An opposing team's scout sizes up the Celtics

[Berry, Mark S]

Rondo has a better chance. He was a high-percentage shooter at Kentucky
also. But that's only because he doesn't take many jumpers. He gets most
of his shots in the lane. I expect that to continue.

I'm a lot less confident with Telfair. He wasn't a good shooter at all
in Portland, so it's going to take more than a few preseason games to
convince me he's suddenly a shooter. 

I'll be shocked if either of them turn out to be good three-point
shooters. That's fine, as long as they're not out there together. But
they will be. 

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: celtics-bounces at igtc.com [mailto:celtics-bounces at igtc.com] On
Behalf Of Jeff White
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 4:17 PM
To: The Boston Celtics Mailing List
Subject: Re: An opposing team's scout sizes up the Celtics

I realize it's still early, but through five preseason games, Rondo is
shooting 50 percent from the floor, including 42.9 percent from 3-point
range. Telfair is 54.1 percent overall and 4 for 6 from long range.

For two guys who supposedly can't shoot, they're doing OK.  Let's hope
it
continues.


JPW

----- 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.
> _______________________________________________
> The Boston Celtics Mailing List
> celtics at igtc.com
> http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/celtics
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Boston Celtics Mailing List
> celtics at igtc.com
> http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/celtics

_______________________________________________
The Boston Celtics Mailing List
celtics at igtc.com
http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/celtics