Re: [Celtics' Stuff ] "It's like a painful death,"-Globe

[JB <jim_metz@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mar 13, 2004, at 5:17 PM, Josh Ozersky wrote:

> why in the world is he not ready?  I've never heard a single
> reason; as with Hunter, they lay out this bullshit "he's not
> ready!"  when in fact we can see he is.
>
> Josh
> ************

	Until we see him in "prime time," we won't really know.
	When we saw Hunter, he certainly did help turn the teams direction 
around with his toughness, which imho, was sorely needed and I 
won't/don't mind a few rookie mistakes, if we can get that element back 
into our team and in the opponents minds, that they may take a few 
bruises, when playing here.
	Speaking of rookie mistakes, this team plays so poorly for stretches; 
McCarty, Pierce (nice work against Stackhouse, but when will he realize 
that some defensive schemes and players should  make him alter his 
approach to the game?), Blount, all of them, then what's the difference 
who makes the turnovers? There were stretches of ineptitude last night 
that were frightening, including some coast to coast work from Pierce, 
in the third quarter, that just made me cringe. Three or four 
possessions in a row, that he just ruined.
	On the other hand, with Carroll's tenure here, very tenuous, he needs 
to think of himself and if he thinks his resume will look better with a 
few more wins, we aren't likely to see any changes in the rotation.
	On the other hand (how many of these can I have, hypothetically?), a 
real good coach would have inserted Perkins a lot earlier against 
Indiana, for example. There have been many situations this season where 
he could have played for some decent stretches, without affecting the 
game's outcome.
	I do believe that the self esteem he might gain, in a few extended 
appearances,  will buoy him for his over the summer work, even if it 
just gives him some credence and respect in a  summer league, against 
the "wannabees."
	I also want to see a lot more of Mihm. Here is a 7'er with real 
athletic ability. To my way of looking at this, here is a  player who 
needs 30-35 minutes a night, every night, to really get his feet under 
him and some confidence that he can just go out and play. His potential 
is off the charts.
	We need to find out if we need to spend the mid level on Marc Blout(if 
he even wants to stay), or whether Perkins, Lafrentz, Mihm and Hunter 
will give us enough at the 4/5 next season.
	JB
Unchain My Heart!