Sports Guy on the NBA with a few Celtics thoughts...

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

Here are some Simmons NBA thoughts from his latest column, including some
Celtics-related stuff: 

Seattle SuperSonics
Along with the Celtics and Magic, one of those "If we're making jumpers, we
can beat anyone on any given night" teams, as they proved with victories
over the Nets, Kings, Mavs and Spurs this season. Throw them in the East and
they're probably a sixth seed right now; in the West, they won't even make
the playoffs. Regardless, Sonics fans will consider 2003 a success since
they successfully unloaded Vin "Mr. Lightheaded" Baker. Any time you're on
the good side of The Dumbest Trade In Sports History, the rest of the season
doesn't even matter, does it? 
(Hey, you know who else is lightheaded? Me! I have to stare at Vinny's box
scores every morning without pouring hot coffee into my eyes. That always
makes me lightheaded. 22 minutes, 0-for-2, no FTs, two rebounds, one
turnover, six fouls, three three-second violations, two illegal defense
violations, three seasons and $43 million to go after this one. Yep. Feeling
lightheaded again.) 
Golden State Warriors
2. Troy Murphy, quietly averaging a double-double (you read that correctly)
and getting on just about everyone's nerves. The Murphy Saga is a very sore
subject with my father, who openly campaigned for the Celtics to draft him
during The 2001 Debacle -- when Celtics GM Chris Wallace had the 10th, 11th
and 21st picks and somehow didn't end up with anyone who's currently
contributing to the team, even though Murphy, Tony Parker, Vlad Radmanovic,
Arenas, Jamaal Tinsley and Richard Jefferson were all on the board at the
time. Well, at least Wallace didn't trade for Vin Baker. Oh, wait a second
... 
A couple more thoughts here, only because I'm fascinated by the Warriors: 
A.	Gilbert Arenas -- likable game, good upside, certainly a steal as a
second-rounder ... and I can't shake the fact that his team doesn't seem to
play well when he's running the show. There's a reason Boykins keeps
sneaking in there at crunch time. Just remember I said this when someone
signs Arenas for $25 million this summer.
	 
B.	NBA players should always improve in their second seasons, at least
in theory. You struggle as a rookie, make your mistakes, get used to the
traveling, learn how to fend off the groupies, figure out ways to get your
extended family and friends to stop asking you for money, knock up your
first girlfriend ... by the time season No. 2 rolls around, you've ready to
play some basketball. So what the hell's wrong with Jason Richardson? He
averaged 14.4 a game last season, shooting 43 percent in 32.9 minutes a game
... and this year he's averaging 15.4 a game and shooting 39 percent.
Where's the learning curve? And what happened to the guy who used to drive
fearlessly to the basket? (WONDER IF KEDRICK HAS HEARD OF THE SECOND SEASON
THEORY?)