No Best... now what?

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

First of all, the Celtics are getting what they deserve. When your strategy
is to try to take advantage of someone's position to pay them less than they
are worth, you deserve to be snubbed. Usually, you get what you pay for.
Unless you get Vin Baker.

Anyway, no Travis Best. So now they're going to look at other positions,
probably a big man and specifically, probably a power forward. Good luck. I
checked out the free agent list this morning and the pickings are beyond
slim. Doesn't matter anyway, because with Walker, Baker and Battie, the PF/C
minutes are gone. They need depth, of course, but it's doubtful any big man
they bring in would really contribute much.

That could change, of course, if they brought in someone who made Battie
expendable in a trade for a point guard, as Ray suggests. But I don't see
that happening. No, I see them signing someone like Scott Padgett (the
Kentucky connection-and he can shoot the 3!), Mark Pope (the Kentucky
connection-and he can shoot the 3!), Greg Foster or Cal Bowdler. The best
name on the list, in my opinion, is Darvin Ham. He's an energy guy who was
valuable to Milwaukee. Plays hard, understands his role. But Chris Wallace
says himself he doesn't see much value in guys like Ham. He wants more
shooting or rebounding.

We'll see.

As for the U.S. loss, I wish I was as optimistic about the lessons that will
be learned as Kestas. I just think the powers that be will take the "if our
best players had come" approach. I completely agree that the lesson here
should be the value of team play and working together (offensively and
defensively), but I doubt it will sink in to most.

As for Lance's continued criticism of Paul Pierce... It seemed to me the
only guys who wanted anything to do with the ball down the stretch last
night were Pierce and Andre Miller. No one else wanted to step up. Jermaine
O'Neal wilted. Ben Wallace has no value in that kind of game (the loss of
Elton Brand hurt, because the entire big man rotation was offensively
impotent other than put-backs). Baron Davis seemed as timid as he was as a
rookie. Michael Finley, never shy, disappeared. Pierce and Miller tried to
step up. They couldn't do it alone.

One real concern about Pierce... the free throws. He hasn't shaken that
mental block from the New Jersey series. That is VERY dangerous. That has a
way of creeping into other parts of your game. Nick Anderson is the classic
example. He missed those two crucial free throws in the Finals and was never
the same. He developed a mental block at the line, and as a result started
shying away from contact because he didn't want to be fouled. Same thing
happened to Vin Baker when he started a season a few years ago by missing
his first 20-something free throws. He turned into the softest power forward
in the league and still hasn't returned to his previous form. Even
Antoine-he used to be a terrible free throw shooter, and I'm convinced
that's one of the reasons his effectiveness around the basket went down. He
used to be a strong finisher who got to the line quite a bit. Now he tends
to be soft down there, shoots the ball too quick, doesn't use pump fakes,
etc. He's a much better free throw shooter now, but I believe he developed
those bad habits when he was struggling at the line and didn't want to get
fouled. 

Anyway, the free throw thing is really worrying me. I don't want Pierce to
fall into that trap where he struggles at the line and stops attacking the
basket. It's amazing how it can creep into a players full floor game. I
think it's a real concern.

Mark