The Holley Lama Speaks Out On Toine/Pierce/Wallace/Papile/Denver's Pick/Battier

["Way Of The Ray" <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/109/sports/Looking_to_next_year_nothing_op
en_and_shut+.shtml

MICHAEL HOLLEY
Looking to next year, nothing open-and-shut


By Michael Holley, Globe Columnist, 4/19/2001
On one side of the Celtics' locker room, Paul Pierce was teasing 10-year-old
Derrius Walker about his haircut. ''Eddie Munster,'' Pierce said to his
teammate's brother. ''The kids at school get on you about this haircut,
don't they?''


After Derrius returned a one-liner, Pierce picked up the little boy and
playfully held him above an open drawer beneath his locker.


This was about an hour after the Celtics lost their 46th game of the season,
97-92 to the Hornets. For the eighth consecutive season, the organization
will have a team finish at least 10 games under .500. For the sixth
consecutive season, there will be no playoffs in Boston.


Usually it's not a good idea to joke amid ruins like that, but watching the
smiles of Pierce and Walker was a reminder of how good things really are in
the Land of Green. The Celtics have serious basketball issues - at least
five of them - and we'll get to those in a couple minutes. But the highlight
of the year was anytime Pierce and Walker were mentioned in the same
sentence without the phrase ''rest in peace'' entering the discussion.


Making the playoffs? That would have been an incredible bonus after the
offseason Pierce and Walker had. Before one preseason game was played,
Pierce was stabbed and Walker had a gun pointed in his chest.


Both survived.


Both played like All-Stars.


The season is over now, and the organization has a few errands to run.
Relatively speaking, paying Pierce and playing Walker (at point guard) are
fluffy subjects.


With that said, here is the Celtics' To Do list.


1. Learn About Antoine The Point Guard.


This is a classic definitions argument. For most of the season, the
6-foot-9-inch Walker was the team's de facto point man. But as soon as Jim
O'Brien said Walker was playing the point, there was panic. Why?


According to Kenny Anderson, playing the point is so easy that members of
his family can play the position. ''I was joking with my mother and my
brother,'' Anderson said last night. ''I was like, man, you could have
played point guard in our system. ... I told my brother that. I said, `You
could play that.'''


(Dear Anderson Family, if this is true, please call the Celtics at
617-523-6050. If you guys can do this easy thing that Kenny apparently finds
so difficult, an entire region will adore you.)


Whomever plays point for the Celtics next season - Anderson or Walker - will
be helped by the league's legalized zones. The team could compensate for a
defensive disadvantage by hiding a weak defender in the zone. And as strange
as it sounds, putting the ball in Walker's hands would cut down on his
turnovers. Most of his mistakes come when he is operating on the baseline,
trying to create one-on-three offense. He plays a completely different game
when he has the responsibility of setting up the offense.


2. Truth and Reconciliation.


Chris Wallace and Leo Papile want to return as general manager and director
of player personnel. Fair enough. But before any contracts are signed (both
of them will most likely return), someone should be forced to answer
questions.


Whose idea was it to draft Jerome Moiso, whom one member of the organization
has already called a bust?


Who was in favor of trading for Anderson and Vitaly Potapenko?


Did anyone mention Tracy McGrady during the 1997 draft?


The easy answers, of course, are A) Rick, B) Rick, and C) I did. But Rick
Pitino, Wallace, and Papile have all said that the former coach simply had
final-word power. You can't place all the blood on his hands. It would be
helpful if this were the Senate and we had voting records of all involved
parties.


This still matters, especially since the Celtics could have three draft
picks this year. Take away one bad deal and the Celtics have a core of
Pierce, Walker, and either Andre Miller or Shawn Marion.


3. Take 2, Save 1.


The Celtics have three first-rounders they can use, but they only need to
use two of them. There is one player in the draft who would immediately make
them better: Shane Battier.


''He would be perfect for us,'' Walker said. ''He can make shots, so teams
wouldn't be able to double me and Paul all the time.''


I love Battier. Put that guy in a zone defense and sleep peacefully for the
next 10 years. Only one problem: Battier may not slide to 10th, where the
Celtics will most likely pick. So they will be left with several picks for a
talent pool of decent players.


There is no need to exercise all the picks now. They can have Denver's
choice if they want it, but it makes more sense to hold it for later. For
the Nuggets to make the playoffs next season, one of the following teams has
to drop out of the Western Conference's top eight: San Antonio, Utah,
Dallas, Minnesota, the Lakers, Sacramento, Phoenix, Portland. Furthermore,
the Nuggets finished six games behind the Rockets - a team that won 45 games
and didn't qualify for the postseason.


Dan Issel currently leads a mutinous team captained by Nick Van Exel. Wait
them out. Things will certainly get worse.


4. Ownership.


No need to be wordy here: Please, Paul Gaston, sell the team whenever you
get a chance. Pretty please. The Celtics haven't made the playoffs since
1995, and even then they did so with 35 wins. That's not only the worst
record among the sports teams in town, it's the worst streak in the NBA (not
including Vancouver, which joined the league in the 1995-96 season).


5. The future of Jim O'Brien.


Talk about layups. He finished his shotgun Celtics marriage with a 24-24
record. In other words, he made the Celtics reach their potential. At best,
they were a .500 team. He also quickly grasped that he was leading
professionals. During sideline shots of O'Brien, the camera often caught him
squinting, as if he were looking over a parking lot trying to remember where
he left his car.


The Celtics need a coach like O'Brien. That shouldn't be in doubt. The only
question is what players O'Brien will wind up coaching.