Hornets 93 Celts 89

[Cecil Wright <nocw1@nsh.library.ns.ca>]

This is the proverbial one that got away.  The Celts started off on a rather 
ominous note, as on their first possession, Billups penetrated and drew 2 
defenders.  He fed Toine for what should have been an easy layup, but it 
rolled off the rim harmlessly.  On their next possession, Toine rebounded 
and threw a pass away.  

Even though they had this dubious beginning, they got things in gear 
shortly thereafter, led by Dee who scored 5 of the first 9 points.  We 
went on a 7-0 run started by a DQ offensive tip off of a Dee offensive 
rebound miss which made the score 13-11.  Toine and DQ were crashing the 
boards quite nicely and playing a very alert weakside help defense for 
the benefit of Dee who was assigned Glen Rice (Who both Tommy and Cooz 
gushed over in their pre-game analysis).  A DQ block on Rice led to a 
jumper by Walter followed by a Dee 3 pt play off a gorgeous feed from 
Toine.  By now Billups had been assessed his 2nd foul and was replaced by 
Dana.  A look-away pass to Walter from Toine for a dunk made it 20-12 and 
forced Coach Cowens into a timeout.  At that stage, we were crushing them 
on the boards as we had 11 boards (5 off.) to their 6 boards (0 off.).  A 
Bowen (BB) jumper made it a 10 pt lead with 1:50 remaining in the quarter 
22-12, before a Geiger layup stopped the Charlotte bleeding.  At this 
point, we had forced them into 7 turnovers, while committing 2.  Travis 
made a sensational hustle steal off the press and fed BB for a jumper 
followed by a J.R. Reid technical and the score was 27-14.  Knight picked 
up his 2nd foul on what appeared to be a nice block on Geiger.  The 
quarter ended with the score Celt's 27, Charlotte 15.

Dana hit a long jumper to extend the lead to 14 before Geiger hit a 
jumper and 2 quick layups sandwiched between 2 BB free throws.  BB had 
some particularly inspiring play.  During one flurry, he lost the dribble 
after he slipped, but regained his handle as he got off the floor and hit 
a short jumper.  DQ also had an impressive span as he had consecutive 
offensive putbacks to make it 37-28 with 5:38 remaining in the half.  
Billups picked up #3 on the ensuing possession and he sat for the 
remainder.  After a Geiger stuff, DQ was whistled for #3 even though he 
played good straight up defense on the play.  The Hornets had quietly 
started a 9-2 run of their own to cut the lead to 1 on a Rice turnaround 
jumper over Dee, at 37-36.  Thomas tipped in a BB miss before Mason was 
charged with a foul on Toine.  It occurred with 2:49 left in the half and he 
went for a little walk, generally acting like a spoiled brat.  Toine 
hit the throws and the C's led by 5, 41-36.  BB stripped Wesley, fed 
Toine who tried unnecessarily to go behind the back with his dribble 
in the lane and was called for a travel.  *THAT WAS A HUGE TURNOVER.
Mason hit 2 throws and Wesley ended the half with 2 jumpers to end 
the half with the score Charlotte 44, Celts 43.

We had balanced scoring as evidenced by BB, Dee, toine and DQ each 
with 8 pts and Barros with 5.  Geiger had a big half with 15 and 
Wesley had 12 for them.

The third quarter was easily one of the worst shooting exhibitions 
yet this season.  It seems that when a team makes a move on us, we 
think we can reply with the outside shot.  We all know by now that 
it's not the strength fo this edition.

Suffice it to say that the 3rd quarter was painful to watch 
esthetically, but we were only down by 2 (67-65) entering the 4th.

Toine picked up an offensive foul and BJ Armstrong hit a 3 ptr 
increasing the Hornet lead to 5.  Toine nade it a 1 put disadvantage 
with 2 FT's and a stuff, when Chauncey was called for #4.  Dee gave 
us the lead on another 3 ptr at 72-70 and then the WIERDEST THING 
HAPPENED.  BJ hit a jumper and a foul was called on Toine 
simultaneously.  The basket counted and Geiger who was pushed in the 
back by Toine was awarded a FT.  Geiger was assessed a technical by 
good buddy Dick Bavetta and Dana canned the Ft plus a long 3 making 
the score Celts 77, Horns 73.  2 Geiger FT's and a Travis Williams 
layup knotted it at 77 with 6:55 remaining forcing RP into a 
timeout.  Dee threw a pass away and Geiger hit 2 more FT'smaking it 
79-77.  2 Billups FT's (His only pts) tied it at 79 and they were 
tied at 81 with 4:05 remaining.  Williams hit a jumper and at 3:35 
Billups' shot was blocked by Wesley right into DQ's hands, but he 
dropped it and it resulted in a Wesley layup making the score H's 
85-81 with 3:17 left.  Toine hit a layup and Wesley was charged with 
a Tech, follwed by an offensive foul called on him by Bavetta.  The 
score was tied at 86 as Toine connected on 1/2 from the line.  Vernon 
Maxwell hit a huge 3 ptr.  Toine rushed up a wild 3 pt response which 
was a poor attempt and the fouling started before Dee hit a 3 ptr 
cutting the lead to 2 (91-89) with 10.6 secs.  The C's set up the 
press but Rice beat it with a cross-court pass to Mason who found a 
cutting Maxwell for a layup making the final 93-89 Hornets.

Starters: DeClercq, McCarty, Walker, Billups, Brown
	  Geiger, Rice, Mason, Wesley, Royal


DQ: Great effort by Andrew.  Had a total of 5 off boards and scored 
    11 pts on 5/7 from the floor.  Great block on Rice and seemed to 
    really take to the help-out defense.  Deserves to be starting.
McCarty: Nothing special about this game for Wally, as he had 9 pts 
    in 20 minutes.  Hit 1 three and subsequently missed 2 others.
Walker: Showed his brilliance at times and showed his immaturity at 
    others.  Ended with 23 pts but shot 8/23 from the field and 0/4 
    from downtown.  Dominated the boards with 16 (6 off) and had 5 
    assists and 2 steals.  He hurt us by making poor decisions at 
    crucial times.  The behind the back dribble was a gleaming 
    example.         
Brown: Actually, his defense impressed me more than his offense, which 
    says something since he scored 20 pts.  He spent the majority of the 
    night fronting Rice and getting help from his frontcourt.  It paid 
    off as Rice was held to 14 pts of which only 3 were field goals.  His 
    shooting is sporadic but he may have shown enough in Mercer's absence to 
    warrant a look from someone in need of backcourt firepower.
Billups: Got in foul trouble early although I must say, and not because I 
    like the kid, they were questionable calls at best.  Nonetheless he was 
    clearly frustrated at the officiating and was not a factor at all as a
    result.  He did have 5 assists and should have had at least 3 more but 
    the passes were mishandled after pretty nice feeds. 
Bowen: I'm calling him BB from now on. Nice first half where he totalled 
    all 8 of his pts, but this man can flat out PLAY DEFENSE.  He's got 
    heart and hit a couple of outside shots.

Opposition players of note:

Geiger, Geiger, Geiger:  He's mean and he can score in close.  We 
couldn't find anyone to handle him and he burnt us for 24 pts in 33 min 
on 9/13 shooting
Mason: Harassed Toine all night long.  Muscled him.  Had 9 pts with 11 
boards, 4 steals and 9 ASSISTS.
Rice: The fronting paid off.  14 pts, but 8 were from the line.
Wesley: 15 pts on 6/11 shooting, 5 asts, 6 turnovers.

Coaching:  RP's defensive scheme revolved around fronting Rice and having 
anyone else in close proximity helping Dee.  It worked but poor decisions 
killed us in the end.  Still this was a game I expect we will win before 
the season is over.  Earlier in the year the may have wilted earlier in 
the 4th quarter.  This team is not that far away.  They need some inside 
scoring and a solid rebounder.

Cecil

Give em hell Art!