Peter May Bad?

["Greg Odegaard" <gmodegaa@longvred.rmc.com>]

The following article on todays Globe page shows the normal strong writing
from Peter May, and actually talks about a subject that should matter to us
fans; the success of the Boston Celtics.  No talks of trash talking, boring
stats regurgitated with ludicrious character attacks.  Just go old
fashioned speculation about how this up and coming, already respected team,
will fair through the meat and potatoes part of the schedule, and make a
final dash for the finish line of the playoffs.  I for one would be very
happy to lose 3 straight to the bulls, seeing as they would be very
competitive, and likely could steal a game and definately tire the old boys
out, setting them up for the Pacers or Heat.  It would be cool to have C's
get some credit for the possible last stand of the Bulls in the 2nd round.

Anyway on with the show;



Playoffs may be payoff  - Celtics have an outside chance to accelerate the
timetable

By Peter May, Globe Staff 


The playoffs? It's March 4, the Celtics' season is two-thirds complete, and
we can all actually say the word ''playoffs'' without the accompanying
laugh track. That is rather remarkable, given what we saw last fall, not to
mention what we saw last year. 


Eddie Andelman says the Celtics already have covered the over at Las Vegas.
That's irrefutable evidence of success when the wise guys can't even get it
right. The Celtics have more wins than the Pistons, as many as Milwaukee,
one fewer than Orlando, and two fewer than the Wizards. In other words,
they're a player. 


Sheer math militates against their ability to crash David Stern's
postseason party. There are a half-dozen teams competing for the eighth
spot, which is a bit like the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference postseason
tournament with the winner drawing Duke. 


But it's not a pipe dream. In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics trail No.
8 Cleveland by three games with 24 remaining. The problem is that there are
three teams between them and the Cavaliers: the Bucks, the Magic, and the
Wizards. And the Pistons are only a game behind the Celtics. 


It gets quite incestuous the rest of the way. Everyone plays everyone else,
and one night's dreaded opponent will be the next night's favorite team. No
one team has a decided schedule advantage over the other. Milwaukee (15)
has the most road games. Orlando and Cleveland (13) have the most home
games. 


The accompanying box takes a a look at the six contenders, broken down into
games remaining (home/away), opponents at .500 or better, games remaining
against the Celtics (home/away), and games against the other five teams
(home/away.) 


On the surface, the Celtics' schedule looks the most difficult. Not only do
they have the most games against the best teams, they also have nine games
left with the teams they are fighting. In addition, they have only one game
(at Dallas) against the CBA Six (Vancouver, Golden State, Dallas, Los
Angeles Clippers, Toronto, and Denver.) Milwaukee, on the other hand, has
five games left against those teams, including two with Denver. And while
the Bucks have the most roadies, they also have the fewest left (along with
Cleveland) against good non-losing teams. 


However, the Celtics are one of two teams - Orlando is the other - without
a Western swing remaining. (Boston does play twice in Texas, however.)
Check out Washington's last five games in March: at New Jersey, at
Portland, at Seattle, at Phoenix, at LA Lakers. 


Injuries will play a big role. Milwaukee is still without the estimable
Terrell Brandon and probably won't make it without him. The Wizards hope to
get Juwan Howard back next week. He has missed more than a month with a
sprained ankle. The Wizards have all but given up on Gheorghe Muresan.
Orlando has been treading water awaiting the return of Penny Hardaway. 


Rick Pitino has not made the postseason a must-have. It would have been
foolish and presumptuous to have done otherwise. Sure, it would be a
feather in his cap to have this team go into the postseason. But it's not
as if the season will be a waste if it doesn't. 


''This is the best scenario,'' el presidente said yesterday. ''When you are
fighting hard, right down to the final buzzer and into the last week,
that's what you want. But we're battling six teams. And with our schedule,
we have our work cut out for us.''


But they also have some momentum heading into tonight's game with Utah.
They've won three straight and five of six. They're 4-1 since Kenny
Anderson took over as the starting point guard. They've evened the score
with the Warriors, Kings, and Trail Blazers, all of whom beat them out West
last month. So did Utah, which presents another chance for payback. 


Unless the bottom falls out in a hurry, we'll be doing the math and
watching the scoreboard and checking the standings for a while. That in
itself is recognition that this team has overachieved. That's what makes
the final six weeks fun, worthwhile, relevant. Those are words we haven't
heard around here for a while.