Re: Celts-Bucks

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

Kestas wrote:

Rogers looked pretty good - good enough that Obie couldn't afford to keep
him on the bench. Still, he got fewer minutes than Delk, who was having a
genuinely crappy night on offense and defense (I'm sure we'll find out
tomorow they were plus-50 with Delk on the floor).   
Walker had a really good game, driving to the hoop repeatedly. He had the
stroke going. He also had a smaller defender on him who can't block shots.
Notice a pattern here? We now have another legit PF besides Toine. Pierce
is trouble to shooting guards on offense and defense. Walker overwhelms
smaller defenders on offense. You see where I'm going with this?! Will we
ever see Toine and Rogers in the lineup together, where Rogers is not
playing center?!!

---end---

Kestas, I'm about to give up on it ever happening. When everything screams
for it, and it still doesn't happen, it's time to give up. Toine is better
against smaller players, but the argument has always been (and it's
accurate) "we don't have another power forward." Now we do. You put Toine
and Rogers out there together and one of them is going to have a field day
against a smaller defender. The team is desperate for rebounding, and Rogers
at small forward helps that problem. Instead, Obie actually goes smaller and
plays him at center. I'm not opposed to that in small stretches, but Antoine
and Rogers should be on the floor at the same time at the forward spots. Is
Obie blind? Is he trying to field the smallest lineups in the league? Has
there been a smaller team on the floor in the NBA in the last 30 years than
the Kenny-Delk-Pierce-Walker-Rogers lineup?

As for this not being a bad loss... Couldn't disagree more. The Celts were
rested and at home, the Bucks were playing the second game of a tough
back-to-back, it's a team the Celts are battling for playoff positioning, it
guaranteed the Bucks the tie-breaker edge... It was a statement game, and
one the Celtics needed to win at home. I was really disappointed with this
one. The only positive: Obie coached it like he had bet on the Bucks. Maybe
a better effort from the coach makes for a better result. I'm clinging to
that.

Mark