RE: In praise of sluggish play

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

I know this is the kind of thing we all get tired of saying (and reading)
here, but why would Moiso be on the injured list while Walter plays?
Moiso is talented and has something to offer, and Walter isn't even the 
player he was two years ago, when he was no good.  The players on the
IR should be Minor and Walter; if Minor is waived, it should be Walter and
either Stith or Eric, depending on who's playing better.

As for Vitaly, he was truly at his worst last night, with hands of stone to
put Roberto Duran to shame.  He did cause some havoc on D with his big body
and high energy... on offense, no one got the ball down low but Walker and
Pierce.

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Berry, Mark  S [SMTP:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
> Sent:	Wednesday, October 25, 2000 10:19 AM
> To:	'celtics@igloo.igtc.com'
> Subject:	Re: In praise of sluggish play
> 
> Last night was the fourth game in five nights. None of us like it, but in
> the NBA you see games like that in those situations. 
> 
> I hope this team doesn't start using the schedule as a crutch like they
> did
> last year when the record on the road and in back-to-backs was abysmal.
> The
> bottom line is every team faces the same schedule and you have to find a
> way
> to get it done. Last night was a great example of a game that, hopefully
> they can pull out during the regular season. They played awful, were
> sluggish for four quarters and still managed a tie with four minutes to
> play. Sometimes in the NBA, you have to win games when you don't play
> well.
> They didn't tough it out last night, and that's the most disturbing thing
> about the game.
> 
> Didn't watch this one, but looking at the stats, you see why so many of us
> are so down on Kenny Anderson. His energy level never is what I'd call
> high,
> but he is flat-out awful in tough stretches of the schedule like this. He
> just mails it in. You want to know why Chris Herren will make a difference
> in this team? Imagine his energy in that game last night. 
> 
> This is a bad rebounding team, but they're going to get absolutely killed
> if
> Vitaly plays as much as he did last night without grabbing a single
> rebound.
> If he's not rebounding and he's not scoring, what is he contributing? He's
> not an impact defender, that's for sure.
> 
> We've been holding our breath waiting for Evil Toine to return, and he
> did.
> Impossible to tell how much of it was conditioning or following Kenny's
> sluggish lead, but it's discouraging after seeing him play so well for the
> past few games. Again, if this team is going to have a chance, he has to
> rebound, and he can't take nights off.
> 
> Moiso grabbed seven rebounds in his short stint on the floor. I know it's
> looking more and more likely that he ends up on the injured list, and it
> makes some sense, but that is one thin frontcourt without his
> availability.
> Pitino has a tough decision to make, especially since it sounds like
> McCarty
> may not be the automatic injury casualty most of us assumed.
> 
> Anyway, this is one of those games you forget about (although I'm glad
> Pitino made the team practice today so the players don't forget about it).
> If it continues to be a trend during the season, then we worry. For now,
> I'm
> hoping for a good outing Friday to wash the bad taste out of our mouths.
> 
> Mark