Done

["Rich Davies" <rich@daviesdesign.com>]

I consider myself to be a generally optimistic person, and I usually take 
some time to form an opinion about things. So, when Pitino came on board, I
thought, 'He brings some credibility. Maybe he can turn things around.'
During the lockout year, and then last year, I held out hope that other
factors were responsible for the Celtics poor record/performance.

But now, more than three seasons later, after having watched the smug mugs
of Carter, Garnett, Iverson and assorted CBA journeymen have career
performances against us, while their counterparts disgrace the uniform
they're wearing, I have come to the belief that Dan, Paul, Dorine and others
are right: Pitino needs to go. It galls me to say it, because I hated the
negativity that was generated by past posts. But how many times are we going
to watch Pierce or others leave their man wide open? How many times are we
going to watch the Cheaneys and Stiths and Griffins having to race across
the court trying to disrupt the shot of a wide open 3-point shooter? How
many times are we going to watch the stumblin' bumblin' Celtics transition
defense? I mean, it's a joke to even call it defense. And the press? Other
teams press us better than we do them. Since I don't see other teams having
these problems as often as we are, I've come to believe it's got to be a
result of Ricky's 'system'. And it needs to stop.

The C's got torched tonight by a very together, confident team. This is not
to say that the Sixers are a great team. If they were out west, they'd have
more than a couple losses by now, I'd wager. It just burns me up that it's
the Sixers who have leaped ahead like this. And the salt in the wound was
the LARGE numbers of people cheering for Iverson during this game. I'm glad
I wasn't at the game, because I know I would've done something stupid.

As for the game itself, what's to say? They didn't shoot well. They left
guys open all night long. The press didn't work. They didn't want to run.
They didn't want to commit the hard foul. They didn't play with any heart.
Their game was pretty sorry all the way around. And I couldn't see that
Pitino's 'system' was giving them any hope, either. To Iverson maybe, that
he might get another dunk.

Also, I think we're seeing the problem with Herren. Apparently there's a
scouting report that says he's easy to trap, cause the past couple games
I've seen it a lot, specifically when he has the ball. He doesn't seem to
handle it well against pressure at all.

The only bright spots were Tony Battie and Eric Williams, at least on the
stat line.

I know I'll probably get flamed for this post, but I've had it and I had to
vent. Maybe I'll be more positive in the morning, but I don't think I'll be
watching any games for the next couple weeks.

Thanks for listening.

Rich D.

[Flame suit: ON]