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Re: Marbury...Nope!

On Mar 11, 2004, at 10:57 AM, Pereira, Jorge M wrote:

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 15:39:44 -0500 
From: "Josh Ozersky" <jozersky@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: All You Need To Know About Banks. . .

========

Better than Banks? Marbury? Nope...though it's not his fault. Marbury is stuck with the slowest, oldest, least mobile team I've seen in a while. As a team, his hands are tied. Which brings me to another point. Isaiah is seen by the media as the next savior while Ainge is the devil (though the Tim Thomas trade caused some murmuring). All I can say is, good luck, NY. Isaiah has locked the Knicks into a corner where they are going nowhere soon and in 2 years everyone will be on crutches. If this is our competition, we're into the playoffs. If we had a shooter we would have won by 20.

On the Lakers game. For once Carroll didn't seem to have an answer.

An answer, a clue, a brain. There are lots of things Carroll doesn't have.

The substitutions didn't seem to have a reason. Let's face it, right now we're not quite up to the Lakers' level, however, Banks should have been in there most of the time. I feel we should try to run against the Lakers, and run and run. That's our big advantage (median age). Use the young legs and Yes, Walter. The purpose would be not so much to get easy baskets. The Lakers are too fast and organized to allow that. The purpose would be to tire Shak. The only way to beat them is to take Shak out of the game.

I agree Jorge -- the way to win WOULD have been to (a) run and (b) take Shaq out of the game. But you CAN'T do that with WALTAH on the court!

The key to running is rebounding. Walter can't/won't/doesn't rebound, period. Blount doesn't do it as well without Hunter eating up space. And Hunter is very skilled at getting the rebound then getting it to Atkins quickly...because he knows how to play the game -- unlike the Headless Chicken.

And you don't need Walter to run the lane on the break -- because he can't do that either. I want Jiri and Ricky running the lanes with Atkins in the middle and Blount or Hunter as the trailer. THAT's a fast break! Not Walter grabbing the ball, trying to dribble down the court then chucking it out to Pierce or Atkins at the 3 pt. line.

Taking Shaq out of the game requires getting him in foul trouble -- that is the only way (well that and having a big man that can play the high post (hello, LaFrentz)). So is McCarty going to get Shaq in foul trouble by chucking it up from Walker's World? I don't think so. Hunter banging and scraping down low would have been good for another foul or 2 on Shaq -- and would have produced a few more offensive put backs.

I'll make it clear:

If Hunter plays the 23 minutes that McCarty and J. Jones played ... (a) he gets 10 more rebounds than their COMBINED zero boards, (b) scores 5 times their 3 COMBINED points and (c) the Celtics win the game going away. Forget Pierce, forget Atkins' 3 pter at the end, forget Shaq & Kobe, forget Davis' dunk. Hunter plays 29 minutes, the Celtics win. Case closed.

Its not b/c Hunter is dominant, it's because having him on the court makes the game easier for other people --- in the same way having Atkins on the court instead of Mike James (who's a decent player) makes it easier for everyone.

Sorry Jorge if my venom appears to be toward you. its not. Its aimed squarely at the idiot coaching this team. John Carroll.

(the other) Mark


Smile, we are doing well. There are 1,000 reasons to love the Celts. I love the Celts because Ricky is Spider Man. So he's missed 1 out of all his dunks. Shak missed a dunk in the real game. Even Nadia Comenici wasn't a perfect 10 all the time.

Jorge