Reply to EW

[Rick MacDonald <rsm@shore.net>]

STRAUSS@WCUVAX1.WCU.EDU wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Just read the following article and it seems to me that Eric Williams sounds like a man who knows how to butter up his boss before negotiating his next contract extention..What a typical 90's athlete..Eric your team stinks..Forget about Eric, Eric, Eric, and think about your team. Eric, of course ML is like a big brother.. He spoils you rotten... Play as much as you want Eric, Eric don't worry about staying in shape we'll take care of that when the season starts, Eric don't worry about or playing defense or winning any games, just have fun and score points..Eric your part of the worst celtics team in history..One that may set some NBA records for losing.  Eric, can't you see that teams are toying with you..have you ever noticed that you score the majority of you points in the first half. When the defense gets tough in the second half or near the end of games, you disappear... Forget about how much better of a scorer you have become..Tell me about your defense,the team concep!
t of defense. What have you learned from the great teacher concerning defense, other he doesn't care if you play it or not?  Eric, Defense wins championships..Let me say that again Eric..DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS...Maybe you could tell your big brother (ML) that for me also..Ask him if playing defense is his idea of playing petty games.(maybe it is as he continually says he will not get into playing petty games)Talk to me about the Defense and how that has improved. 

Done venting for now.....Rick
> Celtics Notebook: Williams works on his defending - of Carr
> 
>    By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 03/26/97
> 
>    WALTHAM - Eric Williams places his hands on his hips, looks ahead, and
>    declares what he believes to be the obvious: He is a better player
>    this year than he was last.
> 
>    Now in most cases, such a statement would not begin to reach
>    controversial levels. You have a second-year pro who has learned to
>    initiate contact in order to get to the free throw line more often;
>    who has learned that good players become role players if they are not
>    armed with a 15-foot jumper; who has learned that 37 excess pounds in
>    the offseason are helpful only if you want a career in sumo wrestling.
> 
>    This is all standard. Except Williams is coached by M.L. Carr. And
>    hasn't it been said repeatedly that Williams and his best friend,
>    Antoine Walker, will not become better players under Carr? What will
>    Carr be able to teach them and, possibly, Tim Duncan?
> 
>    ``Man, that's a bunch of [expletive],'' Williams said yesterday.
>    ``Sometimes I sit there and watch TV and see all the stuff people are
>    saying about Coach. They have no idea what he does for us and what he
>    goes through. I'd go to war with that man. I respect him as a man.
>    He's like a big brother to me.''
> 
>    That, say the legion of critics, is part of the problem. They see Carr
>    joking with fans on the sideline. They hear his
>    ``championship-driven'' comments and place those words underneath
>    standings that show the Celtics are 13-57. They mock his prediction
>    that at this time next year, the Celtics will be on their way to the
>    playoffs.
> 
>    The opposition takes all that and wonders if this man is capable of
>    guiding a young, talented team.
> 
>    ``I'm not going to get into that,'' Carr said. Some of the critics, he
>    said, ``have deep-rooted problems. And those problems manifest
>    themselves in different ways. I'm not going to play that petty game.''
> 
>    But Williams, the second first-round pick made under Carr's
>    leadership, is bothered by the pleas of fans and media for a switch on
>    the sideline and in the front office.
> 
>    ``I'm getting tired of it,'' Williams said. ``We're the ones doing a
>    bad job on the court, not him. This is a guy who has taken the heat
>    for the players and has always been supportive of the players. He's
>    been a part of winners ever since he joined the Boston Celtics.''
> 
>    But is he a good coach?
> 
>    ``He's a good coach and a good teacher,'' Williams said. ``He makes
>    sure we take care of business. Coming down on him doesn't make sense.
>    It's coming from a lot of people who have never played the game.''
> 
>    In defense of those anonymous critics, it probably would not make a
>    difference whether they played the game or not if they were speaking
>    the truth. Williams, though, insists that he would like to play for
>    Carr again next year. He also believes the team can be successful
>    under him.
> 
>    There are players who have questioned Carr's decisions and coaching
>    methods. One of those critics will not be with the team next season
>    (but not because he criticized the boss). Another one acknowledges
>    that he prefers Carr's style to that of ex-Celtics coach Chris Ford.
> 
>    As for Carr, he maintains that he will not fight back on criticism
>    that one team official called ``character assassination.'' The coach
>    points to Williams's 15-point average and knack of getting to the line
>    (10 or more times in seven of the last 11 games). He points to
>    Walker's 16-point, 9-rebound average. He lets others make judgments
>    from there.
> 
>    Meanwhile, Williams, hands on hips, continues to say the current model
>    is better than the one from 1996. He says he didn't get that way by
>    himself.
> 
>    Zero precedent
> 
>    It is official: No team in NBA history has gone a season without
>    winning a division game. In fact, no team in league history has ended
>    a season with only one division win. The Celtics play their 20th
>    Atlantic Division game tonight in Landover, Md., against the Bullets.
>    Assuming they lose (they have won only three road games), their best
>    chance for division wins will come Friday vs. the 76ers and April 18
>    against the Sixers ... Rick Fox (arch) did not practice yesterday.
>    Carr said he will play tonight ... Carr said he had ``no ill will''
>    toward a local writer who called him an idiot. ``There's no place for
>    that, and I'm not just talking about me,'' Carr said. ``I don't think
>    name-calling is good in a day when people are prepared to pull out a
>    .9mm to settle something. We should all be above that. We should not
>    send that message to children that it's OK to get into name-calling,
>    calling people idiots. I'll say a prayer for him tonight.''
> 
>    This story ran on page f5 of the Boston Globe on 03/26/97.
> 
> ====================================================================
> Bob Strauss      "Duke of URL"                   Cataloger
> Hunter Library                                   Western Carolina U.
> strauss@wcu.edu
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Sometimes the internet appears to be a gigantic book, and one which
> has many pages glued together. At these times, "mere" paper is far
> more preferable."
>                                  --Bob Strauss, 1997
> ====================================================================