Boston Celtics '02-'03 TPR

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

June 9, 2003
Boston Celtics '02-'03 TPR

 Joe Schaller
    

As predicted the Vin Baker trade proved to be a disaster-- duuhhh! Similar to 
Shawn Kemp it seems to be ample evidence that 3 or 4 years in a row with a 
40+ drop in TPR from previous highs is a sure indicator that a recovery would 
fall under the category of "miracle". From the start I have questioned Baker's 
inflated reputation when even at the peak of his game in '97 and '98 he was a 
borderline allstar not even cracking my Top 50. It was a respectable scoring 
ability which gained him that overrated status --Ike Austin and John Amaechi 
come immediately to mind-- drawing a free pass on subpar rebounding and horrible 
ballhandling. So even if Baker was able to approach previous peak levels the 
value would still be marginal.

As a result of Baker's acquisition the club lost Kenny Anderson and Rodney 
Rogers, not allstars yet valuable role players who may have made the club a 
contender.

Throw in the regression of Antoine Walker, one of my Top 5 Overrated, and 
sportswriters should be wondering who was responsible for the surprising success 
of the club. The names on that list would be Eric Williams, Tony Battie, Tony 
Delk and rookie J R Bremer. Williams showed huge improvement in his scoring, 
rebounding and ballhandling to make my Top Ten Most Improved. Delk and Battie 
also had career years yet very little was mentioned of these three in the 
mainstream.

Paul Pierce continued to be one of the leagues top ten players.

I continue to believe Walker's presence is holding the team back. He is such 
a streaky shooter and poor rebounder he would be far more effective as a sixth 
man off the bench for clubs like New Orleans or Indiana who already have 
large, physical front lines. Reduced minutes would be in order. With his bloated 
$12 million salary the Celts would likely have to settle for another overrated, 
overpaid scorer such as Jalen Rose.

As it is Danny Ainge has his hands tied for the next 3 years, the length of 
Baker's contract, unless he can do what the Sonics did, perform a miracle.

Free agents include Walter McCarty, Mark Blount and J R Bremer.
After an amazing rookie season Bremer's value was damaged by a disastrous 
post-season.


TPR scale: 120+ superstar, 100+ allstar, 80+ starter, 65+ bench, 60 = min 
wage

For each player I present: minutes played, name, '02-'03 TPR, followed by 
previous 8 seasons TPR in reverse chronological order.


3235"Antoine Walker_86_102_91_79_80_94_71

3096"_Paul Pierce_134_135_117_108_96

2350"_Eric Williams_82_55_53_57_37_--_60__64

1949"_Walter McCarty_78_80_54_34_45_63

1873"_Tony Delk_91_85_83_88_47_68_77

1683"_Tony Battie_103_89_93_84_89_68

1503"_J R Bremer_80

1403"_Mark Blount_64_--_63

942"_Vin Baker_53_62_59_63_44_99_100_96_84

691"_Bimbo Coles_40_48_51_71_78_58_53_69_74

666"_Kedrick Brown_59_--


Total Performance Ratings (The Total 12)

Scoring

Scoring Efficiency

Ballhandling

Rebounding

Disruptive Defense

One on one Defense

Team Defense

Team Game Pace

Positional Norms

Schedule Strength

Projected Improvement or Decline

Teams Wins Adjustment
Ratings indicate productivity per minute played. See my feature "The TPR 
Formula" for more information.


Joe Schaller
    
    <A HREF="http://schallertpr.rivals.com/Default.asp?c=d&";>http://schallertpr.rivals.com/Default.asp?c=d&;</A>

TAM