RE: thoughts on Grizzlies loss

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

My point is, if you lose to Seattle, you then have games in Portland and
Utah--two of the toughest places in the NBA to get a win. Then Houston in
the second half of a back-to-back, then a Dallas-San Antonio, back-to-backer
(four games in five nights). The first two games of this trip are huge. I
expect them to come out focused and playing extremely hard against Seattle.
The Sonics didn't play last night and don't play tonight, so they will have
had an eight-day break. That can work one of two ways--they'll be rested,
healthy and ready to roll... or, they'll come back rusty and ripe for an
upset against a hungry Celtics team.

I wouldn't want to be 0-2 leaving Seattle, because that, in reality, will
feel like 0-4 (because Portland and Utah are next). The toughest part of the
trip is the four-in-five-nights stretch to end it. These early games are
huge.

Also, the Vancouver game raised a lot of the old bugaboos about this team.
They allowed a high field goal percentage (over .470) and were outrebounded
49-30. That's a glaring stat against a team that really doesn't rebound well
itself. Toine and Pierce have been carrying this team and overcoming a lot
of deficiencies, but those things show up in the long run. This team still
needs legit frontcourt players who can defend and rebound and a legit point
guard. I hope Wallace sees that and cashes in a few marketable chips (Vitaly
or Battie, Stith) for either a player or picks that can help.

Anyway, huge, huge game tomorrow.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: OzerskyJA [mailto:OzerskyJA@cmog.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 9:54 AM
To: 'Berry, Mark S'; OzerskyJA; 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: RE: thoughts on Grizzlies loss


No, I don't think it's a must win.  We can get win any two games on this
trip, though I want three and secretly hope for four.  I think the team may
have been a little rusty coming off the all-star break.  We can lose to
Seattle and still be OK.  Let's not torture ourselves.

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Berry, Mark  S [SMTP:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
	Sent:	Wednesday, February 14, 2001 9:49 AM
	To:	'OzerskyJA@cmog.org'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
	Subject:	Re: thoughts on Grizzlies loss

	This game is a big disappointment, but not an outright disaster.
What it
	does, is make the Seattle game a must-win. If they lose in Seattle,
it quite
	possibly could spiral into an 0-7 trip, considering the strength of
the
	competition and the two back-to-back sets. Looking at the trip,
Vancouver,
	Seattle and Houston seemed like the best bets for wins, although the
Rockets
	absolutely kill the Eastern Conference. Anyway, a loss to Seattle,
following
	up this letdown, and things could get ugly. They absolutely must
beat the
	Sonics to get this thing back on track.

	It's important for another reason. If this thing gets out of hand
and turns
	into 0-7, that pretty much coincides with the trading deadline. The
Celtics
	could go from buyers (or at least "stand-patters") to sellers
quickly. It
	bears watching.

	Anyway, biggest game of the season coming up in Seattle.

	Mark