Re: Tommy H.

["Cecil Wright" <cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca>]

The thing that bugs me is that those who freak over his mistakes give him no
credit for the good efforts.  Some are concerned that his rebounding stats
are down from the past.  Of course I suppose this aspect should not suffer
from him playing what is essentially the point-forward position?  Naturally
it will.  If he is playing a more concious role of getting his mates
involved in the offense, should we hold that against him?  Some people will.

With the coming out of Batman, and the imminent unleashing of the Fort,
should we not feel grateful that others are playing a more active role in
the bounding and astounding?  Toine certainly has not had the luxury of
capable assistance in the rebounding department the last few years.  Knight?
Ringo?  Popeye?  Pervis?  VP has not been a stud on the boards either.
Toine has played the 3 spot at times also which will not help those stats
either.

I think the most overlooked element is that he is trying to supply what the
team needs.  And if it is at the expense of personal stats, shouldn't we be
proud of the guy for harnessing his game and making the attempt to be more
of a team player?

This is a team that is over .500 right now, we have not yet hit stride, and
Fort hasn't played a minute.  The Rockets are certainly looking like they
should be easy prey tomorrow night, but, being that Chuck is being honored
by the C's, I look for a tight one down the stretch as I'm sure it will be
more meaningful for them due to his injury.  I am not sure that we have
anyone who can contain Francis or Mobley, but I hope that their lack of
frontcourt ammunition, will more than offset my fears.

I hope we can abandon the negative posts when something doesn't go our way,
or when we lose a big lead, or when one of the opposition has an outstanding
night.  This is professional basketball but they are human beings.  There
are some crooked police officers, there is the problem children face each
day as they battle to stay free of drugs and alcohol, the world is rife with
racists and homophobes.  Yet some of us get off on dissing Toine or RP when
they don't measure up to some disjointed perfectionist basketball ideology.

Toine gave some crap to a fan who rode him a little bit.  Big deal!  I hate
the double standard that applies here about fans/athletes.  Fans can give
players all the crap they want and the player should smile and walk away
like an indentured servant.  Barkley was always involved in these types of
confrontations and he was one of the greatest players and personalities the
game has ever had.  Boston fans have not always been so kind to black stars
either, and, like it or not, Toine does have a touch of that Chicago bad boy
in him.  Remember when Russell spent some time with him earlier?  I'm sure
they reflected on the shoddy behavior heaped upon Russ and his family.
Hopefully, Toine will remember it next time, instead of reacting like most
young black men in their early 20's.

And who says the fan paid for the ticket?  I've attended plenty of sports
events where I was given a ticket.  Anyone else?

NBA.  I LOVE THIS GAME!  But most of all, I LOVE MY CELTICS!!!!!

Cecil

----- Original Message -----
From: Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 1999 6:03 PM
Subject: Tommy H.


> Tommy was really taking it to Mercer last night.  At
> one point he said, "Mercer wanted to make a statement,
> but he ran into Paul Pierce's defense."  Later he
> added, "Master P isn't going to be too happy about
> this."  I love it!  He also said that Mercer was an
> even bigger "black hole" than Kevin McHale.  I missed
> most of the broadcast, however.  Cecil is right.
> Where is everybody on this?  We lose this game and my
> email looks like this:
>
> Move Antoinette Now
> re: move antoinette now
> re: re: move antoinette now
> Spintino (was move antoinette now)
> Forget 17
> re: forget 17
> Walker for Shaq
> re: walker for shaq
> Walker, Denver pick for Johnny Newman??
> etc.
>
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