Re: At least Obie can keep things in perspective...

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Dan wrote:

This is amusing. I do want to win all 4 games. I'll take 2 and be very
happy. Exactly what would your attitude toward the team be if we split? Your
making the noose a little tight.

---end---

If they split, I'll be disappointed. These are home games against teams
we're battling for playoff position. You have to do better than tread water
in home games. If they split, and we finish a game behind New Jersey for the
Atlantic Division title and, because of that, end up with the third or
fourth seed instead of the first or second, wouldn't you look back at a
split of these games as disappointing? If that game meant the difference
between home-court or no home-court in the second round, wouldn't you be
disappointed?

Look, if they split, I'm not giving up on the season. But it's OK to treat
these games as important. They are. They're huge. They're all huge down the
stretch. My point is the Celtics can look eye-to-eye with any of these
teams. Why settle for breaking even on the home court? If you're serious,
then you win these kinds of games at home.

As far as the "noose"... If you mean I'm setting myself up for
disappointment, then you're right. I'm fully involving myself in a playoff
push and a possible Eastern Conference championship. I have no delusions
about winning a Finals matchup against the West, but this team has a chance
in this crazy season to emerge from the jumbled East. If believing that and
rooting for that and everything that involves means I'm setting myself up to
be disappointed, then you're right. I was devastated in 1985, 1987 and 1988,
too. That's what contending means. It means you get close and sometimes you
come up short. That's disappointing. But sometimes you don't come up short.
And that's great.

I've been really tough on this team and this management. But they've put
themselves in a position to go for the Eastern Conference title this season.
The pieces are in place and the rest of the conference is shaky enough to
make it realistic. Why can't we embrace that? Could we be disappointed?
Sure, they could go out in the first round. But let's not settle for 43 wins
when we're sitting on 36 and a five-game winning streak with 19 to go. We're
four games behind the Nets and it could be three behind after tonight. This
is a HUGE game. Let's treat it like one.

Mark