Re: Kenny vs. Tinsley

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

Alex, the 3-pointers matter, but so does the position a guy plays. Don't you
agree that a point guard, whose primary job is to create for others and
often becomes last-resort offense, is bound to shoot a lower percentage?
Look at the league leaders. How many guards-especially point guards-rank
among the leaders? How many 6-9 power forwards rank among the worst in the
league? 

The Celtics are 27th in the league in offensive field goal percentage and
that's a problem. Their adjusted field goal percentage and points per shot
rank 16th in the league. At least 10 of the 13 teams below the Celtics in
points per shot would miss the playoffs if they started today. Like it or
not, Antoine is a big part of that, and that's why I point it out. I wish I
knew of a site where we could sort through all-time NBA statistics to see
how many players ever shot under 40 percent while attempting at least 20
shots a game. I'm guessing we'd be astounded at how truly unique that is.
It's not all Toine's fault. Some of it is coaching and the construction of
the team, but he has to take some responsibility, even if some fans don't
want to hold him responsible.

Toine's not the first guy to attempt a lot of 3-pointers (although he's
attempting more than anyone has before). He's not so completely unique that
a 38 percent field goal percentage is hunky-dory.

I only brought up Toine because every time someone on the list wants to
criticize a player, be it Tinsley, Kidd, Iverson or whoever, the first thing
they do is bring up the guy's shooting percentage-yet shooting percentage
somehow doesn't matter when it comes to Toine. It's just like in criticizing
the draft-the guys drafted ahead of our guys who aren't contributing (Kwame
Brown, Chandler, Curry, Diop, Rodney White), are busts, but our guys who
aren't contributing are sure-fire all-stars in a year or two. We took the
"best player available" yet so far there's a lot of evidence that we did no
such thing. The guys picked after our guys may be better now, but they've
plateaued.

Look, I want the best for the Celtics, but I'm not giving them a free pass.
We've been over it a number of times as to why. The only guy who deserves
better than I've given him credit for is O'Brien, who by all rights should
be a strong contender for coach of the year. He's been great. I don't agree
with everything he does, but guiding this team to a 50-win pace in the first
half has been a heck of a job.

But am I critical of their draft and their efforts so far in building this
team? You bet. Am I critical of Antoine for his atrocious shot selection and
ridiculously inconsistent play (alternately great and boneheaded)?
Absolutely. But I'll be the first to say that Paul Pierce has become a
legitimate superstar, that Kenny Anderson has stunned me with how good he
has been and that Eric Williams has provided more in terms of team cohesion
than I ever would have imagined.

Mark