I'm thankful for this series...

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

I think this series was necessary to highlight just how far this team is
from title contention. Not only aren't the Celtics within earshot of the top
6-9 teams in the West, they aren't that close to the top teams in the East.
That needed to be made obvious. Ainge knows it, hence his comments about
getting things "turned around." In Wallace and Papile's twisted world,
everything was on the upswing. Ainge sees the team for what it is and isn't
satisfied with that. These are good things.

On the other topics of the weekend... 

1.	Game 3... Not at all surprising. The interesting thing about this
series is the way the Nets have so completely frustrated Antoine. Remember
last year, they did the same thing to Pierce. Anyway, the Nets may relax a
little tonight, but if they push the pedal just a little, I think the
Celtics will more than gladly let them run away.

2.	Antoine's play... Not much to say. I will second Tammo's thoughts
about Antoine's idea of playing hard and the reality of playing hard. You
never see Antoine give a hard foul, even when it's necessary. He doesn't
want to impact his minutes. It's another reason I shake my head when people
talk about what a "team" guy Antoine is. He's about Antoine. Always has
been, always will be. Like Tammo said, he wants to win, but doesn't want to
do everything necessary to win. He wants it on his terms.

3.	Antoine's incident... I can't believe how this has been shrugged off
by the Boston media and, apparently, most on this list. The guy left the
bench and assaulted a fan. So the guy was heckling. Like this was the first
time? No, this happened because Antoine is frustrated. Cliff Robinson nailed
Antoine when he said he's a front-runner. When things are going his way,
everything is right with the world. When things aren't, that's when the
trouble starts. You can't have players going after fans who are heckling
them. Heckling happens all the time. Antoine has $11 million reasons to
ignore it. He deserves to be suspended.

4.	Trading Antoine... Well, the bandwagon is nearing maximum occupancy.
While I agree, it's vitally important that Ainge not make a bad deal just to
get rid of him. You could live with a deal like that to get rid of a Vin
Baker (unless you're Seattle, when you actually get the two best players and
all the best contracts). But Antoine isn't that kind of problem player. You
have to find the right deal. It won't be easy, but it can and probably will
be done. I'd say Antoine's value, despite this series, still far exceeds the
low-end suggestions (anything involving Dale Davis).

5.	Did anyone else see Ainge talk to Alonzo Mourning during one of the
TNT broadcasts? Apparently he said something like "you'd look great in
green... " And Mourning responded with "Green is one of my favorite
colors... " That's just chit chat, but does anyone think Ainge might have
had Mourning in mind when he talked (joked?) about finding a $10 million
player with that $4.5 million exception? It would be a risk, obviously, but
that would be interesting. Even if he's only as healthy as he was last
season, Mourning would be a significant addition. It's definitely in the
realm of longshot what-ifs, but what the heck?

6.	Obie... I think Ainge is waiting to evaluate Obie because Ainge
knows what needs to be done to this team and he's not going to reward Obie
with an extension if Obie isn't on board. Is Obie a one-trick pony? In other
words, if you take Antoine away, can Obie change the way he coaches this
team?

Sorry so long. I'm just excited about the future of this team for the first
time since before the 2001 draft.

Mark