The mystery that is Obie and other thoughts

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

Vitaly was "fine" according to Obie, but still played just five minutes last
night. Is Battie that indispensable? Was Obie watching the winning streak? I
know Vitaly isn't that great, but he was in the middle of one of the best
stretches of his career. He was rebounding like a madman. Battie had four
rebounds last night. You knew Battie would get his minutes somewhere, and
they are at Vitaly's expense. Heaven forbid we sit Eric Williams down and
play Rogers or Antoine a little at small forward. For the life of me, I
don't understand some of the things Obie does. By the way, Obie, if you're
looking for a reason why Tony Delk is better suited off the bench, last
night was your answer.

The defense again was shaky and once again the ball movement was pretty
poor. Portland was intense on the defensive end. If the Celts had made a
concerted effort to move the ball and make them work a little, I'm betting
we would have taken some of the spring out of their steps.

I know the Blazers are playing great right now, but the Celts win this game
with a better effort. When we look back on this season, one of the regrets
is going to be all the home losses. This isn't a good home team for some
reason. They focus on the road, but at home they seem to be in too much of a
comfort zone. I hope these guys think about these home losses when they're
playing at Milwaukee in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs. You
can't let this many home games slip away.

Anyway, it's good they're having a practice day today and the Cavs tomorrow.
Hopefully they can smooth out some of the problems and start another streak.

Mark