Fatigue - Mental or Physical?

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

< O'Brien held out Pierce, Walker, Tony Battie, and Eric Williams 
from practice before the team's 6 p.m. charter flight to New Orleans 
yesterday. O'Brien said he gave Pierce and Walker time to recuperate 
from Monday night, and that Battie (right) and Williams (left) were 
resting sore knees. > - Vega, Boston Globe, 1/8/03

This is getting to be a habit. Yet another practice not participated in 
by several of our starters.  Not that practices are important to this 
team.  No matter how many pre-game practices and O's  & X's strategy 
sessions we have, come game time we are still restricted to the 
HARTER D AND THE ONGOING 3. These two tenets remain  written-in-
stone despite the opponent or the particular circumstances presented
within each game. 

I do not blame our players for our recent losses, but acknowledge
that they may need mega doses of anti-depressants to get them 
through this season of their discontent.  And so might us fans.

We can only wonder why Pierce has such tired legs after playing 
in nine (?) FIBA world games this summer when so many of his FIBA
teammates do not look near as worn and spent. 

We can only wonder why AW's stats are so down across the board,
and why he looks just as exhausted as Pierce when he wasn't even 
included in the FIBA world games.

We can only wonder why with Battie's cranky knee Obie stubbornly 
played him 32 minutes (six mpg above his season average) against 
the Wiz while entrusting Baker with only 16 minutes? Could it be 
that Obie cares less about Baker's potential offensive contributions 
(which he has shown no intention of utilizing) than Walter's better 
grasp of the Harter D?

We can only wonder how the Celt's answer to bon vivant Whitey 
Bulger, i.e. our own Leo Papile, worded his scouting report on Baker.
Does the Freedom of Information Act not apply to Celtic documents? 
This team has lost their edge ... i.e. the killer instinct.  But what 
players wouldn't have if confronted with all the BS that has 
taken place this season.  Our core players have seen their team 
fall from a promising to a depressing future in one swift 
horrendous trade.  

And please - I am tired of hearing that Gaston dictated the Baker 
trade to save $1 mill in team salary.  This was Wallace's glory 
trip  "coup "  all the way.  Had we held on to Kenny only as long as 
till today (40% of the season) at his $9 mill salary prior to trading 
him, we would have been better off financially than paying Baker 
his full $12 mill salary for 100% of the season.  Jessen says Baker
will pay for his salary in dividends come the playoffs.  Let's see - 
0-3 and out comes to $4 mill per playoff game... with three more 
seasons to go.  

You know what- this post makes little sense because the Baker 
trade is so outrageously overpowering and destructive to our 
future that it really doesn't matter whether PP and AW's 
exhaustion is physical or mental.  I only know which mine is. 

Egg

-------------------------------------------B 
Road work ahead 
Signs are cautionary as Celtics begin trip
By Michael Vega, Globe Staff, 1/8/2003  

WALTHAM - After Monday night's tough 100-95 loss to the Washington 
Wizards, the Celtics face a grueling four-game road trip that begins 
at 9 tonight in New Orleans against the Hornets. 

''Like I said after the game,'' said Paul Pierce, who had 30 points in 
Boston's squandered opportunity against the Wizards, ''it's a tough 
loss before going on one of our toughest road trips of the year. But, 
hey, we're just going to have to get it done the hard way: on the road 
against some quality teams.'' 

Since mid-December the Celtics have had numerous opportunities to 
beef up their record, which stood nine games above .500 after a 113-90 
spanking of the Knicks in New York Dec. 14. But losses against opponents 
with inferior records -such as Monday night's - have left the Celtics 
dreading this trip, which also includes a perilous Texas trek to Dallas, 
San Antonio, and Houston. 

''It's a difficult matchup down there in the new building where they 
play,'' Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said of facing the Hornets. ''They 
started the year 11-0 at home and they're extremely deep and talented, 
and the only time they seem to lose with any regularity is when Baron 
Davis is banged up. 
{Egg: Let us hope he doesnbt play tonight}

''But we have to worry about their strength on the boards because they 
are so big and tough. Davis and David Wesley are really a great backcourt, 
and Jamal Mashburn has had an All-Star-type of year.'' 

As for the rest of the trip? 

''Dallas, their record and what Don Nelson has done with them, is 
well-documented. They're playing as well as anyone in the league,'' 
O'Brien said. ''Dallas and Houston are really utilizing their extremely 
big centers by playing a lot of zone. My hope would be that we could 
get quality perimeter shots, because when they're in a zone, you're 
not shooting over Shawn Bradley and you're not shooting over Yao Ming. 
But you still have to drive the ball into the paint to try and go inside-
outside against their zone. 

''Houston not only has a new weapon in Yao Ming but they have some of 
the best one-on-one players in the league, [Steve] Francis and Cuttino 
Mobley. 

''And San Antonio is a legitimate contender for the crown. They've had 
their ups and downs, but any time you have Tim Duncan in the middle 
with [David] Robinson ... 

''They're going to be four very, very good basketball teams. We understand 
that we have our work cut out for us, but we also understand that we 
can only play one opponent at a time.'' 

If the Celtics salvage a split, they would remain five games above .500. 
They already have faced two of the teams on this trip, dropping a 97-86 
decision to Dallas at the FleetCenter Nov. 15 and scoring a 95-86 home 
victory over the Hornets Dec. 1. 

Boston will get its first look at San Antonio, which trails front-running 
Dallas by 71/2 games in the Midwest Division, and Houston, with its 
highly touted rookie center Yao, who no doubt will present a huge 
matchup problem. 

''We've just got to go out and get a win right now and stay in the thick 
of this race, stay in the heat of this division,'' said Antoine Walker. 
''We made it hard on ourselves. We had an opportunity from mid-December 
up to this point to put together a really decent record and we didn't 
take advantage of it. 

''Now our backs are against the wall a little bit, schedule-wise. We're 
still five games over .500 and we've got to look at the positives vs. 
the negatives. We're still right there in the thick of things. We just 
have to find our stride where we play consistent basketball, but 
we're not there yet.'' 

The Celtics showed some flashes in a fourth-quarter surge against 
Washington that gave them an 89-82 lead with 6:48 to go. But 
questionable shot selection - including a penchant for hoisting 
3-pointers at critical times - led the Celtics to stumble in the end 
from what Pierce described as ''a lack of aggression,'' especially in 
getting to the foul line, where the Wizards took 41 free throws to 
16 for Boston. 

''It just has to do with rotating the ball and driving the seam,'' 
Pierce said. ''I think we settle at times for - they're not bad shots - 
but there are times when I think we can get better. I think guys could 
mix it up a little more, getting to the paint for easy buckets, because 
we're relying on jump shots and that's why we're not getting to the 
line.''  Those will be but a few of the challenges the Celtics will face 
on this trip. 

''Since I've been here, we've never really backed down from any kind 
of challenges,'' Pierce said. ''We're fighting to get a win, we're going 
on a tough road trip, and I think this is where we turn it around.'' 

O'Brien held out Pierce, Walker, Tony Battie, and Eric Williams from 
practice before the team's 6 p.m. charter flight to New Orleans 
yesterday. O'Brien said he gave Pierce and Walker time to recuperate 
from Monday night, and that Battie (right) and Williams (left) were 
resting sore knees. ''Eric twisted his knee in the second quarter,'' 
said O'Brien. ''He stubbed his toe on the court and twisted it.'' Battie 
needed to rest his knee after logging 32 minutes against the Wizards. 
''The challenge of our medical staff is that ideally we would like to 
have Tony play all the games and always practice,'' O'Brien said. 
''But whether we are going to get that from his knee remains to be 
seen. But we will take what we can get.'' ... Newcomer Mikki Moore 
said he hoped to get some playing time on this trip. ''Right now, 
it's been hectic,'' Moore said. ''I've got to take a crash course on the 
defensive schemes.'' Asked how he planned to integrate the 7-footer 
into the lineup, O'Brien said, ''It's very, very difficult for someone 
like Mikki Moore to come in here on a 10-day contract, and I have 
to evaluate him in practice during a time when we're not practicing 
that long. Then I have to weigh whether or not I can get him on the 
court in game situations. We just want to be ready. If Tony can't 
play a game or practice, we'll at least have some size for the 
short term.''