Re: An opposing scout on the Celtics

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

Interestingly, SI's print NBA preview rates Paul Pierce 
and Antoine Walker as the 5th and 12th most valuable NBA 
players (player value ranking).

Of course, at the same time they rate the Boston Celtics 
just 7th in the East (behind Karl's Bucks and Isiah's 
Pacers) and 16th overall in the NBA (trailing both Utah 
and Seattle, two teams I think we may have swept last 
year). 

A lot of it is premised on the apparent glaring weakness 
of our point guards. 

Meanwhile, in the defense rankings, some critics may 
rejoice at seeing Paul Pierce rated as ''no defense'' 
(along with Eric Williams).  

I wonder who SI is giving credit to for Bostons  3rd 
rated defensive FG% last year? Antoine!? I think a little 
locker-room jealousy at Team USA is partly behind this.

And before all the ''I told you so's'' on Pierce, you 
should see who else had SI's lowest defensive rating 
(''no defense'').

They include Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, Mike Bibby, 
Dirk Nowitzki, Reggie Miller, Allan Houston, Rip 
Hamilton, Jamal Mashburn, both Big Dog and his former 
understudy Tim Thomas, Glen Rice, Steve Smith and Jason 
Terry. 

Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom also make it too. And of course 
Van Horn and Jason Williams. Also Stoudamire, Brent 
Barry, E Dampier, Troy Murphy, Brad Miller, Larry Hughes, 
Eric Piatkowski and four out of five projected Chicago 
Bulls starters.

Look, Pierce isn't the greatest defender the league has 
seen. We should all admit that. I guess the guys that 
surprise me a lot more for being rated ''no defense'' are 
Stackhouse and Bibby. They can be pretty tough I thought.

Also Mashburn. I always thought he played pretty hard on 
D for Pat Riley.

There are also some surprising names rated as ''tough D'' 
(both Steve Nash and the one-year-from-retirement John 
Stockton for instance). Maybe that's for another post or 
game preview. Suffice it to say for now that every Nets 
starter except Kittles gets the highest rating.

As for Eric Williams, it really is a wonder what little 
he contributes on the boxscore at the end of the day. And 
hes never been a good man defender by any stretch. But 
he is a glue player for the team. They started winning 
when he started playing. I agree with Kestas that 
Williams stretches the definition of ''intangible'' as 
far as it can go. He might be the least ''tangible'' 
player of value in the entire NBA. Most non-scoring 
starters dont also get to sport a horrible FG%, 
disgraceful rebound-per-minute production, few assists. 
That's what the boxscore says. When you actually see him 
play, you see a pretty interesting and high work rate 
player (kind of like Ringo DeClerq when he was here). 
Eric Williams sometimes reminds me of an Adrian Dantley 
on an off night.

Obie is either smarter than every last one of his critics 
for starting EW, or dumb as a doorknob for playing him at 
the expense of the development of Joe Johnson, Forte and 
Kedrick to date, not to mention Adrian Griffin as well. I 
think it is the former. The won-loss numbers are great, 
given the team he inherited. 

When Obie took over the Boston Celtics, they were on pace 
to finish up around 25-games under .500. Pitino saw a 
much harder second half schedule, and jumped ship a few 
months early. In steps EW and the defensive effort (in 
his case more about "game face" than actual production) 
rubbed off on the entire team it seems.

Joe H.
 

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