Re: Houston Reeling

[Alexander Wang <awang@MIT.EDU>]

At 09:15 PM 11/22/00 -0500, Dan Forant wrote:
>Houston didn't know what hit them. Pitino makes his intentions known about
>leaving and the team rally's around him. How can you figure it. And
>Pllllleeeeeeeasse, don't say this is a turning point, at least for a few
>more games. 

This is funny coming from someone who was making season predictions of doom
based on preseason games. Suddenly the Celtics get a big win when they
needed one and Dan's preaching patience! I usually don't put too much
import into any game -- positive or negative. But if we're going to jump to
conclusions, why does it always have to be negative? I think we could use
some "knee-jerk optimism" on this list for a change.

The assumption is that with a lame duck coach, the players will stop
playing hard. The Celtics showed that this isn't necessarily the case; it
depends on whether they actually like playing for the coach or not. This
game was really a perfect "opportunity" for the players to betray their
coach and play incredibly badly. But they did the opposite. They showed
what they are capable of when they execute the game plan. They denied
Francis the ball and took him completely out of his game. They held the
Rockets to 32% shooting, and that number was only that high because of
garbage time. Antoine Walker was a distributing machine, falling 2 assists
short of a triple double. Battie wrecked the Rockets offense with five
blocks. Even McCarty delivered a SportsCenter facial dunk! And Miami lost,
pulling us into a tie for the 8th spot. Playoffs, here we come!!

Alex