Re: astute analysis by BSG, addressing Mark's point

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    I was tempted to blame Pierce's second half shooting pct. slump to the
"Kenny effect", recalling the "Ron Mercer effect" where Pierce stopped getting
the ball where he wanted and became a wallflower. Walker has fallen from 7
assists to more like 3 assists per game in the second half with Kenny's return.
That's not to say there is any clear cause and effect, but Pierce and Walker
were at their best when they were playing a two-man passing  game. Walker
probably had an empty tank last night (2-10 on threes), but he at least went 9-9
from the line and got the double-double.

    If nothing else, Walker's three-point shooting form strengthens the familiar
if mostly baseless Magic analogy. They both lobbed similar-looking set shots
that were deceptively accurate, both were tall but very aggressive dribblers who
could go end-to-end off their own defensive rebound. I would like Walker to run
the offense, traditional point guards like Kenny or Herren be damned. It just
seems to get Walker hyped up and more productive all around. I think we miss
Randy Brown as much as we miss Battie, to the degree that Brown could seal the
defensive perimeter and knew his role on offense.

    Walker is our power forward, but that's mainly by default. If we can draft a
Eddie Griffin or get Moiso to have a breakout sophomore year, then I think the
team would benefit in won-loss even more than if we find immediate upgrades at
point guard or even center (not that that would be so bad either). Walker
doesn't seem like a longterm answer at power forward, where you really need an
automatic basket in the paint type of lowpost threat. His 2-point FG% is
extremely low for that position.

---------

OzerskyJA wrote:

> Unfortunately, O'Brien simplified the offense so much (and yes, it was
> necessary) that teams finally figured out what the Celtics are doing
> offensively. Portland and Utah exposed how to stop the Celts... and it's
> very simple:
>
> -A. Put a bigger body on Pierce (like Detlef Schrempf or Donyell Marshall in
> the past two games) so he can't sneak down low (for quick post-ups on
> over-the-top entry passes from Walker).
>
> -B. Double-team Pierce whenever he's facing the basket. Don't worry about
> letting Williams, Stith, Anderson and Palacio shoot open jumpers because
> they usually won't make them.
>
> -C. Bring Potapenko/Blount's man over to double-team Walker every time he
> drives to the basket (that's why Twan has been shooting so many threes
> lately). [italics mine]
>
> -D. Make Pierce and Walker work defensively, post them up and try to get
> them in foul trouble.
>
> Looks pretty simple on paper -- shackle the big guns and make the supporting
> cast beat you. How can O'Brien counter it? Without a third scoring option,
> his hands are tied; all he can do is emphasize defense and pushing the ball
> upcourt on fast breaks. But if the C's keep doing those things and somehow
> keep getting 50-55 a night from Walker and Pierce, they'll be okay. Whatever
> happens this week, they still surpassed that initial "Thriving with the new
> coach" stage by surprising Portland and Seattle last week -- two quality
> wins by a team that's playing defense as well as any Celtics team since the
> '93 group.