Re: Kenny vs. Milt

[Alexander Wang <awang@MIT.EDU>]

At 01:01 PM 8/23/01, Jamey Rallis wrote:
>This was covered by many people last season, but I'll remind Alex anyway.
>It's more than numbers.
[cut]
>It's not always about numbers, sometimes you actually have to watch the
>game.

These are pretty obnoxious statements, Jamey. Just because I cite 
statistics in a post doesn't mean that I think they're all that matters or 
that I don't watch the games. I think that it's pretty obvious from my 
previous posts that I watch the games carefully.

Now, your post seems to miss the point of my original post, which is not 
that "Milt shouldn't have a job", but rather, Kenny still has something to 
contribute to this team, which you agree with later on in your post.

>How many games last year did Milt come in and turn a 10 pt 3rd quarter
>deficit into a 10 pt lead?  Or get some easy baskets in the 4th quarter?

>Milt pushes the ball hard up the court when he senses the defense is
>tired.  He goes hard from end to end, and he puts the ball up at the hoop.
>Everyone on the court has to realize that they have a few seconds to get
>their asses up the court to be part of the play, or they may as well not
>run at all. His teammates have to run to get their precious "touches", or
>to score points, and the defenders have to run to play some D, get some
>blocks and steals, keep from getting faced, etc. It all results in what
>Cousy complains about the C's lacking the most, easy baskets in the 2nd
>half.  Or is that Tommy.

I like the idea of having an up-tempo team. But how many easy buckets is 
Milt really getting per game? Well, less than three, because he only 
averages 6 ppg. The point is, the guy is not just a bad offensive halfcourt 
player, he's a bad offensive player period, by NBA standards. This sounds 
mean but it's actually not meant to be. The guy has made it to the NBA 
through hard work, he's getting paid 3rd string wages, and he puts in good 
effort. He helps the team because he plays defense and he pushes the tempo. 
I appreciate all that. But my point is that Kenny is a flat out better 
offensive player - shooting, getting to the hole under control, 
ball-handling, and passing - than Milt. Which is why he's going to still 
have a significant role on this team.

>Now it's tough to do all game long, it's tough to do in the first half,
>and it's not as effective on the road.  He also sucks when it's not
>working and he has to play 1/2 court offense, but then he can go hide.
>
>So if Kenny is playing 1/2 court well, they make a hell of a change of
>pace combo.  If Kenny would push the ball, Milt would be a castoff.  If
>they start Milt, and use Kenny mostly in the second half, I think it will
>be a disaster. But used as a fast break tempo guy in the 2nd half of
>games, I think it will work well.  Hell, start Walker as point forward
>with Forte or Johnson guarding the other point guard and leave Kenny out
>of it if need be, but use Milt in the one and only capacity he's good at.

I agree with all of this. Milt has a role on this team because he does do 
some things better. He can defend and playing with Antoine can cover up 
some deficiencies, and he's got the "upside" as Bill Bird mentioned. But as 
you've described, he's a marginal NBA player. Kenny's got his own role and 
his own problems too. I've watched Kenny ever since he's come to the 
Celtics, and yes, I wish he wouldn't walk it up the court so much, or fall 
in love with his own dribble in the halfcourt. And his defense is a 
problem. At the same time, he takes very good care of the ball. When 
healthy (or at least two years ago - maybe he's completely broken down now) 
he can get to the hole under control, in the halfcourt, sheerly from 
quickness and dribbling ability, which is something that Palacio still 
struggles with (the under control part). He actually hits Antoine with some 
nifty passes occasionally when he's posting up. And he can shoot the ball, 
which seems to be underrated on this list. Papile's a broken record about 
Jim O'Brien wanting shooters, but he needs it for spacing reasons. If you 
have two guys in the post, you need three shooters.

The suboptimal Kenny that everyone complains about averaged 14 ppg on a 
good shooting percentage, and from watching the games, this wasn't from 
walking up the court and jacking up 3's and taking it to the hole every 
time. Everyone says "shoot first" but he gave up the ball to Walker and 
Pierce, who still managed to score 20 ppg each with this "ballhog". From 
what I saw, he gave up the ball and took many of his shots on return passes 
off double teams or on set plays. He would take it to the hole when the 
offense stalled (and yeah, sometimes when he just felt like it). This team 
clearly needed more scoring from the 3-12 spots last year and it should get 
more from some combination of Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown, and Kenny Anderson.

Palacio, on the other hand, is never branded a "shoot first" point guard 
because he doesn't have the ability. If he ever averages 14 ppg, he really 
will be "Miracle Milt." But then again, he's not a "pass first" point guard 
either. Like Kenny, when he takes it to the hole, he doesn't dump it off, 
but in general he turns it over more. On the other hand, he pushes the ball 
up the court and plays defense and has Antoine to cover for his passing 
weaknesses, which is pretty good for a CBA pickup making sub-exception 
money. I'm glad to hear he's been working hard on his shooting too.

So, in summary, I think that both Kenny and Milt have something to bring to 
this team. I just think Milt is more appreciated for his limited 
contributions because he's a feel-good story who is making little money, 
whereas Kenny is an obnoxious underachiever to the point where many people 
want to cut him just to open a roster spot for Khalid El-Amin.

Alex