Heat game, miscellaneous thoughts

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The list appears to be down again, but I'm going to write this while I'm
thinking about it... Lots of miscellaneous thoughts:

1.	Tommy is right in saying Pierce looks tired. His shot has looked
strange all season. Occasionally we see flashes of last year's Pierce, but
for the most part he has been sub-par. I never thought the World
Championships would take so much out of him. But other players from that
team have handled it. It's strange. He was truly awful last night.

2.	Is it possible that the Celtics actually are regressing in terms of
player and ball movement in their offense. Those areas haven't been
strengths, but they looked awfully easy to defend last night. A lot of
standing around. Not a lot of passing. Really ugly basketball.

3.	The defense wasn't much better last night. Miami is a terrible
offensive team. When Eddie Jones isn't shooting, you wonder if anyone on the
floor can make a shot. But they still cracked the 90-point barrier. No way
that should happen against Boston's defense. For what it's worth, however, I
was impressed with Miami's execution. They swing the ball as well as
anyone-they just don't have anyone to swing it to.

4.	Vin Baker was supposed to feast on the smaller centers in the East,
right? Like Brian Grant? Oops. When the Celtics were fishing for bad
contracts in the offseason, do you really think they had their choice of
Baker or Grant? And if so, how could they possibly have chosen Baker? As for
Vin, get ready... I think the sulking, moping chemistry problem is about to
show itself. I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed him moping on the
bench last night and sitting while the rest of the scrubs were on their feet
cheering during the comeback. This is the whole Vin Baker experience...

5.	Both papers report this morning that the new owners have no interest
in Bird. The Herald even says Wallace has done a good job digging out of the
Pitino mess... unless you count the Vin Baker trade, the 2001 draft, the
Rodney Rogers fiasco and the fact that his hand-picked bench is Sundov,
Wolkowyski, Bremer and McCarty. Talk about your shoddy analysis.

6.	That bench is going to be the death of this team this year. Walker,
Pierce, Battie, Delk and Williams will carry the team to the playoffs, but
they just aren't going to have enough in the tank. It's hard to blame Obie.
He needs those guys on the floor to win, but it's just December and they
already look tired.

7.	Starting the miscellaneous NBA section of this long post...
Interesting NBA trade yesterday. Houston gets a young, defensive-minded
SF/SG to address the one weakness on that up-and-coming team. James Posey
seems like a great fit. He can allow them to go bigger in the backcourt in
place of Mobley at times, or add more defensive toughness and rebounding in
place of Glen Rice at small forward. Put him in there with Yao Ming, Steve
Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Eddie Griffin and Houston looks loaded for
years. They give up Kenny Thomas, but already have Griffin and Mo Taylor at
PF. Philly gets Thomas, who is a nice backup to Coleman and Van Horn. And
Houston and Philly don't give up anything (other than another Philly draft
pick). Denver, of course, gets rid of another decent player in its quest for
LeBron James.

8.	If you haven't watched Yao Ming play yet, do yourself a favor. What
a player. He can score, rebound, block shots and-best of all-he's an
unbelievable passer who knows how to play the game. He's already my favorite
player in the league to watch. As he gets stronger, he's going to be
unbelievable. He's easily the single most important player to come into the
league since Shaq. He's in the perfect situation, also. Rudy T is a great
coach who understands how to use a good center who can pass, and the
perimeter people there are great. Yao plays like a young, healthy Bill
Walton. He's that good. I don't think Houston would trade him for any player
in the league-not Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, McGrady. No one. And I don't blame
them.

9.	Speaking of Shaq... should we start to wonder about the Lakers? I've
always believed they were the team to beat once Shaq came back, but the
whole team just looks lackluster right now. I still expect them to get
better, but don't they look a little used up? Mitch Kupchak seems to be
operating under the Chris Wallace school of filling in around your
superstars. He hasn't gotten them much help. The role players are leftovers
from Jerry West. I'm beginning to think this is Sacramento's or Dallas'
league for the taking.

Sorry so long. I've watched A LOT of basketball lately, and felt like
sharing some thoughts. The Celtics will be OK, but I foresee a team dragging
to the finish and without a lot left for the postseason. I hate to say that,
but that's how it looks.

Mark