No Subject

Scoring started in the 2nd quarter with a basket from Seth Sundberg pulling 
the Lakers to 25 - 29.  At this point, the C's started pulling away, as 
Marlon Garnett followed Sundberg's basket with one for the Celtics (with a 
basket awarded on a goaltend after a drive to the hoop in heavy traffic).  
Tony Battie scored next with a slam off a rebound (C's 33 - Lakers 25).  Seth 
S. brought the Lakers back a little with a jam, but then Marlon Garnett 
tossed a high alleyoop to Tony Battie for 2 in a wild play.  This was really 
the beginning of the rout as Adrian Griffin (?) stole the Laker's ball and 
Marlon G made the resulting basket.  Next basket was Marlon with a long 2 and 
the score was Celts 39 - Lakers 27.

Not too alarming yet for the Lakers bench, but things went South for them in 
a hurry after that, as Tony Battie made 2 more baskets off a steal/alleyoop 
pass pattern (plus a free throw) in about 5 seconds of playing time - as the 
Lakers turned the ball over in their end on successive attempts at getting 
the ball inbounds and upcourt.  One (or both ? no replay and it happened too 
fast) assists to Wayne Turner.  I think Adrian Griffin may have been involved 
in the steals too.  Suddenly the score was Celts 44 - Lakers 27.  The Celts 
were playing very high energy swarming defense ,and it was rattling the 
Lakers squad.

But it kept getting worse as the Lakers then turned the ball over again, and 
Wayne Turner made a tough shot in traffic for 46-27.  Tony B had a great 
block and Bryant Smith made a great no look pass to VP for 2.

Wayne Turner did make a bad pass in a crowd to VP, who didn't really have a 
chance to catch it cleanly, but a Laker foul kept it in Boston's hands.  It's 
good to notice though that the point guards are getting the ball into the 
post reasonably frequently. Kris Clack made up for WT's error with a great 
through-the-traffic pass to Antoine Hyman for a score.  At this point it was 
Celts 50 - Lakers 32.  Clack (?) added a defensive deflection to disrupt a 
Lakers play.  Adrian Griffin scored next for the C's on a good slash to the 
basket.  Antoine Hyman followed with a block on the Lakers leading to a 
3-pointer by Kris Clack off an AH assist (Celts up 55 - 36).

The Celts defense then caused more chaos for the Lakers as it looked like AG 
had two steals in a row on Laker's inbounds passes leading to another quick 5 
points (2 baskets plus a FT) in just a few seconds.  AG then hit VP with a 
pass for 2 and it was 62 - 36 !  Kevin Ollie then got the ball to VP again 
for a basket to end the scoring for the quarter.

Score at the half : Celtics 64 - Lakers 38 ….. but wait, it gets better ;-)

The scoreboard listed Adrian Griffin with 8 points, Kris Clack 6, BB 6, KO 5, 
PP 5, and AH 2.

The second half got underway with a Kevin Ollie assist to VP (Celts 66 - 
Lakers 38).  After a Lakers score, BB gets the ball to TB for a nice reverse 
dunk.  Sam Jacobson for the Lakers fakes AG and gets to the basket but 
misses.  Travis Knight has a tip-in for his 6th point, and Lakers trail 68 - 
42.  BB got a free throw, TK gets another tip-in.  Adrian G got another 
basket and picked up the FT as he was fouled by TK (10 for AG and 73-46 for 
the C's).  Kevin Ollie made a long 2 (a lot of Celts made 2's tonight from 
just a few inches inside the 3-point line - so often it was bizarre, as 
though they were trying to touch the line).

TD (Taymon Domzalski) then scored 2 (he, Sundberg, and Sam Jacobson actually 
didn't look too bad for the Lakers despite the score).  But this mini-rally 
by the L's didn't last long as PP made another of the long 2-pointers, then 
made a steal and later a drive and dunk that had one of the fans near me 
saying, "he can't do that!" in an aggrieved tone.  Yes, actually, he can ;-)  
Then, after another steal, WT got the ball to Eric Riley for an alleyoop dunk 
followed by a Riley put-in off a PP miss to run the score up to 84 - 56.  But 
obviously, you don't want to let the other team stay too close, so the Celts 
kept busy.

AG threw in a nice hook shot after rebounding his own miss.  AH had a block 
and AG got his 14th point to stretch it out to a 30 point lead.  Bryant 
Smith, who hasn't gotten a lot of minutes or points but still has some nice 
moments, fought for a tough rebound in traffic, got fouled, and made the 2 
FTs (90 - 58).  S. Sundberg got a nice jumper off for the L's and Eric Riley 
had a tip-in and it was 92 - 60.  Marlon Garnett hit a 2 to end the scoring 
for the 3rd period.

Score at the end of 3 : Celtics 94 - Lakers 62

Marlon Garnett 8 points, Eric Riley 8, Kris Clack 6, Bryant Smith 3, AH 2.
For the Lakers, Seth Sundberg was up to 10pts.

The fourth continued the Celt's merry way, with Riley making 2 + the FT.  In 
the race to be the Celtic to break the 100 mark, he then scored on a dunk to 
make it 99 - 62.  But that honor would go to Vitally P as his jumper brought 
the C's past the century mark at 101 - 64 at about 2:15 into the 3rd period ! 
 Who says that NBA teams can't make 100pts in a game ??

But the rest of the game had to be played out, so after a Laker basket, Kris 
Clack hit a medium range jumper (103 - 66).  (Meanwhile, during the second 
half, Tony Battie and Paul Pierce were enjoying a lot of rest as the rest of 
the squad seemed to be doing pretty well without them.)  Wayne Turner made 
another nice pass to KC, who missed the shot but was fouled.  Moments later, 
Kris Clack finally showed his athleticism and hops with a great baseline 
drive and forceful slam (106 - 68).  WT had a nice drive down the court for a 
basket, and followed that by poking the ball away for a Laker turnover.  When 
Adrian Griffin made a really nice move through the Lakers team for a lay-in, 
the Lakers were beginning to get a little worried as the Celtics lead had 
reached 40 points (at 110 - 70 !) with about 9:45 to go.  If they were going 
to make their move, it would have to be now ;-)

But alas, it was not to be.  AG continued his torment of the locals with a 
nice assist to AH for a dunk.  He then picked up a FT for his 17th point of 
the night.  Marlon Garnett came back in (and was getting more minutes tonight 
than in previous games).  Griffin had a good drive and another lay-in (19 
pts, 115 - 72).  Marlon took advantage of being back in and sank a 3-pointer 
to stretch it out to 119 - 72.  I think at this point, 45pts down with just a 
few minutes to go, the Lakers coaches knew it was all over.  The butter is in 
the fridge, the Jell-O is jiggling, and the door is closed - to paraphrase a 
certain local announcer.

Griffin was still at it, deflecting another Laker pass out of bounds.  He 
would have had another basket to top 20pts after another breeze through the 
paralyzed Lakers, but was called for palming the ball.  Apparently not yet 
famous enough.  Bruce B made a really nice off-balance jumper in the lane for 
his 10the of the night.  Bryant Smith picked up another tough rebound.  He 
then got two free throws to open up the biggest lead of the night - 47 points 
!  Bruce Bowen fittingly ended the slaughter with another long two - matching 
his number with 12 points for the night.

Final Score : Celtics 125 - Lakers 80 !

125 to 80 !  ……. Wow.
Wait a minute …. I smell coffee …. Am I waking up ?

There was no Shaq, no Kobe, no master of Zen,
No Jack, Dyann or Rice dropping 3's in,

A midsummer night's dream,
Playing a bunch of Fakers ?

Nah ! …. Who cares how it seems,
We blew out the Lakers !

Hank Murdoch

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Post game notes :

Both Wayne Turner and Kevin Ollie (at least against this level of 
competition) play a very high-energy defense and 
move-the-ball-up-the-court-fast offense.  Neither have been scoring machines, 
but their teammates have been doing ok.
Adrian Griffin may have the best chance of the non-point guards to make the 
team.  Not spectacular athletically, but a pretty solid game and 
understanding how to play in the pros.
Bryant Smith and Antoine Hyman play surprisingly well for relative (to me 
anyway) unknowns.
Bowen definitely seems to be more focused on offense, while still being a 
maniac on defense.
Eric Riley is having a nice quiet, but competent series, in a league where 
you literally can't foul out !
I didn't see Derrick B. play tonight.
Tony Battie has been very exciting in this series, and his teammates are 
discovering the thrill of tossing alleyoop passes to him.
Paul P. is in a different league from the all the other players I've seen in 
the games that I've been able to catch here.  But that's not surprising, as 
the other coaches and GMs aren't putting their name players in these games.

In spite of that, with those two (TB and PP) out for much of the second half, 
the real Celts summer league team had a great time with the Lakers summer 
bunch.  In at least one earlier game, the Celts squad probably wouldn't have 
won without Pierce putting in a lot of points.  This game, they won going 
away without his help.  Are they getting that much better, or is it just the 
luck of matchups of rookies and walk-ons etc ?  Time will tell, but they are 
a very fun bunch to watch.
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* For those who don't know about Cal State U. at Long Beach - the facility 
where the FILA Summer League Games are held is a relatively new arena inside 
a big blue pyramid shaped building - known (not too surprisingly) as the 
Pyramid.