Bremer's night

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

Coming out of the locker room, JR Bremer was the last 
Celtic to quit on the score. I loved that. He did more 
than any player to turn around the Philly game with his 
ten points to open the second half.

I was impressed by his courage taking it strong again and 
again to Iverson, the fastest defender in the game. I 
think Bremer singlehandedly cut the Philly lead in half, 
put the Sixers in disarray, gave the Celtics hope, and 
made this a winnable game. Once there was a ray of hope, 
the Celtics captains did a magnificent job of taking care 
of business.

(I'd add that Van Horn may deserve as much blame for the 
Philly loss as Bremer deserves a game ball for the win. 
He could have made a number of easy shots to put the game 
away)

We've lately been comparing JR Bremer to Celtics players 
past, and David Wesley's name comes up the most.

But right now, he looks more like the second coming of 
freaking KC Jones. Unbelievable. 

I admit I was wrong about this guy in every way. All good 
runs usually come to an end (Adrian Griffin, Joe Johnson 
etc.) but this guy is so impressive. He scored to bring 
us back, but he also gave Walker some wide-open set shots 
with well-timed pass. I actually think this guy is going 
to make it as a point guard.

I'm sure Chris Wallace will milk it to death, but I would 
give the braintrust a point for making the correct 
evaluation on Bremer (of course they could have just 
drafted him if they liked him so much).

Bremer's emergence is crucial even outside the parquet. 
The big development is that he makes Shammond (and his 
expiring 2 million contract) 100% expendable once Delk 
returns. Basically, we now actually have a tradeable 
commodity (expiring contract) to put in play, rather than 
having to dump Kedrick or whomever.

If there is any truth to the established belief that 
teams are shopping for expiring contracts ahead of the 
February trade deadline, then Obie should continue this 
week to play it safe with Delk's ankle and showcase 
Shammond (in positive ways where he does the least damage 
to our winning chances).

The concern is whether Shammond will continue to 
embarrass himself. It would help if he showed even a 
little production. 

In the past week, Shammond has bottomed out. I don't know 
how many times I've seen closeups of that sheepish grin 
after he makes a boneheaded play. I pity him (it must be 
tough for him) but at the same time I'm disgusted. 

When his shot is off, his whole game becomes terrible. He 
has become a valueless player (or worse) on the court. 
What do you suppose Bremer's +/- was this past week, 
compared to Shammond Williams? Guarding Iverson is tough, 
but Shammond is the "weakest link" on defense, unless 
Sundov or someone is also out there.

Yet he does have the 2 million cap figure, and may not be 
in Boston's summer plans anyway. Add Ruben (587k) or 
perhaps Sundov (637k) if necessary and maybe Boston can 
bring in a quality seventh man of a Rodney Rogers 
calibre: a guy who could either rebound, defend or score 
consistently off the bench. 

Zeke still says he loves Sundov, right?
Indiana has an erratic PG situation, and he's reportedly 
looking to move Ron Mercer. I disliked Ron Mercer as a 
starter in Boston, but he's a very serviceable 6th or 7th 
man. The problem back then is that he didn't like seeing 
Paul Pierce take over the scoring role, even though Paul 
was by far the more complete player. That problem is 
resolved.

Mercer can't work easily, capwise I guess. What would 
work is Jeff Foster, an underrated defender and enforcer 
with around 5 million left on his contract through next 
season. And theoretically there are at least half-a-dozen 
other teams trying to clear cap space for this Summer. 
Wallace should be on the phone, talking about Shammond 
24/7. I'm sure people will inquire about adding Kedrick 
too. My hunch is that the Celtics won't trade him, but I 
was equally convinced this summer that the Baker-Anderson 
trade was entirely bogus and stupid.

As for Grant Long, I don't know what one can really say. 
In terms of losing all hope of luxury cap revenue, he's 
an expensive signing from the owner's perspective. 

I make this point because I think that cost-benefit 
analysis will have to further factor into the owner's 
decision, as far as Chris Wallace's job stability. 

(Of course, Wallace will probably pass blame to Cedric 
Maxwell, or somebody, for lobbying to sign Grant Long.) 

Its more than fair to give Grant Long more time, but last 
night's performance was by a guy who looks like he's 
playing basketball wearing beach sandles. Long's +/- last 
night was around minus 10 at least, I'd say. He has less 
mobility than Baker, he doesn't have a nose for the 
rebound, and its glaringly obvious he's undersized to 
play backup center. 

Statistically (last year) he's arguarbly like an Eric 
Williams, in the sense that his lack of measurable 
production might be outweighed by intangibles that we 
just can't always see. I'm willing to believe that. He 
did start 50 something games last year, even with those 
poor numbers.

p.s. Among so many other reasons to rejoice, beating 
Philly also improves Boston's draft position. But the 
Sixers damn well better make the playoffs, or else they 
get to keep the pick. What a team of sissies Larry Brown 
seems to have. I'd expect them to be so much better than 
that, looking at the talent level. They'll probably turn 
it around eventually.








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