Celtics Beat World Champs

["dan.p" <dan.p@MCI2000.com>]

Wow, what a game.  This should silence the Pitino nay-sayers for a little
while at least.

Walker was great though at times he tried to do to much.  He had at least
three turnovers where he just mis-handled the ball and it went off his foot
or flying out of bounds.  Still, it's clear he worked on his shot a lot
over this summer.  His stroke looks great and he hit some big threes when
the Celtics needed them.  If Eric Williams had worked as hard on his game
over the summer as Walker, I'm sure he'd still be around.  Walker is
looking like the true go-to guy, a figure that the Celtics desperately
needed last year.

Travis Knight looks great.  He's a little overeager with his jumper
(particularly the three - he really doesn't have the range) but he is much
more moble than I would have imagined.  He did a great job on the boards
and helping on defense, even blocking a Jordan layup by swooping out of
nowhere to deflect it away.  He has a nice wingspan for blocking shots and
rebounding.  A great, great pickup.

Mercer looks like a rookie, but a talented one.  He did a decent job
covering Jordan, he certainly didn't embarass himself.  I think Mercer has
the most consistent jumper of any Celtic in the 15-18 foot range.  He hit a
couple early but they didn't look for him much after that.

Chauncy Billups was the big surprise.  After showing next to nothing in the
pre-season he came in and delivered some big time offense, including a
three-pointer.  He also hit at least two other jumpers.  A telling sign for
me was a play shortly after Chauncy came in for his first "real" minutes. 
He had the ball out at the three point line and was trying to make an entry
pass.  A Bull deflected it but it came right back to Chauncy.  He reacted
immediately, grabbing the ball, penetrating, and then dishing a perfect
pass to a teammate for a layup.  It lends support to those who think
Billups is struggling to learn the system.  He's thinking too much.  Once
he gets the system under his belt and can rely on his basketball instincts
more, he may start to come out of his shell.

Barros had a pretty good game, although on one fast break he pulled up for
a three which always irks me.  Generally though he took good shots and
moved the ball around well.

The Celtics looked like they were in far better shape than the Bulls.  The
Bulls treated them like a college team in the first quarter, but then they
started to get winded.  The Celtics kept up their frenetic pace and just
kept chipping away at the lead Chicago had built.  The Celtics have a
tremendous group of athletes, I just hope their can reign in all the
talent.

A very satisfiying win.  Let's hope for many more this season.

Dan