...get off of McCloud

["hironaka@nomade.fr"<hironaka@nomade.fr>]

The second season starts tonight. I hope the Celtics 
commit to eight consecutive quarters of good team 
basketball against Denver and Golden State.

Obviously, the Celtics would like to start with a pair of 
birdies to build a 9 game cushion above .500, ahead of 
key test matches against the Lakers, Dallas etc. This is 
one of those trips where the Celts need to totally focus 
on getting the wins that can be got. We can dream about 
beating the Lakers and Dallas but it is by no means a 
lock. On the bright side, the February schedule is the 
toughest by far this year. 

It probably shouldnt even be in the back of their minds, 
but if they mess up out West they might be flirting 
with .500 and 8th place by the time they return home to 
the Fleet Center. 

According to the Associated Press, Coach Mike Evans says 
that if Antonio McDyess plays tonight, it wont be as a 
starter, nor will it involve spurts of longer than 5 or 6 
minutes. I hope its not a  bluff to misdirect Obies game 
preparation. Of course, Evans isn't exactly Belichekian. 

The replacement starter, Zendon Hamilton, isnt half the 
player that McDyess is. Actually, Raef LaFrentz plays 
power forward these days. I suppose thats why hes on 
the trade rumor mill.

Half way out the door, Van Exel has been averaging fewer 
points and more assists of late. But in his last game 
before the break, he dropped 20 points and 16 assists in 
a win over Portland.

Off the bench, Denver has solid vets who pretty much know 
what they are doing. The Nuggets can rely on hustle play 
from George Hey, hey, you, you get off of McCloud, Ryan 
Bowen (who got rave reviews from Scottie Pippen in 
Denvers last game before the break) and the recent 
return of the frogman, Tariq Wahad. Avery Johnson and 
Voshon Lenard both have specific talents.

The McNuggets are coming off a 40-win season (I think) 
and thats probably what kind of team they are (.500-ish) 
had McDyess not missed the entire season to date. 

In that regard, Im not sold that Denver has to make a 
blockbuster trade. Van Exel in particular should shut up 
and play. They may be pretty good next year (look at the 
Celtics).

Then again, Denver is 17-games-under-.500 already. You 
can attribute it to mediocre starters, particularly at 
center and on the two wings, where Calbert inside the 
bunker with the Vice President Cheaney and James pocket 
full of Posey risk being overmatched nearly every night. 
Calbert BTW is coming off an impressive 14-point game. 
Basically, the entire Denver team is coming off one of 
their better performances of the year in beating 
Portland. They also beat the Lakers three weeks ago.

For Boston, it looks like Kedrick Brown wont be ready 
for another week, but at least Joe Johnson let his hair 
down a bit in the rookie game. I just got back from New 
York and Washington and was able to see a few games 
involving either the Celtics or their players. I dont 
have any intelligent observations to make to this list, 
but Im as excited as everyone else about Bostons season 
and chances down the road. 

Joe H.

p.s. The first Celtics-Lakers game is a week from today.

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