Re: Attendance

["Cecil Wright" <cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca>]

Hi all.  Was late getting out of Ottawa because Halifax was snowed in.
Trials and tribulations!

I have been slowly catching up on all the posts from last week and saw some
interesting ones.  I almost fell outta my chair on Dan's "was Cecil right"
post.  But that's what I am talking about when I stress the need for
patience.  It takes time for a seed to grow into an edible vegetable and it
takes time to shape a very young team into a contender.  When I coached
basketball, though all games counted, I never judged our teams by what we
did in the first 3rd of the season cuz I knew it would take some time before
they had a real understanding of our system.  I had to forsake some scoring
ability in order to drive some points home about attitude, behavior and
willingness to conform for the sake of the team.  The same things are
visible, at times, with the C's.  And facing adversity together will
sometimes do the trick.

Regarding Antoine's seemingly juvenile behavior with the refs, from what I
can tell from your posts and Bill's reports, he has a point.  I don't agree
with his antics, but I don't think it's that big a deal either.  By all
accounts, the refs sucked, we got no calls, Toine got held, pushed and
didn't get to the line.  If this is in fact the case, Toine is not the issue
here.  The refs are WRONG for making calls based on lip, attitude or
ferocity.  They are paid to call what they see, not ignore based on personal
likes or dislikes.  If that is the case, the Lakers don't stand a chance.
Does anyone whine and cry more than Malone, Kemp, Ewing, MIller or Pippen?

Also, don't make too much of RPs chewing out Fortson.  Every player on this
team will be chewed out at some point in the season, probably on many
occasions.  The Fort will be alright, and in another few weeks, I expect him
to be able to handle some extended minutes allowing us to win the battle of
the boards in most games.  VP seems to be really asserting himself on the
offensive boards lately.  I wonder if Fortson has anything to do with that.

Pitino's job should be judged on how this team does after the break.
Barring any further injury, their play THEN should show whether they are
capable of playing in his system or not.  They are showing flashes of beauty
but they will lay an egg now and then.  I just hope that the eggs are less
frequent in the second half.

Cecil

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael A. DiZio <mustang@gis.net>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 3:20 PM
Subject: Re: Attendance


>
> >
> >Toine needs to get over this prima donna thing.  He fusses with the
> >refs, holds the ball and won't give it to them, whines when he doesn't
> >get a call, pouts on the bench during time outs, etc. and ends up with a
> >T because the refs just got tired of his act.  If he plays like this at
> >home, I can see why he brings out the boo birds when he doesn't play
> >well.  Not that there is an excuse for booing your own player at home,
> >but he needs to grow up, quit expecting the game to revolve around him,
> >and the respect from the officials will come.  Even on a bad night like
> >last night, his physical talent is evident.  As I am typing this, I am
> >thinking, man, could they get John Havlichek (sp?) to come in and give
> >Toine tutoring on attitude and sportsmanship.  If Toine would approach
> >the game with John's attitude, the calls would come.  And he is getting
> >mauled inside and should be getting the calls.  I mean, my God, Coleman
> >got 8 free throws, Miller gets 9 and Toine gets 0?  No wonder he was
> >frustrated and clearly he is on some kind of unspoken, "don't give Toine
> >the call list", but he has to change that with his attitude.  The refs
> >simply aren't going to give it to him as long as he thinks it is his
> >world and all revolves around him.
> >
> >But, the strange thing was, his play wasn't selfish as he made some nice
> >passes and generally did not force shots.  It was his attitude with the
> >refs that was very obvious.
>
> I said  basically the same thing the other night to thunderous agreement
> from my fellow listers.
> Maybe with Toine's talent comes stubbornness. He continues to do the full
> court coast to coast thing where he loses the ball 90% of the time. He
also
> refuses to apply fakes in the paint when he is in close, allowing himself
> to get blocked a lot. I guess as long as he gets his shot attempts  he
> doesn't mind shooting 40%.
>
>