Re: [Celtics' Stuff Very encouraging

[JB <james.metz@verizon.net>]

on 4/22/02 3:05 PM, Berry, Mark  S at berrym@BATTELLE.ORG wrote:

The worrier in me is scared to death of Thursday's game. You know Iverson is
going to bounce back at some point. The Celts did a great job defensively,
but Iverson has seen it all before. There's no magic bullet for guys like
him. His pride is going to motivate him to come out firing Thursday, and
he's capable of one of those 40-point explosions that even great defense
can't do much about. I'm also worried about the rebounding. The Celts did a
great job yesterday, but you know Larry Brown is going to spend the next
three days drilling his guys on hitting the offensive boards. I expect a
much more physical Philly team Thursday.

Mark
***************
   I found your game analysis right on, Mark. As for your worries, that
brings back lots of memories, of sea-saw series, from seasons  past .
   I remember being on the way to a village in Malaysia, in 1981. The series
against Philadelphia had started and we were down, if my memory is holding
up, 3-1, going back to Philly, when the flight left U.S. soil. I had given
our heroes up for dead. One day, while shopping in an outdoor market in
Kuala Lumpur, about a week after the series was over, I noticed that the
proprietor was wrapping our purchase in an old copy of "The International
Herald Tribune." Looking at the open page, I saw M.L. Carr, with a big grin
on his face, holding up one finger, for the camera. I grabbed the paper from
his hands and read M.L.'s "don't choke suckah," quote, as spoken  to Maurice
Cheeks, just before  he missed the tying foul shot, which gave the C's the
memorable victory.
   I also remember the opening game in L.A., probably, 1985, when Scott
Wedman hit 5 straight threes and we took the Lakers, in their building, by
about 25 points, only to lose the series. So as you say, I'll hold my
breath.
   My own take, after hearing coach Brown's rants on the sideline, is that
the Sixers are close to cooked. There seemed to be no unity on the team and
they were not responding to Brown. If we do hold court on Thursday, I
suspect we can get out the forks.
   The C's may have done what the Sixers didn't. We seem to have
incorporated other weapons into our offense, rather than just to have 8
players, to play defense, set screens and pass to our "stars." This may
become a concern in the future, but for now our guys are playing together.
Remember, Philadelphia made quite a few changes, from their "lunch pail"
crew, of last season.

              JB


                

                       Unchain My Heart !