Peter May gives Antoine an "A"

[Boston Sports Fan <bostonsptsfan@yahoo.com>]

For the week anyway. Pitino get's an "A" too. 

The article is from:

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/celtics/index.html



 Celtics Team Report
  MARCH 14, 2000 

  Peter May
  Boston Globe

Never overestimate the competition. The Celtics came
out of a slide in which they lost 15 of 19 and still
were in contention for the playoffs. The reason: No
team above them did much better. 

Emboldened by the abject mediocrity, the Celtics put
together a four-game winning streak at home to stay in
the race and then embarked on yet another
character-testing stretch. They play 10 of 13 on the
road, where they have been uniformly unsuccessful and
occasionally awful. 

The good news is that several of the road games are
against teams which, theoretically, the Celtics could
beat: Atlanta, Dallas, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit.
The bad news is that they haven't done well on the
road all season, and they opened the stretch with a
loss in Detroit. Rick Pitino believes if the team
improves
defensively, which it did at home, it can bring that
same quality to the road. We'll see. The Celtics
allowed 72 points in the first half of their loss
Monday night to the Pistons. 

Pitino was ecstatic about his team's play during its
four-game streak, which was capped by a 16-point
thrashing of the 76ers. None of the four victories was
even close, and the Celtics' disappointing defense
started to surface. The Magic, Bulls and Sixers all
were rattled into committing far more than their usual
quota of turnovers. Very few of them were caused by
the vaunted Pitino press, which the coach has put
under wraps, for the most part. Most were caused by a
concerted upgrading in the halfcourt defense and by
more intelligent reading of the passing lanes. 

Improving the defense and winning on the road remain
the keys to any postseason berth. This is a young
group that believes it can play with anyone and needs
only a
spot in the dance. The schedule is so-so; the team
plays an even mix of home and away games with about
half of its opponents having a .500 record or better.
. . . 

It would have been nice to start this stretch on an
upswing and, well, the Celtics almost did. Even though
they allowed 72 points to the Pistons, and even though
they trailed by 25 at halftime, they made it a game.
They got to within six points with less than four
minutes to play, but couldn't get any closer. 

Still, after what the Celtics saw earlier in the week,
it would have been easy to pack it in and go on. But
Pitino has a history of making comebacks; his Kentucky
team won a game against LSU in which it trailed by 31
points with 15 minutes left. He was upset with the
halftime margin, but hardly fazed. The Celtics, who
played no defense in the first half, took advantage of
the Pistons, who played no defense in the second half.
Still, it was another road loss against a team the
Celtics are trying to catch. 

POSITIONAL ANALYSIS 

Power forward: Antoine Walker had one of his best
weeks as he averaged almost 21 points a game in the
four wins. Walker's assist and rebound totals both
have
increased, and when he's looking for others, his game
is much more dangerous. Grade: A 

Small forward: Adrian Griffin has been in and out of
the starting lineup, sharing time with Calbert
Cheaney, depending on the opponent. Both are in there
for
defensive purposes first. Griffin is tiring as his
rookie year comes to an end, while Cheaney is fresh
after a couple of long, inactive stints. Grade: C+ 

Center: Vitaly Potapenko starts, but he's yielding
time to Danny Fortson so Pitino can get more of a look
at his free-agent-to-be. Both are foul-prone, but they
give Boston a tough presence inside. Fortson has been
especially voracious on the boards, which is his
specialty. Grade: B- 

Shooting guard: Paul Pierce broke out of a shooting
slump against the Pistons and had 38 points, a career
high. He's still being active on defense, as evidenced
by his high league ranking in steals. Few big guards
can play him one-on-one. Grade: B- 

Point guard: Kenny Anderson had a tough day against
the Sixers and another tough one against the Pistons.
But he was an undeniable spark in the successful
homestand. He's also the most accurate 3-point shooter
among the starters. Grade: B+ 

Bench: The bench, mainly in the form of Tony Battie,
came alive in the homestand. Battie was a monster
against the Sixers with 11 rebounds and five blocks in
26 minutes. He actually had a consistent week, which
is what Pitino needs. Fortson, Cheaney and Dana Barros
also had their moments during the 4-0 run. Grade: B+ 

Coach: Pitino took a lot of heat for his rant about
the negativity in Boston, but he also knows the best
cure is winning. There was no negativity during the
4-0 streak. Pitino has remained positive and upbeat at
all times, at least publicly, and his team still is
hanging around. Grade: A- 

INJURY REPORT 

Walter McCarty is on the injured list with what the
team says is an ankle ailment. He will miss the rest
of the games this week and, truthfully, probably some
more
barring another injury. He was not playing well when
he went on the IL and had fallen out of the rotation.
Antoine Walker is playing with a sprained left foot,
suffered in the game Sunday against the 76ers. He's
vowing not to miss any time. Greg Minor is out for the
year with a hip injury. 

WHO'S HOT 

Walker had a terrific week. He moved the ball. His
shot selection was improved. He played an all-around
strong game. It was the type of performance the
Celtics
want -- and need -- to see on a consistent basis. If
they do, they'll have themselves a keeper. 

Pierce also qualifies for the "Who's Hot" list because
of his big game against the Pistons. He had 17 points
in the fourth quarter when the Celtics were staging
their rally. 

WHO'S NOT 

Pervis Ellison. He ended a long string of DNPs against
Chicago, and the rust showed. Ellison is in the last
season of his contract, which Pitino had hoped would
motivate the occasionally phlegmatic big man.
Apparently it hasn't. He hasn't played in more than
half the games. 

STRONG TO THE HOOP 

Something has got to give with the Celtics when they
play back-to-back games, which is an NBA staple. How
can they keep losing the second game, which they
have done an astounding 17 consecutive times? The next
test will be Saturday in Dallas. Pitino says it's due
partly to lack of prep time, but it has to be more
than
that. Also, 14 of those 17 losses have come on the
road. 

FEARLESS PREDICTION 

The road beckons. If the Celtics stay true to form,
they'll compete in most of the games and lose most of
them as well. But they need a couple biggies if
they're going to crack the top eight. The Atlanta game
is a golden opportunity on Friday.


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