An opposing team's scout sizes up the Celtics

[Jeff White]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Berry, Mark S" <berrym at BATTELLE.ORG>
To: "The Boston Celtics Mailing List" <celtics at igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 3:28 PM
Subject: RE: An opposing team's scout sizes up the Celtics


> 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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