Charlotte Game & Final Thoughts of 2000-01 Celtics

[D Parker <drparker@monet.bestweb.net>]

I was at the Fleet last night for the final game of the season against
Charlotte.  I had been at the first game back on November 1st when the
Celtics beat Detroit.  I had my fingers crossed that Pitino would finally
turn things around.  How strange -- they started the season with a win,
ended with a loss, but I don't think anyone would argue that the C's of
the first half of the season were better than the second half.

I didn't see the other two games with Antoine at the point, but against
Charlotte it was a dismal, dismal failure.  I'm completely confused by
the reasoning for even trying Antoine at the point when Milt Palacio has
been developing before our eyes over the past few weeks.  BSG was on the
money when he said he saw some serious "Eric Snow" potential in Milt.
And he's only 23!  He's everything you would have hoped for from Chauncy
Billups when he was drafted.

So why was Antoine a failure at the point?  Because 'Toine seemed to think
the point guard was little more than the person who brought the ball
up the floor and (sometimes) threw the first pass to initiate a play.
He had absolutely no feel for the position and was completely incapable
of controlling the game.  He did not push the ball when it should have
been pushed, he can't bring it up if faced with more than token pressure,
he's the second coming of Sherman Douglas with his ability to stand
in one place and dribble.  He insists on bringing the ball up himself
instead of kicking it to a wingman.  When he fills the wing on a fast
break, he *never* goes to the hoop, instead he pulls up at the three
point line and puts his hands up to call for the ball.

At one point he scored eight straight points but looked terrible doing
it and completely took his teammates out of the offense.  He brought the
ball up, hit a three.  The next time up he brought the ball up, dribble
aimlessly, then drove to the hoop and scored.  Then he tried to do the
same things on the next possession but got stuffed.  The rebound bounced
out to a teammate who kicked it back to him for a three, which he hit.
Three straight possessions as point guard without a single pass to
a teammate.  He makes his teammates worse the way guys like Larry Bird
and Magic Johnson made theirs better.  He has no idea that basketball
is five-on-five.  His teammates might as well be cardboard cutouts.

I think Antoine is a pretty nice guy and has handled Paul's emergence
as a star as gracefully as you can expect from today's NBA.  He says
all the right things, he seems to like his teammates and they seem to
like him (well, most of them).  I just completely and utterly despise
him as a basketball player.  I can't take the Celtics seriously until
they move him.

The whole Fleet experience was at an all time low, as most of the
fans were oblivious to the game until the final couple of minutes.
T-shirts were being tossed around for the low, low price of your dignity.
People with cell phones amazed themselves by talking and waving to friends
on the other side of the Fleet, forgetting that trick could be done
twenty years ago with a set of kids walkie-talkies.  The fellow sitting
next to me was *sure* if the Celtics won they would be in the playoffs.
The loudest cheer came when a guy hit a three, then a halfcourt shot to
win $77,000 (which was pretty cool).

By the way, can anyone tell me why Citizen's Bank is the official bank
of the Boston Celtics, a team that plays in a building named after a
rival bank?  That's just weird.


Pierce:  I'm not convinced he's made the big leap.  In my mind he went
from good to very good, but he's still not great.  He was killing the
team at the end of the Pitino regime.  A month of great play doesn't
trump three months of selfish basketball.

Walker:  Fittingly took the last two shots of the Celtics season.  Both
were missed three pointers.

Battie:  Offers flexibility if he stays healthy.  An upgrade over Blount,
can fill in at C or PF, and is quite tradable.

Palacio:  Please, please, please let the Celtics realize what kind of
diamond in the rough they have here.  The perfect point guard, because
he's steady as a rock and won't bitch about shots and playing time.
Drives hard to the hoop and shows a real knack for finishing (he almost
carried the C's to the win last night).  It would be like the Celtics to
let him go, or throw him in a trade.  When I think of a Celtics lineup
anchored by Pierce, Fortson, and Palacio I get depressed.  With that
kind of foundation you're one player away from being a very good team
(hint -- it's not Antoine).

Stith:  Thanks for your hard work and attitude.  Good luck wherever
you go.  Don't forget to write!

Williams:  I've got this wild and crazy idea.  Why don't you work on
your game this summer?  Maybe you could hang out with Cedric Maxwell
and he could remind you of the promise you showed, oh, five years ago.

Potapenko:  Has suffered badly from the lack of coaching.  I'd love to
see what he could do under the tutelage of a Paul Silas or Dave Cowens.
At least he came alive under O'Brien and is still tradable.

Blount:  Pleasant surprise, worth a look next year.

Herren:  Devolving from a point guard to a three point specialist.
Doubtful we'll see him next year.

Brown:  Professional attitude isn't much help if you can't play.  Time to
hang 'em up.

McCarty:  Yet another Celtic who wastes his (admitted little) talent
and instead chooses to shoot threes.  T-minus one year and counting to
the end of the McCarty era.

Anderson:  Maybe he can mop the floor after games or something...

Moiso:  Who?

O'Brien:  Did as well a job as you could hope for given the situation he
was tossed into, but I don't think he's a good choice for the long term.
This will be a key issue (in my mind, anyway) of whether the C's are
serious about next season.  With O'Brien at the helm they *might* make
the playoffs, but I don't see him ever guiding them to a championship.
He hasn't made any tough decisions yet and he hasn't shown any ability
to reign his players in when they do dumb things like, say, jack up 12
three pointers.


Dan