Cedar Rapids Gazette coverage

["Nathan A." <nja13@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This is from the Cedar Rapids newspaper coverage of the Wolves game. Looks 
like the photo caption writer was using a roster from last season.

Nathan A.

> NBA's circus delights big crowd in C.R.
>
> By Alex Carey
> News correspondent
> Saturday, October 19, 2002, 10:43:42 PM
>
> CEDAR RAPIDS -- Welcome, Eastern Iowa, to the National Basketball
Association preseason, where the games themselves are beside the point.
>
> NBA exhibitions -- like Saturday's contest at the U.S. Cellular Center
between the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves -- are to
contemporary American culture what Ringling Brothers was to the culture of
the early 20th century.
>
> The players bring the game to town, put on their show and move on to the
next locale. One night it's Fargo, the next it's Albany, the next Cedar
Rapids.
>
> The Celtics, 95-84 victors Saturday, won this one going away. Their
dominance was no surprise given that Minnesota starters Terrell Brandon,
Wally Szczerbiak and Joe Smith missed the game with injuries. Of course,
wins and losses in exhibitions don't mean much anyway.
>
> Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, and
Kevin Garnett had 15 points for Minnesota, but those were mere details.
>
> Pierce, who was in the midst of his virgin voyage through Cedar Rapids,
liked the way his team looked.
>
> 'We're getting better every game offensively, and I think we took a step
forward defensively,' Pierce said.
>
> Pierce insisted he enjoys exhibition games.
>
> "Definitely," he said. "Every time I get a chance to step on the court it
means something."
>
> With ticket prices set relatively high -- $100 for seats on the floor --
it was difficult to know what sort of crowd to expect. The arena was not
full, but a reasonably large crowd of 7,121 filled most of the building's
yellow and orange bleachers.
>
> Some of the fans, like Paul and Diane Bohlken of Springville, bought
tickets primarily out of curiosity.
>
> "We're basketball fans, and you don't get a chance to see a pro team very
often," Paul Bohlken said as he lounged in his $30 seat in the first row of
the upper deck.
>
> Other fans had a more definite rooting interest, with some decked out in
Celtics or Timberwolves garb. But most came simply to see the modern-day
circus.
>
> In one ring there was Pierce getting fouled and nailing a tough fall-away
jumper from the corner. In another there was Garnett coming up with a
monster blocked shot. In a third there was Antoine Walker going behind his
back to find Walter McCarty for a layup.
>
> The crowd loved all of it.
>
> Game plans for preseason games essentially amount to the following:
experiment with combinations, try not to give away too much team strategy
and, above all, avoid injury. In that last respect this game failed.
Minnesota's Felipe Lopez had to be carried off the floor in the first
quarter after spraining his left knee.
>
> Celtics Coach Jim O'Brien expressed sympathy for Lopez but went on to
state, in effect, his theory about the preseason.
>
> "When you're in a situation like this, you have to do what you can for
yourself and your basketball team," O'Brien said.
>
> On the whole, the players don't take these games very seriously. The
coaches do, but they're not the ones on the floor.
>
> O'Brien appeared intense and focused as he paced and barked instructions
from the sidelines. The crowd, though, was more likely to notice the playful
smile and occasional showboating of Pierce.
>
> The exhibition was billed as a home game for Minnesota, but the
Timberwolves' fan base in Iowa is arguably smaller than that of the Celtics.
>
> Though a handful of fans wore Timberwolves apparel and the Minnesota
cheerleaders and mascot took to the stands to stoke the fans' enthusiasm,
Celtic green was in much greater abundance. The crowd cheered loudly when
the boys from Beantown took the floor while Minnesota's entrance garnered
only a smattering of applause.
>
> Among the most vocal supporters of the Celtics Saturday was John Hanson,
28, a lifelong fan from Clarinda in southwest Iowa. Hanson spent five hours
in the car to get to the game and had no problem shelling out $50 for
courtside seats.
>
> "It's definitely worth it," he said.
>
> Hanson's brother-in-law, John Capps, wasn't so sure. Capps is married to
Hanson's sister, Jill. The Des Moines couple brought their 2-year-old son,
Brian, to the game.
>
> "I'm not a big fan," said John Capps, 28. "I watch sometimes. Seems like
every game comes down to the fourth quarter anyways."
>
> Brian, meanwhile, seemed more interested in his candy than the impending
preseason showdown.
>
> "He knows it's a basketball game," his mother said.
>
> The group seemed a relatively representative group of exhibition game
attendees. One zealot, one lukewarm fan, one accommodating wife and a young
child attending his first professional basketball game.
>
> The conventional wisdom about the league, particularly in cities like
Cedar Rapids with limited exposure to the league, suggests the league is now
overrun with prima donnas. And guys like Hanson might agree with Paul
Bohlken that NBA teams don't play 'good basketball.'
>
> Regardless, Hanson, Bohlken and the rest of the crowd at the U.S. Cellular
Center seemed to enjoy themselves. For the fans, that meant they felt their
money had been well-spent. For the NBA, it meant the evening's mission was
accomplished.
>
>
> Photo caption:
>
> Boston Celtics' Kedrick Brown (42) comes down with a defensive rebound,
fending off Minnesota Timberwolves' Loren Wood during the first half
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2002, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.