This and that

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On several subjects...

1.	Vin Baker... I'm torn. On the one hand, I see what the Celtics are
trying to do, and I find it offensive, mean, dishonest and wrong. And on the
other hand, I hope it works. I'm ashamed of that part. I can't stand Vin
Baker, but the Celtics brought him here, which makes them either ignorant or
incompetent. If Seattle had tried something like this, I couldn't have
blamed them. But the Celtics knew what they were getting themselves into
with Baker (or should have, since everyone else did), so I'm not as
forgiving of their dirty tactics to try to get salary relief. 

2.	Obie vs. Wallace... Both guys are bad. Wallace's faults have been
rehashed over and over and appear to be so obvious that any further
discussion is pointless (unless the new owners fail to fire him after this
season-then there will be plenty of discussion). Obie is a one-trick pony.
He got Pierce and Walker to buy into his "system" by giving them free reign
to do whatever they want offensively. In return, he asks them to play
defense. But that agreement has taken the team as far as it can. Obie has
failed to integrate anything but spare parts around the captains. There is
no offense. There is no effort on Obie's part to put players in positions to
succeed. Tony Delk is a great shooter from 10-20 feet, but Obie continues to
push him out to the 3-point line. Kedrick is an explosive athlete along the
baseline (in theory-but we know he's not a 3-point shooter), but Obie
continues to station him away from the ball as a spot-up 3-point shooter.
Bremer is at his best penetrating or spotting up for mid-range jumpers, but
Obie continues to have him spot up from 3-point range. Is Obie doing what he
does because this is the hand Wallace has dealt him? Or is Wallace going out
and getting the types of players Obie wants? I'd say it's a combination, and
both guys are guilty of failing the franchise. Obie never will wrest control
of this team away from Antoine, and unless or until someone does that, the
team is doomed to middle-of-the-pack status.

3.	Antoine... Friday's game was a great example of why it's not as
simple as saying "Antoine needs to play in the post..." He did that, and
missed virtually everything he threw up. You could argue that most of his
shots were good shots, only when a guy is a career 41 percent shooter from
2-point range, maybe the message is he just isn't a good shooter, period.
And if that's the case, the message should be: "Don't shoot so much." But,
even after that, he buried the worst shot he attempted all night to clinch
the win. That was the only shot Friday that made me scream out "No!" and yet
that's the one that won the game. That's Antoine. Then yesterday he was
great. But that was just the eighth time this season he managed to make half
his shots. Eight out of 55. It's just not enough. As for his ejection, I
don't think he quit. But what happened to the more mature Antoine? He leads
the league in technicals with 21. The Celtics as a team lead the league in
technicals. They all need to shut up and stop complaining so much.

4.	One more thing on Obie... Walter was playing the best basketball of
his career, and when Pierce goes down, Obie turns to rust-covered Kedrick
and reduces McCarty's minutes. Doesn't that seem strange to anyone else?

5.	I hope the BDT doesn't think Bremer is their point guard of the
future. The cracks are showing on J.R. He's definitely a player, but more in
the backup point guard sense. He's not a starting point guard, and probably
never will be.

6.	Eric Williams may have played his best game Friday night. He came up
with a lot of big plays in that win.

Mark