At the Game

[Theresa Lee <tjoyce@mit.edu>]

moved down from the cheap seats (hardly) to about 10 rows behind the
Celtic's bench...great vantage point.

Bill Russell in person. Cool. He sits behind Pitino and a cop sits near him
to keep the small children from seeking autographs. Moment of silence for
Wilt.

The Celtics got off to a sluggish start with Pierce and Antoine trying, but
not accomplishing anything. I got depressed real early. They were slow,
sluggish, short and wide, non-moving-on-offense. David Wesley lit them up
and grinned ear to ear. We missed Dana who was with family.

Players:
Fortson: Huge, not fat. Anthony Mason's arms aren't as big and Mason's arms
are HUGE! He looks short because of his girth. Antoine's taller so it
looked weird to have the center be shorter. I suspect he started so he
could push D. Coleman around a bit, but Coleman pushed him around. He got
STUFFED several times on put backs. He can rebound though.

Kenny: he can run this year, but he doesn't pass ON TIME. He's a half beat
too slow when guys are cutting (not that many were cutting). Matador
defense...what else is new?

Battie: Sign him now. He can shot block and he was one of four players
HUSTLING!!

Cheaney: He started and did nothing but foul out. I barely remember him
playing so I'm not sure when he got 6 fouls. He missed an open short jumper
that he should have taken in to the hoop. He's tall if he plays two guard.
He's as tall as the starting center at 6'7"

Pervis: one of the other guys who actually hustled. Pervis is the Ramon
Martinez of the Celtics. If he's healthy, you'll get more than you think.
If he's not....nothing. Tough on the boards and ran the floor well on the
break.

Adrian Griffin: Didn't screw up anything.

McCarty: the energizer bunny came in and scored a quick 4 pts and got a
rebound. Sparkplug...that's his role. His baseline jumper looked smooth. He
hustled.

Pierce: Birthday Boy last night...was he partying early? He looked lost and
uncomfortable and never asserted himself at all. I was shocked by his lack
of production. I was shocked to learn he played so many minutes, although
he started the second half with the second squad so maybe I shouldn't be.
He had a few nice rebounds, but he stands around a lot on offense. Everyone
does.

VP: the guy behind me from Kansas City (we had to import the fans) kept
yelling: #52 you got to hang on to the ball (oops, maybe his hands were
damaged by the cuffs this summer). He has short arms and he really does
have a hard time hanging on to the ball. He got jammed a few times on put
backs. He and Battie and Forston got fooled on rebounds on at least three
occassions. The rebounds bounced around them and a quicker Hornet hustled
after it. Lack of awareness and confusion.

Turner: funny shot, but the free throws went in. The most cheered player
(that and the Red Sox scores) on the squad. made some great passes, but
also left his feet without anyone to throw it to. At one point Walter had
the ball and was looking to restart the offense. No one moved and the ball
was turned over. At the next time out I saw RP look at him and say, "you
need to come for the ball." He didn't yell or anything....just said it.

Walker: not fat, not Karl Malone yet either. He got frustrated by his
teammates not moving on offense. I bet he doesn't like to pass because he
knows he's the best player on the floor, but he has to. He didn't do much
and didn't play a lot, but was a good cheerleader from the bench. He got
along well with the refs and was grinning with Wesley before the game.

Eric Williams: hustled. scored. dippsie doodled. Welcome back to town. He's
exciting to watch. He gets to the line. He's is lightening quick. So quick
that he makes the others look like they are playing in quicksand.

The TEAM: slow, sluggish, confused. The score was closer than the game
indicated. The Hornets are tough and they can shoot. The kind of team that
we LOOK like, but don't play like.

The refs: took a lot of time to explain the new fouls each time one was
called. Guys looked like they really wanted to know what they did wrong and
learn.

Theresa