Celts over Sonics, or, Paul's Excellent Adventure

[HMURDOCH@aol.com]

I only have time for a hasty summary of the game tonight in the Big Blue 
Pyramid.

I have the final score jotted down as Celts 110 - Sonics 94, but you might 
want to check the stats for the official version.  

First, a caution : this is the 3rd game I've been able to catch, and it 
really reinforces my impression that we're basically seeing other teams with 
no real top line players on their summer league squad, while the Celts have 
Pierce, Battie, Vitally, and Bowen.  So again I would warn against taking our 
record as meaning anything about the forthcoming regular season. For example, 
tonight Paul Pierce and Tony Battie had more than half of the Celtics points 
between them, with 46 of those being Paul's.  Take him away, and think the 
outcomes of the 3 games I have seen in this series might have been very 
different.

But ...... having said that, it sure is fun to watch.  Paul basically seems 
to be able to have his way against this level of competition.  In addition to 
the points, he had 3 good blocks (one of which was taken away by the refs), 
maybe a steal or two, etc.  He was also dropping in threes pretty much at 
will.

Otherwise, the most interesting story to me so far, is Tony Battie's play.  
Not so much the stats, which are ok but not remarkable, but the speed, 
quickness, and agility with which he's playing.  He's playing with a verve 
and athletic level that really outshines the other players on the court in 
all the games I've seen in this series.  I hope this isn't a fluke or just 
the result of playing against summer league teams, but hopefully is the 
result of his gradually gaining confidence and experience after a bad start 
in Denver.  If he can continue this level of play in the regular season, we 
may have the makings of a real star at forward.

Among the other players, the two splitting the point guard duties (Wayne 
Turner and Kevin Ollie) have at least demonstrated that they are willing to 
push the ball hard up the court (and not just stop at the head of the key and 
dribble endlessly while waiting for someone to make a cut after they get 
across halfcourt).  They keep the ball moving and have a lot of speed.  But 
without Dana and Kenny here, it's hard to compare them to our veterans.

Standing out for the Sonics were Fred Vinson and Randy Livingston at guard, 
and 7ft Vladimer Stepania of Slovenia, who had 19pts (?) and hit from 3pt 
range.

At the half, the score was Celts 56 - Sonics 53.  At that point PP had 19 and 
TB had 6, while Livingston had 17 for Seattle.  At the end of the 3rd, I had 
PP for 29, TB and Kevin Ollie for 8 each, and the Celts trailed the Sonics 76 
-77.  With about 6 minutes left in the 4th, PP scored his 31st point to make 
it C's 88 - Sonics 81.  Shortly after that he had a clear block, which the 
refs took away as a goaltend, even though it wasn't even remotely close to 
being a viable shot.  Then Vladimer Stepania dropped in a 3-pointer to bring 
Seattle within 3 at 90 - 93.  After that, the Sonics hit a wall and Pierce 
lit it up.  PP followed Vladimer's 3 with 2 FTs to make it Celts 95 - Sonics 
90 at about 3:00 left in the game.  Then at ~ 2:20 to go, Paul dropped in 
another 3-ptr for his 39th point and stretched the lead to 98 - 90.  After 
the Sonics again didn't score, Paul hit for 2 rounding the score off at 100 - 
90.  Next, at 1:23 to go, the (as previously reported) newly aggressive Bruce 
Bowen made a really great slash to the basket (yes - really!) and made a free 
throw for a conventional 3ptr and a 103 - 90 lead.

At this point, coming to the sidelines for a time out, Paul Pierce was 
clearly pooped - but could probably be excused as by then he had shot the 
ball for 41 points along with the blocks, steals, etc.  However the game 
wasn't over yet as Seattle made 4 more points, and and PP made 5 of the 
Celt's 7 additional points with 2 free throws, and a final 3 pointer at the 
15 second mark (for his final total of 46).  Since Paul is from this area, 
maybe it's just hometown cooking.

I have to comment again on the playcalling by the Boston coaches.  For 
whatever reason, the only play they seem to call out is "X-3", "X-3", which 
they keep yelling throughout the game.  They did it so many times that I and 
the friends I was with thought of standing up every time the Celts started to 
come up court and yelling out "X-3" to save the coaches the trouble ;-)  But 
I guess with so many new players to the squad, simplicity is a virtue.

Other final impressions : Antoine Hyman seems to play reasonably well when 
he's in (at center as near as I can tell).  I don't think Eric Riley played 
tonight, but Marlon Garnett got a little bit of playing time.

It was fun.  Hope I can get to the Friday night game against the Laker squad. 
 Can't wait to sit behind Jack Nicholson and heckle him as the Celts beat the 
Lakers in L.A.!  Oh well, I can dream.

Hank Murdoch