Re: [Celtics' Stuff Temporal Anomalies

[Jim Metz <james.metz@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Saturday, September 21, 2002, at 11:44  PM, Lance Jacobson wrote:

> None of our players had much "legs," chasing the Jersey break and our
> players were unable to consistently hit open shots.
> What I think is more to the truth, is that Paul couldn't win it for
> us, as he had done so often in the past, when the rest of our team was
> unable to keep up with the opposition.z>>JB
>  **********
> Are you referring to those same players who took shots in the
> playoffs, like Pierce, who was 40.3% from the field, or Anderson, who
> was 41.6%?  Or was it Walker, who was 41.1%?  Maybe EWill at 50%?
>  
> I'm not sure of the opposition, but our game plan had been to go to
> Pierce; he took most of the shots, of course, until he couldn't hoist
> them up anymore.  When the guy "has to have the basketball" at the
> expense of the team's shooting, how can you blame the other guys for
> not making baskets when they don't see the ball?
> Lance
>
************************
>
>
	We can agree that Walker and Pierce get most of the shots. We won't
agree that Paul cost us the series.
	The rest of the players , were able to step up offensively, at key
moments, in the other two rounds, but not against New Jersey (except
for some spurts by Erick Strickland).
	Anderson, particularly, was not the same player; credit Jason Kidd,
probably, but Kenny, for as many minutes as he could give us, was a
large part of the success in the other two rounds, although, the
shooting % against Detroit, for the whole team, was horrible, even
though Anderson was arguably the MVP of that series, he couldn't "make
the other players better," against the Pistons either.
	Actually, as I'm writing this, I'm wondering what the shot totals and
%'s were for the team in each series. Were  there any differences?
Could it be that the captains shot a higher % of the teams shots
against N.J?  Did the rest of the team shoot at a lower %, as the
captains percentage of shots was higher?  Or is it that N.J., just
scored more points than Detroit and Philadelphia?
	Lance; assuming your new found penchant for going to the stats page,
would  you like to continue this thread in that vein? If you just want
to rant subjectively, on Pierce, {When the guy "has to have the
basketball" at the expense of the team's shooting} I wont respond,
we've all had enough of that.
		To me, the offensive dilemma, facing the team, is whether or not to
let the offense run through Antoine.  I can be convinced  that O'Brien
preferred the isolation on the left side, pass to Pierce offense, that
got Paul so many of his shots, but not that Pierce, selfishly, has any
motive, other than winning.
	It always seemed to me that the teams success hinged on Anderson
getting his fair share of chances to create, thus creating  the scoring
opportunities for the rest of the team. With Kenny badly outmatched and
thoroughly fatigued, trying to stop Kidd, I'll bet his assists were
down, as well as his scoring. Not only do I see this as more germane to
the reason  the Nets beat us, but a statistical analysis of how the
shooting %'s, when the captains took  a higher/lower % of the teams
shots may give us an insight into this upcoming season, when we won't
have Anderson "to kick around anymore."
		JB

	Unchain My Heart !