the problem with rookie points

[Berry, Mark S]

AMEN!!!! I've stopped posting this because I come across as maniacally
obsessed with Delonte. I can't believe how Celtic fandom has somehow
collectively accepted this notion that our greatest need is at point
guard. He's not Jason Kidd, Steve Nash or Chris Paul, but other than
those guys there aren't a hell of a lot of point guards I'd rather go to
war with. And does anyone think he won't come back a better player? If I
know Delonte at all (in the fan sense), I'll guarantee he's working his
ass off to improve his game.

Yet somehow this has become the focus of conversation among Celtic fans.
Never mind the fact that we ended the season with a rookie second-round
tweener (who I like a lot, but not as a starter) at power forward, a
second-year high schooler considered a colossal disappointment as his
only viable competition at power forward, a guy with two bad knees and a
game that isn't much better as our starting center, and a third-year guy
with a twice-dislocated shoulder as the only other viable center option.
And yet we're talking about point guards. I was beginning to think I'd
lost my mind.

Frontcourt, frontcourt, frontcourt.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: celtics-bounces at igtc.com [mailto:celtics-bounces at igtc.com] On
Behalf Of Steve Ouellette
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 2:19 PM
To: The Boston Celtics Mailing List
Subject: Re: the problem with rookie points

I think people continue to underestimate Delonte. Certainly he's not
perfect, but there are a lot of teams that would be glad to have him at
the point. Sure, he had trouble with quick point guards, as did a lot of
point guards (how is Nash's defense? Marbury? Jason Williams? Carlos
Arroyo?), but his overall defense was pretty good, and he does things
that many points can't, like shoot at an extremely high percentage.

 Yes, our offense was stagnant at times, but it was still one of the
best in the league, and the stagnation usually occured when they stopped
moving the ball and let Pierce clear out. The first time the ball is
kicked out to Rajon Rondo for an open three, see how people miss
Delonte.

Not ranting at you Kim, because you're as reasonable as we get here, but
I wish I had a dollar for every time someone suggested just moving
Delonte to the shooting guard in favor of a "pure" point guard. Move
Delonte to the 2 and bench ... Pierce? Wally? Send Gerald Green to the
D-League forever? Delonte is CLEARLY one of the Celts five best players
and should be on the court as much as possible.

For someone playing the point for the first time since high school, I
thought Delonte did great. I expect him to be even better this year.

Steve O

> Well don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly unhappy with Delonte, but 
> there could be hugely beneficial improvement at that position that 
> would really help the team as a whole, and I'm not sure Delonte is 
> capable of it. Not sure he isn't either - that's a real not sure vs a 
> hedge on saying he can't. Improvement on both ends - Delonte gets 
> blown by far too often on defense, although his overall defense isn't 
> bad and he does have things like the shot blocking. But he could do 
> those as a ballhandling 2, and the quick guys most capable of blowing 
> by him are generally playing point. While even more key to me is the 
> issue on the offensive end - he isn't really a creator. He runs the 
> team and he sees the play that's called or is otherwise already 
> clearly there through say a defensive switch and is perfectly 
> competent in basic PC physical skills, but he doesn't really create 
> new opportunities. We have players who can't do that for themselves, 
> enough athleticism that we should be able to be more creative, and 
> our offense gets so bloody staganant at times.
> 
> Kim 

> 
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