Re: player ideas

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

Since a Tinsley-Croshere trade apparently can't happen 
until Aug 1st due to the "base year" rules, I think Obie 
ought to run Omar out there 40 minutes per game at Shaw, 
Forte be damned unfortunately.

Tinsley did end up at .380 from the field last year 
overall. That's not a good stat. And he turned 24 way 
back in Feb, which gives him four years (3 years and 11 
months)of experience and maturity over fellow NYC point 
guard Omar Cook.

If Cook stinks in his Shaw tryout, I'd think hard about 
other options. It is hard to find a top playmaking 
pointguard, and there is nothing more aesthetically 
pleasing to a fan than a team run well from the point.

As for Croshere replacing Rogers, I'm also tempted to 
view them as roughly interchangeable parts (one is taller 
and younger to boot), but I'd make the following 
observations (to reveal my own actual bias):

1) Rogers shot .482 last year on a team that shot .424 
overall. Croshere shot .413 on a team that shot .446 
overall. This alone (Rogers' shot selection and accuracy) 
gave him a distinctive "value" to that particular Boston 
Celtics team. Croshere doesn't really offer that value. 
During the playoffs, the only times I yelled at the TV in 
frustration was when Rogers passed up several wide-open 
shots. Looking over his career, Rogers has shot at or 
around 50% on 2-pointers for 8 straight seasons, plus his 
three-point marksmanship is among the best you'll find at 
his position. In fact, it was the best on the Celtics 
team last year at .411. He shot treys at .439 in his 6th 
MOY season.

2) Despite his admirable shot selection, what actually 
distinguishes Rogers from other bench guys has been his 
ability to consistently score a lot of points in a small 
period of time. He'll get around 12 points in 24 minutes 
or less, year in and out. There are ball hogs out there 
that can also do that, but as noted, Rogers hardly seems 
to break the flow the Celtics offense. 

3) Over the past two full seasons, Croshere has 
shot .3925 (451/1149) from the field. To like the trade, 
you'd have to feel comfortable adding that (and Tinsley) 
to one of the worst shooting teams in the league last 
year. It may be pure coincidence, but Walker showed 
pretty good shot selection after Rogers (the anti-Toine) 
arrived. Maybe that's what "team chemistry" can do. He 
was the right part to add to the team.

4) Rogers is Boston's best 6th Man of the Year candidate 
in years because of his professional consistency. 
Croshere can look like a lottery pick on given nights 
(that's why he has the 51 million contract), but Rogers 
is a pretty sure bet to show up with a 7 to 10 point 
quarter while a starter rests. That's pretty key.

5) Rogers played backup center last year without 
complaint. As a bonus that I wouldn't have predicted, 
there were very few games (maybe one of the NJ games) 
where he hurt the team in the playoffs defensively. 
Taking Dikimbe and Wallace out of their games is what 
turned both series into glorious routs/blowouts. I have 
no idea what would happen if Croshere had guarded Ben 
Wallace or Dikimbe. Rogers did a good job of bodying up I 
felt.

Balanced against that, Rogers is getting old for a 4-year 
guaranteed contract (although he probably has several 
peak years left with the limited minutes he gets). And 
he's short. He's a tweener. 

All I can say is, thank god he never grew to 6-10. He'd 
be long gone by now. He never would have been in Boston 
in the first place.   

It all comes down to what Tinsley's true upside is. The 
cost is losing Rogers and Anderson from last year's 
conference finalist squad. So its a gamble. Boston should 
do its homework to see whether we can get the best 
performances out of the two Indy players in Obie's 
current or re-tweaked system.

And IF Boston can sign Rogers, they should apart from any 
trades. Croshere is a different guy. I don't care if 
Chris Wallace still wears Croshere's jersey as jammies 
every night. 

Go Omahhh! Drop any hot-dogging on Tuesday and show us 
what you've got! Have a good weekend everyone.

Joe

p.s. I am in the Apple and do plan to hang out a lot with 
Michael Gooen this Celtics season. Anyone else who's in 
town, I hope you'll drop me a line. 


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