thoughts on this list and the Celtics

[Ryan W <ubiquitous_am_i@xxxxxxxxx>]

The most distressing aspect of this season has been
the loss of sanity it has produced among both players
and fans.  Per this list, previously fine posters like
Kestus and Mark Berry have taken their heretofore
objective slants and made it personal.  Longtime
thoughtful and sincere posters have left, such as Joe
H. and Bill Bird, leaving this list with still fewer
writers of quality.  What are posts of quality? 
That's a tough question.  I'll tell you what is
not....anything by Dan Forant (Dan, as a side note,
try writing more than 2 sentences per post; and
furthermore try making what you write intelligent). 
In the absence of thoughtful posting (and in the
malaise that is this season) others have filled the
void miserably.  Posts by Eggy, though well-written,
are sarcastic and pure mental masturbation (as if this
list is some substitute for a creative writing class).
 Only Way has been consistent (that is, consistent to
what he normally offers); consistent in occasionally
offering tidbits of information and of offering
semi-intelligent opinions (and Way, thanks for the
postings from other places and locales, it is an
important contribution to the list).  In short, as
disappointing as this season has been, this list
itself has been more so. 

But enough about how poor this list has become, let's
talk of the team.  I love the Celtics.  I've watched
every game (except the Minnesota games, which were
blacked out in my area) and thus have a reasonable
ability to comment on their play.  Let's break it down
by player.

Paul Pierce--best player on the team and the only
player actually raising his play as the season ends
(the last five games or so rival what Paul did last
year for a majority of the year).  This year has been
a monumental struggle for Paul.  Starting probably
last year during the Nets' series, Paul just hasn't
had the breaks.  The breaks from officials, from the
rim, from USA basketball, from anyone.  In short, his
rep has taken a killing.  Furthermore he has been
injured.  The teeth to the back to the knee to almost
everything.  This is not surprising given the amount
of punishment that he recieves on a nightly basis. 
This is not to mention that of every superstar in the
NBA (and I would put Paul in that category) Paul gets
the least amount of superstar calls, not to mention
any other call that most any other player would get. 
Some will retort that he leads the league in free
throw makes and attempts and that, as such, there is
no great disparity.  That argument is shit.  Watch the
games.  See how many times Paul drives and is, as
Tommy likes to put it, knocked off the shot.  It
happens continually in the fourth quarter.  Meanwhile
players like Jordan and Iverson get the calls.  Apart
from any official misconduct, Paul has also been
leading to his own demise.  Rarely is he loose and
smiling.  Sometimes, I must admit, he just gives
up---not because he is a quitter, but because, in my
opinion, he just becomes so frustrated that he has to
shut it down.  Nonetheless, I suspect he'll have a
fine playoff run; his shot is finally looking
mechanically correct and he appears to be as healthy
as he has been all season.  I'm expecting a Paul
Pierce explosion sometime during the Playoffs.

Antoine Walker--the most misunderstood player in the
world.  People think they know what he can do and what
is happening in his head and how he should play and
who he is...  You guys don't know shit.  What makes
Antione a special player is his ability to rebound
(Tommy is not having a senior moment when he says that
Antione is best offensive rebounder in Celtics'
history).  Beyond that, his skill set is merely above
average.  The Celtics need to maximize Toine's
ability.  He needs to get into the post.  He needs to
be in position to rebound.  And the fact that he
isn't, isn't some indictment on his character; it is a
statement to coaching and management.  They must think
that he can't fight down low (or that he wouldn't be
successful).  And that is a glaring misrepresentation
of the situation.  Toine is a banger.  

Tony Battie--the most important player on the team. 
Battie needs to get healthy.   When he is healthy, he
is beyond serviceable; he becomes a force and, in my
opinion, the best defensive player the Celtic's
have....  That said, he needs to be used in better
manner than he is currently (but I'll get to that at
the end).

Eric Williams--no left eye vision, huh?  The sad part
about that is that I wasn't surprised to hear it. 
Williams has been described as the best defensive
player on the Celtics.  Hardly.  That is not to say
that Eric isn't important.  He can score on the box. 
But we hardly go to him.  He can hit the three
pointer, though we wouldn't ever draw up a play for
him.  Basically, he is a garbage player, picking up
baskets where available.  And his defense...well, he
is great as a system guy.  He is usually in the right
place at the right time.  But as a one-on-one
defender?  Nope, he can't do it anymore.  I'm tired of
seeing Stackhouse, Jordan, Iverson, and anyone else
drive around him.  It happens so much, that he has
"perfected" the slap around move to poke to ball loose
(after he is beaten, that is).  That is not a good
thing.

Tony Delk--Tony is a good guy.  But as a point guard
and a starter, he has left many parts lacking.  Early
in the season, when he was averaging double figures,
it seemed that O'Brien's wet-dream of an offense was
working; Delk could just sit around and shoot.  Aye,
but that only works when Delk is making his shot. 
However, get him a little injured and he can't make a
thing (he said as much in the papers earlier this
week).  He is simply one of those player who, when he
is making his shot is great, but when he isn't, is a
liability.  These kinds of players should never be
courted; get a team full of them and you have trouble
(and/or this year's Celtics team)

Mark Blount--Wow, he has been good...good for Mark
Blount.  Finally, he is somewhat able to control his
body to make it do good.  He rebounds and blocks
shots, he is strong, occasionally he'll get some
points.  In short, the perfect back up center.  

Walter--Up and down year for Walt.  That is not to say
it hasn't been Walt's best year ever.  It has.  What
is distressing is that just like Walker, Walter is
being misused.  He should be back up center and
nothing else.  But I'll get to that later as well.

Grant Long--would somebody please tell me why this guy
ever got so many minutes this year?  Plain and simple,
he sucks.  Other than playing the five minutes that
Antione sits out, he should never play (and I don't
even think he should be playing those minutes, Walter,
Williams, Blount, or Battie would all be better).  He
rebounds alright and he'll make defensive plays
(offensive fouls, steals, etc...), but on offense he
sucks.  And on offense, this teams sucks.  So it is
not a good combo.  Plus he is slow.  The less of
Grant, the better; although I bet that he makes a
couple of important plays down the stretch and in the
playoffs.  The only thing that makes him somewhat
valuable is that he is a veteran and can sometimes use
that to sucker other players into something stupid.

Kedrick Brown--his non-role on this team will spell
its ultimate doom.  Would somebody free Kedrick Brown?
 What does a nigger have to do to get some PT up in
this motherfucker?  The reasons to play Brown are
numerous; he's a great individual defender (Pierce has
said it, Walker too; O'Brien admitted it last week and
then immediately quit giving him playing time--classic
Obie), he rebounds (the single greatest weakness on
this team) and he runs.  Furthermore, give the guy a
chance on offense.  Try running a play for the guy. 
The amount of times I've seen Kedrick being
"froze-out" is ridiculous.  Even in garbage time, the
guy doesn't get the ball.  This is the fault of both
the players and the coaching staff.  Furthermore,
Kedrick is exciting and, as Ainge pointed out last
night, the fans need to see that so they can find a
reason to cheer (it certainly won't come from how the
Celtics play offense).  

J.R. Bremer--in the beginning, J.R. sucked.  Then he
started getting playing time, started to get confident
and then started to hit his shot.  And then, he kept
shooting so much and became the left-handed version of
Antione--all three pointers, all the time...  And so,
once again, we have a Delk situation---if he's not
hitting his shot, he sucks.  Both are point guards are
like that---and that is bad.  

Ok, enough with the player profiles.  This is what the
Celtics need to do to go far in the playoffs.  

Number one--start Blount.  Blount has been playing
good and he plays better when he starts.  But this
move is more predicated on two other factors; Walter
and Battie.  For Battie, this season is almost lost. 
He is very close to just finally breaking (all these
nagging injuries he's been receiving lately--the
ankle, the hand--are just symptoms of the bad knee--he
is overcompensating and it has been injuring him).  To
best use Battie, I would use him in high energy 4
minute intervals, twice in the first half and twice in
the second.  Make Battie a sort of secret weapon;
bring him in to start runs and improve the defense in
short spurts.  This conserves Battie and maximizes his
contributions.  Plus, if this plan is carried out, he
is always fresh and available down the stretch of the
game--where we need him.  Furthermore, we have Walter.
 Hasn't everyone noticed that his best games are when
he plays center for the majority of the game?  The
reason for this is, just like Rodney last year, Walt,
by playing the center spot. is able to get his 3 point
shot whenever he wants it.  This is huge.  It is very
relevant to the confindence factor that someone know
they can always get their shot when they want it.  It
takes off a lot of pressure.  Plus, with the guarantee
of open three pointers, our offense immediately gets
better since we, like last night, usually go thru a
couple of stretches where we can't even get open
shots.  This needs to stop.    

Number Two--Free Kedrick.  We've already went over
this.  Kedrick needs to play and he needs to play
alot.  Start Kedrick, play him thirty and watch how
much more fresh and effective both Delk and Williams
become.  

Number Three--for Christ's Sake, substitute like you
mean it.  Pierce is playing too much and Walker is
about to collapse.  Use combo's of Kedrick, Williams,
McCarty, Blount, and Bremer to rest these two....how
about bringing back some sort of press, just to mix it
up?  Just to fuck with the other team...how many times
has a change in defensive scheme just fucked up our
offensive flow?  Give them their own medicine.  That
is one of the faults of our defense.  It's always the
same.  Not only does that help the mentality of the
other team (they know that if they break the defense,
they don't have to worry about adjustments), it hurts
the mentality of the Celtics (if the defense is
getting beat--and sometimes it is, no matter the
defensive effort--they know their our no other
alternatives--and that is bad).  We need some
motherfucking innovation.

This of course all comes back to the coach.  Like
everyone else on this list, I too can see his
shortcomings.  He just doesn't seem so bright.  He
found a couple things that work and instead of looking
for more, he seems intent of using those couple things
forever.  This is not a sign of a good coach. 
Adaptability is...and O'Brien hasn't shown it.  Even
Pitino would have found a way to use Baker and
Kedrick....O'Brien hasn't or doesn't know how.  This
is bad.  As for Wallace.  Yeah, lets kill that guy
(not literally of course).  The Baker trade was bad
from the beginning.  The drafting strategy is worse. 
Both should be fired (though I'm not hoping for a
short playoff run like some of you; this is my team
and I want them to win every game, no matter the
ineptness of certain players, coaches or members of
management).  


One final note;  since the draft is coming and it soon
may become the only thing to look forward to
(basketball-wise), I thought I'd mention a few
prospects.

Keith Langford--lost in all the mutual masturbation
that was the mindless praising of the seniors of the
Kansas team (how many times did the Packer and Nantz
mention that Collison and Hinrich were playing their
last game during the Championship game? It was
infinity more times than they mentioned the same thing
about Keuth Duany--though the same applied to him) was
the play of Langford.  Maybe Tam can fill us in, but
where is the praise for this guy?  He was the most
important player on that Kansas team and would be
great for the Celtics.  All he does is shoot layups. 
I want this guy.

T.J. Ford--great point guard, but if he came to the
Celtics, he would either be released or traded within
3 years, if O'Brien was still coach.  We seem to be
the only team in the league that doesn't appreciate
what a point guard can do.

Dwayne Wade--this is one guy I would like the Celtics
to draft, if available.  He passed, rebounds, scores
and is smart.  He did exactly what Pierce should do
every night....use his scoring prowess to make his
teammates better.  He would fit great on the Celtics.

That's it.  This was long.  I even appreciate more the
long posts the rest of you write.  

Ryan
Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more
http://tax.yahoo.com