[no subject]

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

Early on in this game (1st Q), I said out loud that I 
hope we can "piston" the sonics in order to erase the 
negative mood of the past week, which brought front and 
center the fact that this flawed 2002-03 Celtics team 
holds the distinction of having twice set the franchise 
record for worst defeat in a single season.

I can relate to how the Sonics struggled, and 
realistically this might make it harder to steal that 
road win in Seattle to start off a successful or at 
least .500+ Left Coast trip.

But we needed an emphatic win and for our defense to look 
impenatratable again. Hail to Tony Battie! I'd actually 
hesitate for a stupid second or three if Indiana called 
and offered either of their All Star bigs for him. What 
an incredible athletic and emotional presence this guy 
can have at times.

Changing subjects, I love Cedric Maxwell to death (he was 
twice the difference between winning and losing NBA 
championships, and thats a fact). And I don't believe in 
the Cornbread Jinx. 

But did you guys all notice that when Tommy got piped in 
on the phone during the New Orleans game to voice 
commentary from his sick bed, the Celtics methodically 
erased a 10-point deficit down to one point? I really 
wanted that win, but he hung up at that very moment, and 
the next thing you know it was a 10-point deficit again! 

Talk about a "Tommy Point". Maybe the players really can 
hear his raucous, partisan input at games and it inspires 
them to play tougher and smarter as a result. Its like 
having your father watching.

Tommy may come across as a jolly old townie meathead in 
broadcasts, kind of silly at times and all that, but I 
told my wife that he coached IMO the two most 
impressive "greater than the sum of their parts" teams in 
NBA history to banners 12 and 13. And that's something. 

To wit, I asked her if she had ever heard of the All 
Stars Dave Cowens and Jo Jo White and she said "no". 
Obviously, she's heard of Kareem, who we defeated in 1974 
because we practiced with our backup center holding 
broomsticks to mimic his defensive length. The Celtics 
won with a 6-8 center during a golden age of franchise 
big men.

In any case, this was a great team win. We all knew what 
was at stake, and instead of having great overall 
individual performances we had guys step up and cover for 
other guys who were struggling, until they got back on 
track.

Bremer was out of his depth trying to drive and penetrate 
on the Glove early on. He got eaten alive. The way he and 
Walt were stinking up the gym, I thought our bench might 
let us down again. But what a great garbage time 
performance Bremer had to keep his confidence high going 
forward.

Antoine blew every conceivable shot in the first quarter, 
but responded by turning into a ferocious playmaker 
rather than forcing more shots, and that got him back in 
the flow.

Antoine could teach Shammond a thing or two about the 
importance of amnesia after a missed brick or turnover. 
Shammond gained in confidence with each great shot and 
good bounce his way. He can lose it just as fast, but I 
hope he's turned a corner.

Paul Pierce, who has shot lights out for the last three 
weeks, has reason to believe he's turning his season 
around statistically.

Tony Delk had his best two-way game of the year, after 
struggling on both ends since his ankle turned. 

Everyone picked each others games up. The Celtics 
performance wasn't as impressive as the final score, but 
its nice to be on the good end of the bounces. To say we 
needed a result like this is an understatement. Now I'll 
make an overstatement and say that if we had lost 5 
straight ahead of the West coast trip, our season would 
have come apart. This was a big victory. The Celtics 
believed in themselves more than even I believed in them.

 


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