Things i'm optimistic about

[Mark Piotrowski]

after getting past some stuff that i've been really busy with, and 
getting through the lull of the non-basketball months of 
August/September i finally thought a bit about our favorite good guys.

These are a few things i'm looking forward to this season (besides 
Gomes, Perkins, Delonte, Wally, Rondo, Allen, and Ray):

-- Making the playoffs:  anything less will be a disappointment IMO. 
we've got the talent, the question is do we play like a team and play 
hard every night?


-- Pierce stepping it up:  last year Pierce showed that he was "back" 
to a certain extent -- less ornery, exhibited more leadership.  I'm 
hoping that his new contract and just maturing and getting older will 
make him take on more of a role of demanding excellence from his 
teamates and helping them step up their play.  I was reminded 
watching YouTube today of some clips of the 2001-03 seasons, just how 
dominant a player Piece *can* be.


-- Veteran help up front:  I think the sleeper addition to this team 
will be Ratliff's defensive presence.  Look up shotblocker in the 
dictionary and you see this guy.  He won't score as much as Raef did 
-- slack that can easily be picked up by any number of guys (Allen, 
Green, Jefferson, etc) -- but will add some defensive toughness to 
our team that we've been lacking.


-- Jefferson:  I didn't watch any of the summer league, but I think 
that like Perkins we'll see a larger step forward from Jefferson in 
his 3rd season.  I think he'll have an easier time of it w/ the new 
point guards who will get him the ball where he can score easily with 
it.


-- The Powe Show:  Ainge has shown a knack for finding true players 
in the 2nd round. This is more just from my thirst for big bruisers 
on this team, but everything about this guy seems to suggest he'll 
make Ryan Gomes like contributions.  He sounds like he could develop 
into a poor-man's Terry Cummings or Mo Lucas.  He's definitely a Gary 
Trent/Marcus Fizer (at their best) type now....  It sounded like the 
only reason he slipped in the draft were concerns about his knee -- 
which sounded pretty cleared up during the summer sessions.


-- Telfair-to-Green:  ...and I don't just mean in garbage time.  I'm 
hoping for great things from Telfair, eventually as a starter, and 
solid improvement from Green.


What are you optimistic about?

(the other) mark