No Subject

> Antoine starts at "power" forward,
> he's gotta start playing like one. Because Vitaly and Batite combine for
one
> post move between them (Vitaly's up fake), Antoine has gotta get his ass
on
> the block on offense. And if Antoine gets doubled, he has to look for an
open
> Pierce, then an open Vitaly, and lastly for Walter McCarty (who's actually
> been playing decent lately). I truly feel that if Antoine played inside,
> Kenny could move the ball around, Strickland or Eric Williams would get a
ton
> of space, and Pierce would still score close to 30 a night.

I'm copying a post from Alexander Wang that I saved just for moments like
this. To summarize: as long as Vitaly, El Busto, and Kenny Anderson play big
minutes, O'Brien will continue to have Antoine toss up threes because that
gives them the best chance of winning. It was true when Alex posted it, and
it's still true today. And given Chris Wallace's recent comments about the
team needing a power forward and point guard, and O'Brien's admission of the
obvious, that this is not an efficient offensive team, I think both of them
"get it." Steve wrote, "As for coaching, I love Obie, but he's going to find
out quick that unless you have three guys who can NAIL the trey, you
shouldn't be leading the league in 3PA. Sac-town (with Bibby, Christie,
Peja), LA (with Fischer, Kobe, Shaw, Fox, Horry), Milwakee (with Casell,
Allen, Robinson, Thomas) would all make more sense to be leading the league
in attempts than the C's." I'm sure O'Brien's given it a lot of thought and
I think what he's found out is that if they don't lead the league in three
pointers they don't have 30 wins. Anyway, this team isn't making any changes
this year. There's not going to be a  press conference announcing a trade
for Van Exel even though, unfortunately, I think he'd definitely help a lot.
Bryan Russell and Charles Oakley leave me cold, especially Oakley, but I
don't think either one is coming anytime soon, so it doesn't matter. Anyway,
here's the post from Alex:

I think the following answer by Jack Ramsay reiterates what has already
been said on the list at times, but it's good to hear it from the pro - and
someone who has close access to O'Brien's thinking too.

--The Celtics are committed to throwing up threes regardless if they're
having a good or bad shooting night. I think they would have a better
offensive balance with an inside and outside threat by keeping Antoine
Walker down low while Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson hung around the
perimeter. What's your take on the Celtics' style of play?
Gary, Fairhaven, Mass.

Dear Gary,
The Celtics have to generate offense from a limited base. They are without
a great penetrator, have no real post-up threat -- 'Toine gets stuffed
trying to score from there -- and the big men (Tony Battie, Vitaly
Potapenko and Mark Blount) have no back-to-the-basket games. The 3-point
shot is a principal weapon for them. Coach O'Brien creates those shots with
a combination of screen and rolls on the ball, and a series of single and
double screens off the ball. I sometimes gasp at their shot selection --
especially Walker's -- but under the circumstances, it's a necessary part
of their offense. And, the bottom line is that they're winning.

--

It also illustrates what could greatly improve the Celtics' offense - a
low-post threat at the center position or (more realistically, probably) a
great penetrating point guard.

Alex