RE: Quick game thoughts...

["Wright, Cecil" <Cecil.Wright@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't see how one could not mention that defense we laid on Indy in the 2nd half.  I thought it was outstanding the way we contested shots.  Of course, it helped that O'Neal sat out a good portion thanks to fouls, which is really saying something because I agreed with Tommy about the treatment of Pierce by the refs.  When your star player goes to the line 3 times against a physical team, someone ain't seein' somethin'.

Holding them to 28 points in the second half is extremely unlikely on most nights.  But that was the outcome.  If not for Harrington and Foster hitting from the outside, we would have blown them out, even though we only shot 6/13 from the line.

O'Neal, btw, was cryin' bigtime about the refs.  See below.

Cecil


Jermaine O'Neal blamed the officials for the Indiana Pacers' loss to the Boston Celtics.

"The fouls they called on me are unbelievable," the Indiana star said after Boston's 78-76 victory Tuesday night.

The Celtics won on Vin Baker's fallaway jumper in the lane with 20 seconds left.

O'Neal blasted the officials for calling three offensive fouls that kept him on the bench much of the second half.

"Do I need to make five or six more All Star games, win an Olympic gold, continue to make All-NBA teams for me to get some respect in the paint?" he asked. "It's frustrating to me."

O'Neal had a dominating first half, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help the Pacers take a 48-34 lead.

But O'Neal went to the bench with 7:22 to play in the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul. He managed just four points and two rebounds in the second half to finish with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

"These refs are taking away my aggressiveness in the post," O'Neal said. "There are guys that are afraid to guard me. I can't be effective if I'm not on the court. Any other player would probably get that [respect], but for some reason, it's not for me."

When asked if he had any theories about why he wasn't getting the calls, O'Neal said, "I don't know. Maybe this market isn't big enough. Maybe they don't like me."

After Baker hit his shot to give Boston a 77-76 lead, O'Neal missed a short jumper with time winding down and Boston's Eric Williams corralled the loose ball to seal the victory.

"Vin really hit a clutch shot," Boston coach Jim O'Brien said. "It's nice to see guys want to shoot the basketball at the end of the game."

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Baker had 12 points and four rebounds.

Indiana lost for the first time in six games to drop to 6-2.

Boston clamped down defensively after falling behind in the first half, forcing bad shots from Indiana, which shot 32 percent in the second half to allow the Celtics back into the game.

"We really tightened up our defense, rebounded the ball and we made it a possession game," Pierce said. "We played a lot tougher basketball in the second half and got the job done."

Raef LaFrentz hit a baseline jumper early in the fourth to give Boston the lead at 63-62. That shot came in the middle of a 9-0 run by Boston to open the quarter that pushed the lead to 68-62, and started a back-and-forth final period.

The Pacers came right back with eight points in a row to take back the lead at 70-68.

The lead would change hands five more times. O'Neal's layup with 37 seconds to play gave Indiana its last lead at 76-75.

Baker followed with his shot and Mike James added a free throw to cap the scoring.

Al Harrington added 17 points and six rebounds for Indiana, which turned the ball over 20 times.

James and Tony Battie each scored 11 points for Boston. 

Notes: Pacers coach Rick Carlisle received a technical foul in the first quarter for arguing a call. Carlisle began his NBA playing career with the Celtics in 1984. He played three seasons in Boston and was teammates with Pacers president Larry Bird and Boston executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge.


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: November 12, 2003 11:51 AM
To: celtics@xxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Quick game thoughts...


You wrote:

Can you elaborate on Indy's announcers? What were they saying?

--- --- ---

The play-by-play guy kept going on and on about Battie's scoring. He was making sarcastic remarks about it being the best night of his career, and once when Battie made one of his 15-footers, said something about that being way out of his range. He clearly thought Battie was a total scrub.

They were homers as far as the officiating was concerned also, but it's hard to say much when the comparison is Tommy. 

They also didn't have many nice things to say about the Boston point guards (which would be understandable if the Pacer point guards weren't Kenny Anderson and Anthony Johnson). They were pretty bad in general. Quinn Buckner was the color guy. He was far less offensive than the play-by-play "talent."

As for the game...

Great, great win. Pierce again played awful in the first half, but really seemed to "get it" in the second half. He made some great passes and was making his moves anticipating the defensive reaction and aware of where the open man would be. Good stuff. When he plays like that, the team is very good. 

The ball movement was crisp in the second half. It was obvious Obie had made it a point of emphasis at halftime. The defensive intensity also picked up.

Battie played well, as did Baker and EWill. The point guards were bad, until James warmed up down the stretch. Lafrentz continues to be wasted. He gets his 8-10 ppg on garbage baskets. The only shots he's getting in the offense are 3-pointers, and that's a shame. He's too good an offensive player to not be involved. Jiri really is going to be a good player. He's smart and aggressive. When he gets some experience, he's going to be good.

The beauty of Kedrick, it seems, is in the eye of the beholder. I thought he was lousy for most of the game last night. He hit one 3-pointer and made one nice steal. If that's all you're looking for, great. Personally, I'm ready for some significant Jumaine Jones minutes. You have to wonder, though, if they aren't running Kedrick out there in an effort to trade him. Let's face it, nothing would submarine his value more than being buried at the end of the bench in his third season in the league.

Obie made some good adjustments, but he misses some obvious things. On the Celtics' final possession, when Baker hit the winner, he came out of a time out with Blount still in the game. Doesn't that seem nuts? It's one possession. If you make the shot, Indy calls time out. If you miss, you foul immediately. So don't you put Lafrentz in for Baker just to force the Pacers to guard him? It worked out, but don't you want your best offensive players on the floor for that one offensive possession? Sure, it's just one possession, but if Baker had been doubled or pressured more, and forced to dump it off, would you feel more confident with him dumping it to Blount or Lafrentz? Plus, Lafrentz is the team's best rebounder and definitely the best offensive rebounder. Anyway, it didn't bite them this time, but that's the stuff that drives me crazy. Overall, though, that was a well-coached game by Obie. I thought they were a little more creative in getting good shots for Pierce and Baker!
 , and they made some good adjustments at halftime. The score was low, but I think the Pacers are just a good defensive team - like the Celtics.

Last thing - the running game is nonexistent. No one is running. I think Obie pays lip service to running for Ainge's sake, but I don't see any indication he's actively coaching it.

Anyway, great win. Extremely tough schedule to open the season, and the Celts come out 4-3 and in first place in the Atlantic. Now they get a schedule break where, if they stay focused, they could make some hay.

Mark