Chad Ford

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

According to Chad Ford's ESPN Insider today: "(Shammond) 
Williams has struggled to pick up the Celtics' offensive 
and defensive schemes, giving the clear advantage to 
Delk."

It sounds a bit like we've got some slow learners among 
our new guys.

Meanwhile, Battie-Baker are averaging a combined 10.9 
points and 9.7 boards in the preseason. It needs to get 
up around twice that once the real games start. That's a 
lot of salary.

In other news, near Celtic and local guy Travis Best is 
struggling as the starter in Miami, averaging 7.7 ppg and 
2.2 apg in the preseason. The Heat's leading pre-season 
scorer is 10th overall pick Caron Butler, averaging a 
mere 11.7 ppg.

In Cleveland, Celtics alumnus Miracle Milt Palacio seems 
to have beaten out Dajuan Wagner and Darius Miles for the 
starting point guard job. Good for him. 

It still looks like Mark Blount and Joe Johnson also have 
won starting jobs for their teams. 

I suppose this shows in part that Boston's personnel and 
player development/coaching isn't THAT bad. At least we 
seem to stress conditioning, defense and video scouting.

For the Nets, Rodney Rogers is shooting 58% from the 
field, hitting over half his treys. He's the kind of guy 
that really benefits from Jason Kidd. He's barely in 
shape yet. But schadenfreude, the Nets have suspended FA 
signee Chris Childs indefinitely for being 30 pounds 
overweight. Jason Kidd has no backup!  
 
In Milwaukee, Toni Kukoc surprised everyone by averaging 
6.2 assists this pre-season. He may even beat out Tim 
Thomas (41%FG) for a starting job.

In Orlando, Pat Burke and Pat Garrity are the starting 
power forward and center. Poor Doc Rivers.

And Jacque Vaughn is shooting 33% from the field, as 
another projected starter. (But he looked good last in 
the TNT game I briefly watched.)

Below is some info on tonight's opponent- the Wiz. Its 
nice to see Kwame playing a little bit more like a #1 
overall pick. I haven't seen him at his best yet, so I'm 
looking forward to tonight.

(N.B. All this info comes courtesy of BDodgers on JB's 
yahoo! Celtics list. Thanks to him, for posting it to 
that list)


WASHINGTON WIZARDS 
PG: Larry Hughes vs. Juan Dixon vs. Tyronn Lue vs. Chris 
Whitney 
The Wizards thinned their point guard corps a bit by 
trading Whitney to the Nuggets Thursday. Hughes has been 
the star in the preseason, averaging 14.5 ppg and 3.3 
apg. Lue has also shown flashes, leading the team with 
3.8 apg. Dixon is running a distant third, especially in 
the point guard department. Unfortunatley, all three have 
a downside. Hughes still look uncomfortable running the 
team. He's played his best when coach Doug Collins moved 
him to the two. Lue is a sparkplug, but he's too small to 
get big minutes. Dixon is still trying to prove he can 
find his shot and his teammates at this level. 

SG/SF: Michael Jordan vs. Jerry Stackhouse vs. Bryon 
Russell 
It's probably too early to tell. Jordan has played in 
only two preseason games, coming off the bench in both of 
them. Stackhouse has been impressive, averaging a team-
high 19.7 ppg. But he also leads the team in turnovers 
and is only grabbing 1.7 rpg. Russell has really 
struggled, averaging just 5.5 ppg on 39 percent shooting 
from the field. That leaves Jordan, who has looked pretty 
rusty in his first two games. Still, a lineup of Jordan 
at the two and Stackhouse at the three, regardless of who 
starts where, seems to be the direction that coach Doug 
Collins is heading. 

PF: Christian Laettner vs. Kwame Brown vs. Etan Thomas 
There hasn't been a bigger surprise this fall than the 
emergence of Brown. His game has suffered a bit since 
Jordan returned (he defers to MJ a little too much) but 
the Wizards are really pleased with his aggressiveness, 
especially on the boards. He's averaged 13.1 ppg and 8.9 
rpg while shooting an impressive 51 percent from the 
field. If the Wizards can get that from Kwame on a 
regular basis, they'll be very good. Thomas has given 
them some toughness inside, but seems better suited 
backing up Brendan Haywood at center. Laettner hasn't see 
a lot of action and, with the signing of Charles Oakley, 
seems to be the odd man out at this point. 

Opening Night Starting 5: 
PG: Larry Hughes 
SG: Jerry Stackhouse 
SF: Bryon Russell 
PF: Kwame Brown 
C: Brendan Haywood 

 
  

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