Indiana game/random thoughts

[KK <Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU>]

Well, we caught Indiana on the wrong night, but still...If it weren't for some
questionable coaching by Pitino, and a 23-40 foul differential, we could've won
it. 

- why did The Eraser play only 24 minutes? Was AG tired? Not playing a good
enough D on Miller? 

- speaking of Miller, somebody needs to do a Dave Cowens and show him, and the
refs, what a real foul looks like. Or better yet, when he pulls one of those
lift-the-defender-and-step-under-him moves, split his head with an "inadvertent"
elbow. That way, he won't have to pretend he just got killed. In case you can't
tell, I despise that guy like I despise very few others in the NBA. 

- why did an out-of-control Antoine play 31 minutes, jacking up 23 shots and
killing the offense?
He wasn't doing any more rebounding, defending, or passing than Williams, who at
least was scoring efficiently. Walker needs to gain control of his emotions.
When he thinks his manhood is being threatened by a non-call, or by having his
shot rejected, he just puts his head down and makes his move. And everybody in
the house, including  the defense, knows that he's putting up a shot on that
possession no matter what, with predictable consequences. Pitino needs to cool
him off on the bench when this happens, for his, and the team's, benefit. 

- Kenny is playing very well, and Pot's being Pot, which is mostly good. Pierce
is generally  staying within the offense, which is good until there's no offense
(i.e., when Kenny and AG are on the bench). If we must have that one-on-three
stuff, Pierce, and not Antoine, is the guy to do it - he is more under control,
is at least as talented, and doesn't carry as much baggage with the refs. 

- when McCarty is not shooting 6/6 from the beyond the arc, he amounts to very
little. I would say he (and not Antoine, as W/R suggests by implication) is the
anti-Griffin. Whereas The Eraser never moves without a purpose, the Headless
Chicken rarely seems to make a purposeful move. 

- If Barros must play, at least put him in at the SG, with Turner manning the
point. It's a small backcourt, but it's not like Waltuh is doing much with his
height anyway. We could have Battie and Pervis at PF and C, and Eric at SF, and
that way we'd have everybody more or less playing their natural positions, and a
nice balance of offense and defense on the second unit.

-Cheaney will be a nice addition once his head stops spinning. He's a smarter,
much more offensively and defensively gifted and versatile version of McCarty,
and, in Leo Papile's lingo, a "soldier" (as opposed to Mercer who was at least a
"colonel"). He makes Walter and Dana expendable.  

Oh well, I've been spoiled by the 3-0 start, and unreasonably expect them to win
every game now, which in itself shows how far they've come since last season.
Whereas I used to be content with strong (losing) efforts against Indiana, now I
need a W to be happy. It's called greed...