Heat play-by-play guy

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Did anyone else watching on the League Pass last night catch the Heat's
play-by-play man criticizing Walker? He said a few things, but the one that
made my ears perk up was "Walker leads the Celtics with 23 points, but it's
taken him 19 shots to get it. He'll get his shots up."

Now, I've criticized Walker as much as anyone on this list, but that was a
cheap shot. Toine at the time was 10-for-19 from the floor, a pretty damn
good percentage. He was attacking the basket at every opportunity (after
missing a couple early threes) and getting to the line. If the guy had
wanted to criticize Toine's FT shooting (he missed a few last night) or his
defense (justifiably), I could have accepted it. But he hammered Toine based
on a preconceived opinion, not what was happening in the game.

This is a problem Toine is going to have to overcome everywhere, Boston
included. People believe he is a selfish gunner a la Dominique. Last night
he was anything but (especially considering how short-handed we were), but
it will take many more consistent outings and Celtic wins to change those
perceptions.

Also, a note on the recent officiating flap: I really don't believe the
Celts get screwed by officials based on their behavior. Like Pitino, I
wouldn't blame the officials if they whistled the whiny Celts for more
technicals. I do believe the consistent free throw discrepancy points to a
real, but usually overlooked, problem on this team: a lack of shot-blocking.
I think we're next-to-last in the league in blocks. Opponents consistently
attack the rim without fear of rejection or having their shot altered. The
Celts often are forced to foul on those occasions. It also affects the high
percentage shot against us, because players attack the rim for better shots
and hoist those shots with more confidence. It's a real problem and will be
as long as Toine and VP are our starting PF and C (which would appear to be
a very long time). Too bad Battie really has turned out to be "El Busto."

(You know, considering that was Issel's assessment of Battie, and that he
also concluded Fortson would be hampered by the new rules, that LaFrentz
wouldn't be another BWS and that Van Exel would mature into an effective PG,
I'm beginning to think Mr. Issel just might be a pretty good judge of NBA
talent.)

Hoping for  a win tonight,

Mark