RE: The man in the middle

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

good points, roy, and I generally agree about blount.  But we are playing
much better with Vitaly in the middle too.  Who do you sit when Tony comes
back?

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Roy Enrile [SMTP:renrile@qualcomm.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, February 08, 2001 1:51 PM
> To:	celtics@igtc.com
> Subject:	The man in the middle
> 
> 
> 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.