Re: Mark's Effusive Praise

[Ryan W <ubiquitous_am_i@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Oh, I know I went overboard. But damn it, we've been
> told for so long that
> the only way for this team to win is to play the
> my-turn/your-turn offense
> with Antoine and Pierce that any proof otherwise
> makes me want to stand up
> and shout.

Right on, Mark.  I never agreed with the line from
O'Brien and Wallace that our isolation offense,
consisting of Antoine and Paul, was the only way to
win...you only have to look at what Doc Rivers did
with Orlando the year before McGrady and Hill got
there...he took a bunch of no-names (Ben Wallace and
Chucky Atkins among others), made them a REAL TEAM,
and beat other squads that were quite a bit more
talented.  That's the great thing about team
sports....sometimes you can be greater than the sum of
your parts, if you can get everyone to trust in each
other, believe and move as ONE....and that's what the
C's are doing now.  And it's a beautiful thing to
behold.
> 
> I really wasn't basing my praise on the result of
> the game last night. Even
> if they had lost, I would have been encouraged by
> the WAY they played. Why
> was it such a drastic change? No Antoine. It's that
> simple. Certainly teams
> will scout them and play them differently and the
> Celtics will have nights
> when they aren't that sharp. But when you play the
> game the right way, the
> team becomes better than the individuals involved.
> And when you add more
> talented individuals and continue playing the game
> the right way, that's
> when you see championships. The Celtics are learning
> to play the game the
> right way. As they add talent, they'll only get
> better.
> 
> The thing is, even after Antoine was traded, I had
> no faith in Obie changing
> the offensive approach. I expected twice as many
> isolations of Pierce. So
> seeing the drastic change - and the obvious
> enthusiasm for it among the
> players - just excited me. I'm not unrealistic. I
> know there will be
> struggles and it's not going to go as smoothly as it
> did last night. But
> when you play the game the right way, good things
> happen. It's just a
> relief. I don't know about anyone else, but last
> season the games were
> barely watchable. It was awful. Last night was fun
> again, and it gave me
> great hope for the future. 
> 
> Mark

Honestly, it's been tough to get a handle on O'Brien's
coaching style.  I've never liked the fact that he
doesn't play rookies or give people a chance to
succeed when they don't demand it in practice (some
players, for whatever reason, need to be a game
situations to perform up to their
abilities)....however, during this preseason, he has
put in an entirely new system of fast-breaking, has
kept the defensive adhesion relatively intact, and is
getting the younger players minutes (and those
players, Kedrick and Marcus, are responding).  Is this
because Ainge is pulling the strings?  Who knows.  In
the end, it doesn't matter....because O'Brien has
gotten the players to buy into it.  And in the end
that's what a coach has to do...get his players to
believe in what he's saying, no matter if what he
happens to be saying has been mandated from above.

Ryan

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