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Fw: It just don't happen like this...
from the usenet...really a superb, very long post
about attending game 3.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Chin" <bobchin@shore.net>
Newsgroups: alt.sports.basketball.nba.boston-celtics
Sent: Monday, May 27, 2002 12:06 AM
Subject: It just don't happen like this...
> ...in real life. Until yesterday, it was only in the movies where such
> comebacks could occur.
>
> Before the game, around 4:30 PM: I'm walking into the Fleet with my gang.
> My buddy is going to take one set of tickets and sit with some buddies. I
> am taking the other set on the floor and sit with my niece and her
husband.
> I know that when we get in, we're going to be with Antoine's buddie's
again.
> I mention this to ny niece and her husband. I am anticipating a Boston
win,
> and I think this should be fun.
>
> I talk with my buddy leading the other party tonight on the way in. We
have
> been looking forward to this day for a week now. We've had the whole
"Buddy
> Caper" day thing planned for a while now. His wife is out of town and my
> wife is exceedingly permissive. So we have a very specific agenda. Pre
> game meal at Hooters, followed by the game, then followed to a trip down
> south to Providence to our favorite "gentlemen's club". A man's weekend.
>
> Anyway, I ask him "Who's going to win today?" In my mind it's a forgone
> conclusion. The C's have taken the Net's best punch in game 1. The rest
of
> the series will follow the path of the Detroit series. Take their best
> punch, early, then ride them into the inevitable. I expected my buddy to
> respond as confidently as I feel and say "Celtics". Instead he says "I'm
> not sure."
>
> This for me is a cause for alarm. This buddy of mine usually guess right.
> So I ask him "You're not sure?" He says to me, they'll win, but it won't
be
> easy.
>
>
>
> Before the game, around 5:15 PM: I'm at my seats with my niece and her
> husband. Her husband is a real nice guy and excited to be at the game.
My
> niece is excited to be at the game too. She enjoys basketball, she played
> in high school, and she's an eternal optimist. Antoine's buddies are
> filtering in with a BIG SURPRISE yesterday. Today's guest ex Kentucky
> Wildcat appears to be Nazr Mohammed.
>
> In the pregame time while people are filing in, the "event's staff" is
busy
> running around trying to find participants for the between quarter and TV
> timeout "games". One of the female staff walks up to my niece and asks if
> she wants to play in the "What Year Was It?" game. She's looking to her
> uncle for guidance. I tell her, "Yeah, do it. They always ask the pretty
> girls." She likes this answer from her uncle and agrees to participate.
> Her big moment doesn't arrive until there are two minutes left in the
half.
>
> For now though, we get back to talking about the game. Like most casual
> fans, her favorite Celtic is Paul Pierce. I bring her up to date on
what's
> going on with him though. He hasn't had a good series. I tell them that
> he's due to break out, and don't be surprised if he goes for 30 this game.
>
>
>
> 9 minutes into the 1st quarter: Wow. I look up at the scoreboard and the
> C's have only 6 point up there, 5 by Eric Williams. The only other point
> was an Antoine Walker free throw. Up to this point I'm trying to look at
it
> in the best light possible. NJ is shooting the lights out. The C's are
> actually getting VERY GOOD shots, but they just aren't making them.
> Antoine, by this point, has missed a couple of attempts at the hoop, and
> upsetting his buddies. Paul can not buy a basket.
>
> I'm thinking to myself, okay, we've seen slow starts from this team
before.
> The thought I am trying to fight off is "but not this bad". My niece is
> wondering what is going in. She doesn't follow the team, but she knows
the
> C's have been doing well. Both she and her husband are a little surprised
> by the slow start. I tell them it's early and it could be rust. They buy
> that, and as if on cue, the C's make what qualifies in this game as a
"run",
> score 7 points and end up at the end of 1 down 15. I breath a sigh of
> relief, knowing that it could (should) be worse, and that with the break,
> they'll get started now and play better. What I don't realize at the time
> is that it WILL get worse, before it gets better.
>
>
>
> A few minutes into the second: I tell myself that I was right. The C's
> have made a run, and get back to within 5 or 6. Things are the way they
> should be. In a few more minutes, the C's will take the lead and we will
> begin the march to the inevitable C's victory.
>
> Everyone in the Fleet is feeling good, the crowd is loud and energized by
> what we've just seen. To this point, I have to say, I am kind of
> disappointed by the Fleet crowd. This is the playoffs. It's not a
regular
> season game. I think we should be yelling for our team whether they are
up
> or down. We aren't the rodent like the fans of Detroit that abandon the
> ship even though the scoreboard and conventional wisdom says the team
still
> has a shot. Yet for some reason, it's not happening. The C's are down,
and
> the crowd is looking for a reason to be interested and to make noise.
> Listen up folks, the reason is stamped on your ticket. IT'S THE NBA
> PLAYOFFS! If they are down, we should be making the noise to help WILL
THEM
> back into it.
>
> But the crowd is into it for now. We're making noise. My niece and her
> husband are jumping up and down a lot. Antoine's buddies are into it. It
> is loud. Then it happens. NJ makes THEIR run. And THEIR run is
> frightening swift and efficient. Jefferson, Kittles and Harris are
looking
> too comfortable as virtually every shot they take is going in. At the
same
> time, the C's are helping by settling for quick shots. I look up at
> scoreboard, the C's are down 20+, the crowd has been silenced. It's eery.
> I look at the NJ bench and I see them laughing.
>
> To this point, nothing has summed up the C's struggle more than Paul
Pierce
> has. He has looked pretty bad on just about every shot he has taken. I
> can't help but think that his confidence is shot right now. He is
> hestiating on the court. Paul is second guessing himself. He doesn't
have
> the swagger that he has had for most of the past 18 months. Then he makes
> the play that sums up how bad things are going for him. He gets the ball
on
> the wing. He also has another player who might be open for a moment.
Paul
> hesitates in a manner that seems to say, "Pass or shoot?" I'm not
> accustomed to seeing such hesitancy in him. Paul goes up into the air
with
> the ball as if to shoot. The problem is for an instant, I can see he is
> still thinking about passing. In the next instance, the moment is gone.
He
> HAS to shoot and he does. And it's not a good looking shot. There is no
> arc. Paul has missed another shot.
>
> My niece wonders what has happened to him. Could he be tired? Is he
> nervous? I hate to, but I have to rule out both of those reasons for her.
> I tell her I thinks it's the pressure he has put on himself with his
> statements. He is going to have to find his confidence somehow. He's is
> going to have to play through it.
>
>
>
> Near the end of the the first half:: The C's are nearing the end of the
> half. They were down 20+ minutes earlier. We're in a timeout, NJ is at
> their bench, still laughing. I think to myself, they are laughing because
> they think the game is over. The game ISN'T over yet. In the minds of
the
> Nets, it IS OVER. A smattering of boo's come down. It's not loud, but
it's
> audible. I'm incensed by this. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD PEOPLE, IT'S THE
> PLAYOFFS. One of Antoine's buddies in front of me hear's the boos too. I
> lok at him, and I say it. "They shouldn't be booing. It's the playoffs."
> He looks at me and agrees. "That's right" he says, "Why are they booing?"
>
> It's one thing to boo during a regular season game when a team or player
is
> dogging it. Even though Idon't boo, the fans have a right to expect that
> the players will play hard all the time and a right to voice their
> displeasure. The playoffs are a different thing. The regualr season is
> over. The players have done the hardwork to get where they are. This
WHOLE
> PLAYOFF trip is gravy now. THIS IS THE EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS, not a
> meaningless, end of season game between a C's club that is going to the
> lottery versus a Atlanta club that is going to the lottery.
>
> Although not as badly as in the first quarter, the NJ Nets have thoroughly
> outplayed the C's again. The C's have lost a little more ground. What
was
> a 15 point deficit as the end of 1, is now a 20 point hole at the half.
Yet
> I got the feeling that the C's were still in the game, even though to this
> point, the only Celtic that apparently made it out of the locker room in
> time for the start was Antoine.
>
> Okay, maybe not the start, but at least Antoine showed up. By now,
Antoine
> has shaken off the early game rust and has settled down and plays with
> intensity. It's halftime and Antoine leads the C's with 14. The C's are
> losing by 20, and really it should be 30 or more. But they are losing by
20
> and not 30, and it's because Antoine is singlehandedly keeping whatever
hope
> they have alive. We can't give Antoine's effort the usual superlatives.
> His play is not "magnificent" or "incredible". His brand of basketball is
> rarely described as "artistry". No, Antoine's play is hardly any of these
> things.
>
> On this day, here's what Antoine's play IS. It is relentless. Tonight,
it
> is blue collar. Most of all, AW's effort is honest. He may have showed
up
> late, but at least he showed up, and he has decided that if he has to, he
> will keep this team in the game until everyone else decides to show up.
>
> So here it is, halftime and the only two good things about it is Antoine's
> effort and my niece who answered the "What Years Was It?" question
correctly
> with the answered supplied to her by her uncle. She's giddy. Her face
was
> up on the scoreboard and she has won a $100.00 gift certficate to Morton's
> of Chicago. Ironically, the question they ask her has to do with Larry
> Birds famous 4th quarter shoot out with Atlanta's Dominque Wilkins.
>
>
>
> Somewhere in the 3rd quarter: The run I expected that will vault the C's
> back into the game still has yet to materialize. My niece, ever the
> optimist, is doing the math in her head, counting the baskets and tells me
> they can still do it. It's only 12 or 13 baskets. I don't want to burst
> her bubble. So I agree. If I don't, I have no reason to stay. So I
stay.
> I tell myself that the C's will come back. I start to think that could be
> wrong about my pregame assertion that they will win. I'm beginning to
hope
> that before the game is over, we will see a game.
>
> My cellphone is ringing, but I don't know it. I don't know it, so I don't
> answer it. I find out later it's my buddy calling to see if I want to get
> an early start on our post game plans. In the middle of the 3rd quarter,
he
> agrees with the Nets that this game is over. Who could blame him? Here
it
> is in the 3rd and the C's are still losing. They trail at some points by
as
> many as 26 points. Paul is a non factor still. The crowd has booed half
> heartedly, but surprisingly, they have not left. Not many at least.
>
> I'm looking at Antoine's buddies. They are dejected. They can't believe
> their adopted team is down so far and their friend, with all his effort is
> powerless to stop it. They can't agree what the C's need to get back into
> the game. "Twan, you got to take over!" "Twan, take your time!" "Paul,
> stop taking outside shots." "C'mon guys, go to the hoop!" I'm thinking
to
> myself, what do they need to get back into this game?
>
> I don't have an answer to that, but I do know what I'd like to see. I
agree
> with the last to ideas they yell out. But then I think some more. I
> remember at the beginning of the game, I see Kenyon Martin's face clearly,
> and he looks...I don't know...Unconcerned? Too calm? Happy? I don't
know,
> but whatever it is on his face, when I saw it I told myself, maybe he came
> to PLAY, but it doesn't look like he came here to WIN. So it comes to me.
> I don't know what it will take to win, but I do know that I'd like the C's
> to make some kind of statement. I decide that I'd like to see the C's
send
> in Strickland or Blount and set a Net on his ass. Roughly.
>
> The 3rd quarter finally comes to an end, and I find out later that Antoine
> wants the C's to make some kind of statement too. Only he has a different
> one.
>
>
>
> The 4th Quarter: The C's start out 21 points down. Briefly it gets
worse,
> but then something happens. I don't what happened, but for some eason,
> things look a little different on the court. The C's are playing defense.
> Well, why not? They hadn't played much the first three quarters. But on
> offense, something is happening too. One by one, the C's start to forget
> about the easy jump shots and start going to the basket. Antoine has been
> doing that for a lot of the game (only 3 three point attempts). Now the
> rest of the C's are following his lead. Rodney Rogers, whose strength
prior
> to tonight has been his ability to shoot the ball from long range, doesn't
> even attempt one. He is a man on the inside though. Going to the basket,
> battling fiercely and not surrendering on plays. He forces the Nets to
foul
> him, and he makes his free throws.
>
> What Antoine started, what Rodney Rogers picked up on, now Paul is
> understanding. Suddenly, Paul is no longer shooting jump shots, and he
has
> stopped hesitating. He is getting the ball, and he is going to the
basket,
> and what he said before the series began is suddenly coming true. No one
> the Nets throw at him can stop him. Everyone feels the change in the
game,
> including the Nets. They are not playing as loosely as they were earlier
in
> the game, and they are most certainly not laughing during the the timeouts
> they call in a desperate attempt to stave off what they must NOW know is
> inevitable. Suddenly, the shots that were there earlier are not there
> anymore. Suddenly the rim that was so wide and welcoming before is so
> tight, one of the Nets (Aaron Williams I think) can not even finish a put
> back dunk.
>
> Make no mistake though. The Nets did not roll over and die. They
continued
> to play hard. You could even argue they did everything right, EXCEPT make
> the shots they needed. No, the Nets did not lose and this was not an
> artistic game. This was not some trip to the ballet. This was a case of
> one team imposing it's will on another. It's also a case of one man
> imposing his will on his team.
>
> The casual fan might look at the box scores and the numbers and think it
is
> Paul Pierce I am talking about. And they would be wrong. Antoine Walker,
> who through the playoffs have been raising his game higher and higher, who
> through this game kept his team within range to make the comeback, had now
> decided that the game would be won. Most importantly, ANTOINE decided the
> game would not be won by him alone, but by him AND his team mates, and
> ESPECIALLY Paul Pierce. Through the most critical time in the 4th
quarter,
> it was Antoine who constantly fed Paul the ball where he wanted it. And
as
> the lead shrank, from 8, to 6, to 4, to 2 to 1, it was becoming quite
clear
> what the TRUTH is. The TRUTH is not Paul Pierce. He is the "Truth". The
> TRUTH is that Antoine finally understands what it takes for his team to
win.
>
> For this one game, with Paul shooting so badly, and his untested team
mates
> wilting in the face of the NJ attack, no one could have blamed Antoine if
> for one game he reverted to his "evil" ways and started jacking up shot
> after shot after desperation shot. By singlehandedly keeping his team in
> the game, he had by this desperate time, earned the right to do so. And
if
> he had done so, I who have been among his biggest critics would not have
> blamed him one bit. But that is NOT what he did.
>
> He did not try to carry them on his back any longer. Antoine did
something
> more important than that. He threw them off and made them get up
themselves
> and start carrying their own weight. He resurrected them, and most
> importantly, he resurrected Paul. There is no way the C's got to this
> point, and no way they advance from this point with out both Antoine and
> Paul at the top of their games. Lucky to be tied with NJ 1-1 going into
the
> game without Paul having played a good game, the C's needed something to
> wake up their sleeping co captain. What they needed, Antoine supplied.
For
> Paul, and the rest of the C's, there would have been no opportunity for
> heroics without his leadership. For me, with this single game, this
single
> quarter, in his 6th year in the league, Antoine has finally earned his
Green
> stripe. I may not like the particulars of his game still, but I now
forgive
> him for all the games where he dogged it. I do not admire his game, but I
> now respect him as a Celtic.
>
>
>
> Immediately after the game has ended: The game is now over. The C's
> victory, which I thought was inevitable turned out to be inconceivable.
> Improbable, even. I know that my throat is not the only horse one in the
> Fleet. For the last 7 or so minutes of the game, the crowd had been
> cheering, hesitantly at first, but with each basket, louder and more
> relentlessly. The noise has washed away the laughter and smiles the Nets
> had enjoyed the first three quarters of this game. My niece, not knowing
> how unlikely it was supposed to be, is beaming now that her faith in the
> Celtics has been rewarded. Her husband, a more seasoned sports fan,
knowing
> he has just witnessed an incredible victory is stunned, but like 18,000+
> other people, has been cheering for minutes beyond the end of the game.
The
> crowd that refused to leave when the C's were down 20 something points at
> the end of the third and minutes into the 4th, now refused to leave the
> Fleet center. They stayed on and cheered and cheered and cheered on.
>
> And when it was finally over, and the crowd began to die down and file
out,
> I continued to stand there. Antoine's buddies were standing there too,
> waiting for their friend to come over and share his joy with his homeboys.
> As we waited, one of his friends, the one I made the comment to earlier
> turned around and pointed at me. He had a look of disgust on his face
when
> he said to me "Look at all the people cheering now. You're the one that
> believed. You said they shouldn't boo." I smiled at him and thought as
> much as I could in that short time immediately after the game. A minute
> later, I called back to him. When he turned around, I yelled with
> conviction "Next time we see each other, it'll be the Finals." In my
heart,
> at that moment, I just knew NJ was finished.
>
> In the parking lot, I caught up with my party. When we congregated, we
were
> all still trying to digest what we had just saw unfold over the previous
> three hours. One of my friends is a guy a little older than me. He's
been
> playing basketball for a little longer than I have been. We still play
> together occassionally. My other buddy is someone I coached when he was
> younger. He is now 30 years old. In the parking lot, immediately after
the
> game, all we could do is talk about what we just saw. Play after play
after
> play, trying to believe what our experience told us could not have
happened.
>
> It was only hours later, after we completed the rest of our planned night
> out that I relaized what I just saw. On the ride down with my buddy, I
said
> to him that the trip to the "gentlemens club" was going to be
anticlimatic.
> I would not be able to think about anything but the game, no matter how
> "talented" the entertainment. On the ride home, I knew I was right. It
had
> been fun, but I was distracted by the thought of the game. Then it hit
me,
> what I had witnessed. I turned to my friend, and I said to him, "You
know,
> 30 years from now, when I'm 70, and you're 60, and neither one of us can
> walk straight, we're going to be sitting around and talking about this
game.
> When we read a newspaper, and they mention what Antoine or Paul are doing
> well into their retirements, we'll remember we were at this game." I saw
> something that will stay with me forever.