RE: All You O'Brien Groupies Can Rejoice

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Cecil, we're Celtics fans, but we're Celtics fans who don't want to root for
a 44-win team. We're Celtics fans who don't want to settle for the first or
second round of the playoffs in the NBA's consolation bracket (the Eastern
Conference). Just because the team was so bad for so long doesn't mean that
being average is enough. Remember the Lakers before Shaq? They had Vlade
Divac, Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell and some decent role players (Anthony
Peeler, George Lynch, Nick Van Exel). They were OK. The playoffs were a
realistic goal for that group every year. But what did Jerry West do? He
started giving guys away-Peeler, Lynch-to get under the cap. Why? To sign
Shaq. It wasn't a sure thing that he would sign Shaq, but he swung for the
fences. He could have played it safe and kept his group together, preached
patience and continuity, and collected first- and second-round playoff
profits for a few years. But his goal was NBA championships. So he did what
he had to do to put the team in position to sign Shaq, then he made it
happen. Then he traded another established player and All-Star, Divac, for
some high school kid named Kobe Bryant. My point? West's goal wasn't to be
good. His goal was to be NBA champions, and he didn't just pay it lip
service with a catchy name for a corporate partnership (Banner 17). He went
out and made it happen.

As for Tommy... I agree with Kestas. His harping on the officials is so
tired. The sad thing is he has brought Mike Gorman over to the same crap.
Every time a whistle blows, Mike starts questioning it and Tommy starts
blasting it. As for his constant "run, run run... " stuff. We'd all like to
see it. But this is a half-court team and has been for a long time. It would
be nice if he noticed that and started analyzing the team as it is and not
as it was when he was coaching. I hardly ever get anything interesting from
Tommy anymore.

Mark


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Cecil wrote:

But we are Celtic fans....at least most of us are, Kestas.  There are some
folks on this list who I do not think are truly Celtic fans because they
take such great delight in our losses and poor play.  When we win, they are
silent about it.

If the bottom line is business, than the Celtics are succeeding.  They have
emerged from the land of the lotto, to make the playoffs in two consecutive
seasons.  As a business person, one would want the additional revenue.  As a
fan, one would want their team to go as deep as possible into the playoffs
to improve the self esteem of your players.  These guys have played ball
their entire lives, but none of them, prior to last year, had ever
experienced the intensity of the ECF.  That builds character and hopefully
will make them work harder to address their weaknesses.  

As far as Tommy is concerned, though you do not agree, he has a point about
the refs on many occasions.  But I find it odd that he is the guy who wants
them to do what will appeal to you the most, run, run, run, rebound, look up
the floor, pass the ball to the open man, and you can't stand him.

Cecil