Re: last seconds

[CeltsSteve@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 12/27/03 7:17:16 AM Pacific Standard Time,
jozersky1@xxxxxxxxxx writes:



> Let's not get carried away with praising O'Brien.  It's his fault that the
> Celtics were down 17 to begin with.  The
> tandem of Blount and McCarty at 5 and 4 is one of the worst in basketball
> history.  Why those two would start
> over Perkins and Hunter has to be one of the enduring questions in sports
> history.

First of all, Blount did not start, he came off the bench. The starting
"4"/"5" was Baker and McCarty. Why either one starts over Hunter is pretty
simple
since Hunter is on the IR list. To get Hunter activated and into the games,
Jumaine Jones or Yogi Stewart would have to be put on IR in Hunter's place. My
vote would be to IR Yogi if you want to see Hunter activated.



> Blount has been as bad in recent games as he ever has;

He had a career night last scoring 16 points. The C's won by 2. Unless Hunter
or Perkins could have scored at least at least that much, the C's lose the
game.



> he robbed Marcus Banks of at least three assists by blowing point-blank
> layups.

I'm not real concerned about Marcus Banks' assist stats last night. I'd be
more concerned with many of Paul Pierce's 8 TOs that contributed to Phoenix
being able to build that 17 point lead in the first place.



> And the less said about Walter the better.

OK, then we won't talk about him then.



> The Celtics are back to being a perimeter team that lives and dies by jump
> shots and three-pointers.
>
You're right. Because they don't have an inside post up big currently on the
roster worth a damn.  Baker has looked absolutely lifeless the past two games
and he's probably the best post up player on the team. Stewart stinks
offensively; he's got ZERO post up game. Mihm has very little post up game.
Blount
logged 25 minutes and to his credit he turned in a career night with 16
points;
and Hunter is on IR. That leaves Perkins as the only viable low post option
and
he's an unproven, straight out of HS kid. We've only seen glimpses of his
ability.




> And what the hell is going on with Vin Baker?  Tell me he's not back on the
> sauce.

We all hope and pray that is not the case. I would like to think it is more a
case of him being melancholy over the Holidays what with the team out on the
road and he is away from his family and children. I hope and pray that is the
case and that returning home to be reunited with them and getting some of
mama's home cookin' will get him back on (early season) track. In fairness to
Vin,
he did have a double double against the 6uhs in the last home game preceding
the road trip but he basically has become invisible in the two (road) games
since.             


> Anyway, good win.

In my book there is no such thing as a bad win; although some are certainly
better and much sweeter than others.



> But they're not advancing the ball, Pierce is still overhandling the ball,
> we're not getting layups even against a team with no shot-blockers, and we
> have somehow managed to make Scott Williams look like Wilt Chamberlain.  Not
> good.


All very true indeed. Well, I don't know about Scott Williams looking like
Wilt, though. :-)



> I'm glad the Celtics won and that Banks won, but much to criticize in this
> win.

I am glad too although I don't understand your comment "that Banks won."
I'll leave all the criticism to the armchair quarterbacks since the outcome
was
after all still a W. I just don't see the need or benefit to be as critical
after a W as I would after a L.



> For instance how Stephon Marbury had an open layup at the end;

S%&t  happens



> or how Ricky Davis, after scoring 8 points in 8 minutes, disappeared for a
> huge stretch of the game. - Josh
>
Maybe because Pierce absolutely went off from midway in the 3rd quarter and
was largely responsible for erasing the 17 point deficit you spoke of; McCarty
was knocking down his shots (oops -- I said I wouldn't talk about him); and
Blount made a high percentage of his shots.


CeltsSteve

``Time, practice, patience, attitude, unselfishness'' - Jim O'Brien