Thoughts for next season

[Alexander Wang <awang@MIT.EDU>]

Improvement from our existing star players is still one of the greatest 
opportunities for this team to make the jump to the playoffs. I don't buy 
the argument that "Walker hasn't changed, he's never going to change." I do 
agree that you pretty much never see a flawed player make the jump to 
All-NBA status. On the other hand, these players often develop into 
All-Star caliber players on good teams. As Joe noted, Walker has improved 
aspects of his game over the years. Some examples of similar caliber 
players: Glenn Robinson evolved from a player who put up stats (while 
playing poor defense) for a bad team - essentially the Bucks a few years 
ago were similar to the Celtics today - to an All-Star on a conference 
contender. Jamal Mashburn could have been written off as completely dead a 
few years ago; he put up 20 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 5.4 apg for another conference 
contender in his eighth year in the league. Stackhouse has made a similar 
revival to become one of the league's top scorers, voted onto the All-Star 
team by the NBA coaches the last two years. I compare Mashburn and 
Stackhouse in particular because they're flawed in similar ways: 
inefficient on offense, not known for defense, unclear potential, but with 
big game potential and a multidimensional game. Walker's career after five 
years is better than either of those players' at the same point in their 
careers. I think he has more potential and I still think he can make the 
leap to being a solid All-Star. I'm hoping that working with Tim Grover has 
a lasting impact on his offseason training. I don't think he'll ever be a 
true superstar on the order of Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Garnett, etc., but I 
think that he can be a leader on a conference contending team, and perhaps 
a secondary player on a championship contending team.

Which brings me to Paul Pierce. Paul sustained some criticism on this list 
because he didn't make a huge jump from his rookie to sophomore year, 
especially in comparison to Vince Carter. This past year, he really did 
make that jump. He increased his FG% and 3pt FG% and was close to the 
league lead in getting to the line, all while shouldering a heavier load of 
the offense. When you factor in his 3 pointers and free throws, he was one 
of the most efficient and prolific scorers in the league, especially 
post-Pitino. I certainly can't say that I even hoped for a jump of that 
magnitude, especially after he got stabbed. This year, my biggest hope is 
that Paul can make the jump to dominating on both ends of the floor, in the 
way that Kobe has in recent years. I also hope that being surrounded by 
better talent will further increase his offensive efficiency by taking some 
of the scoring load off.

Alex