Bulpett- Herald

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

<  "We didn't get the opportunities that we were getting in the first 
three quarters. I guess that's life in the NBA.'' > - Obie

It is more than life in the NBA, Obie;  I believe it is called 
coaching.

With 7:13 to go,  we were up by 15 points.  Obiebs pre-game strategy 
was  correct.  But as soon as Houstonbs coach cleverly went into
a zone defense with those 7:13 minutes remaining, Obie once again
had no answer.  We missed 10 of our last 12 shots in regulation and 
7-of-10 in the extra period. And we once again allowed Cuttino
to look like the second-coming of Bryant or McGrady.

Obie is a thoughtful advance-plan coach (albeit after consulting 
with Harter and dad-in-law Ramsey). But he continues to be a 
terrible bench coach with little flexibility or imagination. 
Obie, you are one single-minded dude. 

Egg

-------------
C's can't cool off Rockets

by Steve Bulpett
Tuesday, February 25, 2003

The people had clearly come to see Yao Ming, but the Celtics looked 
as if they wouldn't be yielding the parquet stage to any visiting 
attractions. They had a 15-point lead on the Rockets with seven 
minutes left and appeared ready to claim victory on Asian-American 
Night at the FleetCenter.

But something got lost in the translation along the way. The 
Bostonians crumbled down the stretch in a 101-95 overtime loss 
to Houston last night. The team that should have been glad to be 
home after a six-game tour of the West missed 10 of its last 12 
shots in regulation and 7-of-10 in the extra period.

Yao had nine points and three rebounds in 40 minutes, but the home 
team was more of a curiosity by the end. Like, yo, Celtics, what's 
up with this?

``It hurts,'' said Paul Pierce, who had 22 points (as did Antoine 
Walker) but missed four of his last five shots. ``This is a big week 
for us. We want to come in and protect our home court and stay on 
top in the four spot (in the Eastern Conference playoff seeding) 
and we let it slip away. No way being at home we should give up 
that type of lead.''

When the Rockets went to a zone defense, with the 7-foot-6 Yao 
hanging out in the middle, the Celtics abandoned an inside-out 
game that had served them well. It still didn't look like a fatal 
flaw when Pierce got inside to make it 83-68 with 7:13 to go in 
the last quarter - even with Steve Francis on his way to 33 points 
and Cuttino Mobley swimming toward 31. But then the C's started 
trying to douse the Rocket comeback with long-distance calls.

C's coach Jim O'Brien spoke of how his lads had just missed some 
shots, but he admitted they were ``not great shots. I would like to 
have seen a little more penetration and then dishing instead of 
sometimes just passing it on the perimeter and keeping it out there. 
But our team knows that Ming is waiting for them at the basket. We 
didn't get the opportunities that we were getting in the first three 
quarters. I guess that's life in the NBA.''

The Celtics went scoreless for 4:16 while Houston scored 11 points. 
A Pierce three-point play with 3:28 left put the lead back to seven, 
but Mobley hit a trey to complete a 9-2 run and even the game at 88 
with 1:28 to go.

JR Bremer and Pierce missed on the Celtics' next possession, but 
Pierce harassed Mobley into an airball at the other end. The 
24-second clock drained before the Rockets could make another 
attempt. The Celts then had the last shot of regulation to 
themselves, but Pierce missed a 26-footer in the last second.

``Their players stepped up and we didn't,'' Pierce said. ``You know, 
I had a shot to put the game away in regulation. I just didn't finish 
the job, so it's all on me.''

Not entirely. The Celts made just 4-of-22 shots against the Rockets 
zone, with Bremer 0-for-6 (2-for-9 overall).

``It definitely slowed us down,'' Pierce said of the Houston 
resistance, which was put into play full-time with 5 minutes left. 
``We stood around. We didn't really get enough movement. We shot 
the 3's, but the game shouldn't have even went to overtime.''

Pierce opened OT with a trey from the left corner, but Francis scored 
on a fast break and Mobley hit a jumper. Walker drove by Yao to give 
the Celts their last lead of the night. Mobley then hit a 3 and Yao hit 
two free throws.

The Celts simply had no more replies.

``We're disappointed,'' Walker said. ``We blew a big lead - an 
opportunity on our home floor to get a big win. It feels very 
disappointing obviously.''