RE: Walker...

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Josh O. wrote: 
"Bottom line: if we had played all season the way we have since O'Brien took
over, we would be 2nd in the conference now, or first. Maybe that can happen
next year." 

Josh, I love your optimism, but this is the kind of thinking that will keep
this team mired in mediocrity. The Celtics are about where they should be.
They quit on Pitino and underachieved early in the season. They overachieved
when O'Brien took over--the typical new coach factor. Now they're settling
in. The only reason they're still in the playoff hunt is Isiah Thomas has
proven to be one of the worst coaches in the NBA. How can a team with Jalen
Rose, Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal, Austin Croshere, Travis Best, Al
Harrington, Sam Perkins, Derrick McKie and Jonathan Bender be so lousy? Did
anyone with League Pass happen to watch the end of last night's Indy-NY
game? Some of the worst end-game coaching I've ever seen.

Anyway, if the Celtics go into this offseason thinking all they need is a
defensive-minded point guard with size (Alvin Williams?) and they'll
suddenly be competing with Philly, Milwaukee, NY, Miami and the other top
teams in the East, they're deluding themselves. The Celts got 66 points from
their two best players and held the Bucks' two all-stars to 24. And the
Celtics still lost. At home. I think that's pretty eye-opening.

This thinking that the Celtics can't do better than Battie/Potapenko/Blount
that seems so prevalent is baffling me. Any of the three would be a decent
backup center. None of them qualifies as an NBA starter. O'Brien can talk
about all of them bringing different things to the table, but until he finds
a way to fuse them together, that means nothing to me. Vitaly can bang...
but he has bad hands and can't block shots. Battie can score and block
shots... but he only does it when the spirit moves him and he plays soft
against stronger players. Blount can block shots... but he can't rebound or
score. The Celtics are at a disadvantage in some facet of the game when any
of these guys is on the floor. There are ways to get better, but you have to
be aggressive. Maybe it involves trading up in the draft. Maybe it means
going hard after Antonio Davis in a sign-and-trade. Maybe it means taking a
chance on a young guy with potential who hasn't put it together yet
(Olowokandi, etc.). Whatever. But I hope whoever is calling the shots
doesn't sit there and say "we'll never be able to improve upon
Battie/Potapenko/Blount." What a depressing thought.

The Celtics don't need a Jamal Tinsley? They need talent wherever they can
get it, and point guard is as glaring a need as any. Would that take some of
the ball-handling duties off Toine? Let's hope so! Maybe then he'd get back
to playing physical basketball and taking high-percentage shots.

This team's needs? Starting center, power forward and point guard, another
scorer (maybe the C/PF/PG will take care of that), and a new bench. And
unless they shift Toine to SF, they'll need another SF or 2-guard. Other
than that, they're set.

Mark