Showtime

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

I caught a bit of the "Showtime" Nets game last night. It 
was the whole works, reverse alley-oop jams, everything. 
And Kidd still wipes the side of his ass before blowing 
pretty imaginary kisses at the hoop. What's funny is he 
thinks he's so cool. 

Byron Scott still wears the same wardrobe from the 1980s 
LA scene. 

The local announcers talked at length about the 
importance of the upcoming Celtics game. Kelly 
Tripukaface said that talent was there in Boston but the 
difference was basketball "IQ", where the Celtics are 
retards, about half as smart as the Nets. 

I can't argue with that commentary, until proven 
otherwise on the court. With or without Jason Kidd, they 
are a much more structured team with old school 
influences (the Princeton offense). These guys would beat 
Argentina by 40 points.

The matchups remind me a bit of the 1980s Celtics-Lakers 
games. The Nets can open any game on us with a 15-4 run. 
They can also make those runs at any stage of a game. 
They get easier looking baskets even in the half-court 
set. They have better individual talent on defense than 
any team in the conference, including Detroit.

The Celtics can be tough for long stretches of defense, 
we have more scorers and more shooters, and can come back 
in a bigger hurry than any team in the league. 

Kidd is shooting a lot more this year, arguably too much. 
No one else on the team is averaging better than 13 
points.

What's interesting is that you can sense the Nets 
announcers have the same nagging fears about Boston that 
most of us justifiably have about the Nets. 

No doubt you have memories of Pierce's 46 point second 
half in their gym. You have six Boston regular and 
playoff wins over the Nets last year. You have the 
comeback game. You have "the jungle." You have the 
nagging inferiority re: team achievements in the past and 
ACTUAL sold out games in the present. 

As noted earlier by Michael Gooen, the Nets owners have 
the same rectangular-shaped banners in the rafters. But 
these list achievements like, I kid you not, "Bruce 
Springstein, 5-sold out concerts 1999!" as well as circus 
clown faces (don't ask me why). The Devils have a few 
legitimate banners, but for the Nets you have to reach 
back to ABA days for anything better than "Division 
Runner Up, Preseason 1984!" or something like that. 

Buck Williams is the only retired number I saw among ex-
NBA players (although didn't they retire Petrovic too?). 
The Nyets are so desperate that they retired Julius 
Erving's number too, even though I doubt he played one 
NBA game for them. Why don't the Red Sox retire Babe 
Ruth's number, for Pete's sake? The question answers 
itself.

But in the end, that's the identical way that people 
laughed off the Foxboro Patriots last year. Of course, 
the Pats didn't get their butts swept out of the playoffs 
like the Nets either. But like it or not, the Patsies 
were basically as generic to the NFL as the Nets are to 
the NBA (that no longer being the case for our Patsies).

I do think this Nets team is a powerful one, with 
bonafide 60-win talent. They are an outstanding defensive 
team and passing team. They play "wicked smart" too.

I love the Celtics, but it seems clear it will take more 
than just pride or tradition to beat the Nets on a given 
night. "Celtics Pride" helps a lot, but sadly it isn't 
always sufficient. Not even in the Bird era, and 
certainly not now.

Its sure to be a LOUD and exciting game. I can't wait for 
tipoff. Its only with the Nets that I actually shout 
insults at the TV screen. 

Joe H.




 











 


 
 




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