Re: Ask and you shall receive....

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

At 00:42 08/06/01 -0700, I am. . . Anonymous wrote:
>Good points, Mark P.  I also think that the Celts will
>make a jump from mediocre to good next year.  For the
>reasons you listed.  1) maturation of stars, 2) team
>gelling, 3)addition of supporting cast.  With our two
>best players young and supposedly due for more
>improvement, Trader Rick gone, and three draft picks
>to use as capital to improve the supporting cast, the
>C's are due to improve in the areas that really count.
>
>But I would like to add a few more reasons to the
>exceptional list.
>4) Tony Battie and Kenny Anderson's injuries last year
>really hurt the team.  Although they aren't "stars",
>Battie was really an above average NBA center when
>healthy, and to Kenny's credit he is the team's best
>point guard, although way overpaid.  With those two
>back next year, and three draft picks, perhaps even
>contributions from Moiso, the team should have far
>more depth.
>5) Coaching. There is no denying that Rick Pitino was
>not a successful coach for the Boston Celtics.
>Nowhere to go but up in this category.


One more point:

6) The Celtics second half schedule had a far higher degree of difficulty 
than the first half. I think that's partly why Poultrino quit before 
playing out the string. His Celtics teams always faded out in middle to end 
parts of the 82-game season, and that part of the schedule last year looked 
especially brutal (mid-January through April). So Obiewon's .500 record 
represents a more significant achievement, in my eyes. The Boston Celtics 
started winning the second leg of B2Bs. They started delivering whupass 
against top teams on the road (Portland, Miami, Minnesota). They swept up 
teams like Seattle and Phoenix. And they started to beat on teams they 
normally lose to (Milwaukee, Utah). Factoring all this in, the Celtics IMO 
are already in the 41-win range with a chance to add five more wins to that 
total through the maturation of Walker and Pierce, plus the odds of adding 
an impact rookie out of our three draft picks. Oh yeah and Moiso's pledge 
to "unleash his inner poodle" next season. ;-)


****