Re: Bremer makes his move

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

I felt a slight urge to punch Obie in the stomach for 
putting three garbage time players in there from the 
second period on. But, I admit, he had reason to be 
unhappy with his starters.

Donyell's eyes lit up every time he saw Sundov guarding 
him. It was "Mahshall, Mahshall, Mahshall" from exactly 
that point on. 

The Bulls did a good job of swallowing up Pierce and 
Walker every time they touched the ball. JR Bremer makes 
life nearly impossible for the captains, because he can't 
hit the open three and he has no court vision or mindset 
to pass. 

JR's forte on offense is driving to the basket for layups 
and fouls, but that's getting in the way of what the 
captains are supposed to do. And Toine and Pierce can 
both pass effectively off the dribble, as veterans are 
supposed to be able to do, whereas JR is locked in on 
getting a quick layup or foul. He's pretty good at that, 
though.

Also, Bremer's defensive reaction time and positioning 
seem outstanding, don't you guys think? Based on his 
jumpshot and his ballhawking, he reminds me of Quinn 
Buckner. I won't overlook the fact, either, that he held 
his own against the second player picked in the NBA 
draft. 

Nevertheless, the boxscore was truly kind to Boston. 
Antoine took some of the worst shots I've seen in the NBA 
all year. Pierce forced even more terrible shots and 
survived only on the generous ref calls off of mostly 
sloppy forays into traffic. I had a feeling there would 
be an unexpected backlash of sympathy for Paul from the 
refs. Its a good sign, if this continues. Paul needs to 
keep acting like a aggrieved saint, and not tick off the 
refs. Its Walker's chosen role to plead with and try to 
inform the refs. Let him be the lightning rod.

The Bulls (4-1 on this homestand) played excellent 
defense IMO. It was only their offensive inexperience 
that kept the game from extended garbage time. I believe 
Boston was stuck around 45 points halfway through the 
third quarter. This would have been a 30-point deficit 
against a quality opponent like the Nets. 

A pivotal moment in comebacks is when a team closes to 
within a basket. If they break the tie and take a lead at 
that stage, 90% of the time that's all she wrote. I told 
my wife its not enough that we came back with so much 
time left, you HAVE to take the lead here.

I notice that Obie rarely relies on the timeout as a 
momentum or game-management tool. He's very laissez-
faire. Against an unsure team like the Bulls, I wish Obie 
had taken a timeout after the Bulls finally scored.

With eight minutes left, a timeout would have been a good 
reminder to the players to say "check out the 
scoreboard". It was now a close ballgame, against a 
beatable team, with eight-and-a-half minutes left. Not 
only did the team need to compose themselves and get a 
second wind, they needed to delete from memory the first 
three quarters of sloppy play. 

It was a new ball game, thanks to the Bulls inability to 
put us away. The Celtics didn't need to play frenetic and 
desperate comeback ball anymore. They just needed to play 
smart the remainder of the way, like they have all year.

Also I wish Shammond had gotten out of Obie's doghouse at 
that stage, so the Celtics could have their usual spacing 
that allows the captains to get down to business like 
they do.

Its a shame to lose, because we won't get a chance to 
play these guys again until next season. I'm not pleased 
we lost, but sometimes a team just deserves it. And the 
Bulls honestly deserved to win.

Obie must have been really upset with his starters to put 
Kedrick, Sundov and Bremer in there all at once in the 
second period. Those guys hadn't played all year in the 
eight-man rotation. 

It was like Obie was offering the Bulls a chance to play 
our JV team. It must have come as a surprise to them. 

Its very strange how missing just one guy (Delk last 
night, Battie last week) can throw the entire rotation 
out of wack. 

Maybe Obie is thinking ahead to when we'll need to go 10-
deep on the roster. Honestly, though, I don't see how 
Bremer (his offense) or Sundov (his defense) help this 
team win. 

On paper, Kedrick fits the system better, but don't tell 
me he is any kind of pure shooter. I don't think I've 
seen him come close on a three-point shot this season.

He's thinking way to much out there, and I view that 
almost as a character flaw. I'd like to see a little more 
arrogance and hunger out of him. Normally, I'd strongly 
object to it, but I almost wish he'd demand more playing 
time and demand the ball. He's a lottery pick with an NBA 
body. He shouldn't be kowtowing to anyone at this point 
in career onward (unless he doesn't want a successful NBA 
career).

I still like the talents of our 2001 draft picks, but 
maybe next time we should hire a psychologist to talk to 
these kids before we decide to draft them. I'd use Walker 
and Pierce as the template.

Joe H.  














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