About those "ifs"

[mark at 10thumbs.org]

Patrick -
for my money there are really only 3 "IF'S" facing this team:

- if the team can get & stay healthy
- if we get an impact player with/for the #5 pick
- if Doc can not be stupid and settle on a 9-man rotation

if those 3 things happen i think we make a good playoff run.

other than that i fully expect Jefferson, West, Rondo, Gomes, Perk and
Green to continue developing; for Pierce to continue learning how to play
with this group of young talent.

(the other) mark


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The below are perfect examples from the "IF/THEN" post I made the other day.
That's a lot of "if this happens we'll have a chance" statements for an NBA
team. I don't disagree with any of the points - they're all true. A healthy
Ratliff changes this team for one reason and one reason only - he's a shot
blocker to cover for our horrendous perimeter defense - perhaps our greatest
need.

If we don't get ANY other "IF" answered, if Tony never comes back, Wally's
ankle continue to be mush, Gerald Green remains a clueless Walter McCarty,
and we don't sign anyone for another PG, a healthy Ratliff at least makes us
a smidgen better on defense addressing the Celtic's biggest off-season need.

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thanks for your thoughts. i couldn't agree more that
this year is pivotal for the team in many ways.

my thoughts:
* tony allen's recovery is a key. remember how good he
was when he went down? if he can get there sooner than
later, that solves our two-guard problem and adds a
solid defender to the lineup.

* wally being healthy is also key. if he can give us
15 minutes a game as a scorer, i'd be happy.

* one person you left out is ratliff. if he can get
healthy, he can help us. laugh if you must, but he's
the pj brown we were missing last year.

* i'm willing to be patient with green, too, but the
dude has to step up this year in limited minutes to
produce. when he's not scoring, he doesn't have enough
of a game to help in other areas. if we can get a
dozen pts a game from him consistently this year, i'm
cool with that.

* rondo/west can be a solid pg solution, but we still
need a crafty vet pg on the squad (a
five-years-younger eric snow) - Steve Knight