Re:on a variety of Celtics comments...

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

>Speaking of hard and fast, I reiterate that the C's should be careful of 
>how the physical game is established in tonight's game.  The Pacers have no 
>reason to hold back, and with Artest out there, perhaps Pierce should wear 
>a helmet.  

  Snoop, I've worried about this too.
  We don't get much NBA talk locally, since we have no NBA team here in KC.
So what I get is from the national media.  What I've been hearing from them, 
besides how the Pacers are falling apart, is that Artest is a clown for 
complaining about not getting the defensive player of the year award and that 
this series with the Celtics is proving that he is an overrated defender.
Now, anyone who has actually watched the series in it's entirety and not just 
snippets on the highlight shows knows that Artest has been a tough defender.  
The points that Paul has gotten have not come easily.
Plus, the officials seem to let Artest get away with things your typical 
defender would be called for....just ask Mercer and Harrington....I assume 
because of reputation which seems to guide everything officials do these 
days.

If Artest has heard even half of this stuff, I have no doubt he will be on 
the warpath tonight with something to prove and, as you say, he has nothing 
to lose.
He already has the reputation of being crazy.  If he goes off the deep end it 
will only add to his persona which the national media just soaks up.
As things stand now, the Pacers are done in this series.  It's just a matter 
of when and where.  From what I've seen of Artest he isn't a dirty player per 
say, but he also isn't above taking things into his own hands when given the 
opportunity.
I just hope the officials make it clear from the outset that they won't stand 
for any shenanigans.  Up till now they've treated him with kid gloves in this 
series.

>NBAtv.com--as of now (12:26pm EDT), still no word, still no channel.  Bleah 
>to the NBA for trying to play hardball with the cable companies, and double 
>bleah to Cox Cable for not telling people what happened.  Triple bleah to 
>>both of them if I miss tonight's game and the C's win it here.

  I promise you, if the Celtics win this game tonight and you don't get to 
see it, I'll send you a copy of my tape.
We are going out for an early dinner since it's my birthday.  But I told my 
husband in no uncertain terms we have to be back by 8:20 (we are on central 
time here) because I'm not missing a minute of this game tonight.  


TAM