No Subject

One other thing about travelling: It was absolutely, positively
KILLING
me to miss all those Celts games, especially last week -- I missed
three
of the four games on the road trip. And it's not like you can follow
the
team through the local newspapers because they won't tell you
anything
that's going on -- it's just a regurgitation of stats and quotes. I
loved the coverage of yesterday's game, as both papers praised
Boston's
defense and neglected to even mention how Orlando slapped a big, fat
stamp on that game. They never showed up. I lost a lot of respect for
Tracy McGrady -- he didn't even break a sweat last night. How can you
cover a basketball team and not notice this stuff? Dumbfounding.

(The funny thing was, my Dad and I were sitting there last night
saying,
"I bet the Globe writes how the Celts's defense held McGrady to
however
many points he ends up scoring." And that's exactly what happened.
Check
out today's Globe recap.)

As for the Celts, the Eastern Conference is breaking perfectly for
them.
Miami and New York are D-U-N done. Orlando looks lost (almost seems
like
they're quitting on Doc Rivers). Toronto has a lot of talent but
doesn't
play well together (and they look like they're quitting on their
coach,
too). Detroit is fading. Indiana won't ever be a threat as long as
Isiah
is around. Milwaukee's a little banged up (they'll be there in April
though). Philly is one more Iverson injury away from being a 35-win
team
(and don't forget, Boston has their draft pick courtesy of the Moiso
trade). New Jersey has been the only team other than Boston that's
played well all season.

My point? You could make a serious case that the Celts could sneak
out a
#1 or #2 seed if PP and AW stay healthy.

And with that said, they still have a lot of work to do. Nobody has
emerged as that third scorer (hey, it's another season of Eric
Williams
hoisting up bad threes!), although Kenny Anderson's play has been
inspiring and downright stunning (he's actually half-decent again).
Joe
Johnson is a shell right now -- no confidence and he's officially
afraid
to shoot his jumper. Kedrick Brown looks about a month away from
making
an impact (but they're gonna have to figure out a way to get him on
the
court soon). Somebody needs to emerge from the Battie/Vitaly tandem
as a
reliable 10/10 guy (Year Three for that hope). And yet they're one of
the best three teams in the East, solely because of the Pierce/Walker
combo.

I think they need to make a trade -- I'd deal Johnson right now (he
and
Kedrick are never going to get enough minutes for both of them with
PP
around, anyway). The window is open this year. They need to get Raef
Lafrentz, Keon Clark, Marc Jackson or whomever - this team will never
be
a major threat as long as Tony Battie is prominently involved. He's a
nice 9th man and that's about it.

One other thing: It's been a joy to watch Pierce play hoops this
season,
on both sides of the ball. Best Celtic since Reggie. Maybe even
better
than Reggie.