Re: flu/ doc/ baker

["Josh O." <igtcjosh@xxxxxxxxx>]

Good points, Mark.  I guess I would agree on all of
them, except Baker.  There doesn't seem to be anything
wrong with him physically, at least nothing that a lot
of leg work in the weight room wouldn't cure.  If you
see him in person, his legs don't look strong at all. 
As for Kedrick, it doesn't matter where he goes, he
has to get touches and time.  Especially a guy like
him, with so little basketball experience.  I hate to
give Ray credit, but we really would have been so much
better off had we drafted Richard Jefferson.  O well. 
Spilled milk.

Josh

p.s. I get very little from Wallace that doesn't go
into the site.  But I'm open to good questions to pass
along, so long as they aren't of the frustrated, "what
do you have to say for yourself now?" variety.

--- "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG> wrote:
> Doc Rivers' act is wearing really thin. He tries to
> make everything
> personal, and this takes the cake. It's funny how he
> was a "genius" when he
> won with guys like Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins...
> and then he traded them
> away. Now Detroit is winning with guys like that.
> 
> But saying winning in Orlando is "impossible"
> without Antoine and Battie is
> stretching it. Orlando didn't have Grant Hill.
> They're still soft as melted
> marshmallow. The sad thing is, the Celtics are, too.
> It's not just energy.
> It's toughness. The Celts aren't playing with any.
> You want a reason why
> Baker didn't play in the second half? That's it,
> right there. Toughness.
> Obie is trying to find it again, and Baker doesn't
> have an ounce of it. You
> can try to put Band-Aids on the problem, but it
> still comes down to this
> team not playing as tough as it did a year ago.
> That's the problem. They're
> not mentally or physically tough right now. And it
> started before any flu
> bug hit.
> 
> I also don't buy into the you have to play Baker and
> Kedrick if you want
> them to get better theory. They have to earn it.
> Baker has been terrible.
> Cousy summed up one of the symptoms nicely the other
> night when he said it
> takes Baker too long to wind up and go up for the
> shot. He's getting blocked
> all the time for that reason. He's just shot. I know
> it's painful to admit,
> because of the implications, but it's true. He's
> finished. We may see
> flashes here and there, like the first half against
> Orlando, but they'll
> just be flashes. As for Kedrick, what has he shown
> that would warrant
> playing time? When he's in there, he's invisible,
> except for when he's
> bricking stand-still 3-pointers. Maybe he'll get it
> someday, but I don't
> think it will be in Boston. Make it 0-for-3 in the
> 2001 draft.
> 
> One last thing... Although the key to the current
> swoon is toughness,
> especially on the defensive end, I think the flaws
> in this offensive system
> are starting to show. It really is sort of a
> free-for-all on offense. The
> shot selection is terrible. If everyone isn't
> passing the ball, the Celts
> become awfully easy to defend. The assist numbers
> and shooting percentages
> are terrible. Not to beat a dead horse, but it's
> these kinds of things that
> a good point guard can prevent or cure. It's not as
> easy as saying a "true"
> point guard. You could throw Jacque Vaughn out there
> right now, who some
> people consider a true point guard, and he's not
> going to help. You need a
> good one, and those don't grow on trees (and they
> don't come disguised as
> Dana Barros-if that happens, I'll... I'll... do
> something to show I'm really
> angry). 
> 
> That's not to say acquiring a good point guard is
> the only answer to the
> offensive problems. When everything is clicking,
> this offense can work. But
> when it's not, they lack a floor general to right
> the ship. It deteriorates
> quickly, and the Celts take some hellacious shots at
> crucial times. But,
> again, none of that is especially new. That happened
> last season. But last
> season, the team was tough enough defensively to
> stay in the game until
> things settled out offensively. Lately, they haven't
> been. That's the
> difference.
> 
> Mark
> 
> P.S. Josh, I know you're planning to summarize your
> latest conversation with
> Wallace for your next column, but how about a
> preview for your longtime list
> buddies? Although I know what to expect, and I know
> it will frustrate me,
> I'd still like to hear what he had to say.
> 
> --- --- ---
> 
> Josh wrote:
> 
> I was glad to hear about the flu..maybe that
> explains our recent play,
> which was characterized as much by lack of energy as
> anything else.
> Low energy would explain why we fell apart after the
> good first quarter
> against miami...impossible to win against Orlando at
> home without
> Twon and Battie at full strength.  Still, how bush
> league is that Doc Rivers
> crap about "tommy said mean things about us?"  Can
> you imagine Jim
> O'Brien saying, "we were going to rub this win in
> Snapper Jones'  face!
> Or "Red Kerr criticized Antoine!  You don't say that
> in this league!"  How
> lame is that?  Anyway,  flu covers a multitude of
> sins in my book.
> 
> They should have pounded the ball into Baker in the
> second half.  O'Brien
> needs to do this soon, no?  He's not going to get
> any better if they don't
> give him an opportunity to be better, and Kedrick
likewise....
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