Great Herald column and comments

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

The comments first:

Last night was a heartbreaker, since we really deserved to win it. 
Antoine made two clutch free throws -- and then Pope Paul, the prince
of points, misses both?  weird.  That is the kind of game we usually
win.  It hurts -- went to sleep unhappy.  Still, reason we lost last
night was that we couldn't stop the Nets.  Their offense flattened us
-- they looked really good, esp. Kittles and Van Horn.  He's really
got long arms -- I would put Battie on him.  BTW, isn't he coming on?

Here's my question -- why are Dana and Andrew the only teammates who
can run the pick and roll really well?  If Kenny and Antoine could run
the p&r like those two, our halfcourt offense would be so money!  Rick
should work on that in practice.  


OK,  here's the column, and it's really good.

C's into great wide open
by Michael Gee 

Tuesday, March 2, 1999





If the authorities are so worried about the lack of scoring in the
NBA, why don't they imitate baseball and juice up the ball? Wrap the
air inside a little tighter.

Or why don't they let the Celtics and Nets play each other every night?



New Jersey's desperately needed and improbable 99-97 win over Boston
at the FleetCenter last night ended the two club's back-to-back games
with a split. That's not surprising. Despite the local effort to
project the Celtics deep into the playoffs on the back of a .500
record, the Nets and Celts are not on much different planes. Make
Antoine Walker play center and subtract Kenny Anderson and see what
happens to Boston's won-loss record.



What's strikes the eye is that in the two games, the Nets and Celtics
combined for 389 points, an average of 97 per game for each. These
days, that is an offensive explosion that suggests Paul Westhead
coached both teams.



Nothing so supernatural occurred. Rick Pitino and John Calipari were
at their usual place in front of the benches being their usual
operatic selves as the young Nets and the even-younger Celtics
alternated being gifted and Godawful through 48 minutes. 



For all their mutual flaws, the Nets and Celtics shamed more
accomplished veteran teams in their two meetings. They proved that the
principles of scoring remain the same as when the '63 Celts were
reaching the century mark on the scoreboard late in the third quarter.



It's simple to score 100 points in a game. If a team has any game at
all, it should be easy.



What could be simpler than running? Not knowing any better, and having
coaches who like to see their charges get exercise, New Jersey and
Boston spent last night's game pushing the pace to the breaking point.



The staccato tempo led to comical turnovers and blown layups (the
latter drove Pitino to distraction). But more often, running hard
equaled easy shots in relatively few seconds.



The main reason the scores are dropping in the NBA is all the time the
ball is bounced aimlessly at half-court.



Another childishly simple principle basketball's more elderly teams
seem to have forgot is that without shooting, there is no scoring. It
is the glory and occasional curse of both the Celtics and the Nets
that its best players are not shy.



Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce and Ron Mercer took 53 shots between them
for Boston, good for 56 points. Keith Van Horn, Kendall Gill and Kerry
Kittles took 54 shots, good for 63 points.



Van Horn had been wretched through the second half, blowing two free
throws with 58 seconds to play. But that didn't keep him from taking
the last shot with less than a second to play. Its ricochet path from
rim to sky to net only proved that shooters are selfish only when they
miss. If it counts, they have enlightened self-interest.



In truth, the Nets and Celtics have no choice but to attempt to score
early and often because they lack both the defensive experience and
personnel to play any other way. Minus imposing centers, they can't
clog the game up and slow it down even if they try. What else is
Pitino's press but an admission of that truth?



The Celtic coach was madder than a swarm of soaked hornets immediately
after the loss, glaring at passersby and snapping at Celtic employees.



But Pitino is also wise enough to realize that angers him most about
his team is something far beyond his control.



``You win consistently with experienced talent,'' Pitino said. ``Like
the Jazz, or like the Bulls used to have. It's painful we're so
painfully young.



``But,'' Pitino went on, brightening, ``the good thing is they are
talented.''



Say it ain't so, coach. Don't tell me the exponent of hustling,
pressing and the 3-pointer is looking forward to future playoff games
where Walker and Pierce run the pick and roll over and over and over,
and the Celtics win by a predictable and deadly 82-74 margin.



If that's what Pitino wants, wake me up for the victory parade. I
prefer the current madness, even if it sometimes drives him really mad. 


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