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celts-nets
Hi all. I was lucky enough to cover Wednesday's exhibition
game in Lexington and thought I could give some observations
since Bill Cooper was unavailable. By the way, let me join
others, especially those of us who can't watch very often,
in thanking Bill for his game summaries. They are greatly
appreciated.
Again, I didn't have the benefit of seeing the first two
exhibition games, but I have to assume, and Pitino confirmed
this in his press conference after the game, that the Celts
were much better.
This team probably can't play much better offensively than
it did in the first half, and especially the first quarter.
Pitino said they didn't have a challenged or forced shot in
the first 16 minutes and I have to think he was right. The
Celts shot 69.6 percent in the first quarter and 62.2 for
the half.
Walker, Mercer and Knight did most of the damage. Walker
scored 12 of his 29 in the first half and Mercer had 12 of
his 14. Knight added 10 of his 18 before halftime.
Walker was teriffic. He was so much more active than I
remember from last year, demanding the ball in the low post
or out on the wing and doing basically whatever he wanted.
Of course, he had Keith Van Horn on him much of the night,
so he should have been effective. Van Horn's biggest
weakness, like any rookie, is his defense. (Walker and Van
Horn did a lot of jawing back and forth throughout the game)
Antoine has greatly improved his outside shot. I'm now
firmly with the rest of you on the list who say hold onto
this guy at all costs. If he improves this much from one
season to the next, imagine how good he might be.
Mercer was 6-for-6 in the first half, although all but one
came from medium range or closer. Being from southern Ohio,
however, and seeing enough UK games to be a pretty good
judge, I'm confident in saying that Mercer's outside shot
should be the least of our worries. He doesn't have NBA
3-point range yet, but as soon as he catches up to the speed
of the game (and he's getting there), he will start to
knock down jumpers from everywhere inside the line. And the
talk that he can't create his own shot? Nonsense. He will be
a great player.
Knight was active all night. He finished with 18 points and
10 rebounds. Forget the McIlvane - Koncak comparisons.
Knight was a steal. He definitely is a player, and Pitino
gushed over him after the game.
Chauncey Billups had some nice moments, so my worries about
him were eased somewhat. He finished with seven points and
five assists in just 14 minutes, but did have three
turnovers. Pitino said Billups' biggest problem is his
tendency to "yo-yo" the ball too much. He said Chauncey
needs to get the ball and "bust it" immediately, but also
said that he is pleased with his progress.
On the two rookies, Pitino said people will compare them to
Duncan and Van Horn this year, which he said isn't fair,
because those players were college seniors last year while
Mercer and Billups were sophomores. He said in two years
Billups and Mercer will be fantastic.
Other bright spots: Bowen is a player, Barros played
reasonably well and Pervis looked good.
The press was effective in spots, forcing 18 turnovers that
resulted in 22 Boston points.
Now some negatives: Start with 25 turnovers. Walker was the
biggest culprit, with seven, but three of those came late
when he was trying to win the game by himself (as did
several of his missed shots, although he still shot
14-for-27). Still, the point guards on this team make too
many turnovers.
Obviously, anytime New Jersey scores 123 points, you have to
look at the defense. The Nets shot 54 percent for the game,
which is awfully high. Pitino seemed relatively unconcerned,
however. He said the Nets were getting too many easy shots
off the press at this point, but that the press will get
better. Still, there is no intimidator in the middle of this
defense, so expect opponents' shooting percentages to be
high as long as they attack the basket.
Dee Brown was as much of a non-factor as any player I've
ever seen in a basketball game. He fouled out after 20
minutes with two points, two rebounds, no steals and five
assists. A miserable effort.
Chris Mills continues to be a concern. He was slightly
better, with eight points and five rebounds on 3-for-6
shooting, but he missed all his three-pointers (0-for-2) and
had just one assist. He played 26 minutes.
The rest of the guys did about what you expect: DeClercq and
Massenburg banged, Minor was a non-factor and Edney played
just four minutes. Lorenzo Coleman didn't play.
Boston could have won the game if Pitino had really cared
about that. He played a long stretch of the third quarter
with a lineup of Pervis, Dana, Minor, Massenburg and Bowen
in there, and New Jersey took advantage. It seemed he was
more concerned with checking out different players and
combinations than he was with winning, which is exactly what
he should be concerned with at this point.
To be as honest as I can be, I really believe this team has
a lot of potential. Walker is the key -- he's better than I
ever imagined he would be this soon. Knight is a great
addition and Pitino knows exactly what he's doing.
The atmosphere Wednesday was great. There were 15,000 people
there and they gave Pitino a three-minute standing ovation
when he walked on the floor. The ovations for Walker and
Mercer were deafening. The public address announcer
introduced them as "the home Boston Celtics" and that
basically is what they were. It was a huge pro-Boston crowd.
I sat in press row under the basket the Celts shot at during
the first half.
All and all, a great night.
Sorry this is so long, but with Bill out, I thought everyone
might enjoy a more detailed (although not up to Cooper
standards) recap.
Mark