Live and in person in Lowell

[Kim Malo <kimmalo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Went to the Cs open practice tonight up in Lowell at the Tsongas Arena and 
thought I'd pass on some observations.

First, I guess they do this up in Lowell every year or so, and by all means 
try to go next year. The Tsongas Arena has a capacity of about 6000, so in 
effect every seat is a loge seat and there's plenty of amusement. Tickets 
were free.

We opened with the Celtics doing their best Denise Austin imitation. 
Actually the real opening act was one of the stupid fan tricks they use at 
halftime at regular games, but the exercise with the Celtics class was the 
first memorable event for me. And wasn't without useful things to look for. 
Tony Delk keeps himself in amazing shape - he was the one doing some of the 
abs stuff at the start apparently effortlessly. Walker really has lost 
weight and looks more sculpted along with quicker and more agile. Mind you, 
when I say more sculpted -he's never going to remind you of Mr World 
competitions any more than Bird ever would, but definitely less soft 
looking. Pierce looked ready to roll, strong and healthy. Battie wasn't 
limping despite the report yesterday. James was in the lead in most of the 
up and down the court stuff (run at half speed or less though - no question 
of his being Banks quick- but a sign of hustle. However more about James 
and running the floor in a bit). Vin didn't impress here, where he didn't 
seem to be making full effort on all the exercises. OTOH he's never been 
known as an inspired practice player and in fairness to him I can't say 
anyone was going full time on this stuff. More on Vin in a minute. The new 
strength and conditioning coaches were right out there in the middle of it, 
directing the action. Can a Jazzercize with the Cs video be far behind as 
the latest money making venture...

Obie introduced all the players, including the just in campers like Cleeves 
and La Rue and used at least half a .season's worth of superlatives and 
unqualified praise on everyone. I didn't notice any signs of pain over 
doing this or a wind up key or anyone pulling strings to make his mouth 
move. Honest. Vin got a big cheer that started with the words former all 
star, even before his name was mentioned. Obie said he expected big things 
from him this season, for those that were sure he was doomed from the start 
last season solely because Obie showed no enthusiasm for having him or 
something like that. Obie said Kendrick has been the best rebounder in camp.

Fast break drills next. Up and down the court with a PG and 2 wingmen, 
working their way thorough all the personnel. Occasionally threw a defender 
to work around in the mix. The break needs a lot of work, with guys often 
getting passes too close to the hoop or not in stride. Still, it looked 
like something they'd done before, if not always well - I don't think the 
drill was just for a pretense and sop to the fans that see, we really are 
running.

Vinnie actually looked reasonably good in this one, and in the scrimmages 
to come. All star quality? No, especially considering the setting I was 
seeing him in. But MUCH better than what I saw last year. More active, more 
agile, was able to hang on to the ball (the only badly missed pass that I 
recall was the fault of the passer), was actively and aggressively going to 
boards and to the hoop and actually holding on to the ball when people 
tried to fight it away from him. This looks more like the basic player they 
should have been able to expect they were getting, with hopes that he could 
do better vs the player they got with hopes that he might get back to 
barely serviceable.

James, running. He does it. Noticeable in the exercise class, in the break 
drills and in the scrimmages. I'm not sure yet what his overall PG full 
game run the offense skills are, but I'll tell you one thing he does do 
that we've badly needed is push the ball up the court pretty much every 
possession. Not necessarily running a break, just not walking it up while 
everyone else gets set. That tends to get contagious when you keep doing it.

Perkins is very raw. He made a lot of mistakes, but you can see what's 
there in the potential too and seems to be willing to learn and to care 
about his screw ups. Not NBA ready now, but hopefully will see some garbage 
time minutes to hone skills against NBA players while building confidence 
because the other garbage time centers won't be exactly ready for prime 
time either...

Hunter. Hunter made a bunch of mistakes too, along with some nice hustle 
and dunks, but one thing I really noticed on top of the stuff we've already 
heard about was movement without the ball. Hunter was getting open **a 
lot** on offense and I think people may not have noticed it because he 
usually didn't get the ball and was often on the weak side anyway. But he 
clearly understands the importance of getting open and how to do it, which 
could pay dividends as he becomes a more reliable offensive option when he 
does get the ball. And might inspire the others. Lack of movement without 
the ball was a big problem last season. And BTW, he was clearly playing the 
4 in terms of matchups and in the context of who else was on the floor, not 
the 3. Speaking of which, I think some real fun might come watching Walker 
and Hunter against each other in practice. There were some enthusiastic 
matchups between them on the court. Hunter's not easily intimidated and we 
all know how Walker's ego responds to being challenged...

Walker's shot selection hasn't improved much, but the quantity was fairly 
acceptable : )

Pierce was ready for the season and seems to have worked on his ball 
handling. Unforced turnovers are one of my big criticisms of him and in a 
helter scelter setting made for them, I don't recall any.

We've already had a magic announcing moment with a hoop by Kedrick from 
Kendrick. The announcer got it right. This time <heh heh heh>

Jumaine Jones has a hammy problem and didn't play. Limped badly when 
introduced.

The first 'half' of scrimmage was mostly set offense, which was 
disappointing after the break drills. The second half had more moments with 
the pace being pushed a bit although little actual break and no one's going 
to mistake it for showtime.

Banks a mixture. Still a couple of those bad concentration sort of of 
turnovers - the sort I was just complimenting Pierce on not having - but 
some honestly great defense and one memorable shift into passing gear drive 
by. They had him speak to the crowd to welcome the fans too. Probably 
embarassed - he's honestly got a great smile that could light up a room, 
but it wasn't in evidence until they took the mike away when a glimpse of 
it appeared. He's going to be fun. Not perfect, but I think he's going to 
be the personal target of a lot of cheers and gasps by the time the team 
starts to really gel in a couple of months (I think it will take a while to 
achieve consistency because of so many changes).

Kedrick a mix. Some badly missed shots inside and out, one NICE block of 
Walker. Still a matter of defense better than offense, although if he can 
get some chemistry going with our new PGs, who are quick and seem to be 
smart enough to see the shots he should be getting, then that could change.

Tony Delk seems to have been working on his PG skills a bit. He actually 
did look around the court some, even if he didn't always see what was 
there, and didn't do as much just standing there pounding the ball into the 
floor as I recall.

Walter was Walter, for good and evil, Blount the same. Battie not 
particularly memorable game. OTOH, none of these are guys I was 
concentrating on watching that much.

OK, those are the high points I recall. If anyone has questions, they might 
trigger some more thoughts. I do wish I'd seen more evidence of running a 
break and improved shot selection, but it's still early days with a lot of 
things to try to gel.

Kim