Re: Herald - Baker at 1 percent

["Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

OB meant 1% of 10% of his past capabilities. 

DanF 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Eggcentric@AOL.com>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 11:35 AM
Subject: Herald - Baker at 1 percent


> ``We have Vin here for four years and, percentage-wise, he's about 
> 1 percent of where he's going to be. You have to allow a player to 
> get his feet wet.'' - Obie
> 
> Leapin Lizards, Sandy.  We have 99 percent more to look forward to.
> 
> -----------------------------------------------
> Coach patient with Baker
> 
> Celtics Notebook/by Gus Martins
> Wednesday, November 13, 2002
> 
> Celtics coach Jim O'Brien isn't the least bit apprehensive discussing 
> Vin Baker's future and thinks his 10-point performance Monday night in 
> 29 minutes was a harbinger of good things to come.
> 
> ``When Vin was making the All-Star Game, the defensive rules were 
> different,'' O'Brien said yesterday of Baker, who was acquired in the 
> offseason. ``You could get Vin all day one-on-one in the low post. Vin, 
> in the low post, is a very difficult guy to stop. So is Karl Malone.
> 
> ``You don't get those guys one-on-one in the low post anymore. So 
> everyone's waiting for Vin Baker to be 20-25 points. You look at the 
> top scorers in the NBA. There aren't any low-post players in the top 20 
> in the NBA and that's for a reason. It is very difficult to get the 
> ball into the low post in the NBA. So big guys have to adjust their 
> game.''
> 
> O'Brien said there are myriad ways Baker will help, but offensively, he 
> said the game's going to have to come to Baker.
> 
> ``He needs to continue to grow as a defensive player and as a 
> rebounder,'' O'Brien said. ``We have Vin here for four years and, 
> percentage-wise, he's about 1 percent of where he's going to be. You 
> have to allow a player to get his feet wet.''
> 
> On the offensive
> 
> Antoine Walker had another solid offensive performance in Monday 
> night's 112-95 win over the Jazz, scoring 27 points on 10-of-22 from 
> the field and 4-of-5 from the line. He continues to nurture the belief 
> that the Celtics, who had five players in double figures on Monday, 
> shouldn't have trouble scoring.
> 
> ``Right now we are becoming a very, very, dangerous offensive team,'' 
> he said. ``We can get five or six guys in double figures night in and 
> night out and that's something we haven't had in the past.''
> 
> He added that the continued development of Paul Pierce as a passer is 
> improving the team.
> 
> ``I think Paul does a fantastic job of getting guys the ball and 
> getting a higher number of assists,'' he said. ``That takes pressure 
> off myself. You've got other guys who can penetrate and get guys open 
> shots.''
> 
> Brown off IL
> 
> Kedrick Brown was activated off the injured list, where he's been with 
> a sprained right ankle since Oct. 30. O'Brien cautioned that while 
> Brown will suit up, it's more of a symbolic gesture. Brown still hasn't 
> practiced full tilt with the team since making strides from the sprain 
> suffered in preseason. . . .
> 
> Pierce said it's still too early to determine whether this Celtics team 
> can match last year's 49-win season.
> 
> ``It's hard to say right now,'' he said. ``Seven games doesn't make you 
> contenders. We won't know right now until mid-January, February or so 
> until (we've) played 30 to 40 games. So we'll just have to wait and 
> see.''