Re: 2-32

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

I get ticked off every time the Celts play the Nets. Even without Van Horn,
that team still has some notoriously soft players and a soft style.
Once-just once-I'd like to see someone knock Kerry Kittles on his can and
see how Kittles responds.

The one tough guy on the Nets, Kenyon Martin, owns Antoine and seems to
intimidate the entire team. Can't someone in green stand up to this guy?
Can't someone knock one of the Nets down hard instead of watching another
layup? I don't care who does it. Remember Kevin McHale hammering Rambis in
the 84 finals? That's what I beg for every time I watch these teams play. I
want Antoine to absolutely body block Kerry Kittles or Kenyon Martin. I want
Pierce to knock Jefferson on his ass, stand over top of him, then refuse to
help him up. Bad sportsmanship? Maybe. I think it's sending a message. No
more freebies. If whoever does it gets ejected, so be it. The message will
be sent, and hopefully not just to the Nets. I'd like to think that, like
McHale's foul in 84, it would inspire the rest of the team-NO MORE LAYUPS.
NO MORE DUNKS.

But I don't think the Celtics players have accepted what they are. I think
they see themselves as a running, gunning,
Jersey/Milwaukee/Dallas/Sacramento type of team. They see their
free-wheeling, 3-point crazy offensive style as their niche. It's not. Their
niche is defense and toughness. The offense, or lack of one, is their
biggest drawback. But the players don't seem willing to fully accept that
identity. Until they do, the Nets will continue to run roughshod over them.

As for Obie and the 3-pointers, I'm guessing the reporters just know what
the answer will be. "I'd encourage them to take those shots every time."
That's Obie. He's a one-trick pony, and that trick was getting the players,
especially the captains, to play hard. Asking him to suddenly turn into a
great offensive coach, or a great game coach, or a great player development
coach, is asking the impossible. Unfortunately, he's here as long as the
players play hard. He needs to go on the same boat that takes Wallace and
Papile, but it won't happen. How many coaches have been fired after their
teams made the playoffs? 

Anyway, looking at the big picture, this is a critical summer. Two
first-rounders, a decision to be made on Kedrick, and, most importantly,
Antoine heading into the final season of his contract. If they're going to
trade him for anything approaching equal value, it has to be this summer. If
it's one of those things that drags into the season, you'd be selling low at
the trade deadline. And if you let it go until the end of the season, you
could lose him for nothing. The worst thing they can do is re-sign him to
another max deal. He'd be virtually untradeable at that point. Of course,
that's what they'll do.

Mark


Josh wrote:

the worst 3-point shooting night in NBA history.  Did
any of you happen to catch it?  I thought the coverage
in the boston media might have a "the three bill finally
comes due" note to them, but instead they just treated
this humiliating loss like it was a fact of nature.  Didn't
anyone think to ask Jim O'Brien why the Celtics play
right into the Nets' plans every frigging time?  Can't he
cool out on the three just one goddamned time?  This
is killing me.  The Celtics look like a bunch of fairies
out there.  Bring back Vitaly.