atrocious

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The only thing worse than experiencing live the atrocity that is the Celtic
"offense" last night is to hear the coach after the game say that it was
only a problem of the team missing their shots. This is the kind of offense
he wants: three pointers galore, no movement, no fast breaks. It is the kind
of offense that Fratello practiced in Cleveland, and the reasoning behind it
is simple: if you have a team with little talent, then the best way to
compete against better teams is to slow the game down, play stifling defense
and pray that the three-pointers fall.

The thing is, we DO have a talented team, but apparently the coach thinks
that talent is too difficult to implement into his "schemes." We've all
heard the excuses: not enough practice, no time to teach offense, no time to
teach fastbreaks, put out the best defenders (as long as they can shoot the
three...).

I look at the bench and I see complementary pairs at C-PF: we could be
starting Mihm and Baker, bringing in Blount and Hunter off the bench with
Yogi and Perkins to go three deep at the power spots. But instead we start a
front line of Blount and Waltah, force Pierce to be a point forward, have
everyone else spot up for threes and <poof> suddenly we ARE a low talent
team, at least on the court.

What's even worse is that the strategy 3ball lottery strategy can work
sometimes, leading some (Obie among them apparently) to believe that it will
work most of the time when the law of averages says that simply is not the
case. Last nights game was not a aberration but merely logical extension of
what this style of offense will bring you. If everything were equal, then
for every one game you steal with threes there will be two where this kind
of offense loses you the game. And make no mistake, last night the Celtics
lost, the Pistons did not win. Not every game will be as bad as last night,
but on the other hand, (and this is what makes it so bad) last night wasn't
so much different from other nights we've witnessed either, just a bit
uglier. So this is not an "overreaction" to one loss, it is a feeling I've
had watching this team throughout Obie's tenure.

Havlicek is right, three pointers should be limited to the last two minutes
of every period. But until that day comes, we need a coach who has a
balanced assessment of the value of the three pointer. Obie only sees the
good side of taking three pointers, he apparently fails to see the
opportunity costs involved in the type of stagnant offense that the three
pointer produces when it is the focus of the offense. Or if he does see it,
he discounts it because he fails to recognize the value of the talent on
this team. Whatever the case, the Cs will never be more than a pesky
nuisance in the playoffs playing 3point lottery ball until either Obie
changes his pet offense or he gets shown the door. I have a feeling it will
be the latter before the former.