first game

[R Howe <regmanw6@xxxxxxxxx>]

last nite was the first time in 5 years I got to view
a regular season game in total (have been overseas).
My thanks to this list for making me feel attached to
my beloved celts while I was away. I was anxious to
see Walker and Pierce, to see Baker in action, and to
see if Delk provided any value (after all, he's all we
got to show for the Johnson trade) 

My initial positive impressions: WOW !!! Pierce is a
stud ballplayer, too tough for one to cover. Walker is
a very dangerous passer when the offense is in motion,
very good seeing that seems to be the way he gets
defenders to give him room to shoot err launch set
shots. Walker also he seems to get rebounds at will
when he is near the basket. Delk, based on this game,
is a major threat to free up stars if incorporated to
get looks. Baker will be fine in time, being asked to
not defend one specific player but rather rotate,
front, switch as this defense demands seems to have
him tentative. I think he will improve though. Battie
looks good as a Center of loose ball opportunities,
and movement w/out the ball, this defense seems to
suit his abilities. E williams looks OK, but to me is
a sub player on other teams. Shammond though his
offense did not look good, seemed to play some decent
D. 

We lost, but boy when Pierce and Walker passed off to
other teammates as equals the Celts scored at will. It
was a pretty thing to see the ball swinging to open
players, it opened the whole court up. Only when in
the 4th Qtr, when the Celts only used their captains
as crunch time options, did the offense stall. It 
seemed that the Bulls knew this was going to happen
despite being picked apart earlier by unselfish ball
movement because they imediately doubled and tripled
Pierce during the 4th Qtr. This in my opinion caused
the loss. Definetly correctable if Captains will trust
teammates during crunch time. 

First time seeing this Defense. It seems predicated on
creating turnovers by putting pressure on the ball on
the perimeter, disrupting passing lanes. Interior
defense seems to be a two man zone fronting the low
post. Seems to work well in creating turnovers but
does not do as well for preventing offensive rebounds
and preventing easy lanes to the hoop once the        
perimeter defense was defeated. Ma-be this in time
will improve based on last year, where the defense was
considered a strength of the team.

I hate the loss, but there was some positives for this
first time viewer of this generation's team. I see
areas where improvement can be achieved. Dont give up
on Baker too soon, I think he will be valuable for at
least the next few seasons. 

Question for old time Celts.. could you imagine the
Bird-led Celtics with a player of Pierce's abilities? 
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