Re: same wavelength...

[bird <birdw@aloha.net>]

Cecil wrote:

>Don't get too concerned about the antics of Jaime, or Dan, to a lesser
>degree.  I just consider the source.  Everyone knows who the fans are and
>who they aren't.

True enough.  The sources have proven themselves to be ... shall we 
say "less than reliable"?  It's just that, to me, sending a private 
email to the list is an ethical no-no, and a guy who's so sensitive 
to issues about his dead mother probably ought not to call someone 
else an "asshole Mother F***er".  Of course, neither of these guys is 
all about being fair to anybody else.  And I like bringing these 
issues out into the open, to be discussed, instead of just letting 
them slide.  I guess I'm not very good at that.  *Shrug*.

>PP and AW are gonna burn some teams this year at both ends of the court but
>we need to learn to move the ball better in the later stages of the game
>instead of settling for the first shot which may present itself.

Yeah, good point.  It's getting to the point where I have little 
confidence in the team at the end of games.  They just seem to revert 
back to the "one pass and then make your one-on-one move" kind of 
plays.  This is where a guy like Brown, who swings the ball quickly, 
can really help.  The team showed a lot of heart scoring those 14 
points in the Philly game, but they still need to stick with the good 
ball movement and reading the defense in crunch time.  There are 
inklings of that at times, though, so I think they can.

>One thing which has gone unspoken, I think, is that Vitaly has re-emerged to
>play like the force Pitino imagined.

He's played much better in the last few games.  Still, Battie has 
also played consistently decent (which is an improvement).  He was 
only credited with three blocks in the last game, but I swear I saw 
more than that.  V still has to work on his positional rebounding, 
but there were times against Philly where he really did a good job at 
that.  I sure would like to see Battie and V in there together for at 
least part of the game.  A decent tandem, that: shotblocking _and_ 
beef, and they can both compensate slightly for each other's lack of 
rebounding.  At any rate, seems as if V has been working on some post 
moves, and with his left hand, no less.  He's young, and he works 
hard.  Maybe he can improve his game even more.  (Gasp!)

>Pierce was
>grabbed unquestionably by Eric Snow but Mathis et company, swallowed their
>whistles.  I wonder what Stern thinks when he sees stuff like this?  It does
>not matter who benefits or who loses as a result, for I believe it happens
>in every NBA arena throughout the country, therefore it probably evens up.

I think that's what he thinks: that it evens out so it's not as big a 
problem as some might think.  I'd disagree, though (but then, I've 
got this whole idea of _justice_ and all -- a sick puppy), because 
each game ought to be fair.  It just seems to me that NBA refs are 
much less adept at just taking a little abuse from all these keyed-up 
players.  Some refs just have a lot of attitude (Steve Javie, for 
one), where in the past, a good ref would not be as concerned about 
how he appears.  Many T's are called because the player "showed up" 
the ref.  In the past, a good ref would just walk away.  They have 
all the power, anyway.  Then there's the whole question of superstars 
getting "respect" (Shaq bulling his way into the paint, lack of 
three-second calls, et al.) as if somehow the rules don't apply to 
"superstars" or "veterans."  Instead of changing the rules, maybe it 
would be better to just call the game as the rules dictate.  What a 
concept.

>I mentioned earlier in the year that we needed to shoot our free throws
>better than last year if we want to compete with the big boys.  We are not
>yet doing that and it is our marquee players who are the most guilty
>culprits.

Well, Pierce is not shooting well from the charity line, but Walker 
seems to have improved from earlier years.  He can certainly brick a 
few in a row, though, and I'll wait until at least half the season is 
gone before proclaiming him a good freethrower.  The whole team has 
got to hit a good percentage of the free throws, though. You're not 
going to win a lot of games if you don't.

>But even with all this, I am not depressed, for I think they are playing
>with lots of desire and good intentions.

They've showed a lot of professionalism in coming back from deficits 
this year, and, as whole, they're leaving it all out on the court, 
and those are good things.  They still need to learn how to close out 
games.  Still, I'm not that down on the team.  I'd rather be two 
games over .500 than under (obviously!), but that's the game.  You 
can't say the whole season is down the tubes after six games.  The 
team's shown some improvement -- if they show even more, they can be 
a .500 team and maybe make the playoffs.  Where will the negative 
nabobs be then?

>The foolishness of the refs could serve as ammunition for them to become a
>bit more cohesive.  I've seen it happen in the past with other teams.

The team's got to have an "Us vs. Them" mentality.  Got to win in 
_spite_ of the refs and their bad calls and no-calls.  Like having a 
coach thrown out of the game, this is the kind of thing that can 
bring that to life.

Regards,

Bill