An opposing team's scout sizes up the Celtics

[Berry, Mark S]

Other than feeling there's more upside to a couple of the young guys, I
think this is pretty accurate.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: celtics-bounces at igtc.com [mailto:celtics-bounces at igtc.com] On
Behalf Of BDodgers at aol.com
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 3:18 PM
To: celtics at igtc.com; Celticsstuffgroup at yahoogroups.com
Subject: An opposing team's scout sizes up the Celtics



Boston Celtics


An opposing team's scout sizes up the Celtics 
You would say they have some nice young pieces only -- only -- if they
would 
commit themselves on the defensive side of the ball. If they go at this
season 
from a defensive posture, they're going to surprise some people and
contend 
for the number 7 or 8 spot in the East. But do I think that's going to
happen? 
No ... 
Doc Rivers' track record is that he's an offensive coach. He's very,
very 
good at that end of the court -- they do good fundamental things with
their slice 
cut and running that 1-4 set and X'ing off the high post -- and
statistically 
the Celtics were top 10 offensively last year. They're already good in
that 
area, and the facts are that playing that way got them only 33 wins last
year. 
If they think they're going to win by outscoring and outrunning people,
then 
that will be the death of them ... 
If they fail to base their team on defense, then structurally their
roster 
doesn't make any sense. They've got two young, small point guards in
Sebastian 
Telfair and Rajon Rondo who can't shoot a lick, which means that
defenses will 
ignore them in the halfcourt. So are they planning to run all night with
Wally 
Sczcerbiak and Paul Pierce on the wings? I don't see that combination
keeping 
opposing coaches up at night. First of all, I have doubts about their 
rebounding, which may hurt their ability to get out in transition. I
would also 
question whether Pierce really wants to run a lot; I would think he
wants to 
conserve himself a bit in order to stay on the floor. I also think
Pierce is going 
to be frustrated with Telfair because he isn't a pass-first point guard
-- 
Telfair's game is to get to the lane and if he can't score, then he
dishes it out. 
The problem in the halfcourt is that defenses are going to play Telfair
one 
on one until he proves that he's capable of finishing in the lane, so
it's not 
like he's going to force the defense to collapse and instantly create
open 
shots for Pierce ... 
If they're serious about going uptempo then they'll probably hope to
develop 
Gerald Green as the other wing alongside Pierce, which could make
Sczcerbiak 
expendable. The word is that his knee has improved since last season,
but even 
then he's still going to be the weak link defensively ... 
They're putting way too much faith in young guys like Al Jefferson,
Gerald 
Green, Kendrick Perkins and Delonte West. The latter two are career
backups if 
you have a good team. Green may turn out to be a starter, but I don't
see him 
as a future All-Star. They were too soft on Jefferson after he sprained
his 
ankle last year; the danger is that he'll start to believe that he's one
of those 
special young projects that the franchise doesn't want to put at risk.
He 
needs to overcome his inability to play with some pain, which is a huge
detriment 
for a big man. He has a shot at becoming good because his skills in the 
low-post are so lacking throughout the NBA, which makes him potentially
rare and 
valuable. In the meantime it's going to take him years to learn to
dedicate 
himself to improving his defense and rebounding enough to complement his
low-post 
game ... 
Ryan Gomes had a nice rookie year, but as a 'tweener he should be the
eighth 
man in your rotation. If you play him more than 20 minutes he'll really 
struggle against the quicker 3 men, and he'll be overpowered by the
bigger 4s. But 
he's another guy that's good to have coming off your bench ... 
I will never understand how they could invest a five-year contract in
Brian 
Scalabrine ... 
I think nobody will be surprised if they try to trade Tony Allen. Not
only is 
he coming off knee surgery but he also had legal troubles a year ago ...

If they struggle this year, how is Pierce going to react? Over the years
he's 
seen the Celtics make a bunch of changes that haven't worked out, so is
he 
going to pull a Jason Kidd and talk about being traded to a winner while
he's 
still in his prime? Last year Pierce began to show more trust in his
teammates, 
though in the fourth quarter he returned to his habit of get out of the
way 
and give me the ball -- which was totally understandable considering the
youth 
of his teammates. Pierce is one of the top 10 players in the league at
creating 
his own opportunities because when he attacks the basket he has
tremendous 
body control athletically and his focus on finishing is at the highest
level ... 
Their failed attempts to trade for Allen Iverson last summer showed me
that 
the Celtics are panicking. As a duo I don't think they would have been a

disaster because they both want to win so badly. From the management
side it was a 
very revealing play: This was a franchise that used to focus on
championships, 
but they had to know that Iverson wasn't going to win any banners for
them -- 
they obviously wanted him to help sell tickets and create buzz and make
them 
relevant again. So it demonstrated that their longterm plan isn't
working and 
they were desperate to create some enthusiasm for their organization ...

I go back to their decision to trade Antoine Walker three years ago. If 
they'd kept Walker and Pierce together, they could have continued to
make the 
playoffs while acquiring the same kinds of young players they have now
because they 
were all mid-to-late draft picks ... 
I don't know what the vision is. When they weren't trying to get
Iverson, the 
Celtics were making moves and draft picks that left them younger than
last 
year. If they struggle, it wouldn't surprise me to see a coaching change
before 
the end of the season, especially with Doc making it clear throughout
last 
year that he misses being with his family in Florida. The question then
will be 
whether executive director Danny Ainge takes over the bench, though
everyone 
knows he doesn't want to go back to coaching.
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