Well, I think the Celts showed (again) a huge flaw that NJ can expose as
they have in the past. Down the stretch, especially when confronted
with a zone, the C's dont seem to have much of an answer. The final
shot tonite is indicative in that all 5 celts were out on the perimeter
and watching Pierce with the ball. If Battie were in the game, he would
have been down there but thats it. They dont seem able to deal with the
zone well at all and it really showed in the fourth. Further, I think
this is compounded by OBs poor coaching. It would have made more sense
to have Bremer in there as he can take the ball to the rack. Delk has
trouble dribbling and lacks the attack mentality needed there.
This doesnt take anything away from the C's. They played tough and hard
and could (should) have come away with a W tonite. To lose this game is
a heartbreaker because they will be hardpressed (at least in my opinion)
to be in the same position for Game 2. I really think leaving NJ with a
split is essential, but that the C's had a very nice effort tonite and
did everything except walk out with the win.
r nelson wrote:
a loss is a loss,but can't be real upset.as a matter of fact,we played real
smart.IMHO,controlling kidd was the key as it let us play our tempo.we had the
shot we wanted with pierce's 3 at the end.