What a great win!

[Michael Joseph Byrnes <mbyrnes@leland.Stanford.EDU>]

Well, after hedging for a while, I decided to head out to a sports bar and
watch the Celtics opener.  And I was not disappointed, as the Celtics
played a spirited game, and won 92-85!

I almost left after the first quarter.  The Celtics played horribly,
turning the ball over time and time again, and giving the Bulls easy
opportunity after easy opportunity.  On the defensive end, they looked
clueless.  On the offensive end, they were settling for outside shots
instead of working it in (not that they have anyone to work it in to), and
when they took them, there were no Celtics in the paint to rebound their
misses.  Antoine Walker couldn't hold onto the ball, and, to make matters
worse, Walter McCarty picked up 2 quick fouls and sat for most of the
quarter.

Their halfcourt offense was nonexistent (I was going to say inept, but
that would imply that they actually had a halfcourt offense).  Neither
Barros nor Billups could create opportunities for anyone from the
halfcourt set.  Neither could Walker (and using Walker as the
"point-forward" too much strikes me as somewhat counterproductive - he is
their best offensive option down low, and no matter how good he is, he
can't make an entry pass to himself!), Knight, or anyone else.  The
Celtics were hustling (especially Mercer and Bowen), but not scoring or
stopping the Bulls.

In addition, the Celtics weren't pressing much, or well.  The Bulls on the
other hand, were putting pressure on the C's, and the C's were turning the
ball over.  After the first quarter, the score was 32-12 Bulls, and the
Celtics deserved to be behind by 20.  They looked like a team without a
point guard/floor leader or a big man who could rebound.  I thought it was
going to be a long game for the C's...

In the second quarter, the Celtics did an admirable job of stanching the
bleeding.  They played good halfcourt defense, took away the Bulls' easy
opportunities, and climbed to within 9.  Their halfcourt offense still
didn't look good, and Walker was still turning the ball over, but they
were playing much better basketball.  And, Chauncey Billups came back into
the game and gave them a spark.  While he still didn't look good in a set
halfcourt offense, he showed a great ability to improvise and take
advantage of opportunities to run.  On one play, Billups made a bad enrty
pass which was knocked away by a Bull.  Before I could groan, Billups beat
him to the loose ball, took it to the hoop, and made a great pass to
Walker for a layup.

One other notable Billups play came in the second quarter.  Jordan wheeled
around somebody at the top of the key, Billups came over to help out, and
he took a textbook charge from No. 23.  He was motionless when Jordan 
slammed into him.  (This was well outside the "no-charge zone"). 
Unfortunately, it must be written in the rulebook somewhere that Michael
Jordan cannot be called for a charge, especially if he happens to hit a
rookie.  "Star calls" like that really piss me off.  Jordan is the
greatest player the NBA has seen, and he doesn't need that kind of "help"
to excel.

Anyway, at the half the Celtics were only trailing by 9, 43-34.  Pitino
had emptied his bench, and I was somewhat impressed by every player who
got in except for Dee Brown and Pervis Ellison.  John Thomas came in and
provided some hustle, as did Bowen, Billups, and DeClerq.  

I thought that the Celtics had a chance to hang in there and make it a
reasonably close game if they kept up their defensive pressure.  They did
not. They doubled their defensive pressure, using a very effective
trapping/pressure defense (after the game, Pitino said that the C's used
their "fake trap" in the first half).  In addition, their shots started to
fall.  The C's erased the 9-point Bulls lead very quickly, and eventually
managed to build a 12 point lead of their own, led by Walker and Billups,
who looked excellent when he had the chance to run the team in transition.
Travis Knight lended a hand by hauling down a lot of rebounds, and every
Celtic played tough on defense.  (The only player who did not impress me
all game was Dee Brown.)

The fourth quarter was pretty much a job of holding on and withstanding
the Bulls attack, and the Bulls did cut the lead to three with under a
minute to play, but the Celtics managed to hang on.

All in all, it was an extremely impressive display from the Celtics.
Although, the Bulls are still not the same team without Scottie and
(full time) Dennis, and the Celtics have yet to be tested gby a team with
a low post scorer/rebounder.  Still, Pitino and the Celtics gave us a lot
of reason to be optimistic!

Michael Byrnes
mbyrnes@stanford.edu