Slippery slope for Celtics

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Slippery slope for Celtics

They tried but still fell back

By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 5/14/2003

or the second season in a row, the Celtics left the FleetCenter after their
last game listening to the New Jersey Nets celebrate. Hip-hop music, shouted
congratulations, and enthusiastic applause could be heard coming from the
visitors' locker room. Deja vu, one round earlier.



The Celtics suffered the embarrassment of being swept in the Eastern
Conference semifinals, failing to reach their season-long goal of returning to
the conference finals.

A double-overtime loss in Monday's Game 4 was a bitterly disappointing end to
a season in which the Celtics certainly overachieved yet never truly put
together a complete game. The Celtics tried to improve after an offseason of
player moves and free agent losses that left Jim O'Brien reviewing defensive
principles for the benefit of newcomers. One reason O'Brien believed his team
played so well against Indiana in the first round is that the players were
finally on the so-called same page.

The most frequently asked question in preseason concerned the starting center
spot: Tony Battie or Vin Baker? The Celtics certainly came a long way from
those days. Throughout the season, they struggled to make up for the toughness
they lost when Erick Strickland went to Indiana and Mark Blount signed with
Denver. The Celtics also missed the versatility of Rodney Rogers and the
pick-and-rolls of Kenny Anderson.

With the prospect of major personnel moves this summer by executive director
of basketball operations Danny Ainge, 2003-04 could be another season of
adjustments. That's not necessarily what the current players want.

''I think we're right there,'' said Antoine Walker after Game 4. ''I've been
hearing a lot of things the last few days with Danny Ainge taking over. But I
think the rebuilding process is over. You come out of the Eastern Conference
during the second round, this is what it's all about -- getting to the
playoffs and fighting for a championship.

''We have some weaknesses that we have to improve. I don't know what they are.
I have to really sit and think about it, evaluate our team. But that's
obviously going to be Danny Ainge's job, asking guys. But it'd be a shame if
seven or eight guys that have been here a long time don't get the opportunity
to come back to continue to try and get back to the finals to fight for No. 17
for this organization.''

The New Jersey series highlighted many of the team's flaws. Insufficient
depth. Insufficient size. Insufficient speed. The Celtics needed a true point
guard (proving Anderson prophetic when he said his former team would miss him
most in the playoffs). They fell victim to streaky shooting, hitting barely 40
percent from the floor, barely 30 percent from 3-point range.

''Although we didn't have the team that we had last year, [we did have] the
nucleus that was on that team, the five-six guys, and we were still able to
get to this point,'' said Eric Williams. ''That goes to show the great game
plan and coaching staff we have, with the players being dedicated to this
team.''

For all of the Celtics' faults, they did have chemistry. The players buy into
O'Brien defense-first philosophy. They demonstrated the kind of resiliency
that cannot be coached. They twice staged impressive comebacks on the road. On
Jan. 20, Boston came back from a 20-point first-half deficit against
Philadelphia to record a 100-99 win. On Feb. 13, Boston squandered a 20-point
first-quarter lead against Portland, only to complete a fourth-quarter
comeback for a 100-92 win.

''I remember coming to this team and thinking we had a great chance to win,''
said Grant Long, who would like to come back next season. ''And we did win. I
believe it was my first week here and we go into Philadelphia. We're down 20
points and we go in at halftime and everybody's saying, `Don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it. We've been down like this before. We're going to fight
and come back.' Lo and behold, like I had never seen before, we come back and
we win that game.

''That let me know at that point that these guys are winners. It's great to be
around a group of guys who are consummate pros and go out and want to do their
job and want to win. We have guys on the team where that's the goal every day,
every game. It's a pleasure, a thrill to be around guys like that.''

But the Celtics did suffer a costly six-game losing streak in late March. They
also broke -- and then broke again -- the franchise record for worst
regular-season loss. First it was a 45-point loss to Washington in the second
game of the season. Then they lost by 52 at home to Detroit Jan. 31.

The Celtics managed to win 44 games (just five fewer than last season) despite
a number of obstacles. Battie played through chronic soreness in his right
knee from a torn meniscus. For half a season, O'Brien competed with a roster
of 12, until the new owners OK'd the acquisition of veterans Long in January
and Bimbo Coles in March. Just before the trading deadline, Boston completed a
deal with Denver that brought back Blount and sent point guard Shammond
Williams to the Nuggets. A week later, Baker was suspended because of
alcohol-related problems.

Through all the ups and downs, the two constants remained Paul Pierce and
Walker. The cocaptains again received All-Star nods, though Eastern Conference
coach Isiah Thomas gave them limited minutes in the game. Walker and Pierce
carried the load in scoring, rebounding, and assists, and shouldered the blame
after losses.

After Monday's loss, Walker went around to teammates in the locker room and
started to get them focused on next season, telling them to use this
second-round run as a learning experience, to go home and work on their games
and come back better next season.

''Walking off the court, I was just recapping everything, just trying to soak
everything in,'' said Walker. ''Obviously, this is a learning process for us.
This is only my second year in the playoffs, [the] second year this group has
been in the playoffs. I think it starts with preseason next year with us. We
have to come determined to improve and set a standard and give ourselves
home-court advantage.''

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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