Re: woohoo!! we won!!!!!!!

["Cecil Wright" <cecil@hfx.andara.com>]

My point is that Billups comes under terribly close scrutiny regardless of
his play.  He praised him on several occasions for his smart distribution of
the ball, however, if he commits a turnover, we hear things like "we can't
have that" or "that's a rookie mistake".  WE KNOW THAT!  ROOKIES MAKE
MISTAKES!  But there is no need to state that he left his feet too soon when
he is trying to draw a foul in the latter stages of a game, when he is our
best foul shooter on the court.  That's trying to find a fault in my
opinion.  He had 20+ points and 9 assists.  Concentrate on that positive.

As for my unconditional love of Billups, as you call it, I don't think it
clouds my overall assessment of his ability.  I'm not ashamed to say that I
think he's a good player who will only get better.  When he plays poorly, I
have alluded to it in some of my posts including when I occasionally
substitute for Bill Cooper.  What I see in Billups has also been observed by
more and more members to this list.  But I do not apologize for believing
that he is a potential star in this league, as do many veteran players and
front office personnel in the NBA.  We gain nothing by continuously berating
our own players.  I think that's one of Pitino's biggest strengths.  The
fact that he is able to stroke their egos yet still retain their respect
when he finds it necessary to criticize them.

Did you see the brief spat between he and Dee when Dee threw up a poor shot
from the corner in the late stages of the game.  Pitino spoke to him about
it briefly as Dee came to the bench for the timeout, and Brown was
definitely upset.  Pitino sat him down, spoke to him for a moment and
substituted him back in later on.  He has people skills which will make him
an attractive coach to play for.

I'm glad we drafted Billups and Mercer, though I was sure that Duncan was
ours.

-----Original Message-----
From: K. Kveraga <6166kkver@umbsky.cc.umb.edu>
To: celtics@igtc.COM <celtics@igtc.COM>
Date: Saturday, February 14, 1998 12:19 PM
Subject: Re: woohoo!! we won!!!!!!!


>
>
>Cecil Wright wrote:
>
>> I think Billups also had 9 assists.  Once near the end of the game, he
shook
>> his man, penetrated, and drew a foul.  Cooz mentioned again that Chauncy
>> left his feet too soon.  On this particular play and at that late stage
of
>> the game, points were obviously going to be earned at the line.  Billups
>> sank 2 and Cooz said "good job".
>>
>> Is anyone else noticing these hypocritic moments?  Would he be happier if
>> Billups mastered the set shot?
>
>
>
>As I recall it, Cousy first praised Chauncey for taking it to the hole,
then,
>watching a replay, said something like "Chauncey still took off a bit too
soon,
>but [fill in praise for making a determined play at crucial point of the
game]".
>It didn't sound like anything other than a minor correction amidst praise.
Cousy
>criticizes Chauncey when he plays poorly, and praises him when the rook
does
>well.
>
>I think your unconditional love for Chauncey is clouding your perceptions.
It is
>true that Cousy is often critical of players; however, IMO, he's an
>equal-opportunity critic. He also offers a lot of praise - often more than
he
>should be expected to, considering that, from his point of view, most of
these
>players are nothing but ball-carrying, hot-dogging basketball ignoramuses.
>
>K. Kveraga
>
>