Re: win v. Phoenix

["pmaurice" <damekmo@teleport.com>]

From: gene kirkpatrick <gk_tyler@yahoo.com>

> I am enjoying Heinsohn's remarks.  They are heavily about Antoine; wonder
if the 'Toine ever hears it.  Heinsohn wouldn't mince words if he were the
tutor.  Oh, well; we won with a great team effort.  Cheers,  Gene

Gene, O'Brien isn't mincing words either. His words count more than
Heinsohn's, thank God, and this, from the Herald, is what Antoine is
hearing:

Shooting stars

Although O'Brien knows better than anyone the need for a solid supporting
cast for Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce on the offensive end, the Celtics
coach makes no secret he will ride his 1-2 scoring punch as far as it will
take him. That means giving both players the green light to shoot their way
out of slumps.

Last night's game was a prime example. Their late-game heroics
notwithstanding, Walker (7-for-22) and Pierce (8-for-21) were a combined
15-for-43 from the field.

``We would never, ever tell Antoine or Paul to stop shooting the
basketball,'' said O'Brien, who is receiving nearly 55 percent of his team's
scoring production from his two stars. ``Nor would I allow them to stop
shooting the basketball. That's not even an option for us."

It's not an option and it shouldn't be. Does Antoine get it? Doesn't Antoine
hear it? When will he get it? He gets it, he hears it, he's rebounding,
getting assists, playing defense, and the team is winning. Will the team
"have trouble in future games because of Antoine's shot selection and an
overemphasis on Pierce at crunch time." Sure, they'll probably lose some
games. It happens. The Lakers lost last night. But since O'Brien gave the
selfish, unlistening, not-getting-it Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce the
green light - from the first day of his tenure as head coach - they've won
more than they've lost. The last time this happened was when? As O'Brien
says, the way they're playing gives them the best shot at winning. You can
disagree, you might believe that they can do more with the talent they have,
but at some point you also might have to admit that O'Brien is "proving" his
point.

Paul M.