RE: Tidbits from Sean Deveney

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

I'm going to give Obie the benefit of the doubt, but he picked the point
guards last season. The defense was better last season, and the offense was
worse this season. It sounds a lot like a guy trying to spin things to his
benefit. BUT... if he follows through and makes some changes, then I'll tip
my hat to him.

Mark

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Sean Giovanello [mailto:sgiovanello@norwoodlight.com] 
Sent:	Wednesday, May 21, 2003 2:47 PM
To:	Berry, Mark  S
Cc:	'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject:	Re: Tidbits from Sean Deveney

I heard some of OB on 1510 and some of him on EEI right after.  Heres 
the recap:

He had never met Ainge outside of being interviewed by him once. 
 Neither was familiar with the other entering into this.  OB found in 
talking to people around the NBA that knew Danny that everyone assumed 
they would get along in common and had some remarkable similarities.

When OB took over from Lil Ricky, he felt the biggest change they needed 
to make was a committment to defense in the half court set.  They werent 
stopping anyone and what they have tried to do more than anything else 
the last couple years was to get the players to buy into that and build 
on it.  The result is that they feel they play much better defense and 
can get stops when they need to.

Being able to do this allows them to now start looking at improving the 
offense more.  OB said he has always wanted to run, but the defense came 
first.  He didnt make any personel suggestions to Ainge, because their 
assessments of the current Celtics team are remarkably similar.  Danny 
was very new to the team and the players when he took over in the 
playoffs, but he was right on in regards to his assessments.  OB feels 
that they are going to be adding players that will be able to play D and 
run the floor and that this is what he has wanted.  

Berry, Mark S wrote:

>Here are a few blurbs from Deveney's CBS Sportsline column. Hmm. The Kings,
>Mavs, Spurs and Pistons are the teams most involved in scouting Europe.
What
>do they all have in common? 
>
>The Antoine crack is pretty much the consensus, it seems. I don't buy it. I
>think there are teams out there that believe they can "fix" Antoine. I hope
>one of them gets a chance to try (assuming the deal coming back is good for
>the C's). Paul M., welcome back, and feel free to savage this post
>unmercifully.
>
>Also, I read somewhere else that Obie was on WEEI today and said he and
>Ainge were on the same page in regard to the offense. Sure they are. Then
>again, who knows? Maybe Dr. Jack's remarks about point guards are accurate.
>Maybe Obie learned something this season. But don't forget he went on and
on
>before the season started about how much better he thought they'd be with
>Delk and Shammond Williams at PG because of their improved defense and
>shooting. Obie made it clear from the start that he wasn't wild about Vin
>Baker, but he was very positive about the "we don't need a point guard"
>theory. So, I might be convinced that he learned a lesson this season, but
I
>won't forget that he was the one discounting the need for a point guard in
>the first place. Anyway, I'm with Obie in saying they need someone better
>than Travis Best or Kenny Anderson. Those guys aren't solutions. I don't
>know what the solution is, but they're not it.
>
>Mark
>
>
>Sure, just about every team has sent front-office personnel to Europe for a
>look at the major tournaments, and it might seem the entire league has gone
>international. Not quite. Conversations with three agents and two general
>managers put the number of teams that are really in Europe -- and "in"
means
>they have scouts there who work from the inside, watch practices and know
>players, rather than merely watch major tournaments -- at four. 
>The Kings and Mavericks still are the heavies in Europe, but the Spurs and
>Pistons are just behind. The Jazz has a presence, and the Nuggets and
Knicks
>are expanding their European operations. Everyone else? "They basically
>steal information from the teams that are over there," one agent says. . .
.
>
>... .... ...
>New Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge told the Boston
>Globe last week that an extension for coach Jim O'Brien was his top
priority
>and that he had no intention of trading PF Antoine Walker. Both were
>no-brainers, though. O'Brien has led a team with limited talent and no
depth
>to 93 wins in two years. Walker shot 39 percent this season and has a
>maximum-salary contract -- no one would trade for him, anyway. . . . 
>... ... ...
>The consensus is that though Texas high school star C Kendrick Perkins
>declared for the draft, he won't hire an agent and will wind up going to
>college (he has a commitment to Memphis). SF Charlie Villanueva, though,
>probably will go in the low first round and won't play in college.