Regression....

[Ryan Lee <rlee_at_channing@yahoo.com>]

Just got back from the Toronto game and the C's stunk
it up especiall Pierce and Walker.  Pierce turned the
ball over every time he drove in and he forced it
against double and triple teams.  This was as bad as
I've seen Pierce's ballhogging.  It got so bad Bryan
Stith and Eric Williams even started forcing a few
shots themselves.  Walker according to the box scores
had a good night (23 pts, 13 boards) but if you saw
him live, he was pitiful tonight.  Walker is a prime
example of how deceptive numbers can be.  From the get
go he was jacking up 3's and he was bricking them bad.
 He even had an airball 3 which got the fans booing (I
was one of them).  I wish the NBA kept a stat on how
many times a player gets blocked because Walker would
have made led the league in that category, especially
tonight.  He must've been blocked a dozen time
tonight.  He would drive into double, triple teams and
force up his usual running bank shot and Davis or
someone else would swat him repeatedly.  There was one
play where Walker got blocked and he got the board
back only to get blocked again.  It was pathetic, he
was forcing it up over multiple defenders while his
teammates were wide open.  I don't think the Raptors
were even concerned about the open guys because they
knew Walker wouldn't pass out of the low post. 
Sometimes I wonder how Stith or Williams would do if
they jacked up as many shots as Walker.  They'd
probably be averaging 20 points a game as well,
probably more since they have a better shooting touch.
 Heck, Milt Palacio would probably have decent numbers
if he put 20 shots a night.  Milt BTW had this amazing
putback off a Stith miss.  Stith missed a jump shot 3
and Milt caught the rebound from 15 out and as he
caught it, he faded away and shot the ball through the
net.  It was incredible.  Maybe his miracle shot
wasn't so much a fluke.  It was one of the few moments
that got the crowd cheering.  On a positive note,
after allowing Vince to go off for 20 in the first
half (half of his points were on dunks), the Celts
held him to 4 in the second half.  It's too bad the
rest of the Raptors shot the lights out.  Oak was
raining jumpers all over the place, Alvin Williams hit
a few jumpers, and Alvin Davis had a field day from
the free throw line since Vitaly couldn't stop a flea
and Blount (who had a decent defensive game) got worn
down.  

There's always next season.

R
       

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