Obie/Pierce

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

Count me on Obie's side in this one. The point is winning games. That game
was won. If Pierce had been hurt in the final two minutes trying to pad his
stats-with Walker already out-Obie would have been crucified (justifiably).

Who cares if he scores 45 or 50 if the final five points are scored in total
garbage time against a truly terrible team? It doesn't matter. I was
surprised but pleased that Obie took Pierce out at that point. Typically, he
gives the captains everything they want. Thankfully he used some common
sense this time.

The Celts are catching a huge break during Walker's injury. Denver is a
wasteland, and Orlando isn't much better without  McGrady and Hill. Whether
Antoine comes back against Detroit or not, they've weathered his injury
nicely. It didn't happen the way we'd all hoped-with increased production by
Brown, Baker, etc., but the wins still count. But think about these games
without Antoine the next time you use playing time, lack of shots, etc. as
an excuse for some of these guys. It's just not that simple.

On a non-Celtics note... Did anyone read the Vecsey piece about the
Warriors? Apparently Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson skipped a pair of
practices to protest their decreased playing time. It's crap like this that
makes me wonder why I invest in sports... That team is finally showing signs
of life and has been playing .500 ball since an 0-5 start. They're finally
doing something. And these two second-year guys-two of the three leading
scorers on the team-pull a stunt like this because their playing time is
down a little. They're going to submarine the best thing that has happened
to that franchise in years-new coach Eric Musselman. And Vecsey basically
plays mouthpiece for the malcontents with the argument that winning a little
more now isn't worth it if you're not developing your young players. The
whole thing really strikes a nerve with me. 

Mark