Re: from bad to worse - celt's offensive offense

[Ellie Cutler <ellie@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Tom - agreed about Anderson. Remember how upset Antoine used to get
when Kenny would refuse (with sound reason) to give him the ball? Kenny
kept Antoine in line and helped him be a better team player.  Without that
*good* veteran presence (as opposed to somenone like Baker), Walker is the
one in charge, and he just doesn't have the decision-making prowess to
bring us the W's in close games. Dunno if he'll ever have it. He's a great
piece of the puzzle and I love his heart, but he short circuits at the
worst possible times. 

I, too, wish the Cs would wake up and smell the coffee and start playing
team offense. I'm really happy about the nba-wide development of the
old-fashioned passing style. It's much more interesting to watch (and
play, for non-goto guys like Kedrick Brown) than standing around watching
your team's incarnation of MJ go 1 on 1,2,3,4, or 5.

Pierce seems just plain wiped out to me. The physical and mental/emotional
drain of the summer games, no rest, getting whacked every game, wearing a
mouthguard, he just looks sullen and drained. 

I don't have optimism for the rest of the season. Even if they make the
playoffs, they don't have the horses to compete against NJ or Indiana,
never mind any of the western teams. 

On the plus side, I'm looking forward to seeing more of Kedrick. But, not
if Antoine relegates him to the perimiter. Get that kid to the basket! Why
aren't they running alley oops for him left and right? argh. I have
patience with him - look how long it takes for most of these kids -
Jermaine O'Neal, Al Harrington - there's still lots of time for Kedrick to
develop, but let's get started!

I'm also happy to see Bremer in there, and for changes to the
rotation, period. 

I'd love to get Zach Randolph. It will be interesting to
see what the new owners really end up doing re: Wallace & Papile. Even if
those guys think that international scouting is a waste of time, and
players like Songalia (?) should stay overseas, I can't believe the
ownership believes that. Let's get global!
 
 --Ellie

On Mon, 13 Jan 2003, Thomas Murphy wrote:

> >>The defense is the thing for this team, but the offense is brutally
> bad. They got away with it last year because Pierce was Superman. This year,
> he's Clark Kent. I really don't know what's wrong. It's more than fatigue.<<
> 
> I have to agree... perhaps a factor that is being overlooked in the further
> demise of the C's offense is the lack of a point guard who can at least play
> a two man game or properly set up another player for their move. I submit
> that the C's miss Kenny a lot more than just totaling up the assists and ppg
> of SWill and Delk would indicate. The declining shooting percentages of
> their teammates need to be taken into account as well.