Can I take that back?

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

Remember how much I wanted Jiri at point guard... never mind.



Actually, as bad as he was last night, I still think with a little time
there he'd be better than Mike James. I think...



A couple more points:



1.	Mark Blount 48 minutes. Apparently there's someone out there who
thinks Mark Blount is even more indispensable than Obie thought he was.
Unfortunately, that someone is coaching the Celtics. Repeat after me
Danny... CLEAN BREAK. We can't have anyone around next year who has been
here the last few years. They all have tunnel vision. Anyway, Blount has
been doing a nice job, but everyone knows you can't play a big guy 48
minutes, especially one like Blount whose best attribute is his energy.
That's naturally going to drop off as he gets tired. You have to give
him some breaks. You just have to. I can't believe a coach who would sit
two starters for practically a whole quarter because they have two fouls
doesn't understand the importance of resting guys during games.



2.	Tommy is right about the lineup. If you feel like you don't have
another backup center, you just have to bring Mihm off the bench. Mihm
deserves to start. It seems to me the Celts always take a dive whenever
he goes to the bench because suddenly they can't get a rebound. Anyway,
I'm with Tommy (ugh)... start Blount and Hunter and bring Mihm off the
bench. Of course, that will never happen.



3.	I did see some encouraging things offensively early in the game.
I thought they moved the ball pretty well. Things slowed down when/then
Pierce started looking for his shot too much. I don't know if he caused
it by looking for his shot or if he started looking for his shot because
the ball stopped moving. Anyway, when Pierce starts launching, everyone
else starts watching.



4.	Is there a danger that you really lose some players while
playing out the string with John Carroll? Should we be worried about
that? Is there value to bringing in a new, permanent coach in
mid-season? I tend to think the safest thing to do is ride it out with
Carroll, who seems in over his head, and start fresh in the offseason.
But I can understand the argument against that way of thinking.



5.	So let me get this straight... Joe Johnson has three good weeks
in a contract push, and suddenly all the questions are answered? Sorry,
I'm not buying it. Let's see him keep it up not just during a contract
push, but after he gets that big deal.



It's not fun right now, but this team is on the right track.



Mark