My two cents on last night...

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

There's really not much to add to all the great posts, but I'll go ahead and
say it all again...

I believed completely and absolutely that the style of play the Celtics had
been employing the last few years was holding them back. I never bought into
the theory that the only way for the Celtics to succeed was to give the ball
to Antoine or Paul and everyone else get out of the way. It went against
everything I believe and love about basketball. Never have I seen a team, no
matter the players, that wasn't at its best when the players and ball were
moving. Even Jordan - the closest thing to a one-man team in recent history
- was at his best when guys like John Paxson, Steve Kerr and Horace Grant
were involved and contributing. It's just common sense and good basketball.
Good team play is better than good individual play. In fact, it's one of the
reasons that I grew up a Celtics fan here in Columbus, Ohio. The Celtics
always played basketball the right way.

After the trade, I had no doubts about the potential for this team to
improve. But the execution was another matter. It's one thing to talk about
"addition by subtraction" but it's something entirely different to actually
put it all together. I seriously doubted Obie's ability to make it happen.
What evidence have we ever seen that he is capable of coaching any other
style? So I was hopeful, but not entirely optimistic, that things might
change. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine the immediate change in the
team's approach and style that we saw last night.

This game was an affirmation of everything I believe about basketball. It
was about the whole being better than the sum of its parts. It was about
everyone on the floor working together to make the team better than any one
of them individually. It was the most beautiful display of Celtics
basketball we've seen in how many years? 10? It happened so quickly and so
easily, is there any other conclusion to be drawn than the simple truth that
Antoine was strangling this team? Is there any other way to say it?

I'll talk about the team before I get into individual player evaluations.
Everything flowed. There were easy shots for everyone. I can count on one
hand the number of bad shots taken by the entire team. Antoine (and Pierce,
for that matter) would exceed that total in one half. The only stat that
surprised me from the box score was the 19 assists. It seemed like twice
that. The ball was moving, players were moving and it suddenly looked like
basketball again, not the uphill hike in the rain that the team's style had
become. The benefits were everywhere, and easy for everyone to see. The
shooting percentage went up, rebounding improved, energy went up and long
scoring droughts were nowhere to be found. Everyone was a part of it.
Players entered and left the game and there was no apparent dropoff.
Everyone was into the game from the beginning and enjoying the newfound
freedom they possessed. As others have said, liberation is the only word
that does it justice.

The players:

Pierce... What can you say? We saw a player we only hoped existed within
Pierce. He made the game look so easy. He scored when he had the opportunity
(although he wasn't shooting the ball especially well), but when the defense
swarmed him-as it did often, as expected-he found the open man. He ran the
floor, he rebounded... He did it all. If there were concerns about a
leadership void, I think Pierce did a lot to dismiss them with his
performance last night. 

Lafrentz... Ainge says he's "a basketball player" and that's the best way to
describe him. Does he blow you away with anything he does? No (although that
block was pretty close), but he does everything well. He shoots, he passes,
he rebounds, he defends, he blocks shots, he runs the floor, he sets picks.
There's no wasted effort. He's the opposite of Antoine in one way: Antoine
is a one-on-one player. He wants the ball in his hands and to do it himself.
Lafrentz needs and wants others to help him find his offense. Some might see
that as a weakness, but I don't. He understands his role and he plays it.
The guy doesn't even know the offense yet, but he always seemed to be in the
right spot. He never held the ball. If he had a shot, he took it. If not, he
passed it. Sounds simple, but after seven years of Antoine, it seemed like a
quantum leap in basketball IQ.

Baker... I'm really trying to temper my enthusiasm for Baker. I've never
despised a Celtic as much as I despised Baker last season. I know he's a
good guy, but he was so terrible with only himself to blame that it was
impossible for me to muster anything but disdain for the guy. BUT... now he
looks like a different person. He has this spring and quickness that I never
believed he could regain. Forget Seattle, he hasn't looked like this since
his early days in Milwaukee. He's rebounding, moving without the ball and
scoring efficiently. If he can just maintain this (a HUGE "if"), then he
won't just be someone who can get a few minutes off the bench. He'll be a
valuable part of the team and maybe even the team's second leading scorer
and top rebounder. But I'm still skeptical. And although it's looking more
and more like a Baker/Lafrentz combo in the starting lineup, I'm not so sure
I wouldn't hold Vin back as the sixth man just to match him up against other
bench players and give the team another offensive option when Pierce is on
the bench. But I do think Vin and Raef could play well together - Vin in the
post, Raef facing up for jumpers.

EWill... Great game last night. Of course, he's not going to do that every
game, but the great thing about it was the way the Celtics recognized that
EWill had it going and kept feeding him. When was the last time that
happened with a player not named Pierce or Walker? The Celtics NEVER rode a
hot hand unless it was one of the captains. Guys might hit two in a row, but
all that meant was you knew Antoine was going to jack one up pretty soon.
EWill is a guy who won't be effective at all some nights and may be traded
by midseason. But last night we learned that players not named Pierce or
Walker are capable of heating up-and the team is capable of recognizing that
and exploiting it. Tony Delk scored 50 points in a game once, but did he
ever have a play run for him in Boston? Did he ever get shots on consecutive
trips down the floor? He was never given a chance to heat up.

Battie and McCarty... I'm lumping these two together because I'm not sure
where they fit. Battie certainly has some value as a backup big man, but
when you consider his contract, is he really that much better (I can't
believe I'm writing this... ) than Blount? Still, unless a really attractive
offer comes along, I'd hold onto him (no salary dump). If anything happens
to Lafrentz or Baker, Battie is a nice luxury. As for McCarty, with Kedrick
continuing to play well and all the good things we've heard about Jumaine
Jones, Walter just seems like an odd man out. He still doesn't want to cross
that three-point line, and he's not a guy who fills in the other stat
categories. He's kind of the anti-Lafrentz in that Walter never seems to be
in the right place. He's a wild card. He kind of stood out last night like
Stephen Jackson stood out for the Spurs last year - everyone else is on the
same page, but he's reading the wrong book. But it's early.

Banks and James... Both guys continue to make progress. Banks is capable of
more great plays, but James is the steadier player. The T-Wolves pressured
Banks a little, and he hesitated a couple of times. He has to get over that,
because he doesn't have Antoine to bail him out anymore. But both guys
pushed the ball well and kept it moving.

Jiri... Didn't see enough to comment. I liked that, like most Europeans, he
didn't seem so conscious of the three-point line. He looks like he might
have a very nice little mid-range game. We'll see.

Kedrick... Like I said, he continues to progress. He may be a big winner
with this trade, because if they continue to play like they did last night,
Kedrick will get a lot more than just stand-still 3-pointers. 

Blount... He was active. He doesn't rebound well, but he seemed around the
ball a lot. He is what he is. Like everyone, he'll benefit from the change.
That's the great thing about this trade... everyone benefits.

Obie... I may be his harshest critic on the list (unless it's Josh or
Kestas), but he stunned me last night. I never imagined he could bring that
kind of play out in the team so quickly, if at all. I'm praying Obie had
something to do with it. My worst fear is he saw last night and thought "we
need to get Paul more shots... " But credit where it's due for a great job.
Maybe the implications that Obie was happy to see Antoine go are true.

OK, I know it was preseason and I know it was just one game. There will be
ugly games. There will be games when it seems they can't find anyone who can
make a basket. But we've also seen what this team is capable of doing-and
they did it without a full practice with the new guys. It was wonderful to
watch. I hope everyone got to see the game (sorry, Josh - you missed a thing
of beauty). They really reminded me of the 1970s Havlicek-Cowens Celtics.
Those teams didn't have the overwhelming talent of the Russell or Bird
teams, but they played together, ran the floor and did it as a team.
Obviously, this team isn't in that class yet, but they looked a little like
that last night. It was beautiful. More than I ever hoped.

Man, this is long. It's just so refreshing to watch basketball again.

Mark