Re: View from the top: So far, Ainge encouraged by point guard play, depth

["Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wow, double Wow,,,,,how could Ainge not mention the excellent play of Vinny
Baker.....he's been the most consistent player on the team....

DanF

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen BeauregardSent: Sunday, November 16, 2003 7:59 AM
Subject: View from the top: So far, Ainge encouraged by point guard play,
depth


> View from the top: So far, Ainge encouraged by point guard play, depth
> By Steve Bulpett
> Sunday, November 16, 2003
>
> Nine games into the season, Danny Ainge has taken stock of the Celtics and
> reached some conclusions. Among them are that the point guard situation is
> better than he thought, that the Paul Pierce [news] problem is a team
problem,
> and that a good playoff team can be molded out of the ingredients
presently on
> hand.
>
>      On the first point, the director of basketball operations has pretty
much
> ceased his search for a veteran to guide the club and help develop Marcus
> Banks [news].
>
>      ``Yeah, I've changed my thought on that because I'm really encouraged
by
> the way Mike James [news] has played for us, and I'm really encouraged by
what
> I see in Marcus in practice and in spots,'' Ainge said. ``And we have a
third
> option in Jiri (Welsch). It's good to get him some minutes there in case
we
> have an injury and we need another point guard. I think he's really going
to
> be able to play there eventually, and he's helping us already.''
>
>      The second issue has come to the forefront because Pierce is the
Celts'
> remaining All-Star after the Antoine Walker [news] trade, and he has
struggled
> at times with shot selection and turnovers during crunch time.
>
>      Ainge sees the fault elsewhere.
>
>      ``You know what? I really believe the single biggest issue with Paul
is
> that the rest of the players have got to step up and have confidence,'' he
> said. ``I really believe that's it. I believe that the guys are so trained
in
> the things that we run that we just look for the last options, which is
> usually Paul, and we're not looking at the options beforehand.
>
>      ``We're not looking to take advantage of Kedrick (Brown). We're not
> looking to give anybody else any opportunities early in our offensive set
> except Eric (Williams) and Paul. I'd like to see those other guys gain
enough
> confidence in themselves to make plays. It's not (coach) Jim O'Brien's
fault.
> I'd like to see Kedrick and Jumaine (Jones) and Mike James and other
people
> step up.
>
>      ``We've seen the evolution of Mark Blount's offensive game from last
year
> to this year. He's playing with confidence. I don't even care if he misses
> some shots; he's shooting when he's open and he's passing when he isn't.
I'd
> like to see that same evolution - which I see in practice and which I see
on
> occasion in games - with Jiri, Kedrick, Raef (LaFrentz) and Tony Battie.
They
> all show it in spurts, but they have to be thinking, `Hey, Paul's not
open,
> I'll take it. I'll go run a two-man game.' ''
>
>      As for the latter matter, Ainge knows the Celtics aren't presently
loaded
> for championship bear, but he's optimistic. He was asked point blank if he
> thinks the Celtics are equipped to make a playoff run.
>
>      ``Today, no,'' he said. ``But I'm hoping we get there. I'm hoping
these
> guys get better. I believe in these players, and I believe that these guys
are
> all going to get better.
>
>      ``I believe we're going to get Raef healthier and playing better.
Mark
> Blount's really playing good for us. Battie had a nice game (Friday). I
> believe Paul's going to play better than he's playing. The encouraging
thing
> to me is I feel that we're not playing great. We're playing solid defense
and
> our offense is up and down - and really bad at times. I feel we can get so
> much better, and I think we are.''
>
>      The search for the right mix was evident in Friday's 91-82 win over
> Cleveland when O'Brien inserted Jones, a ``DNP'' in the previous three
games,
> into the starting lineup and used Welsch as the main backup at the point
to
> James.
>
>      ``I think that Jim is trying to find out who he has,'' Ainge said.
``We
> didn't really have Jiri in exhibition season, and Jumaine was hurt a lot
of
> the time. So Jim's trying to figure out who Jumaine and Jiri are. . . . I
like
> what Jiri does for our passing game. He moves the ball really well. He can
> space the floor. He's an excellent decision maker.
>
>      ``I personally think the way we play makes it extremely hard on our
point
> guards - all of them, whether it's Jiri, Marcus or Mike James - because we
> give them so much responsibility for getting us into our offense.''
>
>      After seeing what the Celtics have thus far, Ainge is putting the
> responsibility for later success on the players he has now.
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
> sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx