DOB of the three Celtics rookies

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

None of these guys are legal drinking age, but I am!  I'm going to enjoy 
the sunny day here with a big cohiba cigar.

Joe Johnson
June 29, 1981

Joe Forte
March 23, 1981

Kedrick Brown
March 18, 1981

Let's wish Joe Johnson a happy 20th birthday tomorrow.

In case no one else remarks on it, all three of our draftees, interestingly 
enough, are accomplished free throw shooters for their age (75% or above 
career shooters).

That's one small signal of their commitment to the game as well as natural 
shooting eye, I would think.

Brown and Forte actually look to be up in the 80% range on free throws 
during their pro careers.

It's going to take tons of patience obviously, these kids are going to look 
ridiculous at first even against perimeter athletic teams we theoretically 
match up well against like Milwaukee, NY, Orlando etc. Those saavy veterans 
have so many more hours of "flight time" under their belts.

But at least Boston already have two elite, fearless scorers on the verge 
of breakout seasons. The kids will start helping a few years later, I think.

As for next year, I believe they might strengthen our defense and maybe at 
least hit the open jumper off of drive-and-dishes.  They could also score 
some exciting transition points if we go back to beating zone defenses 
through the fast break. By "go back" I mean go back around thirty years to 
the Auerbach era.

A team like Boston is a perfect experiment for running the break through 
passing and athleticism rather than point guard dribbling. I'd like to see 
Walker, Forte and Johnson pushing the ball straight off a defensive rebound 
rather than looking to outlet to Kenny.

Also, who knows how long the zone rule will stay in place (it might be a 
flop). So I feel better getting great athletes who can shoot, as opposed to 
great shooters who are adequate athletes. We had the second option in this 
draft (legitimate upside players like Radman and Murphy) but I prefer the 
one we chose.

The big issue that was left unaddressed is team rebounding, but all three 
draftees are plus rebounders for their projected positions (Joe Forte is an 
outstanding rebounder for his size at over 6 per game). You might even say 
it's his "Forte". ;-)

I'm not saying better rebounding from the smaller guys is going to solve 
our rebounding woes though. DJ and Ainge were great and consistent 
rebounders out of the backcourt, and that helped considerably. Shotblocking 
is enough of a concern that I expected Boston would look hard at Loren 
Woods at #21 over a third shooting guard. Again, I admire Wallace/Papile 
for going with "BPA". I've never seen a case where a team didn't eventually 
profit from that approach.

Boston has a flawed team, but with possible strengths that few teams have. 
I believe there was no way to address our flaws through this draft without 
trading one of our two proven commodities for an additional top-3 pick. To 
me it seemed to be the WRONG moment to trade off on that downside risk. 
Walker or Pierce for Tyson Chandler? Walker or Pierce for Pau Gasol?

Everyone is free to whine but I think we did good. Time will tell, but say 
one of our three 20-year-olds evolves into a Shawn Marion or Vince Carter, 
we'll have a new "big three" era. A different one from the last time, to be 
sure, but one with the potential to really bring some pride back to our town.

I believe that Red Auerbach could mold something out of this roster and the 
new NBA rules. And by the sounds of it, Obie-won seems downright giddy to 
have this coaching opportunity.

No doubt Poultrino is off somewhere muttering: "if I had these kinds of 
athletes, my patented headless chicken outbreak system would have worked in 
the NBA." Could be. Oh well. ;-)

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