Women on the list...

[Chris Littlefield <chris@mjr.com>]

...are wonderful, and a rarity!  Dorine, as usual, is right on the mark.
I'd love to be able to talk Celts shop with my lovely fiance'!  She is as
cool as she can be about the fact that I eat, live, and breathe Celts.  I'm
not saying anything about anyone else but I am an absolute Celts junky.  I
can't miss a game. I just can't. I have to see it or tape it, and when they
lose, it absolutely demoralizes me.  I search the net three or four times a
day for news on the trade that will get us a dominating big man and keep
the other pieces in place.  My fiance' understands this and is as tolerant
and understanding as she can be, but bottom line she doesn't _feel_ WHY I
am as affected by the trials and tribulations of this team, a bunch of
superrich athletes with whom, as individuals, I have absolutely nothing in
common.  There are others out there like me, and I love to interact and
share ideas with these folk (this list being a big part of that), but the
unfortunate reality is that most such are men, and that in itself makes the
rare female true _fan_ even more of a joy!

	Additionally, allow me to throw in my support, male as it is, for
Theresa and Dorine and all the other women who subscribe to this list.  The
women-bashing on this list really needs to stop.  It's not right, and it
should not be acceptable.  The list is a forum to share ideas and concerns
regarding the Boston Celtics.  Everyone needs to know and understand that
there are men _and_ women on the list.  Frankly, I consider Dorine's and
Theresa's posts to be among the most respected, along with of course the
legendary R. Bentz Kirby and the honorable Adam Suchocki. In many respects
these four people represent the ideals of what the list is supposed to be.
And look, two of them are women.  Is there any race-oriented bashing going
on?  None that's not immediately squashed.  Swearing?  Frowned upon.
Spelling?  Just kidding...  Why then, are bashing comments about women
acceptable?  This is the 90's, people.

	If you don't like Cheryl Miller, or the possibility of the WNBA
coming to Boston, or the paranoid fantasy that women are going to be
integrated into the NBA, that's fine, but if you think Cheryl Miller's bad,
don't automatically think that she's bad because of her gender.  Frankly, I
think she's better than most of the yutzes (names of course fail me now in
my moment of need) at TNT, though honestly that's not a huge endorsement.
I respect what she's done for the game, but I'm not terribly impressed with
her commentary.  That has nothing to do with her being a woman.

	I'm stepping off my podium now, but let's not push away women from
the list with sexist commentary.  It's neither necessary nor acceptable.  I
value the input of all list-members too much to let this go by.





	And now...on to the Celtics, and my thoughts!


1) That this team is at 16-19 is still a shocker.  Even at 16-19, we stand
at 12th in the Eastern Conference, and would be eligible for the 9th pick
in the draft if the lottery were held today.  Remember last year?  Yah, I'd
like to erase it as well, but are any of you complainers about Celtics woe
cognizant of how far this team has come with deeply limited talent?  Credit
Pitino and Walker and the players.  They've played their hearts out.

2) Mercer needs to go to the hole more.  I was at the Spurs/Celts game and
his dunk was the stuff of all-time highlight films.  He just went up, kept
going up, and plain old-fashioned FLUSHED it on Jaren Jackson.  I'm not a
big dunk fan but that was just tremendous.

3) Who else saw a) Knight's swat of Duncan?  and b) Walker's swat of
Robinson.  Very nice!

4) I'm on the fence about Billups.  I like him.  I think his defense is
tremendous (okay, Avery Johnson torched him, but hey, it had to happen
sometimes), his play in crunch time is usually very good, and his upside is
tremendous.  But...I don't know if he'd be better at the off-guard, if he
can play the point guard, and how long it will take for his decision making
to improve.  Many times he cancels himself out, much like an early Rick
Fox;  good play, bad play, great steal, turnover.  Against the Lakers he
made up for a turnover with that big steal.  He's funny to watch.
Additionally Barros is playing very well, and I feel Dana right now is
running the team better than Chauncey.  If an opportunity arose to use
Chauncey to get an inside presence along the lines of Austin or Lorenzen
Wright (anyone from LA know how his knee is?) I would be inclined to do it.
If we could get rid of a big contract as well, that wouldn't hurt...

5) Walker is an All-Star.  If he is not voted to the team by coaches,
there's something really, really wrong.  Who has had more impact on his
team?  Where would this team be if Walker had hurt himself against Chicago
and was out for the season?  Would we be like Denver?  Worse?  His impact
on our team knows no bounds.  When he is not passing and not shooting well,
he has shown he can do other things to help the team win.  His defense is
just fine.  He is 21, knows that there are very few other options, none
inside, and that he is the Man.  Sometimes he gets carried away with that.
As the team develops and can shoulder more of the burden (witness Mercer
going for 28 against Charlotte the night Antoine stank up the joint to the
tune of 3-21) his passing will continue to improve.  As it stands now, he
appears to have confidence in Mercer, Knight, and Barros.  That's about it.


6) Offensively they look just flat out awful right now.  I wish they had
more time to practice before next week's (starting with Indiana) 6 games in
8 days.

7)  Mercer and Walker cannot be traded, though I would consider Billups and
Mercer for Duncan (gee, who wouldn't, except San Antonio).

8) There better damn well be some kind of trade.  'Cause the way it is now,
if we don't trade to get a big man, we won't get a decent big man through
the draft at the 9th (or even the 5th) pick.  Nor will we have the kind of
money necessary to go get an Ike Austin or Vlade Divac unless we clear a
Brown or Minor or Knight or Rogers or anyone else off the roster.

9) Give me DONTAE'!



Thanks for your time.  We WILL beat Vancouver.  I guarantee it.

Chris