sorry-- corrected formatting

["Ozersky, Joshua A" <OzerskyJA@corning.com>]

Sorry about the format errors.  Hopefullly I won't have to hear about this from that nut Greg O.:

The triumphal tone of my last dispatch may have seemed pretty silly last 
week.  Having called out the vengeance of Green People everywhere upon 
the heads of unbelievers, I was abashed to turn around and watch the 
Celtics get destroyed at home against winless Detroit, win a close one 
against the Knicks, and then proceed to head all the way out to Chicago for
 the privilge of losing to the worst team in the league, playing without their 
only good player.  Such is life for the devotee of the developing team, and I 
suppose we had  better get used to it.  But certain questions and answers 
have been raised about the team's progress from lottery aspirant to playoff 
arriviste, and the next month will tell us much of what we need to know.


The Celtics beat Cleveland last night, in a demonstration of much that is 
right and much that is wrong with the team as currently constitued (i.e. 
without Danny Fortson.)  On the one hand, the presence of Paul Pierce 
insures that should Antoine have an off night, we have another star who can 
pick up the slack and be just as dominant on offense - and better on 
defense.  Vitaly Potapenko, whatever his flaws, is a big-league center, as he
 demonstrated by taking it straight to Shawn Kemp, and keeping that 
monster off the boards somewhat (although Kemp has his way down low 
for most of the game).  Adrian Griffin is the equivalent of a very high lottery 
pick in a good year statistically, and in addition, has an intelligence and 
equipoise usually only seen in seasoned veterans at the end of their careers.
  Kenny Anderson is playing great.  He's not making quite as many flashy 
passes, but he is a true leader, a true scorer, is playing some defense, and 
getting guys good shots most of the time.  With all these things going for us, 
we were able to come back from a monstrous defecit to blow the Cavs out.


The reason for the defecit, though, is worrisome:  the team, despite 
apparently being fervid believers in the idea of selfless fast-break basketball,
 still reverts to a timid, cautious, "do I dare to push the ball" style which 
results in low-percentage jump shots.  They still don't seem to really be in 
the best condition.  The vaunted press is not being executed the way it 
should be.  And the second unit, from whom so many good things were 
expected (and delivered, at first) has become something of a liability.  
Walter is again dribbling between his legs 20 feet from the basket, just like
 his big brother Antoine.  Tony Battie shoots a moonshot rainbow jumper 
ten feet from the basket as his primary shot.  Cal Cheaney has had a 
sprained ankle, and still hasn't had a good game yet, and neither has Dana 
Barros.  These players are all good, and will all play well at some point, but 
we need them to do it together, all the time, and if that doesn't happen the 
starters are going to be playing far too many minutes.  (A similar strategy 
doomed the 1987 celtics).  


The arrival of Danny Fortson in mid to late december should help a lot.  
Adrian Griffin will probably move into the 2nd unit, adding his stabilizing 
influence, and we will no longer suffer the indignity of being beaten by 
second and third shots.  Unfortunately, December is hands down the worst 
month of the year, schedule wise.  If we can get through it at or near .500, 
and then add Fortson for the stretch run, I expect us win 45+ games.  But 
for one thing, this team is hard to figure.  They revert to bad or lazy 
basketball with surprising ease.  They still have what Coach Pitino calls "bad
 habits."  You know that Antoine will have a few games where he decides 
that he's going to take the team on his shoulders and does - to the shitcan. 
 Kenny Anderson could get hurt, and we have nobody but journeyman 
Doug Overton to run the show in his absence.  Somehow, this team has not 
really learned how to play yet, although they get it in stretches.  The team is
 finally starting to come together after years of trades and lockouts and ML 
Carr.  But we can't count on them on to play to potential on any given night.


The problem, and this is the other thing, is that December is not a good time
 for on-the-job training.  Just next week we have the Spurs, the Pacers, the 
Heat, and the Bucks.  Those are four highly losable games.  The Cavs win 
was incredibly important, because of the narrative it erased - it was getting
harder and harder to say that the Pistons and Chicago defeats were just 
flukes, and a good win against a quality opponent was becoming lost in the
 mists of antiquity.  Still, you lose three or four games in a row, and 
pandemonium, to quote Johnny Mercer, is liable to walk onto the scene.  
The team needs to go into december at least at .500, which means they 
have to win at least two of these four games.  December is a nightmare:  
New York,  Miami, the Sixers the next night, Houston twice, San Antoinio,
 Utah, the Lakers, the Kings, and the Cavs in their building.  But we also get
 the clips and two shots at Denver, which I assume mssrs. Battie, Williams, 
and for the second game DANNY FORTSON, will be looking forward to.
  (Think Raef LaFrentz will get a lot of rebounds that night?).  Still, if we 
come out of December five or six games under .500 (which is why it's so 
necessary to go into it at least at .500) then internal dissension and 
impatience and/or injuries may cripple this critical season.


So let's not get carried away with our victories, except of course against LA
 and Philadelphia.  There is much season to go, and we will know a lot 
more about the Y2K Celtics in Y2K.

Joshua Ozersky
Marketing Communications
Environmental Products Division
Corning Incorporated.
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Corning, New York 14831
Phone:  (607) 974-8124
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