Miami rematch

[bird <birdw@teleport.com>]

Well, that was a good 'un, anyway.

Celts didn't fold in the fourth, and I'll take that, and seconds, for 
that matter.  What was worrisome was the team's offensive dependence 
on Walker and especially Pierce in the later stages of the game. 
Don't get me wrong; it worked out, and so one shouldn't complain, but 
I don't have a lot of confidence that similar strategies in later 
games with pay off with such good results.

On the plus side, after creating that big first quarter lead, the C's 
played through a number of Miami runs.  That showed me a lot of 
heart, and, more importantly, a difference from earlier games in the 
season.  We sure seemed to let the Heat get a lot of offensive 
rebounds, especially in the first half, and that also bothers me. 
V's not going to get 10 rebs a game, and I'd hope Walker steps up to 
fill that rebounding vacuum.  Moiso got McCarty's minutes (thank god 
-- not so much for Moiso playing, but for Wallah _not_ playing) and 
then some, and looked a bit less lost than before he went on the IR.

Mark Blount looked good: still no love from the refs, as to be 
expected, but he can really block shots, or at least challenge them. 
That one fast break attempt where he lost the dribble shows that his 
forte is really not ball-handling, though.

I tried to watch the game to see similarities and differences between 
how the Celts are playing now rather than under Pitino (shall we call 
this Obie-ball?).  Jury's still out.  Still saw defensive traps, but 
was it me or did the team front the low post less?  Substitution 
patterns seemed Pitinoesque but less ... ah, strange, I guess?  The 
offense still looks anemic to me.  What ever happened to "attacking 
the basket"?  The PG brings it up, passes to Walker or whoever is 
playing PF or, less frequently, the C, and then it's a half-court set 
that relies on the one-on-one move to create anything.  Still, they 
swung the ball effectively, though it was too bad Stith didn't can 
more open threes, he did get one that really counted.

Regards,

Bill, Celticus "Tirdius"

P.S. I know the Celts igtc list exists in a strange, otherworldly 
twilight zone realm, but people pining for ML Carr?  Glad the players 
(might have) laid down like punks to hasten the coach's departure? 
What next?  Serious discussions about tanking the season?  Blaming 
Pitino for everything humanly possible and then some?  Ooops, spoke 
too soon... .