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Saturday, February 15, 2003
Taneo: The power of three
By Paul J. Taneo
Free-for-all
There has never been an NBA team like the Boston Celtics with Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker as coached by Jim O’Brien.
The Celtics attempt more 3-point shots than any other team: 1,382 so far this season and made 468 for a .328 average.
Yesterday’s Celtics-Portland Trail Blazers game was typical Celtics offense. Try the incidental low-post field goal and if it isn’t coming look for the open man in the perimeter preferably the 3-point area and launch bombs from there.
The 3-point try has a low percentage but if it does go in that’s worth three as opposed to the usual two. If a team attempts 30 3-point shots and sinks 20 of those, that’s 60 points right there. If it were 2-point field goals, that would only be 40 points. A 20-point difference. The Celtics’ most prolific 3-point shooters: Pierce and Walker are .292 and .343 percent from the arc. Good enough if you have a taste for the trey. Ironically, Walker is a middling free-throw shooter.
There is a method in the Celtics’ 3-point madness. Besides the one-point bonus for the trifecta (plus a possible free throw for a 4-point play), the Celtics decide it’s to their advantage because of their height disadvantage. The Celtics don’t have a reliable big man who can score regularly in the paint and by threatening to shoot from the outside they stretch the defense and exploit holes for the slash. The Celtics’ centers are 6-foot-11 Vin Baker, 6-11 Tony Battie and 7-2 but rarely seen Bruno Sundov. Not much of a match against the Shaquille O’Neals, Tim Duncans and Yao Mings of the NBA.
Against the Blazers yesterday, Boston shot 14 of 38 from the rainbow. The Blazers were just 2 of 15. Walter McCarty made a trey for a 95-92 lead under a minute left. Walker shot another for a 98-92 advantage, 40 seconds remaining. In the end, it was 100-92 for the Celtics at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. Rack up another one for the long shot.
KENNETH TO THE RESCUE. Transplanted Cebuano Kenneth Aliño helped us out in a time of not-so blissful ignorance regarding the TV NBA coverage. His e-mail reads thus: Greetings! I can just imagine the anguish you had being a big ESPN (for the NBA coverage) fan myself before. This is not the answer but this might lead you to it, last month or late December I read a column by Quinito Henson of Philippine Star about Solar TV signing a contract with the NBA gaining the exclusive TV rights of important games and events that even cable (ESPN Star Sports) cannot show.
I’m afraid the NBA Finals are included, but this is for Philippine consumption only. Don’t know about Solar TV because last time I was there didn’t hear about it. Just like here in the US, NBA TV coverage is heading to a new direction as it is giving more cable TV rights. The All-star weekend was shown exclusively on TNT a cable TV although it has national scope you have to hook up with a cable company to see it. This year the NBA also introduced NBATV which can only be accessed through satellite dish on a 24-hour NBA basketball channel. It was on this channel that they interviewed Chino Trinidad of Solar TV Philippines.
(sports@sunstar.com.ph) |
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