thoughts during the game...

[Kestutis.Kveraga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Kestutis Kveraga)]

It's just before the opening tip and the Celtics' starting lineup is splayed on
the screen. I'm thinking...holy crap, here we go again. It's just like Obie to
start Waltuh, and at center, no less. 

It's well into the first  and Nowitzki is continually being left open  to front
and double-team the likes of Fortson. Dirk's raining long twos and threes on
our heads while Waltuh, Baker, and Blount are being buffeted about by Fortson
two at a time, like a couple of bantamweights trying to stop a 500-poind sumo
wrestler. Fortson doesn't even seem to notice them. When a wide-open Nowitzki
hits yet another bomb, Tommy screams,  "what is this nonsense?!!!", referring
to the Harte/Obie defensive strategy, "Just stick with the guy!!!". In
frustration he turns to his favorite release valve, referee-bashing. I in
response turn to ESPN just in time to catch Walton openly mocking the
Harter/Obie defense - "They're leaving Nowitzki open to double Fortson?!!",
says Walton with equal doses of incredulity and sarcasm. Waltuh looks his
typical chicken-headed self, Blount is clueless, and Baker looks softer than a
well-worn chamois shirt from L.L. Bean. No sign of Mihm. I'm thinking that Obie
is incredibly stupid or incredibly stubborn, or both. 

At 5:34 Davis checks in and somehow seems less scruffy and gangsta-like, and
more domesticated. The Snoopp Dogg, "real" look is still there, but it's
somehow been softened. After a while I realize it's because he's shaved his
Inspector Kemp sideburns, which were beginning to encroach on the sides of his
mouth. After missing a couple of J's and looking uncharacteristically hesitant,
he makes eye contact with Pierce and lifts off for an alley-oop. Paul's pass is
slightly off the mark, so Davis has to turn on his overhead rotor and hover
there for a count or two to gather the pass and slam it through. I'm thinking
that Kedrick, for all his leaping ability, flubs that play. 
 
The second quarter begins, and there's still no sign of Mihm. Then it's the
middle of 2nd.  Despite all the double-teaming down low, the Celtics are
getting absolutely  murdered on the defensive boards by the 6-6 Danny Fortson,
who already has 5 offensive rebounds. Still no sign of Mihm. Walton reports
that Obie thought that "Dallas is not a good matchup for Mihm".  Baker, Blount,
and Waltuh apparently are, no doubt due to their advanced "blitzing" and
defensive-rebounding skills. I'm now leaning towards extreme stupidity as a 
leading theory to explain Obie's actions. 

Finally, Mihm comes in with 2:41 left in the 2nd due to Blount and Baker's
having accumulated 3 fouls apiece.  Walton misses this event while questioning
why Mihm hasn't been in the game yet. Mihm immediately get his hands on a few
rebounds, shuts down Fortson under the basket, and stops the slaughter on the
defensive glass. 

I watch the ship of fools that is the ESPN NBA halftime show with a morbid
fascination that usually only incredibly sleazy informercials and the 700 club
can evoke in me, then, having heard enough stupid things to last me a month, 
switch to the familiar faces of FSNE. 

Third quarter: Michelle Taffoya checks in with a report that Obie was
"chastising his players for their defense" at halftime. I'm stunned. I thought
the defense was Obie's and Dick Harter's idea, and, like in Pitino's "beheaded
chicken" defense and Communism, the foibles of imperfect humans screw up the
system designed for perfect human beings. Live and learn. 

Well into the third, the Celtics are trying to close the gap, mainly by efforts
of Welsch and Pierce, but Daniels and Fortson are keeping Boston at bay.
Fortson has resumed the slaughtering of the "front-line" of Baker and Waltuh.
I'm thinking that Baker is softer than a baby's bottom and that I now
understand why fans in Seattle hated him even when he was sober. 

Fourth quarter: Pierce turns it on, Nowitzki and other perimeter shooters are
actually being guarded now which, shockingly, results in missed shots.  MCarty
hits a big three, adds a two-pointer, and then grabs a huge rebound after a
defensive stand, a typical idiot-to-hero transformation by Waltuh, the Forrest
Gump of the NBA. I'm thinking that perhaps Obie wasn't so stupid to put him in,
and that maybe Tommy hasn't lost all his marbles yet, the incredibly idiotic
Bernie and Phyll's commercial aside. 

The post-game thoughts in the next post...
Kestas