Re: Sports Guy on the Celtics

[Celtic4Hire@AOL.com]

<< 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 >>

I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  I posted that Pierce 
has reached Reggie Lewis level in Celtic lore on 12/22/01 to this list. The 
Sportsguy owes me a dinner...

I also want to do some more self-congratulations on my preseason picks. I had 
Miami faltering but still making one of the last seeds and had the Knicks out 
of the playoffs. I had Atlanta and Washington competing but not making the 
playoff. I had the Celtics in the playoffs. I only bring this up again after 
I read the Peter May article to ESPN on the weak East on how he justifies his 
previously WRONG picks. I don't fault him on the rise of the Nets. Who would 
have know that? However, Peter May and most of the sportwriters seem to just 
look at the last year's records and use them for their following year's 
predictions. Peter May basically admits it in his article. You also had teams 
that had players that had not yet recovered from major injuries (Hill, 
Mourning, Ratliff) which they never considered.

They did have one wild card in a Atlanta transformation. I also expected 
Atlanta to be better but I figured that it would take awhile for the club to 
get used to each other and for Ratliff to recover. I still could never see 
Jason Terry being able to defend at the 2 spot. With Miami, they let go of 
their heart and soul when Hardaway left. They weren't going to resign Mason 
and they weren't playing that well with a worn-down Zo. I couldn't figure how 
people expected them to be as good. 

Peter rationalizes the change in the East by injuries to key players. Like 
DUH! Isn't that something we have been saying about the 76ers with Iverson 
all last year, that they were one injury on Iverson from being a lottery 
team? Sure the C's have been lucky that Pierce or Walker haven't been hurt, 
just like any team in the East. But didn't Peter also notice how much better 
the C's were playing at the end of the previous season? Hasn't Peter noticed 
that the new rules benefits teams like the Celtics, teams that have some good 
outside shooting and are center poor. No it is just injuries, like this is 
the first year that NBA players have ever gotten injuried. The final sentence 
is the real kicker, like Peter would have preferred that what he considers 
inferior teams--the Celtics, Nets, Bullets---should be on the bottom where 
beatem up boring teams like the Heat, Sixers and Knicks should be on top. 
This guy is not Celtic fan if that isn't obvious. See the following link....

http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/may/1305033.html

A couple of other notes: See that Bob Ryan has been getting some of the 
Celtic assignments. Times, they be achanging.  I wouldn't mind seeing old 
friend Jackie do an article and see if there still is some tart in them lips. 
Peter May actually makes Jackie look good. I would like to see Jackie write 
now that the Cs are on the ups...I also want to say that certain people have 
argued how stupid we were to trade Moiso for a certain late pick from Philly 
and now they are looking stupid themselves. Philly can still pick it up but I 
said it was a good trade then and I am looking smarter by the day. Some of 
the same people have argued that the Kedrick Brown pick was stupid. Well, we 
are starting to see that he may be the pick of the litter. He may not 
contribute much in the playoffs this year. But notice how the Celtic fans 
rumbled against the Magic when the Cs were breaking with Kedrick on the wing, 
anticipating some highlight reel, monster, tear-off-the-rim jam. Soon they 
will be standing up in anticipation. This kid is a freak. I have wrote 
earlier of how he has the Jordanesqe combination of strength and jumping 
ability. But Jordan doesn't have as quick of a leap as Brown does. Of course, 
Brown doesn't have all those other Jordan basketball skills yet either but 
I'm am just comparing physical tools. We really got something special here. A 
difference maker. Next year, he will get solid minutes and will take the 
defense to the next level....

DJessen33