Re: O'Brien's Pardon

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

Josh, it's all timing, and it all has been in O'Brien's favor. He took over
a team that seemed to be in disarray in the final days of the Pitino regime.
The players had quit on the coach and were desperate for a change. O'Brien
took over, and they played hard for him, and suddenly it looked like he was
the difference. This all coincided with/resulted in the maturation of the
young players on the team. Antoine no longer had the youth excuse. Ditto
Battie and Eric Williams and even Pierce. They had been in the league a
while and together for a while. So they started to "get it" and O'Brien was
the beneficiary. Meanwhile, this all happened in the same season that the
East turned upside down. The Heat and Knicks, who had dominated the
conference for years, were falling apart. The Bucks and Raptors, two
promising playoff teams, were cracking and regressing. Grant Hill couldn't
get healthy. Suddenly, the timing was right for teams like the Celtics, Nets
and Pistons, and they took advantage of it.

But don't worry. O'Brien's time is just about up. Ainge is rewarding him
because he has to, but he sees what we see. His quotes prove that. If
O'Brien can't change and improve-and I believe he'll regress, simply because
that is his track record (Dayton)-he'll be gone soon enough.

I agree with you that this perception that O'Brien has done this with a
two-man team is a joke. First of all, he has two all-stars. You can count
the teams with two all-stars on one hand. So he has a head start on much of
the league. Then he has a solid, if unspectacular, big man in Battie. A guy
who once scored 50 points in a game in Delk (and who remains a deadly
mid-range shooter), and last year he had a former sixth man of the year in
Rogers and a more than competent point guard in a contract year in Kenny.
Not to mention guys like Strickland and Vitaly-tough-nosed role players. He
had two stars and a solid collection of role players. And good health-always
a huge factor, especially so the last couple of years. It's hardly
"Hoosiers." 

I'd argue that O'Brien has actually decreased the effectiveness of many
players. Look at guys like Kenny, Delk and Rogers and tell me they didn't
regress in O'Brien's system. If a good coach puts players in position to
succeed, then what would you call a coach who asks Delk to stand at the
3-point line, Kenny to stand still and wait for kick outs and Kedrick Brown
to stand at the 3-point line? 

But it's a moot point for now. Ainge has given O'Brien a chance to show that
he can change. If he does, great. If not, Ainge will show him the door,
contract extension or no.

Mark

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Josh wrote:

I love how every boston writer, including even
Peter May, has bought O'Brien's line that he
"took what he had" and coaxed two playoff
runs out of it.  Could any claim be more ludicrous?
He had Kedrick Brown; he had a semi-competent
Vin Baker; he had a great mid-range scorer in
Tony Delk; he had Joe Johnson; he had a legit
point guard in Kenny Anderson.  He made the
players on his roster into the team we saw.  Nobody
else.  I agree with Mark that the halfcourt offense
was as crude and useless as the running game;
and like the running game, that's strictly a function
of coaching.  You're telling me the Celtics aren't
fast enough to run a fast break?  Or don't play
basketball well enough?  What a joke.  I wish I
wrote for a real medium so I could call out O'Brien
on this.  The guy's getting the all-time free ride.