No Subject

In Utah, Boston was outrebounded, 55-28; allowed 19 points on the fast
break; and shot 39.4 percent. Against the Rockets, the Celtics lost the
battle of the boards, 46-35; gave up 19 points in transition; and shot
36.8 percent.

O'Brien called it ''game slippage,'' play that results when a team
spends too many nights competing and not enough time practicing. But he
decided to cancel yesterday afternoon's practice and review tape for an
hour at the team's hotel. O'Brien said the film session was ''very
productive,'' letting players see their lapses in judgment and a few
praiseworthy moments in slow motion.

After the film review, players who needed to stay off their feet got
some rest. Players who needed to lift weights or get extra conditioning
had an opportunity to get that done. And a handful of Celtics headed to
the Tom Landry Center in East Dallas for a workout.

''You toss and turn all night thinking about the two-hour practice that
you're going to have to send the message that defeat is not going to be
accepted,'' said O'Brien. ''But the fact is that would be unproductive
because there are certain people who couldn't practice for two hours
today and then give the type of effort that is needed to beat a team
like Dallas. So then you have to go to the video. The biggest
frustration in coaching in the NBA is that if you are not functioning
the way you want to function, then you want to practice.''

But the team's schedule makes hard practices difficult. Yesterday, the
Celtics needed to take a step back before they could move forward again.
The Green will spend a little extra time at their walkthrough today
getting prepared for Dallas.

''I think our guys have high enough basketball IQs that they can see
what the difficulty is,'' said O'Brien. ''We're not trying to reinvent
the wheel. The things that we are not doing well right now we did well
for the last four weeks. They need to be reintroduced to concepts that
we value highly.''

The Celtics are in the midst of a four-game, five-night stretch vs. the
best of the West. O'Brien may adjust his rotations, substitute players
quicker so they can have more jump in their legs.

''It has been a long trip,'' said Pierce. ''We've got to obviously
concentrate on these next two games, try to come out strong so we can
turn this trip into a good one.''

This story ran on page 4 of the Boston Globe on 2/22/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.