Re: Thoughts from the game

["Josh O." <igtcjosh@yahoo.com>]

Wow.


--- "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG> wrote:
> 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
> 
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