Patriot Ledger article

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PRO HOOPS: L.A. victory can't hide C's defects

By MIKE FINE
The Patriot Ledger


Nice win over the Lakers, right?
Well, sure. The Celtics did themselves proud in pulling out a game they 
nearly lost Thursday night. Everyone in the building knew the Lakers 
would cut into Boston's 17-point lead, but how they did it was so 
typical that it's alarming.
We'll probably touch on this many times this season, so we might as well 
start now:
For the second straight night, the Celtics went brain dead in the third 
quarter. As successful as they were last season, they still cannot grasp 
the concept of ball movement. As usual, Antoine Walker is the main 
culprit. He is unable to grasp the concept of sharing the ball, but 
others aren't far behind.
What happens is that five Celtics come down the court on offense, one 
takes the ball on the perimeter and then simply fires away regardless of 
how heavily he's covered. In almost every case, a pass or two to would 
find an open man. In many other cases, a pass or two would enable a man 
to find a clear lane to the basket - a much preferable option.
The focus of this team remains on 3-point shooting. It attempted 33 in 
Chicago, 32 against the Lakers. You can expect this to go on through the 
season. Celts coach Jim O'Brien says he has a formula worked out, the 
gist of which is that although 3-point shooting is not as accurate as 
low-post shooting, it accounts for more points in the long run.
What the coach doesn't account for is that more misses lead to more 
opportunities for the opposing team. That can be devastating against a 
strong opponent.
Michael Jordan would probably still be wearing a Chicago Bulls uniform 
if Phil Jackson weren't shoved out the door four years ago., That's how 
close they are.
So while Jackson looks at Jordan with fondness, there's also a bit of 
unease watching the veteran play on 39-year-old legs, which is exactly 
what he did when his Wizards hosted Jackson's Lakers Friday night.
Last year there were too many minutes for him physically, and for the 
condition his body was in,'' Jackson said of Jordan, whose season was 
cut short by knee problems. But at the two-thirds mark of the season 
they were still in the playoffs (race). Michael was still something like 
seventh in (league) scoring, so it was a fairly remarkable year.
But this year is more realistic for what he can do. They're a more 
balanced team offensively in that regard.''
Jordan started Friday's game averaging only 13.2 points per game in 25.2 
minutes. The last time he averaged so few was his second year in the 
league, when he was limited to only 18 games because of an ankle injury. 
Of course, he never scored fewer than 22.7 points per game, going 22.9 
last season, when he played in 60 games.
The Wizards came into the Lakers game at 2-3 and for the first time in 
ages, they're actually considered a contender for the playoffs. Still, 
there are problems. Jordan cannot help himself from trying to take over 
games, and those close to the team feel he has to understand that he's 
no longer the go-to guy. Jerry Stackhouse has assumed that role and will 
own it long after Jordan is gone.
Times are tough for former Celtics. In Toronto, Eric Montross is out 
indefinitely with a bad left foot, but for those ex-Celts who are in 
uniform, well, things could be better.
The Suns' Joe Johnson, for instance, made a splash after his trade last 
February, but now he's struggling to get playing time as Penny Hardaway 
makes a push for fulltime status. Johnson started four games, but has 
lost the job after averaging only 29 percent from the field, and 4.8 
points per game.
Hardaway thinks he knows how the second-year guard feels. It hurts,'' 
he said. No matter how you look at it, it hurts your heart because you 
work so hard in practice, work on your game and things don't click the 
way you think they should on the court. The coach (Frank Johnson) has to 
make a decision. Last year, of course, my feelings were hurt because I 
wanted to be out there.
With Joe, the one thing he has on his side is he's very young. He's a 
great talent and he's going to help this team win basketball games.''
Johnson has been hurt by his inability to pick up the Suns' motion 
offense, and there's the old knock that he tends to disappear. Yet, he 
takes his demotion to the bench in stride. I'm cool with it,'' he 
said. When I get in the ballgame I just have to be more relaxed and 
just play basketball.''
He wasn't happy,'' Frank Johnson said of the guard's demotion, but 
Joe doesn't tell you when he's happy or sad or (mad) or anything like 
that. He did tell me, I'd be lying if I said I'm okay with it.' That's 
about the extent of it. I'm just trying to get him where he can bring 
out his personality. It didn't look like he was really having fun.
He'll get a chance to show what he can do,'' he said. It's early, 
and we got off to a 1-3 start. He's certainly not the reason for that.''
Meanwhile, one ex-Celtic success story is occurring in Cleveland, where 
Milt Palacio, who was traded to Phoenix along with Johnson and then 
shipped to Cleveland over the summer, has been handed the starting point 
role over Bimbo Coles. But in Seattle, Kenny Anderson is disconsolate.
Wednesday night, Anderson lost it. Six minutes,'' he said. Whoa. 
Man. I really don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can do six 
minutes. That's not me. That's not where I'm at in my career. Not yet at 
least. If I were anywhere else, this would really just drive me crazy, 
but I know the deal here,'' said Anderson, who scored one point and had 
one steal. I know Gary (Payton) is the man. But man, six minutes? I 
mean, I know I can get more time than that. I know there's got to be a 
way to get me on the court.''
Part of Anderson's probably might have stemmed from what was called back 
spasms that caused him to miss the first two Sonics games, but the fact 
is, there's enough talent there - talent that's familiar with the system 
- that Anderson isn't needed.
Meanwhile, the never-ending saga of disgruntled Danny Fortson continues 
in Golden State, where the forward is back after a 16-day absence 
because of personal reasons, including the death of his father in 
Pennsylvania. Fortson has had verbal battles with teammates and has been 
unhappy with his role.
Short stuff:
Milwaukee's Ray Allen on Orlando's Tracy McGrady: I think Tracy is the 
best player in the NBA today. He's not only a scorer, but he's efficient 
with his shots, he is a team guy, he blocks shots, he's doing a lot of 
things, and he's not a selfish player. That's valuable.''
Nets coach Byron Scott, on the theory that an overweight Chris Childs 
will return by Thanksgiving: No. 1, you've get to get in game 
condition. No. 2, you've got to learn everything we've been doing 
offensively and I don't think in three weeks or two weeks you're going 
to be able to do that. No. 3, to me, I would be doing these guys a 
disservice. These guys have been here all preseason and worked their 
butts off. For me to just say that he comes back Thanksgiving and put 
him in, I would be disrespecting these guys. He has to come back here 
and he has to earn that right.'' Childs is at the Duke Diet and Fitness 
Center.
Bucks coach George Karl said if Jason Kidd played at the World 
Championship, the U.S. would have come home with a medal. I don't want 
to take any credit away from Argentina or Yugoslavia, but if Jason shows 
up, we win. Period ... I think we might have lost to Argentina but I 
don't think we would have lost the medal.''
Washington's Charles Oakley, on teaching the young kids: I'm a teacher 
and when they come to my class, I get full attention.''
Chicago rookie Jay Williams, on the firestorm he created when he went 
0-for-5 from the line on opening night in Boston: I never even thought 
it was any big deal because, after all, it was just one game and my very 
first game. I was just nervous. Can't anybody just be nervous anymore? 
This was my first game and I was playing in Boston's FleetCenter against 
Paul Pierce and the game came down to the wire. I'm a human being. I not 
going to sit here and act like I'm Mr. Perfect. But now I can say I've 
been there and I can take it from there.''

Mike Fine may be reached at mikefine@ledger.com.
Copyright 2002 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Saturday, November 09, 2002

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