re:Orlando

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

In my opinion it was a clever move putting 6-7 Ron Mercer at point guard
against Penny Hardaway. The numbers were an eye-opener (27 points, 7
assists, 6 steals), hopefully for both coach and player. I can only
imagine what great fun it must have been for Ron Mercer to put up those
kinds of well-rounded pro numbers, playing a Penny Hardaway role for the
Celtics.

IMO, 10 steals combined by our big backcourt of Ron and Paul shows we
may eventually bully certain opponents with that combo (like Michael and
Scottie vs. Indiana). Last night it didn't seem to have the ideal effect
on Hardaway and Armstrong, who put up the same number of total points,
rebounds and assists (62, 9,11) on blistering 17-26 shooting. But the
fact that our young backcourt neutralized a veteran guard-oriented
offense gave us a chance to win on the road.

Also, for the first time in seemingly a long time, the Celts had a nice
+7 turnover differential. I believe there are many good reasons to
experiment once again with Antoine and 6-11 Walter in the same lineup,
although the downside is that they'll reinforce each others spazziness
just like last season. Hopefully, Antoine has matured to the point where
he can feed off Walter's kamikaze aggressiveness without losing control
of his own game.

Considering that we are fans of a Celtics team that has lost 15 of 18
games, I sense that some of us still haven't given up on the team's
college-age nucleus.  As for me, I would not loudly protest if all that
we ultimately accomplish during the 1999 off-season is to add a veteran
free agent  at 1.7 million, resign Mercer, and draft a second round
defensive guard to groom behind Kenny. It would be far easier from a
public relations perspective for Pitino to do something rash involving
Antoine, Mercer, Pierce, Kenny or Battie, in part because he's sick of
losing and hearing from the likes of Peter May and the Fleet Center
boo-birds (who actually seem to be patting themselves on the back for
their actions despite contrary evidence that the Celtics have lost 6
straight at home and are inexplicably playing relatively better away
from home).

****