Re: Oh No! Not Again!: Philadelphia 127- Boston 125

[Adam A Suchocki <Twilight@world.std.com>]

Bill, I love your reviews of the games, but after watching this last game,
I came away with a totally different impression of the game and the
players, and I thought I'd share the contrasting view:

1. Todd Day was spectacular.  Defensively he blocked both Iverson and
Stackhouse on what looked like sure dunks, and on offense he repeatedly
hit the wide open three, drove with authority, and made some spectacular
passes.  In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime - he
did miss a key free throw and get give Rex Walters a look at a three
pointer (though to his credit Day almost had the steal, and Rex hit a
tough shot).  On the plus side...he hit the key three (a running leaner
from the top of the key) that made overtime possible and hit the key
basket on a driving lay-up that gave the C's the lead in overtime.  The
foul you mentioned him committing on Stackhouse at the end of regulation
was one of the worst calls I've ever seen.  It was clearly a charge
(beyond the three point line).  All Todd did was stand in a set position -
Stackhouse dove at him - kneed him between the legs - and landed on top of
him.  At best it should have been a no call, but after watching the replay
about 20 times (it was a slow night) it was clearly a charge - and the C's
would have won on Todd's great defensive play.

I've been incredibly impressed with Day over since Minor went down.  He
has played very unselfishly, yet spectacularly at both ends of the floor.
He still needs to prove it over more of the season, but I have yet to see
a sign of the selfish, out of control, player he is repped to be.

2.  Refereeing:  I wouldn't call it in favor of the Celtics.  First,
Stackhouse deserved the Technical - he shoved another Celtic in anger
after the play.  Second, Williams was repeatedly shoved (with two hands in
the back, no play on the ball) by the Sixer reserves, once flying into the
stands, but at best all he could draw was a personal foul.  The two times
the Celtics make similar shoves (Walker and Williams) - Flagrant or
Technical fouls are called.  Third, alonf with the one above the referees
let a huge amount of shoving, tripping, and grabbing go on in this game -
which favored players like Cage and Weatherspoon, as well as the goons off
the bench for Philly.  The flagrants on Boston were simply an escalation
of the situation the referees let evolve - and it should have been called
more fairly.  Finally, the foul on Day at the end of the game was a
horrible, horrible, call.

3. The Press: I really wouldn't say the Celtics played very passively on
defense, or that the press was not in use much.  Instead, Philly simply
passed right though it a lot of the time.  Although Iverson and Stackhouse
at times had trouble with the ball - Walters, Weatherspoon, Cage, McClain,
and company passed the ball extremely well once the ball got over half
court - resulting in a lot of really easy baskets.  Philly was clearly
ready for the trap, and pounced all over it when they could.  It turned
into a game of either Boston forces Iverson or Stackhouse into a turnover,
or Philly gets the ball to one of the other players who sets up a score on
a two on one.  But overall, the total number of steals the Celtics got
shows they weren't very passive. Moveover, the number of offensive
rebounds also suggests very agressive play - the down side was, they
really only had 7 players (Szabo was a non entity), and they needed to
pace themselves at times.

4. Iverson vs.  Wessley 
Flashy moves - Iverson wins, though he did cut down on the oponents flashy
moves by fouling Wesley from behind whenever Wesley beat him with a
crossover.

Total Game - Wesley killed him, with better passing, decision making, and
defense.  Iverson may turn into a star, but right now he reminds me of
World B Free (without the shooting touch).  The ball stays in his hands
forever, and he simply keeps trying to win the game one on one.  He even
blew a 4 on 1 fast break because he wouldn't give the ball up to any of
the three open men.


Coaching - I really didn't feel ML did to bad of a job.  He managed to
keep an severly under manned and losing team focused for the game, and had
an ideal play that forced overtime.  The final play I blame solely on Dee
Brown.  Dee should have given the ball up when he couldn't get by his man
on the dribble.  From watching the team in the timeout before the final
play - it appeared the idea was to get the ball to Day for a drive to the
basket (but, as is Dee's habit, he wanted to take the big shot - shame he
rarely makes it).

Dee Brown - For a large  part of the game he was playing the best I've
seen him in almost three years.  Great scrapping defense, he actually
pushed the ball up the floor, drove to the basket with authority, and hit
some spectacular jumpers.  Unfortuantely, he reverted to his old - I can
hit the last shot no matter what mentality and blew the chance to tie the
game.  I would have pulled him and inserted WIlliams, except for the fact
that he was so effective on the penetration that it was worth a gamble
that he might actually decide to drive to the basket.

Finally - has anyone else noticed the big outside shot making tendencies
of the Celtics.

Fox - hits the shot as long as he doesn't have time to think.

Day - seems to repeatedly nail the big three at the end of games, but has
trouble with the last second lay-ups and put backs.

Wesley - makes the shot off of a pass, but has trouble creating his own
shot.

Brown - misses it, "9 out of 10 times"

Walker - not much data from the outside, but seems to have trouble
creating a shot.

Williams - streaky, but very good, like Fox, when he doesn't have time to
think.

Conlon - only one data point - and he choked

It seems to me they should put the ball in Days hands, and try to free up
any of Fox, Wesley, or Willaims on cuts or screens - with Day taking the
last second three if no one gets free,

Oh well, I'm starting to buy into the idea that ML is trying to keep every
game close, but lose in the end for the lottery.


Adam