Thoughts from the game

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

Some general observations first... Was this the seventh game of the Finals
and I wasn't told? Is that why Obie coached it that way? The first preseason
game and Walker and Pierce play 37 minutes each and the rotation looks like
it will in the dog days of February? Four minutes each for Brown and Forte?
None for Herren?... Ugly game. Both teams looked sloppy and sluggish and
shot poorly... The Hornets played their bench a lot of minutes, so Celtic
starters spent plenty of time against Bryce Drew, Derrick Coleman and Matt
Bullard.

More specifically:

Rebounding... Not as bad as I expected, but not as good as the numbers
indicate. The Hornets shot miserably, so there were a lot of defensive
rebound opportunities. The Hornets still managed about 14 offensive
rebounds, which is too many. Plus, Celtic starters were playing quite a bit
against Hornet reserves. Paul Silas didn't get the memo about this being a
playoff game. Battie was the team's best rebounder, which was good to see.
Celts were pretty active on the offensive boards themselves. I'd say overall
this was a push, which is a victory for the Celts against a bigger team.

Defense... Not bad, except for the truly terrible stretch at the start of
the second half. I thought they did a pretty decent job on the defensive
end. Toine had six steals, repeatedly taking advantage of Derrick Coleman's
unwillingness to seal Toine off in the post.

Style of play... Pretty much the same. They tried to run more early, and had
some success. Eventually settled into the same half-court, no ball-movement
offense we've seen before. Except for Eric Williams, they think "running the
floor" means "jogging the floor."

Now the players (keep in mind all these evaluations are made knowing it is
the first preseason game and don't mean much in and of themselves):

Pierce... Not a good game. Sloppy with the ball, poor shot selection and
generally just out of synch.

Walker... Mixed bag. His shot selection was still terrible, but he did try
to push the ball and get others involved at times. Still was 1-for-6 on
3-pointers, and I wasn't a big fan of many of those shots. Will have to pick
up the pace to break his own record for three-point attempts in a season
(think about that). Most encouraging sign-he attacked the basket enough to
get to the line for six FTs. 

Kenny... Same old, same old. I know some have posted that he pushed the ball
more, but a couple of possessions in the first five minutes don't mean much.
On the whole, he's the same guy. He even sat on the bench rubbing his jaw.
Just like last year.

Eric Williams... When everyone says the team tried to run, what we really
should say is Eric tried to run. He was the lead guy on almost every break
and did a good job slashing to the basket. If he played like that, in
limited minutes, he'd have some value. But when he plays big minutes, his
faults (especially rebounding) are really exposed. I'm not a fan of his at
all, but this was EW at his best last night. Disappeared when the team
stopped pushing the ball.

Vitaly... Not good at all. Missed too many easy shots, as usual. Not a big
factor on the boards. Hit a couple of nice face-up jumpers.

Battie... Most pleasant surprise of the night. A real factor on the boards
(9 rebounds). Non-factor offensively and didn't stand out defensively, but
at least he rebounded. The fact that his 5 points and 9 rebounds looked
drastically better than any of the centers may say more about the other
centers than anything else. Never been a big Battie fan, but he was the best
of the three-headed monster. Finally played some power forward, but only
when Toine was out of the game. How about a Toine-Tony-Vitaly/Blount
frontcourt Obie?

Blount... Non-factor. Didn't do much in any phase. Needs to run the floor
and block shots to be effective, and he did neither. Rebounded like he
always does-not well.

McCarty... Typical. Effort was there, execution wasn't. Joe suggested he got
the minutes because Obie is evaluating him for the 12th spot on the active
roster. I don't think so. I think he got the minutes because Obie plans to
use him just like he used him last night. The injured list pretty obviously
is Randy Brown, Roshown McLeod and Herren, if he isn't released.

Palacio... Likes to shoot too much. His first possession, he brought the
ball up the court and never looked to pass. Drove in and missed a shot.
Didn't push the ball like I remember. Only PG who could match up at all with
Baron Davis (but there aren't that many in the league who can hold their own
with Davis). He did hit three nice jumpers, so he's improving that part of
his game. But he's not Eric Snow, like the Celtics wanted everyone to
believe.

Now, the rookies. First, let me say again that treating this game like a
playoff game is silly and counterproductive. All these guys should have
gotten more time. 

Johnson... Don't know if it was nervousness, but he didn't play well. He's
another guy who seemed out of synch-pushing when he should have pulled back,
pulling back when he should have pushed. Couldn't hit a shot. Just didn't do
much.

Kedrick... What can you say about four minutes? Looks good in the uniform.

Forte... OK, I'm going to rant a little. Joe Forte isn't a point guard. He
never has been a point guard. He's suddenly going to become one in one NBA
camp? I'd compare him to Chauncey Billups, except Billups played plenty of
point guard in college (although he primarily was a shooting guard). Forte
played point guard during his four minutes last night and didn't look good.
His first possession ended in a 24-second violation and he didn't seem
comfortable at all bringing the ball up against pressure. He couldn't get
rid of it fast enough. Now, having said all that, I don't blame him. Even
when the "braintrust" was talking about Forte playing point guard, they
always said it would be only on the defensive end while Toine played PG on
offense. That wasn't the case last night. He's not a point guard. Period. Of
course, he's not physically big enough to play shooting guard. Heck, he
wasn't physically big enough to play point guard against Baron Davis.
Apparently Forte is going to make Chris Herren expendable, which is fine
because in Kenny, Milt and Antoine we already have three lousy point guards
even if Forte can't handle it. But right now, Herren, limited as he is, runs
rings around Forte as a point guard. If Forte ends up being the player
Chauncey is, I'll be stunned. Chauncey at least had an NBA body. Forte
doesn't. He's one of those undersized shooting guards that NBA teams always
try to turn into point guards. I thought so before the draft, and I still
believe it.

Final thought... The team looked like the team that finished last season,
minus Bryant Stith but plus Kenny and Battie. The net effect seemed pretty
much the same to me. Anyone expecting drastic improvement from the rookies
is looking in the wrong place. If this team is going to improve, it's going
to be because Battie plays better. 

Mark