A bostonherald.com article from jozersky1@nyc.rr.com

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Comments:
I think this is a very perceptive column by Mike Gee. I agree with
everything he says. He says three things have to happen for us to win the
title, and all three are well within our grasp. Josh

To view the entire article, go to
http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists/gee06022002.htm

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Good enough? Not by long shot

by Michael Gee
Sunday, June 2, 2002

<!CAT-SCOL!>

<!SUMM!>

The Celtics had their finest season in 15 years. That's a historical
fact.<!ENDSUMM!>

The Celtics have the nucleus of a team that should be a playoff regular
for years to come. That's a justifiable opinion held by the Celts
themselves.

The current Celtics will eventually win the franchise's 17th NBA
championship.

That's a stretch.

The Celtics made themselves matter again this year. After a decade spent
watching the team waste into one of pro basketball's irrelevant
franchises, it was exhilarating to attend FleetCenter games that counted.
Jim O'Brien and his players deserve nothing but praise for that
accomplishment.

But. Major but. The Celtics are judged by a different standard than all
other NBA franchises, save perhaps the Lakers. Nice little seasons and
``we overachieved'' don't cut it here. Those are for the Pistons and
Mavericks

The banners and retired numbers and Bill Russell and Bob Cousy sitting in
the alumni loge section are a silent but eloquent statement of the Celtic
equation. Only championships equal success. No matter how sweet the ride,
all else is failure.

Can Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker and company someday pass that harsh hoop
MCAS? Sure, if the Celtics make three changes, none easy, all vital.

First, owner Paul Gaston has to ensure the team begins next year with
more depth, NBA luxury tax be damned. The Nets and Kings and nine-man
rotations are the future. The 7-deep Celts were visibly wasted in their
three final losses to New Jersey.

Change two is a switch in strategy at the offensive end. The playoffs,
especially in the Nets series, demonstrated that the Pierce, then Walker,
then somebody shoot a 3 attack is not a formula for postseason success.
The Nets' zone rendered Walker and Pierce completely harmless in the
fourth quarters of Games 5 and 6.

Throw out the 120-point explosion of Game 5 against the 76ers and the
Celtics averaged but 89.3 points a game in the playoffs. No team can win
four series in a row with that production unless it plays superhuman
defense every night. No wonder Tony Battie ran out of gas.

O'Brien must devise a way to spread the Celtics' scoring burden and
lessen his squad's dependence on 3-pointers. If the Celtics don't have
more motion and better passing next season, it won't win 49 games again.
Guaranteed.

The third change is both the subtlest and most important. It's a matter
of their hearts and minds.

How to put this politely? These guys feel a little too good about
themselves. The Celtics spent much of the playoffs on the wrong side of
the divide between pride and arrogance. We're better than you and can
prove it any time we want. This mindset turned the comeback in Game 3
against the Nets, which should have propelled the Celts to the finals,
into a deadly weakness.

After squandering Game 4 and getting blown away in Game 5, the Celts were
still overconfident. Their egos put them in denial.

When Bill Russell and Larry Bird lost in the playoffs, they were furious
at themselves and determined to amend the defeat at any cost. As a
result, they didn't lose so often.

The current Celtics will be OK only if they think their 2001-02 season
wasn't.

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