Yuck!

[Michael Gooen <callmebogie@yahoo.com>]

Or something that rhymes with "yuck."  My, but that was an ugly game. 
For once, it appears Pitino wasn't exaggerating when he said that the
Celtics weren't in condition.  Walker and Anderson in particular
looked dead after the first quarter -- I knew there would be trouble
early when Antoine was flinging it up at every opportunity.  McCarty,
Battie and (when he wasn't shooting) Barros looked lost out there. 
Mercer looked really tentative; couldn't tell if he was hurting or
just scared.  Either way, he probably shouldn't have played. 
Schintzius looked about as good as another Celtics center who wore #55
a few years ago (I can't think of anything more derogatory to say than
that).  Too many turnovers, too little effort on the boards, too much
of what we've seen for the last few years.

If this team can make a 36 year old Kevin Willis look like Shaq, I
shudder to think of what Ilgauskas will do to them tonight (I notice
he got 22 points & 17 rebounds on Mutumbo last night).  I hope Popeye
& DQ heal up FAST.

The only bright spots:  Eric Riley, although he certainly had his head
handed to him by Willis on a number of occasions, did put forth a
decent effort.  He managed to get a body on a number of the smaller
Raptors, hauled down 11 boards (he probably should've had about 17 or
18) and didn't really hurt the offensive flow.  He looks like a keeper
as a backup center.  Pity the C's already have a plethora of those.

And, of course, Pierce.  It was extremely encouraging -- dare I
suggest, even Bird-like -- to see him working hard on defense and
rebounding in the first half (especially the sequence in which he
blocked two Raptor shots in succession) while waiting for the offense
to come to him.  And he's only going to get better.  Maybe getting him
in teh 1998 draft is heaven's makeup call for the travesty that was
1997.

I eagerly await Mercer's return to full strength.  I'm hopeful that
Anderson will figure out how best to exploit the three tremendous
offensive weapons he has at his side.  If he doesn't, it's back to the
lottery.

Michael Gooen




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