Hornets.com’s 1-on-1: Boston’s Peter Stringer

March 19, 2007

Stringer

Boston website writer Peter Stringer
Q: Much like the Hornets’ season, injuries have been the primary reason behind why the Celtics have performed below their preseason expectations. But with that being said, were you surprised at all by how much they struggled during their lengthy stretch without Paul Pierce?
A: I don’t think anyone was expecting an 18-game losing streak, or to drop 22 of 24 games once Pierce went down. In fact, just before Paul got hurt, the team had reeled off five straight wins, and it looked like they were putting it together. But Pierce is the heart and soul of the team, and the young players really deferred to him too much at times.  Still, the team was competitive virtually every night during the streak, and the attitude in the locker room and at practice was surprisingly upbeat.
Along those lines, I think the silver lining of Pierce’s extended absence is that it gave guys like Al Jefferson and Tony Allen the opportunity to show what they can do, and believe that they could do it in their own right. Now that Pierce is back, the team is showing signs of what it could be next season, and Pierce and Jefferson are really getting a chance to build some chemistry.

Q: There has been a lot written recently about the Celtics’ potential need to add veterans to a roster that already has numerous players who are viewed as talented but inexperienced. Do you anticipate Boston trying to make a move in the offseason to address that, or will the Celtics ‘stay the course’ and continue to patiently develop their young players?
A: Danny Ainge has said repeatedly that while he’d like to add some veteran flavor to this team, he won’t go out and get a vet just for the sake of adding some age to the roster.  He’s looking for a quality veteran who will be the right fit. 
To that end, Theo Ratliff might have been that guy, but his back injury pretty much took him out of the equation before the season really started. But he’s still a guy who’s good to have around, even if he’s just rocking a suit on the end of the bench, simply because he knows the league’s personnel, and can advise players on how to attack or defend a certain guy. For example, Brian Scalabrine was asking him for advice the other night against the Bulls for an in-game scouting report on P.J. Brown. You can’t get that from a guy who’s been in the league for two years.

Q: What do you foresee as the biggest areas Boston must address in the 2007 draft?
A: I’m not a college hoops guru, so it’s hard for me to say. Certainly our fan base talks a lot about the two big names that everyone knows, but at this point, who knows if either one is coming out or where we’ll end up drafting. So I think it’s tough to say what this team would want to address in the draft at this point. As far as making additions to the team, I think finding a proven scorer to come off the bench to anchor the second unit is a priority, but where that scorer comes from is the question. We may already have him if Tony Allen and Wally Szczerbiak return to form next season. I’d also like to see some more experience at the point guard spot as well.

Q: One of the bright spots of the Celtics’ season has been the progress of third-year big man Al Jefferson. What has been behind his staking a claim as one of the NBA’s most improved players this season?
A: Two things, really. First off, he’s finally healthy. Big Al was beset by the tyranny of recurring ankle injuries that essentially obliterated his season last year. But once he had the surgery to correct the problem, he committed himself to overhauling his body in the offseason. 
He pulled two-a-days most of the summer, working with our strength and conditioning coaches on dropping weight and improving his agility and explosiveness, and worked out with Clifford Ray (whose prized pupil is Dwight Howard) on his post moves and just generally being a ‘beast’ in the paint. He really felt like he’d let a lot of people down, himself included, and made a remarkable transformation.
He’s always had the natural ability; he averaged 42.6 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks per game in his senior year of high school! I don’t care where you’re playing against, 42 points a game is an insane average. So I think it’s just the convergence of Al’s awesome natural talent and the process of discovering an impressive work ethic that’s brought him to this point, where he’s good for 15 and 11 every night. And he’s already talking about working even harder this summer, so I think he could be on his way to becoming a 20-and-12 guy and an All-Star in short order.

Boston’s Al Jefferson is a force in the paint and has been one of the NBA’s most improved players in 2006-07.

Q: Boston has several other young players whose development is being watched closely by observers around the league. Can you provide fans who don’t frequently get to see the Celtics play an update on guys like 2007 slam dunk champion Gerald Green (21 years old), as well as point guards Rajon Rondo (21), Delonte West (23) and Sebastian Telfair (21)?
A: Green often gets compared to Tracy McGrady, and he can certainly fill it up when given the minutes. He’s known for his open-court dunking (he can absolutely jump out of the gym), but he’s really become a great three-point shooter (40 percent this season) as well. When he improves his ballhandling and starts attacking the basket more aggressively in the halfcourt set, G-Money will take the next step. 
Rondo has plenty of natural ability and great instincts, not to mention speed, but he’s still learning how to get the team into its offense. While he leads the league in steals per 48 minutes, he still needs to improve his on-the-ball, man-to-man defense, especially against the pick-and-roll. His outside shooting is suspect, and opponents sag off him and dare him to shoot. But he makes some incredible plays on a nightly basis, and he may very well be the point guard of the future for this team.
West is a warrior who plays the game full-tilt, but has struggled with nagging injuries.  He’s a pure shooter and probably better suited to playing the two than the point, and might someday be a fantastic sixth man. The knock on him is that he can’t go to his right, but he’s a pretty effective finisher around the basket. He’s also just a character off the court, and an All-Interview Team first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Telfair (“Bassy”) started at point for the first two months of the season, but he struggled with consistency. He’s at his best when he’s attacking the basket and he’s a better set shooter than advertised. He’s still got a way to go defensively, and needs to use his speed to his advantage more instinctively.
And don’t sleep on swingman Tony Allen. He’s the team’s best man-to-man defender, and just before his season-ending knee injury, Allen had posted six straight 20-point-plus games. He attacks the basket and when he’s 100 percent, he can beat almost anyone off the dribble and finish strong at the rim. If he can regain his form next season, he’ll make the Celtics an incredibly dynamic team.

Q: Finally, a non-basketball question. The Celtics finally relented this season and became the last of the 30 NBA franchises to add a dance team to their in-game entertainment. What has been the reaction of Boston fans to that change? We can’t imagine they’re complaining, right?
A: It’s been overwhelmingly positive. The amount of hard work and effort that went into selecting the team, and the time the ladies put into their rehearsals has been impressive.  And while it was certainly a novelty item at the beginning of the season, the girls have settled in and become a staple of the action at the Garden, not to mention a popular feature on the all-new Celtics.com. We won’t blame you if you click here to take a look…