Clanks (I Mean Banks) Nigh Useless Against New Jersey

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

While it looks like ol' Marcus Garvey Banks will be a solid NBA point
guard, in the mode of a huskier Mookie Blaylock or a shorter,
poorer-shooting Baron Davis, his upcoming play against the Nets will not

be anything to write home about or even email.

He simply doesn't match up well against the Nets.

Where do I begin.

Well, right to the point with Jason Kidd.  Banks is simply too small to
have much of
a defensive impact against Kidd. We  had a preview of this defeciency
during the Summer League, where Banks was outplayed (severely at times)
by the three big PGs he faced: James, Salmons, and Planinic. If the
immortal
John Salmans can light you up, we can only shudder at what Kidd is going
to
do to Banks.

The next case of the Banks' nasties deals with New Jersey's ability to
prevent his
penetration (a word we're hearing a lot these days due to the Kobe's
contretemps).
New Jersey will simply zone him out to the perimeter, play off him, clog
the paint, stop
his penetration, and force Banks to his weakest link: hitting outside
shots. And
that is not a good Walkeresque thing!

Lastly, Banks ability to transform the Celtics into a running team, will
be severely
curtailed against the Nets. You can't run, if you can't rebound, and the
Nets are
far superior to the Celtics in that regard, and should even be better
this season
with the additions of Mourning and Euro-Kidd Planinic, who has terrific
rebounding
ability. For the Celtics, their rebounding hopes center on a
healthy-for-the-first-time-
in-a-long-while Battie, a fully recovered Baker, and  Brandon Hunter,
who will have to
either be liberated from the IR or the bench, his home for the near
future, until the
Walke/Baker situation is settled.
Ray