The man in the middle

[Roy Enrile <renrile@qualcomm.com>]

Antoine, Paul, and Obrien are going to get so much limelight for all of
these great wins, but I think the most important factor has been Mark
Blount.  Here's some reasons why.

The C's started winning, when he started getting his minutes.  Without him
getting stops, they wouldn't be close in most of these games.

His numbers aren't impressive, which is why he won't get much press.  But
we've waited more than a decade to have a center who makes people
take bad shots in the lane, erase failed double teams, and cover up
for our average perimeter defenders.  You can see certain Pistons and
Bucks for example were intimidated by him.

He actually shows some upside on offense.  Has some coordination running
the break, can make a double clutch shot inside, or go straight up for the
dunk when someone finds him.  And on rare occaisions, Obie actually runs
a few 1st option post-up plays for he and Vitaly (good idea).

Barkley and announcers are questioning why the C's wouldn't play this well
for Pitino.  I say it's partly because Obrien lets the players be more
comfortable playing, but mostly because the big defender in the middle can
exponentially affect a teams win/loss record.