list of free agents has a few interesting names that might be
available for the mid-level exception--Mohammed, Eddie Robinson and Laettner
chief among them. Mohammed could be that center with bulk the team is
lacking, Laettner could be a power forward option that allows Antoine to
move full-time to PG of SF, and Eddie Robinson is one of those athletic
swingmen the rest of the teams in the NBA always seem to have, but never the
Celts. He has Vince or T-Mac athleticism, and could develop into a nice
player.

Mark