Rocky Mountain High

["Nathan A." <nj13@navix.net>]

Fellow Celtics,

I just got back from my first Celtic game in Denver, and despite the
outcome, I enjoyed it thoroughly. We got the arena at about 4:00 and there
was a high school game going on. George Washington, Chauncey's old school,
was playing. Chauncey's little brother, whom I am guessing is a sophomre,
was the sixth man off the bench. In the second quarter, Chauncey came out to
watch. There was a constant stream of kids in Celtic's #4 jerseys asking for
autographs and reports asking questions. Chauncey turned no one away. After
the game Chauncey addressed the crowd (which was very small). He basicly
said he was glad to come back to Denver and was thankful for his family
there and such. His high school principal then presented him with some
plaques and a banner signed by the school.
I didn't pay too much attention because I was watching the rest of the
Celtics come out one by one to shoot around. I waited by the tunnel and
tried to get some autographs, but the only one I got was Travis Knight.
There were a lot of Celtic fans there, and not just those supporting
Chauncey. The attendance was the second highest for the season for Denver,
next to the Bulls game. As for the game, Denver was extremely hot. They
couldn't miss. The C's couldn't hit. After the game there was some guy
yelling to Bob Cousy "I watch all the games on sattallite and I want to know
what they are going to do about shot selection. The shot selection is
terrible!" First of all, I don't know what Cous is going to do about shot
selection, and secondly, I don't think shot selection was the Celtics
problem in this game. If the C's could make half of their shots within 5' of
the basket they would be doing good. Walker continually missed short jump
hooks. Chauncey, I thought, did a good job of penetrating and dishing,
especially in the 4th. But our big guys, if the the pass didn't bounce off
their hands, couldn't finish. This is where our lowly shooting % comes from
(at least in this game) Someone will miss a gimme, and then we will get
three more misses while trying to tap it in.  I think Denver had 13 blocks
on the game. Tony Battie had 8! Also in the fourth quarter, our press was
very effective. The only problem was that we couldn't convert the steals
into baskets. The theory is that steals off a press lead to easy baskets,
but we can't finish! On defense, we do a good job shutting down a pick and
roll initially, but I don't think we switch back soon enough. Several times
I saw Chaucey bear hugging some 7' guy while trying to defend him in the post.
After the game everone seemed in a bitter mood. I came face to face with
Cousy, and he was complaining about he had "already signed 18" autographs
when someone asked for one. Tommy H. refused autographs with a grumpy,
"later," knowing his next stop would be the bus. I can't really blame them,
and I didn't mind that much. I didn't go all that way for autographs.
It was great to finally see the Celtics in person, win or lose.

Thanks to everyone who wrote telling me to have fun. I did!
Nathan A.