Why is anyone surprised we won?

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Everyone's been going on and on about the Pacer's depth and talent.  But 
there's a forgotten element--their coach.  Isiah Thomas is a second--if not 
third--rate coach who has delusions of grandeur that make Rick Pitino look 
like a pilgrim monk.

Isiah thinks of himself as a "finesse" player, and capable of handling the 
subtleties of the game.  His teammates included Bill Laimbeer and Rick 
Mahorn.  On THAT team, Jungle Jim Luscotoff would have been a finesse 
player.  He's spent his career being schooled by the likes of Larry Bird 
and Michael Jordan.  Is it any wonder that he benched Reggie Miller in 
favor of the likes of Jermaine O'Neal?  He's not going to be beholden to 
Reggie if he can help it.  As a result, Pierce is left free to turn in a 
fourth quarter that drew praise from, among others, Reggie.

On paper, Isiah had it easy.  Team depth, talent on his side.  The Celtics 
were injured, sick, and lost their starting Center after the refs 
demonstrated studied incompetence once again.  (I was looking to see if 
Scott Wall or Kenny Maurer was anywhere in the building.)  All he had to do 
was platoon the C's and the game was done, probably by halftime.  Let 
Reggie dance on the C's much as Jason Kidd had done in the Bucks earlier in 
the day.

But Isiah decided to shorten the rotation by keeping his best players on 
the bench down the stretch.  He sabotaged his team by trying to act like a 
big-time Coach.  Isiah is not, in general, a stupid man.

But as a coach, he's an idiot and a bungler, and should be canned, 
quickly.  Well, not TOO quickly.  Wait until the C's finish off the 
series.  THEN fire him.

Of course, the loss wasn't by any means "just" Isiah's fault.  The Pacers 
themselves gave up a double digit lead.  They couldn't execute offense 
throughout the entire fourth quarter.  Their defense wasn't able to contain 
the C's except in the third.  The fact is, had the C's shot a little better 
in the first half, they'd have had a sizeable lead going into the second half.

Then, late in the fourth, they made defensive mistakes that were 
staggering.  What idiot leaves Pierce open at the arc to shoot an 
uncontested three with the game on the line instead of doubling him?  Then 
there's Ron Artest, fouling Pierce in the backcourt so he could give the 
C's the lead by extending his perfect streak at the free throw line.  Maybe 
they gave passing thought to stopping Walker at some point on his way to 
the hoop.

All week, the Pacers stated they had this cold.  The sports people who 
specialize in deciding who should win all picked the Pacers, because they 
forgot one thing, something the people we sent overseas could have told them.

It's not just your troops, it's who leads them.

While Coach O'Brien may not be everyone's favorite coach, he does know how 
to lead the troops, as his playoff record shows.  Isiah Thomas' playoff 
record also shows how he leads his troops, to his dismay.

The Celtics executed down the stretch after a difficult game, and won.  The 
Pacers blew a double digit lead and lost.

Don't be surprised if the Celtics fans get those Pacer brooms off the floor 
and put them to good use.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website