Re: Is...

[Kim <kimmalo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nope, not just because of that, although I think that certainly helped make it possible and is at bottom the major reason he is gone - for all he brought on the good side, he was a major roadblock to any real change and change was clearly necessary.

We have much better athletes and a deeper bench than we had before, to make it possible. Ruben and Bruno weren't going to cut it. And while I like JR and think he'll be a very solid pro, James seems a clear upgrade on either him or Delk, especially while Marcus finds his feet. Blount came back to us from Denver a better player and has continued to develop. And of course Vin's metamorphasis (sp?). Pierce deserves a fair chunk of credit for taking the need to play less selfishly to heart, and that's from someone who's opinion of him will never be confused with Tammo's <g>. Obie not only has no AW issues, but he also has backing if he needs it to try to institute this sort of change. We've had management by committee, each with their own agenda for a while and if it came to Obie vs the players or vs Wallace to try to make change, he couldn't have had any comfort level about what Gaston would do. In other words, a lot of factors, with those only the high points.

That being said, Miami was horrible and contributed to their own demise, while the currect Celtics play will not always be as successful as tonight. They should be a lot more fun to watch most nights though.

And BTW, back to Vinnie's metamorphasis, I was at the game so I don't know what the broadcast showed, but a  jaw dropper - him aggressively fighting Brian Grant (in other words, not your average wimp) for position without the ball, then equally aggressively going to the hoop. Nice of Obie to sub him at the very end for him to get a well earned round of applause. Even the idiot behind me, who never got over the idea last season that he was the epitome of wit when he kept on bellowing "put in Vin Baker" when Vin was already on the court looking helpless,  was gushing on about the feelgood story and praising him to death.

Kim

-----Original Message-----
From: Vinny Natale <vnatale@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Oct 29, 2003 9:12 PM
To: Celtics@null, null@null
Subject: Is...

Is all this team play tonight only because Antoine Walker is no longer 
here?  If so, this would be one of the biggest additions by subtractions ever!




Vinny
vnatale@xxxxxxx