HOOPLOG: Jiri Welsch

Faith

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 09:14:11 -0800

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. - Heb 11:1

The topic du jour seems to be comparing our team now as opposed to the team from last year (pre Walker trade). The most obvious difference is Payton. Gone will be his steady veteran hand at the point. However, also gone will be his tendancy to walk the ball up and run plays that the coach didn't call. Other than that, you can sub Scalabrine in for Googs and come out on top. Sub in some young players for Jiri, and based on his play last year, we probably come out on top again. Even if you call it even on those, there's not that much drop off.

Still, much of the East has made moves to get better (even if they don't all work out - see New Jersey). So can we rest on our laurels and expect an over .500 team? Perhaps.

The key is with the kids. Our starting lineup could feature Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Al Jefferson. Basically, last year's draft class (and Reed should get some increased minutes as well). This is basically where the kid gloves come off and the young players start to earn their keep. A lot of faith is being put in the younger players on this team, and they'll sink or swim this year.

When it comes to our record, its not a matter of what personel moves we made this offseason. Our record will simply be a reflection of how fast our young players mature and develop into their roles on this team. Its that simple.

Was Al Jefferson good enough to be a starter last year? Not until the very end (if then). If he's good enough to be a solid NBA starter this year, that will be huge. If he continues to show his star promise, all the better. He's got low post instincts that can't be taught and a knack for getting rebounds that I wish could be taught to one of our post men. However, if he has a sophmore slump or turns out to be fools gold (the latter seems less likely), then it could be devestating for this team - at least in the short term.

What about putting the offense in the hands of a guy who only saw a handful of games his rookie year? Delonte West looks and sounds like a coach's dream. He has court awareness and a great jumper. But so did Jiri Welsch. Things can sour quickly in this league. On the other hand, Delonte could do what Kirk Hinrich has done in Chicago, or better.

Tony Allen hit the wall hard last year. Many are doubting him now because of how he tailed off at the end of the season. I am much more optimistic. Of course it always comes back to my defensive bias. But I like a guy that can be a disrupitve force on D, fill the lanes on the break, and give you a few "wow" moments a game. If he ever gets centered and focused, look out. Could he continue his tail off? Sure. But if he does, there is a fleet of guys ready to fill in if he does.

Don't sleep on Kendrick Perkins either. He might not ever reach the levels that Al could, but he's got the make up of a solid NBA center. I don't need to tell you how rare that is. He's got the size already, he's got a mean streak and a nose for the ball. If we can keep him out of foul trouble and continue his learning curve, he could be the anchor of the defense and the starter of many fast breaks.

I've already gone over Marcus Banks, but it is worth mentioning that he made some great strides at the end of the season where he was being used for long stretches at a time. If he can continue his growth along the learning curve, he could be this team's starting point guard. If not, he could still be a bargaining chip.

Ignoring for the minute that Ricky Davis is far from a mid-life crisis, we also have Justin Reed and Ryan Gomes that are showing more promise by the day. Neither promises to be a star in the traditional sense of the word. However, each has many qualities that you look for in role players. I could see one or both guys becoming glue guys in the fashion of Eric Williams. I'll use this space to squeeze in Orien Greene as well. A good backup PG is rare in this league. Lets see if he can fill that role. If these players don't step up, the team will have to spend Scalabrine money on another role player (or players) to fill that need in years to come. If they do step up, the team can save that money for resigning all these youngsters.

But that's not all! Way down there at the end of the bench could be the most prized jewel of all. The skinny high school kid with the short finger might become the best player on this team. Of course he could be a collosal flop in the mold of a Kedrick Brown, but if we can keep him away from too many cheeseburgers, we'll have one step in the right direction. Forgetting for a moment this kid's insane hops and penchant for the highlight real, you must not forget the silky smooth jumper that he already has. Unlike many phenoms, he won't need to be taught how to keep his elbow in and follow through. He will need a lot of work on defensive rotations and ball movement, but that is easy enough to pick up in time. Once this kid learns the ropes of the NBA, there's really no upward ceiling.

So cheer up. Maybe we won't make any more moves this offseason (though I won't stop rumor-mongoring). Perhaps the biggest difference between this team and last year's edition will be the rookies and the valuable experience the non-rookies gained in the last year. Doc has done a good job so far of working in the younger players. Can we expect them all to turn into stars? Not a chance. Can we expect them all to improve from last year? I think so.

Can we count on that? Well, I guess we just have to have faith.

Cavs Send Welsch To Bucks

Tue, 28 Jun 2005 22:02:08 -0800

The Cleveland Cavaliers sent swingman Jiri Welsch to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday in exchange for a second-round selection in the 2006 NBA Draft.

Cavaliers trade Welsch for 2006 second-round pick (Reg Req'd)

Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:29:26 -0800

The Cavaliers picked up $2.1 million in salary-cap space Tuesday by trading swingman Jiri Welsch to the Milwaukee Bucks for a second-round pick in 2006.

Ukic Promise?

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 11:07:54 -0800

NBADraft.net Buzz

Sources indicate the Celtics may have a promise in place with Croatian point guard Roko-Leni Ukic. And while this is still just speculation, a number of factors are beginning to point to this.

GMs Danny Ainge and Carroll Dawson were both on hand less than two weeks before the draft and took a long hard look at Ukic in Treviso, and both teams could definitely use a point guard.

With Ainge spending as much time as he did in Treviso, (3 days) it's obvious he had a keen eye on the talented playmaker. A promise with Ukic is now considered a strong possibility. Past history shows that Ainge likes to target a player and get a promise in place.

Ukic fits into the Celtics up tempo style of play, and should develop into a better playmaker and pro than former Celtic Jiri Welsch and Net combo guard Zoran Planninic. Ukic has more point guard abilities, and tons of talent. it's just a question of how well his game fits the NBA style. He is very good at improvising, which is exactly how the NBA game differs from the European game.

Foreign Intrigue

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 15:13:40 -0800

Anyone sick of hearing me say the name Chad Ford yet? Well, for lack of a better comparison, he's the closest thing we have to a Mel Kiper. I think he does a solid job of gathering info and reporting it. Anyway, back to the point - we all know Chad loves the foreigners, and he chose the Celtics spot for one of them in his latest mock. He thinks that Russian prospect Yaroslav Korolev might be there for Danny to pick (despite the rumor of a promise before the Celtics - and his apparent refusal to work out for us). If he's not there, Ford thinks it could be Turkish prospect Ersan Ilyasova. Both are compared to Kiralenko, but to me that sounds like comparing every white American player to Larry Bird.

Chad mentions that Ilyasova might be kept overseas for a year if picked by the Griz. Not sure what the C's would do with him. Also keep in mind the potential of a minor league.

One also has to wonder about the Jiri Welsch experiment. Did we sour on internationals (especially with our team dynamic)? Could his experience sour foreign players on the Celtics? I don't know one way or the other, I'm just asking.

Tick, Tick, Tick

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 10:58:27 -0800

Less than two hours until the trade deadline and the morning after a very good win for the Lakers, getting wins you're not playing your best is what playoff teams do and well start with the words of GM Mitch Kupchak from the LA Times this morning.

"It's unlikely we're going to make a trade," Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said.

The two big rumored deals for the Lakers involved some version of a Peja for Odom deal with Sacramento, but that isn't happening now that Webber's gone they need Peja's scoring. The other was some kind of deal for Baron Davis, but if he is going anywhere it appears to be to Golden State. I wasn't fond of either of those deals for the Lakers, so I think Mitch s stance is for the best.

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Two thoughts on executed trades:

Getting Webber could be huge for Philly, if his knees hold up, but I don't really get it for Sacramento. I understand they are trying to get back to the success they had when Webber started last season on the IR. I understand it was going to be hard to get equal value for Webber (PER of 21.35) but the three guys Sacramento got Kenny Thomas (13.48 PER), Brian Skinner (6.13) and Corliss Williamson (14.94) not only are average or below average replacements, they have contracts that run through at least 2007. Sacramento is stuck with these guys for a few years.

We'll see what happens to Sacramento, but they are 5 games ahead of the Lakers, so they wouldn't be easy to catch.

Jiri Welsch is worth a first rounder?

Jiri Welsch To Cleveland

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 09:28:07 -0800

A local radio station is reporting Jiri Welsch has been traded from the Boston Celtics to the Cleveland Cavaliers. So far it appears this trade may just include a conditional pick, but if the story changes, I'll update as we go.

The Cavaliers get a player that can offer some shooting to play off of Lebron James. The Cavs have had issues with Dajuan Wagner's injuries and inconsistency. Similar inconsistencies from the other shooters, Lucious Harris and Eric Snow have created the need for another scoring guard capable of spreading the perimeter to give James some extra room to do his thing.

One hot rumor is that the Cavaliers would be the leading team in line for the services of free agent to be, Michael Redd. Redd would love to come play in his home state and being on a team with James is always a nice prospect. If the Cavs pull off that signing and somehow manage to keep Zydrunas Ilgauskas, they will be a definite power in the East.

C's vs Hornets: 108-90 - Home Sweet Home

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 21:30:49 -0800

Well, Gary Payton tried to convince Celtics Head Trainer Ed Lacerte that he was OK to go for this one by coming out to test the hamstring before the shoot around. Apparently, the GP smile didn't work on Ed and in the interest of caution GP sat this one out.

Before the game, in our chat room, I once again expressed my concern about the Celtics propensity to "play down to thier competition". In the first half, I couldn't have been more right. Thankfully it didn't last.

In the first 2 minutes of the game, the C's had 4 turnovers. By the end of the first half, that number would increase to 16 turnovers (TO's). Thankfully the second half only yielded 6 TO's.

I'm not going to get into particulars of the 1st, but the C's were shooting 3's well (3/3) and playing aggressive, but sloppy basketball. The passing was.....well...bad, with the kind of throw away passes that turn your stomach to watch. It was fairly clear that the team needed to adjust to not having GP running the show.

The Hornets got a boost of 6 points on 2/3 shooting from Dan "I hurt my" Dickau.

At the end of the 1st: 25-18.

Kendrick Perkins started the 2nd period, along with RD, TA, Jiri and Raef. RD took it straight to Junior Harrington for a quick score out of the break. Jiri hit a 3 at the 8:50 mark to make the score 32-26.

The Hornets then went on a run and by 5:38 the score was 35-32 Celtics. At 4:29 Marcus Banks collected his 3rd foul and left the game. A PJ Brown steal and score at the 4:20 mark and it was 37 all. Another quick steal score around the 3:56 mark and the Hornets had thier first lead of the game. A Blount rebound and put back tied it up again, but a Celtic defensive lapse allowed Lee Nailon to come right back down and score, making it 41-39 at the 2:42 point left in the half.

Oddly, Nailon then got hit with a technical foul after complaining about a foul on Jiri Welsch and the one FT from the techinical and 1 of 2 FT's on the regular set and Jiri had retied the score from the FT line. A short while later, Bostian Nachbar hit a 3pter and with :51 left, the Hornets had the lead 46-41.

RD quickly answered with a drive, followed by PP to Blount and then a FT and at the half it was 46 all.

Allow me to say that again in Red Sox vernacular: At halftime, the Celtics were tied at 46 all with the 2-26 New Orleans "F'N" Hornets.

The C's were 9/15 from the FT line and to repeat the earlier stat, had 16 turnovers. Raef and RD were the primaries for the C's in the first half.

I asked my wife to poke out my eyes so I didn't have to watch the second half, but she told me that would come back to be deemed a mistake. Thankfully, she was right........this time. ;-)

Second Half:

Paul Pierce scored right off to start the 2nd half. PP to Raef for a score and a Jiri steal and kick out to PP for a 3pter and the C's led 57-51 with 8:10 left in the 3rd. The C's managed to get ahead by a score of 64-54 but managed to fetter it away and with 2:46 left, the score was still a depressingly close 67-63. Just to throw in a random fact, since the first team took it's share of abuse in the last game, at the 2:15 mark left in the 3rd, the only points from the Celtic bench belonged to RD, who had 15.

Of course, "I Love" Waltah then came in and hit a 3 which started the Celtic energy run and at 1:45 left in the 3rd, the C's had a 75-65 lead, matching thier largest lead. At the end of the quarter, the C's led 82-65 and the thoughts of self- blinding had started to pass.

A pick and pop by Jiri (who's finally starting to show some consistancy again with his shooting) at 11:28 made it 84-67. A Waltah drop off to a cutting Tony Allen produced a spectacular 2 handed dunk. Big Al Jefferson had a nice follow up dunk off a RD miss. A Waltah' 3pter at 9:20 and the rout was officially on (FINALLY!!!) with the C's ahead 91-67.

Paul Pierce reported briefly in the 4th, for about :49 to collect his 4th career Triple-Double (19/10/10) and then was quickly subbed out for Jiri Welsch, with a comfortable Celtic lead of 94-72 with 7:40 left.

Other than a spectacular follow up dunk by Tony Allen (which you'll all see on SportsCenter tomorrow), off ironically another RD miss, , the rest of the game was mostly going through the motions.

The Celtics win this one: 108-90

Player of the Game: You know what, You decide:

1. RD had 23/5/5
2. PP had 19/10/10 (triple double)
3. Raef had 14/12

Swingers

Sun, 05 Dec 2004 19:39:57 -0800

"Vegas baby, Vegas!" Well, not quite, but the C's do have a West coast swing coming up, so it's time to pull out the Swingers quotes (warning: blatant rip off of Sports Guy schtick)

"It's not so much me as it is Roenick"

This quote goes to Gary Payton who makes everyone around him look good. What a joy it is to have a real point guard in the house. I'm getting more and more spoiled by the day. I'll never settle for less again.

"You are so money and you don't even know it"

For Jiri Welsch who has some great skills and almost seems to be too timid about it. He defers to the stars in the starting lineup and couldn't take a leadership role with the second unit. I'm fine with him being a great support player, but I think he could do more if he had a killer attitude.

Ya grows up and ya grows up and ya grows up"

To the rookies for obvious reasons. These guys are growing by leaps and bounds every game and they represent the highest hopes we have for the years to come. Finally all the trades for cap relief and draft picks are paying off. But give them time to grows up.

"You're like a big bear, with claws and fangs, fangs man. Big **** teeth, yeah man with **** teeth on ya. She's just like this little bunny who's just kinda cowering in the corner. Shivering. Yeah man just kinda... And you got these claws and you're staring at these claws and your thinking to yourself with these claws, you're thinkin now how am I supposed to kill this bunny, how am I supposed to kill this bunny, and your poking at it. Yeah you're not hurting it, you're just kinda gently batting the bunny around, you know what I mean. and the bunnies scared mike, the bunnies scared of you. And you got these **** claws man and these fangs man, and you're looking at your claws and your looking at your fangs and you're thinking to yourself I don't know what to do man, I don't know how to kill the bunny with this you don't know how to kill the bunny. Do you know what I mean? you're like a big bear man."

This very long but very funny quote goes to Al Jefferson who has all the tools but is still figuring out how to use them.

"We're not in Kansas anymore"

For Raef and Paul. Even though they aren't in Kansas, they are finding that magic from the old days. Raef in particular is looking spry like he hasn't in ages. Rebounding, passing, and of course shooting, Raef has been a rock for this team this year.

"like House of Pain was gonna do anything?"

(off topic, but I couldn't resist) Goes to Ron Artest - who totally overreacted to getting a cup thrown at him.

"Darlin, I want you to remember this face here. This is the guy, behind the guy, behind the guy."

This is Danny Ainge, who has actually faded into the background this year. He believes in Doc, and is letting do be the man behind the players. This is the way it should be.

"I don't want you to be the guy in the PG-13 movie where everyone is really hoping for him. I want you to be the guy in the rated R movie where no one is to sure about him."

To the whole team, for this West coast trip:

Sun 5 @ Sacramento

Mon 6 @ Golden State

Thu 9 @ Portland

Sat 11 @ Seattle

Mon 13 @ L.A. Clippers

"Roll up hip-hop."

TEST POST

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:39:46 -0800

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