<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Paul Pierce may still be leaving his porch light on for Allen Iverson, but a new little guy already in the Celtic fold has him excited, as well. He is very much looking forward to playing alongside Sebastian Telfair. ?He just gives us a new dimension that we haven?t had in a while,? Pierce said of the Brooklyn phenom acquired from Portland on draft day. ?I don?t think I?ve ever had a drive-and-kick point guard. When Kenny Anderson was here, he stopped driving. He was too old to drive. ?It?ll be exciting to get a couple more easy looks from an up-and-coming point guard.? Pierce doesn?t know a whole lot about the other new point guard, Rajon Rondo, but the Kentucky product raised eyebrows among even his coaches with his quickness and passing during the Vegas Summer League. The key from a Celt standpoint is that if Telfair can play well enough at both ends of the floor to start, then Delonte West could be used off the bench. That would allow West more shots (he?s one of the better shooting point guards in the league) and immediately improve the Celts? bench scoring, which was a major liability last season. Pierce clearly is feeling better about things these days, as evidenced by the comedy breaks he took during the press conference to announce his contract extension. After thanking his teammates and family, Pierce gazed around the room and spotted some familiar Celtic faces. ?Special thanks to (trainer) Ed Lacerte for keeping me healthy,? he said. ?Officer (and team security man Phil) Lynch for keeping me out of trouble. (PR man Jeff) Twiss for keeping me on point. Wayne (Levy from community relations) for letting me beat him at pool. Johnny Joe (equipment and travel man John Connor) . . . my jumper wouldn?t be the way it is today if it wasn?t for him.? Later, Connor had some fun with Pierce?s attire, a shiny number topped by a very long one-piece vest. ?You just don?t know fashion,? said Pierce. ?The guy signs a $60 million extension. You think he could afford the whole suit,? said Connor. ?This is a vest. I?m in fashion,? said Pierce. ?You look like George Jetson,? said Connor. That would be game, set and match, Mr. Connor. </div> Source
Nice to see that Pierce is as excited as I am about next year...I can see Delonte off the bench working out really well...
Pierce is talking an awful lot this offseason, maybe his career year last year has him buzzing. And look at that last exchange of the article, as usual, the Herald has no clue of how to get black people to read their paper. It isn't by insulting the fashion of the day, that's for sure. I'm sure "Johnny Joe" knows everything there is to know about fashion.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bengcord3:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice to see that Pierce is as excited as I am about next year...I can see Delonte off the bench working out really well...</div> I'm excited for this Celts team this up coming season. Pierce is so much fun to watch. Delonte West was a nice big surprise his rookie season! He's got a complete game. He even blocks shots!! I don't think he should be coming off the bench, we'll see how pre-season goes though. Too bad they got rid of Dan Dickau, he's very talented, smart bball IQ. And it's good they got rid of Lefrentz, what a crappy season he had. He looked aweful out there. He had maybe 1 really big game. But they should def be alot of fun to watch. IMO, they need to get rid of Doc. Another great player that can't coach a lick.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting LRVBADASSBALLIN:</div><div class="quote_post">Too bad they got rid of Dan Dickau, he's very talented, smart bball IQ. And it's good they got rid of Lefrentz, what a crappy season he had. He looked aweful out there. He had maybe 1 really big game. </div> Dickau was a waste of time and effort. The man proved he had absolutely no clue how to run a half court offense, and then he got hurt, which didn't help his cause either. There was no real reason to keep him on this team. Telfair isn't worthy of starting yet, we'll see how things go. West should start to begin the season, but him on the second unit would be pretty formidable as well. Raef had the same kind of year he always does, the only difference was that Doc had him playing more of a perimeter game, and unforunately for those of us who watch basketball, we know that Raef isn't even that good a shooter. For a seven-footer, he shoots exceptionally well. But for anyone else on the floor, he's middle of the road, at best. When Doc had the brainstorm of spreading out the half court offense, all he did was kill Raef's production and cause more turnovers. The only statistical difference in Raef's season can be linked to shooting more three pointers and being bad at it. His scoring was down per 40 (as a result of a considerably lower FG%, directly linked to firing up too many threes), his 3PFG% was down too (because he took so many), his boards on both ends of the floor were down too, as well as blocks. If you're a seven footer hoisting threes all day, instead of playing the paint, you don't grab offensive rebounds and you don't kill fast breaks, because momentum has you leaning the other way when the opposing four inevitably grabs 15 boards a game, all on the defensive end.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Squishface:</div><div class="quote_post">Dickau was a waste of time and effort. The man proved he had absolutely no clue how to run a half court offense, and then he got hurt, which didn't help his cause either. There was no real reason to keep him on this team. Telfair isn't worthy of starting yet, we'll see how things go. West should start to begin the season, but him on the second unit would be pretty formidable as well. Raef had the same kind of year he always does, the only difference was that Doc had him playing more of a perimeter game, and unforunately for those of us who watch basketball, we know that Raef isn't even that good a shooter. For a seven-footer, he shoots exceptionally well. But for anyone else on the floor, he's middle of the road, at best. When Doc had the brainstorm of spreading out the half court offense, all he did was kill Raef's production and cause more turnovers. The only statistical difference in Raef's season can be linked to shooting more three pointers and being bad at it. His scoring was down per 40 (as a result of a considerably lower FG%, directly linked to firing up too many threes), his 3PFG% was down too (because he took so many), his boards on both ends of the floor were down too, as well as blocks. If you're a seven footer hoisting threes all day, instead of playing the paint, you don't grab offensive rebounds and you don't kill fast breaks, because momentum has you leaning the other way when the opposing four inevitably grabs 15 boards a game, all on the defensive end.</div> Pretty much agree, BUT, Dickau was very impressive. I thought he did a great job running it at point. Not sure where's he at right now, but he'll make a big impact in the near future. If Delonte doesn't start then we'll all know Doc has brain damage.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting LRVBADASSBALLIN:</div><div class="quote_post">Pretty much agree, BUT, Dickau was very impressive. I thought he did a great job running it at point. Not sure where's he at right now, but he'll make a big impact in the near future. If Delonte doesn't start then we'll all know Doc has brain damage.</div> yo dude dickau sucks
Call me a jerk, call me unattentive, but 2 to 1 assists to turnovers, less than three and a half points, and more than 6 fouls per 40 is nonsense, and Dickau was all that and less. To be fair, he hit half his threes, which he took in a grand total of 19 games, because he tanked, got a career-altering injury, and that was that.
I LOVE Telfair's game. He has a great knack for passing the ball and his speed will be a true asset for the Celtics' young guys. I think this will definitely be a breakout year for him. He's back on the East coast and will be playing witha plethora of scorers. He's as unselfish of a point guard as there is in the league.
Tel........he's about to have a fun season. Telfair is about to have the most fun this season he has had in the NBA yet. Imagine sprinting down court on a fast break.......one defender back peddling to the basket in from of you........you got PP flanking you on the right.....GG lining up the rim on the left.......Magic like you pick up your dribble.........flash the ball infront of your face.......defenders eyes wide open...........you lunge right and flick the ball up over your left shoulder........and GG catches it some where near the free throw line and tomahawks it for two........... Tel' would be jogging back up court just smiling.........how easy and fun would it be on the break. Dont get me started on the half court game. Tel' will drive and pop all day.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting joekickass:</div><div class="quote_post">Tel' will drive and pop all day. </div> Much as I enjoyed the little narrative, and as much as I want to see it happen day in and day out, this last portion I have to object to. No popping please, I really don't want him to shoot...perferably at all, although that's too much to hope for.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Squishface:</div><div class="quote_post">Much as I enjoyed the little narrative, and as much as I want to see it happen day in and day out, this last portion I have to object to. No popping please, I really don't want him to shoot...perferably at all, although that's too much to hope for.</div> yea unless something has changed telfair can't shoot, and should leave that to PP, delonte, and wally
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bengcord3:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice to see that Pierce is as excited as I am about next year...I can see Delonte off the bench working out really well...</div> So is Bassy the starting point guard right now?
i think getting traded was good for telfair because now he would be able 2 showcase his talent now that he has people that can score around him consistanly
Jail Blazers offense v. Celts Offense <div class="quote_poster">Quoting manny34:</div><div class="quote_post">i think getting traded was good for telfair because now he would be able 2 showcase his talent now that he has people that can score around him consistanly</div> This thought seems legitimate. Portland had no scorers last year except for Zach Randolph, who wasn't the kind of high-efficiency scorer you expect a four to be. Darius Miles didn't play much and didn't shoot as much as Randolph when he did. Miles has never been consistent anyway. The only other scorers who even averaged ten points a game were Dixon and Patterson. We'll do a pseudo-scientific comparison between the two teams players, from a point guard's perspective. The Blazers were coached to a very slow pace last season (88.3) and you can't score if you don't have time to. The Celtics last season played at a 94.5 pace, which is no Phoenix, but is still fairly quick. The Blazers actually averaged 88.8 points per game, while the Celt's averaged a nearly fully ten points more at 98 per game. The C's averaged about three more dimes a game than Portland and about two more turnovers. Portland didn't have many fast breaks because they allowed a high FG% and didn't rebound well, that immediately hurts a guard like Telfair, whose lack of jumper hurts him in the halfcourt. It appears that Portland's point guard minutes were basically split three ways between Jack, Blake and Telfair. I am not going to include either of those two players in this evaluation. Juan Dixon appeared to play the shooting guard, not the point. So we will include him in this as a shooting guard. Which is kind of a funny joke. The Celt's point guard minutes belonged for the most part to Delonte West. Banks was mostly hurt or gone, and we only saw Orien Greene now and then. It is true that early on Pierce or Davis were known to bring the ball up on a consistent basis. Randolph isn't going to garner many assists for anybody. He sets up slow in the post, and has a tendency to over-dribble to his jumper. His hands are fairly good, but with no fast breaks, there are no fast break points. This is the exact opposite of Gomes, who shoots his jumpers quickly for a four, and makes most of his inside moves off the pass. Gomes also has good hands. Jefferson tends towards being slower when he plays, but its hard to tell at this point. His hands also seemed to go downhill the more he played last year. Miles and Patterson both score best off of the break. With few breaks to be had, they are little help. Both shoot poorly in the halfcourt and are also poor foul shooters, which generally leads to rushed bunnies on quick passes because of confidence issues. Patterson is also in your local sex offender registry if you live in Portland. There is no comparison to Paul Pierce between those two. Pierce can score well over the pick, on the break and on quick passes inside. He will sometimes over-pass and frustrate the point guard, but has done so less as he has matured, this also sometimes leads to throwaways. Defenses key on him and foul, so a guard will lose dimes there. Juan Dixon is a low percentage shooter who tends to settle for long jumpers. He's no help in the fast break. I'll compare him to Wally because I already used up Patterson and Miles. Wally shoots exceptionally well over the pick and on threes after penetration. He's middling on the break because of slow feet. He's also very good in the post, but a little slow setting up. Wallyworld's release is quick enough. Both Przybilla and Ratliff are reminiscent of Perkins in that they don't shoot often, but shoot high percentages. Perkins is actually more active, but his hands aren't great and he won't receive unexpected passes very well. Gerald Green and Tony Allen were both high percentage shooters with great athleticism. Allen is a bit leery of his jumper but is excellent going to the hoop. His hands are also pretty good. They both are ok on the break, but don't always make great decisions regarding their spacing. Green has a good jumper but it isn't quick. He overdribbles, and doesn't receive passes particularly well; two things that will hurt a quick-passing point guard. Then there is Telfair himself. His jumper has improved but is still only poor. He shoots the three better than he did his rookie year, which may keep some teams honest. He has superb vision. If the Celtics pay attention, especially on the break, they will be lethal. He will commit too many turnovers, that's virtually a guarantee. His first step must be respected, and on motion offenses with Pierce in the game, Bassy will get to the hoop. His free throw shooting is middling and needs improvement. The ultimate verdict is that this is still very young team. They will be good on the break if they decide to be. In the halfcourt Telfair won't be as much help, as West gets to the hoop well because of his left-handedness. If Telfair plays in garbage time it will be a show. As a starter, the team will have to go small to garner the most out of his presence.
