Re: Jermaine O'Neal

[Matt Healy <mhealy@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu>]

>The post about the Lakers being great and the Celtics not for years to
>come is off base.  Perhaps the voice of frustration and unrealistic
>expectations.  This team has already done more than I thought it could
>do and is making progress.  That is something that has been lacking.

>It is amazing to me how lacking in patience fans are.  This is a team
>that couldn't tie it's shoe laces last year.  It already has almost 1/2
>of the wins the team had in all of last year.  That is progress.  You
>may not like it, but it is.
>
Amen.  Maybe this will bring folks back to reality, and help us better
cherish the wins and the improvement we see.  I still think 25 wins would
be nice for this group, and still a big improvement over last year.
Regularly beating the leagues elite (NY, LAL, ATL) is a fantasy.  But
competing with them should be encouraging.  This is NOT a real good team
yet.  But they are improving, and they are already a huge step better than
last years team.  I still hope that the (startling) consensus of 42 wins
comes to pass, of course, but I also take pleasure in the more realistic
progress the team is making.

Matt