Opening night

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

A few thoughts:

I've never seen Toine play better. Inside and out, in the flow. Usually, you
watch him and he flails about and takes bad shots and at the end of the
game, you say to yourself, "Toine only had 19 points?" Last night, and
repeatedly during the preseason, he makes it look easy and you say, "Toine
had 33?" Can't say enough about how well he is playing. Of course, let's see
how he bounces back Friday and Saturday. We've all seen him mail in some
games after strong outings in the past. I have a feeling he's getting over
that hump, however.

Pierce was almost as good. Whenever Paul starts hitting his jumper again,
he's going to be a terror. He's really improved his post-up game and has a
new aggressiveness that was needed. He's attacking the basket, getting
fouled and really varying his offense.

Battie played one of his best games as a Celtic. He got off to a strong
start and bounced back after picking up a couple of quick fouls. He was
active, he rebounded, blocked a couple of shots and scored when given the
opportunity.

I love Bryant Stith. He just knows how to play both ends of the floor. He
was great defensively and established solid post position offensively to
draw fouls and get to the line. The key for him is staying healthy, but if
he can, the Celts got the better of the Denver swingmen they showed interest
in. Stith is a better player than Abdul-Wahad.

Have to give credit where credit is due. Kenny Anderson played like he
should play. He still walked the ball up the floor too much and didn't
really swing the ball from side to side as much as I'd like, but he was
committed to getting Toine and Pierce involved. Pitino used Randy Brown
early and often, and I'm wondering if that isn't getting Kenny's attention.
Still a no-energy guy (he acted like he was exhausted after a foul less than
two minutes into the game), and I expect him to have a real stinker either
Friday or Saturday.

Brown was solid again. You know what you're getting with the guy, and it's
what the team needs.

Adrian Griffin looked pretty good. Active on the boards, and seemed to have
that old Adrian nose for the ball.

Now the negatives:

OK, you all know by now how I feel about Eric Williams. Last night was a
perfect example. If he isn't driving around a slower defender and getting to
the free throw line, he's useless. Last night, he was useless.

Vitaly still seems to be playing under water. What happened? This wasn't an
up-and-down transition game, why can't he get anything accomplished
(offensively, on the boards... anywhere)?

Moiso didn't do much while in there.

Overall assessment: Really not much to complain about. I was disappointed to
read Pitino's quote in the Herald today saying Herren "isn't even close"
because he's going to be needed when Kenny wears his pajamas to the game
(probably this weekend). Can't count on 60 a night from Toine and Pierce,
but when it's there, it's good to know they're developing the mentality to
get it. Eager to see if the two of them adjust and get their teammates more
involved when opponents do a better job of defending the "big two." Great to
see the free throw discrepancy, and it was legit. Forced a lot of turnovers
and, for a change, kept our own to a reasonable number. Didn't press much
against the Pistons, which surprised me a little considering they were
coming off a game the night before. But Detroit has a good transition team,
and the press probably wouldn't have been terribly effective. Chris Carr
didn't play at all (or if he did, it was in garbage time and I missed it),
so he'll be fresh Friday.

Mark