Re: Just Vin, baby!

["Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wow, OB's got a lot of choices and lineup options. He had trouble with
season match ups with 7 players, how will he handle all these bodies? My
starters would be James, Brown, Walker, Pierce, and Battie.(providing
Battie's healthy, otherwise Baker) with decent stock off the bench compared
to last season. OB says the 1&5 spots are murky, he must be getting
cataracts.....

DanF


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "celtics list" <celtics@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 6:59 AM
Subject: Just Vin, baby!


> C's seek alignment: Rotation up in air as preseason nears end
> By Steve Bulpett
> Monday, October 20, 2003
>
> Paul Pierce thinks everything will be fine with the Celtics once coach Jim
> O'Brien puts a little glue on the rotation. But the co-captain may have to
> live with some disappointment a while.
>
>      ``We've got to develop a set rotation,'' Pierce said after the Celts
> improved to 2-4 on the preseason with an 84-80 win over Indiana Saturday
night
> in Manchester, N.H. ``Once we can do that we'll be OK. Then we can get our
> defensive schemes down better. That's going to have to be our bread and
> butter. Teams that are at the top of the league defensively are the teams
that
> are going to win. Hopefully, we can be a team that plays harder than
> everybody, and I think it's going to help to get a rotation together so we
> know who's going to be working with who.''
>
>      The problem with that is O'Brien's only two certainties right now are
> Pierce and Antoine Walker [news]. The rest of the starters and how the
> rotation will flow are still not set.
>
>      ``The starting lineup I think will be really contested until probably
the
> last preseason game, and I'm not convinced at this point in time that we
will
> have a set starting lineup at the beginning of the season,'' O'Brien said.
> ``We could have one lineup one night and another lineup another night and
> another lineup the next night depending on who we're playing.
>
>      ``For instance, (Saturday) night if (the Pacers) had their whole team
I
> was going to start Eric Williams because I think he matches up best with
(Ron)
> Artest. It's a luxury to have a set lineup, (but) you don't always have
the
> advantage of luxuries, so you do with what you think is going to win games
and
> make you a better team in the long run. If that means having a set lineup,
> then we'll have a set lineup. But right now I think the landscape to me at
the
> 1, 3 and 5 positions is murky.''
>
>      After a day off yesterday, the Celts will work out today and host
> Minnesota Wednesday and New Jersey Friday to complete their preseason
> schedule. The regular season opens the following Wednesday at home against
> Miami. Between now and then, O'Brien is hoping some injury issues will be
> cleared enough to allow a better view of his options.
>
>      ``I'll start pretty much Monday evaluating where we are and start
> thinking about what we have to do,'' he said. ``But we also have to take
into
> account that Tony Delk (strained calf) and Jumaine (Jones, strained
> hamstrings) have not played many minutes, and certainly I had in my mind
that
> they would both compete for starting jobs - and if not starting jobs then
> quality minutes. So I'm going to have to take that into consideration. And
I'm
> going to have to take into consideration that Tony Battie is coming off
knee
> surgery this summer and maybe has not been out to the quickest start
because
> of it. So we'll look at it, but whether we have a definitive starting
lineup
> by the next game, I don't know yet.''
>
>      Informed of O'Brien's outlook, Pierce deftly reversed field.
>
>      ``It's tough, but you know that's something you might have to deal
> with,'' he said. ``The good thing is that we've got more guys this year
who
> can step up. Kedrick Brown [news] is really playing well. I think that's a
> great bonus to add to this team, and we've got other people, too.
>
>      ``The talent is there, no matter who coach puts out on the floor.''
>
>      Celtics notes
>
>      In each of the past two weeks the C's have played three games in four
> nights. The closest of the tilts have been in Connecticut (at Mohegan Sun)
and
> Manchester. The club is looking forward to the two FleetCenter dates this
> week.
>
>      ``We traveled most of the preseason, so it's good to be back in our
> homecourt against two very good, quality teams - Minnesota and New
Jersey,''
> said Walker. ``Hopefully we can come out with the right frame of mind and
just
> improve on the weaknesses that we have.'' . . .
>
>      O'Brien on Vin Baker's 11 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes
against
> the Pacers: ``I thought he had a nice night. He does some really good
things
> and I think he's going to improve on a consistent basis until he gets back
to
> a high level. What that level will be remains to be seen, but I'm very
pleased
> with his conditioning, his focus and everything that he's giving us.''
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
> sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx