The most disturbing thing about last night....

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

The thing that bothered me the most was the lack of fight. The NBA season is
a long, difficult grind. Good teams grind out games when they don't play
well. They dig in defensively, play an ugly game in the 70s or 80s, and hope
to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter. The Celtics did that Saturday
against the Cavs, and I thought that was awfully encouraging. But last
night, they quit. It was a flashback to last season.

Forget all our discussion about players and trades and everything else. If
this team can't adopt the mindset that it is going to go out, every night,
and battle and claw and fight to stay in games, then it's dead. Teams like
Philadelphia understand this. They have players who are commited to keeping
games close until the end, when they hope Iverson can get them over the top.
The Celtics need the same mindset.

Of course, one game isn't enough to judge on. It's just a bad sign. I'll
wait until I see a pattern developing before I push the panic button.

Now, on the point guards. Please don't insinuate that last night had
anything to do with Kenny's absence. It didn't. Period.

Mark

P.S. Bskball.com (the site Josh writes for) is reporting more speculation
that the Celts are showcasing Battie for a trade (as Ray said). Of course,
they could be reporting something Ray is claiming. Who knows? Anyway, the
site says they're looking for an impact scorer. Also said there was talk of
Vitaly and Miami, but the Heat are balking at taking on any more long-term
contracts.