From: "Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <Celtics@xxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: No trick: James just a treat Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 07:52:08 -0500
Swell, good news for James but if they keep playing him 42 minutes a game he'll see the wall quick...
DanF
----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "celtics list" <celtics@xxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 6:57 AM Subject: No trick: James just a treat
> No trick: James just a treat
> By Peter May, Globe Staff, 10/31/2003
>
> SACRAMENTO -- Today is Halloween. LeBron James says it's his favorite
holiday.
> ("I'm a horror guy.") He said he even once went out dressed like a
basketball
> player, which, if you saw his NBA debut Wednesday night, required no
costume
> or makeup whatsoever.
>
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
> Let the slobbering begin.
>
> James left this city as a loser for the first time in any kind of
meaningful
> game since the Ohio state championship game at the end of his junior year
at
> St. Vincent-St. Mary. The Kings spoiled the rookie's opener, winning,
106-92.
> James played again last night in Phoenix, the first of many
back-to-backers
> for the 18-year-old Cavaliers prodigy in a quick introduction to Life in
the
> NBA.
>
> He won't be back here until next season, but he'll be hard pressed to
reprise
> what was a truly special NBA debut, especially considering the klieg
> light-like atmosphere.
>
> "I tip my hat off to him," said teammate Darius Miles. "He likes to
perform in
> front of big crowds. He'll get that chance, every night. Once he sees a
big
> crowd, his eyes light up."
>
> It was a starry, starry night. Terrell Owens, Jeff Garcia, Moses Malone,
Dusty
> Baker, and a host of bearded behemoths from the Raiders and 49ers were
there.
> Here's what they and everyone else saw: in 42 minutes, James had 25
points, 9
> assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and shot 12 of 20 from the field. He never
once
> looked like a rookie, never mind out of place, prompting Kings guard Bobby
> Jackson to say, "Now I can see what the media was all ecstatic about."
>
> Those knocks on his outside shooting prompted by a less-than-stellar
> exhibition season? Nowhere to be seen in Arco Arena. He drained his first
> three shots, all baseline jumpers, the last of which was an arcing
fallaway
> over the outstretched hand of Brad Miller. He did miss two 3-pointers, one
of
> which was an end-of-quarter heave from well over halfcourt. He still shot
60
> percent. (OK, he missed two of three free throws.)
>
> But his signature stretch occured in the first quarter, where he had 3
steals,
> 2 assists, and 2 points in the space of 36 seconds. The first steal led to
a
> no-look assist. The second steal led to a thundering, windmill dunk. The
third
> steal could have been just like the second, except James stopped at the
foul
> line and shoveled a pass to Ricky Davis, who went in for a reverse slam.
>
> "I thought we got his blood flowing by turning it over three times in a
row,
> and giving him those dunks, but he's got a lot of talent," said Kings
coach
> Rick Adelman. "He made some shots early, he gets to the basket, he sees
the
> floor, he's creative. For a first game, he has me impressed."
>
> There was nary a dissenting view. How could there be? Until Wednesday
night,
> the best debut by a high school-to-NBA No. 1 pick (since the latest craze
> began with Kevin Garnett) was 10 points. James had 12 in the first
quarter.
>
> But, even more critical, he had his team in the game almost until the
bitter
> end. Last year, the Cavaliers opened in Sacramento and got absolutely
> hammered. This year, they made it a game. They rallied from a 19-point
hole to
> take a brief lead in the fourth quarter, yet didn't have enough to hold it
> against the deeper, talented, comfortable-at-home Kings. But the comeback
is
> what really pleased coach Paul Silas because it signaled a resilience and
> resourcefulness missing from last season.
>
> In the end, it was a perfect evening for all concerned. Back in the heyday
of
> Larry Bird, the Celtics would play on the road and the hosts' management
would
> always hope for two things: a victory by their team and a show by Bird.
That's
> what happened here. The Kings won, setting off the cowbells. And James,
> dressed as an NBA player for the first time, was undeniably a showstopper.
>
> ) Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
> sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
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