Re: Callahan on Baker

["Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

No let's not treat Vinny this way. Let's play him lot's more and lose some
games. The Country's in an excuse making mood these days, let's ad Vinny to
the group. I was in the National Guard, not the Marines, so I'd be more
gentle on him, maybe out a bus window. Gimme the word and I'll call Tony
Soprano.

DanF

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kestutis Kveraga" <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 3:10 PM
Subject: Re: Callahan on Baker


> --- You wrote:
> I doubt very much that Battie is as talented as Baker even at this stage
of
> their careers, yet Battie plays the position perfectly.  If the coaching
> staff would sit Baker down and show him the difference between how he is
> playing and how Battie plays, maybe a lightbulb would go off somewhere.
> In the meantime I wish people would stop making excuses for the guy.  His
> problems are his problems...not the coaches, not his teammates, not the
> referee's.
> --- end of quote ---
>
> Unfortunately, his problems are also our problems as Celtics fans. It's
amusing
> to read the predictable G. Gordon Liddy-esque pronouncements from the
usual
> suspects  -"He's done. Bench him. Shoot him. He's trash. He's crap. Turn
him
> over". I guess it makes those people feel like they're no-nonsense, tough
guys
> who could command a Marine division while sitting at the keyboard in their
> living room.  Do you really think that this is the most productive
approach to
> this problem? We can't dump him like a Mark Blount or a Jerome Moiso. He's
not
> on a 10-day contract. If we could ever trade him and not lose in the deal,
it
> would be when he's playing a lot better than he is now.  Even so, knowing
the
> trading skills of our BDT, it would likely be for somebody worse than we
have -
> some certified, overpaid cancer.  At least Vinnie is just a grossly
overpaid
> non-contributor. I haven't seen anything about him being a disraction for
the
> Celtics (yet).
>
> I'm not interested in finding excuses for Vinnie's play, nor in bashing
him.
> What I am interested in is understanding why he's playing the way he's
playing,
> precisely because we're stuck with him for years.  The only people who win
from
> bashing Baker are the media and the Celtics' competition. Regardless of
whether
> Callahan is right in this case, it's indisputable that he's a certified,
> card-carrying a**hole who thrives on negativity, always has. Vescey and
May
> have nothing on him.
>
> Anyway, I don't think Vinnie has lost it physically/athletically. Nor is
it
> likely that his skills have eroded. Procedural skills, such as low-post
moves
> and shooting don't just go away suddenly unless you have neurological
damage.
> If you once knew how to shoot, how to swim, how to ride a bicycle, you
could
> still do these things 10, 20, 30 years later even if you never shot, swam,
or
> biked in all these years.
>
> Likewise, I don't think low-post play has been completed negated in
today's
> NBA. All the decent centers and PFs are still effective in the low post.
Thus,
> it seems to me that, if the coaching staff could figure out how to use
him, he
> should still be effective for us. I wonder if watching old game tapes of
Vinnie
> in games where he was effective would give the coaching staff a clue on
how to
> get him going.  But mostly, I'd really like to know what Obie thinks of
the
> situation. Is he bringing Baker along according to some master plan, and
Vinnie
> is  just in some initial stage of it now? Or is Obie just as befuddled as
most
> fans are about how to help Vinnie? Vinnie always seems very rushed, out of
> sync, just plain confused. I wish the Celtics had some blowouts where
Vinnie
> would get to play for long stretches without worrying about the
consequences so
> much. I remember Rogers and Delk being confused and tentative initially.
For
> Delk, it lasted the remainder of the season, but look at him now. Sure,
unlike
> R & D, Vinnie's been through the training camp, but maybe he just needs
more
> time.
>
> Kestas