Re: just spoke to wallace

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

Josh wrote:

they will sign sombody, though, possibly a power forward.  I asked
Wallace if this might be an
enforcer of some sort, and wallace said that he thought the idea of a "cop"
was overrated.  He likes skill guys, 
not a goon who doesn't bring any shooting or rebounding the table.


--- end ---


A few thoughts on this... The Celtics could have used a cop against New
Jersey. The Celtics are a good defensive team, but they are a finesse team.
They needed to hit a few of those softie Nets but didn't. They still don't
have anyone willing to do that. In fact, the one guy who might have been
willing, Vitaly, is gone. Ideally, you'd have a skilled cop-think Kenyon
Martin (although he's no great shooter or rebounder). But Darvin Ham, who I
mentioned in my earlier post, is a tough guy who really isn't very skilled.
But he brings something to a team. Anyway, it sounds like Wallace doesn't
have eyes for a guy like Ham or Charles Oakley or that type.

I don't disagree with looking for skill guys, but they better be able to do
the other stuff a power player has to do-take up space, bang, set picks,
etc. The Celtics need to focus on complementary players-specifically,
players who complement Pierce and Walker. That's why Rogers fit so well and
why Baker won't. They need to find guys who can make open shots when they
get the ball from a double-teamed Pierce or Walker. They don't need guys who
can create their own shots, because the Celtics never give anyone other than
Pierce or Walker the chance to do that. They need guys who can defend the
tough frontcourt player. They need guys who can rebound. They need guys who
can accept a role. It's not as easy as finding the best guy you can get for
the veteran's minimum. That's the infuriating thing about their strategy. It
wasn't "let's find the perfect point guard for our system and go after
him"... It was "let's wait till the money around the league dries up and
sign the guy we can get for cheap"... All minimum wage players are not
created equal.

And finally... the only bad thing about signing another big guy is it takes
away minutes from top-seven pick Bruno Sundov.

Mark