RE: First Ex. Game Thoughts

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

Here's my take on that game:  it Never Happened.  I am forgetting about
it.  All the guys were sucking wind (at least when I tuned in the 2nd half)
and we all know that nothing is as useless as the system when it's executed
in a half-assed way.  We may lost a lot of  games this year, but we won't 
lose them like this.  The only really disappointing thing for me was Tony.
He still floats around, setting those lame picks at the top of the key.  And

Adrian still can't do anything with the ball when you get it to him down
low;
he's a competent scorer, but he really only takes what the D gives him.  I
hope we see a better game out of Antoine tonight; in any case, I won't be
watching.  These games really shouldn't be televised; they're more like
intersquad
scrimmages than anything else.

BTW, I liked Bergersen in the Shaw league, and I see where he is a lot
better than
our camp signees.  

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Jim Meninno [SMTP:Jim_Meninno@hotmail.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, October 12, 2000 10:37 AM
> To:	Celtics@igtc.com
> Subject:	Re: First Ex. Game Thoughts
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: bird <birdw@aloha.net>
> 
> > Joe wrote:
> > >This game reminds me of the 1997-98 preseason
> > >and early season, when we couldn't do anything right in the new system
> > >and with limited personnel.
> >
> > Exactly.  I'm thinking this season will look a lot like Pitino's
> > first year, too, although I hope we get a better record near the end
> > of the season, maybe even pushing us into the playoffs (heaven
> > forfend).
> 
> I think you guys are right to compare this performance to that of the team
> in Pitino's first year.  That seems to be exactly what Pitino is going
> for;
> To re-create the feeling of that team with this one, which is far more
> talented.  I think it's going to be a harder motivational job than it was
> that first year.  That year everything was new.  New players were being
> brought in to play this new system, and everybody was enthusiastic.  The
> team is more settled now, with guys who have been here for a couple years,
> mostly.  That will be a plus, in a lot of ways, but I think it could make
> it
> difficult to get back that same crazy, intense attitude.  And, even if
> they
> do get that back, it's hard to say how successful it will be.  Joe's
> comment
> prompted me to look back at that year.  The Celtics lost 7 of 8 pre-season
> games, and 5 of their first 6 regular season games.  They somehow managed
> to
> win 15 of their next 24, to stand at 16 and 14 on January 3rd.  On the one
> hand, it is amazing to think that team could put together a stretch like
> that.  It was Walker and a cast of rookies and scrubs.  That was it.  On
> the
> other hand, you sort of get the feeling that this team would have to
> similarly over-achieve to better their record.
> 
> With regards to last night's game, it was a mess.  I forgot just how bad
> this team can look when they're playing poorly.  I'm glad we're not
> getting
> flooded with a ton of comments about how bad this guy, or that guy looked,
> because you just can't evaluate an individual player's performance in a
> game
> like that.  They all sucked.   One thing I noticed was that Walker seemed
> to
> be looking for Vitaly early in both halves, and V wasn't hitting shots he
> normally would.  Other than that, it was pure chaos.  I'll agree that
> Blount
> showed enough to convince me that he's an upgrade over the 12th man, third
> string centers they've been carrying.  I'm not sure what else you could
> learn from that game.
> 
> Jim