Same as it ever was

[Thomas Murphy]

Great post Mark, it sums up the problems that have been evident on the offensive end. That was one of the reasons why I thought getting some speedy, offensively dangerous and assertive PGs was such a priority. 

Of course, it then becomes a chicken-egg problem (no pun intended) since the other players are now so accustomed to deferring to the star. It is not a problem unique to the Cs - rather an outgrowth of the 'star system' that developed in the 90s when all things Jordan were worshiped. 

Short of a major identity transplant (Phoenix and possibly what Toronto has tried to do) it is hard to break out of this mindset when the refs, the calls, the fans, the other team and esp the coaches all buy into it.

cheers -TomM

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Message: 9
Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:16:31 -0500
From: "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym at BATTELLE.ORG>
Subject: RE: Same as it ever was
To: The Boston Celtics Mailing List <celtics at igtc.com>
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<81EA3460BED3AB4483920E05F13B12DD04730F27 at WS-BCO-MSE8.milky-way.battelle.org>

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Definitely not rebounding.

The assist numbers people throw around are meaningless. We've watched
dysfunctional basketball for so long that we've stopped recognizing it.
Believe it or not, the only way to play the game isn't: "Give the ball
to Pierce and let him score or pass to someone else." That's the way we
play. That's the way we've played forever. Obie gave birth to this
thinking and it seems to me that Pierce has embraced it as the only way
he's willing to play.

I wish everyone could go back and watch Pierce when he was at the
University of Kansas. He ran the floor then. He moved without the ball.
He played in a team system.

Now? Now he jogs up the floor and calls for the ball. He either shoots,
drives, or drives until he's stopped and passes. No wonder he gets a lot
of assists. 

The truth is, this team would be better if he was used as a finisher
instead of as an initiator. That gets right to the heart of all this
back-and-forth. He shouldn't be the guy with the ball in his hands with
18 seconds left on the shot clock, deciding whether to shoot, drive or
(last resort) pass. He should be the guy we're running off screens,
setting back picks for, running pick-and-rolls with -- until he gets a
great shot. Or until someone else gets a great shot. The ball just
shouldn't be in his hands that much with a decision to be made. He's a
finisher, not an initiator.

When a finisher has the ball, everyone stands around waiting for him to
finish. When an initiator has the ball (think Nash or Kidd), everyone
moves expecting a pass.

Those assists the other night against Toronto were nice. He made some
nice passes. But that's still not the way you want Pierce to play all
the time.

Believe it or not, watch the Lakers play sometime. They have the
greatest one-on-one wing player in the world, but they don't rely on him
to initiate everything offensively. Kobe doesn't start the play, but he
does finish it. Of course, he's playing for the greatest coach in the
game and Pierce is playing for Doc.

Mark