A few quick notes on tonights game

["Ronald H. Evans" <ronald_evans@pipeline.com>]

Overall I was very impressed by the celtics performance(even though they
lost). They never gave up and almost every player contributed something
significant. The press worked well at first but petered out towards the
end(along with the celtics offense). 

Player notes:

Antoine: one word: spectacular. Antoine was amazing in almost every facet
of the game. He scored well with a good percentage(I don't have the stats
in front of me, so tell me if I'm wrong). He has a good/decent set three
pointer. His combination post/slashing offense is unstoppable; he can go to
the hole at will on power fowards and finish on them in the post as well.
Bill's right he finishes much better than  last year. Passing was great
too(although he probably had to many turnovers). On the downside though,
his free throw shooting was abomidible. I hope this doesn't  continue into
the regular season.

Pervis: I was extremely impressed with Pervis too. He gave the celtics a
hardy dose of rebounding, hustle and one amazing block on van horn. His
offense wasn't anything special though. He did score though. Came in and
drew an amazing offensive on Jason Williams, but had the wind knocked out
of him for his effort(thank goodness he wasn't injured).

Knight: Impressive too. Got a double double in points and rebounds(I heard
heinsohn talk about it). Has THREE POINT range--or at least hit one out of
two. He really clears out the middle for antoine. Also, he plays very good
interior D and rebounds just as well as when he was with Shaq.

Barros: My guess for the starting point guard. He was quick, passed well,
shot  well, and made good decisions. Isn't bothered at all by the new line.
Seemed to be a real knack for knocking the ball away(although most of the
celtics did) but him especially.

Mercer: Finished well, played very good D but thats about it. Doesn't have
very long range. He was more than competant on the post though.

Billups: Looked like he was playing underwater, but shot and passed well.

Edney: Didn't notice anything special and he didn't seem that fast tonight.

Declercq: Hustled, made one nice save, but thats about it. Was stripped
repeatedly on offensive. I doubt he scored.

Bowen: Good D, offense was good too(although mostly layups and maybe one or
two short jumpers).

Brown: Seemed totally ineffectual. Did have five assists, but only scored
once and that basket was a nearly open assist under the basket. Was not
agressive on offense at all. I don't remember him driving once.

Mills: Extremely unimpressive at long range, but decent at short range. For
the money a good pickup(although I don't know about getting rid of EW,
maybe Mills will improve).

Looking back at what I wrote, I don't see a single player who makes me
think "he doesn't belong in the NBA". This is a pretty strong contrast to
most other teams who have a couple of  superstars and a scrub patrol. I am
interested in how this gamble pays out.


Noah