Re: You know what's amazing?

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

> ---------- Initial message -----------
> "Way Of The Ray" <wayray@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
> 3DA214D3.363991C3@ix.netcom.com">news:3DA214D3.363991C3@ix.netcom.com...
> > And that's the fact that there isn't one other team 
in the NBA that would have Eric Williams or Tony Delk as 
a starter. Think about that.
> > Even the scrub teams like Cleveland or Denver would 
take a pass at having either of those two in the starting 
lineup.
> > Ray
>

The curious thing is that Ray says here EWill and Delk 
are looked on like garbage, which in 24 hours flip flops 
his previous unsubstantiated post that another NBA team 
is on the verge of trading both Eddie Robinson AND Jamal 
Crawford for them. 

I believe there is more validity in his new stance. Eric 
Williams likely still has roughly the trade value of a 
Bryant Stith (wherever he is these days). Which is 
another way of saying that EW is much more valuable to 
the Celtics team (particularly now that he is healthy) 
than in terms of his hypothetical trade value. 

Im looking forward to seeing how this reportedly in 
shape and healthy E Will plays tonight. For one thing, 
its the first since his rookie campaign to see him come 
to camp in top condition.

While on the subject, Im eagerly looking out for a few 
other things tonight:
 
1) Id like to monitor how often the Celtics (the 
captains particularly) look to Vin Baker when hes open. 
Maybe as a result of visible trends during the week of 
HealthPoint scrimmages (this is sheer conjecture), Vin 
Baker has now backed off from the idea of getting his 
scoring back up to Eastern All Star level. Now, hes 
talking down his scoring upside and saying that his 
success will be measured by team performance. 

There's nothing wrong with that, maybe thats just the 
reality. Given the style of team he plays on, Id be very 
happy with the same 13-14 ppg, provided he ups his 
rebounding and plays with high energy. Well see a bit 
tonight how much emphasis and willingness there is to 
integrate him into the offense. 

Shammond: This player reportedly hit 27 straight 3-
pointers in a workout this summer. There's no other word 
for that but "wow". Its not at all a simple matter of 
being a gym rat. An NBA 3-pointer isn't just a flick of 
the wrist like a FT, particularly for a 6-1 guy. I think 
it requires an innate marksmans talent (stress on the 
word "talent") to adjust your range as your wrists and 
triceps slightly fatigue etc. That's just brilliant 
shooting. But of course, Id love to see this level of 
poise and concentration demonstrated in an actual game 
situations, along with many other things from Shammond in 
terms of PG court awareness. And, of course, we should 
watch his defense. Im not sure I completely trust what 
I've been reading (to me, there MUST be a better 
explanation for why he rode the bench last year).

Kedrick: Something tells me this season wont be the 
grand coming out party we hope for. But now at 21 years 
old, it would be very satisfactory if he can just put 
up rookie numbers like the first-year versions of 
similar players at that age (e.g. McGrady or Kobes raw 
rookie numbers). If Kedrick can hit 40% of his treys like 
Obie says he does, plus play the defense hes capable of, 
I cant see him NOT getting 20-25 minutes on this team.

And I dont feel its appropriate to project him as a 
guard, and judge his weaknesses on that basis. Instead, I 
view him as a guy we hope will replicate Rodney Rogers 
role: a big physical shooter that you can safely leave 
out there even against top opposition scorers and sixth 
men. I think we'll see a lot of him this year. 

Overall, Im starting to believe Boston has a team that 
will look deceptively awesome in stretches, whenever they 
are in synch. A team that can shoot three pointers this 
well (throw in the names of Pierce, Delk, Walker, Sundov 
Music, Wysiwig and the rest) can run up the lead quickly 
or come back from deficits in a hurry. Theyll live by it 
and die by it, naturally, but you might see some huge 
blowout games that make you wonder how great this team 
is. 

If they used a regular season player rotation, the 
Celtics could be a good 25 points better than tonight's 
Knicks lineup on some nights. And I'm not underestimating 
the Knicks either. The last time he played, McDyess 
averaged over 12 rebounds for the season and took a bad 
team to 40 wins out West. The guy is a destroyer.  

But Bostons team perimeter shooting may finally be as 
good as any NBA team well see in the league. It won't 
just be chucking it up there because that's the game plan 
(right or wrong). It will be chucking it up because they 
are GOOD. 
 
I only wish that Boston shows a greater semblance of 
teamwork on offense this year, like they did on defense 
last year. I'm not even sure that will happen. We'll see.

Go Celtics!


Joe H.


 
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