Bskball.com update(s) - Thanks, Ravi !!!

[CeltsSteve@AOL.com]

Check out the blurb on Omar Cook as part of the "trilogy":





Time for the playoff virgins to start listening to those few veterans that have tasted the ecstasy and bitterness of the postseason.  Well, technically they're virgins no more, but you get the picture.  

''Game 1 is the most important game for a lot of guys who haven't been in the playoffs, but Game 2 is going to be the hardest,'' said Tony Delk. ''That's going to be the dogfight. If Philadelphia loses, you'll be down, 2-0, and you're only playing a five-game series. If you're up, 2-0, you know the next game is that much more important. I know if we win Thursday, then it puts their back against the wall.'' 

Antoine Walker seems to be listening to his playoff savvy veterans, reports the Boston Globe.  

''It was important for us [to win Game 1],'' said Walker. ''We've got a lot of guys, myself and Paul, who haven't played in a playoff game. To get a win for us is huge. It builds confidence. It builds our team. Now, we've got a few days off to rest and prepare and try to improve on the things we did wrong [Sunday]. Right now, we've got a golden opportunity in front of us where we can do some things. We've got one game out of the way and two more to go.''


Celtics point guard Kenny Anderson is having fun reports the Boston Herald.  The playoffs can do that to a player, especially if (s)he is on the positive side of the win-loss total.  

"I'm just soaking it all in,'' said Anderson, who hasn't appeared in the playoffs since 1997. 

"To still be playing at this time of the year, instead of sitting at home watching other teams go at it in the playoffs, it's just the greatest feeling. That was my first first-game win,'' said Anderson of the Celtics rousing win on Sunday. "`I think I've been in the playoffs six times and every first game, we'd lose. This feels good.  The playoffs were our goal from training camp on, and I think everyone here felt like we had what it took to get there if we stuck to the plan - to our roles. Then, to finish up with the third-best record, I think that gave us added confidence that we could do some serious damage in the playoffs.  There's no dominant team in the East; it's wide open in this conference. We believe we can win. (Sunday) was the first step.''


What kind of father in-law is that?  

"Dr. Jack Ramsay has heard it from his grandchildren. The Hall of Fame coach has also heard it from his children. He pretty much knew it was coming the moment he made his playoff prediction on ESPN.com. Philadelphia in four. Ouch. Hey, he's not the only one who picked the Sixers to beat the Celtics. But he is the only one who happens to be the father-in-law of the Celtics' head coach, Jim O'Brien. And he is the only one who happens to be the father of Sharon O'Brien, wife of the Celtics' head coach. But he has divided loyalties, having also been the coach and general manager of the 76ers well before his daughter ever met his son-in-law." Peter May, Boston Globe. 


You know the time in between games is a little bit too long if the road team flies home even though they still have another one to play in the visiting city. That's exactly what Philadelphia did following Sunday's loss to Boston.  They'll return Thursday for game 2 with hopes of knotting the series at 1-1 the Boston Globe reports.  What did Sixer head coach Larry Brown think of his team's performance in game 1?  

''I wasn't surprised at the way we played,'' said Brown, ''because obviously we hadn't had these guys out at practice and haven't figured out, you know, how to incorporate people, and it showed. But you have to give Boston credit. I think they were far superior to us in terms of preparation, and the execution wasn't even close.''  

Philadelphia forward Matt Harpring had thoughts of a split on his mind. ''If we can win on Thursday, we'll be all right," said Harpring. "If we don't, then that's obviously a different story.''


Seems some folks in Philly love Waltah too. 

"It was no surprise that the 76ers surrendered a total of 51 points to Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker during Sunday's 92-82 playoff loss to the Boston Celtics. After all, Pierce and Walker are among the NBA's best scoring pairs, averaging more than 48 points a game. Being destroyed by Walter McCarty was another matter. Entering the game, you could be sure that stopping McCarty wasn't priority No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 for the Sixers' braintrust. Yet it was the play of the 6-foot-10 sixth-year forward from Kentucky that was as surprising as it was spectacular in the first game of the best-of-five series between the Sixers and the Celtics."  Philadelphia Inquirer.


Omar's cookin and it sounds wonderful if your a Celtic fan because any 20 year old baller from the streets of New York who can appreciate the tradition that is the Boston Celtics, is already ahead of the game. 

"I couldn't even wear any of my numbers, that's how great this tradition is," Cook said to the New York Daily News. "So many jerseys have been retired. I was sitting in this one room before the game [Sunday] and you had coach (Red) Auerbach, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, JoJo White, K.C. Jones."  Now add some serious open floor game and it is easy to see why the Celtics brought in the point guard.  Celtics' Director of Player Personnel sums it up.  

"He said, as only Garf [Howard Garfinkel, the legendary founder of the Five-Star Basketball Camp] can, 'This is the third greatest passer in the trilogy out of New York,'" Papile says. "The first one being Dick McGuire. The second being Robert Cousy and this guy.  I know him back to ninth grade," Papile added. "I think he's eventually a starting point guard in this league. I don't buy the doomsday prophets who say he made a lifelong bad decision by leaving St. John's. He's like the NFL quarterback, going from a third to a second to a starter. You're better off with the headphones on."  

If so talented, why did Cook toil in the developmental league the entire year? Attitude it appears.  

"I think Omar benefited from playing minor league basketball," Celtics general manager Chris Wallace said. "He realized the NBA is not a birthright. It's a privilege and it can be yanked away at any given time. And riding buses out of Fayetteville, N.C. is the easiest way to impart that lesson." 

Cook agrees.  "Playing in the Development league helped me get my head straight," Cook says. "I just tried to work on my attitude, tried to leave the emotion on the court. Everyone has a flaw. I have to work on my weaknesses. If I perform the way I know I can, the ball is in my court."  Indeed it is Mr. Cook and, truth be told, many Boston fans eagerly wait to see what you can do with that ball. 


Enough of this nonsense of comparing Dirk Nowitzki to Larry Bird.  Kevin McHale said so himself.  McHale's response to a Dallas media member who asked him for his thoughts on comparisons between Nowitzki and Larry Bird?  "Yeah. On that note, I'll leave," as he got up from his seat during Sunday's tilt between his Timberwolves and the Mavericks.  


Is Kevin McHale suiting up for Boston on Thursday? Teased by Wolves forward Sam Mitchell about the possibility of making a comeback to help the Timberwolves beat the Mavericks in the first round of their playoff series, McHale retorted: "Boston still has my rights. I'll go play for them. They won their first game."  Maybe the Celtic braintrust should give the lanky power forward and former Celtic a call?   He's got hella playoff experience....


Team Notes:  Talkin three ball. Dee Brown holds the Celtics record for three-pointers attempted in a playoff game with 9, attempted 5/3/95. Danny Ainge and Larry Bird share the team playoff record for threes made in a game with 5..Bird hit 5 on 5/18/86, while Ainge hit 5 6/11/87. The Celtics record for three-pointers made in a game is 8, set by the set at Milwaukee on 5/18/86 and tied versus Orlando on 5/3/95. The club record for three-pointers attempted is 18 set by the versus Orlando on 5/3/95.


Injury Report:  Roshown McLeod, nerve damage in leg (IL); Joe Forte, sprained left ankle (IL); Vitaly Potapenko, partially torn Anterior Cruciate ligament in left knee (will miss at least 10-14 days) - RaSi