RE: After sleeping on it, some draft thoughts...(very long)

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

I wonder if it will screw up the chemistry to have
two more gifted shooter-scorers on the team?  Even
Milwaukee basically only has three major shooters on
the floor at the same time.

-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 4:03 PM
To: 'Cecil Wright'; Berry, Mark S; celtics@igtc.com
Subject: RE: After sleeping on it, some draft thoughts...(very long)


Good points, Cecil. Philly probably wasn't the perfect example, but I guess
I'm just pointing out how differently the rosters are constructed. Philly
has centers and power forwards who can play, and role players at the swing
positions. But you're right, not a perfect example.

The zone defense thing is a real mystery. Can you disguise some individual
defensive weaknesses with a zone? Sure. But teams that play a lot of zone
typically struggle to rebound defensively, and that's already a Celtic
weakness. On the other hand, with our draft picks I expect the Celtics to
become a pretty good offensive rebounding team. Johnson and Brown should be
above-average rebounders for their size and positions, and Forte is a
monster rebounder for his size. I can see all of those guys slashing in for
offensive rebounds against "zone" defenses.

Hey, the positions will sort themselves out. I expect the team to see the
need for a monster post guy, but maybe I'm wrong. I'm looking forward to
seeing all of these guys. The summer league can't get here soon enough for
me.

Mark

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Cecil Wright [mailto:cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca] 
Sent:	Thursday, June 28, 2001 8:03 PM
To:	Berry, Mark  S; celtics@igtc.com
Subject:	Re: After sleeping on it, some draft thoughts...(very long)

Hi Mark,

The only issue I take with you post, which I found agreement in much of it,
is the part about the construction of the Sixers and the reasons for their
success.

Mohammed, McCullough and Geiger have played about 3 minutes for them in
total over the last couple years.  I do understand your point about needing
some bangers in order to be successful, but I don't buy the Philly
reference.

Over the past few years, when Iverson has gone down, it has been McKie and
Snow who have come to the rescue as much as, if not more than the players
you mentioned.

Ideally, we need a tough interior defender but with the new rule changes and
the advent to zones, I don't know that it will be as imperative as before.

Surely, Paul Pierce will now be a 2 for most of the time which hopefully
will be less arduous on his body and allow him to blossom.

Cecil



----- Original Message -----
From: "Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 7:19 AM
Subject: After sleeping on it, some draft thoughts...(very long)


> OK, here goes...
>
> I'm pleased with all three picks because I do believe that each guy was
the
> best player available at that point. You can't go wrong taking the best
> player. Let's look at each one:
>
> Joe Johnson... A no-brainer. I was sitting there hoping to hear Battier
and
> Diop go before the Celts simply because I'm not sold on Battier being more
> than a solid role player and because I don't think the Celts would have
> taken Diop. If Diop had slid instead of Johnson, I think we might have
seen
> a Troy Murphy or VladRad, and I didn't want that. Funny how we kept
hearing
> about guys who were climbing into the top 10, but the top 10 players were
> the same group everyone expected a month ago.
>
> Kedrick Brown... Who knows? The highlights looked good. I like everything
> the Celtics are saying about him. He excites me more than anyone in that
> next tier-Murphy, VladRad, Richard Jefferson, etc. We'll just have to wait
> and see. Some of the things I like about both Johnson and Brown... neither
> of them fall into that "need to hit the weight room" category-the have the
> bodies for the NBA right now; both seem to be good complementary players
who
> don't need to be the focal point of the offense; both have the size to
> succeed-no 'tweeners here.
>
> Joe Forte... OK, I've made it clear how much I fear undersized shooting
> guards. They hardly ever work. Forte is a little short (not quite 6-4) and
> not especially strong or athletic to make up for his lack of size. Having
> said that, I think he probably was the best player on the board. I was
> hoping for one of the big guys, but Woods slid so far, you have to think
> there's something going on there. I also was excited about Tony Parker,
but
> it's hard to argue with Forte. I think Kenny Smith made a great point that
> he's going to a team where he can play off of Pierce, Walker and others.
> That's a huge advantage, because at his size, he's not going to be a guy
to
> carry a team. One thing I love about him-he seems oblivious to the 3-point
> line when he's on the floor. I love that mid-range game.
>
> Having said all that, as a group, what do we have? Too many 2/3 men. This
> has to mean no more Stith, Griffin or Carr, which is fine. But we still
have
> Eric Williams and Walter McCarty under contract and playing those spots,
as
> well as Pierce (I'll get to Toine in a minute). Plus, we have Kenny, Randy
> Brown and Palacio under contract at the point.
>
> This team is the smallest, weakest in the league. The center-by-committee
is
> terrible. Let's stop kidding ourselves. It's awful. The only true power
> forward on the roster is Moiso, and it doesn't matter because this draft
> just locked Antoine Walker into the power forward spot. My dreams of ever
> seeing him at small forward are over, because some combination of
> Pierce/Johnson/K.Brown are always going to be at small forward. That means
> Toine at power forward all the time (except when he's playing point
guard).
> A PF-C combo of Toine and Battie/Pot/Blount is going to get murdered. The
> Celtics like to say they're modeling after Sacramento and Milwaukee, but
> Sacramento, despite all the flash, has Divac and Webber up front.
Milwaukee
> has Ervin Johnson, who, as pedestrian as he is, still is better than
anyone
> on the Celtics' roster. And they recognized the need to improve there when
> they made the move for Przyzbilla last year. For a look at different
> philosophies in building a team, look at Philly. Iverson, technically, is
a
> 2-guard, but outside of him, their 2/3 guys are role players-McKie, Lynch,
> Jumaine Jones. But they stockpile big people-Mutombo, Geiger, Ty Hill,
> McCullough, and before that, Ratliff and Nazr Mohammed. The Celtics
probably
> think they can run with their new guys, but you have to rebound to run,
and
> they will be among the 2-3 worst rebounding teams in the league.
>
> My problem isn't with the draft, because the Celtics got three talented
> players. My problem is with the way this team is coming together. It's not
> sexy, but you need big people to win in the NBA. Papile says the league is
> dominated by the Kobes and McGradys and Carters, but look more closely...
> Kobe has Shaq, McGrady's Magic were middle of the road because they lacked
> size, and Carter's Raptors would be lost without Antonio Davis and Charles
> Oakley.
>
> I think the Celtics will learn this during the upcoming season and sort it
> out eventually. Which brings me to my last point: Last night's draft
> signaled the eventual end of Antoine Walker's days as a Celtic. It's clear
> he's not going to ever be a small forward in Boston, and they're going to
> discover they need, as Josh says, "an animal" up front, either at center
or
> power forward. Might they dangle some of the swingmen like Johnson or
> Kedrick Brown? Maybe, but that means Toine stays at PF and they're
dangling
> those guys for a center. Good luck. Power forwards are easier to come by.
> You know who would be perfect? Jermaine O'Neal. I know it won't happen,
but
> a Toine for O'Neal and (pick one) Harrington/Croshere/Bender/Tinsley/Best
> deal would be great for the Celts.
>
> So, I'm happy with the three picks, but I think the Celtics are going to
be
> disappointed in their improvement in the upcoming season. I think the
Hawks
> have eclipsed them in the East, and the Wizards could do the same if
Jordan
> comes back. I think we're in for one more non-playoff season before we
fine
> tune this improving roster by adding the big men we need. Of course, that
> outlook could change dramatically if they make a bold move over the
summer.
>
>  Mark
>