Playoffs, Cook, etc.

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

Some quick thoughts, because I haven't been able to post lately...

Very excited about the way the team is playing right now. The schedule was
tough, but they tightened things up, committed to defense and finished
strong. Three weeks ago, I thought the Celts looked like a group of players
satisfied to make the playoffs and be a first-round out. I don't see that
anymore. They seem to realize the East is there for the taking. Sure, they
could lose to Charlotte or Philly in the first round, but they also could
win the whole conference. 

I really believe the first-round series may be the toughest. Whichever team
they face, the opponent will have the advantages in terms of playoff
experience (HUGE factor in a short series) and size. Those are prominent
factors in the postseason. The experience factor really concerns me because
Philly and Charlotte will understand from the beginning the kind of
intensity needed in the playoffs. Teams making their first appearance in the
postseason often underestimate that intensity and don't adjust quickly
enough. If you don't adjust immediately in a five-game series, it can be
over quickly. If I were Jim O'Brien, this would cause some sleepless nights.
You can't gameplan for it. You can't prepare. You either adjust or you go
home.

Omar Cook... I'm happy to see it, but realistic about it. He really is like
a first-round pick this year, because if he had returned to St. John's, he
certainly would have been a first-rounder this year. He's my kind of point
guard-a natural floor general whose first, second and last instinct is to
get his teammates involved and get them the ball in positions where they can
be successful. He's the antithesis of what Obie seems to ask his point
guards to do in this system, because he's a lousy jump-shooter. If the Celts
are just going to ask him to bring the ball across half-court, hand it to
Antoine and spot up, just cut him now.

I think most fans are underestimating the fundamental change in approach
that fully implementing a Cook-type point guard would demand. It's the
difference between the Nets and the Celts, offensively. One is open-court,
free-wheeling, open-space, find-the-open-man offense. The other is
half-court, one-on-one, penetrate-and-dish. Vastly different. That's why I'm
not so sure a guy like Cook will ever get a real chance to succeed. I can't
see Obie changing the offensive approach like that. Even though the Celts
seem to be at their best when Kenny is free-wheeling and setting up the
others, Obie still limits those opportunities in favor of the
"give-it-to-Antoine" approach. So I like Cook as a prospect and I love the
kind of game he plays, but I'm not convinced he'll ever get a chance to play
that game in Boston.

As for what it says about Forte... I think that's obvious. They want to give
Cook a chance to become Kenny's successor, so he gets a summer and a season
to see if he can do it. The amazing thing is, in the role the point guard
plays in this offense, Forte probably has a better chance to succeed. I'm
not saying Forte is a point guard by any stretch of the imagination, but
could he eventually become a Milt Palacio-type, with a better jumper? Maybe.
Cook never is going to be a good shooter. Anyway, it's obvious the
braintrust has no faith in Forte, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see
him moved in a Moiso-like deal this summer.

Finally, if Pierce, Kenny and the other regulars play more than token
minutes tonight, O'Brien should be forced to coach the game with game film
from his final season at Dayton playing on the Jumbotron. Get them in, get
them out. Don't risk injuries in a truly meaningless game. Stick the scrubs
out there. Big servings of Blount, McCarty and Kedrick Brown, please. No
injuries!

Mark