"To the point."

[Jim Metz <JBMetzEA@AOL.com>]

Title: "To the point."

   One of the most obvious and least talked about aspects of the change in coaches last season was the movement away from Walker as our go-to player. As the O'Brien regime unfolded, it became Pierce who was the fourth quarter, money player and with some success. The great run we made, right after Pitino left, was on the back of Paul.
   With all of the talk of simplifying the defensive assignments, shortening the rotation to solidify the roles  and eliminating the "headless chicken" press, it was this turn to Pierce, that i remember most, from the change.
   This could happen, seemingly, only when the offense was turned over to Antoine. There were lots of complaints that Anderson at the point, was ignoring Pierce. The other point guards seemingly didn't have the passing skills to make any impression.
   It was Walker who found Pierce over and over, to bring out Paul's talent and penchant for making the big shots. 
   Why didn't this run continue? Why did we lose that home game to indiana and that horible game against Charlotte(80-79), when we had the lead for that 8th playoff spot? We had won 5 in a row, going into Charlotte and after those losses, we went 3-6 the rest of the way to fall out of contention.
   In those two games we shot very poorly, as a team. Pierce went 3-19 in Charlotte and 8-23 against Indiana. Did the league figure us out? Did the law of averages fall on us? Would a real point guard and a third scoring option have put us over the top? One can complain that a player who shoots 8-23, should not go 3-19 the next game, he should pass a bit more and look for the hot hand, but Walker was already shooting over 20 times a game and Stith shot 1-10 against Charlotte.  
   There were a few players that could put the ball in the hole. Potapenko shot 6-7 against Charlotte and Blout went 5-7 against Indiana. Both teams, seemingly, were not guarding our centers, to focus on Pierce and Walker.
   We have hopefully drafted a few players who can shoot the ball. I am more enthused about Joseph Forte than most who saw him. As the summer league progressed and El-Amin became the focus of our offense, Forte was getting several open looks per game, well within his range. 
   The aspect that still scares the hell out of me is the lack of a true point guard. A great one will make evryone else around him better, without one, we could become the poster children for the "Saturday Night Live" skit on the "Bickerer's." 
   I wish I had faith in Walker as the distributor, but I don't. I hope Joe Johnson can step in and be an NBA point guard right off the bat, but it seems way too much to ask of a rookie who hadn't played the position  for 4 years.
   C'mon Chriss Wallace, lets, see that bold move. We trade Randy Brown, Stith and a future #1, or whatever it takes. 

   
-JB-

                                                                                

                                                                                                                               Unchain My Heart!