Don't judge Nets so harshly

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don't judge Nets so harshly


By Jackie MacMullan, Globe Columnist, 5/12/2003

o ahead. Hate the Nets if you want. Scream hurtful insults, throw Cheetos at
your television screen, curse Byron Scott's self-righteous dissertations on
our proud city. Try to cement our reputation as the biggest collection of sore
losers in the country, a dubious honor we all but locked up Friday night when
some frustrated patrons, their team trailing by 21 points, resorted to their
tired ''wife beater'' chant, and one of Boston's own fans repeatedly harangued
struggling star Antoine Walker so much that the All-Star forward finally
snapped -- on national television, of course.



It's no fun watching the Celtics implode into a pile of dust. A 3-0 series
deficit holds little -- OK, no -- promise for the locals, so the temptation is
to approach Game 4 tonight at the FleetCenter with the intent of venting all
your frustrations on those Nets, those smug, self-important, know-it-all
Nets.

In the end, it won't do you any good.

The simple, painful truth is the Nets are everything you wish your basketball
team could be.

Celtics coach Jim O'Brien long has contended if a team commits to making
defensive stops, it will win games. The Nets have proven that by contesting
every shot, rotating with help defense, and forcing Boston's scorers into
attempting things they don't want to do. Walter McCarty, for instance, would
rather receive the ball behind the 3-point line and shoot from a set position.
It worked so beautifully against the Pacers, remember? New Jersey's trapping,
poking, arm-waving defenders have all but told Waltah to his face to forget
it. You want that shot? We'll make you take it on the move.

They will make Paul Pierce earn every point, by banging him, harassing him,
fouling him, knocking him to the parquet. Then, when he manages to score 20
anyway, they will tip their hat to him. They will exploit the ballhandling
weaknesses of J.R. Bremer, Tony Delk, and McCarty without mercy, and make the
forwards pay for not getting back as they send Richard Jefferson and Kenyon
Martin streaking up the floor in transition.

Witnessing the total humiliation of Antoine Walker has been nothing short of
excruciating. Martin, New Jersey's excitable catalyst, has masterfully removed
his more celebrated opponent from the equation with equal parts hustle,
talent, and psychological warfare. As one league executive pointed out this
week, it's one thing for a guy to be quicker, stronger, and more physical
(Martin has all those things on Walker). It's quite another to be all those
things, plus mentally tougher. ''Poor Walker,'' said the executive. ''He
doesn't have a chance.''

If Martin were wearing Celtics green, we would already have been petitioning
Wyc Grousbeck to hang his number in the rafters. He would be a cult hero in
these parts, because he plays a complete game, is incredibly acrobatic and
athletic, and doesn't stop working.

We could see he was a star on the rise last season in the Eastern Conference
finals, but the one thing that was missing was his ability to consistently hit
the 15-foot jumper. Not anymore. Martin was 10 for 12 from the floor in Friday
night's win, and they weren't all layups. He is shooting 56 percent from the
floor in this series.

''Every day, Kenyon and I are out there taking extra shots,'' said New Jersey
guard Lucious Harris. ''Before this season started, I told him, `Kenyon, you
gotta be able to knock down those perimeter jumpers. It's the key to our
season.' ''

Harris is correct. When team president Rod Thorn traded Keith Van Horn and
center Todd MacCulloch to Philadelphia for Dikembe Mutombo, a defensive
center, he knew he needed to replace Van Horn's outside shooting. He hoped
free agent (and former Celtic) Rodney Rogers would fill the bill, but early
injuries and a lack of conditioning prevented Rogers from doing that. No
matter. Martin and Jefferson, who will be an All-Star by this time next
season, started knocking down big shots, and haven't stopped since.

''We knew Richard was coming on,'' Thorn said. ''It's one of the reasons we
traded Keith. We needed to find Richard more time.''

Martin and Jefferson would brighten any GM's day, and we haven't even
discussed the team's most valuable player, point guard Jason Kidd, who, new
Celtics basketball boss Danny Ainge will concur, is a free agent magnet.
Players love to sign with the team that has Kidd on it, because he's never
exhibited a me-first scoring mentality. His off-the-court transgressions are
well-documented, and completely repulsive, but that won't stop anyone from
making a mad rush in his direction when he becomes a free agent this summer.

One clever Celtics fan (only a few of them are Neanderthals) passed out San
Antonio Spurs jerseys with Kidd's name on the back Friday night. Many believe
Kidd plans to join Tim Duncan in Texas. After watching the young talent Kidd
has around him on the Nets, maybe Duncan should join him in New Jersey.

If he did, he would know there is no time to fight about minutes, shots, or
points. The Nets don't squabble internally, don't care who is the leading
scorer from night to night. They have excellent depth -- just think how much
Aaron Williams would help Boston, and he's only averaged 22 minutes a game in
this series -- and everybody knows his role.

''The reason I love this team,'' explained shooting guard Kerry Kittles, ''is
everybody wanted to improve as individuals [during the offseason], but we all
came back talking about getting better from a team standpoint.

''We all knew what we needed to work on. We knew we had to learn to be more
focused, and stay away from making the mistakes that tripped us up last year.
We've all looked at it the same way: as a team. Not one or two guys, a
team.''

The Celtics will go after that team tonight in hopes of saving face, and a
little dignity.

Eventually, they will fall to this impressive New Jersey squad. C'mon, Boston,
swallow hard and tip your hat. Sometimes the other guys are just better.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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