"Do not forsake me oh my darling."

[JB <jimmetz@xxxxxxx>]

	The above title was the theme song for a highly decorated film, from 
the fifties, called "High Noon." Gary Cooper, was the aging but 
respected sheriff who was left to defend the town and his wife, the 
clinging Grace Kelley, from the Stanton's (Clanton's?), a grizzly gang, 
who was returning to town, to enact some revenge, for actions past.
	I'm calling on this Western motif, for today's column, in honor of 
Byron Scott, who must have seen too many "horse operas," in his youth 
as he prefaced yesterday's game with the now famous challenge, to a 
"Gunfight at OK Corral."
> {"It's one of those situations like a gunfight - where you walk into 
> town
> and everybody clears out except that one person," said Scott, 
> visualizing
> the Nets' visit to Boston tonight. "When you step on the floor, you 
> just
> think of that other person in green and white that's across from you.
> You're gonna either win or lose."}
	
	While Byron was challenging the Celtics to get up for a mano-a-mano 
duel, much like his counterpart from Philadelphia, Larry Brown, did 
last week, with his announcement that "it was personal," Jimmy O'Brien 
was running the team in green through another practice and letting us 
all know that it was just another game.
	Once again, the Celtics and their coach, showed the mouthy, fired up 
opponents, that games are won on the floor, not the blackboard.
	Yes, the Celtics won, ugly as it may have been; they won because they 
cared more, in spite of a coach's rhetoric, or lack of. The C's hit the 
boards, outran the running Nets and passed the ball enough to get open 
shots.
	Coach Scott was left, eating shit:

{"No excuses. We just played like crap," the disgusted coach said. "We
didn't compete. It was as simple as that. We did an awful job
defensively. We were terrible tonight. We didn't compete. We didn't come
ready to play. Guys were tired. We didn't run the floor. It was
terrible, a terrible
basketball game.

"We've been up and down throughout the first 12 games. For whatever
reason, we haven't come out to play every single game like we did last
year. And that's disturbing. I don't understand that, especially here
against a team that you know is going to play you extremely hard and
wants to beat you (worse) than probably any other team in the Eastern
Conference anyway. And we come out with a lackadaisical effort. It's
crap. It's terrible."}
	
	The Nets, not only embarrassed themselves, losing to a team  that went 
12-of-23 from the line, had 18 turnovers, and shot 21-of-55 from 
2-point range, they left their coach embarrassed and foaming at the 
mouth.
	These are not the Nets of last year. They no longer have the inside 
scoring option of Tod MacCullouch, not the rebounding and defense 
spreading, shooting, of Keith Van Horne.
	These are also not the Celtics of last year. Double Pierce and now you 
must stop S. Williams and Tony Delk, two sharpshooters that even Gary 
Cooper would have been proud to have in his posse.
	The Celtics  also do not have their enforcer, Vitaly Potapenko, but 
from an unlikely source, we are seeing some in your face, eye to eye, 
toe to toe veracity. It was "Mr. Softy;" Vin Baker, who let "Mr. 
African Elbow," Dikembe Mutombo,  know that someone was going to make 
him pay, if he didn't play nicely.
	

		JB

	Unchain My Heart !