Column:New Celtics encouraging, but not there yet

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New Celtics encouraging, but not there yet
by Zach Rocha
New Bedford Standard Times
Saturday 15 Nov 2003

Does anyone not like the Boston Celtics' new brand of basketball? If you 
don't, then you probably enjoy watching professional field hockey matches 
that end in scoreless draws, and, therefore, your opinion doesn't matter.

As harrowing as it may be to those who have no clue how quality basketball 
should be played, Antoine Walker's departure is already paying dividends 
for this franchise.
Just two weeks into the season, it's visible that the way the Celts are 
attempting to play is the way they do out West -- "running and gunning."
For the Beantown Bunch, the days of having the point guard bring the ball 
past midcourt and then hand it off to No. 8 are gone. No longer do fans 
have to endure the pain of watching Walker and Paul Pierce try to play 
two-on-five.
Instead, the Celtics are trying to "grab and go." Not only is it fun to 
watch -- Wednesday's game against Chicago not withstanding -- but it also 
begins their road to legitimately being in contention for a championship.
Don't get me wrong; Boston is still at least four years away from playing 
for an NBA title.
But that's a lot sooner than if Antoine was still on the roster.
While Walker is down in Dallas fitting the Dallas system quite nicely, 
everyone on the Celtics has noticeably improved without him around.
Pierce is making sure he gets the ball for his necessary shots, but he's 
also becoming one of the league's truly all-around elite players, 
registering nearly eight rebounds over five assists per game in addition to 
averaging 20-plus points.
Kedrick Brown has begun to emerge, finally showing a finishing touch to go 
along with his 22-year-old athleticism.
Mark Blount, Tony Battie and Raef LaFrentz have all discovered their roles, 
making their impact felt by showing plenty of hustle.
Even rookie point guard Marcus Banks has proven he's perfect for the new 
system. He makes smart decisions, plays tough defense, and is probably the 
fastest player while dribbling the ball other than Allen Iverson.
Eric Williams and Jiri Welsch are making solid contributions off the bench.
Last but not least, Mike James and Vin Baker have been nothing short of 
spectacular.
Before he visited the Boys' and Girls' Club in New Bedford a month before 
the season began, absolutely no one knew who James was. Never mind his 
stats or background ... even the media didn't know what he looked like.
We do now. He's the "Amityville Horror", the starting point guard who 
laughs in the face of doubters, superstition (he wears No. 13), and pressure.
His rise, highlighted by his Halloween night game-winner in Memphis after 
Pierce had fouled out, would make an excellent feel-good story to start any 
season.
Yet that distinction, and the biggest cheers go to Baker, whose name only 
seemed to come up on Causeway Street via "Vin Baker Sucks" T-shirts.
After an offseason of training and sobering up, Baker is off to an 
unbelievable start, battling Seattle's Ronald Murray for the early lead for 
the most improved player award.
Considerably slimmed down, he's averaging more than 15 points, close to 
seven rebounds in 30 minutes of work a night as the C's starting power forward.
And just this past Tuesday in Indiana, he hit a game-winning jumper in the 
lane with 20 seconds to go for a huge early-season road win.
With the surge of these new faces, however, there's been one man lost in 
the mix: Walter McCarty. But he's always been known as a guy who comes to 
play when the pressure's on at the end of the season.
All this said, though, don't get too overexcited. I don't see the Celtics 
making the playoffs -- as deep and surprisingly as they are, they still 
don't have a complimentary superstar for Pierce.
That player will come either before the trade deadline or after the season, 
as Danny Ainge holds two first-round and two second-round picks in 2004, 
along with at least $7 million in free cap space. (That could balloon to 
$13 million depending on what happens with Chris Mills.)
As great as it is to register Boston's first win over the Sacramento Kings 
in more than 1400 days -- nearly four years for you math majors -- the 
Green still aren't good enough to force teams with more skill into playing 
at the tempo Boston wants them to.
Eventually, these players will run out of gas. A franchise just can't make 
a drastic change in style and expect their personnel to be physically 
prepared to maintain a feverish level for that whole first year.
To get the Celtics back to the top, it'll be like climbing Mount Everest -- 
step by step, they'll acclimate to their new environment, adjusting as they 
climb.

CLEANSING A CURSE

Which reminds me, didn't somebody go up to the top of the Himalayas, leave 
a Red Sox hat and burn a Yankees hat in an effort to exorcise the "Curse of 
the Bambino"?
Not to desecrate the memory of a tragic event, but maybe someone should 
consider leaving a picture of the late Len Bias up there. After all, the 
Celtics haven't won a championship since the team selected him with the No. 
2 pick in 1986.
I know Boston sports fans still believe in curses.
Right, Grady?

Zach Rocha writes about basketball for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at 
beyondthearczachrocha@xxxxxxxxx  
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