gimme a break

["Josh Ozersky" <jozersky1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Kestas,

Don't worry so much about the enemy being slighted.
O'Neal is a marshmellow.  I don't care what his numbers are.
If you are interested in defending him, I wouldn't bring up
his play for Team USA.  He hasn't done shit in the playoffs,
and that's the only way any player can be judged.



  How are the Pacers and Pistons more talented than the Celtics? It amazes me
to
  hear Ainge say this, and Bob Ryan second it. First of all, neither team has
  beaten the Celtics in a playoff series: we punched both teams' tickets the
  last two years.

Yes, before Detroit had Billups, Campbell, Okur, Prince, and now, Darko
waiting for his turn. And Indiana last year was coached by a guy who made Obie
look like Red Auerbach.

New Jersey is probably more talented; but what is so great
  about the current rosters of Indiana and Detroit? The Pacers' only all-star
  caliber player, Jermaine O'Neal, is an unproven marshmallow that can't
score
  in the crunch, and their second-best player, Ron Artest, is a suspension
  waiting to happen.

Well, if averaging 20/10 and 3 blocks, making the All-Star and Team USA
several times makes one an "unproven marshmallow", then I guess you're right.
Artest is the best defensive player in the NBA at the swing positions and
pretty darn good on offense (18 ppg).

He's a cancerous nutcase.  I do like him and would like to see him in green,
but his downside is huge.


The Pacers are playing Kenny Anderson major minutes! Can
  there be any more obvious sign of desperation?

Kenny is still a better PG than either Mike James or Banks.

The Hell he is!  I wouldn't let Kenny run my rec league team.  He can't run a
fast break,
he can't hit an open jump shot, and his defense isn't even what it was in
Boston.  Plus
he's a jerk.  Kenny has never really been a good point guard, even when he
could hit
his shots.

As for the Pistons, they (like
the Celtics) are a deep and cohesive team, but they also lack a go-to player,
and their best players are all spare parts. Darko Milic may pan out in the
long run, but right now Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace are their best
players: a point guard who can't pass, and a power forward who can't score.
This is the mountain the Celtics have to climb?
  I bring all this up not to put down our rivals.

Sure sounded like a putdown to me.

why do you care?  Are you in the pacers anti-defamation league
or something?  I don't get this.


Rosters don't win games; teams
do, and it's all settled in the post-season, as Ainge should know. But the
Celtics have a very good, very deep team which their poor play and the
received wisdom about the Eastern Conference has obscured. They, in fact,
have
more talent than is currently being shown: in the big win against the Sonics,
Walter McCarty played more minutes than Jumaine Jones and Marcus Banks
combined. Meanwhile, Kendrick Perkins and Brandon Hunter haven't even
appeared
on the court yet.

Isn't funny that, in your reckoning of talent, Kendrick and Hunter are already
counted on as potential contributors this season, even though they haven't
played a minute yet, but Darko, a much more highly regarded prospect, is of no
consequence for Detroit?


I'm not counting on them, I'm saying that they are valuable roster additions
with lots
of potential, just like Darko.  I wouldn't trade Kendrick and Hunter for Darko
right now.
Even if I would, it doesn't make Detroit a better team in 2003-04.


Let's look at players that would be in the rotation for the playoffs:
Detroit has a very solid, veteran backourt in backcourt in Billups and
Hamilton, a rising star in Prince at SF, and a tough frontcourt in Wallace and
Campbell. They also have the very talented big man Okur and solid veteran
Williamson off the bench. And they have one of the best coaches in the NBA.

This must be the first time anybody ever called Elden Campbell "tough."  And
Wallace,
for all his great defense and rebounding, still can't score on his own
shadow.



We have a superstar in Pierce, an efficient but soft low-post scorer in Baker,
and Welsch, whose offensive explosion has lasted but three games so far.
Lafrentz is talented but injured, Williams is a good bench player, and Banks
is very raw. The rest are spare parts right now. I'd like to believe that Mike
James can keep shooting like he has been, and that Jiri can sustain his high
level of play, but they're far from proven players at this point.

Maybe you're right and the Celtics will keep playing like they have the last 3
games and end up winning the EC, but, as much as I would like to believe it,
it's unlikely.

Probably, but not because of the talent differential.

Josh