re: Eric Williams

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

>  From: Roy Enrile <renrile@qualcomm.com>
>
> I think the paragraph below was dead on, except for one thing... the three
> rooks look alot MORE polished than E.W.

Hmmm.  I see how you could say Joe Johnson (with his smooth, fluid, 
unselfish game -- this I get from the one televised summer league game and 
reports of his college career) and Joe Forte (from most accounts of North 
Carolina) are more polished than EW, but K. Brown looks more talented and 
raw than polished.  Plus, EW is canny about playing inside offensively 
(your point about not being afraid of contact below, though maybe you only 
meant defensively) and, if the "defensive stopper" role was his idea or he 
had a willing part in it then you could say that it took some 
NBA-savviness.  It's kind of a semantic point, though -- clearly all three 
of these rookies could end up better NBA players than Eric Williams.  I 
sure hope so.

> There are a few positives to Williams:
> -He's always been in great shape his second time around with Boston.

This is true.

> -He's not afraid of contact(charges), and always hustles.

Yeah, he's often the only Celtic on the floor doing those things, and I 
think the team needs it, but I  don't know if that would outweigh EW's 
other shortcomings.  The team often seems to acquire players who are good 
at a few minor (but important things) but don't have near a complete 
package (I'm not talking Larry Bird or Magic Johnson "complete package" -- 
more like a "Joe Johnson if he reaches 66% of his potential complete 
package").  We need guys who can put a bunch of good skills together, 
because  the C's often didn't seem like they had a good cross section of 
NBA-level skills out there last year.

> -Trying to fit the role of defensive stopper/motivator on this team is a
>  smart, well intentioned idea.

That the teams needs one I won't deny, but I don't think EW's the right 
guy for the job.  Still, it's pretty smart of him to reinvent himself if 
that's in fact what he's done.  These are the swingmen types on the roster 
now:

Eric Williams
Kedrick Brown
Joe Johnson
Paul Pierce
Roshown MacLeod
Walter McCarty
J. Forte

That's a lot of guys, and one or two would be stashed on IR, but who would 
you give the most minutes to?  You gotta give Pierce and Johnson the bulk 
of them, right?  I'd want to see what Brown can do, so I'd give him almost 
as much as Johnson, and from there the talent dropoff is killer, unless 
Joe Forte can contribute meaningfully this season. EW is probably the next 
guy up if he doesn't jump ahead of Brown in Obie's game plan.  I might go 
with McCarty instead: Waltah did have that good season the first year, he 
might fit in well.  MacLeod is a big question mark -- two of the the 
McCarty/MacLeod/Forte triumvirate will be on the disabled list.  I've got 
a bad feeling Obie gives big minutes to EW and I think guys like K. Brown 
and Forte need to beat him out for playing time.  I'd rather see those 
guys on the court anyway.

(The Celtic "Tird",
  Celticus "tirdius")