Re: Walker, Minutes, Kedrick, Ainge, Spurs Backcourt

[Ryan W <ubiquitous_am_i@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ryan,

The problem you are over-looking, and one that has
been brought up many times before, is that kedrick is
not put in a position to succeed.  His game (if he has
one) is predicated on jumping, rebounding and defense.
 Where are the alley-opps?  New Jersey runs at least
one a game to Jefferson and Martin.  There is no
reason we couldn't do the same for Kedrick (especially
in the playoffs, when it would be extremely out of the
blue).  Furthermore, Kedrick is a defensive beast.  If
you haven't seen that in the limited time he has
gotten, then I suggest that you haven't been paying
attention.  Kedrick should be used on Kidd, full
court, for 4-5 minute stretches in the 2nd and 3rd
quarters.  He would at least make him extend extra
energy, not to mention that Kedrick is the only one on
the team that can keep up with Kidd in the full court
(how many times has Kidd simply dribbled around and
then past Bremer and Delk?).  The only downside in
this plan is that Kidd has the refs in his pocket. 
Any tough defense, especially coming from such an
unknown, would more-than-likely put the Nets in an
early free throwing bonus.  IF that's the case, simply
play Kedrick on Kidd until he picks up two fouls, then
take him out.  Regardless, Kedrick should be
playing... it is that simple.

RYan...


--- ryan nelson <ryanmn@mindspring.com> wrote:
> I think the one thing people are forgetting about
> kedrick is that he has had a couple of opportunities
> to prove his worth and has simply not performed. 
> Look at JR Bremer.  He was wasting on the bench and
> finally given a chance (due to injury, I'm not
> claiming O'brien judiciously gives players chances)
> and he PERFORMED.  His play EARNED him more minutes.
>  Kedrick has never played well during a game and
> thus has never earned minutes.  He simply is not an
> nba player.  Carl lewis can jump pretty high but i
> wouldn't want him on the court either.  Kedrick is
> timid, has no offense, and no fire.  If he wants to
> be a player he should seize his next opportunity
> just like Bremer did.  When that opportunity will
> come, who knows, but I am not sure this playoff
> series is the time to find out.  Our offense is bad
> enough without having to play 4 on 5.
> 
> 
> ryan
> 
> 
> 
> -------Original Message-------
> From: Mark Piotrowski <markp@edu15.coe.ufl.edu>
> Sent: 05/08/03 11:17 AM
> To: Celtics@igtc.com
> Subject: Walker, Minutes, Kedrick, Ainge, Spurs
> Backcourt
> 
> > 
> > Some thoughts after last nights games....
> 
> 1.  Walker -- Like everyone else its just killing me
> (and the C's) 
> how poorly Walker is playing.  It was really
> irritating listening to 
> John Thompson say there was something physically
> wrong with Walker. 
> It's so obvious that Martin just has Walker psyched
> out.
> 
> I can usually handle Walker's shooting b/c he always
> seems to balance 
> it out with hustle, a key rebound, passing, and
> overall leadership 
> (his most overlooked quality) -- but the thing I
> found most 
> disturbing was that just after the Nets stopped our
> 14-0 run and 
> pushed the lead back up to 5-7 pts, Walker seemed to
> just give up. 
> While the rest of the team was still scraping and
> clawing Walker 
> seemed absolutely deflated.  2 times he gave the
> ball to Pierce and 
> just stood at the 3pt line.  That in-and-of itself
> is not out of 
> character, but his shoulders were slumped, he stood
> there 
> flat-footed, not ready to receive a pass.  His
> defender -- i think -- 
> saw it and just slipped off him.
> 
> I've seen Walker pissed, frustrated, out-of-sync and
> just play poorly 
> -- but don't remember ever seeing him appear to give
> up (Remember, 
> while Pierce shot us back during that record-setting
> comeback last 
> year, it was Walker's fire on the bench during the
> quarter-break that 
> ignited the comeback).  I really wish O'Brien would
> have just pulled 
> him and told him not to worry about it.  I can't
> help but think that 
> if I saw/felt this from my couch in Florida the rest
> of the team 
> saw/felt it and it hurt the comeback.
> 
> The problem of course is who are you gonna put in? 
> Long?  At that 
> point even Long's hustle would have been more than
> we were getting 
> from Walker.
> 
> 2.  Minutes -- Of course I would have liked to see
> Kedrick put in, 
> but this is where we're suffering from his getting
> almost zero 
> playing time during the season.  The kernel of truth
> in what Thompson 
> was saying is that Walker might just be exhausted
> from playing so 
> many minutes over the past 2-3 seasons.  This is one
> of the very few 
> things that just drives me crazy about O'Brien --
> his seeming 
> absolute refusal to develop players or distribute
> minutes more 
> evenly.  This hurts us in 2 ways:  (1) Pierce/Walker
> play an insane # 
> of minutes and (b) the bench is so much shorter when
> something goes 
> wrong -- like Walker's play in game 2 (I think he
> just had a 
> forgiveable down game in Game 1, but played poorly
> in Game 2).
> 
> Over the past 3 years Pierce and Walker have
> averaged 38/40/39 and 
> 41/42/41 minutes a game each.  Imagine if you could
> shave 3-5 minutes 
> off each player's average and give those combined
> 6-10 minutes to 
> Kedrick, sink-or-swim.  Yes the short term loss is
> Walker/Pierce 
> being on the floor for so long, but there were a
> handful of games I 
> watched this year where the C's were up or down 15
> late in the 4th 
> quarter and Walker and Pierce were still out there. 
> Why?
> 
> 3.  Kedrick -- The first few games next year will
> tell us if Kedrick 
> will be allowed to contribute.  Notice I'm not
> saying if he "can" but 
> if he'll be allowed.  There's no denying Kedrick's
> physical talents 
> -- even on garbage time rebounds (in the IND series)
> you can see his 
> hops.  But how is he going to be able to contribute
> when O'Brien 
> barely plays him.  Going up against Pierce in
> practice is fine, but 
> I'd much rather him go up against A. Harrington,
> Kittles or the like 
> in the 3rd period of an actual NBA game.
> 
> What troubles me the most is (again) his body
> language when he's on 
> the court (and to a lesser degree on the bench).
> 
> Have you ever noticed that when O'Brien does
> actually put Brown in 
> he, on offense, goes right to the 3pt line and just
> stands there -- 
> no movement, no cutting, no nothing.  What's worse,
> he stands there 
> like Walker did in game 2:  flat-footed, shoulders
> slumped.  You can 
> almost hear his body saying "God, why the @#$! does
> the coach make me 
> just stand out here?".  You can FEEL the resignation
> coming from his 
> shoulders.
> 
> I do believe O'Brien when he says he's playing with
> the hand dealt 
> him.  The C's *DO* have good spot up 3pt shooters
> and little post 
> talent.  Why then can't Obie see what he's been
> dealt with Kedrick 
> and try and play to his strengths?  Let him cut
> through the lane, 
> take his man off the dribble, set a couple of pick
> and rolls for 
> dunks, let him roam the baseline for offensive
> boards.  He's not 
> fooling anyone 24 feet away from the basket.
> 
> And that body language tells me Kedrick is getting
> discouraged.  That 
> he's frustrated.  Last year during the playoffs I
> remember him and 
> Rodney Rogers being close on the bench.  You could
> see RR pointing 
> things out to him, see them laughing and smiling
> when the C's were 
> winning and giving players 5 when they came out. 
> This year, even 
> when things are going well whenever the camera shows
> him on the bench 
> he seems expressionless.  Maybe I'm reading too much
> into this but I 
> imagine his 22-year old psyche is taking a major
> beating.
> 
> 4.  Ainge & Wallace -- I'm all for Ainge coming in
> and steering the 
> ship.  But I really hope Wallace will stay on as
> director of scouting 
> or something like that.  While Wallace obviously
> doesn't have the 
> overall skills to run a team, I think he's not given
> credit for 
> finding talent on the fringes -- his problem has
> been holding onto it.
> 
> While watching the playoffs I've taken to pointing
> out 
=== message truncated ===


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