Re: Feeling better

[Kestutis.Kveraga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
Indeed we do.  The Celtics now have the same record as the three-time NBA 
cmapion Lakers.
--- end of quote ---

There's one tiny difference here - the Lakers are missing their most important
player. If the Celtics were playing without Walker and Pierce, I would not be
as concerned either. 

But now I'm concerned. Like Mark Berry reminded us, they would bounce back last
year after a loss like Chicago. Not so now. Yet the reason I'm concerned is not
even so much because of this historic loss, or even because they're 0-2 against
two teams they should beat while relatively healthy. They didn't play that
badly at times in the Chicago game, and obviously, they're not as bad as last
night's game would suggest. I'm concerned because of the combination of Obie's
every-man-for-himself, three-pointer-delirium "offense" and the defensive
softness that has set in because of the destruction of team defensive
chemistry. When you can stop people like they did last year, you can still be
in a game when you're not shooting well, because of the extra possessions, and
if someone gets hot, you can pull it out. This year's defense, or lack thereof,
doesn't give them any margin of safety if the offense malfunctions, as such an
"offense" is wont to do. They'll be in games against the weaker teams, if
Pierce and someone else is on, and get blown out against the better teams - 
not that Washington is that good a team. 
 
What kills me about Obie is that he has no players that have a natural
inclination to pass first and shoot later, yet he exacerbates the situation by
encouraging his players to shoot at first opportunity. This playground style
goes against every basketball principle, theory and practice. Hasn't he noticed
the success of passing teams such Sacramento, NJ, Yugoslavia or Argentina?
Wouldn't a motion offense especially benefit a team without a traditional point
guard? 

Yet, from his public pronouncements and the Celtics' style of play alike, he
seems to be preaching just the opposite of this passing mentality.  When the
coach scoffs at the notion of playing a traditional PG and implores everyone
not to judge his PGs by their assist number, is it really a surprise that  the
team's de facto "point guard" is averaging 2 assists and nearly 20 shots per
game while shooting 25%? Is he stupid? Is he WalkerPierce's (willing or
unwilling) hostage? Is he just clueless how to institute such an offense? Who
benefits from this? Not the game, not the fans, and certainly not the team
itself. 

I wish I could believe Cecil's reassurances  that they will sort it out in
time. I'm sure they'll get better (there's no way to go but up). But it's a
philosophy that's wrong in principle. Just like I never believed after the
first season that Pitino's headless chicken defense will work in the NBA, I
don't believe Obie's philosophy is the best thing for the Celtics. We all know
that last year's team won because of the right cast of characters (I miss you
already, Erick!) playing hard-nosed defense, Pierce's offensive brilliance, and
favorable circumstances in the conference. This year, the defensive chemistry
has been destroyed,  the excellent-to-decent defensive players have been
replaced by mediocre-to-terrible defensive players who, despite their greater
scoring gifts, will be misused in Obie's plauground "offense". While the change
in cast is not Obie's fault, the ugly basketball philosophy that's bearing
fruit right now certainly is. To make matters worse, those players who were
here last year and should know the defensive schemes,  are drifting on defense
- both Chicago and Washington shot above 50% against us. We can only hope that
Obie can use his considerable player relations skills to get them to D-up again
and that Pierce doesn't have many games like last night's.
Kestas