RE: Thoughts on Knicks/Sixers games (long)

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

I don't think you can judge the talent by those last few games.  The
guys should start shooting better soon; and it took a career night from 
Allan Houston to beat us in one game, and the refs in the other.  We
could easily be 4-2 now.  The "long nba season" you're talking about
is what you have to judge these guys by, not their performance over a week
or so in November.

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Berry, Mark  S [SMTP:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
> Sent:	Monday, November 13, 2000 3:19 PM
> To:	'j.hironaka@unesco.org'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
> Subject:	Re: Thoughts on Knicks/Sixers games (long)
> 
> Joe, I couldn't agree more with this post. I know all of us are sick of
> waiting for the draft every year, but I honestly view this as a win-win
> season. If the Celts put it all together and play well and make the
> playoffs, that's wonderful. If not, then the upcoming summer promises to
> be
> one of the most eventful in the history of the franchise. Pitino no doubt
> will be gone (however you feel about him), and it will be a turning point
> for the franchise. It should be a deep, talented draft, Antoine's BYC
> status
> comes off (making him very tradeable), and the possibility actually
> exists,
> given a few moves, that the Celts could be under the increased salary cap.
> 
> 
> I'm hoping Pitino and Wallace see this and resist any urge to ship off any
> or all of these draft picks for a marginal improvement (a la Potapenko) at
> midseason. This team needs the infusion of talent the June draft should
> bring. Even if they don't get lucky and land one of those centers, as you
> mentioned there are no shortage of impact players who could be available.
> 
> Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy the season for what it is. If everything
> breaks right, the playoffs are possible. If not, we'll hope for the best
> on
> lottery day. 
> 
> Mark
> 
> P.S. I should mention, I think the team played well the last two games.
> The
> effort was there, they defended well, and they executed pretty well
> offensively. They looked as polished as any team during the Pitino era.
> That's one reason I came away discouraged. They played well and lost. That
> means the talent just isn't where it needs to be. It's easy to forget that
> during the offseason, but it becomes painfully obvious over the course of
> a
> long NBA season.
>