Invoking Celtic Memory: 1995 On (DDS:PB)

[Izulde]

With the end of semester crunch upon me, I haven't had time to make the adjustments to La Tulipe's 1976 roster set. So for now, I'm using Nephrinn's 1995-96 Roster Set which should hopefully prove more stable. I will, however, be doing something of a mish-mash as I'll be using La Tulipe's draft files to introduce new players unless they look too imbalanced with Nephrinn's rosters.

I no longer remember the precise day that I first encountered the Skate Talk chat room in the early days of the Internet. I want to say it was in the fall, because autumn has always been for me the season of parodoxical beginning. All I know is that I was a young man in the Boston Celtics front office and that, still holding fond memories of the summers of my youth, where I would dart all across town on my hot pink skateboard (the aunt who gave it to me had strange tastes), I decided to enter the chat room on a lark.

To make a long story short, I met a young woman there named Mia. Originally a Boston native, she had moved to Virginia with her parents in middle school, but still held a burning love for all Beantown sports teams. We wept together over the impending loss of the Boston Garden and its historic parquet floor and would hold deep, long conversations late into the night that necessitated my drinking copious amounts of coffee the next morning.

After a time, as you might expect, I fell in love. I thought she felt the same until one night, she was suddenly no longer there. She had run off to be with an older man from our chat room circle. The shock of her leaving I needn't belabor. If you've ever had an abrupt loss of a girl you've loved, you know precisely the shocks of pain that echoed and rumbled in my heart.

But still, she had left a permanent impression on me, a deeper and richer appreciation of and love for my employer Celtics and even now... But I am rambling and my entire thoughts to this point have been poorly worded and illogically ordered.

Let me skip ahead some weeks or months.

We did not have a first round pick in the draft and Cliff Gross, our new owner, ordered the GM to get one. Well, we got one, but Mr. Gross wasn't happy with our selection of Eric Williams and so he fired the GM anyway. It didn't help that Junior Burrough, our high 2nd round pick, was roundly criticized in the press, starting with the Boston Globe and radiating out from there.

Gross was an impatient man and he stormed our offices, demanding who to know the youngest employee was.

"Bobby Troilus is", somebody said.

That was me. 29 years old. Maybe not so young to some of you, but the front office was an old boys network, emphasis on the old.

Mr. Gross snapped his eyes to me as someone else pointed me out.

"You're the new general manager. If these old coots can't get the job done, maybe somebody young can!"

I opened my mouth to say something, but I never got the chance.

"Make the playoffs this year!" he snarled, slamming the door on his way out.

And that was how I became a general manager in the NBA. On top a personal misfortune, another's unhappy circumstance led to my elevation. The wheel of Fortuna, as they say.

To be honest, I didn't see much for us of making the playoffs. We had no scorers and no defenders to really speak of and only one legitimate rebounder, 28 year old Croatian power forward Dino Radja, who was also our most tradeable piece.

So my first act as GM was to give us a position of strength, which led me to make a trade.

Boston Celtics receive
C Dikembe Mutombo
Denver Nuggets 1996 1st round pick

Denver Nuggets receive
PF Dino Radja
C Eric Montross

What this means for the Celtics
New, young Boston GM Bobby Troilus makes a splash here in picking up the 29 year old Mutombo, a towering 7'2 defensive and shotblocking menace to frustrate opponents in the post. Where the pick will fall is anybody's guess, but Troilus appears to recognize that nobody's going to stop the Chicago Bulls in the East anytime soon. Mutombo instantly projects as Boston's starting center.

What this means for the Nuggets
Radja is a ready-now balanced all-around forward, a good fit for Denver's playoff aspirations. Unfortunately this means 2nd overall pick Antonio McDyess is going to have to come off the bench rather than start right away. Second year man Montross is a tall center who averaged 10 points and nearly 8 rebounds for the Celtics last year, but apparently the new GM doesn't think he has a future in Beantown. He gives the Nuggets their only true center on the roster.

Winner: Denver
The Nuggets are an improved team by adding these two players and the pick isn't going to be as high as Boston hopes. The Celtics also just dealt away their top rebounder and scorer and have no one else to turn to in those areas.

But I was not done by any means.

Boston Celtics receive
PF Christian Laettner
Minnesota Timberwolves 1997 2nd round pick

Minnesota Timberwolves receive
SF Rick Fox

What this means for the Celtics
Boston went out and got its scorer in Laettner, who GM Bobby Troilus says he greatly admired watching play for Duke in the NCAA Tournament a few years back and the famous clutch free throws. He'll get his chance to be the Celtics' hero on offense for the next several years, as he's still just 26. He also has some monstrous potential as a rebounder, though he's yet to have his technique match his physical gifts.

What this means for the Timberwolves
Fox is also 26, but unlike Laettner, there's no flash to him. He's just solid and workmanlike. Minnesota's not planning on winning any time soon, as they're waiting for extremely raw, but franchise potential 19 year old Kevin Garnett, who they took 5th overall, to grow and develop.

Winner: Boston
The Celtics fill the huge hole left by the Dino Radja trade and open up an opportunity for rookie Eric Williams to start at SF. Boston's also now got a very good offense/defense combination inside in Laettner and Dikembe Mutombo.

I signed 23 year old forward Bryan Montgomery off the street to reach the league minimum of 12 players and contented myself with those moves for the time being.

The season previews were very unkind to us, predicting that we would finish second to last in the East, ahead of only the New Jersey Nets. The Chicago Bulls were of course the odds-on favorites to win the title outright while the Utah Jazz were the favorites in the West. Denver was picked as the 6th seed and Minnesota stood marked for 11th in the conference.

1995-96 Boston Celtics Opening Night Roster
PG Sherman Douglas
SG David Wesley
SF Eric Williams
PF Christian Laettner
C Dikembe Mutombo
6th Pervis Ellison (PF/C)
7th Dee Brown (PG/SG/SF)
8th Greg Minor (SG/SF)
9th Dana Barros (PG)
10th Junior Burrough (PF/C)
11th Bryan Montgomery (SF/PF/C)
12th Doug Smith (PF/C)

[Izulde]

Despite the precarious situation I was in, with my job security questionable thanks to our unstable owner, I was happy to be watching our home opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on Halloween night. Having the game to focus on also helped me take my mind off of Mia and I even felt a little thrill of excitement as I watched the team jog out for introductions and lineups.

The game that followed was a thrilling battle, with 30 lead changes and 14 ties, but in the end, Vin Baker's 32nd and 33rd points cut us down 101-99. Baker finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds and just dominated us. On our end, Sherman Douglas scored 20 and Dikembe Mutombo had a nice debut with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. Christian Laettner's first game in Celtic green was disappointing, just 5 of 13 for 10 points in 16 minutes as he was hampered by foul trouble. Rookie Eric Williams did well enough with 16 points while Dee Brown was tops off our bench with 10 points.

Even though the loss was a heartbreaking one, I still felt like we could make some noise on the season. That sense only grew, perhaps somewhat oddly so, after we lost the next night 102-95 in Chicago. Christian Laettner worked the kinks out and took home Player of the Game with 27 points and 7 rebounds and Greg Minor scored 16 off the bench. We held Michael Jordan to 18 points, but couldn't stop Scottie Pippen from dropping 24 on us.

We finally broke through for our first win of the season in our next game, hosting the Suns and beating them 121-108. Sir Charles Barkely's 29 points couldn't counter Christian Laettner's 30 points, Dikembe Mutombo's 20 points or Dee Brown's 12 bench points. We shot 58.2% that night and looked amazing.

The Orlando Magic were regarded as one of the East's top teams that year, but we still beat them 93-82 as Dikembe Mutombo frustrated Shaquille O'Neal, holding him to just 11 points. Balanced offense overcame Nick Anderson's 20 points, signified by Dee Brown and Pervis Ellison scoring 10 a piece as reserves, Ellison just missing the double-double with 9 rebounds.

Our third straight home win was as ugly as it was shocking. We stormed back to tip the heavily favored Utah Jazz 87-86 in a game where both teams shot below 40%. Once again, our offensive balance prevailed over an opposing star. Karl "The Mailman" Malone towered over us all with 29 points and 9 rebounds, but the combined effort of our leading scorers Eric Williams and Sherman Douglas (17 points a piece) and Dana Barros's calvaryesque 11 bench points saved the day.

The Bullets shot our win and home streak down 97-84. We simply had no answer to Juwan Howard's 28 points and Rasheed Wallace's 11 points and 20 rebounds. The closest we came to it was Eric Williams's 18 points and 10 rebounds. Milwaukee poured salt in the wound, pasting us 106-84 the next night on the road. Vin Baker continued to haunt us as he rose up for 25 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks and this time he had help from Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson's 23 points, Todd Day's 24 points and Eric Murdock's 13 points and 14 assists.

Home wasn't any happier as Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon ripped us for 29 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, his Houston Rockets beating us 98-93. Christian Laettner snapped out of his slump with 22 points, but he just wasn't enough and nor was Dikembe Mutombo's 10 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.

I hoped we would stop our losing streak in Charlotte, but Kendall Gill (25 points, 7 rebounds) and Glen Rice (20 points) made sure that wasn't going to happen as the Hornets stung us 93-85. Dikembe Mutombo played well with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Dee Brown came off the bench for 11 points, but we had no other highlights outside of that.

The truth was, Christian Laettner was simply too inconsistent to be the man night in and night out. He was also unhappy with our losing streak, which I couldn't blame him for. But perhaps the biggest culprit in our struggles was the backcourt. Sherman Douglas was a nice enough person, but he wasn't really suited to run the offense and David Wesley, despite showing significant strides in his fourth season, didn't impress as the starting SG either. Changes had to be made and so they were.

Boston Celtics receive
PG Nick Van Exel
Los Angeles Lakers 1998 1st round pick

Los Angeles Lakers receive
PG David Wesley
PF Bryan Montgomery
Boston Celtics 1997 2nd round pick
Minnesota Timberwolves 1997 2nd round pick
Boston Celtics 1998 2nd round pick

What this means for the Celtics
Van Exel, 24, has fantastic potential as a pass-first floor general and could develop into a pretty nice scorer too someday. The Lakers are struggling this year at 3-8, so they weren't willing to deal their first rounder this season. But with two possible high lottery picks and Cedric Cellabos and Vlade Divac to build around, the Purple and Gold should be back in playoff contention in a couple years, making the selection a likely mid-late 1st. Celtics GM Bobby Troilus wants Van Exel as the starting PG now, but M.L. Carr prefers to stay with Sherman Douglas.

What this means for the Lakers
Wesley, 25, has very good stealing instincts and some scoring pop. He'll fit in nicely over the Lakers' bench. Montgomery may be 23, but he's nothing more than a young body, one on the inactive list no less. The collection of 2nd round picks may be equal to or more in total value than the likely '98 1st, but we won't hold our breaths on it.

Winner: Boston
Troilus continues to stockpile first rounders and improve the Celtics in specific areas. That's how you build the foundation for a winning team.

Coach Carr and I argued bitterly over the question of Douglas and Van Exel. The truth was, he was a terrible tactician and the dispute that grew out of it, along with our record, gave me the justification for firing him. I tried to trade Douglas to alleviate the situation, but no team wanted to pay his contract, so it was Carr who went.

With no suitable candidates on the market, I took the bold step of naming myself head coach, but I informed everyone - the players, the coaching staff and the media, that I was only an interim coach and one that would be largely delegating to his assistants at that. That same day, I signed 26 year old guard Damon Cross to fill the 12 man roster minimum.

My first game as head coach was yet another loss, as we ran into the Golden State buzzsaw, losing 108-96. Tim Hardaway was the man of the night with 24 points and 10 assists, but I'd be remiss if I don't mention Chris Mullin's 21 points and Latrell Sprewell's 25 points. On the positive side, all five of our starters scored at least 14 and Nick Van Exel had a solid debut, leading the team in points and assists with 18 and 7.

The cold spell finally broke with an exciting 93-90 win over the Hornets. Larry Johnson played godly with 25 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals and Glen Rice and Kendall Gill abused us again with 22 and 20 points, but we were able to overcome thanks to Nick Van Exel taking charge with 21 points and 9 assists. Dikembe Mutombo chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds, Eric Williams just missed 20 points at 19 and Greg Minor provided 10 insurance points from the bench.

When I tell you that Nick Van Exel scored 28 and Sherman Douglas had 17 points off the bench the next game, you might think we won, right? Well, we didn't. The Pistons beat us handily 108-93 behind the three-headed hydra of Allan Houston (21 points), Otis Thorpe (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Grant Hill (19 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists). Foul trouble hit us up and down the lineup and even when our starters were in, nobody was hitting outside of Van Exel.

We showed why the New Jersey Nets were considered the worst team in the East, routing them 104-80 a couple nights later. Eric Williams blasted off for 26 points and good Christian Laettner showed up with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Even better was our 97-91 win in Washington the next night, the second half all Celtics. Chris Webber (21 points, 12 rebounds), Robert Pack (22 points, 10 assists) and Georghe Muresan (10 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks) may have been impressive at the start, but it was Christian Laettner (23 points), Eric Williams (16 points, 10 rebounds) and our reserves that finished strong, as Sherman Douglas and recent signee Damon Cross came up big with 15 and 10 points respectively.

It was a strong end to my first month at the helm of the Celtics and, at 6-8, we were precisely in the middle of the Atlantic division, with 3 teams ahead of us and 3 teams behind us. Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway's Orlando Magic led the Atlantic at 10-6, while Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen's Chicago Bulls ruled the Central at 13-2, already 3 games ahead of Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers.

Out West, David "The Admiral" Robinson and his powerhouse San Antonio Spurs were the class of the Midwest at 11-2, 3.5 games ahead of Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon's 9-7 Rockets. But it was the Pacific that was the biggest dogfight. Charles Barkley had the Phoenix Suns on top at 12-3, but the high-octane Golden State Warriors were just half a game back at 12-4 and the Seattle Supersonics weren't far off the mark at 11-5.

Overall, I was quite pleased with where we stood. Unless I missed my guess, somewhere around .500 would be enough to get us in the playoffs and we weren't far off that mark. If we could achieve it, then I would live to manage another year.

But of course, it was still too early in the season to be sure, especially since we had a threadbare roster.

[rjolley]

If you turn Christian Laettner into a star, I'm going to hunt him down and pull a Tonya Harding on him.

[Izulde]

If you turn Christian Laettner into a star, I'm going to hunt him down and pull a Tonya Harding on him.

:D I loved the Laettner Duke teams so much as a kid, Duke was one of the schools I originally wanted to go to.

[Michaelangelo]

Van Exel, 24, has fantastic potential as a pass-first floor general.

That made me chuckle.

[Izulde]

Van Exel, 24, has fantastic potential as a pass-first floor general.

That made me chuckle.

I'm just going by the ratings. :D I always liked Van Exel, mostly because he was from Kenosha and was in the league at the same time as Racine-born Jim McIllvaine, at least for a while.

[Izulde]

We had a day off before our first December game against the Heat and so I spent it with Cassie, the mother of sorts of the Skate Talk room. She'd flown in from Los Angeles to pick up some boards, pads and money that I procured her through some local businesses in Boston. In her early 50s, Cassie was an unusual character. A secretary by day, by night she ran a skateboarding club for teens and oversaw a few ramps in L.A.

"It's important for these kids to have something to do besides running around in the streets and skating gives them an outlet", she'd told me once in the chat room, "A lot of them are really bright, but don't have the best home lives."

I found her quite engaging in person. Her square face was softened by the way she styled her hair and her gray eyes were warm behind gold-wire oval-shaped glasses. We had supper together at a local pizza joint and chatted about Skate Talk, the club and the Celtics.

"How do you think your team will be this year?" she asked over a bite of cheese pizza.

"We've got a real shot at the playoffs", I answered. "I think that Van Exel kid we picked up recently has a chance to really be something special. Laettner, even though he's a little inconsistent, is our top scorer and I give the guy who was GM before me credit in picking Williams. He's already second on our team in scoring behind Laettner and second in rebounding behind Mutombo. 15 points and 6 rebounds is pretty good for a guy taken 14th overall and only Damon Stoudemire is scoring more among the rookies."

"That's good", she said with a smile. I liked the way she had of looking at you when you talked, like what you had to say was really important and worth listening to.

What I didn't like what was she said next.

"So... how are you holding up?"

I shrugged, letting my face sag a little.

"It comes and goes, you know? I'm just glad I have basketball to distract me."

She smiled a little sadly, reaching out to close her hand over mine.

"I know it's tough and I'm sorry about what happened. I really thought you two were right for each other. But she's young and young girls do silly things sometimes. Just give it time."

I wanted to ask what it was I was supposed to be giving time, but I didn't. I simply changed the subject to asking about some of the kids she worked with. She took the hint and the rest of the evening passed very pleasantly.

Our deal with the Lakers was the only trade in November, the rest of the transaction wire consisting merely of send downs, call ups and free agent signings. Nothing terribly interesting.

December started magnificently as we hosted the Heat and spanked them 102-81. Dikembe Mutombo was a terror down low with 16 points, 23 rebounds and 5 blocks, Nick Van Exel sizzled with 24 points and Eric Williams continued his surprising play with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. The best Miami could manage was Alonzo Mourning's 14 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists.

The win didn't come without cost though, as Dee Brown broke his nose, Mutombo sprained his wrist and Doug Smith picked up a concussion. Brown's injury was the most serious, as the doctor told us he'd be out over a month, leaving a gaping hole at SG. I moved Sherman Douglas into the starting lineup in Brown's place and signed Jibran Epps from the D-League to allow us to move Dee to the injured reserve list.

The Heat exacted revenge in Miami, humiliating us 105-72. Christian Laettner was the only Celtic in double-digit figures, scoring 17. Alonzo Mourning was unstoppable this game, with 25 points and 12 rebounds and Rex Chapman was sensational off the bench with 17 points.

A couple days rest didn't help as the 76ers battered us 101-87 in Philadelphia on Derrick Coleman's near triple-double of 31 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Although our starters played well enough, Eric Williams scoring 25, Dikembe Mutombo bursting for 11 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks and Nick Van Exel popping off for 11 points and 11 assists, our bench combined to go 2 for 13.

Christian Laettner took over the next night, shining his way to 30 points and 12 rebounds to be our Lu Bu while our defense held strong in a 92-69 clipping of the Hawks. Dana Barros and Greg Minor scored 10 a piece off the bench.

Everybody was talking up the Eric Williams/Damon Stoudemire rookie matchup when we went to Toronto, but it was Stoudemire who ruled, shredding us for 33 points and 9 assists. We lost 94-87, as the efforts of Dikembe Mutombo's 13 points and 14 rebounds and Nick Van Exel's 19 points couldn't get it done.

I fully expected we would lose the following night to the 76ers, but basketball's a funny game that way. Derrick Coleman was held to a 1 for 14 night and that made all the difference in our 86-76 win. Sherman Douglas earned some of his overpaid contract with 21 points, supported by benchmen Dana Barros and Greg Minor's 11 and 10 respective points.

We hosted Toronto a couple nights later, hoping to avenge ourselves on the Raptors and we did, winning 100-89. Damon Stoudemire got his 20 points and Oliver Miller double-doubled with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but Eric Williams matched his fellow star rookie's 20 points, Christian Laettner piled 20 points on top of that, Dikembe Mutombo drew with Miller in his own way, netting 11 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks and Dana Barros continued to step up off the bench after Dee Brown's injury, scoring 11.

The Bulls ended our mini-run 92-71 as Michael Jordan scored 21, Scottie Pippen scored 24 and Dennis Rodman grabbed every rebound in sight, finishing with 22 boards. Hard to compete with that when we had just two players score 10+ points - Christian Laettner with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Dikembe Mutombo with 13 points and 17 rebounds.

Charlotte flat-out massacred us 124-85 on their court and delighted their fans in doing so. Glen Rice soared for 31 points and 9 rebounds, Larry Johnson put together 20 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists and Kendall Gill picked up 21 points and 12 rebounds. Christian Laettner was our leading scorer with 18 points and Greg Minor had a minor 10 bench points.

Minnesota came to Boston the next night and staggered out 94-76 losers. Former Celtic Rick Fox was on fire with 20 points against us, but the most unlikely of heroes, Greg Minor, answered every one of Fox's points off the bench. That equalization, along with our tough defense, meant the Timberwolves never had a chance.

Seeing Cassie again was the only highlight of our Los Angeles trip, as the Lakers whipped us 107-88. Magic Johnson shrugged off his 36 year old body to hammer us for 21 points and Cedric Cellabos (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Vlade Divac (18 points, 15 rebounds) did the damage inside. We wasted 24 points a piece from Nick Van Exel and Christian Laettner and that was discouraging.

Then the miracle happened on the back end of the doubleheader. We went up to Portland and despite Rod Strickland's 41 points and 11 assists and Clifford Robinson's 29 points and 12 rebounds, we shocked the Blazers 103-99 in overtime. I was speechless after the game, as Dikembe Mutombo had an otherwordly performance of his own with 26 points, 21 rebounds and 6 blocks. Our second-leading scorer was Sherman Douglas with 18 points, while Nick Van Exel posted a career high 16 assists. It's still one of my favorite games to watch when I'm in a nostalgic mood and it truly was a Christmas Eve miracle.

No miracles in Seattle, as the Supersonics rained down on us 119-85, the thunder, lightning and stormy winds ravaging our defense taking the form of Shawn Kemp (22 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks), Detlef Schrempf (22 points) and Gary "The Glove" Payton (20 points). Compared to their paegantry, Dikembe Mutombo's 14 points and 13 rebounds and Greg Minor's 15 bench points were but mere drizzle.

Our four game West Coast swing ended the evening after in Vancouver against the Grizzlies. I'm ashamed to say that we fell 95-85 as we were outscored 27-17 in the second quarter and never recovered from that. Benoit Benjamin had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but it was Byron Scott's 19 points off the bench that did the most damage and negated Dikembe Mutombo's 21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks and Greg Minor's 11 bench points.

We had one last chance to end 1995's calendar year on a good note and failed, falling 82-74 to the Blazers before our fans. Clifford Robinson's 20 points did the trick, as our own leading scorer had just 17 (Christian Laettner and Pervis Ellison's 10 points and 8 rebounds meant nothing when the rest of our reserves' shots were impervious to going in the net.

An ignoble way to close out the old year, on a three-game losing streak. We still clung to 4th in the Atlantic at 12-17, but we were tied with the Bullets rather than possessing it alone. Patrick Ewing's New York Knicks surged ahead of Orlando to take the division lead at 20-9, a game and a half up. The Bulls still held court in the Central at 23-6, but 23-8 Indiana closed the gap to two games.

The Spurs still led the Midwest at 19-9, two games in front of the Rockets, while the Pacific had three teams with 20+ wins: Seattle (22-7), Golden State (22-8) and Phoenix (20-7). If there was anything cheerful to be found in our state of affairs as we prepared to turn the page to January 1996, it was that the Nuggets were significantly underperforming at 13-17.

Boston Celtics Team Leaders - December 31st, 1995

Points
Christian Laettner - 16.0
Eric Williams - 13.6
Dikembe Mutombo - 12.2

Assists
Nick Van Exel - 6.0
Sherman Douglas - 4.0
Dana Barros - 3.1

Rebounds
Dikembe Mutombo - 11.6
Christian Laettner - 5.4
Eric Williams - 5.3

Blocks
Dikembe Mutombo - 3.4 (#2 in NBA behind Shawn Bradley (PHI)
Pervis Ellison - 1.3
Christian Laettner - 0.7

Steals
Dee Brown - 1.3
Eric Williams - 1.2
Christian Laettner - 1.0

[Autumn]

This is great, these are the exact years I was really watching basketball a lot, and particularly the hometown Celtics. It's like a flash down memory lane, whereas I don't know a lot of the players in your Denver dynasty.

Thanks for posting another fun one!

[Coffee Warlord]

Go Bulls. :)

[Izulde]

Autumn: The 90s were when I most closely followed the NBA as well. I do wish there were an early set, like when La Tulipe made a 1990 set for TPB or that his 1976 set worked without having to make massive changes, but oh well.

Coffee Warlord: I figured you'd say as such. :D

[Izulde]

I didn't go to any New Year's parties after the game. Instead, I went home and went to bed, waking up early next morning to a blanket of snow that clearly was going to leave me housebound. Not that it mattered. I'd given everyone the day off, including myself, anyway.

Instead, I turned on my laptop, heated up some apple cider and sat down to look over Terry Moore's scouting reports on some of the upcoming draft prospects.

"This is a seven player draft. Allen Iverson is easily the best player in the class and you should do whatever you can to land him. Kobe Bryant may be a high schooler, but he has intriguing potential. Ben Wallace looks like a great all-around prospect. Stephon Marbury is a franchise PG, Ray Allen looks like a sharpshooter and Antoine Walker and Shareef Abdur-Rahim are very good-all around true power forward prospects."

A seven player draft. And right then, we looked questionable to land a Top 7 pick. More like two mid 1st round selections in us and Denver, particularly since the Nuggets were better than their record indicated.

There was no question as to the worst team in the league. That was the 3-25 Dallas Mavericks, who had a promising young team built around Jamal Mashburn and Jason Kidd. But they were shooting just 38.3% as a team, the only franchise in the league to be shooting below 40%. Furthermore, there were problems in the locker room as Mashburn and starting SG Jim Jackson were extremely unhappy about being on a losing team.

I called them about making a trade, but they wouldn't budge. Neither would the New Jersey Nets or the Los Angeles Clippers. Even the Toronto Raptors weren't willing to listen.

Then I received a shock. The 11-19 Vancouver Grizzlies were willing to trade their 1st round pick for 13-17 Denver's straight up. It was a deal I couldn't pass up and so I made it. The differential may have only been two games, but I was confident enough in the Nuggets' improved play to make the switch.

December had been a busy month for deals and I reviewed them again as I marveled over Vancouver's foolishness.

Dallas Mavericks receive
PG Elliott Perry

Phoenix Suns receive
SG Lucious Harris

What this means for the Mavericks
Perry's above average at shooting, scoring and passing and the 26 makes an excellent security blanket off the bench for second year man Jason Kidd.

What this means for the Suns
Harris isn't a very good player and why in the world would the Suns trade their only true quality backup PG for somebody who's the very epitome of JAG?

Winner: Dallas
Perry blows Harris out of the water in talent level and makes Dallas that much better.

The move cost the Suns dearly as it turned out, because on December 27th, All-Star calibre PG Kevin Johnson tore his MCL and was lost for the season. His replacement? Lucious Harris rather than Elliott Perry.

Detroit Pistons receive
SF George McCloud
Dallas Mavericks 1996 2nd round pick

Dallas Mavericks receive
C Theo Ratliff

What this means for the Pistons
McCloud is a pretty decent all-around, versatile player, able to slot in at 2-4. Not by any means exceptional, but versatility off the bench is always a good thing to have on a team. The second round pick looks a virtual lock to be #30 at this point.

What this means for the Mavericks
22 year old rookie Ratliff, taken with the 18th pick, is already a dominant shotblocker and could develop into a good defender with a nice inside shot given the playing time to develop. The truth is, he should be starting right now, but Dallas doesn't want to rush a guy they see as their future starter, so he'll be the first big man off the bench instead. He wasn't seeing much time in Detroit, so he should be happy with more minutes.

Winner: Draw
Good trade for both teams as each of them get something to help improve in the future and maybe get a little better immediately.

Nothing blockbuster, which was a little disappointing. In fact, I'd say our deal for Christian Laettner was probably the biggest move to date that season.

Bad start to the New Year as the Cavaliers frustrated us 96-75. Nick Van Exel came off the bench while he recovered from a hip injury to score 13 points, but that was it. Terrell Brandon's 22 points and Tyrone Hill's 12 points and 10 rebounds were more than enough to do us in.

Nick Van Exel had another good game off the bench with 11 points, but it didn't matter because Jason Kidd put on a 40 point, 10 rebound show as Dallas embarrassed us 102-82 on our own home court. I was absolutely aghast at the result and immediately plugged the now-healthy Van Exel back at PG.

The losses just kept coming, Patrick Ewing pounding us for 24 points and 11 rebounds in the Knicks' 96-80 win. We also surrendered 20 points and 16 rebounds to Desmond Mason and 12 points and 10 rebounds to Charles Oakley while Eric Williams scored a team high 19 points. It was at this point that I began seriously considering trading Christian Laettner, who was going cold.

We hosted the Kings and Dikembe Mutombo sparkled with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 7 blocks to lead all five starters in double-digit scoring and boosted by Greg Minor's 11 bench points. It didn't matter, as we fell apart in the fourth quarter and lost 94-92. Mitch Richmond hung 22 points on us, while Olden Polynice challenged Mutombo with 17 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks of his own.

The bleeding finally stopped when we beat the Knicks 95-76 on Christian Laettner's 27 points and Greg Minor's 10 bench points. Patrick Ewing got his stats with 16 points and 15 rebounds, but by and large New York looked and played overconfident.

One thing that 1995-96 Celtics team was capable of was being streaky. After all those losses, we won two in a row, stonewalling the Hawks 81-66 in Atlanta. Sherman Douglas scored 20, Nick Van Exel showed flashes of being a true point guard with 11 points and 10 assists, Dikembe Mutombo was a monster on the low blocks with 14 points and 19 rebounds and Christian Laettner put together 18 points and 10 rebounds.

A three game Texas road trip started with our stunning San Antonio 103-94. David "The Admiral" Robinson's 27 points and 4 blocks and Vinny Del Negro's 22 points were countered by Nick Van Exel's 22 points, Eric Williams's 20 points and 10 bench points each from Dana Barros and Damon Cross.

We got Dee Brown back for the Houston game, but that got lost in a hurry as did the game. Clyde Drexler beat us singlehandedly, with a triple-double of 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. The only reason the 98-77 score wasn't even more lopsided was because Dikembe Mutombo picked up 12 points, 21 rebounds and 6 blocks.

It was a barnburner, but we just barely fended off the Mavericks rally the night after, winning 93-90. Christian Laettner teed off for 22 points and 9 rebounds, Dikembe Mutombo posted 17 points and 12 rebounds and Damon Cross played cavalry with 13 bench points. Tough luck for Dallas, who got 18 points, 11 assists and 4 steals from Jason Kidd, 22 points from Jim Jackson and 20 points from Jamal Mashburn.

Our win streak had me checking the standings and I became alarmed when I realized our 16-22 record would be good enough for the 8th seed in the East. Although it would make our owner happy to make the playoffs, that wasn't what I envisioned happening. Not when I was trying to chase one of the top 7 players, especially Allen Iverson, who I loved more the more tape I saw of him.

I gave the Raptors, who we played next and who were 12-26, a call and offered to trade our first for theirs. To my surprise, they agreed. The GM told me, "You guys are one injury to Laettner or Mutombo away from being one of the worst teams in the East. Sure we'll take that deal."

We went to Toronto and beat them 96-90 for that remark. Christian Laettner and Dikembe Mutombo, who'd I made sure to tell about the phone call, were the heroes of the night. Laettner ripped the Raptors for 24 points and 12 rebounds and Dikembe Mutombo put the hurt on them with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks. Nick Van Exel double-doubled for 10 points and 15 assists and Dee Brown chipped in 10 points off the bench. It was great fun negating Damon Stoudemire's 20 points and 10 assists and Oliver Miller's 13 points and 15 rebounds. Maybe we could have our cake and eat it too, I thought to myself after the game. I had both expansion teams' first round picks, even though the Grizzlies were only doing one game worse than the Nuggets at the time and if we made the playoffs, Mr. Gross would be happy and I could keep my job.

These happy thoughts only grew more certain when we upended Magic Johnson's Lakers 106-96 in Boston. Johnson scored 24, but Eric Williams neutralized that total, point for point and Elden Campbell's 12 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks were more than met by Dikembe Mutombo's 13 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks. Nick Van Exel's 11 points and 11 assists and Damon Cross's 15 bench points were mere icing on the cake.

And then came the ugliest game ever. We lost 76-54 to the Pacers, with only 3 players on the entire court reaching double-digit scoring. Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 played for Indiana as Reggie Miller and Derrick McKey each scored 20 and washed away Dikembe Mutombo's 18 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks.

We followed up that brutality by shocking the Magic 104-96 in overtime. In Orlando no less. Penny Hardaway nabbed 25 points and 3 steals and Shaquille O'Neal muscled his way to 22 points and 14 rebounds, but Christian Laettner came up with a big 24 points and 13 rebounds and Nick Van Exel had his best game in a Celtics uniform, amassing 23 points and 10 assists. Pervis Ellison was terrific off the bench with 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks and Greg Minor dropped in 10 bench points to lead the seconds in scoring.

Our biggest game of the season to that point was the next night in Boston, with Vancouver coming to town. The Grizzlies had been on fire lately and were 16-27. We needed to beat them, not only to help our postseason chances, but help our draft position. It wasn't easy, but we go the victory in a 92-86 slugfest. Eric Williams (17 points, 10 rebounds), Christian Laettner (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Dikembe Mutombo (12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks) all got double-doubles and all five starters scored at least 11 points as we outlasted the Grizzlies, who were nearly rescued by reserve Lawrence Moten's 15 points.

Another ugly defensive game and loss in Indiana, 83-68. Reggie Miller blitzed us for 30 points and 9 rebounds and the best we had to offer was Nick Van Exel's 19 points and Pervis Ellison's 10 bench points.

The next night we went to Miami and upset the Heat 85-80 in a game of Balanced Offense beats Star as Alonzo Mourning's 20 points and 11 rebounds failed to overcome Christian Laettner and Eric Williams each scoring 16.

Although freakish, it was a nice way to capstone the start of 1996. We were now 21-24, which, in the top-heavy East of that year, meant we'd go in as the #7 seed if the playoffs were held right then. 30-13 had the Knicks 3 games ahead of Orlando in the Atlantic, while 35-9 Chicago continued to be just a half-game ahead of the pesky Pacers. Toronto at 14-31 had the 4th worst record in the conference, with only Milwaukee, Philadelphia and New Jersey doing worse.

The Raptors were that magical 7th worst overall, as in the West only Dallas and the Clippers were more futile, but the Mavericks won 8 games in January, polevaulting them to 11-32. Houston now commanded the Midwest at 31-16, half a game ahead of the Spurs while the chase in the Pacific was looking pretty close to over. Seattle had a sensational first month of 1996 to stake a 6.5 game edge on Golden State, as Phoenix was reeling with the loss of KJ. Vancouver, by the by, stood just half a game behind Denver in the standings at 17-28.

There was, of course, still a lot of basketball to be played and anything could still happen. But I was pleased with myself. I'd traded my first round pick at just the right time. Had I tried to do it any later, I wouldn't have been able to get near the value I did for it.

I also wasn't turning out too bad a coach. The preseason pundits rated us one of the worst teams in the East and there we were, 3 games away from .500 and in excellent position to make the playoffs if we stayed steady.

[Izulde]

January saw no trades at all outside of our two first for first swaps. Given that, I expected a flurry of February deals, especially around the deadline.

February begins with F and so does fantastic as we pulled off yet another overtime thriller, knocking off Cleveland 105-99 on their home court. Terrell Brandon scored 21 points, but after he fouled out, not even Chris Mills's 15 bench points could save the Cavs. All five of our starters scored 14 or more, led by the double-double tandem of Dikembe Mutombo (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Nick Van Exel (15 points, 14 assists. I was really pleased with how Van Exel was improving as the season wore on and the best part was, he was locked up pretty cheaply at $1.9 million a year for the next several seasons.

I was even more delighted when our defense strangled the Spurs the following night, holding San Antonio to 27.8% shooting. In addition to doing a masterful job on David "The Admiral" Robinson, Dikembe Mutombo poured in 10 points and 17 rebounds. But the real star of the game was Christian Laettner, who abused the Spurs to the tune of 30 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Eric Williams was right behind him with 28 points and 11 rebounds. When 34 year old Doc Rivers was the best Spur on the night with 13 bench points, the 89-65 win didn't look surprising at all.

Cassie was on hand for our game in Los Angeles against the Clippers as we prepared to take our shot at .500 for the first time since early in the season. And .500 we got, fighting off a furious Clippers rally to edge them 107-103. I gave props to Lamond Murray for scoring 21 points and Rodney Rodgers coming out of nowhere off the bench for 19 points. But that inspired duo had no hope against Dikembe Mutombo's 22 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocks, Christian Laettner's 27 points and 11 rebounds and our own reserves Greg Minor and Damon Cross, who combined for 13 and 10 points respectively.

At the bar afterwards, Cassie couldn't stop gushing about how well I'd done to get Laettner and Mutombo. It was a little embarassing, but kind of nice too. I hadn't been on Skate Talk in a long while, so I asked her how things were. She said fine and, after a moment's hesitation, admitted she'd gotten a letter from Mia. Evidently she was in Arizona with the bastard and doing okay. Cassie said Mia wrote that she was very sorry for what she did to me and hoped that I could forgive her. Hard news to get four days before Valentine's Day, but I simply shrugged and ordered another drink.

"You can't get upset about it, Bobby", Cassie said, laying a hand on my arm, "Like I told you before, she's young and young girls do silly things sometimes. Just keep your heart open and focus on the wonderful things you're doing with your team."

I grinned wryly at her over my glass, "Sounds to me like you're hitting on me, Cassie."

"Oh, you!" she swatted my arm playfully, "I'm old enough to be your mother!"

It helped, though, hearing it from her and in person and not while I was alone in some hotel room on the Internet. That didn't stop me from being numb the next day in Oakland, where we kissed .500 goodbye as the Warriors blew us out 117-98. Chris Mullin scored 24, Tim Hardaway cut loose for 21 points and 9 rebounds, Latrell Sprewell went on a 16 point, 10 assist spree and all five Golden State starters hit 14 points or better. Not much we could do against that kind of onslaught, not when the only Celtics to show up were Christian Laettner with 23 points and 11 rebounds and Nick Van Exel with 20 points and 11 assists.

We stayed West and startled the Kings 91-76 in Sacramento. Mitch Richmond's lone gunman stand of 24 points was easily overcome by Dikembe Mutombo's 24 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks, to say nothing of Christian Laettner's 14 points and 11 rebounds and Greg Minor's 12 bench points as we overcame an 0 for 7 night from Nick Van Exel.

So back we were at .500 as we made our last stop out west in Denver just before the All-Star break. We traveled on Valentine's Day, which was nice. Meant I didn't have to think as much about Mia and could just concentrate on the scenery of the Mile High City, even as I secretly felt mile low.

My mood lifted on the day after as we got above .500 for what felt like the first time all season and thrashed the Nuggets 96-65. It was a beautiful thing to see Christian Laettner go off for 30 points and 9 rebounds and Dikembe Mutombo do his usual thing with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 7 blocks. Greg Minor put the cherry on top with 16 bench points. We whipped Denver so badly, their high scorer was former Celtic Dino Radja with 15 points.

It was a splendid way to go into the All-Star break, even though the victory put the Nuggets a half-game behind the Grizzlies in that draft positioning.

We didn't send anybody to the skills contests, but Greg Minor played a minute for the Sophomores and Eric Williams did dreadfully for the Rookies as a 6th man. Then again, they were tired because they had to fly from our afternoon game to the Rookies/Sophs game, which the second years won in a blowout 91-79. The game MVP went to Washington's Juwan Howard with 26 points and 9 rebounds.

Yes, an afternoon game. We had to play Utah and the Jazz manhandled us 100-86 in Salt Lake City. Karl Malone was in top form with 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jeff Hornacek buzzed us for 26 points and Felton Spencer came off the bench for 14 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. I -hated- playing during the All-Star weekend and so did the team, as we played listlessly. Dikembe Mutombo got 16 points and 12 rebounds and Greg Minor and Pervis Ellison contributed 15 and 10 bench points, but it was just nasty all around.

Preposterously enough, we had to continue our West trip in Phoenix the next day for an afternoon game against the Suns. While we emerged 100-85 winners thanks to Christian Laettner's 24 points and 4 steals, Dikembe Mutombo's 12 points and 16 rebounds and Sherman Douglas's 11 bench points, it was still the height of absurdity. The Suns looked really out of it, their best showing that of reserve Hot Rod Williams's 11 points and 8 rebounds.

The All-Star game was as anti-climactic as the youngsters game, the West jumping out to an early lead and never looking back in a 120-107 win. Shaquille O'Neal picked up All-Star MVP for his 21 point, 13 rebound, 4 block showing.

All-Star Rosters

East
PG Penny Hardaway - Orlando Magic
SG Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
SF Grant Hill - Detroit Pistons
PF Patrick Ewing - New York Knicks
C Shaquille O'Neal - Orlando Magic
Larry Johnson - Charlotte Hornets
Reggie Miller - Indiana Pacers
Alonzo Mourning - Miami Heat
Terrell Brandon - Cleveland Cavaliers
Vin Baker - Milwaukee Bucks
Anthony Mason - New York Knicks
Armon Gilliam - New Jersey Nets

West
PG Gary Payton - Seattle Supersonics
SG Mitch Richmond - Sacramento Kings
SF Tom Gugliotta - Minnesota Timberwolves
PF Charles Barkley - Phoenix Suns
C Hakeem Olajuwon - Houston Rockets
Karl Malone - Utah Jazz
Cedric Cellabos - Los Angeles Lakers
Tim Hardaway - Golden State Warriors
David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs
Latrell Sprewell - Golden State Warriors
Shawn Kemp - Seattle Supersonics
Rod Strickland - Portland Trailblazers

I didn't expect us to send anyone to the All-Star game and so I wasn't disappointed to see none of the Celtics go.

It was now decision time after the All-Star break, as the trade deadline was upon us. Did I want to stay pat with this roster, who'd gelled together enough to be 26-25 or did I want to make a move?

The smart money of course was on staying put, but then I saw a move I simply couldn't resist pulling the trigger on.

Boston Celtics receive
PF Grant Long
Seattle Supersonics 1996 1st round pick
Atlanta Hawks 1997 2nd round pick

Atlanta Hawks receive
SF Eric Williams
SG Jibran Epps

What this means for the Celtics
A bold trade by Bobby Troilus, who picks up the veteran Long to add some more inside scoring, rebounding and defensive punch while allowing Boston to move Christian Laettner to SF, where he might be even more effective than he is now. The first round pick has a good shot at being 29th, but it gives the Celtics three first rounders in the upcoming draft, which should allow them to build their depth in a hurry. One thing's for certain: between Long and Dikembe Mutombo, the C's now pack a scary defensive interior.

What this means for the Hawks
Atlanta wants to make rookie Alan Henderson a full-time starter and by dealing Long, they can do precisely that. Williams has been one of the season's biggest rookie surprises and he'll step into the SF spot, giving the Hawks Williams and Henderson as a forward tandem to build the trade around. They also made the move without giving up their own first rounder.

Winner: Draw
A trade that does what each team wants it to do. Boston's trying to get in better playoff position, while the Hawks are hoping to go fully into rebuilding mode.

Despite our shiny three first round picks, nobody was interested in letting us move up. Not the Bucks, not the Clippers and not the Mavericks. So it looked like we had to rely on good old-fashioned lottery luck if we wanted a shot at Allen Iverson.

I expected a transition period after the trade. What I didn't expect was the 75-66 scrubfest in New Jersey and us losing on top of it. Dikembe Mutombo did okay with 14 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks and Christian Laettner switched to SF fine with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks, but Grant Long was somewhat underwhelming in his Boston debut with 8 points and 10 rebounds and Greg Minor's 12 bench points couldn't bail us out in the face of P.J. Brown's 16 points and 15 rebounds and a good outing by the Nets' bench, spearheaded by Kevin Edwards's 13 points.

Rik Smits singlehandedly shattered us with 20 points and 17 rebounds in our 78-59 loss in Indiana the next night, utterly ruining Dikembe Mutombo's triple-double of 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks. I switched up Grant Long and Christian Laettner, moving Laettner back to PF because he said he didn't really like playing the 3.

The switch paid off well as we got better production out of both forwards in our 111-96 home romp over the Hornets to get back to .500. It wasn't they who were the best players on the night for us, though. That distinction belonged to Dikembe Mutombo with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks, Nick Van Exel with 19 points and 11 assists and Pervis Ellison and Greg Minor adding 14 and 13 points off the bench. It was a nice team effort to overcome Larry Johnson and Glen Rice tag-teaming us for 22 and 20 points.

A close 88-80 home loss to Seattle had me feeling like we were on the right track, even if Nick Van Exel was our leading scorer with 18 points, not near enough to best Detlef Schrempf's 24 points or Shawn Kemp's 16 points and 11 rebounds. It'd just take time was all.

Our hopes of .500 at the end of February lay on a perilious road, in Chicago against the fearsome Bulls. We very nearly pulled off the upset, but our fourth quarter charge stopped just short at 100-96. Christian Laettner was magnificent with 30 points, but he was overwhelmed by 26 points from Michael Jordan, 12 points and 12 rebounds from Luc Longley and deadline acquistion Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's 20 points.

Still, I was happy enough. 28-30 was still good enough for the #8 seed, even if the Bullets were breathing hard on us at 27-30 and the Hornets were two games ahead in 7th at 28-28. Orlando and New York were deadlocked atop the Atlantic, while 48-10 Chicago held a 4.5 game lead on 43-14 Indiana, the Bulls' largest lead of the season. Toronto was still 4th worst, but in danger of catching the Atlanta Hawks.

Much to my chagrin, the Raptors had dropped to 8th worst in the league and Vancouver now lay 3 games up on the Nuggets, who, after trading Abdul-Rauf, had plummeted to 19-37 and 3rd worst in the West. I wanted to call the league office on those tanking bastards, but I was already leading a scheduling change crusade and couldn't afford the political capital it would cost me. Houston led the Spurs by 2 games at 37-21 in the Midwest, while the Sonics looked guaranteed to hand us the #28 or 29 pick by virtue of their 47-10 mark and 12 game Pacific lead. Bad news for our Allen Iverson dreams all around.

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
Christian Laettner - 16.8
Grant Long - 13.1
Dikembe Mutombo - 12.4

Assists
Nick Van Exel - 6.5
Sherman Douglas - 3.9
Dana Barros - 2.6

Rebounds
Dikembe Mutombo - 11.8
Grant Long - 9.6
Christian Laettner - 6.7

Blocks
Dikembe Mutombo - 3.9
Pervis Ellison - 1.3
Christian Laettner - 0.8

Steals
Grant Long - 1.5
Dee Brown - 1.1
Christian Laettner - 0.9
Greg Minor - 0.9

NBA Leaders

Points
1. Michael Jordan (CHI) - 28.9
2. Shaquille O'Neal (ORL) - 26.0
3. Hakeem Olajuwon (HOU) - 25.1

Assists
1. John Stockton (UTA) - 10.5
2. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 9.8
3. Kevin Johnson (PHO) - 9.4 (Which showed just how much the Suns missed KJ after he was lost for the year with an MCL tear)

Rebounds
1. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 15.0
2. Shawn Kemp (SEA) - 12.4
3. Charles Barkley (PHO) - 12.1

Blocks
1. Dikembe Mutombo (BOS) - 3.9
2. Shawn Bradley (PHI) - 3.3
3. David Robinson (SA) - 2.9

Steals
1. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 3.1
2. Gary Payton (SEA) - 2.9
3. Clyde Drexler (HOU) - 2.7

Rookies Leaders

Points
1. Damon Stoudemire (TOR) - 19.1
2. Joe Smith (GS) - 13.1
3. Eric Williams (ATL) - 13.0

Assists
1. Damon Stoudemire (TOR) - 7.5
2. Tyrus Edney (SAC) - 5.5
3. Sasha Danilovic (MIA) - 3.4

Rebounds
1. Joe Smith (GS) - 9.1
2. Antonio McDyess (DEN) - 8.7
3. Arvydas Sabonis (POR) - 8.5

Blocks
1. Antonio McDyess (DEN) - 1.9
T2. Joe Smith (GS) - 1.5
T2. Kevin Garnett (MIN) - 1.5

Steals
T1. Jerry Stackhouse (PHI) - 1.4
T1. Eric Williams (ATL) - 1.4
3. Joe Smith (GS) - 1.2

[Izulde]

About a week before the trade deadline is when things finally started heating up and new teams began making deals.

New York Knicks receive
PF Otis Thorpe
Detroit Pistons 1996 2nd round pick

Detroit Pistons receive
SF Monty Williams
SG Gary Grant
PF Richie Brown

What this means for the Knicks
Thorpe may be 33, but he's a top-notch rebounder and a great scoring option off the bench. He's the perfect 6th man for a New York team that's fighting with the Orlando Magic for the Atlantic division crown.

What this means for the Pistons
The 30 year old Grant is the best piece of this deal for Detroit. Able to shoot fairly well and with respectable scoring instincts, his primary attributes are that he doesn't turn the ball over and he's a very effective thief. Brown's 35 and roster filler. Williams, 24, could be a decent bench player and 3 point specialist someday, but he's not close to there yet.

Winner: New York
Basically, Detroit got back a package of scrubs for a decent player and a 2nd. Bad move to make unless Williams turns into something usable.

Seattle Supersonics receive
SG Steve Smith

Atlanta Hawks receive
PF Frank Brickowski
Seattle Supersonics 1996 1st round pick

What this means for the Supersonics
Seattle's hell-bent on winning the West and the 26 year old Smith is a good all-around player who does everything, but excels at nothing. Still an improvement at the starting SG spot, even though he's one of the most inconsistent players in the league.

What this means for the Hawks
Smith expires at the end of the year, so it may just be a half-season rental for Seattle. Brickowski's 36 and just creaking out the last $3.25 million he'll probably ever make in the NBA. First rounder is really a second rounder in disguise but at least it's more cap room for the already $3 million under Hawks.

Winner: Draw
Atlanta wasn't certain to retain Smith, so to get cap space and a first, no matter how low for him, is a pretty good deal and if the Sonics win the West, getting Smith is worth the half-season rental.

Chicago Bulls receive
PG Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

Denver Nuggets receive
SF Dickey Simpkins
PF Jack Haley
C James Edwards

What this means for the Bulls
Abdul-Rauf is pure, sugary scoring goodness and piling him on top of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen means Chicago's now got three players who can burn you night in and night out. Will the Bulls even lose a game the rest of the year? Here's the kicker: he's only 26 and signed on for another two years at a good price.

What this means for the Nuggets
Haley and Edwards were cut immediately, so this becomes Abdul-Rauf for Simpkins. Dickey may be 23, but he's a bad bench player now and his upside only creeps up to mediocre. Oh and he can only play the 3.

Winner: Chicago
The biggest ripoff of the year yet. This is making Dikembo Mutombo and a 1st for Dino Radja look equal. Is it any surprise Denver's on the receiving end of both those hosings?

Seattle Supersonics receive
SF Malik Sealy
Los Angeles Clippers 1996 2nd round pick

Los Angeles Clippers receive
PG Eric Snow
SG Tommy Magnum

What this means for the Supersonics
The 26 year old Sealy can score points and steal the ball, but he's a terrible shooter and doesn't have much else to recommend him. His becoming Seattle's 6th man might actually hurt the team's title hopes.

What this means for the Clippers
Snow, taken with the 14th pick in the 2nd round, is a project. He could become a fifth starter some day with lockdown defense, but that day is a long way off. Magnum's a 32 year old 12th man.

Winner: Draw
Were it not for the concern about Sealy's effect on Seattle's chemistry, this would be a knockout punch for the Sonics. As is, we can only wait and see.

San Antonio Spurs receive
PF Armon Gilliam

New Jersey Nets receive
PF J.R. Reid
San Antonio Spurs 1996 1st round pick

What this means for the Spurs
Say hello to San Antonio's new All-Star frontcourt. Gilliam is an excellent scorer and rebounder, disciplined and smart. Even if he only plays half a season, pairing him with David "The Admiral" Robinson in the post enters the Spurs into West conference title discussions. In fact, with this one move, the Spurs netted themselves the best frontcourt in the league. Period.

What this for the Nets
The first round pick doesn't razzle-dazzle and the best thing about Reid is his expiring contract, which is equal to that of Gilliam's.

Winner: San Antonio
A half season of All-Star play from a 31 year old for a title contender vs. a late first round pick and a scrub. Yeah, we'd call it for the half-season too. Excellent pickup by the Spurs.

Well, I finally got my blockbuster wish, but it made the bad teams even worse, which meant ill tidings for our draft dreams.

We poured fuel on the fire by kicking off March with a 91-78 stroll over the Bucks. Vin Baker's 32 points and 14 rebounds were a sensational one-man show, but in the face of our balanced offense headlined by Dikembe Mutombo's 10 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks and Nick Van Exel's 11 points and 11 assists, Milwaukee simply folded.

The Clippers came to town next and we routed them 111-89 on Grant Long's 19 points and 11 rebounds, Nick Van Exel's 15 points and 10 assists and Greg Minor's 19 bench points. Rodney Rodgers sparkled with 23 points for the Clippers and Eric Piatowski surprised with 16 bench points, but the Red and White were more surrendering white than anything else as we shot another cannon in our flagging Iverson dreams.

But if we weren't going to get AI, at least we could extend our March record to 3-0 by beating Cleveland, which we did, 95-86. Danny Ferry and Bobby Phills had the sexy scoring of 21 and 23 points respectively and Tyrone Hill mustered up 12 points and 13 rebounds, but we again rode our balanced game to victory, Grant Long the main signatory with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

Johnny Newman's 22 points evaporated as we vaporized the Bucks 87-69 in Milwaukee. Dikembe Mutombo gobbled up every board in sight, finishing with 13 points and 21 rebounds while Nick Van Exel handed out 10 points and 12 assists and Sherman Douglas and Pervis Ellison paced the bench with 13 and 10 points.

We lost for the first time in March, 97-85 to the 76ers in our next game. Dikembe Mutombo's 12 points and 13 rebounds and Greg Minor's 10 bench points paled in comparison to Vernon Maxwell's 25 points, Derrick Coleman's 20 points and 11 rebounds, Clarence Weatherspoon's 12 points and 10 rebounds and Shawn Bradley's triple-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. It was an embarrassment.

I loved playing Cleveland because they were one of the few good teams we matched up well against and sure enough, we nipped the Cavs 87-83 on the road. Tyrone Hill did well with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but we sang yet another verse of the Balanced Offense song, Nick Van Exel our lead soloist with 16 points and 8 assists.

The ides of March proved kind to us as we cut down the Nets 106-75, bombarding them with Nick Van Exel's 22 points, Christian Laettner's 20 points, Dikembe Mutombo's 18 points and 17 rebounds and Greg Minor's free-spirited 18 bench points. At this point, I'd long since given up hopes of getting Allen Iverson, so I resolved to simply enjoy our winning ride.

Orlando got 15 points and 13 rebounds out of Shaquille O'Neal, but our bench made sure we manhandled the Magic 105-90. It was the greatest showing of the year by our second team, as Greg Minor scored 18, second round afterthought Junior Burrough surprised with 11 points and Pervis Ellison hauled down 10 rebounds. A beautiful upset win, to be sure.

Christian Laettner and Nick Van Exel put the hurting on Denver with 30 points and 9 rebounds and 23 points respectively as we put the Nuggets to flight 102-73. LaPhonso Ellis was their leading scorer with 19 points. Should've kept their first I thought to myself afterwards, but that's the danger of doing pick for pick swaps too early in the season.

Our streak ended with a dull 87-75 loss to the Heat. Alonzo Mourning's 17 points and 13 rebounds keyed a balanced Miami attack that swept past Nick Van Exel's 21 points, Christian Laettner's 11 points and 13 rebounds and Greg Minor's 10 bench points.

And then came the beautiful 102-89 upset of the Pacers in Indiana. Christian Laettner was the evening's gem with 28 points and 9 rebounds, but Nick Van Exel was noteworthy with 18 points and 12 assists and Greg Minor did his thing with 10 bench points. Yet, the most surprising thing wasn't even that we won. It was Junior Burrough coming off the bench for 9 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. His late-season form was simply stunning. I just couldn't feel sorry for Rik Smits and Reggie Miller as their 27 and 20 points failed to produce a Pacers win.

We went to Minneapolis the next night and brushed off the Timberwolves 95-82. Nick Van Exel took home Player of the Game with 23 points and 10 assists and Dikembe Mutombo dominated the paint with 12 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks. Minnesota had finally thrown in the towel on their season and started Kevin Garnett, who garnered 10 points and 12 rebounds against us, the inverse of All-Star starter Tom Gugliotta's 10 points and 12 rebounds.

I likened a trip to Philadelphia to that of going to the dentist, but my smile was surprisingly sweet after we shocked the Sixers 100-87. Christian Laettner scored 26 and Grant Long had 10 points and 11 rebounds to countermand Derrick Coleman's 18 points and 10 rebounds and Shawn Bradley's 13 points and 14 rebounds.

We had a double-date with Atlanta to end March and we started it by hosting a 93-60 laugher. The Hawks' leading scorer was benchman Craig Ehlo with 13, which goes to show you how things went. In contrast, Christian Laettner stayed white-hot with 30 points, Dikembe Mutombo corralled 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks and Greg Minor chipped in 12 bench points.

The rematch in Atlanta was equally hot for us, the 87-53 rollup featuring yet again the leading Hawk off the bench (Ken Norman with 12 points), while Christian Laettner ate them for 23 points and 9 rebounds and Dikembe Mutombo was a force in the middle good for 14 points and 19 rebounds.

Celtics March Record: 13-2

Yes, that's right. We were 13-2 in March that year. Call it the luck of the Irish or whatever you want. The fact is, as of April Fool's Day, we were 41-32, in third place in the Atlantic and proud holders of the #6 seed. Even more impressive, we were only 4 games out of the division-leading Knicks, 44-27, who were a half-game ahead of the Magic. Toronto stayed 4th worst in conference at 27-45. The Bulls didn't lose a game in March and were 61-10 as of April 1st. They held an 8 game edge on the Pacers and were close to clinching the East's #1 seed.

On the flip side, the Raptors were back to 7th worst overall and 27-44 Vancouver was just a game and a half worse than the Nuggets. San Antonio's acquistion of Armon Gilliam launched them to 47-25 and a 5 game lead on the Houston Rockets in the Midwest, while Seattle already had the West's top seed locked up at 59-13.

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
Christian Laettner - 16.9
Grant Long - 12.8
Nick Van Exel - 12.4

Assists
Nick Van Exel - 6.9
Sherman Douglas - 3.9
Grant Long - 2.9

Rebounds
Dikembe Mutombo - 11.6
Grant Long - 9.0
Christian Laettner - 6.7

Blocks
Dikembe Mutombo - 3.7
Pervis Ellison - 1.3
Christian Laettner - 0.8

Steals
Grant Long - 1.5
Dee Brown - 1.3
Christian Laettner - 1.0

[Izulde]

With nine games left in the year, we still had a shot, however slim, at winning the Atlantic, a notion unthinkable at the start of the season.

But we would have to be very good and not lose critical games, like we did in bowing to the Magic 100-83 in Orlando, ending our hot streak. Christan Laettner brought it with 27 points and 10 rebounds and so did Nick Van Exel (20 points), but Grant Long had a goose egg, making Sherman Douglas's 11 bench points irrelevant. Long also did terribly on defense, allowing Dennis Scott to light him up for 21 points, the same total Shaquille O'Neal slammed us for and Horace Grant did the filthy work inside with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

We rebounded to punch the Pistons 91-73. Dikembe Mutombo looked great in compiling 26 points and 16 rebounds and Christian Laettner scored 20. Between them, they took care of Grant Hill's 17 points and 23 rebounds and Allan Houston's 21 points. Nick Van Exel just missed the double-double with 15 points and 9 assists.

Our most important matchup of those final games was up next in New York. Unfortunately we once again suffered a meltdown at an inopportune time, getting blasted 98-66. Christian Laettner was the only Celtic to show up, scoring 27 and the Knicks did us in with a balanced offense, led by 3 bench players with 10 or 11 points and Anthony Mason's double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Exhaustion overtook us the following night in Boston and we blew it in the fourth quarter to get upset 95-93 by the Bullets. It was a heartbreaking loss, especially on top of Dikembe Mutombo's triple double of 15 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks. Funny how we never seemed to win we he got the triple double. 27 points from Robert Pack and Chris Webber's 21 points and 13 rebounds put Washington in great shape to beat us.

Naturally the one loss I could've tolerated in those final games we didn't get, narrowly beating the Raptors 93-90. Damon Stoudemire had a magnificent game with 21 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds and Tracy Murray chipped in 20 points, but they couldn't bail out the Raptors. Nick Van Exel led the charge with 20 points, aided by double-doubles of 18 points and 10 rebounds and 12 points and 10 rebounds from Dikembe Mutombo and Christian Laettner respectively.

We finally put together two wins in a row, smacking the Pistons 105-80 in Detroit. Dikembe Mutombo ruled the post with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Nick Van Exel netted 10 points and 13 assists and Greg Minor added 10 bench points. Allan Houston scored 20, but he was it for the Pistons.

I wanted revenge in Washington but didn't get as we fell 91-82. Juwan Howard gunned us down with 21 points and 17 rebounds and Gheorge Muresan was beastly off the bench for 18 points. Paltry compared to our own leading scorers of [b]Christian Laettner (18 points) and Greg Minor (10 points, reserves).

That loss to the Bullets meant we needed to win out to have a winning record for our final set of nine games. We got it done in New Jersey, denying the Nets all night long and winning 87-67 on the back of Dikembe Mutombo's 16 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks and Christian Laettner's 14 points and 10 rebounds.

We hosted New York for our last game of the regular season. Win and we had an outside shot at the #6 seed. Lose and we were locked into the #7 seed. We won a 93-91 thriller, surmounting Charles Oakley's 23 points and 12 rebounds and Derek Harper's 25 points with shared point wealth keyed by Grant Long's first 20 point game in kelly green and Dikembe Mutombo's 14 points, 11 rebounds and 8 blocks.

Unfortunately, our heroics turned out for naught, as Miami won their final game and took the 6th seed. Still, I was very happy with how the season had gone. Written off before the year started, we'd gone from 33-49 the year before to 46-36 this season and the 7th seed. Clifton Gross was beside himself with glee as playoff ticket orders came pouring in.

The Knicks won the Atlantic by a game over the Magic at 51-31, but all that earned them was the #4 seed, the only guarantee to the lesser of the two division winners. Chicago finished an impressive 68-14, just missing the hallowed 70 win barrier, but 62-20 Indiana deserved a lot of credit.

San Antonio ran away with the Midwest at 55-27, 8 games over the Rockets, while Seattle cruised their way to giving us the #28 pick at 66-16.

1995-96 East Conference Seedings
1. Chicago Bulls (68-14)
2. Indiana Pacers (62-20)
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (54-28)
4. New York Knicks (51-31)
5. Orlando Magic (50-32)
6. Miami Heat (47-35)
7. Boston Celtics (46-36)
8. Charlotte Hornets (39-43)

1995-96 West Conference Seedings
1. Seattle Supersonics (66-16)
2. San Antonio Spurs (57-25)
3. Golden State Warriors (52-30)
4. Houston Rockets (47-35)
5. Utah Jazz (45-37)
6. Los Angeles Lakers (44-38)
7. Portland Trailblazers (44-38)
8. Sacramento Kings (39-43)

I wasn't happy in the least about drawing the Pacers, who were the one team in the East we matched up the worst against. But who knows? Maybe miracles could happen.

NBA Leaders

Points
1. Michael Jordan (CHI) - 28.6
2. Shaquille O'Neal (ORL) - 26.3
3. David Robinson (SA) - 24.7

Assists
1. John Stockton (UTA) - 10.7
2. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 9.7
3. Kevin Johnson (PHO) - 9.4 (Which showed just how much the Suns missed KJ after he was lost for the year with an MCL tear. In fact, the Suns missed the playoffs without him!)

Rebounds
1. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 15.1
2. David Robinson (SA) - 12.3
3. Shawn Kemp (SEA) - 12.2

Blocks
1. Dikembe Mutombo (BOS) - 3.8
2. Shawn Bradley (PHI) - 3.5
3. Alonzo Mourning (MIA) - 3.1

Steals
T1. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 3.0
T1. Gary Payton (SEA) - 3.0
3. Clyde Drexler (HOU) - 2.6

Rookies Leaders

Points
1. Damon Stoudemire (TOR) - 18.5
2. Joe Smith (GS) - 13.5
3. Eric Williams (ATL) - 12.5

Assists
1. Damon Stoudemire (TOR) - 8.0
2. Tyrus Edney (SAC) - 5.7
3. Michael Finley (PHO) - 3.7

Rebounds
1. Joe Smith (GS) - 9.2
2. Antonio McDyess (DEN) - 8.9
3. Rasheed Wallace (WAS) - 8.5

Blocks
1. Antonio McDyess (DEN) - 2.0
T2. Joe Smith (GS) - 1.5
T2. Kevin Garnett (MIN) - 1.5

Steals
T1. Alan Henderson (ATL) - 1.3
T1. Eric Williams (ATL) - 1.3
T3. Joe Smith (GS) - 1.2
T3. Jerry Stackhouse (PHI) - 1.2

One thing that did make me smile was this:

Denver Nuggets - 30-52
Vancouver Grizzlies - 29-53

We would have the 7th (Grizzlies) and 9th (Raptors) picks going into the lottery. Although they were lower top 10 picks, two tickets to the the Top 10 lottery are always a good thing. If the balls bounced right, we'd get our shot at Allen Iverson after all.

But first, there was playoff fever to contend with.

[rjolley]

You don't think you'd be able to swing 2 Top 10 picks for the overall #1 pick? Even with AI as the #1 pick, that's still a great deal.

How did "his mama named him Chris, Imma call him" Chris Jackson do with the Bulls? What kind of individual numbers did they put up as a team?

[Izulde]

You don't think you'd be able to swing 2 Top 10 picks for the overall #1 pick? Even with AI as the #1 pick, that's still a great deal.

How did "his mama named him Chris, Imma call him" Chris Jackson do with the Bulls? What kind of individual numbers did they put up as a team?

I don't have the precise #s for how he did on the Bulls because the season hasn't rolled over yet. They went up over his Nuggets numbers though, save for his 3-pt %, which still clocked in at 34.8% on the year.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/bullstats.jpg

I apologize for the hard to read red numbers. The injuries are all minor, by the way, so no need for heart attacks. :D

[Izulde]

A newspaper clipping from that year.

Celtics Charge Back To Playoffs
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/christian-laettner.jpghttp://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/DENVER1.jpg
Christian Laettner and Dikembe Mutombo were the main forces behind Boston's surprising run this season

No one was surprised to see a change in general managers after the Boston Celtics went 33-49 last year. What no one expected was little-known, 29 year old Bobby Troilus to win the job. But Troilus proved just what the C's needed, trading for Denver Nuggets center Dikembe Mutombo and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Christian Laettner.

Laettner, best remembered for his heroic free throws against UNLV in the NCAA tournament a few years ago, blossomed in Boston, becoming the Celtics' leading scorer with 16.9 points per game and winning hearts all across Celtic nation.

Mutombo not only was the team's leading rebounder at 11.3 boards per game, but he lead the NBA in blocked shots at 3.8 per contest and averaged 12.3 points besides in the regular season. Although there's concern if he'll come back to Boston, given that he's headed to free agency, he's been a key force in the middle for the team.

Nick Van Exel, the second year point guard filched from the Los Angeles Lakers, was inconsistent, but improved as the season wore on, finishing with a team high 7 assists per game and showing the kind of flashes of potential that should make him an upper-echelon floor general sooner rather than later.

It all added up to an astonishing 46-36 record, including a 43-30 mark under Troilus after he fired M.L. Carr and took over as head coach on an interim basis. While Troilus has said he doesn't intend to be back on the bench next season, fans in Beantown and elsewhere across the country are clamoring for him to stay in the dual role.

The 7th seed the Celtics earned in the playoffs drew them a tough matchup against the 2nd seed Indiana Pacers, who finished second only to the mighty Bulls in the Central. Boston looks a longshot to pull off the upset, but let's see how they match up.

Point Guard
Nick Van Exel vs. Mark Jackson
Van Exel really took off after the All-Star break that wasn't and had just two games where he didn't reach double-digit points on way to concluding with a 12.7 point per game average to go with his 7 assists. He's average defensively, but there's no more talented a young passer in the league and his offensive game is growing by leaps and bounds.

Jackson brings veteran experience and savvy at 30 years old and he averaged 9.5 points, 6.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game in the regular season. Don't look for him to fill up the score sheet, but he's got the size to outmuscle Van Exel and plays much better defense. Not a fantastic passer, but almost never turns it over.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Dee Brown vs. Reggie Miller
Brown, 27, is the weak link in the Celtics' starting five. Has some knack for steals evidenced by his 1.2 steals per game, but on a team that emphasizes balance among its scorers, his 9.9 points per game as a starter is disappointing. As a reserve, he's a nice safety net. As a starter, he's a hole waiting to be exploited out.

And there's no worse exploiter for Boston than Miller, who at 30 can do everything but block shots: 21.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals in the regular season. He's every inch an All-Star and the franchise face and he's going to absolutely crush Brown on his way to a monster series.

Advantage: Pacers

Small Forward
Grant Long vs. Derrick McKey
The 29 year old Long, a deadline acquisition from Atlanta, didn't do much in Boston, making his 12.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals in the regular season look misleading. On the other hand, he's a very good defender, the best Boston has besides a certain big man.

McKey, also 29, is one of the best defenders in the game. Like Long, he doesn't add much to the scoreline, but did well enough with 11.8 points and 1.4 steals. Basically, he's a better version of Long and one who has a deadly inside shot, which his Celtic counterpart doesn't have.

Advantage: Pacers

Power Forward
Christian Laettner vs. Dale Davis
If the Celtics are going to have a prayer in this series, they need Laettner to show the clutch form he did at Duke and improve on his season averages of 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and steal per game. There's reason to believe he will; like Van Exel, he got even better as the season went along. But he's not the greatest defender, which could cause problems.

Davis, 26, is a premiere rebounder and a pretty good defender, but not much in the way of offense. 9.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in the regular season. He won't be able to stop Laettner completely, but his job will be to limit Boston's leading scorer as much as possible, so Miller can gun away without pressure.

Advantage: Celtics

Center
Dikembe Mutombo vs. Rik Smits
At 7'2, 245 lbs, Mutombo is one of the most beastly and intimidating centers in the game. He's a Defensive Player of the Year candidate who scores more points than his instincts suggest he would. His regular season averages of 12.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks attest to just how valuable he is to this Celtics team and without him, Boston is probably one of the worst teams in the league. Exceptional passer as well.

Smits is one of the few centers in the league who matches up with Mutombo at a staggering 7'4, 265 lbs. A phenomenal scorer and one of the most intelligent players in the game, he also plays solid defense. Doesn't get nearly as many rebounds or blocks as a player of his size should though: 18.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and, perhaps most amazingly, 3.9 assists in the regular season.

Advantage: Draw

Bench
The Celtics have a very thin bench. [b]Pervis Ellison is a good reserve big man, with 4.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks during the regular season and Greg Minor was a pleasant surprise with 8.3 points as Boston's top sniper, but Sherman Douglas's 7.7 points per game are inflated by his starts and there just isn't much depth here at all.

Indiana, on the other hand, features two 7.5 point per game scorers in 36 year old Ricky Pierce and overachiever Anthony Davis. Davis also tacked on 5.5 rebounds per game and plays some very good defense. Haywoode Workman provides excellent floor generalship.

Advantage: Pacers

Final Thoughts
Indiana is just too talented and too deep for Boston to overcome. At best, the Celtics win a game, maybe two. But the Pacers are worth every bit of their 2 seed and they'll prove it by sweeping the Celtics in this series.
Prediction: Pacers in 4

***End Article***

And that was the most sympathetic clipping I could find. Nobody gave us a chance and it was reasonable for them not to. Sure we'd won a game in Indiana during the regular season, but every other time, the Pacers blew the doors off us. Even I thought it would take a miracle on the order of an immaculate conception to win.

Game One
It was every bit as lopsided a contest as you could imagine. We shot 32.9% and that wasn't going to cut it when Rik Smits was hammering us for 24 points and 11 rebounds, Reggie Miller was slicing us for 22 points and 10 rebounds and Dale Davis was putting the finishing touches on our slaughter with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Dikembe Mutombo manufactured 10 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks, but it took Nick Van Exel 24 shots to produce 19 points to be our leading scorer.
Final - Boston 72 Indiana 94

Game Two
I told the guys before the game to just stay loose, that nobody expected us to do anything, so we had nothing to lose. They took my advice to heart and every single starter scored at least 11 points, captained by Nick Van Exel's 21 points and 9 assists. Dikembe Mutombo continued his effective series with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Pervis Ellison spelled him off the bench for 10 points. The usual Pacers stars did their usual with Rik Smits hauling in 19 points and 12 rebounds and Reggie Miller scoring 21, but it wasn't enough as we pulled off the upset shocker in Indiana to even the series.
Final - Boston 101 Indiana 94

Our celebration was short-lived when the team doctor told me that Dikembe Mutombo injured his foot and would be at limited effectiveness for the rest of the series. I feared for our chances even more after hearing that, but Dikembe vowed to soldier on.

Game Three
An impassioned crowd greeted us in Boston, determined to will us on to another upset and a 2-1 series lead. Christian Laettner fed off their energy for his first true breakout of the series with 25 points and Pervis Ellison charged for 12 bench points, but the Pacers responded with Derrick McKey's 20 points, 10 bench boards from Antonio Davis and 10 points or more from all but one of their starters. They jumped out to a 10 point first quarter lead and though we chipped away at it the rest of the game, in the end, we came up just short, taking the heartbreaking 3 point loss to go down 2-1.
Final - Indiana 83 Boston 80

Game Four
Our last real hope for an upset series lay in this game and everybody in the pounding, shaking building knew it as they screamed and followed every shot. Reggie Miller knew it too and came alive for 29 points while Rik Smits added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Christian Laettner had the most incredible game I've seen in response - 41 points and 16 rebounds as he played like a man possessed. But in the end, it just wasn't enough. Nobody else came prepared to play and we fell by another agonizing 3 point margin as the Pacers' depth overran us in the fourth quarter, trampling us to a 3-1 series hole.
Final - Indiana 97 Boston 94

Game Five
After the close-but-not agonies in Boston, we just simply ran out of heart and ran out of gas. Pervis Ellison's 10 bench points were a sad footnote to Rik Smits's 25 points and 13 rebounds and Reggie Miller's 24 points. They cruised to the kind of win everybody thought all four games would be like and it was difficult to tell my men that they could stand tall for giving Indiana the hell of a fight they did.
Final - Boston 64 Indiana 101

As you know from the recaps I just gave you, the series was much, much closer than anyone figured it would be. I found myself wondering what would've happened if Dikembe Mutombo hadn't bruised his foot so badly. He disappeared after that injury and had he been able to be in top form, I think we just may have won the series.

Still, it reinforced to me just how valuable he was to our team and I quietly decided to make it a priority to re-sign him in the offseason, no matter who we took or what we did in the draft. I was also more determined than ever to do whatever it took to land my favorite of the rookie class in Allen Iverson. Insert a gamechanger like him instead of Dee Brown at shooting guard and that series is ours for the taking.

Virtually every single playoff series was decided in five games. The only two that weren't was Seattle's sweep of Sacramento and the Houston/Utah series. The Knicks eliminated the Magic, Miami upset Cleveland, San Antonio knocked off Cleveland, Golden State kicked out the Lakers, and in what was perhaps the biggest upset in NBA playoff history, the 39-43 Charlotte Hornets beat the 68-12 Chicago Bulls.

How did they do it? Through the combination of Glen Rice (20.6 points, 1.8 steals), Larry Johnson (19.6 points, 8.6 rebounds) and Matt Geiger (12.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.0 blocks). That and a fortunate wrist injury to Scottie Pippen, who shot just 34.3% and averaged and only 10.8 points a game. It didn't help that Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was exposed as an All-Star fraud, shooting just 37.3% for 13.2 points and no injury excuses. Not even Michael Jordan's 27.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.4 steals could save the Bulls.

Utah dispatched Houston in six games, ensuring that no one went the distance in the first round.

Indiana now looked clear to win the East and they quickly closed out the Heat in a sweep. Patrick Ewing and the Knicks stopped Charlotte's Cinderella story in six games, the same time it took the Spurs to oust the fearsome offense of Golden State. We got our first seven-game series of the postseason in Seattle/Utah and home court advantage rescued the top-seeded Sonics against the Jazz.

Two classic series followed, as both conference championships went the full seven games. Both of the two seeds won, with Indiana triumphing over New York and San Antonio shocking Seattle.

You might expect from our matchup that the Pacers were a two-headed force the rest of the playoffs, but that wasn't the case. Instead, it was a balanced attack spearheaded by Reggie Miller averaging 24.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.1 steals in a performance eerily reminiscent of Air Jordan himself.

The Spurs countered with all five starters averaging double-digit figures and of course David "The Admiral" Robinson was on top with 21.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 3 blocks, but Armon Gilliam had done exactly what the Spurs traded him for, posting 16.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals. It was a shrewd move by San Antonio to bring him in at the deadline, because it was his presence alongside The Admiral that earned the Spurs the West Conference crown.

But that was as far as they went, as Reggie Miller singlehandedly carried the Pacers to a 4-1 Finals victory, averaging 25.8 points per game en route to his Finals MVP award.

It gives me chills to this day to think that we might have upset the eventual NBA champions of that year, but that's how this business goes sometimes.

The joy and excitement in hoops-crazy Indiana was still at fever pitch a few days later when the event came that sent everyone in Boston into a tizzy. The NBA Lottery.

I sat with a select few members of the front office at a table, drinking copious amounts of water while I watched the balls bounce against the walls much like I wanted to at that moment.

As I said, we held picks 7 and 9, which gave us percent chances 3.4 and 6. The odds were against it, but still much better than if we held, say, 12 and 14.

I swallowed more water and watched the balls roll in.

"Pick 13 goes to... the Washington Bullets!"

No change there.

"Pick 12 goes to... the Phoenix Suns!"

Again no change.

"Pick 11 goes to... the Atlanta Hawks!"

Still good, I thought.

"Pick 10 goes to... the Detroit Pistons!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. So far the picks had held serve. Next up was our first of two selections.

"Pick 9 goes to... the Vancouver Grizzlies!"

I don't remember what happened first, whether my assistant GM screamed or I fell out of my chair in shock. All I know is, I was seeing starbursts and feeling dizzy with delirious glee.

We'd beaten the odds! We had a top 3 pick!!!!! Allen Iverson was that much closer to being ours!!!

"Pick 8 goes to... the Boston Celtics!"

So we dropped a spot on the 7th pick. I didn't care. All I cared about was that we were in the top 3 and we had our chance at Iverson.

I was so giddy I barely paid attention to what was going on the next few draws. They broke down like this:

7. Minnesota Timberwolves (-1)
6. Los Angeles Clippers (-1)
5. Philadelphia 76ers (-1)
4. Dallas Mavericks (-1)

Then I started paying attention again, though the tablecloth in front of me was littered from sweat-soaked linen napkins, which hadn't done much to staunch the perspiration on my forehead. I was going to need to go to the bathroom and get a lot more water afterwards, I knew that much.

"Pick 3 goes to... the New Jersey Nets!"

Blood roared my ears, the room started throbbing and shaking with stars and I started tottering in my chair as the words "Top 2 guaranteed!" flashed through my brain.

"Pick 2 goes to... the Boston Celtics!

I didn't even hear Milwaukee's name called off for the top pick. I was already gripping everyone's hand at our table, smiling like a lovestruck fool and reveling in the beauty of all.

7 spots we leapt up! 9th to 2nd!

I swore Allen Iverson would wear kelly green next season, no matter what I had to throw at the Bucks to get him.

[Izulde]

I anticipated that we perhaps had a chance at Defensive Player of the Year in Dikembe Mutombo, but did not think we had any opportunities elsewhere for season accolades.

1995-96 NBA Season Awards
Player of the Year
Alonzo Mourning - Miami Heat - 24.5 PPG 11.7 RPG 3.2 APG 3.1 BPG 1.3 SPG
Defensive Player of the Year
Gary Payton - Seattle Supersonics - 22.7 PPG 6.2 APG 5.2 RPG 0.8 BPG 3.0 SPG
Rookie of the Year
Damon Stoudamire - Toronto Raptors - 18.5 PPG 8.0 APG 4.0 RPG 0.1 BPG 1.1 SPG
6th Man of the Year
Gheorghe Muresan - Washington Bullets - 9.4 PPG 6.8 RPG 1.0 APG 1.6 BPG 0.1 SPG
Coach of the Year
Mike Fratello - Cleveland Cavaliers

I received a few votes for Coach of the Year, which was nice, but Fratello really deserved it. He did a lot with a team that didn't have all that much talent.

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Gary Payton - Seattle Supersonics
SG Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
SF Glen Rice - Charlotte Hornets
PF Karl Malone - Utah Jazz
C Alonzo Mourning - Miami Heat

All-NBA 2nd Team
PG Terrell Brandon - Cleveland Cavaliers
SG Reggie Miller - Indiana Pacers
SF Grant Hill - Detroit Pistons
PF Larry Johnson - Charlotte Hornets
C David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Rod Strickland - Portland Trailblazers
SG Mitch Richmond - Sacramento Kings
SF Tom Gugliotta - Minnesota Timberwolves
PF Shawn Kemp - Seattle Supersonics
C Hakeem Olajuwon - Houston Rockets

All-Defense 1st Team
PG Gary Payton - Seattle Supersonics
SG Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
SF Scottie Pippen - Chicago Bulls
PF Shawn Kemp - Seattle Supersonics
C Alonzo Mourning - Miami Heat

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Mookie Blaylock - Atlanta Hawks
SG Mitch Richmond - Sacramento Kings
SF Tom Gugliotta - Minnesota Timberwolves
PF Chris Webber - Washington Bullets
C Dikembe Mutombo - Boston Celtics

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Damon Stoudamire - Toronto Raptors
SG Jerry Stackhouse - Philadelphia 76ers
SF Michael Finley - Phoenix Suns
PF Antonio McDyess - Denver Nuggets
C Arvydas Sabonis - Portland Trailblazers

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Tyus Edney - Sacramento Kings
SG Sasha Danilovic - Miami Heat
SF Eric Williams - Atlanta Hawks
PF Joe Smith - Golden State Warriors
C Bryant Reeves - Vancouver Grizzlies

One piece of hardware was good and I felt very proud that a player I brought in was the one to get it.

Cliff Gross said he was extremely pleased with how our season went and had nothing but praise for me in our year-end dinner. "I said we needed to get some young blood in here and you proved me right. Good work! Now build on it for next year!" he told me.

And that was exactly what I planned to do. The very first thing I did was call the Bucks to move up to that #1 spot, but they refused to consider trading down a single spot, even for the Lakers 1998 1st round pick.

Things went from bad to worse when Mr. Gross told me that we could make the playoffs next year, but that we'd better do more than that the following season. He also rejected my request to allow an overrun of $10 million and insisted that we stay within a few million over the cap.

I took a look at the head coaching pool when the offseason hit and though it sounds narcissistic to say it even now, I didn't see anybody available I trusted more than myself to run the team.

Mock Draft

Allen Iverson was the consensus pick to go #1, much as I feared. With pick #2, a lot of mocks had us taking forward Jermaine O'Neal because they knew we had no interest in Kobe Bryant. At #8, we were tabbed to select big man Ben Wallace, who I didn't think would last that long and #28 had us picking Argentinian swingman Doug Rhodes.

Projected Mock 1st Round
1. Allen Iverson - Milwaukee Bucks
2. Jermaine O'Neal - Boston Celtics
3. Kobe Bryant - New Jersey Nets
4. Antoine Walker - Dallas Mavericks
5. Stephon Marbury - Philadelphia 76ers
6. Pries Lauderdale - Los Angeles Clippers
7. Darvin Ham - Minnesota Timberwolves
8. Ben Wallace - Boston Celtics
9. Shareef Abdur-Rahim - Vancouver Grizzlies
10. Marcus Camby - Detroit Pistons
11. Ray Allen - Atlanta Hawks
12. Malik Rose - Phoenix Suns
13. Steve Nash - Washington Bullets
14. Martin Muursepp - Charlotte Hornets
15. John Wallace - Sacramento Kings
16. Shawnelle Scott - Portland Trailblazers
17. Erick Dampier - Los Angeles Lakers
18. Lorenzen Wright - Utah Jazz
19. Ben Davis - Toronto Raptors
20. Michael Hawkins - Miami Heat
21. Samaki Walker - Houston Rockets
22. Bruce Bowen - Orlando Magic
23. Tony Delk - New York Knicks
24. Todd Fuller - Golden State Warriors
25. Travis Knight - Cleveland Cavaliers
26. Othella Harrington - New Jersey Nets
27. Jerome Williams - Indiana Pacers
[b]28. Doug Rhodes - Boston Celtics
29. Jamie Feick - Chicago Bulls

I could already, even before the draft, tell you there were problems wrong with the mock draft. While we were going to take one big man as insurance in case we couldn't re-sign Dikembe Mutombo, two was overkill given that we still had Pervis Ellison as a reserve and I wasn't about to move Christian Laettner out of his happy power forward spot. I also thought Ray Allen at 11 was preposterous. Given the tape I'd seen on him earlier in the year, in my mind, he was a lock for a Top 7 selection.

I tried again and again to get Milwaukee to trade spots with us, but they refused outright, even when I offered them Nick Van Exel to solve their PG hole. The Bucks GM at the time, Jamison Greenleaf, was a real ballbuster. He saw in Iverson the chance to instantly resurrect his moribund squad and he was right. To be honest, I think he enjoyed putting the screws to me like that.

My dreams of Allen Iverson wearing Celtics green were fast going up in smoke.

Grimly, I prepared for our plans to go all to naught.

[Neuqua]

Why isn't Kerry Kittles in the draft?!

:(

[Izulde]

Why isn't Kerry Kittles in the draft?!

:(

He is. And I'm about to break my keyboard because an error came up towards the end of the first round (I suspect it's mod-related)

Edit: I'd post how things had gone to that point, but it'll just piss me off all over again.

[Izulde]

Okay, here's an ethics question I have for you guys.

In the draft I was just running before the error hit, the Bucks actually passed on AI.

When I re-do the draft, do I just accept it as fate if the Bucks take Iverson or do I keep re-doing the draft until they pass on Iverson again if they take him when I start it up again?

(I was also thrilled with who I got with my second first round pick and -that- probably won't happen again either. UGH!)

[DaddyTorgo]

keep re-doing it until they pass on him. i consider that fair-play, as it's not your fault the game fouled up. as long as you didn't save+reload right before the draft WITH THE INTENTION OF DOING THAT i consider it alright.

[DaddyTorgo]

idk though - C's fan here obviously, so this pains me, but what about *throws up in mouth a lil* Kobe?

[Coffee Warlord]

idk though - C's fan here obviously, so this pains me, but what about *throws up in mouth a lil* Kobe?

Without seeing his numbers/stats in the database, I'm surprised he's not on our hero's radar more.

[Autumn]

I agree, that if you didn't do it on purpose you could keep going until they pass on him, though I'd probably be inclined to just take my chances. I, however, am not as obsessed with Iverson ;-)

[rjolley]

Yeah, usually, when I have an error during a game, I let whatever happens when I replay the game happen. On CH2K9, I usually let the CPU replay the games I'd played since the last save. For text sims, I let the whatever happened in the redo, happen.

And I agree, I'm not as infatuated with AI as you are. I'd rather have Bryant (based on what he turned out to be) and Abdur-Rahim (very good scoring big man coming out of college).

[law90026]

I would not see an issue with rerunning the draft until the Bucks pass again. It's not cheesing the game since that's what really happened before the crash.

Re the pick of AI: I'm assuming Izulde is trying to go for realism in the dynasty? I don't think people were lining up to draft Kobe at the time (though he's turned out phenomenal) and AI would have been the consensus No. 1 pick (well except for the Bucks apparently lol).

[Izulde]

My gut instinct is to just accept whatever the re-do brings me, so that's probably what I'll go with, even though it'll probably cost me AI as well as the other player I landed that I was really happy to get. :(

And I absolutely -refuse- to have Kobe on the team.

[rjolley]

Who was the other player?

[DaddyTorgo]

i'd refuse to have both Kobe and AI if it were up to me as far as personal preference

[Izulde]

rjolley: You'll see later. :)

DaddyTorgo: Eh, AI and Artest are my two favorite current players, which is why I'm so eager to get him.

I'll give the draft another crack later tonight, once I eat supper and get this mountain of papers graded.

[rjolley]

And switch back to FireFox. :)

[Izulde]

And switch back to FireFox. :)

:D That might happen when I get back to WI. But while I'm on this current ISP, it's Opera.

[law90026]

Amg enough teasing already, I've been waiting for the draft for a long time now!

[Izulde]

Amg enough teasing already, I've been waiting for the draft for a long time now!

Ran it again and the same damned error popped up.

RTE 3075: Syntax error (missing operator) in query expression 'College = 'Saint John's' ORDER BY Season ID Desc

Like I said, I think it's mod/roster related.

This is getting irritating, especially since the Bucks passed on AI -again-.

[law90026]

Ouchie sucks to hear, hope you can get it fixed.

[Izulde]

We brought in some players for workouts and were impressed with a lot of the guys we looked at. But in my mind, there was no doubt who the best player in the class was. You all know who that is.

1996 NBA Draft First Round

I made one more last-ditch effort to try and secure the top pick from the Bucks, but they dug in.

And so, it was with a certain depression that I sat at the table and watched the commissioner walk up to the podium, card in hand.

[b]"With the first pick in the 1996 NBA draft, the Milwaukee Bucks select.... Kobe Bryant, shooting guard, from Lower Merion High School . The Boston Celtics are now on the clock."

The whole room gasped in shock, followed by some boos. I didn't think it was that bad a pick. Sure Kobe was young at 18, but Glenn Robinson and Vin Baker were 24 and 25 respectively, still young enough for the Bucks to be able to make a run if Kobe matured into the type of superstar everyone pegged him to be someday.

But there was no time to waste. I grabbed the card, dashed in a name with shaking hand and personally ran it up, smiling so widely the guy laughed when he took it.

"I bet I know who this is!" he said with a knowing grin.

"Damn right!" I answered.

A few moments later...

"With the second overall pick, the Boston Celtics select... Allen Iverson, point guard, out of Georgetown. The New Jersey Nets are on the clock."

The commissioner's last words were lost in the roars and cheers from the crowd. Our future savior beamed as he went up to don a Celtics hat and pose for the cameras. So he was just 6 feet tall? Who cared? I knew, looking at him, that he wouldn't soon forget being passed over for the top pick and that he'd make Milwaukee pay.

No matter what else happened the rest of the draft, I had the player I wanted most. And that was worth everything.

I called Allen and talked to him about how happy we were to have him in Boston while I kept an eye on the picks coming in. If there was still a player we liked after the next few selections, I was tempted to move up and get him.

3. C Priest Lauderdale - New Jersey Nets

The Nets were furious about Bryant going off the board first. They'd set their hearts on him and instead had to settle for the giant Greek, all 7'4, 325 lbs of Lauderdale.

4. C Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks

It was my turn to be angry, because Camby was one of the guys I was hoping to fall to us at the 8th pick and now he was gone.

5. SF Darvin Ham - Philadelphia 76ers
6. PF Antoine Walker - Los Angeles Clippers

At this point we had a decision to make. There was one center left on the board who I thought was worthy of a Top 10 selection, high school senior Jermaine O'Neal. The problem was, Minnesota looked poised to take him. On the other hand, there were two excellent guards still available, one of whom was guaranteed to drop to us, if not both. But I also had Nick Van Exel and the just drafted Iverson.

The solution, of course, was to see if I could swap Van Exel for a center. Although I loved Nick's game, he'd struggled in the playoffs, shooting just 35.8% and we couldn't have that if we wanted to be championship contenders. So I hit the phones.

I quickly found out that there were no real center prospects available and the bad contracts we had in Sherman Douglas, Dee Brown and Dana Barros from the previous administration made them untradeable.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted a pure point guard to pair up with Allen and there was only one guy left in the draft who I really wanted to team with him, so I offered the 48th pick to the Timberwolves to move up and they agreed.

7. PG Stephon Marbury - Boston Celtics

A roar of confusion rang out and the experts were absolutely flabbergasted that we hadn't taken a big man.

They recovered quickly however, with J.P. Gorski remarking, "Well, the Celtics backcourt was their Achilles heel last season. Nick Van Exel showed flashes at the point but was inconsistent and Dee Brown had no business starting. I thought Starbury was going to go number five to the 76ers, so this is a great, great value pick. My guess is that we'll see Boston line up Starbury at the point and Allen Iverson at shooting guard to give the Celtics the best young backcourt in the league."

Another expert commented, "I agree and I wouldn't be surprised to see Nick Van Exel traded at some point in the offseason now. They've got a glut of guards with bad contracts that can't be moved. I say they ship out Van Exel for a big man or maybe some more help at small forward."

While the discussion was going on, more picks were quietly being made.

8. PF Ben Wallace - Minnesota Timberwolves*

Finally the mocks got a pick right, even if the team was wrong.

9. PF Shareef Abdur-Rahim - Vancouver Grizzlies
10. C Jermaine O'Neal - Detroit Pistons

The cheers that greeted the Pistons selection of O'Neal were almost as loud as those of ours for Iverson. Truth was, Jermaine looked a little stiff and very raw when we brought him in and while we had the ability to give him minutes and develop him, I just couldn't see him being an improvement over a ready-now player like Starbury or Allen.

11. C Todd Fuller - Atlanta Hawks

From cheers to boos. Fuller wasn't expected to go until at least the mid-20s, so for the Hawks to take him at 11 was simply stunning.

12. C Shawnelle Scott - Phoenix Suns

I was absolutely floored by the Suns pick. It meant that our deal we had in place for them to get a player we really liked off of them was on hold until further notice. If we didn't need the player we were hoping to get off Phoenix, I would've vowed then and there not to trade with them, but I just kept quiet and bided my time.

13. SG Randy Livingston - Washington Bullets

The Bullets' pick was probably the most confusing of the entire first round, even more than the Fuller selection. Livingston was tabbed as a late first/early 2nd at the very best, so for him to go lottery made no sense.

14. SG Ray Allen - Charlotte Hornets

Wild enthusiasm greeted this selection and rightly so. Ray was a guy I strongly considered sitting and waiting on drafting at the 8 spot, but I was just too enamored with Starbury. Great, great value and the perfect pairing with Glen Rice, maybe Larry Johnson too, if the Hornets could retain their young power forward star, I thought to myself.

15. PG Michael Hawkins - Sacramento Kings

Taking Hawkins here was like in the most recent NFL draft, when a certain star WR was passed over for a certain all-speed player. Only Hawkins wasn't all speed. He was all nothing compared to the pure passer still on the board and it was yet another headshaking pick in an already insane draft.

16. PG Steve Nash - Portland Trailblazers

The Blazers were major beneficiaries of teams passing on Nash. If I hadn't had Starbury in my sights, I might've made a play to move back and pick him up. Just a great player who went later than he should've.

17. PF John Wallace - Los Angeles Lakers

Nice smokescreen by the Lakers, who had everyone convinced they wanted Erick Dampier. But evidently they'd had eyes for Wallace instead.

18. PF Martin Muursepp - Utah Jazz
19. SG Kerry Kittles - Toronto Raptors

I thought Kittles was a steal for the Raptors at the 19th pick. Really good scoring and defensive instincts. Smart player too and the perfect tag-team partner for Damon Stoudamire in the backcourt. Even though the experts were surprised that Kittles went so high.

20. SF Malik Rose - Miami Heat
21. C Erick Dampier - Houston Rockets

I tried to trade up when it got to 20, but neither the Heat, who took the falling Rose, nor the Rockets, wanted to deal. Oh well, I thought to myself. That just makes it all the more imperative that we retain Dikembe Mutombo.

22. PF Jerome Williams - Orlando Magic
23. C Lorenzen Wright - New York Knicks

While I was happy to get Iverson and Starbury, the near-misses of our backup center prospects in Dampier and Wright drove me near to insanity. We were really having to gamble on keeping Mutombo in Boston without blowing up our bank account.

24. C Travis Knight - Golden State Warriors
25. C Brett Szabo - Cleveland Cavaliers

Who?! That was the universal reaction to Cleveland's pick. Szabo, an Iowa State Cyclone, hadn't been on anybody's radar and yet there he was, a first round pick.

26. PF Samaki Walker - New Jersey Nets
27. SF Bruce Bowen - Indiana Pacers

With our draft board blown up, I had no choice but to reach and so reach I did.

28. PF Roy Rogers - Boston Celtics

"What are the Celtics thinking here?!" J.P. shouted. And in fact, that was the general reaction. Rogers wasn't high on anyone's draft board, but I liked the Crimson Tide senior. Pretty dumb, but he was already a good shotblocker with some very good defensive and rebounding potential.

29. PF Jamie Feick - Chicago Bulls*

With no second round pick, we stopped paying attention.


I have to point out this was actually the third time I ran the draft. I hit an error my first two tries and, what's interesting to note, the Bucks passed on Iverson both times.

[b]Quick First Draft Synopsis
Milwaukee took Priest Lauderdale #1 overall, which allowed us to grab AI 2nd. Starbury fell to us with the 8th pick after the Timberwolves took Darvin Ham, which obviously didn't happen the third go-round. Jermaine O'Neal went 10 to the Pistons and Ray Allen went 9th to the Grizzlies. It was also the most successful one for the mock draft, as they successfully chose Kobe #3 to the Nets, Walker #4 to the Mavericks.

Quick Second Draft Synopsis
In this one, the Bucks drafted Starbury first overall, which shocked me almost as much as Lauderdale the first time did. AI was second naturally, but the Nets passed on Kobe to take Walker, which ticked the Mavericks off, who then snagged Marcus Camby. We traded down from 8 to 11, picking up Atlanta's 1998 1st along the way. Kobe Bryant fell hard this draft, not going until Vancouver at 9. We took Ray Allen at 11, then shipped him, Nick Van Exel, the 28 pick and a bunch of other pieces to the Charlotte Hornets for the 14 pick, Glen Rice and the Hornets 1998 1st rounder. With the 14th pick, we then took Erick Dampier, so the Lakers wouldn't get him as they did in the first draft.

All in all though, I was very pleased to end up with Starbury and AI. On an OOC note, AI's my favorite player this current gen along with Ron Artest and I have this weird fascination with Starbury that I've never been able to explain

Our first look after the draft had me very excited about our rookies. Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson looked like Day One starters, while Roy Rogers looked good enough to be an improvement off the bench over what we had last year.

I sent Nick Van Exel to the Miami Heat for their first round pick of the upcoming year. Although it broke my heart to trade him, the fact of the matter was, with Sherman Douglas, Dee Brown and Dana Barros all eating up our cap space and our having drafted Starbury and Iverson, we had far too many guards.

Summer League
PG Allen Iverson
PG Stephon Marbury
PF Roy Rogers

Expectations were high heading into the summer league, so our opening 88-80 loss to the Orlando Magic was a little discouraging. Encouraging, however, were Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson scoring 21 points a piece and Roy Rogers doubling for 11 points and 10 rebounds.

We fell 76-73 to the Nets next game, spoiling Allen Iverson's jaw-dropping 34 point performance and reserve Brian Bibby's 10 bench points.

And then came the flood. 118-109 win in Philadelphia in which Allen Iverson scored 36 with 13 assists and Stephon Marbury added 25 points. They were countered by 76er rookies Darvin Ham with an incredible 38 points and Tony Delk with 20 points. Ruben Nembhard made up the difference for us with 10 bench points.

It was the first of four straight games and we beat the Knicks the next night 106-81. All five starters scored 10 or more, led by Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson with 32 and 24 respectively.

99-89 the next night, us the winners over Malik Rose and the Heat. Great game Rose put on with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but Allen Iverson overshadowed him with 38 points and Eric Mobley chipped in 18 bench points.

And finally to Washington, where we beat the Bullets in a 99-94 thriller. Stephon Marbury dominated with 37 points, while Allen Iverson netted 20 points and 10 assists and frustrated Randy Livingston all night long.

Free Agency

On the eve of free agency, the commissioner's office issued a press release saying the salary cap was raised to $24.3 million. While helpful in that it brought us under $5 million over the cap, it also created chaos in terms of what player agents were going to demand.

It was a star-studded crop that included the following names.

Michael Jordan
Karl Malone
Shaquille O'Neal
Hakeem Olajuwon
David Robinson
Rik Smits
Juwan Howard
Charles Barkley
Patrick Ewing
Tim Hardaway
Scottie Pippen
Alonzo Mourning
Clyde Drexler
Armon Gilliam
Gary Payton
Reggie Miller
John Stockton
Magic Johnson (albeit ancient)
Kevin Johnson
Larry Johnson
Dikembe Mutombo

And a ton more others. Those were just some of the names that generated the most talk.

With all those summer headliners, I privately hoped we could return Dikembe cheap.

Things were glacial for most of the summer, until Shaquille O'Neal finally broke the ice by signing a 6 year, $25.4 mill. contract to re-up in Orlando. $3.25 million in the first year was absurdly cheap, but Shaq didn't care about money. He just wanted a title.

Still, it helped establish the market and a bunch of contracts were signed over the next two days.

Including Dikembe Mutombo's signing with the Bucks on a 2 year, $1.74 million deal. I felt stabbed in the back by his treachery, but he didn't care. He just said he'd enjoyed Boston, but it was time to help him build the Bucks up like he'd done the Celtics. That same day, Juwan Howard jumped from the Bullets to the Raptors for 4 years, $8.61 million.

We were completely blindsided and made an attempt to recover by signing Ervin Johnson to a one year minimum, young, promising guard Lindsey Hunter to a two year minimum and Kevin Willis to a low exception. Johnson and Hunter signed, but Willis was offered more money by Miami and so signed with them.

Brian Shaw and A.C. Green became my final signings as we were just under $5 million for being over the cap and had 13 players.

Training Camp

I knew even during camp that you could mark Allen Iverson down for Rookie of the Year. He looked fantastic and Stephon Marbury showed surprising improvement on defense. Roy Rogers did well too, enough to beat out Pervis Ellison and Ervin Johnson for the starting C spot. While our bench still wasn't the greatest, the fact that Sherman Douglas and Dana Barros were 12th and inactive respectively said a lot.

Preason Preview

Unlike last year, where we were picked second to last, this season we were marked for a repeat of our 7th seed. As one scribe put it, "The loss of Dikembe Mutombo is more than made up for by the sudden firepower in rookies Allen Iverson and Stephon "Starbury" Marbury. When Christian Laettner goes from the team's #1 option to the Celtics' likely third option, you know it's better basketball in Boston."

Philadelphia was the trendy pick to win the East, because the Bulls looked old after getting upset by the Hornets in the first round last year. Chicago still held to the 2 seed projection however, with Detroit and Orlando 3rd and 4th and Milwaukee a surprising 5th, as the press was predicting and reasonably so, that the scoring options of [b]Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson, Vin Baker and Kobe Bryant would make Milwaukee even more successful with Dikembe Mutombo in the middle than he'd been with us last year.

The Jazz were favored in the West, followed by Houston, but the rising young stars of Dallas and Minnesota were 3rd and 4th which I agreed with, given how weak the West was and how potent a talent the two had in Jason Kidd/Jamal Mashburn/Marcus Camby and Kevin Garnett/Tom Gugliotta/Ben Wallace respectively.

1996-97 Boston Celtics Opening Night Lineup
PG Stephon Marbury
SG Allen Iverson
SF Grant Long
PF Christian Laettner
C Roy Rogers
6th Pervis Ellison (PF/C)
7th Brian Shaw (PG)
8th Lindsey Hunter (PG/SG)
9th Dee Brown (SG)
10th A.C. Green (SF/PF)
11th Ervin Johnson (C)
12th Sherman Douglas (SG)
Inactive
Dana Barros (PG)

[law90026]

LOL! AI and Marbury sharing a backcourt. If this was real life ....

[BYU 14]

LOL! AI and Marbury sharing a backcourt. If this was real life ....

Maybe the League is going to a 2 ball rule ;)

This should be interesting....

[DaddyTorgo]

LOL - AI and Marbury - NUTS!!!

idk why you're so down on Jesus Shuttleworth that you didn't want him over Starbury. Especially after his 50+ points last night!

[Autumn]

Fun draft. If Rogers comes through for you at the center it will be quite a coup.

[Radii]

I was a freshman at Georgia Tech the same year Marbury was. He was such a joy to watch that one college season... hopefully things can work out differently for him in the pros this time around!

[Izulde]

Glad to hear you guys enjoyed the draft once it finally went through. :)

The results will certainly be interesting that's for sure. :D

[Izulde]

We started the year with high hopes and a marquee matchup hosting Milwaukee on Halloween night. And, I'm sorry to say that we lost 97-85, getting absolutely crushed in the second half. Vin Baker and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson shredded us for 29 points and 11 rebounds and 25 points and 11 rebounds respectively, Bimbo Coles adding fuel to the fire with 14 bench points. All five Celtics starters scored 10+ points, highlighted by Allen Iverson's debut 19 points and Christian Laettner's 10 points and 12 rebounds, but it didn't cut the mustard. Stephon Marbury had 13 points and 7 assists before fouling out and Roy Rogers was an ugly 4 for 15 as Dikembe Mutombo schooled him in the paint.

Chicago the next night was equally unpleasant, as Allen Iverson's 22 points and Brian Shaw's 11 bench points failed to countermand the Bulls and Michael Jordan's 31 points in our 99-81 loss.

0-3 after a 124-113 loss to the Suns. Sir Charles Barkley reamed us for 31 points, Danny Manning had 25 points and 13 rebounds and Wayman Tisdale scored 16 off the bench. It was frustrating to throw away Christian Laettner's 31 points, Allen Iverson's 29 points and Stephon Marbury's 18 points and 11 assists like that.

Finally we broke through for our first win of the season, ambushing the Orlando Magic 113-88. Shaquille O'Neal was fantastic for 31 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks, but he couldn't do it alone against Allen Iverson's 30 points, Stephon Marbury's 18 points and 17 assists and several Celtic double-doubles: Christian Laettner (17 points, 11 rebounds), Roy Rogers (13 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks) and Grant Long (13 points, 12 rebounds).

But then we dropped a 103-95 decision to the Utah Jazz, unable to overcome Karl Malone's 29 points and 22 points a piece from Jeff Hornacek and John Stockton, with Stockton adding 11 assists besides. Allen Iverson did well with 24 points and Pervis Ellison powered off the bench for 14 points and 10 rebounds, but when Stephon Marbury had a 1 for 8 night, I knew we were in trouble.

Defense kicked in on the front of a doubleheader and we overpowered the Bullets 83-69. Chris Webber got his stats with 27 points and 13 rebounds, but our balanced offense keyed by Stephon Marbury's 16 points and 10 assists, Lindsey Hunter's 17 bench points and Pervis Ellison's 13 bench boards carried us.

Allen Iverson dominated with 48 points in our 113-97 revenge thrashing of the Bucks in Milwaukee the next night. Stephon Marbury added 20 points and 14 assists and those two carried us, sweeping past Vin Baker's 29 points and Johnny Newman's 23 points. Kobe Bryant was really struggling to life in the NBA. In the first 8 games, he was averaging just 8.6 points and 5.5 assists out of the point guard spot, shooting a mere 35.9%.

Our quest for .500 was firmly squashed by Hakeem Olajuwon's 36 points and 12 rebounds as the Rockets thumped us 105-91. Good show by Christian Laettner with 35 points and Roy Rogers cobbled together 10 points and 12 rebounds, but Allen Iverson was a forgettable 2 for 10.

Despite 29 points from Allen Iverson, 12 points and 13 assists from Stephon Marbury and at least 12 points from every starter, the Hornets pulled away in the second half to beat us 112-100. Glen Rice was monstrous with 40 points, Larry Johnson added 20 points and we were double-stung by Kevin Salvadori's 13 points and 12 rebounds and Muggsy Bogues's 14 points and 16 assists.

This couldn't go on. We needed a shakeup and so I executed one, a blockbuster that set the league abuzz.

Boston Celtics receive
SF Glen Rice
PF Larry Johnson

Charlotte Hornets receive
PF Christian Laettner
PF Grant Long
PF Roy Rogers
C Ervin Johnson
Atlanta Hawks 1997 2nd round pick

What this means for the Celtics
In one fell swoop, Bobby Troilus has landed two of the Hornets' best players, who are two of a kind. Rice and Johnson are both excellent shooters with terrific passing and handling skills, but only average on the defensive end. They'll slot in at SF and PF respectively. Boston also purges itself of Laettner's long, expensive contract.

What this means for the Hornets
Laettner immediately takes over as Charlotte's top scorer. Rogers, who surprisingly won the starting center spot with the Celtics, fills the same capacity for the Hornets. Long bolsters the bench and will be the first forward off it, with solid defense. Johnson's just filler.

Winner: Draw
It's a calculated gamble for both teams. Charlotte's 6-5 right now and are risking blowing up their team chemistry with the trade. While Boston's struggling, they have a major void at center and have substantially weakened their defense.

I tried to shore up the defensive hole by signing Dontonio Wingfield from the D-League and although it was costly I found a replacement center.

Boston Celtics receive
C Dean Garrett

Los Angeles Lakers receive
PF A.C. Green
PG Lindsey Hunter
Boston Celtics 1999 2nd round pick

What this means for the Celtics
Garrett may be a 30 year old rookie, but he's precisely the rebounding, defensive, shotblocking big man Boston needs in the middle after they traded Roy Rogers. While he won't make anyone forget Dikembe Mutombo, this 2nd round pick (17th in 2nd round), is just what the Celtics need.

What this means for the Lakers
The 33 year old Green returns back to the team of his glory days and while the Lakers at 3-8 are as faded as their former star, he can still boost their bench with solid all-around game. Hunter is a respectable all-around reserve guard, but will be buried on Los Angeles's bench.

Winner: Boston
Stiff price or not, Garrett's the remedy the ailing Celtics need.

To fill the gaps and keep Dana Barros on the inactive list, I signed 25 year old guard Sarath Minor and 28 year old forward Sean Higgins from the D-Leagues, meaning that we had 3 minor league players on our roster and we were looking very much like the starting five strong, bench weak team of 95-96.

But when we beat Golden State 98-89 in our next game, I knew we were on the right track. Glen Rice scored 26 in his Celtics debut, Larry Johnson smoothly gathered up 15 points and 10 rebounds and Pervis Ellison matched Johnson's boards total off the bench. Tim Haradaway and Latrell Sprewell combined for 31 and 21 points and Travis Knight posted the poor man's double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but our balance won out.

It didn't take long at all to meet the Hornets again, as we rematched them a couple days later. This time, it was we who owned the second half and pulled away for the 117-110 victory. Allen Iverson scored 33 points, but it was Glen Rice (26 points) and Larry Johnson (20 points) eating alive their old team that got all the press. Rookie Ray Allen had an impressive 31 points for Charlotte as their lone standout.

Glen Rice beat the Pistons all by himself almost with 32 points as we crushed Detroit 103-61. Sherman Douglas and Brian Shaw led the bench with 14 and 10 points respectively as rookie Jermaine O'Neal was the only Piston in double-digit scoring with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The former Hornet duo continued to carry us, our 94-74 victory over the Nets engineered by Glen Rice's 27 points and Larry Johnson's 22 points and 19 rebounds, as Allen Iverson was hampered by a strained abdomen. Jayson Williams recorded 20 points and 12 rebounds for New Jersey and Chris Childs had an impressive 15 points to lead all reserves.

We suffered our first loss since the trade the next night in D.C., outscored 28-13 to fall 97-89 to the Bullets. Chris Webber ran wild over us for 36 points and 20 rebounds and Gheorghe Muresan provided the support with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Glen Rice was our lone standout with 24 points.

Still, I was fine with how we were doing. We'd battled back from a poor start to finish at 7-7 for the first month after I made the moves. That was good for tied for third in the Atlantic, a game and a half back of 8-5 Miami. It also put us right in the 7/8 playoff spot range. The Central was an absolute beast, as the defending champion Pacers were 11-2, followed by 11-5 Atlanta and Chicago and Cleveland both at 10-5.

Houston was 12-5, the Jazz 11-5 in the Midwest, while 10-5 Phoenix and 10-6 Seattle patrolled the Pacific. But of course, the Suns were only as good as Kevin Johnson's health.

[Autumn]

I knew you wouldn't last long before pulling a big trade. Poor Rogers, never had a chance.

[DaddyTorgo]

big trades are half the fun!

[Coffee Warlord]

Starbury, Iverson, Glen Rice, and Larry Johnson in the starting lineup? Lordy lordy.

[cubboyroy1826]

Izulde can you post a link to the draft files?

[Izulde]

Autumn: The thing is, I like Rogers. But the chance to get Rice, whose player card with the Heat I really liked as a kid (yes I know, strange reason to like a player) and Johnson, who I loved watching in the UNLV/Duke game was too much to resist. Especially since Rice and Johnson had kicked our butts so many times when we've played Charlotte.

DaddyTorgo: Indeed. :D

Coffee Warlord: Yeah, it's pretty much a pick your poison scenario. ;)

cubboyroy1826: Check La Tulipe's 1976-1977 roster thread in the Mods forum at Wolverine Studios. You'll have to post your email and have him send them to you. Since I'm the DDSPB mod and hence affiliated with WS, I can't legally provide a link or send the files.

But yeah, it's his draft files I use.

[Izulde]

Our daring moves were the only trade of that November and I'd come to expect slow first months when it came to the trade market.

My romantic life had been slow since Mia. Nonexistant, in fact. I liked to tell myself that it was because I was too busy with general manager duties, but that couldn't explain away the intense loneliness I felt on my 30th birthday that November 17th. The party the team threw me was a wonderful one, all the more because it was a surprise, but I still felt sad, both from our difficulties as a team and from my own sense of isolation. It was two days later that, feeling the just-turned-30 angst, I made the stunning moves for Rice, Johnson, and Garrett.

We made an incredible fourth quarter rally on the backs of Larry Johnson (25 points) and Glen Rice (23 points), but came up short in a 99-95 loss to start December. Sherman Douglas had a nice 12 points off the bench as well, but even nicer was Alonzo Mourning's 19 points and 11 rebounds, Malik Rose's 16 points and 11 rebounds and the dagger in the heart, Nick Van Exel's revenge 26 points.

The rematch in Miami went our way, as we clamped down and won 95-81, led by Dean Garrett's 12 points, 23 rebounds and 5 blocks and Sherman Douglas's 14 bench points. Alonzo Mourning didn't get any help to go with his 16 points and 11 rebounds outside of Malik Rose's 13 points and 13 rebounds and that wasn't going to cut it.

We played next in Philadelphia and a thrilling overtime barnburner ensued that saw us prevail 118-112. Derrick Coleman posted 23 points and 11 rebounds, Darvin Ham scored 24 and 6'6 starting center Clarence Weatherspoon nabbed 19 points and 11 boards. Tony Delk looked great with 25 points and 13 assists before fouling out. But we were able to win as Glen Rice exploded for 44 points and four bench players broke double-digit points: Sherman Douglas (18 points), Brian Shaw (10 points, 10 assists), Pervis Ellison (10 points) and Dee Brown, also with 10 points.

The downside of that tremendous game was that we were exhausted the next night at home and the Hawks clawed us 112-77. Glen Rice scored 24, but Stacey Augmon bettered that with 28 points and Atlanta had 3 bench players score 11 or more points, led by Matt Bullard with 13.

A day off gave us the rest we needed and a fully healed Allen Iverson came back in full force, slaying the Raptors for 36 points and 4 steals in our 125-104 road win. Larry Johnson tacked on 24 points and Brian Shaw and Pervis Ellison highlighted the bench with 12 and 11 rebounds respectively. Damon Stoudamire fired off 31 points, but he was the only Raptor to really do much.

This time we were well rested for our following night home game and destroyed the 76ers 107-88. Stephon Marbury stepped up with 23 points and 10 assists, Glen Rice adding 24 points. Sherman Douglas continued his surprising value as a reserve with 14 points. Darvin Ham made a continuance of his own, defying my impressions of his not being a very good player with 21 points and Clarence Weatherspoon outplayed his 6'6 height again with 13 points and 18 rebounds in the middle.

Toronto came to town and went out 121-96 losers, roughed up by Allen Iverson's 33 points, Glen Rice's 27 points, Dean Garrett's 15 points and 11 rebounds and Stephon Marbury's 18 points and 14 assists. Damon Stoudamire did well with 22 points and Juwan Howard came alive with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn't even close, not even with Willie Anderson's 13 bench points. Although Juwan was putting up glitzy numbers since the Raptors stole him in free agency, it hadn't made a difference in Toronto's record, as they were still one of the bottom teams in the East.

Our new look team faced its biggest test yet in the Bulls next and we passed with flying colors, routing them 118-86. Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson were an unstoppable backcourt with 34 and 27 points respectively, leaving Chicago dazed and unable to respond outside of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's 21 points. Of course, our victory was somewhat tempered by the fact that Michael Jordan was battling a strained knee and only scored 19. Still, it was encouraging.

Round II of Celtics/Hornets since the blockbuster went our way, 113-91. Allen Iverson poured it on for 33 points and 4 steals while Stephon Marbury doubled for 26 points and 15 assists and Glen Rice iced it with 20 ponts. Christian Laettner scored 21 points, but more and more it was looking as though that trade was a big time win for us. From 6-5 to 10-16, making them 4-11 since the deal, with 3 of their wins coming in December.

I was a little nervous hosting Minnesota the next night, but we rode out Isiah Rider's 29 points and came out on top 97-86. Allen Iverson led us in scoring with 20 points, Stephon Marbury doubled again with 15 points and 11 assists and Dean Garrett got a double as well, 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Carrie was treated to a thrilling game when we headed to Los Angeles and she was excited to see us edge out the Lakers 105-102. Cedric Cellabos was first of a balanced Lakers attack with 28 points and 9 rebound and we only won because of the only 3 Celtics to reach double-digit figures: Allen Iverson (26 points), Glen Rice (25 points) and Stephon Marbury (22 points, 10 assists). I didn't have time to meet with her afterwards because we had to board the plane for Portland the next night. She told me in an e-mail afterwards how excited she was for me and the team and she encouraged me to start dating again.

"It's been over a year", she wrote, "I know you loved Mia. We all did. But she isn't coming back and the best way to get over that is to put yourself out there again."

They were words I considered even as we skunked the Blazers 105-87 on Christmas Eve. Allen Iverson had been on fire since coming back from his abdominal injury and scored 22 in that game, although he was bettered by Glen Rice's 23 points. Larry Johnson pulled down 13 points and 10 rebounds and Sherman Douglas and Pervis Ellison combined for 11 points and 10 rebounds, 4 blocks respectively off the bench.

I spent Christmas Day in a thoughtful mood, but didn't reach any real conclusions as we trekked to Seattle the day after for the next leg of our West Coast road trip. And much to everyone's amazement, we kept our win streak alive, executing a fourth-quarter rally to squeak by the truly super Supersonics 103-100. Stephon Marbury passed his way to 19 points and 12 assists, one of three Celtics starters with 18 or 19 points and Larry Johnson came up big with 21 points and 9 rebounds while Sherman Douglas posted 12 bench points. All together, we were able to surmount the deadly duo of Gary Payton's 26 points and Shawn Kemp's 22 points.

Our white-hot streak had little trouble continuing the next night in Vancouver, where Glen Rice's 30 points, Larry Johnson's repeat 21 points and 9 rebounds and Stephon Marbury's 16 points and 12 assists helped us roll up the Grizzlies 103-87. Vancouver had just two players in double-digit figures and when the high was Greg Anthony's 18 points, you knew they weren't going to win. I had to give the Grizzlies credit though. Bryant Reeves tore his Achilles in late March of 1996 and he was gone for most of the year. Despite that, Vancouver still hung tough at 12-18 after losing to us that night.

Home we finally went, where we closed out the old year with a handy 101-87 win over Portland on New Year's Eve. Allen Iverson scored 26 to neutralize Clifford Robinson's 27 points, Dean Garrett chipped in 12 points and 14 rebounds and Pervis Ellison added 12 bench points.

From 7-7 to 20-9. Our 13-2 December valuted us into first place in the Atlantic, three games ahead of 17-12 Washington. Of course, we were still no match for the 23-6 Central-leading Pacers or the 22-6 Cavaliers, but we were a game ahead of 19-10 Chicago.

Seattle still owned the West overall at 21-8, three games in front of 17-10 Phoenix, which hadn't lost Kevin Johnson to injury. San Antonio and Houston were deadlocked atop the Midwest at 19-9/21-11, with 20-11 Utah a mere half-game off.

I was ecstatic with our performance and felt that I'd put together a team capable of challenging for the East crown that very season. The numbers supported this, I think.

Celtics Leaders

Points
Glen Rice - 25.3
Allen Iverson - 20.8
Larry Johnson - 16.8

Rebounds
Larry Johnson - 8.4
Dean Garrett - 7.9
Glen Rice - 6.0

Assists
Stephon Marbury - 8.9
Larry Johnson - 4.5
Allen Iverson - 4.3

Blocks
Dean Garrett - 1.5
Pervis Ellison - 1.2
Larry Johnson - 0.6

Steals
Allen Iverson - 1.5
Glen Rice - 1.2
Dean Garrett - 1.0

Christian Laettner would've been third or fourth in scoring on this version of the team and although we lacked a double-digit rebounder, we were stronger in all other areas and deeper.

[Izulde]

I took my usual New Year's hot cider on the first and settled down in my chair to examine the scouting reports of the incoming rookies. Unlike last year's deep class, this one looked to have two bona fide stars in big man Tim Duncan and swingman high schooler Tracy McGrady, with the pool quite shallow after that. Not a good year to have two first round picks in.

I began to think of the possibility of trading one of our firsts as I reviewed the trades of the previous month.

Los Angeles Clippers receive
SG Todd Day

Milwaukee Bucks receive
C Stanley Roberts
Los Angeles Clippers 1997 2nd round pick

What this means for the Clippers
Day, 27, has some scoring instincts, but has proven an inconsistent shooter. His greatest asset for the Clippers is his expiring $2.9 million expiring contract. He'll come off the bench.

What this means for the Bucks
The 26 year old Roberts is big on size at 7', 280 pounds, but he's small on talent and signed for another year. He's nothing more than a buried bench player and the 2nd round pick is likely a mid-round selection.

Winner: Clippers
Not only is Day more talented than Roberts, he's an expiring contract and an immediate contributor as the Red and White hunt for a playoff spot.

Denver Nuggets receive
PF Jamie Feick

Chicago Bulls receive
Denver Nuggets 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Nuggets
Feick, the last pick in the first round of the most recent draft, is a one note player as a rebounder. He provides youth to Denver's frontcourt and he'll get a lot more minutes with the Nuggets than he did with the Bulls.

What this means for the Bulls
Denver's 15-15 and Feick is a reserve, one that's nowhere near enough to propel the Nuggets to an upper echelon team. Although the draft class looks quite weak next year, having a likely mid-first round pick should still yield a more talented player than Feick.

Winner: Chicago
The Bulls will have to go into rebuilding mode eventually and stockpiling firsts is a good way to start doing that, especially for a player of as limited talent as Feick.

Utah Jazz receive
SG Erick Strickland

New York Knicks receive
Utah Jazz 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Jazz
Strickland looks to have decent all-around talent and is still developing his understanding of basketball. In fact, he was a steal with the 23rd pick in the 2nd round, 52nd overall. He'll slide in as the Jazz's 6th man and inject some youth into the aging Utah backcourt.

What this means for the Knicks
Given the weakness of the upcoming class and the high likelihood of the pick being a late first, it's not as uneven as Strickland's draft position suggests. On the other hand, the Knicks are a shocking 12-17 this season and their key players, including Patrick Ewing are all in their mid-30s.

Winner: Draw
Good trade for both teams.

Milwaukee Bucks receive
PF Don MacLean

New York Knicks receive
PF Marty Conlon
Milwaukee Bucks 1997 2nd round pick

What this means for the Bucks
Maclean's primarily a scorer and that's something Milwaukee needs more of our of their bench players, especially their big men. He becomes the first big off the bench.

What this means for the Knicks
Conlon's roster filler and an expiring $1.4 million contract. The second should be high, which will further aid New York's segue into a rebuilding project.

Winner: Draw
Maclean's an expiring contract too, at $800k and change. If he were signed for longer, this would probably be a slight edge to the Bucks, but he's not, so it's a draw.

A quick check around the league netted me the right deal I was looking for.

Boston Celtics receive
C Theo Ratliff
Dallas Mavericks 1999 2nd round pick

Dallas Mavericks receive
SG Sarath Minor
Boston Celtics 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Celtics
Boston's very thin at center and they don't have any youth there. Ratliff, while raw, gives them that much-needed young player at 23 years old. He's a great shotblocker already and has the potential to develop a very good inside shot and good defense.

What this means for the Mavericks
Given how hot the Celtics have been, this is probably a late first in a weak class. Minor is young, but mere roster filler.

Winner: Boston
A small trade, but a key pickup for the Celtics, who needed the youth and depth at center.

We nearly lost our first game of the new year, but we withstood the furious Cavaliers rally to eke out an 88-83 victory. Terrell Brandon and Brett Szabo doubled for Cleveland with 17 points, 14 assists and 11 points, 19 rebounds respectively, but we won thanks to Glen Rice's 29 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals and Theo Ratliff's great debut as our 6th man, with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Marcus Camby looked pretty good for the Mavericks with 15 points and 12 rebounds, but we overran Dallas 112-82. Allen Iverson scored 30 and Glen Rice was a fantastic second with 25 points.

The Knicks handed us our first loss in a long time, beating us 107-101 on Patrick Ewing's monstrous 36 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists and Derek Fisher's 26 points, negating Glen Rice's 33 points, Allen Iverson's 28 points and Larry Johnson's 16 points and 14 rebounds.

We rebounded with a 109-80 home whipping of the Kings, blowing off Mitch Richmond's 21 points and Olden Polynice's 11 points and 10 rebounds via Glen Rice's 32 points and Larry Johnson's 21 points and 11 rebounds. I can't tell you just how good it felt having those two on our team. After they'd given us so much trouble in Charlotte, now they were the ones causing problems to other teams for us. It's like the old saying goes, if you can't beat them, get them on your side.

126-95 made for sweet revenge versus the Knicks as we had 4 players with 20+ points: Glen Rice (28 points), Stephon Marbury (24 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds), Larry Johnson (21 points) and Allen Iverson (20 points). To top it all off, Theo Ratliff scored 10 off the bench. The Knicks' leading scorer was Hubert Davis with 17 reserve points.

Unfortunately, we got tired the next night in Atlanta and were blown out in the fourth quarter, losing 91-74. Mookie Blaylock pounded us for 22 points and Ken Norman torched us for 13 points off the bench. Glen Rice was the only player on our side who had any kind of form that night, finishing with 21 points.

It wasn't a good start to our five game road trip and a 39-19 2nd quarter did us in as we lost two games in a row for the first time since the early season, as the Spurs knocked us out 114-104. David "The Admiral" Robinson could not be denied as he had 35 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, Armon Gilliam posting 20 points and 11 rebounds. Although we played well in the second half, it just wasn't enough and nor was Allen Iverson and Glen Rice's 34 and 30 points or Stephon Marbury's 14 points and 11 assists.

Our losing skid hit 3 in Houston as we just couldn't catch up to them in a close 103-97 defeat. Hakeem Olajuwon ruled the post with 23 points and 15 rebounds, Sam Cassell sniped for 28 points and Mark Hendrickson doubled with 12 points, 12 rebounds. On our end, Stephon Marbury had 22 points, Theo Ratliff 18 bench points and 4 blocks, Pervis Ellison 13 bench rebounds.

The cold snap finally broke in Dallas the following night as we outlasted Marcus Camby's 14 points and 10 rebounds, Jason Kidd's 16 points and 10 assists and Monty Williams's 12 bench points to come out on top 93-85. Allen Iverson scored 27, Stephon Marbury netted 16 points and 13 assists and Brian Shaw didn't miss a shot all night, leading the reserves with 11 points.

We salvaged a 2-3 road trip a couple nights later in Toronto, ripping the Raptors 111-96. Dean Garrett, who'd been feeling the heat from Theo Ratliff for the starting center spot, broke through for 18 points and 10 rebounds in support of Glen Rice's 27 points, Allen Iverson's 24 points and Stephon Marbury's 16 points and 17 assists. Ratliff, by the way, had 8 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks off the bench. For Toronto, it was the usual two step with Damon Stoudamire scoring 26 and Juwan Howard hauling in 24 points and 13 rebounds. Unfortunately for the Canadian team, to play the Celtics, you needed more dance moves than that.

We came home and erased the memories of our three straight losses on the road with our third straight win, 113-103 over the Lakers. Glen Rice burned the Purple and Gold for 33 points and a glut of double-doubles reinforced him: Stephon Marbury (18 points, 13 assists), Larry Johnson (10 points, 13 rebounds) and Dean Garrett (11 points, 10 rebounds). The Lakers tried their best, but Cedric Cellabos's 25 points and Magic Johnson's 12 points and 10 assists just weren't up to snuff.

What a difference a year made. In 1995-96, the Pacers scared us, but in 96/97, we had no fear of Indiana and we proved it by routing them 99-77. Reggie Miller may have scored 23 and Dale Davis might have been a board machine with 13 points and 17 rebounds, but with Dean Garrett staying hot with 20 points, Larry Johnson matching those 20 points, with 10 rebounds and 5 assists on top of it and Stephon Marbury's 17 points and 10 assists, the outcome was never in doubt.

Our defense let Penny Hardaway run wild for 30 points and 12 assists, but we shut down the rest of the Magic, winning 98-84 in Orlando. Glen Rice led our counterattack with 28 points and 10 rebounds and Stephon Marbury applied the finisher with 21 points. Of course, the real reason we won and the reason why the Magic were 16-27, was because Shaquille O'Neal was out with a broken toe.

Home cooking the night after yielded a 101-89 win over the Grizzlies, Ashraf Amaya's excellent 21 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists undone by all five Celtics starters scoring 12 or more, headlined by Larry Johnson's 23 points and 9 rebounds, Glen Rice's 21 points and Dean Garrett's 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Pacers were out for blood in Indiana and they got it, winning a 106-103 OT barnburner. Reggie Miller electrified with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, Rik Smits grabbed 23 points and 13 rebounds, Mark Jackson scored 22 and Bruce Bowen came up with a critical 12 bench points, while hounding Sherman Douglas to a game-killing 1 for 10 night. It was a heartbreaking loss, especially after Stephon Marbury's 22 points and 12 assists, Allen Iverson's 22 points, Larry Johnson's 21 points and 10 rebounds and Glen Rice's 21 points.

I had a bad feeling that we were going to be exhausted heading to Miami for our final game of the month the next night. Stephon Marbury certainly was, going 3 for 20. My fear rose when Alonzo Mourning bullied the middle for 30 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks, but Glen Rice, Larry Johnson and Allen Iverson banded together in Peach Grove Oath style with 29, 21 and 23 points respectively and Dean Garrett fought his way to 10 points and 13 rebounds in our 114-92 triumph.

It was a topsy-turvy month, but as February dawned, we were 31-14 with a commanding 7 game lead on the Bullets in the Atlantic. Unfortunately, we were also fourth in the East behind Indiana (34-11), Cleveland (32-13) and Chicago (31-13).

While the East boasted four 30+ win teams, only two held that distinction in the West - 34-13 Houston and 32-12 Utah. Phoenix and Seattle were deadlocked atop the Pacific at 28-15 and 29-16 respectively.

Celtics Leaders

Scoring
Glen Rice - 25.0
Allen Iverson - 20.7
Larry Johnson - 16.1

Rebounds
Dean Garrett - 8.4
Larry Johnson - 8.4
Glen Rice - 6.0

Assists
Stephon Marbury - 9.0
Larry Johnson - 4.2
Allen Iverson - 4.2

Blocks
Theo Ratliff - 1.9
Dean Garrett - 1.8
Pervis Ellison - 1.0

Steals
Allen Iverson - 1.7
Glen Rice - 1.4
Larry Johnson - 1.0

[Izulde]

January proved another quiet month for trades as teams prepared to wait for the deadline.

New Jersey Nets receive
C Kevin Willis

Miami Heat receive
New Jersey Nets 1997 2nd round pick

What this means for the Nets
At 34, the 7' 220 lb Willis is no longer the quality big man he once was, but still brings some scoring and excellent rebounding ability to a bench and will be the first reserve center. Odd move for the Nets, though, as they're clearly in rebuilding mode.

What this means for the Heat
Lacking their own first round pick, Miami picks up a high 2nd for Willis. But could this move hurt their playoff chances?

Winner: Draw
Each side gives up a little something to get something that may not be the best fit for them.

I dreaded going to Cleveland to open the month and rightfully so, as the Cavaliers blew us out 97-72. Glen Rice looked great with 32 points, but the combined backcourt of Starbury and Allen Iverson went 8 for 34. In contrast, Terrell Brandon lit up for 21 points and 10 assists, a point total matched by Chris Mills.

We went home the next night to host the Spurs and it was a classic 1 on 1 superstar battle. David Robinson was magnificient with 36 points, 18 rebounds and 7 blocks, while Allen Iverson countered him with 42 points. In the end, we emerged 103-82 routers, aided in part by Theo Ratliff's 11 bench rebounds.

A slow start doomed us in Los Angeles, where the Clippers 31-19 first quarter lead proved insurmountable and we fell 106-93. Pooh Richardson and Loy Vaught torched us for 31 points and 13 assists and 30 points and 10 rebounds respectively, Todd Day adding on 17 bench points on top of it. Allen Iverson couldn't save us with 39 points this game and nor could Theo Ratliff's 10 bench points.

Things went from bad to worse as we continued the road trip in Oakland, losing 100-88. Great performances from Allen Iverson (32 points), Glen Rice (24 points) and Larry Johnson (18 points, 13 rebounds), but Joe Smith stepped up for the Warriors with 30 points and 15 rebounds and Latrell Sprewell was all over the court with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

Three losses in a row we had after the Kings hammered us 109-95 in Sacramento. Allen Iverson stayed strong with 32 points and Dean Garrett posted 12 points and 13 rebounds, but we couldn't stop Mitch Richmond from scoring 30 or Brian Gant making his post presence felt with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

We finally got a road win in Denver, smashing the Nuggets 103-84 on Allen Iverson's 27 points and a pair of 10 point double-doubles: Larry Johnson with 10 rebounds besides and Dean Garrett with 15 rebounds extra. Sherman Douglas matched those 10 points off the bench as we withstood Dale Ellis's 17 bench points and Antonio McDyess's 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Our ardous road trip continued with a 117-78 humiliation by the Jazz, led by Karl Malone's 40 points and 16 rebounds, John Stockton's 14 points and 19 assists and Jeff Hornacek's 23 points. We could only offer Glen Rice's 20 points and Theo Ratliff's nice, but inadequate 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks off the bench in defense.

Of course, part of the problem was injuries we sustained during that long sequence of away games. To wit:

Stephon Marbury - Strained hamstring
Allen Iverson - Sore back
Glen Rice - Sore foot
Larry Johnson - Bruised foot
Pervis Ellison - Strained knee

When four of your five starters are hobbled by injury, victory's hard to come by.

And so it was no surprise when the Suns squashed us the next night 108-76, Sir Charles Barkley schooling us for 24 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Kevin Johson scored 28, Dennis Scott 22 and Michael Finley, who I'd been trying to get from Phoenix ever since the draft, doubling for 15 points and 10 assists out of the off-guard spot.

The All-Star skills competition had some interesting results. Greg Minor, the former Celtic, won the slam dunk contest, while Ray Allen, who we thought about drafting, won the 3 point contest.

AI and Starbury chose not to go to the Rookies-Sophomores game, preferring to rest their injuries for the season's stretch run and the playoffs. Absent that firepower, the second years rolled, 104-79, headline by MVP Damon Stoudamire with 24 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and a steal. I was both amused and glad to see Roy Rogers starting at power forward for the rookies, although he had a forgettable game. Theo Ratliff made the reserve squad for the Sophomores and had 4 points in 9 minutes.

Following the lead of our rookies, none of our injured starters opted for the All-Star game, which turned into a 103-80 laugher for the West, Karl Malone on fire and MVP with 25 points.

All-Star East Roster
PG Damon Stoudamire
SG Michael Jordan
SF Scottie Pippen
PF Chris Webber
C Vin Baker
Juwan Howard
Alonzo Mourning
Reggie Miller
Mookie Blaylock
Patrick Ewing
Glenn Robinson
Gheorghe Muresan

All-Star West Roster
PG John Stockton
SG Jason Kidd
SF Charles Barkley
PF Karl Malone
C Arvydas Sabonis
Jamal Mashburn
Mitch Richmond
Travis Knight
Tom Gugliotta
Kevin Johnson
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Jeff Hornacek

And then, right after the All-Star break, is when I made headlines again.

Boston Celtics receive
C Patrick Ewing

New York Knicks receive
PF Larry Johnson

What this means for the Celtics
Boston officially announces they're making a run for the title this year with this trade. Even at 34 years old, Ewing is still an All-Star force and with the Knicks a borderline playoff team this year, he moves to a championship contender in the Celtics in hopes of getting that elusive ring. The Celtics also free up financial flexibility, as Ewing's a free agent after this season.

What this means for the Knicks
At 27, Johnson is still young enough to be part of the Knicks rebuilding movement that starts with surprisingly successful second round rookie (32nd overall, 3rd pick in 2nd round) Derek Fisher, the PG. One of the best passing big men in the league, Johnson's a fantastic all-around player and will be one of the key players in New York for the next several seasons.

Winner: Draw
If Boston wins the East or the title, they'll have gotten what they set out to accomplish by acquiring Ewing. If they don't, it's a bust. As for the Knicks, although they prepare for the future, they're going to suffer fan outrage in the Big Apple for trading for their franchise face.

And in fact, that's exactly what happened. Both the Times and the Post vented their fury over their trade and all through the City, people bemoaned the loss of their beloved Ewing.

Although the move was a huge hit in Beantown, I was worried. Larry had been a real glue guy for us and I was nervous about the effect losing him would have on the team chemistry. But he was an injury risk according to the doctors and had in fact already been injured three different times that season. Given that, and his long contract, I had to move him while the getting was good.

We won 93-82 over the Nets in our first game post All-Star break. To be honest, the game wasn't even as close as the final numbers indicated. Allen Iverson led a balanced attack with 27 points, while Patrick Ewing had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in his Celtics debut, shutting down Priest Lauderdale.

The real test came the night after when Indiana came to town. And we passed, winning 84-80 in a gritty defensive battle. Dale Davis pulled down 22 boards and Reggie Miller scored 28, but it was Patrick Ewing who saved the night and the game with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Already he'd made himself worth a win.

At long last, an easy victory as we stomped the Hornets 111-92. Allen Iverson and Glen Rice teamed up for 31 and 20 points respectively, more than enough to counter Roy Rogers's 14 points and 11 rebounds.

A heartbreaking 84-81 home loss to the Sonics followed, Detlef Schrempf shredding us for 23 points as Seattle's balance negated Allen Iverson's 24 points and Patrick Ewing's 13 points and 11 rebounds.

We closed out in Chicago, upsetting the Bulls 96-85 on Glen Rice's 24 points and Patrick Ewing's 20 points and 13 rebounds. Stephon Marbury just missed both 20 points and a double-double with 19 points and 9 assists. Michael Jordan was unbelivea-bull with 35 points, but he couldn't carry the team by himself, not even with Dennis "The Worm" Rodman's 22 rebounds.

And so the short, rough month ended with us 37-21. We still commanded an 8 game lead over the Heat in the Atlantic though, and although still in fourth in the East, we had the 39-19 Bulls in our sights. 42-15 Indiana and 40-16 Cleveland remained the class of the conference.

Utah was the lone 40 win team in the West and just barely at that at 40-16, owning a 4 game edge on the Spurs. 37-19 Phoenix had opened up a 1.5 game lead on the Sonics.

NBA Leaders

Points
1. David Robinson (SA) - 25.7
2. Karl Malone (UTA) - 25.2
3. Chris Webber (WAS) - 25.1

Assists
1. John Stockton (UTA) - 12.0
2. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 11.8
3. Kevin Johnson (PHO) - 9.6

Rebounds
1. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 14.2
2. David Robinson (SA) - 12.3
3. Chris Webber (WAS) - 11.7

Blocks
1. Dikembe Mutombo (MIL) - 4.2
2. Roy Rogers (CHA) - 3.3 - I'll confess to feeling a certain smugness at the draft experts when I saw this
T3. Shawn Bradley (PHI) - 3.0
T3. David Robinson (SA) - 3.0

Steals
1. Gary Payton (SEA) - 2.3
T2. Clyde Drexler (HOU) - 2.2
T2. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 2.2

Rookies Leaders

Points
1. Allen Iverson (BOS) - 21.6
2. Kerry Kittles (TOR) - 18.3
3. Ray Allen (CHA) - 18.0

Assists
1. Stephon Marbury (BOS) - 8.6
2. Randy Livingston (WAS) - 7.8
3. Tony Delk (PHI) - 7.3

Rebounds
1. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 11.3
2. Travis Knight (GS) - 11.2
3. Amal McCaskill (UTA) - 10.9
4. Roy Rogers (CHA) - 10.0

Blocks
1. Roy Rogers (CHA) - 3.3
2. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 2.9
3. Jermaine O'Neal (DET) - 2.5

Steals
1. Allen Iverson (BOS) - 1.6
T2. Kerry Kittles (TOR) - 1.5
T2. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 1.5

[DaddyTorgo]

Shoulda drafted Ray-Ray...

[Izulde]

Shoulda drafted Ray-Ray...

I think we'll be fine. :)

[Neuqua]

Glad to see Kittles play well!

[Izulde]

Glad to see Kittles play well!

I figured you might. :)

[Izulde]

I knew March would largely determine our team's initial postseason destiny, just as I knew that many of the trades that occurred in February were a result of teams looking at the upcoming draft class and realizing how bad it was.

Houston Rockets receive
SG Wesley Persons

Phoenix Suns receive
Houston Rockets 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Rockets
Person, 25, has a deadly outside shot and good scoring instincts, but is average outside of that. Terrible passer for a guard, which could hurt if he runs the point.

What this means for the Suns
The first round pick could end up being higher than anticipated, because Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon broke his hand and is out until the start of April. On the other hand, selecting Erick Dampier late in the first this past draft now makes the Rockets look genius, as Dampier should fill in fairly well until Dream returns. Either way, this selection gives the Suns another shot to find a capable backup to Kevin Johnson at the point.

Winner: Draw
If Person's contract didn't expire after this season, it'd be advantage Houston.

Atlanta Hawks receive
C Jayson Williams

New Jersey Nets receive
Atlanta Hawks 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Hawks
Williams, 28, is a solid all around player, if a bit short to be manning the center spot. Averaged 9.7 rebounds out of the power forward spot with the Nets and is a board-grabbing machine. Not quite the scoring instincts that rookie Todd Fuller has though and while Williams is an overall upgrade, he still doesn't make the Hawks anything better than a one and done playoff team.

What this means for the Nets
Not a good class next year, which makes the likely mid-late 1st not worth nearly as much as it'd otherwise be. On the other hand, this move allows New Jersey to wholly commit to its youth moment of guys 25 or younger and continues their MO of having two firsts, which last year turned into Priest Lauderdale and Samaki Walker.

Winner: New Jersey
Even given the devalued nature of the first, the Nets get an injection of more young talent that will mature more in tune with Lauderdale, Walker, Matt Maloney, Ed O'Bannon, et. al.

Cleveland Cavaliers receive
PG Kenny Anderson

New Jersey Nets receive
Cleveland Cavaliers 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Cavaliers
The former #2 overall pick Anderson may be a bust relative to his draft slot, but he's still a very solid all-around player, particularly as a ballthief and handler. He's the perfect backup to Terrell Brandon and is a whopper of an expiring $4.17 million expiring contract besides.

What this means for the Nets
New Jersey keeps stockpiling picks for a very bad class, which is a little puzzling, given that the Cavs selection will certainly be late, but if they had no interest in retaining Anderson because of his disappointing career with the Nets, at least they got something for him.

Winner: Cleveland
In an East that's even tougher than it was last year, getting a quality player like Anderson for this price is great value.

Indiana Pacers receive
SG Hubert Davis

New York Knicks receive
Indiana Pacers 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Pacers
The 26 year old Davis is strictly a bench scorer, but then again, so is 37 year old Ricky Pierce, but Davis is younger and better.

What this means for the Knicks
A late first is fair value for Davis.

Winner: Draw
A dull trade really, but fair on both ends.

San Antonio Spurs receive
SF Desmond Mason

New York Knicks receive
San Antonio Spurs 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Spurs
Pardon us if we're getting flashbacks to last season when the Spurs picked up Armon Gilliam for J.R. Reid and their first and rode him all the way to the NBA Finals. Mason isn't an All-Star, but he's a filthy rebounder, averaging 8 boards a game out of the 3 spot, with beautiful passing ability and unreal discipline and understanding of the basketball game. Not a gamechanger, but the sort of glue player that makes the Spurs that much more likely to repeat their West title and maybe spur them to a championship.

What this means for the Knicks
Mason's 30 and under a long contract, so getting rid of him frees up New York's financial freedom. But like their New Jersey neighbors, the Knicks are suddenly accumulating firsts in a bad draft, which makes no sense. On the other hand, when they dealt Patrick Ewing, they signaled they were heading direct into rebuilding mode.

Winner: San Antonio
We see too many echoes of the Gilliam deal last year to call this anything but a clear-cut win for the Spurs.

Golden State Warriors receive
SG Bryant Stith

Denver Nuggets receive
Golden State Warriors 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Warriors
The 26 year old Stith is one of those guys who can do a little bit of everything, but isn't particularly good at any one thing. Still, having a jack-of-all trades player able to man both guard spots and the 3 as the 6th man is a nice pickup for the Warriors and likely better than anything they'd find in this year's draft. Signed for two more seasons after this as well at a resonable rate.

What this means for the Nuggets
After dealing their first for Jamie Feick, Denver finally gets a first back, but it's worse than what they originally have and they gave up a better player in Stith to do it.

Winner: Golden State
The Warriors don't look like contenders this year, but since Stith is young and not a one season rental, he doesn't have to be the one that pushes them over.

Seattle Supersonics receive
SF Rick Fox

Minnesota Timberwolves receive
Seattle Supersonics 1997 1st round pick

What this means for the Sonics
Fox, like Stith, is a jack-of-all trades type only the 27 year old is strictly a swingman as 6th man. Unlike Stith, he's a half-year rental.

What this means for the Timberwolves
Seattle's not the powerhouse they were last year, but this is still a late first in a bad class.

Winner: Draw
Fair value trade, though Fox's talent is better than whatever the pick will return in all likelihood and we don't see his addition making Seattle legitimate conference contenders.

San Antonio Spurs receive
C Terry Mills
Detroit Pistons 1997 2nd round pick

Detroit Pistons receive
PF Ray Owes
C Will Perdue

What this means for the Spurs
San Antonio wasn't content to just sit with acquiring Mason. Here they pick up $2.5 million expiring contract Mills, a bench center who's a one-note player as a scorer. The difference is, he can shoot from inside, something none of the other Spurs reserves can do. The second round pick is a high one, possibly #30 overall, given how bad the Pistons are.

What this means for the Pistons
Detroit cut Perdue, so this trade is Owes for Mills and a high 2nd. Owes, 24, is raw, but has some potential to become a decent backup PF. Whether or not he achieves it is the question. Our guess says no.

Winner: San Antonio
The Spurs do it again here. Owes isn't worth the expiring contrafct of Mills to a rebuilding team like the Pistons and San Antonio just keeps getting stronger as they prep themselves for the playoffs.

Yes, that's right. 7 of 8 trades in February involved a first rounder, an NBA record. That's what a weak draft class will do for you.

I wasn't thinking about who we'd draft at the time. I was too focused on our season right then.

We started off by beating the Bucks 97-86. Despite the fact that our bench scored just 5 points, we still took the win on Patrick Ewing's 23 points and 16 rebounds, Allen Iverson's 25 points and Glen Rice's 20 points. Kobe Bryant came up short in trying to match AI, but still scored 22 for Milwaukee, Johnny Newman equalled Rice at SF with 20 points and Vin Baker was impressive with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks.

It took overtime to do it, but we put away the Clippers 105-97 in our next game. Patrick Ewing was Player of the Game with 24 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks, Glen Rice hit that same 24 points, Theo Ratliff, who'd won the starting PF spot, had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks and Stephon Marbury doubled for 11 points and 12 assists. The combined efforts outmanned Pooh Richardson's 28 points, Loy Vaught's 13 points and 13 rebounds and Todd Day's 14 bench points.

We fell apart in the fourth quarter and dropped a 95-93 heartbreaker to the Cavaliers. Our bench scored just 4 points which frustrated me to no end. There wasn't anything on the free agent market either. 27 points and 10 assists from Stephon Marbury, 23 points from Allen Iverson and Patrick Ewing's 21 points and 10 rebounds wasted, just like, that. For Cleveland, Terrell Brandon had a great all-around game of 27 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, Chris Mills scored 20 and Tyrone Hill snapped up 11 points and 18 rebounds. But the real story was their reserves outpointing ours 15-4.

The Bucks hoped for revenge when we went to Milwaukee, but Glenn Robinson's 21 points didn't stop our 94-84 victory. Patrick Ewing posted 20 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks and Allen Iverson scored 24 to carry us to the win.

Finally came a convincing win as we ripped the 76ers 98-71. Patrick Ewing owned the inside with 27 points and 11 rebounds, Allen Iverson scored 21 and Stephon Marbury had 10 points and 11 assists, even if he was outplayed by fellow rookie Tony Delk's 19 points and 10 assists for the losing cause.

But even though we were winning, I wasn't going to be happy until we finally managed to beat a good team with the Ewing lineup. We'd done it against the Bulls, but lost close games to the Sonics and the Cavaliers. Going to Cleveland the next night gave us another opportunity, but the Cavs crushed us 101-84 that only looked as close as it did thanks to our 10 point 4th quarter close. Four Cavaliers reserves scored 10 points or more, led by Jon Barry's 13 points. Couple that with Tyrone Hill's 19 points and 10 rebounds and Allen Iverson and Patrick Ewing's paired 21 points didn't look so great.

We rebounded to shut down the Nets 85-65 on the two man show of Patrick Ewing (34 points, 15 rebounds) and Allen Iverson (23 points), but our bench continued to infuriate me.

At long last, a convincing March win over a good team. We beat the Magic with a 22 point, 10 rebound full health Shaquille O'Neal and topped Shaq, James Scott's 22 points and Nick Anderson's 12 points and 10 rebounds for a 111-91 win. Allen Iverson blazed for 32 points and 4 steals, Glen Rice scored 24, Theo Ratliff had a surprisingly pleasant 16 points and 10 rebounds and Stephon Marbury netted 11 points and 12 assists.

Antonio McDyess was beastly with 22 points, 19 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals, but unfortunately for Nuggets fans, he was the only one to show up in our 108-84 pasting of Denver. Allen Iverson scored 23, Patrick Ewing and Glen Rice both had 20 point double-doubles with 13 and 10 rebounds respectively and Sherman Douglas snapped a long, long slumber spell on our bench with 15 points.

The Heat came to town and gave us a hell of a game on Nick Van Exel's 21 points, Alonzo Mourning's 20 points and 14 rebounds and Elliot Perry's 18 bench points, but we withstood their charge to prevail in a 109-106 classic. All five of our starters scored 10 or more, led by Glen Rice and Allen Iverson with 27 points each, AI tacking on 5 steals besides.

Indiana showed why they were the defending champions in beating us 88-73 in a scrappy game on the road. Rik Smits hammered us for 28 points and Mark Jackson scored 20, which was enough to deflate Patrick
Ewing's 15 points and 10 rebounds and Stephon Marbury's 13 points and 12 assists.

We went to Minneapolis the night after and played like crap, losing 105-93. Our defense went nowhere as all five Timberwolves starters scored 13 or more, highlighted by Sam Mitchell's 22 points, Tom Gugliotta's 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and Kevin Garnett's 13 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists. That kind of balance couldn't be beaten with Allen Iverson's 20 points and Stephon Marbury's 18 points and 10 assists alone.

Hoping to regain our equilibrium, we headed to Philadelphia and won a 90-76 slugfest. Derrick Coleman had 21 rebounds and Darvin Ham scored 23 points, but Allen Iverson's 27 points and collective offensive balance saved the day for us.

We topped off March with a home and away against the Hawks and our second half rally fell just short in a nauseating 88-87 loss in the first game. Eric Williams got revenge on us with 34 points and Kenny Smith chipped in 13 bench points to negate Dontonio Wingfield's 11 bench points, Allen Iverson's 27 points and Patrick Ewing's 16 points and 11 rebounds.

97-79 was a nice inversion when it meant a win for us as it did in Atlanta to end things. Stephon Marbury scored 23, Glen Rice posted 21 points and 10 rebounds and Allen Iverson hit 20 points, easily negating the Hawks' 6 players in double-digit scoring, the only noteworthy one being Alan Henderson's 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The good news at the end of March: We clinched the Atlantic.
The bad news at the end of March: At 47-26, we were all but locked into the #4 seed and from the current standings, that meant a date with the same Hawks team we'd just split a home and away with. It didn't look too likely there'd be a shift in the #5 spot either, as the Heat were 36-36 and the closet team to 39-33 Atlanta with 9 games remaining.

The top seed in the East was still very much in play, with 54-19 Indiana holding off the Cavs by a mere half-game and the Bulls just 2 back of the Pacers.

50-22 Utah was facing a major scare in the Midwest, as the Spurs, after their shrewd wheeling and dealing, were just a game behind, the same margin 47-25 Seattle had on Phoenix, with the Warriors 3.5 back on the Sonics.

Still, I was happy with our progression and more importantly, so was our owner, as we'd gone from losing record before me to winning record and 7 seed in my first year to Atlantic title and 4 seed in my second season.

But one thing was clear.

Patrick Ewing would have to show me something in the playoffs or he wouldn't be back in Boston next season.

[Cap Ologist]

Aren't the division title winners automatic #1 and #2 seeds?

[Izulde]

Aren't the division title winners automatic #1 and #2 seeds?

Nope. #1 and a guaranteed #4 seed. I don't remember if that's how it worked historically, but I suspect that DDS guarantees the lowest record division winner the #4 seed so that's what's operating here.

[BYU 14]

Shocking to see Marbury passing the rock so much, you have blackmail material on him?

[Izulde]

Shocking to see Marbury passing the rock so much, you have blackmail material on him?

I think it's Ewing and Rice imposing Veteran Rules on Starbury. :D

But then again...

[Izulde]

We didn't have much to play for those last games, so I wasn't overly concerned with how we did.

Still, it felt good to beat the Magic 106-93 in Orlando. They were trying like hell to sneak in the 8th seed and they were one team I preferred not to see, even though we usually did well against them. Shaquille O'Neal got his with 21 points, 10 rebounds 4 blocks and 4 steals, Penny Hardaway dropped 25 points and David Benoit came off the bench for 13 points, but the collective might of Glen Rice (27 points, 11 rebounds), Stephon Marbury (25 points, 13 assists), Allen Iverson (20 points) and Pervis Ellison's 10 bench boards was just too much.

When a team's top performers come off the bench and score 12 points (Mario Elie, and 15 rebounds (Ray Owes), a 95-64 beatdown is no surprise and so it wasn't as we obliterated the Pistons. Patrick Ewing recovered from his 1 of 7 showing in Orlando with a cool 22 point, 13 rebound performance. He was aided splendidly by Glen Rice's 26 points and Allen Iverson's 24 points.

A couple nights later we went to New York and won our 50th game of the year, downing the Knicks 114-94. Larry Johnson had a team high 19 points, but those and Otis Thorpe's 10 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks and Charlie Ward's 17 bench points were quickly blistered by Patrick Ewing's 23 points and 12 rebounds in the city that once revered him as a god and franchise legend. Throw in Glen Rice's 22 points and Brian Shaw's shocking 19 bench points and our ease of victory is clear.

We came out flat at home against the Bullets the night after and Chris Webber made us pay with 35 points and 19 rebounds in an 87-82 loss. Gheorghe Muresan tacked on 16 points and 11 rebounds of his own, while Jim McIllvaine hauled in 15 bench rebounds. So much for Allen Iverson's Zhang Fei-esque 31 points and Theo Ratliff's near triple-double of 8 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks.

Unbelievably, we lost our next game too, 97-92 to the Raptors. Juwan Howard raped us for 36 points and 16 rebounds as Theo Ratliff got slammed by foul trouble and we again had problems with bench rebounding, allowing Zan Tabak take 12 in. It was infuriating to waste Patrick Ewing's 20 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks, Glen Rice's 22 points and Pervis Ellison's 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks off the bench like that, but there it was.

Glen Rice took his frustrations out on the Pistons for 37 points as we whipped them 89-68 to stop the bleeding. Patrick Ewing had an ugly 3 for 18 night, but still came out with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Mario Elie was again Detroit's lead scorer with 14 points, but at least Brian Evans doubled for 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Revenge was ours in DC as we battered the Bullets 104-82, overcoming Chris Webber's 24 points and 10 rebounds, Gheorghe Muresan's 10 points and 11 rebounds and 14 bench points each from Randy Livingston and Tim Legler. Allowing us to such were Allen Iverson (36 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists), Stephon Marbury (21 points, 10 assists) and Patrick Ewing (16 points, 10 rebounds).

Of course, we then had to go and lose 99-83 in New Jersey as Matt Maloney burned us for 31 points and Tracy Murray added more to the flames with 25 points. Stephon Marbury and Patrick Ewing scored 21 each for us, with Ewing grabbing 13 rebounds besides, but it was still ugly.

Fortunately we ended the regular season on a good note, outdueling Otis Thorpe's 14 points and 15 rebounds and Larry Johnson's 12 points and 15 rebounds with balance and Allen Iverson's 31 points and 5 steals.

Frustrated though I was with our wildly inconsistent play down the stretch, which made me wonder if I made the right move in trading for Ewing, I was happy with our 53-39 regular season record and Atlantic division title.

1996-1997 East Seedings
1. Chicago Bulls (61-21)
2. Indiana Pacers (60-22)
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (60-22)
4. Boston Celtics (53-39)
5. Atlanta Hawks (46-36)
6. Miami Heat (42-40)
7. Washington Bullets (41-41)
8. Milwaukee Bucks (40-42)

Kobe Bryant got hot towards the end of the season and as a result, the Bulls had to be wary of losing in the first round again to an upstart 8 seed team.

1996-1997 West Seedings
1. Utah Jazz (57-25)
2. San Antonio Spurs (57-25)
3. Seattle Supersonics (56-26)
4. Phoenix Suns (54-28)
5. Houston Rockets (49-33)
6. Golden State Warriors (49-33)
7. Sacramento Kings (39-44)
8. Los Angeles Clippers (38-44)

The Dallas Mavericks just missed joining the Bucks in Top 5 worst to playoff team in a season by a single game.

NBA Leaders

Points
1. David Robinson (SA) - 25.9
2. Chris Webber (WAS) - 25.6
3. Karl Malone (UTA) - 24.5

Assists
1. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 12.0
2. John Stockton (UTA) - 11.3
3. Kevin Johnson (PHO) - 9.3

Rebounds
1. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 13.6
2. David Robinson (SA) - 12.6
3. Chris Webber (WAS) - 11.6

Blocks
1. Dikembe Mutombo (MIL) - 4.2
T2. David Robinson (SA) - 3.3
T2. Shawn Bradley (PHI) - 3.3

Steals
1. Gary Payton (SEA) - 2.4
T2. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 2.1
T2. Clyde Drexler (HOU) - 2.1

Rookies Leaders

Points
1. Allen Iverson (BOS) - 22.0
2. Kerry Kittles (TOR) - 19.4
3. Darvin Ham (PHI) - 18.3
4. Ray Allen (CHA) - 17.2

Assists
1. Stephon Marbury (BOS) - 8.8
2. Tony Delk (PHI) - 7.3
3. Moochie Norris (WAS) - 7.2

Rebounds
1. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 11.3
2. Travis Knight (GS) - 11.2
3. Amal McCaskill (UTA) - 10.6

Blocks
T1. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 3.2
T1. Roy Rogers (CHA) - 3.2
3. Jermaine O'Neal (DET) - 2.6

Steals
1. Allen Iverson (BOS) - 1.7
2. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 1.6
3. Kerry Kittles (TOR) - 1.5

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
1. Allen Iverson - 22.0
2. Glen Rice - 21.7
3. Patrick Ewing - 20.6
4. Stephon Marbury - 13.7

Assists
1. Stephon Marbury - 8.8
2. Allen Iverson - 4.0
3. Glen Rice - 3.1

Rebounds
1. Patrick Ewing - 10.7
2. Dean Garrett - 7.2
3. Glen Rice - 6.0

Blocks
1. Theo Ratliff - 2.2
2. Patrick Ewing - 1.9
3. Dean Garrett - 1.3

Steals
1. Allen Iverson - 1.7
2. Glen Rice - 1.4
T3. Theo Ratliff - 0.9
T3. Patrick Ewing - 0.9

[Izulde]

Iverson Proves He's The Answer In Rookie Season

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/allen-iverson_fn.jpg
A year ago, Allen Iverson was starring in the college ranks. Now he's already a star in his rookie year in the NBA.

He still remembers hearing the other one's name called first.

When everybody on the planet thought he was going to Milwaukee as the first overall pick, including himself, Allen Iverson and the rest of the world fell into shock and disbelief when high school graduate Kobe Bryant's name rang out instead.

It's something that The Answer has yet to fully forgive and he's determined to take it out on the Atlanta Hawks as his Boston Celtics prepare for their first round matchup in the playoffs.

"It was cool and all knowing how much Bobby Troilus wanted me and how he tried so hard to trade up", Iverson said, "But there's only one chance in your life to be the number one overall pick in the NBA draft and that was it. I vowed right then and there to make the Bucks pay for their mistake and to show Mr. Troilus and the Celtics how smart they were to get me."

Iverson went on to lead all rookies and the Celtics in scoring and steals at 22 points and 1.7 steals per game, ranking him 9th in the entire NBA in points per game, a half-point behind Pacers legend Reggie Miller.

"Of course we were thrilled to get him", Troilus remarked, "He was the player we unquestionably had #1 on our board. Honestly, had the Bucks taken him, we probably would have traded down some spots. That's how much we valued Allen over any other player in this year's rookie class."

It's safe to say that Iverson's definitely had the better rookie campaign of the two, as Bryant averaged 12.9 points, 5.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 0.4 blocks and 0.8 steals as the Bucks' starting point guard, while AI as the Celtics' starting shooting guard averaged 22 points, 4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals. Only time will tell which of the two ultimately has the better career.

But for now, both of the top two overall draft picks are getting set for the playoffs, as Bryant's Bucks surged in the second half of the season to unexpectedly go from worst in the NBA last year to the playoffs as the 8 seed in the East this year.

It should be a classic matchup between the Celtics and the Hawks in this opening round, as former Boston first round pick Eric Williams, who was traded to Atlanta last year along with Jibran Epps for Grant Long, Atlanta's 1996 1st round pick and their 1997 2nd round pick, is starting for the Hawks.

Point Guard
Stephon Marbury vs. Mookie Blaylock
Starbury's been overshadowed by Iverson's stellar rookie campaign and the trades to land Glen Rice and Patrick Ewing, but he's very quietly put together a solid first year of 13.7 points and 8.8 assists with a staggering 5.4 assists to turnover ratio. He's one of the key reasons why the Celtics had the fewest turnovers per game in the league during the regular season at 12.3, well ahead of the second place Pacers at 13.5. Starbury's capable of scoring point bursts as well, although he can be prone to off nights and doesn't play defense. Still one of the best passers in the league when he puts his mind to it.

Blaylock led the Hawks in scoring at 17.8 points per game to go with 5.6 assists, an astounding 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. He's got great hops for a point guard and is arguably the best ballthief in the game. He really found his shooting stroke this year, both outside and in after struggling some last season and the Hawks will need him to produce more of the same. Excellent on-ball defender who has the ability to shut Starbury down.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson vs. Eric Williams
The marquee matchup of this series. Iverson is already a franchise player and the scary part is, he hasn't fulfilled his potential yet. There's absolutely no weak spots in his game, other than being 6', 165 lbs. But you can't argue with his regular season numbers or his deadly 47.5% shooting, 36.4% from behind the arc.

Williams averaged 11.9 points and 1.2 steals per game, but he's not really a headliner player and in fact, has good, but nowhere great all-around game. His biggest advantage on Iverson in his 6'8, 220 lbs frame, but even that may not be enough to contain the explosive Celtics rookie, especially given Williams is hampered by a sprained toe. Desire for revenge will go a long way, but not far enough to win this battle and, arguably, ultimately the series.

Advantage: Celtics

Small Forward
Glen Rice vs. Stacey Augmon
Rice is a terrific shooter and a good rebounder, averaging 21.9 points, 6 rebounds and 1.4 steals during the regular season. Acquiring him and Larry Johnson from the Hornets was arguably Troilus's best move of the season, as it pushed the Celtics over the top. He also handles the ball almost as well as Starbury and AI, which goes a long way to explaining how careful Boston is with the rock. Only an average defender, however.

Augmon of the 11.7 points and 1.4 steals in the regular season is a defensive wizard and he has one mission this series: shut down Rice. If he can do that and Blaylock can hassle Starbury, then the Celtics will have to rely on Iverson and Ewing to pull them through. Doesn't really bring anything but defense to the table, but in this series, that's not a bad thing given the positional matchup.

Advantage: Celtics

Power Forward
Theo Ratliff vs. Alan Henderson
The second year Ratliff posted unimpressive numbers, as he had only 25 starts, but one statistic jumps out: 2.2 blocks per game. As of right now, that's what he is, a shotblocking specialist with some other defensive ability, but as he grows further into his game, he'll develop an inside shot and contribute more offensively.

Henderson, like Ratliff is a second year player still in development, but he made great strides this year and finished averaging 10.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals with greatly improved shot selection. Still, right now he's more in the JAG category.

Advantage: Draw

Center
Patrick Ewing vs. Jayson Williams
Now is the time the Celtics need Ewing to show why they traded away Larry Johnson for him. Ewing, who averaged 20.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks split between the Knicks and Celtics, still is a dominating defensive force and a big 7', 255 lb behemoth, but his rebounding instincts appeared to slip some as the season wore on and he definitely was hit and miss after coming to Boston. Age could finally be catching up to the 34 year old great.

Willimas averaged 11.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks during the regular season, but he's woefully outsized and outclassed here. The only edge he has on Ewing is rebounding, which should be able to limit the big man's ability for second chance tip-ins.

Advantage: Celtics

Bench
The bench was Boston's Achilles heel last season and things aren't all that improved this year. [b]Dean Garrett and Pervis Ellison are both defensive, rebounding shotblockers, the 30 year old rookie Garrett averaging 5.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in the regular season, and Sherman Douglas averaged 5.3 points, but the Celtics lack an offensive sparkplug off the bench and that's going to hurt.

Atlanta, on the other hand, has that sparkplug in 31 year old Kenny Smith, who averaged 9.5 points and rookie Todd Fuller had good all-around game with 8.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks, showing he may not have been that big a reach at #11 after all. Matt Bullard showed scoring touch as well, averaging 7.1 points and raw but promising second round pick Vitaly Potapenko (11th pick in 2nd round, 40th overall) averaged 5.3 points. Fact of the matter is, the Hawks have such a deep bench, they didn't lose anything when Ken Norman went down for the year with an Achilles tear.

Advantage: Hawks

[b]Final Thoughts
This series boils down to Boston's megawatt starting five against the Hawks' incredible balance and depth. It's a -very- close matchup, one that could easily go the full seven games, particularly given the Celtics' likely reliance on their rookie backcourt, but having the homecourt edge should see the higher seed through.
Prediction: Celtics in 7

While I hoped to win, I knew it was going to be tough. Although many in the press pooh-poohed Atlanta's getting Jayson Williams in February, he'd really bolstered the Hawks' depth and his rebounding ability would give him a fighting chance against our aging star in Ewing.

Game One
The Hawks jumped out to a 29-22 first quarter lead, quieting the crowd in a hurry. I told the team in the huddle not to panic or to let nerves get to them, but to gradually chip away. It took until the third quarter, but we blew the doors off in the second half and won handily. Allen Iverson sparkled in his postseason debut with 28 points, Glen Rice sliced and diced the heralded defensive Augmon for 26 points and Patrick Ewing found his old playoff form with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Brian Shaw added insult to injury with 10 bench assists. Jayson Williams was the Hawks high scorer with 18 points and Matt Bullard had 10 bench points, but we made a statement this opening game on a lot of levels.
Final - Atlanta 82 Boston 100

Game Two
I was worried going into this one. We've had trouble with back-to-back games down the stretch and Atlanta again took a first quarter lead, 29-23. They made it a 10 point edge at halftime and unlike Game 1, we simply couldn't catch them in the second half, losing by a frustrating four points. Stacey Augmon tore into us for a shocking 22 points, Matt Bullard had another inspired game with 20 points off the bench and Kenny Smith added 13 points of his own as a reserve. We punted away Allen Iverson's 20 points, Patrick Ewing's 19 points and 10 rebounds and Stephon Marbury's 10 points and 10 assists to even the series. It wasn't a good feeling at all.
Final - Atlanta 94 Boston 90

Game Three
The day off before we headed to Atlanta gave us the chance to refocus. What followed in Game 3 was an ugly defensive battle. No players broke 20 points, with the closest being Eric Williams with 19 for the Hawks. Matt Bullard had his third straight double-digit point game with 10 points, but we countered with 18 points a piece from Glen Rice and Allen Iverson and Patrick Ewing's 12 points and 14 rebounds. In the end, a 25-15 fourth quarter bailed us out and we were able to walk out with the critical 2-1 series lead.
Final - Boston 84 Atlanta 75

Game Four
It was the Hawks' turn to have a game-changing fourth quarter as they outscored us 31-19 to beat us going away and tie the series up. Mookie Blaylock finally broke through with 21 points and Jayson Williams had his first good game with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Four games, four 10+ point outings by Matthew Bullard, who had 11. Allen Iverson had 23 points, Patrick Ewing 15 points and 12 rebounds, but Ewing was 4 of 13 for the night and he was averaging 6 turnovers a game in the series by himself.
Final - Boston 84 Atlanta 96

The Cavaliers put the sword to the Heat, sweeping them and the Jazz did the same thing to the Clippers. At least the Bucks managed to take a game from the Bulls, should we prove to advance, I thought to myself.

Game Five
This one was pretty much a must-win as far as I was concerned and I impressed that on the players before the game. I made sure to look directly at Patrick Ewing when I said it. He got the message and went out for his best game of the series with 30 points and 11 rebounds. All of our starters had 11 points or more, with Stephon Marbury double-doubling for 14 points and 12 assists and Pervis Ellison chipping in 12 bench points. Kenny Smith led Atlanta with 17 points off the bench and Jayson Williams had the poor man's double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, but this game was all Celtics as they heeded my warning and put on their best game of the series at the right time for the 3-2 lead.
Final - Atlanta 73 Boston 102

Chicago would have no first round surprise exit this year, as they firmly eliminated the Bucks in five, as did the Pacers the Bullets and the Supersonics the Warriors. I didn't relish the thought of playing the Bulls if we advanced, but we had to win this round first.

Game Six
We needed that day off in between Game 5 and Game 6 to mentally and physically prepare ourselves. Like I've said before, we really struggled with back-to-backs that season. But then the Hawks pulled a dirty switch in Atlanta in Game 6. They put Stacey Augmon on Allen Iverson and held AI to a 2 for 14 night. In that light, Glen Rice's 27 points and Pervis Ellison's 10 bench points didn't look so good, especially not with Patrick Ewing going 1 for 12. Mookie Blaylock found his way to 14 points and 15 assists and Kenny Smith become the hot new Hawk bench flavor of the series with 14 points. Ugly, ugly game as we got our tails kicked and faced a Game 7.
Final - Boston 79 Atlanta 96

I took some small comfort in the fact that Phoenix/Houston and San Antonio/Sacramento were going the full boat as well, but it was a very small salve indeed.

Game Seven
An amped up home crowd. Could they be the 13th as 6th man we needed most? It was a tense, all-out war. Patrick Ewing fought his way to 16 points and 16 rebounds to lead our balanced attack, but in the end we couldn't stop Mookie Blaylock's 25 points or Atlanta from going on a run in the fourth quarter to advance. It was Mia leaving all over again and unlike her, I could only blame myself in this one.
Final - Atlanta 92 Boston 85

Why blame myself?

Simple.

Patrick Ewing Playoff Stats
17 points 13 rebounds 1.6 steals 1.9 blocks 5 turnovers 43.8%

Stephon Marbury shot horrible as well, 37.1%. I could excuse a sub-40 shooting percentage from Theo Ratliff, especially since he was -just- below the 40 mark, but not Starbury. Not after I'd invested so much in him.

Truth be told, bad shooting percentage as a team killed us and that's all there was to it.

Anyway, the Rockets upset the Suns and the Spurs held off the equally upset-minded Kings.

The Bulls gored the Hawks in 5 in the next round, as did the Jazz the Rockets and, much to my shock, the Sonics the Spurs. But the even bigger stunner was the Cavaliers upsetting the defending champion Pacers in 7 games.

Chicago crushed Cleveland's Cinderella chances in six games, while the Sonics and Jazz went the full limit, with Utah just barely scraping by to set up a Finals matchup of top seeds.

Michael "Air" Jordan had found his old form and was averaging 28 points, while the Jazz had the one-two 20+ point punch of Karl "The Mailman" Malone (27.6 points, 10 rebounds, 2.1 steals) and Jeff Hornacek (21.6 points) in addition to John Stockton's 14.6 points and 10.6 assists.

But then Dennis "The Worm" Rodman made his famous "The Mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays" remark about Malone and a frustrated Jazz team got swept by the Bulls, much to my delight. I hated Malone and considered him an ass of the highest degree.

Air Jordan's Finals Points Numbers: 20, 31, 29, 35, 22

I watched the Finals with the team at my house. Allen Iverson just sat and watched His Airness for most of the series. And when the Bulls finally clinched, The Answer grinned, turned to me and said:

"I don't wanna be like Mike. I want to be better than him."

I remarked that those were big shoes to fill and I hoped he could do it.

Well, evidently that really ticked off Stephon "Starbury" Marbury, because the day after he released an article to the press complaining about how all he heard all day long was Iverson, Iverson, Iverson and that if I'd given him more shots against the Hawks, we'd have won the series. "I got to go somewhere where Starbury can be Starbury, you feel me?" he said, "And if the GM can't do that, he gotta send me somewhere where I can get my shots, lead my team to win and be #1 like I'm supposed to."

I didn't take too kindly to that and resolved to take care of the problem soon.

In the meantime, we had the lottery.

1997 NBA Lottery
13. Dallas Mavericks
12. Portland Trailblazers
11. Minnesota Timberwolves
10. Orlando Magic
9. Philadelphia 76ers
8. Los Angeles Lakers
7. Toronto Raptors (-1)
6. Charlotte Hornets (-1)
5. Vancouver Grizzlies (-2)
4. Detroit Pistons (-3)
3. New York Knicks (+1)
2. New Jersey Nets
1. Chicago Bulls (+6)

It was unbelievable. The champion Chicago Bulls, thanks to that stupid Jamie Feick trade, won the Tim Duncan sweepstakes.

I was still processing Denver's stupidity when I went to attend the awards ceremony in New York.

1996-1997 NBA Awards

MVP
David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs - 25.9 PPG 12.6 RPG 3.4 APG 3.3 BPG 1.9 SPG
Defensive Player of the Year
David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs - 25.9 PPG 12.6 RPG 3.4 APG 3.3 BPG 1.9 SPG
Rookie of the Year
Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks - 14.2 PPG 11.3 RPG 2.6 APG 3.2 BPG 1.6 SPG
6th Man of the Year
Danny Manning - Phoenix Suns - 12.6 PPG 3.7 RPG 3.0 APG 0.8 BPG 1.3 SPG
Coach of the Year
Mike Fratello - Cleveland Cavaliers

Allen Iverson was furious at being passed over for Rookie of the Year and I couldn't blame him one bit. The Globe was up in arms about it as well, but it did no good. On the other hand, I didn't argue at all with The Admiral's sweeping the two major awards or Fratello repeating as Coach of the Year. He did more with less talent in Cleveland than, well, I suppose I did in Boston.

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Terrell Brandon - Cleveland Cavaliers
SG Reggie Miller - Indiana Pacers
SF Glen Rice - Boston Celtics
PF Chris Webber - Washington Bullets
C David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs

All-NBA 2nd Team
PG John Stockton - Utah Jazz
SG Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
SF Tom Gugliotta - Minnesota Timberwolves
PF Karl Malone - Utah Jazz
C Gheorghe Muresan - Washington Bullets

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Penny Hardaway - Orlando Magic
SG Jeff Hornacek - Utah Jazz
SF Glenn Robinson - Milwaukee Bucks
PF Loy Vaught - Los Angeles Clippers
C Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks

While I loved seeing Rice get the All-NBA 1st Team award, I didn't understand Camby over Ewing at all or over Shaq or a whole lot of other centers in the league for that matter. Sure, Camby had a great rookie season, but All-NBA 3rd Team as a rookie?! It still boggles my mind to think of it.

All-Defense 1st Team
PG Gary Payton - Seattle Supersonics
SG Latrell Sprewell - Golden State Warriors
SF Scottie Pippen - Chicago Bulls
PF Chris Webber - Utah Jazz
C David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Mookie Blaylock - Atlanta Hawks
SG Bobby Phills - Cleveland Cavaliers
SF Derrick McKey - Indiana Pacers
PF Kevin Garnett - Minnesota Timberwolves
C Dikembe Mutombo - Milwaukee Bucks

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Allen Iverson - Boston Celtics
SG Kerry Kittles - Toronto Raptors
SF Darvin Ham - Philadelphia 76ers
PF Roy Rogers - Charlotte Hornets
C Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Stephon Marbury - Boston Celtics
SG Ray Allen - Charlotte Hornets
SF Malik Rose - Miami Heat
PF John Wallace - Los Angeles Lakers
C Brett Szabo - Cleveland Cavaliers

I took a savage satisfaction in seeing Rogers on the 1st Team. Showed those draft "experts" a thing or two, I did.

After the awards dinner, I told Patrick Ewing we wouldn't need his services next season. He thanked me for my honesty and said because I was forthright about it, he would agree to be traded in the short window available at the beginning of the offseason.

Of course, nobody was interested in dealing for a 35 year old-to-be center, especially not one who'd hit free agency and was coming off a subpar postseason performance on top of it.

The good news was, Clifton Gross was so pleased with our division title that he authorized me to spend up to $15 million over the cap, but, as he warned me, "If you're spending that kind of money, I want to see something more than a first round exit."

Stephon Marbury was drawing a ton of interest in teams, but the minute we inquired about an elite player of their own, they suddenly hemmed and hawed and seemed disinterested, so I decided to sit and wait.

Given our disappointing first round defeat, I opted to let the entire staff go and hired all fresh ones. 46 year old Booker Punt was a prize capture as our first assistant, though I had to pay him $1.8 million a year to bring him in. He was a genius at tactics and shared some similiar philosophies to mine. I didn't know that he was head coach material, but he was certainly a far better right hand man than anyone else I'd ever had and he made a pleasant conversationalist.

Mock Draft
Of course, everyone was talking about Tim Duncan going to the Chicago Bulls at #1. And while I considered Tracy McGrady the #2 player in the class, Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas had rocketed up the charts in the months leading up to the draft, so much so that a lot of mocks were picking him to go second to the Nets, arguing that an international post tandem of Priest Lauderdale and Zygskas, as I liked to call him, would be an unstoppable pair of 7'3 monsters to build around. Personally, I thought they'd take McGrady, though they did love Matt Maloney.

We could, if we wanted, have the #4 pick in the draft. The Pistons didn't see anything worth having beyond those three mentioned players and were willing to take Starbury for it. Naturally it wasn't a deal I was going to take unless one of those three players fell.

1997 Mock Draft
1. C Tim Duncan - Chicago Bulls
2. C Zydrunas Ilgauskas - New Jersey Nets
3. SF Tracy McGrady - New York Knicks
4. PG Brevin Knight - Detroit Pistons
5. SF Tariq Abdul-Wahad - Vancouver Grizzlies
6. PF Keith Van Horn - Charlotte Hornets
7. C Michael Stewart - Toronto Raptors
8. SF Danny Fortson - Los Angeles Lakers
9. SG Rick Brunson - Philadelphia 76ers
10. SG Kevin Ollie - Orlando Magic
11. PF Lawrence Funderburke - Minnesota Timberwolves
12. SG Chauncey Billups - Portland Trailblazers
13. PG Bobby Jackson - Dallas Mavericks
14. SG James Cotton - Los Angeles Clippers
15. PF Jerald Honeycutt - Sacramento Kings
16. PG Dejaun Wheat - Milwaukee Bucks
17. C Keith Closs - Washington Bullets
18. PF Etdrick Bohannon - Boston Celtics
19. PG Antonio Daniels - New Jersey Nets
20. C Chris Antsey - Denver Nuggets
21. SG Derek Anderson - Phoenix Suns
22. SG Marko Milic - Dallas Mavericks
23. SF Keith Booth - Phoenix Suns
24. C Kelvin Cato - Minnesota Timberwolves
25. SG Ron Mercer - New York Knicks
26. C Tony Battie - New York Knicks
27. C Scot Pollard - New York Knicks
28. PF Maurice Taylor - New Jersey Nets
29. C Adonal Foyle - Chicago Bulls

While we needed a starter-quality big man, Bohannon wasn't it. That's also not a typo you're seeing with the Knicks having three straight first round picks and four overall.

There were a few players who looked like they might attract my interest if we stayed at 18, but the more and more I looked at the draft class, the more and more it felt like we might simply just deal out of it.

[DaddyTorgo]

*cough* Ray Allen *cough*

[Izulde]

*cough* Ray Allen *cough*

:D

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm loving the Bulls with Tim Duncan.

Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Duncan? Sign me up.

[DaddyTorgo]

:D Trade for him?

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm loving the Bulls with Tim Duncan.

Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Duncan? Sign me up.

That's pretty much not fair.

Although I wonder if he won't be quite as much the stud since he'll be overshadowed by MJ...

[Izulde]

Coffee Warlord: Yeah that would be one scary, scary team. And goodbye Luc Longley too, probably.

DaddyTorgo: It's a possibility.

DaddyTorgo x 2: Not for too terribly long, I'd imagine. Jordan's 33 or 34 at this point, I forget which.

[DaddyTorgo]

good point izulde

[Neuqua]

I'm loving the Bulls with Tim Duncan.

Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Duncan? Sign me up.

:devil: :cool:

[Radii]

wow what an awful looking draft class. One of my favorite college players ever comes out next year in Antawn Jamison. Oh yeah, Vince Carter too, but meh, always liked Jamison better ;)

Fun read, keep it up!

[DaddyTorgo]

wow what an awful looking draft class. One of my favorite college players ever comes out next year in Antawn Jamison. Oh yeah, Vince Carter too, but meh, always liked Jamison better ;)

Fun read, keep it up!

hey be nice! that's the draft where the RL-Celtics missed out on Timmy Duncan improbably and Pitino drafted Chauncy and Ron Mercer with their 2 first-round picks and then preceeded to trade Chauncy away before the ink on his contract was dry (or so it seemed).

Okay you're wait - it sucks.

[Izulde]

DaddyTorgo: You're right though, it doesn't make that team any less scary for another year or two.

Neuqua: Heh, wait till free agency :D

Radii: Thanks :) And yeah, I agree, it's a terrible, terrible class. Next year's class does look pretty good and deep though.

DaddyTorgo: Funny you say that...

[Izulde]

Word got out, as it so often does in the sports world, of our plans to trade Stephon "Starbury" Marbury and before we knew it, our office was overwhelmed with calls, e-mails and letters asking us to trade for Ray Allen. The Hornets, despite getting ripped off by us last year, were willing to talk. Muggsy Bogues wasn't getting any younger at 33 and they had no real other passers available, which is why they were hoping Brevin Knight would fall to them.

It was something I considered, but I disliked the idea of being swayed by armchair GMs in our fanbase and so decided to keep waiting.

We invited a broad spectrum of players to work out for us and got some sense of some of the moves we might make in the draft. And then it was time.

1997 NBA Draft First Round

I hoped that the Bulls front office would still be feeling the effects of post-championship hangover and pass on Tim Duncan.

"With the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls select... Tim Duncan, power forward, out of Wake Forest*. The New Jersey Nets are now on the clock."

The tidal wave of cheers was simultaneously pleasant to hear and disheartening. Oh well, I loved what the Bulls organization had done with the franchise and if we didn't get him, I'm glad Chicago did, even if it went a long way to ensuring the continuation of Bulls dominance.

2. SF Tariq Abdul-Wahad - New Jersey Nets

My jaw dropped and the crowd gasped when this pick was made. Abdul-Wahad wasn't on anybody's radar as a top 3 pick and there he was going 2nd overall.

3. C Zydrunas Ilgauskas - New York Knicks

Smart play by the Knicks there, who were affirming to the world that the Patrick Ewing era was over.

I called the Pistons to try and trade up to the #4 spot, but Detroit wasn't interested after events fell out how they did.

4. SF Tracy McGrady - Detroit Pistons

That was who we were hoping to trade up for and to see him go off the board was disheartening. Although a high schooler, I thought McGrady could be mentored by Glen Rice and then take over for him.

With nobody else worth trading up for, I sat back and watched.

5. PF Keith Van Horn - Vancouver Grizzlies
6. PG Brevin Knight - Charlotte Hornets

And just like that, all our leverage to get Ray Allen from the Hornets vanished. Not many people thought Knight would fall to #6, considering him a lock to the Pistons at #4. Damned Nets.

7. C Chris Antsey - Toronto Raptors

This pick left even the experts speechless with shock. There was some speculation the 7 foot Australian wouldn't even be picked in the first at all, let alone in the Top 10. Sheer madness it was in Canada.

8. PF Lawrence Funderburke - Los Angeles Lakers

Seeing another blown pick, though not quite as outrageous as Antsey, warmed the cockles of my heart, especially since it was the Lakers, whose first next year we owned, screwing up.

9. SF Danny Fortson - Philadelphia 76ers
10. PG Bobby Jackson - Orlando Magic

The Magic made a surprise pick in Jackson, given that they had Penny Hardaway who was still young, but evidently they saw something in him I didn't.

11. C Michael Stewart - Minnesota Timberwolves
12. SG Kevin Ollie - Portland Trailblazers
13. C Kelvin Cato - Dallas Mavericks

I didn't get Dallas taking Cato at all. Why him when Marcus Camby, the All-NBA 3rd Teamer as a rookie was on the squad? So much for the Mavericks' playoff hopes the next season.

14. SG Marko Milic - Los Angeles Clippers

I had my eye on a few different players at the spot, but the more I looked them, the more one of them stood out to me, so I contacted the Kings about moving up. For the price of #18, plus the Mavericks 1999 2nd round pick, they were willing.

15. SG Chauncey Billups - Boston Celtics

The experts thought it was a great pick, with J.P. Gorski commenting that Billups could've very easily been a Top 10 selection. They also had some discussion of where Starbury might go in a deal, as the selection seemed to further cement his imminent departure.

16. SG Rick Brunson - Milwaukee Bucks
17. C Keith Closs - Washington Bullets*

A rare mid-list correct pick by the mocks.

18. C Tony Battie - Sacramento Kings
19. PF Jerald Honeycutt - New Jersey Nets
20. SG Anthony Parker - Denver Nuggets
21. SF Keith Booth - Phoenix Suns*

I gave that one to the mock drafters because they did have Booth going to the Suns, just at 23 instead of 21.

22. SG Charles Smith - Dallas Mavericks
23. SG Derek Anderson - Phoenix Suns
24. PF Etdrick Bohannon - Minnesota Timberwolves

And then the Knicks trio.

25. SG James Cotton - New York Knicks
26. PF Maurice Taylor - New York Knicks
27. PF Tim Thomas - New York Knicks

New York certainly made the most out of their four first round picks. Cotton was projected as a possible late lottery and Thomas was a guy we were considering at 18 before Billups fell.

28. PF Austin Croshere - New Jersey Nets
29. C Adonal Foyle - Chicago Bulls*

I wanted to come out of the draft with a power forward, so I traded Dean Garrett to the Knicks for the 33rd overall pick, which I used to take Chris Crawford out of Marquette. I loved watching his career with the Golden Eagles and he filled a need for us.

Post-draft looks revealed that Chauncey Billups could potentially step in as our starting point guard right away if we dealt Starbury. Chris Crawford looked to have good offensive game, but very little in the way of rebounding skills and not much understanding of how the pro game flowed.

It was a good thing I'd gotten Clifton Gross's permission for a higher payroll, because even with renouncing everyone, we were at 10 players and almost $2.1 million over the cap.

Then the league office announced a $2.5 million approximate salary cap increase, so we were suddenly $500k and change under. While nice, it put a crimp in our free agency plans.

Summer League
SG Chauncey Billups
PF Chris Crawford
C Theo Ratliff

The summer league opened with an ugly 92-80 loss to the Magic. Theo Ratliff went 0 for 5, negating Chris Crawford's exclamation point 26 points.

We evened it up with a 94-74 caning of the Nets. Tariq Abdul-Wahad was a monster with 31 points and 11 rebounds, but balance, keyed by Howard Eisley's 19 points and 10 assists and fellow invitee Anthony Silvine's 11 bench points got us the win. Eisley was getting a long look as Brian Shaw's replacement at backup point guard and I loved that he showed flashes of being an offensive sparkplug.

Chauncey Billups finally broke out with a 26 point game and Howard Eisley doubled again for 25 points and 11 assists in our 106-77 rout of the 76ers. Reserve Brent Scott added 11 rebounds.

I wasn't surprised to lose 99-95 to the overloaded Knicks summer squad and was quite pleased with Howard Eisley's 24 points and Chris Crawford's 20 points.

We edged the Heat 100-95 thanks to Howard Eisley's 29 points and 10 assists and I became alarmed at the notion he was playing so well he'd end up pricing himself out of our range.

A close 79-76 loss to the Bullets in D.C. ended our summer league, Chauncey Billups posting 21 points and Howard Eisley netting 12 points and 10 assists.

One thing I learned from the summer league was that Theo Ratliff had to go. He looked horrible all summer long and he wasn't showing anything of the improvement that he needed to.

Free Agency
That summer was big on names like Hakeem Olajuwon, Jeff Hornacek, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, and so on, but they were all well into their 30s and so not as attractive as might first look.

Detroit made the first signing of the summer and pulled off a coup in stealing Gheorghe Muresan from the Bullets with a 5 year, $13.6 million deal. With Muresan to pair alongside up and coming Jermaine O'Neal, suddenly the Pistons had a fearsome post game.

As if the Bulls weren't already ridiculously good, they snapped up Sam Cassell from the Rockets on a 5 year, $15.8 million contract. Between drafting Duncan and swiping Cassell, Chicago looked once again the top basketball town in all the land, as their offseason was going fantastically.

Patrick Ewing took a 1 year, $1.8 million contract to head to San Antonio on the same day that we lost our bid to get Dennis Rodman, who took less money to go back to the Bulls and summer league star Howard Eisley decided to stay with the Jazz, preferring them over us with equal money.

We recovered by giving A.C. Green another try in a Celtics uniform at minimum and stealing 32 year old Celtics-killer Kenny Smith from the Hawks on a one-year minimum. We also grabbed 26 year old defensive guru Bo Outlaw on a two year low exception, as perimeter defense on the bench was something we'd lacked.

And then we pulled the trigger.

Boston Celtics receive
C Erick Dampier
Houston Rockets 2000 1st round pick

Houston Rockets receive
PG Stephon Marbury

What this means for the Celtics
The 23 year old Dampier may be extremely raw, but he's got sizzling potential in all areas as a center, from scoring, to rebounding to defense. A butterfingers in terms of handling the ball is his only knock. But this move is the best thing that could've happened to his career. Rather than being forced to sit behind Hakeem Olajuwon for another year or two, he moves front and center to the Celtics starting five spot, filling Boston's hugest hole with youth and talent after two years of stopgaps in Dikembe Mutombo and Patrick Ewing. What the first round pick will turn into is anybody's guess.

What this means for the Rockets
Starbury, like Dampier for the Celtics, completes Houston's biggest problem area. He'll be an instant star with the Rockets and provides the cornerstone for the rebuilding project that's to come after Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler retire in the next year or two.

Winner: Draw
It's too difficult to say without knowing what that first rounder turns into who wins this. Marbury is infinitely more talented than Dampier, but on the other hand, Boston has a young replacement for him with the just-drafted Chauncey Billups, while the Rockets are putting all their chips for a title run on this season, maybe next, by sacrificing their future center in Dampier.

A risky gamble, yes, but I couldn't stand another season of having somebody like Theo Ratliff at center and the Patrick Ewing debacle made me swear off fading stars.

Speaking of which:

Boston Celtics receive
Utah Jazz 1999 1st round pick

Utah Jazz receive
C Theo Ratliff

What this means for the Celtics
Boston GM Bobby Troilus is known for his love of stockpiling first round picks and he's shown a certain shrewdness at guessing where picks are likely to fall. With the Jazz relying on 34 year old Jeff Hornacek and John Stockton, along with 35 year old Karl Malone, Troilus is betting Utah will have one last hurrah in '97 before going into rebuilding mode in '98.

What this means for the Jazz
Ratliff may not have the rebounding potential of fellow 24 year old Amal McCaskill, who averaged 10.6 boards last season, but he's a better option on offense and defense, with otherworldly shotblocking skills and still developing defense.

Winner: Boston
Even if it's another late first, the Celtics should be able to find a player comparable to Ratliff. The only question might be Boston's lack of interior defense, but that's where just-signed Bo Outlaw comes in.

Bench defense in general had been a problem for us the last two years and with the memory of Atlanta's bench still haunting my sleep at night, I signed 36 year old Derek Harper and 32 year old Chris Dudley to minimum one year deals towards the end of free agency. I thought Dudley could replace Pervis Ellison as the primary backup center, since he could play defense in addition to rebounding and shotblocking. While Harper would fight for minutes, I still felt safer having him on the team.

[b]Training Camp/b]

Camp was a mixed bag. On the one hand, Chauncey Billups had a magnificent camp and firmly cemented himself as the starting point guard. On the other hand, Allen Iverson didn't improve much, Chris Crawford took a step back defensively, even as he improved rebounding and Erick Dampier while making major strides as a rebounder, appeared not to have the scoring instincts and defensive potential we thought we were getting out of him.

Still, I felt reasonably good about the team.

Season Preview

Of course, everyone was picking the Bulls to repeat. For some strange reason, Philadelphia was getting a lot of love, picked for second, while Detroit was tabbed for third in the East, which I could see. We were picked to just miss the playoffs at #9, as the media pointed to Erick Dampier's 34.1% shooting during his rookie year and nobody believed Chris Crawford would do well at power forward or that Chauncey Billups would make anybody forget Stephon Marbury.

The West rankings were a complete joke, with Dallas and Minnesota picked as 1-2. It wasn't until San Antonio at #3 that they started making sense and even the Lakers at #5 was preposterous.

But I was determined to make a mockery of those rankings that had us out of the playoffs. I felt we were good enough to repeat as Atlantic champions and 4 seeds, though I didn't think we, or anyone else, had a prayer of beating the Bulls.

1997-98 Boston Celtics Opening Night Roster
PG Chauncey Billups
SG Allen Iverson
SF Glen Rice
PF Chris Crawford
C Erick Dampier
6th Kenny Smith (PG/SG)
7th Bo Outlaw (PF/C)
8th Chris Dudley (SF/PF/C)
9th Pervis Ellison (PF/C)
10th Derek Harper (PG/SG)
11th Sherman Douglas (SG)
12th A.C. Green (SF/PF/C)
Inactive
Dee Brown (SG/SF)
Dana Barros (PG)

[DaddyTorgo]

nice!

i have always been bummed that billups didn't get a longer look here in boston - when he started to grow into himself i was a frequent finger-pointer about that. dampier should provide some potential, and it seems you've got a hell of a lot of #1 picks to play with coming up.

what is your draft-picks situation anyways?

[hoopsguy]

It was Pippen, not Rodman, who dropped the "Sunday" line on Malone.

Back on board reading your dynasties now that you seem to have settled into a groove with one :)

[Izulde]

DaddyTorgo: Thanks. :) I couldn't believe he was still there at 15. If anything, I thought he'd go earlier than projected at 13, into the top 10 even. As far as picks go:

1998 - Celtics, Lakers
1999 - Celtics, Jazz
2000 - Celtics, Rockets

hoopsguy: Ah, so you're right. :) Funny, I swore it was Rodman, because it sounded like something The Worm would say, so in this universe, it was him. :D Glad to have you back around, by the way.

[Izulde]

If we had an Achilles heel heading into that cold Halloween night against the Bucks, it was that we didn't have a lockdown defender in the starting lineup. And indeed, we allowed 106 points, including 29 points to Vin Baker, 18 bench points to Terry Dehere, 15 points and 11 assists to Kobe Bryant and 12 points and 14 rebounds to Dikembe Mutombo. But it didn't matter, as we scored 122 to win easily, Glen Rice scoring 32, Allen Iverson going one better at 33 and Kenny Smith providing 10 bench points. Erick Dampier had a quiet Celtics debut with 7 points and 7 rebounds and while Chris Crawford scored 10 in his pro debut, he jacked up 5 of 16 to get them. Far better was Chauncey Billups's 16 points on 6 of 12.

The behemoth Bulls were next and in Chicago the evening after no less. Given those parameters, the 115-97 rout was no surprise and I settled for being satisfied with Allen Iverson's 23 points and Glen Rice's 20 points. Michael Jordan ruled us for 33 points and 10 rebounds, Sam Cassell added 29 points and Tim Duncan looked anything but a rookie with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks. It really was ridiculous how good they were that year.

Chauncey Billups had his first 20+ point game as a pro with 25 points in our next game as we beat the Suns 106-89. Glen Rice continued his torrid early-season form with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Bo Outlaw stunned with 20 bench points. Great to see from our defensive specialist. Charles Barkley did well with 20 points and 14 rebounds and defending 6th Man of the Year Danny Manning scored 12 bench points.

Back to .500 we fell with a heartbreaking 115-114 loss to the Magic, outscored 31-22 in the fourth quarter. It was a damned shame too, especially with Chris Crawford breaking out 23 points, a total matched by Glen Rice. Chauncey Billups got his first double-double with 18 points and 12 assists, Allen Iverson scored 25 and Bo Outlaw showed the previous game was no fluke with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks off the bench. James Scott led the Magic with 24 points, Jerome Williams doubled for 15 points and 12 rebounds and Drew Barry and Bobby Jackson powered the reserves with 14 and 11 points respectively.

The Jazz whipped us far worse than the 99-82 final indicated. Glen Rice had 13 points and 13 rebounds and Allen Iverson grabbed 24 points and 11 rebounds, but they were nothing against Karl Malone's 25 points, Jeff Hornacek's 23 points and John Stockton's 16 points and 12 assists.

Erick Dampier was looking like a huge mistake, shooting 25.9% and fouling out twice in five games. In fact, he only had one game with fewer than 5 fouls. I couldn't condone that so I went with a small lineup, inserting Bo Outlaw at center.

The initial results weren't great, but we still overcame the Bullets 92-86, dodging the Big Bullet himself, Chris Webber, with 34 points and 11 rebounds thanks to Glen Rice and Allen Iverson with 23 and 22 points respectively.

We went to Milwaukee the next night and won another shootout 111-100. Allen Iverson was on fire with 38 points, Glen Rice made his presence felt with 30 points and 11 rebounds and Chris Crawford scored 21 to counter Vin Baker and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson's 22 points a piece.

Stephon Marbury came ready to play and rose up for 23 points and 13 assists against us, Wesley Person scored 13 bench points and Hakeem Olajuwon netted 19 points and 12 rebounds, but Glen Rice was unstoppable in scoring 46 points with 9 rebounds as we starstruck the Rockets 115-94. Allen Iverson scored 29 and Kenny Smith played great off the bench with 12 points and 11 assists.

Our joy was short-lived however, as Christian Laettner burned us for 30 points and the second half was all Hornets in a 109-93 loss. Cedric Henderson chipped in 16 points and 11 rebounds and not even Allen Iverson's 27 points or 10 and 11 points from Kenny Smith and Erick Dampier respectively could save us.

Golden State owned us entirely in a 112-99 embarassment. Joe Smith was a force with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Travis Knight fought for 14 points and 11 rebounds, Latrell Sprewell garnered 15 points and 10 assists and Tim Hardaway scored 21. In response, Glen Rice scored 23, Chauncey Billups had 12 points and 11 assists and Erick Dampier scored 13 off the bench.

With Dampier's improved play and Chris Crawford's frustrating inconsistency, I made another lineup change, putting Dampier back in at center and shifting Bo Outlaw to power forward.

The shift paid off in a 98-78 dismantling rematch of the Hornets. Allen Iverson scored 30, Glen Rice 22 and Kenny Smith came through with 13 bench points. Christian Laettner did score 24, but he shot 20 times and no other Hornets were on form.

I was wary going against the Pistons' promising frontcourt, but my lineup changes translated into a second straight sub-80 point allowance, a 113-75 crushing engineered by Allen Iverson's splendid 26 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds, Glen Rice's 24 points and Chris Crawford's 10 bench points. Jermaine O'Neal shined for Detroit with 20 points and 17 rebounds, but he was the only Piston to do so.

We allowed 95 points against the Nets, chiefly because of Tariq Abdul-Wahad's 22, but we still won 110-95 on Glen Rice's 31 points and 13 rebounds and a season-high 18 points from Erick Dampier.

Allen Iverson scored 24 and Erick Dampier doubled for 12 points and 15 rebounds, but our game against the Bullets to end the month was still in doubt until Bo Outlaw contained Chris Webber enough to limit him to 21 points and 19 points and Keith Closs's 12 points and 10 rebounds were all but a layup worth of free throws as we prevailed 93-86.

Although we'd gotten off to a rough start, it felt like we'd finally found a lineup that worked for us and that win over the Bullets was enough to make us 9-5 and put in a tie with Washington for the Atlantic lead. The Bulls actually lost a few games in November, but they were still 12-3 at month's end. Biggest surprise: the Pistons at 10-5.

Utah looked good out West at 12-4, but the Spurs were 10-3, both better than Pacific leaders Golden State and Phoenix at 11-5 and 10-5 respectively. The Lakers, whose pick we owned, were treading slightly below .500 water at 6-9.

[Izulde]

Only one trade that first month of the 1997 season, but it was interesting at least.

Cleveland Cavaliers receive
SF Tracy Murray

New York Knicks receive
Cleveland Cavaliers 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Cavaliers
Murray, 26, is an average all-around player save for his punishing outside shot, which adds another dimension to Cleveland's attack. He also injects much needed youth into the Cavs' swingman situation and in fact steps in as the starting SF.

What this means for the Knicks
Four first round picks evidently weren't enough for New York, which is now starting three rookies, has a fourth rookie as their 6th man and has a second year player as their starting point guard. They're the youngest team in the league and yet they're a respectable 5-10. This pick'll be another late first, but given the Knicks' value picks in this past, weak class, that's not a bad thing.

Winner: Draw
Both teams benefit, but Murray's expiring this season.

Although I'd been tempted to go trigger pulling myself earlier in the year, I was glad I hadn't. We kept our winning ways going, starting off December with an 88-74 win over the Heat. Allen Iverson carried us practically by himself with 32 points, leading the charge that overcame Ed Gray's 23 points and Nick Van Exel's 21 points.

Another ugly game followed in Miami, Nick Van Exel's 28 points the main culprit in our 83-80 loss. Derek Harper had 14 bench points, but when Erick Dampier went 2 for 17, you knew things were bad.

Then we lost 88-77 in Philadelphia, Allen Iverson's 26 points negated by Darvin Ham's 19 points and 13 rebounds, Derrick Coleman's 17 points and 13 rebounds and Jerry Stackhouse's 14 bench points.

After Jayson Williams beat us up for 20 points and 11 rebounds and we lost 96-91 at home the following night to the Hawks, I'd had enough. There was no reason to be losing when Allen Iverson was scoring 29 points and Chris Dudley of all people had 10 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks off the bench.

And thus came a trade.

Boston Celtics receive
SF Tom Gugliotta
Minnesota Timberwolves 1998 1st round pick

Minnesota Timberwolves receive
C Erick Dampier
PG Sherman Douglas
Boston Celtics 2000 2nd round pick

What this means for the Celtics
Boston GM/head coach Bobby Troilus has been said to be very unhappy with his team's offensive production lately and so he goes out and gets 28 year old Gugliotta, a two-time All-Star and All-NBA player who the Timberwolves have for some reason been trying to unload repeatedly. Off he goes now and he'll bring his accurate shooting and high energy game to the Celtics' PF spot. His one weakness is ballhandling, so it'll be interesting seeing how he adapts to his new position and team. While Minnesota's 10-7 right now, it's hard saying what effect this trade will have on them.

What this means for the Timberwolves
Dampier didn't last long in Boston thanks to his poor shot selection, but the Timberwolves don't care. His defense and rebounding talents will make him the starting center in Minneapolis, displacing rookie Michael Stewart and Sherman Douglas is going to get his shot at starting at the point over Terry Porter. Strange moves in both cases, as Stewart and Porter seem better than what the T-Wolves are bringing in, though in any case, Minnesota is now much deeper and also gets to start Isiah Rider at small forward, something they've been wanting to do.

Winner: Boston
It's hard to imagine the Celtics doing much worse than their three straight losses and although Boston's having to start Chris Dudley at center now, he may fit the Green and White's scheme better than Dampier did. And they pick up a first on top of it.

We lost our fourth straight game, a sickening 106-99 overtime defeat to the Raptors in Toronto. It was bombs away for the Purple Dinos, with 25 points and 11 rebounds from Juwan Howard, 24 points from Damon Stoudamire, 20 points from Kerry Kittles and 10 points and 11 rebounds from Chris Antsey. Allen Iverson scored 26 for us and Tom Gugliotta had 18 in his Celtics debut. Bo Outlaw and Chris Crawford led the bench with 11 and 16 points respectively.

The drought finally broke the night after as we beat the 76ers 107-97. It was amazing to do it, considering Tony Delk tore us apart for 33 points and 13 assists, Clarence Weatherspoon netted 15 points and 10 rebounds and Derrick Coleman picked up 17 points and 10 rebounds. But Allen Iverson scored 26 and Kenny Smith and Chris Crawford contributed 15 and 11 bench points to see us through.

We hosted the Raptors and crushed them 107-81 in a sweet revenge game as Glen Rice snapped free for 35 points, outmatching Juwan Howard's 34, Allen Iverson scored 21 and Chris Crawford had his third straight great bench showing with 16 points.

The Bulls came next and we handed them just their 5th loss of the year, 95-88. Sam Cassell scored 22 and Toni Kukoc had 16 bench points for Chicago, but Allen Iverson led all scorers with 24 points, Tom Gugliotta got his first Celtic double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds and Chris Crawford made it 4 in a row with 12 bench points.

The Hornets flat-out destroyed us in Charlotte 101-77 for our first loss since the trade. Cedric Henderson scored 25, Grant Long was just nasty off the bench with 23 points and Christian Laettner and Roy Rogers double-doubled with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 points, 13 rebounds respectively. Glen Rice and Chauncey Billups were our top men with 26 and 20 points a piece.

Tom Gugliotta picked up a hand injury, so I put him on the bench and sent Bo Outlaw out at PF for our marquee matchup against Minnesota the next night. We destroyed them 103-83. Kevin Garnett was Player of the Game with 25 points and 15 rebounds and Sherman Douglas continued the ex-Celtic revenge thing with 12 bench points, but Allen Iverson scored 25, Chauncey Billups wasn't far off with 22 points and Glen Rice completed the triple with 21 points.

I started paying more attention to team injuries after that, so when Chris Dudley strained his knee against the Timberwolves, I had Bo Outlaw at center for our game in Los Angeles against the Lakers. I'm happy to say we won 100-75, cruising behind Tom Gugliotta's 29 points and 6 steals, Chauncey Billups's 21 points and Glen Rice's cheap double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds. The best the Purple and Gold did was 15 points each from rookie Lawrence Funderburke and Eddie Jones.

I was even happier to tell Cassie at dinner afterwards that I'd met someone else in Boston, one of the cheerleaders for the Celtics strangely enough. Nicole and I had met last season when she came to my office to ask me about ordering new uniforms for the squad. I agreed and joked that we should go out for coffee to discuss the details. She accepted and we started dating, with things getting more serious over the summer. I hadn't asked her to marry me yet. Things were still too tense with the topsy-turvy nature of our season for me not to feel stressed and wedding planning on top of it would, I felt, cause a coronary.

The injuries continued to pile on as Allen Iverson sustained a bruised shoulder, but since we had no replacement for him, I kept him in the lineup as we headed to Portland the next night and won 96-88. Tom Gugliotta shouldered the load with 26 points, Bo Outlaw supported with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Crawford woke up for 12 bench points as we overcame Clifford Robinson's 20 points, Arvydas Sabonis's 11 points, 11 rebounds, Rod Strickland's 13 points and 15 assists and Chris Mills's 14 bench points.

That pair of back-to-back wins was so nice I didn't mind as much as I thought I would the 97-86 loss in Seattle, although we blew it with a disastrous 33-21 fourth quarter. Gary "The Glove" Payton suffocated us for 27 points, John Salley had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kenny Gattison led 3 Supersonics reserves in double-digit scoring with 10 points and 11 assists. Great game by our frontcourt, though as Tom Gugliotta netted 25 points and 12 rebounds, Glen Rice was just off that pace with 23 points and 11 rebounds and Bo Outlaw burst out for a surprise 20 points.

I was worried about exhaustion in Vancouver the next night, but we allowed just two Grizzlies in double-digit scoring; rookie Keith Van Horn with 34 points and Ashraf Amaya with 18 bench points. In counterpoint, Glen Rice scored 24, Tom Gugliotta continued to fit in seamlessy with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Pervis Ellison and Chris Crawford bounced off the bench for 10 rebounds and 12 points.

We were finally fully healthy as we hosted the Trailblazers to ring out the old year, and I gave Pervis Ellison the start at center, because he'd been unhappy with his playing time. 101-85 was the final, the good guys in green the winners. Allen Iverson scored 25, Glen Rice added 22 points and Tom Gugliotta picked up 11 points and 11 rebounds. Portland had two bench players do well, with Jeff McInnis and Will Perdue scoring 18 and 14, but that was all they did.

And so came the close to a tumultuous end-year. At 18-11, we were a game back of the Bullets in the Atlantic, but had gone 8-3 since acquiring Tom Gugliotta, which boded well for us for the rest of the season, I thought. We were also the only two teams in the Atlantic over .500, with 12-18 Orlando leading a train of bad squads.

Chicago didn't lose a game after we beat them and stood 24-5 at month's end, 3.5 games ahead of the Cavaliers. Detroit was another 20 game winner at 20-10 and really looked like a tough team to beat in the playoffs.

22-9 Utah had a 2.5 game lead on both the Spurs and the Rockets in addition to tenatively holding the West's top seed while the Pacific featured 19-8 Phoenix with a half-game edge on the Warriors. The Lakers, I should note, were having an awful year at 10-22, worst in the West. But we had three worse teams in the East at that point: 6-22 Miami and New Jersey and 9-20 New York. Oh yes, the Timberwolves were 16-12, so about what they were when we traded with them.

Celtics Team Leaders

Scoring
1. Allen Iverson - 21.7
2. Glen Rice - 20.2
3. Tom Gugliotta - 17.6

Assists
1. Chauncey Billups - 6.6
2. Allen Iverson - 4.5
3. Kenny Smith - 4.3

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 9.3
2. Glen Rice - 7.0
3. Bo Outlaw - 5.4

Blocks
1. Bo Outlaw - 2.3
2. Chris Dudley - 1.0
3. Tom Gugliotta - 0.8

Steals
1. Allen Iverson - 1.6
2. Tom Gugliotta - 1.4
3. Bo Outlaw - 1.3

[Izulde]

New Year's Day brought my usual study of the incoming class and hot cider, though I got off to later start than my first two years. You see, I'd gone to a New Year's party with Nicole after the game and as a result, we'd stayed up later than I was used to. It was worth it of course, though when she asked me after our New Year's kiss when I was going to ask her to marry her, I said, only half-joking, "When the Celtics make it past the first round of the playoffs."

"I'll be old by then!" she gasped indignantly.

"You're only 25", I answered with a grin, "Besides, you have that little faith in my abilities that you don't think I'll get them there soon?"

She just laughed, winked and spirited away to the punch bowl. As I watched her blonde hair swishing from her turn, I was reminded of how much I liked the way she kept things light and me on my toes with little things like not answering. She gave levity to a life that still felt leaden sometimes, running a franchise still dreaming of past glories.

Anyway, the upcoming rookie class was rich in talented swingmen. Players like Paul Pierce and Vince Carter immediately jumped out, but the Greek kid Peja Stojakovic looked good as well. Dirk Nowitzki, a German, looked like a fantastic power forward prospect and Antawn Jamison was having a nice year with the Tar Heels. But if you were a team looking for a point guard or a center, forget it. They just weren't there. Bad news for us, who needed a true center worth having, but at the very least, we had a shot at getting a forward to be the heir apparent to Glen Rice if things broke right.

And then there were December's trades.

Atlanta Hawks receive
SG John Starks

New York Knicks receive
Atlanta Hawks 1998 2nd round pick

What this means for the Hawks
Starks, 32, is a solid all-around player whose good passing and handling skills for a SG blend in perfectly with Atlanta's philosophy of balanced team scoring. Not great on the defensive end, but a major upgrade from the previous rotations they've been using to start at the two.

What this means for the Knicks
New York makes another commitment to youth and they shed Starks's salary on top of it, which frees up yet more money for them to become major free agent players when the time is right. The second round pick could be high-mid, as the Hawks have struggled this year.

Winner: New York
The Knicks have their rebuilding plan in place and this just adds another piece to it. For those doubting, see Derek Fisher, 3rd pick in 2nd round of 1996 draft and Knicks starting PG from Day One.

Phoenix Suns receive
C Sharone Wright

Philadelphia 76ers receive
Phoenix Suns 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Suns
The 25 year old Wright can flat out score, but that's really the only attribute he brings to the table. He's also not going to see many minutes as Phoenix is heavy on Shawnelle Scott and defending 6th Man of the Year Danny Manning at center. On the other hand, Manning's 31 and should he or Scott come to injury, Wright's a far better insurance policy than filler Lorenzo Williams.

What this means for the 76ers
Philly's not a very good team as they're still young and having problems developing team chemistry and consistency, so an extra first might help them find more talent. On the other hand, given that it's a late first, is the player really going to equal what Wright gave them?

Winner: Phoenix
Decent big men are hard to find in this league and the Suns trade a late first to get a respectable young one. Nice move.

Denver Nuggets receive
C Vitaly Potapenko

Atlanta Hawks receive
Denver Nuggets 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Nuggets
Denver apparently doesn't like first rounders much, because for the third year in a row they trade away their own first. The 22 year old Potapenko has a good inside shot and some rebounding skills, but the man taken with the 11th pick in the 2nd round last year can't unseat the Nuggets' 2nd round pick this year (7th in 2nd) Scott Pollard as the team's backup center. And who does Denver have starting at the five? Jamie Feick, Mr. "I Could've Been Tim Duncan" himself. The Nuggets front office needs serious help.

What this means for the Hawks
The Nuggets are actually competitive this season, so it's a mid-first rounder, but considering Atlanta still has five centers on the roster and they turned a mid-2nd round pick into a mid-1st, that's a beautiful job by the Hawks' office.

Winner: Atlanta
They've got smart men in Hotlanta.

Los Angeles Clippers receive
PF Otis Thorpe

New York Knicks receive
Los Angeles Clippers 1998 2nd round pick

What this means for the Clippers
The Red and White are terrible this season and acquiring a 35 year old rebounding specialist when they already have guys at power forward like Loy Vaught, Antoine Walker and even Rodney Rodgers makes no sense at all.

What this means for the Knicks
In case you haven't gotten the memo yet, New York's rebuilding and they trade away an old piece for a lottery ticket and yet more cap space. Brilliant, simply brilliant.

Winner: New York
It's tough to be a basketball fan in LA this season, with Showtime dead and the Clippers being the Clippers.

The new year started off with a bang as we demolished the Cavaliers 106-76. Tom Gugliotta flourished with 32 points and Allen Iverson made a nice second punch with 22 points. Brett Szabo was top man for the Cavs with 11 points and 17 rebounds as Cleveland had arguably their ugliest game of the year.

Tom Gugliotta continued the fun with 31 points and 17 rebounds against the Mavericks, schooling Popeye Jones, who nonetheless doubled with 14 points and 11 rebounds. We won 111-87, countering Jamal Mashburn's 32 points and Marcus Camby's 11 points and 13 rebounds with Allen Iverson's 24 points and Bo Outlaw's 11 bench points.

The Knicks posed no challenge in New York, falling 111-88 to Allen Iverson's 28 points, Chauncey Billups's 19 points and 12 assists and Glen Rice's 12 points and 10 rebounds. It looked strange to see Chris Mullin not wearing blue and yellow and even stranger to see him on the bench, but he got us for 11 points.

We turned around and went right back to Boston to beat the Kings 97-79 the next night. Tom Gugliotta powered his way to 24 points and 14 rebounds, Pervis Ellison got a rare double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds and Kenny Smith and Bo Outlaw led the second team with 16 and 10 points respectively. Walt Williams held Glen Rice to 1 of 15 shooting in addition to scoring 23 points himself and Tony Battie picked up 14 points and 10 rebounds, but it was all for naught.

A couple days later, we hosted the Knicks and promptly sent them back to the City with a 103-82 loss. Allen Iverson and Glen Rice combined for 28 and 22 points and Chris Crawford rose off the bench for 11 points, spoiling Larry Johnson's 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Down south in Hotlanta, the Hawks were hoping to reach .500, but we ended that with a 110-98 rout. Tom Gugliotta belted them for 31 points, Chauncey Billups followed up with 26 points and Pervis Ellison applied the finisher with 12 points and 17 rebounds. Oh and Chris Crawford topped the reserves with 10 points. For the Hawks, Mookie Blaylock scored 20 and Elliot Perry was just insane off the bench with 26 points.

It was a good way to start the five game road trip that'd proven one of the toughest parts of our schedule the last couple years and given our difficulties with that stretch, I wasn't surprised when the Spurs beat us 109-92 to hand us our first loss of the 1998 calendar year. Patrick Ewing and Anthony Mason each burned us for 20 points and David "The Admiral" Robinson was an animal in the post with 16 points, 21 rebounds and 6 blocks. We gave it a shot though, as Glen Rice led all scorers with 35 points, Allen Iverson scored 25 and Chauncey Billups distributed 14 points and 10 assists.

We ambushed the Rockets 114-86 thanks to Glen Rice (22 points), Allen Iverson (20 points) and the bench tandem of Chris Crawford with his first career double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds and Kenny Smith with 11 points.

Even more pleasing was when we shut down the high-octane Mavericks offense the night after, winning 98-76. Glen Rice dominated with 33 points and 4 steals and Bo Outlaw had 12 bench rebounds, as Dallas's main players were Jamal Mashburn with 14 points and 16 rebounds and Marcus Camby with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks. Both shot terribly though, as did the Mavericks as whole - 32.6% on the night.

After our Texas triumphs, I feared a letdown in Toronto and I was right. We lost a 125-113 shootout as Damon Stoudamire went ballistic with 37 points, 14 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals and Juwan Howard poured in 24 points and 10 rebounds to nullify 28 points each from Glen Rice and Tom Gugliotta, the latter of whom also had 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks, Chauncey Billups's 13 points and 11 assists and Kenny Smith's bench rampage of 17 points.

Then the Lakers stunned us 94-83 in Boston, much to my aggravation. Cedric Cellabos scored 27 to basically draw with Glen Rice's 28 points and their balance topped ours, even with Chris Crawford's 10 bench points.

We finally snapped out of it by beating the Pacers 91-85 on Allen Iverson's 22 points, which were one better than Reggie Miller's 21 points and Tom Gugliotta's 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The most puzzling team on the planet had to be the Orlando Magic. They had two franchise-level talents in Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, yet they constantly underachieved, as when they got blown out 102-78 at home by us. Nick Anderson's was their high scorer with 24 points, eclipsed by Glen Rice's 29 points and 13 rebounds and further buried by Tom Gugliotta's 18 points and 16 rebounds.

From Orlando to Boston, where we slugged the Grizzlies 96-74 the night after. Keith Van Horn played well with 17 points and 10 rebounds and reserve Ashraf Amaya netted 15 points and 18 rebounds as he usually seemed amped to play us. But even with that and with a terrible night from our forwards, we still won handily on Allen Iverson's 30 points, Chauncey Billups's 27 points and the tag-team bench duo of Bo Outlaw (12 points) and Kenny Smith (11 points). One thing I loved about that year's team as compared to the 1996-97 edition was that they didn't implode on the second night of back-to-backs. They stayed strong.

We had the statistical stars in Allen Iverson's 21 points and Tom Gugliotta's 13 points and 11 rebounds, but the Pacers had the balance and so they beat us 82-74 in Indiana. Reggie Miller was their lead scorer with 18 points along with 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

We bounced back the next night to freeze the Heat 102-84 in Miami. Ed Gray's 24 points and Malik Rose's 11 points and 10 rebounds were nothing in the face of Allen Iverson's 24 points, Tom Gugliotta's 19 points and 14 rebounds, [b]Glen Rice's near triple-double of 14 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds and Bo Outlaw's 12 bench points.

That victory put us at 30-15, but frustratingly, we were still a game behind the 30-13 Bullets for the Atlantic lead. Yet we were also so far ahead of third place 17-28 and 16-27 Orlando and New York it was ridiculous.

The Bulls were in danger of their 10th loss of the year, but at 35-9, they still enjoyed a 4.5 game edge on the Cavaliers, who we ourselves were a single game behind in the overall seeding race.

On the other hand, Chicago was the only single-loss team in the league, as 29-15 Utah was holding off the Spurs by only a game and had the Rockets and Timberwolves 2.5 back. In the Pacific, 32-12 Golden State was fairly well in front of Phoenix at 5.5 The 15-29 Lakers were still worst in the West, but 5th worst in the league, thanks to four terrible East teams.

Boston Celtics Leaders

Scoring
1. Allen Iverson - 21.1
2. Glen Rice - 19.9
3. Tom Gugliotta - 18.0

Assists
1. Chauncey Billups - 7.0
2. Allen Iverson - 4.6
3. Kenny Smith - 3.8

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 9.4
2. Glen Rice - 7.2
3. Pervis Ellison - 6.5

Blocks
1. Bo Outlaw - 2.1
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.0
3. Tom Gugliotta - 0.9

Steals
1. Allen Iverson - 1.7
2. Tom Gugliotta - 1.3
3. Glen Rice - 1.1

[Izulde]

February had always been a difficult month for us in my two years leading Boston, so with us a game back of the Bullets, even though I'd finally found love, Cupid's month made me anything but joyful.

January featured a trade or two to review at least.

San Antonio Spurs receive
SF Chris Mullin
Los Angeles Clippers 1998 2nd round pick

New York Knicks receive
SG Vinny Del Negro

What this means for the Spurs
This is not another blockbuster veteran move by San Antonio, for this is not the Mullin who starred in Golden State. At 34, Mullin is now just an average all-around, yet intelligent bench player. The 2nd rounder's looking like a mid-selection.

What this means for the Knicks
Del Negro may be 31 and an odd fit for this New York team, but they needed a veteran mentor in the backcourt and Negro fits the bill. He also bring scoring pop and excellent ballhandling to the bench, in addition to an extra million dollars of expiring contract.

Winner: New York
They did get three years younger and this eases some of their glut of second rounders that probably wouldn't make the team anyway.

Golden State Warriors receive
SG Alvin Williams

Los Angeles Lakers receive
Golden State Warriors 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Warriors
Williams, 23, taken with the 8th pick in the 2nd round of this year's draft, won't break past the Tim Hardaway/Latrell Sprewell starting backcourt, but he becomes the first guard off the bench and has potential to develop into a very good starting PG someday. For now, he'll greatly increase Golden State's depth as they drive for the division title and serve as Hardaway's heir apparent.

What this means for the Lakers
On the one hand, they've turned a 2nd round pick into a first rounder when they don't have their own first this year. On the other hand, Williams could've been a late first rounder himself in last year's draft. Then again, he was only getting about 5 minutes a game.

Winner: Golden State
No doubt about the Warriors getting a quality play for their first and they addressed the issue of who will replace the 31 year old Hardaway when the time comes.

Despite my belief in always keeping a first round pick, I have to say I liked what a lot of the contending teams had done with dealing their firsts for players. It made me want to think about doing the same at the deadline while keeping the Lakers' selection.

Part of the reason we'd done poorly in February was the whopper of a back-to-back we faced to start the month. Our first game was in Cleveland, where, much to my joy and shock, we rallied in the fourth quarter to stun the Cavaliers 112-102. Kenny Anderson, who'd re-signed with the Cavs in free agency after being obtained from the Nets last February, scored 26 points and 4 steals, Tracy Murray added 22 and Brett Szabo gathered in 16 points and 10 rebounds, but we answered with six Celtics scoring 12 or more, headlined by Glen Rice's 28 points and Bo Outlaw's 15 bench points.

Incredibly, we rallied again in the fourth the next night to knock off the Spurs at home. Kenny Smith was a perfect 8 for 8 off the bench, including 5 of 5 from 3 point range for 21 points in just 17 minutes, the perfect complement to Allen Iverson's 23 points. It was a beautiful way to frustrate San Antonio, who had 3 players with double-doubles: David Robinson (18 points, 16 rebounds), Patrick Ewing (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Antonio Daniels (18 points, 10 assists).

Then came the other reason why we struggled in February - the road trip from hell. It felt different this year, though maybe that was because Nicole took two weeks vacation to travel with us. She drew a lot of attention during telecasts from the announcers and became something of an Internet phenomenon.

But I didn't pay much attention to all that. I was about our hardcourt performance. The journey started magnificently with an all-quarters 98-83 victory over the Clippers. Glen Rice led the charge with 30 points and 5 steals, Allen Iverson lit up for 27 points and 11 rebounds and Chauncey Billups had 11 points and 11 assists. Loy Vaught and Antoine Walker were the top Clippers with 17 points and 11 rebounds and 15 points and 10 rebounds respectively.

Cassie was delighted with Nicole at dinner that night and she told me while my girlfriend was in the restroom that I'd made an excellent choice and that all things happened for a reason. I couldn't say I disagreed at all, for though I hadn't forgotten Mia and never would, I was happier with Nicole than I'd ever been in any of my previous relationships.

It's not very often that a team takes the first three quarters convincingly and still loses, but that's exactly what happened the next night in Oakland. A stellar 44-25 fourth quarter gave us the nailbiting 100-99 win over the Warriors. Joe Smith's 28 points and 11 rebounds and Travis Knight's 11 points and 15 rebounds were eclipsed by our stellar backcourt of Chauncey Billups's 24 points and Allen Iverson's 22 points while Tom Gugliotta did the work in the post with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Two nights later Allen Iverson knocked out the Kings with 34 points and 5 steals, Glen Rice piled on 22 points, Tom Gugliotta got 16 points and 11 rebounds and Chris Crawford applied the icing with 11 bench points in the 116-83 slaughter. Voshon Leonard's 14 bench points was their most noteworthy performance.

We brushed aside Antonio McDyess's 20 points in Denver with Allen Iverson[b/]'s 22 points and [b]perfect 7 for 7 night from Bo Outlaw for 14 bench points in our 108-72 napalming of the Nuggets.

Our first loss of the road marathon finally came in Utah, where a 29-10 second quarter, Karl Malone's 26 points and 22 points each from Jeff Hornacek and John Stockton did us in 105-99. We gave it our best shot, though, with 25 points from Tom Gugliotta, 20 points from Glen Rice and Pervis Ellison's 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Outside of Tom Gugliotta's 24 points and 10 rebounds, we just plain ran out of steam the next night in Phoenix as the Suns crushed us 110-84. Michael Finley, who I greatly admired, stomped us for 26 points and Shawnelle Scott picked up 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Chauncey Billups got invited to the 3 Point Competition but went out in the first round. Still, just the fact that he went was a nice touch for our season.

Allen Iverson started for the Sophomores in the Rookies-Sophs game and scored a game-high 21 points to lead the second years to a 106-91 victory. Chauncey Billups had 11 points and 8 assists in 28 minutes as a reserve for the Rookies and the MVP award went not to Iverson, but Tim Duncan for his 12 points and 18 rebounds, which was fair I suppose, as nobody else had higher than 8, but it was still disappointing and another snub for AI to remember.

With no injuries this year, we would not be denied All-Star representation and so Allen Iverson started at point guard for the East, with Glen Rice among the reserves. While AI had a nondescript game with 11 points and 7 assists and Rice had 5 points and 2 assists in 12 minutes, the East still won 109-95 thanks to MVP Michael Jordan's 26 points.

All-Star West Team
PG Jason Kidd
SG Jamal Mashburn
SF Kevin Garnett
PF Karl Malone
C David Robinson
Joe Smith
Hakeem Olajuwon
Latrell Sprewell
Cedric Cellabos
Stephon Marbury
Marcus Camby
Jeff Hornacek

All-Star East Team
PG Allen Iverson
SG Michael Jordan
SF Grant Hill
PF Chris Webber
C Shaquille O'Neal
Juwan Howard
Jermaine O'Neal
Glen Rice
Vin Baker
Terrell Brandon
Ray Allen
Larry Johnson

I was a little surprised that Tom Gugliotta didn't make the All-Star game, but he didn't care. He said it was just refreshing to finally be on a winning team with smart management. He never completely got over the fact that the Timberwolves were so keen on dumping him from 1995 on, even while he was earning All-NBA honors.

Decision time came after the All-Star game. Would we stay pat or would we make a deal? I surveyed the market to see what was out there, not intending to swing a trade unless something really eye-catching popped up.

And it did.

Boston Celtics receive
PG Howard Eisley
Utah Jazz 1998 2nd round pick
Utah Jazz 1999 2nd round pick
Utah Jazz 2000 2nd round pick

Utah Jazz receive
PF A.C. Green
Boston Celtics 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Celtics
Boston GM/Head Coach Bobby Troilus has been extremely high on 25 year old passing and ballhandling wizard Eisley ever since he starred for the Celtics' summer league team. Although Eisley chose to return to Utah, Troilus was determined to have the young man wear the kelly green at some point at the time is now. Not only does the more accurately-shooting Eisley take over for Kenny Smith now as the top point guard off the bench, he'll be the 32 year old's replacement as the first reserve shooting guard next season as well. The fistful of seconds gives Troilus the trade bait he likes to have.

What this means for the Jazz
Green, 34, once again gets traded from Boston to the West after signing with the Celtics in free agency. He's just a body at this point and buried deep on Utah's bench. With Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek 34 years old and John Stockton 35, Utah could use this higher pick and Green's expiring contract to work rebuilding efforts with. The Jazz are convinced that 2nd round rookie Anthony Johnson (25th pick in 2nd round), while extremely raw, can develop into Stockton's heir with some seasoning, so they deemed Eisley expendable.

Winner: Boston
Troilus strikes a beautiful move here, because the Celtics and Jazz picks will both be late firsts and should any of the Big Three retire, suddenly that 1999 Utah pick Boston owns is looking much more attractive. Besides, the C's already have the Lakers and Timberwolves firsts in the upcoming draft.

I was simply ecstatic to get Eisley. Not only did I fall in love with his game when he played for us in the summer league, but he took care of the question about whether or not to re-sign Smith in the offseason.

With this minor, but still significant tweak in hand, we ended the 7 game road trip in New Jersey, where we pounded the Nets 106-87 to finish 5-2 in the toughest stretch of our schedule. Tariq Abdul-Wahad's 36 points and Matt Maloney's 22 points were impressive, but far more jaw-dropping were our four double-doubles: Tom Gugliotta (20 points, 10 rebounds), Chauncey Billups (19 points, 12 assists), Allen Iverson (18 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists) and Pervis Ellison (10 points, 12 rebounds) and that's not even counting Glen Rice's team-high 25 points.

We finally came home the night after, but couldn't overcome a 32-18 first quarter deficit and fell 116-110 to the Pacers. Six Indiana players scored 12 or more, led by Bruce Bowen's 25 points and reserve Don Maclean's 20 points. For our part, we had 22 points and 19 rebounds from Tom Gugliotta, a matching 22 points from Glen Rice and Bo Outlaw's 11 bench points.

We didn't even give the Hornets a chance in our next game, going box-to-wire in an all-quarters 118-89 rout. Chauncey Billups made up for his lackluster outing against Indiana with 27 points and 14 assists, Tom Gugliotta tacked on 24 points and 12 rebounds and Allen Iverson supplied 20 points. Scott Burrell shot off the bench for 19 points for Charlotte and Christian Laettner doubled for 18 points and 10 rebounds.

February closed as it opened, with a tough back-to-back. We spanked the Sonics 105-84 in Boston, countering Gary Payton's 23 points and Shawn Kemp's 24 points with 3 20+ point scorers of our own; Glen Rice with 21 and Tom Gugliotta and Allen Iverson with 20.

This set up a showdown in Chicago the next night and although the Bulls had a rough February, they were still dangerous. Indeed, they beat us 115-108 as we couldn't come back from a 37-25 first quarter deficit. Scottie Pippen burned us for 30 points, Sam Cassell chimed in with 25 points and 10 assists and Mitch Richmond, an early February acquisition from the Kings, came off the bench for 13 points. We had three bench players with 10+ points; Kenny Smith with 11 and Bo Outlaw and Chris Crawford with 10, but when our only noteworthy starter was Chauncey Billups with 23 points, we fell just short.

I was still extremely please things with where things stood after the short month. At 39-19, we finally passed the Bullets for the Atlantic lead and were a game and a half up. In fact, we were even #2 in the East behind only the 45-13 Bulls. Chicago was up on the Cavaliers by 8 games in the Central and looked poised for their third straight #1 seed.

Utah was the other 40 win team at that point, holding a 40-16 mark and a three game lead on the Spurs, while a half-game separated the 36-21 Warriors and the Suns in the Pacific. Minnesota was chugging along at 32-24, looking like a 5-6 seed, while much to my annoyance, the 19-36 Lakers were no longer the worst team in the conference. The tanking Mitch Richmond-trading Kings earned that distinction. What was once a possible Top 5 pick now looked more like a Top 10 pick unless some lottery magic happened again.

But what was most important was to finally break through the first-round playoff barrier. Only then could I marry, after all.

NBA Leaders

Points
1. Chris Webber (WAS) - 25.5
2. Hakeem Olajuwon HOU) - 24.4
3. Grant Hill (DET) - 23.8

Assists
1. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 11.7
2. John Stockton (UTA) - 10.6
3. Stephon Marbury (HOU) - 9.8

Rebounds
1. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 15.2
2. Loy Vaught (LAC) - 11.8
3. Chris Webber (WAS) - 11.6

Blocks
1. David Robinson (SA) - 3.1
T2. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 3.0
T2. Roy Rogers (CHA) - 3.0

Steals
T1. Terrell Brandon (CLE) - 2.2
T1. Charles Barkley (PHO) - 2.2
T1. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 2.2

Rookies Leaders

Points
1. Tariq Abdul-Wahad (NJ) - 19.3
2. Marko Milic (LAC) - 19.2
T3. Derek Anderson (PHO) - 16.9
T3. Keith Van Horn (VAN) - 16.9

Assists
1. Brevin Knight (CHA) - 9.0
2. Antonio Daniels (SA) - 7.8
3. Chauncey Billups (BOS) - 7.2

Rebounds
T1. Keith Closs (WAS) - 10.1
T1. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (NY) - 10.1
3. Chris Antsey (TOR) - 9.0

Blocks
1. Tim Duncan (CHI) - 2.8
2. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (NY) - 2.3
3. Keith Closs (WAS) - 1.7

Steals
1. Marko Milic (LAC) - 1.9
2. Charles Smith (DAL) - 1.8
T3. Derek Anderson (PHO) - 1.6
T3. Kevin Ollie (POR) - 1.6

[Izulde]

After that fantastic February, I greatly looked forward to the prospect of March.

And then of course, you had the trade market.

Miami Heat receive
PG Brent Price

Washington Bullets receive
Miami Heat 1998 2nd round pick

What this means for the Heat
Bimbo Coles has been struggling with his shot this season, so Miami brings the pure bench offense of Price. But given the Heat's one of the worst teams in the league this season, they probably would've been better off keeping their second.

What this means for the Bullets
Getting rid of Price not only gives Washington a high 2nd round pick, but frees up more playing time for Randy Livingston and Hershey Hawkins and since both players are arguably better than Price, that's a good thing.

Winner: Washington
The Bullets have played it smart over the last few seasons and quietly developed into one of the East's better teams. Small moves like this only help.

Chicago Bulls receive
SG Mitch Richmond

Sacramento Kings receive
C Luc Longley
PF Jason Caffey

What this means for the Bulls
Richmond may be 32 and have missed the All-Star game this season, but he's still an All-Star talent, able to do it all. The scary part? He's Chicago's new 6th man and gives them an offensive sparkplug off the bench like no other in the league. Although they hurt their big man depth by dealing Caffey and Longley, they free up more playing time for rebounding and defensive specialist rookie Adonal Foyle, in hopes that he can develop more of an offensive game with increased minutes.

What this means for the Kings
Longley's a $3.1 million expiring contract and Caffey, 24, would be another $850k if he isn't brought back. Caffey's got inside scoring ability, but that's the only thing he has.

Winner: Chicago
$4 million in expiring contracts is good, but the best 6th man in the league for the defending champions is better still.

Washington Bullets receive
SF James Scott

Orlando Magic receive
Washington Bullets 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Bullets
Look up chucker in the dictionary. See Scott's picture by it. If he can learn to be more careful with his shot selection, he could be one of the premiere point scorers in the league, but he's the worst defender in the entire NBA, which is why he fell to the 2nd round (22nd pick) last year. At least he's only a 6th man and not starting.

What this means for the Magic
The preplexing Magic need some kind of shakeup and maybe adding another mid-late first will do it. At the very least, a mid-late 2nd for mid-late 1st is excellent value.

Winner: Orlando
The Bullets may well have hurt their chances of winning the Atlantic war with Boston by getting Scott.

Detroit Pistons receive
SG Eddie Jones

Los Angeles Lakers receive
Detroit Pistons 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Pistons
Jones is only 26, locked up for 3 years and shoots over 53%. He's also a very good defender with some potential left and is an absolutely nasty defender. He bolsters Detroit's depth considerably as they're headed to the playoffs for the first time in quite a while.

What this means for the Lakers
The Purple and Gold were desperate for a first round pick after theirs went to the Celtics and it shows, as they overpaid to get Detroit's selection. 2nd round pick (11th pick) Charles O'Bannon is awful and Magic Johnson's last years are assured to stay inglorious. It could be a long, long time before the Lakers see the playoffs again.

Winner: Detroit
An outright steal by the Pistons.

Utah Jazz receive
PF Rodney Rogers

Los Angeles Clippers receive
Utah Jazz 1998 1st round pick

What this means for the Jazz
Rogers, 26, has some shooting and scoring ability, but that's it. Strictly a depth acquisition, as even if Karl Malone retires at the end of the year, Chris Morris will step in instead.

What this means for the Clippers
Not only do they get a first, albeit late, but they get an opportunity to start Lamond Murray, who is more balanced than Rogers and two years younger, with some upside to boot.

Winner: Clippers
Excellent move by the Red and White here and much more beneficial than the ho-hum effect on the Jazz.

It wasn't nearly as insane as 1996-97's 8 firsts exchange, but 3 first rounders was still noteworthy.

The Bucks threw a major scare into us and we had to rely on a fourth quarter comeback to just barely nip them 93-92. Dikembe Mutombo patrolled the paint for 16 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks, Vin Baker hung 25 points and 10 rebounds on us, Kobe Bryant netted 13 points and 12 assists and Rick Brunson added 13 bench points. In response, Allen Iverson scored 28, Glen Rice 21 and Tom Gugliotta put together 12 points and 11 rebounds. But the big story of the night was Howard Eisley stepping it up off the bench for 16 points.

Things went much easier the game after as we routed the Clippers 119-87 on Allen Iverson's 38 points, Glen Rice's 29 points, Tom Gugliotta's 13 points and 12 rebounds and Howard Eisley's 11 points and 10 assists.

Unfortunately, Allen Iverson strained his knee during the win, so I experimented with Chauncey Billups at SG and Howard Eisley at PG for our game against the Cavaliers. We won 89-73, outdueling Kenny Anderson's 22 points with Glen Rice's 29 points.

We kept Allen Iverson out of the lineup for the next game as well, but he still had 10 bench points in our 95-84 win in Milwaukee. Kobe Bryant scored 25 and Dikembe Mutombo had 12 points and 12 rebounds, but Glen Rice scored 23, Tom Gugliotta doubled for 16 points and 11 rebounds and Howard Eisley scored 20. Bo Outlaw also equaled AI's 10 bench points.

Three straight games with that backcourt and three straight victories, the last one 103-91 over the 76ers. Chauncey Billups scored 21, but Howard Eisley had 16 points and 11 assists, giving me a real dilemma. Tom Gugliotta led all scorers with 29 points as Philadelphia's best showing was Ron Mercer's 14 bench points and Clarence Weatherspoon's 11 point and 12 rebounds.

We went to Cleveland the next night and just on a hunch, I went with an Eisley-Iverson backcourt. A crazy 116-107 OT contest followed, with the good guys in green the winners. Allen Iverson made a triumphant return to the starting lineup with 28 points, Tom Gugliotta hauled in 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Pervis Ellison garnered 12 points and 13 rebounds. But the hero of the game was undoubtedly Glen Rice who had a staggering 30 point, 12 rebound, 6 assist, 6 steal outing. For the Cavaliers, Brett Szabo had 12 points and 13 rebounds, Terrell Brandon scored 21 and Mario Elie led the reserves with 15 points.

95-74 final over the Nets, where 17 point David Wesley was their lead scorer as we just kept right on rolling. Allen Iverson led the way with 23 points, Glen Rice was right behind with 22 points and we got double-doubles from Tom Gugliotta (11 points, 13 rebounds) and Howard Eisley (14 points, 11 assists). Bo Outlaw provided the bench fireworks with 13 points.

Shaquille O'Neal was the lone star for the Magic with 19 points and 11 rebounds as we blitzkrieged Orlando 106-79. Allen Iverson scored 33, Glen Rice 23 and Bo Outlaw and Chris Crawford played bench bombardment with 14 and 11 points respectively.

On we rolled, blowing past LaPhonso Ellis's 25 points and the Nuggets 99-73. Tom Gugliotta busted out for 20 points and 14 rebounds while Allen Iverson nabbed 20 points and 10 boards. Chauncey Billups finally had a breakthrough bench game with 15 points in as many minutes. He'd handled his demotion extremely well and it was hard to argue with the results.

We beat Miami 97-82 behind 24 points each from Glen Rice and Howard Eisley, Rice adding 10 rebounds besides. Chauncey Billups had 10 bench points, but that included throwing up 10 3 point shots, only 2 of which went in. 12 points and 13 rebounds by Alonzo Mourning was decent effort, but not even close to enough.

Going into Indiana was a real test and one we passed 95-92 for our 50th win of the year. It was a classic battle, with Tom Gugliotta's 29 points and Glen Rice's 21 points leading a balanced attack just enough to overcome Rik Smits's 27 points, Reggie Miller's 24 points and Mark Jackson's 20 points.

We went to Minneapolis the next night and won 95-78, battling past Ben Wallace's 30 points and Kevin Garnett's 13 points and 10 rebounds with Glen Rice's 28 points, Pervis Ellison's 12 points and 12 rebounds and 17 and 10 bench points from Chauncey Billups and Bo Outlaw.

The 76ers went on a tear in the second half and very nearly ended our unbeaten streak, but we fended off Darvin Ham's 20 points and just barely squeaked by 83-82. Pervis Ellison and Tom Gugliotta were the glue keys with 12 points, 15 rebounds and 12 points, 11 rebounds respectively.

That left only the hated Hawks home and away. We topped them 98-88 at home thanks to Glen Rice's 26 points and Bo Outlaw's 15 points and 10 rebounds. It was a very strange game, as not a single Atlanta starter reached double-digit figures in -any- category. Instead, it was left to the bench, where Tim Legler scored 16, Stacey Augmon 13 and Elliot Perry negated his 19 points with 10 turnovers.

And then to Atlanta, where we shut them down 105-76 on Glen Rice's 33 points and Chris Crawford's 15 bench points. The Hawks just barely managed two starters in double-digit scoring and were once again led by Elliot Perry's 19 bench points, albeit without the horrific amount of turnovers.

Thus concluded our perfect, our flawless 15-0 March. Luck of the Irish indeed.

At 54-19, we were guaranteed no worse than the #3 seed, as we held a 5.5 game lead on the Bullets and even had 56-15 Chicago in our sights, though with just 9 games left, I didn't really think we would catch the Bulls, who'd already clinched the Central and a minimum #2 seed.

51-21 Utah, the third 50 win to that point team in the league, was 4 games ahead of San Antonio, while 46-27 Golden State led Phoenix by 2.5 games.

Celtics Leaders

Points
T1. Allen Iverson - 20.4
T1. Glen Rice - 20.4
3. Tom Gugliotta - 17.1

Assists
1. Chauncey Billups - 6.5
2. Allen Iverson - 4.3
T3. Howard Eisley - 3.4
T3. Glen Rice - 3.4

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 9.5
2. Pervis Ellison - 7.9
3. Glen Rice - 7.0

Blocks
1. Bo Outlaw - 1.9
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.5
3. Tom Gugliotta - 1.0

Steals
1. Allen Iverson - 1.6
2. Tom Gugliotta - 1.4
3. Glen Rice - 1.2

[Izulde]

With 9 games remaining, we still had much to play for, including the continuation of our 15 game win streak.

The Magic nearly ended our run with a brilliant fourth quarter comeback engineered by Hubert Davis's 28 points, Penny Hardaway's 25 points and Drew Barry's 12 bench points, but we made it 16 in a row in Orlando with a 111-108 victory. Glen Rice and Allen Iverson both scored 22, Tom Gugliotta did his usual double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, Howard Eisley got in the doubling game with 14 points and 11 assists and Bo Outlaw and Chauncey Billups keyed the bench with 12 and 10 points a piece.

Every team was gunning for us now and the Pistons fired Grant Hill's 34 points and Gheorghe Muresan's 21 points at us, but we got win #17, 103-98, thanks to Tom Gugliotta's electric 31 points, 15 rebounds and 5 steals and Allen Iverson's 30 points.

Our 18th win in a row came much more easily, 111-100 over the Knicks in New York, despite James Cotton's 23 points, Larry Johnson's 20 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas's cheap double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds and Vinny Del Negro's 12 bench points. Glen Rice and Tom Gugliotta combined for 25 and 21 points and Chauncey Billups and Bo Outlaw added to their growing supersub reputation with 16 and 11 points.

A marquee matchup came the next night as we hosted our fiercest division rivals, the Washington Bullets. It was a bad game to have on the back end of a doubleheader and sure enough, our run finally ended 111-101. Chris Webber put on one of the most amazing games I've ever seen with 37 points and 21 rebounds, Rasheed Wallace banked that with 26 points and Chalbert Cheaney contributed 13 points and 10 assists. We tried, with 28 points from Allen Iverson, 21 points from Glen Rice and a herculean 22 bench points from Chauncey Billups along with Bo Outlaw's 12 bench points, but we simply couldn't overcome a 32-20 first quarter deficit.

I was still damned proud of our team, though. That 18 game win streak tied for third longest in NBA history and longest in Celtics history.

1. Los Angeles Lakers - 33 (1971-1972)
2. Milwaukee Bucks - 20 (1971)
T3. Boston Celtics - 18 (1998)
T3. Boston Celtics - 18 (1982)
T3. New York Knicks - 18 (1969)

We still had a chance at 60 wins, but then the Raptors beat us 93-81 as we again struggled out of the gate and had a 33-19 first quarter hurdle we couldn't overcome. Juwan Howard scored 26 and Chris Antsey picked up 13 points and 10 rebounds as we had just two players in double digit scoring; Tom Gugliotta with 29 points and 11 rebounds and Chris Crawford with 11 bench points.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Glen Rice broke his nose and was questionable for the rest of the season. I put Chris Crawford in the starting lineup at power forward, shifting Tom Gugliotta to small forward. We also moved Chris Dudley up the depth chart, which was good because he'd been unhappy about his playing time and signed Eric Mobley as depth cover.

Despite this calamity, we beat the Pistons 110-102 in a game that wasn't even that close. Grant Hill had 24 points and 13 rebounds and their bench was terrific with standout showings from Eddie Jones (19 points) and Brian Evans (14 points, 12 rebounds) to lead three Detroit reserves in double-digit scoring, but Allen Iverson took over the game with 36 points and Chauncey Billups mitigated the Pistons' bench somewhat with 19 points of his own.

Our rivalry with the Bullets added another chapter as they went on a torrid run in the fourth quarter, outscoring us 43-26 to come back for a 107-99 victory. Chris Webber continued be the bugbear that haunted our dreams with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Rasheed Wallace and Doug Christie added 26 points and Calbert Cheaney was briskly efficient with 16 points and 11 assists. Tom Gugliotta's 27 points, Allen Iverson's 21 points and Howard Eisley's 16 points and 10 assists just weren't enough.

I changed things up by putting Bo Outlaw in as the starting power forward and we picked up a 114-101 victory in New Jersey. Bo Outlaw came through with a huge 22 points, Tom Gugliotta led all scorers with 28 points and Chauncey Billups led the second team with 13 points. In contrast, Tariq Abdul-Wahad had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Samaki Walker bettered Billups with 19 bench points.

We needed to beat the Knicks in our final game of the year to get 60 wins and we did it easily, routing them 103-82 behind Allen Iverson's 29 points and 11 and 10 bench points respectively from Chauncey Billups and Chris Dudley. Larry Johnson and Zydrunas Ilgauskas were great for the Knicks with 18 points and 15 rebounds and 23 points and 12 rebounds respectively but they and Charlie Ward's 14 bench points weren't close to enough. I really did like the rebuilding project the Knicks were doing, though. It felt like they could get back to playoff contention sooner rather than later, as a team that was half rookies didn't do too horribly.

And so we reached the hallowed 60 win mark at 60-22. But what a price it came with, potentially losing one of our top scorers for the rest of the season. If we got deep enough in the playoffs, there was an outside possibility of Glen Rice returning, but I wasn't confident we'd pull it off.

On the other hand, we did have a nice #2 seed locked up, the best of my tenure.

1997-98 East Conference Seedings
1. Chicago Bulls (63-19)
2. Boston Celtics (60-22)
3. Washington Bullets (53-29)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (49-33)
5. Detroit Pistons (49-33)
6. Indiana Pacers (49-33)
7. Charlotte Hornets (43-39)
8. Atlanta Hawks (41-41)

1997-98 West Conference Seedings
1. Utah Jazz (57-25)
2. San Antonio Spurs (55-27)
3. Phoenix Suns (52-30)
4. Golden State Warriors (51-31)
5. Dallas Mavericks (47-35)
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (45-37)
7. Houston Rockets (44-38)
8. Denver Nuggets (39-43)

The Portland Trailblazers certainly had to feel disappointment, having lost the tiebreaker with the Nuggets for the 8th spot in the West. I was also amazed to see the Suns pass up the Warriors for the Pacific crown. While I didn't relish facing the Hornets in the first round, I certainly didn't want to risk a revisit of the Hawks nightmare the year before, so I was fine with it.

NBA Leaders

Points
1. Ray Allen (CHA) - 25.0
2. Chris Webber (WAS) - 24.9
3. Hakeem Olajuwon (HOU) - 24.4

Assists
1. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 11.7
2. John Stockton (UTA) - 10.4
3. Stephon Marbury (HOU) - 9.7

Rebounds
1. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 14.6
2. Chris Webber (WAS) - 11.9
3. Loy Vaught (LAC) - 11.5

Blocks
T1. Jermaine O'Neal (DET) - 3.0
T1. Dikembe Mutombo (MIL) - 3.0
T1. Tim Duncan (CHI) - 3.0
T1. David Robinson (SA) - 3.0

Steals
T1. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 2.2
T1. Gary Payton (SEA) - 2.2
T3. Michael Jordan (CHI) - 2.1
T3. Charles Barkley (PHO) - 2.1
T3. Clyde Drexler (HOU) - 2.1
T3. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 2.1

Rookies Leaders

Points
T1. Tariq Abdul-Wahad (NJ) - 18.8
T1. Marko Milic (LAC) - 18.8
T3. Derek Anderson (PHO) - 17.0
T3. Tim Duncan (CHI) - 18.0

Assists
1. Brevin Knight (CHA) - 9.2
2. Antonio Daniels (SA) - 7.9
3. Chauncey Billups (BOS) - 6.2

Rebounds
1. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (NY) - 9.8
2. Keith Closs (WAS) - 9.3
3. Chris Antsey (TOR) - 9.0

Blocks
1. Tim Duncan (CHI) - 3.0
2. Zydrunas Ilagauskas (NY) - 2.2
3. Adonal Foyle (CHI) - 1.8

Steals
1. Marko Milic (LAC) - 1.9
2. Charles Smith (DAL) - 1.8
T3. Kevin Ollie (POR) - 1.7
T3. Anthony Parker (DEN) - 1.7

I was stunned at how good Marko Milic turned out his rookie year. An absolute steal with the #14 pick, it appeared, even if the Clippers missed the playoffs.

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
1. Allen Iverson - 20.7
2. Glen Rice - 20.3 (We were really going to miss him in the playoffs)
3. Tom Gugliotta - 17.5

Assists
1. Chauncey Billups - 6.2
2. Allen Iverson - 4.3
3. Howard Eisley - 3.9

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 9.4
2. Pervis Ellison - 8.0
3. Glen Rice - 6.9

Blocks
1. Bo Outlaw - 1.9
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.6
3. Tom Gugliotta - 1.1

Steals
1. Allen Iverson - 1.6
2. Tom Gugliotta - 1.5
3. Glen Rice - 1.3

[Izulde]

Celtics Repeat Atlantic Title; Face 7 Seed Hornets

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/brevin.jpg
The Charlotte Hornets introduced new orange alternate uniforms this season and they, like rookie sensation Brevin Knight (pictured here), have been better than expected

For the third straight season under GM/head coach Bobby Troilus's watch, the Boston Celtics have improved their record and entered the playoffs with a higher seed. It'll be hard to top this year's 60-22 mark and #2 seed in the postseason next year, just as it'll be hard for Boston to advance deep into the playoffs without their second-leading scorer, forward Glen Rice, who's out with a broken nose.

But on the bright side, this Celtics team captured its second straight Atlantic division title, beating out a tough Washington Bullets squad and is the deepest Boston's been since Troilus was promoted to general manager at the start of the 1995 season.

They've yet to advance past the first round, though, giving the eventual champion Indiana Pacers a run for their money in 1995 and getting upset in Game 7 by the Atlanta Hawks last year. While the 2 vs. 7 matchup should heavily favor the Celtics, missing Rice goes a long way to giving Charlotte a chance to do what Atlanta did last season.

Point Guard
Howard Eisley vs. Brevin Knight
Eisley wowed Troilus after starring for the Celtics during the summer league and although he eventually re-signed with the Utah Jazz, Boston was determined to get him, so impressed were they. That happened at the trade deadline, with Eisley and a package of second round picks headed to the Celtics and A.C. Green and the Celtics first in the upcoming draft going to Utah. Eisley then proceeded to steal the starting PG job away from rookie Chauncey Billups after an injury to Allen Iverson and was a key component in Boston's 15-0 March en route to an 18 game win streak. The 25 year old's a superbly gifted passer and ballhandler and an underrated scorer. He's also a Boston College alum. On the other hand, he's not a very good defender.

Knight, taken 6th overall in this year's draft, may not be a sexy scorer, but he's a pure passer and ballhandler who was one of the league's top assist men even as a rookie, posting 9.6 points, 9.2 assists and 1.1 steals. He's also a top-notch defender, making him one of the most valuable young point guards in the game.

Advantage: Hornets

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson vs. Ray Allen
Without a doubt, this is the marquee matchup of the series, pitting two second year scoring superstars against each other. Iverson, Troilus's most trusted player, averaged 20.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals during the regular season. Breathtakingly brilliant on the court, he shoots 47% at a consistent clip and is a very good defender and ballthief, though his ceiling's not yet reached. He can hit a shot from anywhere and grabs a surprising number of rebounds for someone just 6 feet tall.

Allen stormed from out of nowhere to steal the NBA scoring title at the end of the season, averaging 25 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals. He's got a 5 inch advantage on Iverson and even better scoring instincts. The one knock on him is that he's a mediocre defender and the fact that he and AI are both very good passers and ballhandlers for shooting guards means that there may not be many steals between them this series. That suspect defense also helps negate Allen's height advantage.

Advantage: Draw

Small Forward
Tom Gugliotta vs. Kendall Gill
Everyone was looking forward to Rice facing his former team here, but with his injury ineligibility, it'll be 28 year old two-time defending All-NBA player Gugliotta suiting up at the 3. A real glue player for the Celtics after coming over from the Timberwolves in a December deal, he posted 17.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 1.5 steals. Great, accurate shooter, great rebounder and a better defender than a lot of people realize. His only weak point is that he's a bad passer and handler, which generates a fair number of turnovers. Still, even with that, Boston will no doubt do everything they can to re-sign him in the offseason.

Gill, 29, is no slouch as a scorer, rebounder or ballthief either, racking up 16.1 points, 6.9 rebounds (out of the 3 as opposed to Gugliotta in the 4 most of the year) and 1.8 steals. He's a better ballhandling man than his Celtics counterpart, though not by much. He's also not nearly as accurate a shooter or an on-ball defender as Gugliotta and is smaller besides. In short, close to equaling Gugliotta, but falls just shy of the mark.

Advantage: Celtics

Power Forward
Bo Outlaw vs. Christian Laettner
Outlaw was a free agency steal for Boston and he's never become more important than he is now. A key reserve and occasional starter in the regular season, he averaged 7.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and a steal per game. He's a titanic defensive force that would make several All-Defense teams if he ever got the shot to be a full-time starter. He can defend, block, steal, do it all on the defensive end. He's also got a gorgeous inside shot and underrated scoring instincts to the point of racking up several 20+ point games in the regular season. Not anything more than a mediocre rebounder or ballhandler, however.

Hornets fans are hoping former Duke and Celtic star Laettner can exact revenge on his old team. He certainly has the scoring and rebounding talents to do it (17.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, steal per game), but he can be wildly inconsistent and he was exposed as notoriously turnover-prone in '95 with the Celtics, diminishing the impact of his 20.6 points per game. He's also just an average defender.

Advantage: Draw

Center
Pervis Ellison vs. Roy Rogers
It wasn't a shock that Ellison got moved to the starting center job, as the Celtics played roulette with the position for much of the year. What was shocking was that he managed to keep it. But the truth is, he's the perfect fit in Boston's system, since he simply grabs rebounds, blocks shots and doesn't try to shoot the ball unless it's a wide open look. On the other hand, rebounding and shotblocking are his only skills.

Rogers, a surprise first round draft pick by Troilus last year, also has motivation for revenge on his former team. Good rebounder, subpar offensive threat (9.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.8 blocks), he has shotblocking skills even better than Ellison's and on par with Outlaw's. He's also a good on-ball defender, though that isn't going to help much versus minimalist-shooting Ellison.

Advantage: Draw

Bench
As we said, this is the deepest the Celtics have been in the Troilus era, even with Rice out. Chauncey Billups has been on fire since being relegated to the 6th man role and is a textbook passer and scorer, a genuine offensive sparkplug. Fellow rookie, 2nd round pick Chris Crawford is inconsistent, but capable of pouring on the points and Chris Dudley has stepped up in recent games with rebounding, defense and shotblocking.

Cedric Henderson, like Crawford a high 2nd round rookie and like Billups demoted from his starting position, is a well-balanced player with good defensive ability. Another former Celtic, Grant Long fits that mode as well and averaged 8.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and a steal. Swingman Scott Burrell is a good scorer, with 8.1 points a game to his credit. Fan favorite veteran and once-starter Muggsy Bogues doesn't get used much, but he's got the floor general and defensive skills to be great insurance if Knight goes down.

Advantage: Hornets

Final Thoughts
This is yet another tough series for the Celtics. Boston's deeper than they've been in recent years, but Charlotte's nearly as deep as Atlanta was last year and with a much better starting five. Rice going down was a huge blow for the Celtics and they didn't play nearly as well as after he went down. It'll be close, but in the end, we just can't see this turning out as anything more than another disappointing first round exit for Beantown.
Prediction: Hornets in 6

Thing was, it was a sound argument and an outcome I very much dreaded.

Game One
The good news was we won the opening game. The bad news was, it required a second half comeback to do it. Ray Allen got off to a bang with 20 points and Scott Burrell and Grant Long scored 11 and 10 bench points respectively. Fortunately Tom Gugliotta stepped up with 21 points, Howard Eisley showed why he got the starting point guard job with 12 points and 11 assists and Chauncey Billups came off the bench for 12 points, carrying us to a five point win and a critical opening victory.
Final - Charlotte 85 Boston 90

Game Two
This was a fun one to watch with dueling 30 point players in Allen Iverson (38 points) and Kendall Gill (30 points). Sadly for the Hornets, our home crowd was large, loud and in charge and so were the Celtics as we shut them down outside of Gill and Scott Burrell's 11 bench point reprisal. In contrast, we had Iverson, all five starters in double-digit scoring, including a repeat 12 points and 11 assists from Howard Eisely and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Pervis Ellison, and Chris Dudley's 10 bench points for a cruising victory and 2-0 series lead.
Final - Charlotte 99 Boston 115

And then the team doctor came and said Tom Gugliotta had strained his knee and wouldn't fully heal for two weeks. I wanted to tear my hair out, but Tom insisted on playing through the injury. I admired that in him and it only increased my resolve to retain him.

Game Three
So with both our true starting forwards hurt, we flew to Charlotte and prepared for a tough fight. It wasn't even close. The Hornets buzzed right through us in the second and fourth quarters, game-high scorer Christian Laettner's 21 points taking charge. Kendall Gill picked up a 16 point, 10 rebound double-double and Scott Burrell continued his incredible series with 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, with fellow reserve Steve Kerr chipping in 10 points. We couldn't hit a shot most of the night, Chris Crawford's 14 bench points our most noteworthy performance.
Final - Boston 95 Charlotte 107

Game Four
I really wanted to steal a win in Charlotte. That would give us three games in which we would only need to win one. What followed was the ugliest contest in the entire series. The Hornets shot just 32.1% and while we were much better at 43.2%, we had a lot of players missing shots as well. In the end, we prevailed largely because of that superior shot selection, as Christian Laettner's 12 points and 11 rebounds came at the expense of 16 shots, although Scott Burrell stayed on form for his 13 bench points and Grant Long hauled in 11 bench boards. But it was our rookie reserves who stole the show as second round pick Chris Crawford was 8 of 9 for a game high 18 points and Chauncey Billups played splendidly with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. My draft picks carried us to the grinding win and the all-important 3-1 edge. At last I could breathe a little more easily.
Final - Boston 82 Charlotte 70

Detroit surprisingly swept Cleveland and San Antonio did the same to Houston. Golden State also punched out up and coming Dallas in four. Everyone else moved on to a fifth game.

Game Five
It was tempting fate, I know, but I secretly bought a gold engagement ring with a beautiful aquamarine centerstone before Game 5 in Boston. Nicole thought diamonds on engagement rings were cliche` and I loved how well the aquamarine matched her eyes. Now all we needed to do was win at home and I'd propose to her right after. The fates don't like to be toyed with and Ray Allen thundered for 26 points as their main weapon of destruction. Brevin Knight provided the thunder with 13 points and 12 assists and Scott Burrell rained 11 points from the bench. But then, it happened. Bo Outlaw hit 9 of 10 shots for 21 points, 5 blocks and 4 steals and all five starters scored 11 points or more. That balance carried us past Allen, Knight and Burrell and we finally won a first round series!!!!!!!!!
Final - Charlotte 83 Boston 94

I rushed over to the cheerleaders, fumbling with the blue velvet box on the way. I hit the parquet floor I'd had re-installed after I became GM, opened and raised the box before a teary, open-mouthed Nicole in all her green and white Celtic cheerleader outfit beauty.

"Will you marry me?" I asked.

"Of course!" she blurted through her tears, sweeping me up in a tight kiss and tighter hug.

The Jumbotron flashed with our image and the already delirious crowd became even more so when they realized what was happening.

"TROI-LUS! TROI-LUS! TROI-LUS!" the cheers thundered from the stands.

It was a perfect moment. All of the frustrations of the previous two years' losses and all the heartbreak and torture of Mia's leaving melted away in that instant. I felt better then than I had at any other time in my life up until there.

We stayed that way for a few moments until we suddenly found ourselves lifted up by a horde of Celtics players, all fourteen of them, including Glen Rice. They paraded us around the court to the continued cheers and shouts from the crowd.

Nicole looked at me, smiled and we both raised our hands, waving in royal style to our well-wishers. It was so sweet and touching, to share that special occasion with our fans and I still smile today, just thinking about it.

We'd finally surmounted the hurdle and the glory was all ours that night, for no other series ended when ours did.

The rest of the returns came two nights later, with the Bulls eliminating the Hawks, Utah topping Denver, Phoenix beating Minnesota and, in the only first round upset, our Central nemesis 6 seed Indiana knocking out our division archrival 3 seed Washington.

The Pacers. One of two teams to give me nightmares over the first two years. Our second round test was going to be anything but easy, especially with Glen Rice still out.

On the other hand, we got some good news from the doctor. Tom Gugliotta's knee healed faster than expected during the rest period and he was expected to be back to full health by Game 4 of the second round.

I only hoped we weren't staring down a possible sweep by then.

[Izulde]

Can Celtics Stop Miller and Co?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/millertime.jpg
Two years after he powered the Pacers to the NBA title, Reggie Miller is back at it.

All of Boston cheered when the Celtics finally broke through the first round for the first time in the Bobby Troilus era on a special night that included the head coach/GM's very public proposal and wedding engagement. While we congratulate Mr. Troilus on both successes, he and his team now face a daunting challenge in the second round; stop Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers may be the 6th seed, but they still won almost 50 games and, more importantly, they're a team that's built for playoff success facing a squad that's missing one of its marquee scorers in Glen Rice.

It will be difficult and Troilus will need to find some more magic to get to the East Conference finals.

Point Guard
Howard Eisley vs. Mark Jackson
Eisley's shooting a dreadful 35% in the playoffs, a far cry from the 47 and 48% he shot the last two years with the Jazz, but he's still doing what the Celtics want him to do, which is pass the ball. 9.8 points and 9.4 assists have come with an almost 3 to 1 A/TO ratio and that's a good thing.

Jackson, 32, won't wow you with amazing passing skills, but he's one of the most disciplined, accurate shooting point guards in the league. He averaged 13.8 points and 6.2 assists in the first round and is an underrated defender, one who should help insure Eisley stays cold. In the end, it's his playoff experience as a starter that gives him the edge.

Advantage: Pacers

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson vs. Reggie Miller
Iverson may have averaged 20.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.6 steals in the first round, but he shot a shockingly abysmal 37.6% against a player whose defense was deemed suspect in Ray Allen. That doesn't bode well for Boston here, who need AI to pick up the accuracy while continuing his otherwise terrific all-around game.

It doesn't help that Miller's another tall shooting guard at 6'7. Furthermore, Miller's got no weaknesses in his game. He can score, pass, dribble, rebound and play defense all at high levels and he showed off that versatility in the first round, averaging 17.2 points, a jaw-dropping 8.5 rebounds as a guard, and 4.3 assists. What's more, he shot with accuracy unlike AI.

Advantage: Pacers

Small Forward
Tom Gugliotta vs. Derrick McKey
Gugliotta's hampered by a strained knee injury and it showed in the last couple games against Charlotte. Despite that, he averaged 12.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.4 steals while shooting 50%. His getting back to full health mid-series will be huge for the Celtics because of how much versatility he brings to the table.

McKey averaged 12.7 points and 1.2 steals in the first round. Like Gugliotta, he shot 50%, but while he doesn't have quite the versatility that his opponent does, what he is, is a lockdown defender and that's huge against one of Boston's Big Three, especially with Rice out.

Advantage: Draw

Power Forward
Bo Outlaw vs. Dale Davis
We said when previewing the first round that Outlaw was capable of being an offensive threat and he proved that big time against the Hornets, averaging 17.4 points on 74% shooting. While he's not likely to repeat that torrid pace here, he also averaged 5.4 points, 3.6 blocks and 2.4 steals, demonstrating his defensive magnificence. He just might be the Celtics' most valuable player this round should they advance.

With Bruce Bowen out with an injury, McKey slides to SF and Davis steps in at PF. Not a bad defender, but primarily noted as a rebounding demon. And while his bench statistics of 6.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks may look impressive, he also shot just 31% in the first round. He might improve here, but it won't be by much with Outlaw standing in his way.

Advantage: Celtics

Center
Pervis Ellison vs. Rik Smits
Ellison averaged 8.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.8 blocks in the first round and he's doing pretty much what the Celtics coaching staff expects him to do. He's got a difficult challenge this round, though.

Ignore the fact that Smits shot 38.7% in the opening round. He still averaged a team high 17.7 points and 8.8 rebounds and got 1.2 steals a game too. One of the best, if not -the- best passing center in the league, he can score, pass, rebound and defend, though he won't make the highlight blocks that a man of his 7'4, 265 frame should.

Advantage: Pacers

Bench
Chauncey Billups's 9 points and 4.4 assists off the bench in Round 1 weren't a surprise to anyone. Chris Crawford's 10 points and 61.3% shooting were absolutely mindblowing, however. These two rookies are the heart and soul of the Celtics bench with Rice out, although Chris Dudley showed good value in averaging 4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

Bruce Bowen may be affected by a knee injury, but he's still an excellent all-around player as a reserve with no real weaknesses in the second team. Don Maclean is strictly there for offense and averaged 8.2 points in the first round. Travis Best is a terrific backup floor general and averaged 5.8 points and 3.8 assists in the opening series. Save for Bowen, though, there's nobody on the Pacers' bench who's too good at defense.

Advantage: Draw

Final Thoughts
Indiana simply matches up too well with Boston, especially with the injuries to the Celtics' starting forwards. Visions of 1995/96 will come back into play and the end result will be the same.
Prediction: Pacers in 5

Though I didn't tell anyone this, I privately agreed with the sportswriters. We didn't really have much chance against Indiana as things stood.

Game One
I thought every game in this series was going to be a battle and the opening contest was no exception. Rik Smits got hot early and often, finishing with 27 points and 9 rebounds and Reggie Miller just missed the 20 point mark with 19. We countered with a determined Allen Iverson's 27 points, Pervis Ellison's 11 points and astounding 8 blocks, and, in what was fast becoming the trademark of our postseason, stellar bench efforts by rookies Chauncey Billups and Chris Crawford, with 17 and 15 points a piece. They powered our second half comeback for the opening victory. I'd never looked more a better drafter than that moment.
Final - Indiana 89 Boston 95

Game Two
No bench miracles here as Reggie Miller torched us for 23 points, Dale Davis picked up 12 points and 10 rebounds and Bruce Bowen fought his knee for 10 bench points. We blew a halftime lead and got schooled in the second half. Allen Iverson just missed 20 points with 19 and just like Game One, the shooting guard with 19's team lost.
Final - Indiana 100 Boston 91

Game Three
This one was never really in doubt as the Pacers fed off their home crowd and rode their superstars to an easy victory. Reggie Miller scored 26 and Rik Smits added 22 points as we again failed to produce a 20 point scorer or double-double man, Howard Eisley's 19 points and Chauncey Billups's 10 bench points our best lines of the evening.
Final - Boston 95 Indiana 105

Game Four
If there was one consolation, it's that we had Tom Gugliotta back at full strength and we weren't facing an 0-3 deficit. But we were still in Indiana, which made evening the series a difficult prospect. As it turned out, a healthy Gugliotta made all the difference in the world. He burned the Pacers for 22 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals, aided by our revived rookies, as Chauncey Billups and Chris Crawford shot for 13 and 14 points each, their combined efforts enough to beat Rik Smits's 27 points and Reggie Miller's just shy 19 points. Against the odds, we'd tied up the series and were headed back to Boston!
Final - Boston 105 Indiana 90

Chicago swept Detroit and the Bulls looked every inch defending champions. Every other series was knotted up at two games each.

Game Five
I didn't want to have to rely on winning another game in Indiana, so a victory before the home crowd was important. Allen Iverson exploded for 30 points, surpassing Reggie Miller's 19 and Tom Gugliotta picked up a pair of 11s in points and rebounds, with Chauncey Billups providing 10 bench points. Unfortunately, the Pacers got a breakout 23 points from Mark Jackson and 20 points from Rik Smits to steal the victory and force us to try and win in Indiana.
Final - Indiana 95 Boston 87

Game Six
Our chances looked slim to force a Game 7 in that hostile environment. And then the defenses kicked in. Reggie Miller nabbed 15 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana and Dale Davis picked up 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench as Bruce Bowen was back to starting health and covering the PF spot. Howard Eisley had his first noteworthy game of the series at the right time with 11 points and 10 assists and Chris Dudley stepped up with 10 boards and 4 blocks off the bench. But the real hero of this game was Chauncey Billups, who led all scorers with 21 points and was the differencemaker in this defensive brawl, carrying us to Game 7 in Boston. It was a sweet, sweet win.
Final - Boston 93 Indiana 80

We were the only second round series to go the full limit that year, as Utah and San Antonio took care of Golden State and Phoenix respectively, setting up a matchup of the two previous West Conference champions in the conference finals. That same scenario was still possible in the East, with the juicier prospect of the last two NBA champions squaring off.

We, of course, were hoping to spoil that incestuous dynastic dream.

Game Seven
A sellout, standing room only crowd greeted us back in Boston and watched as another defensive slugfest ensued. Reggie Miller missed 20 points by one with 19 for the umpteenth time in the series, Rik Smits had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Dale Davis chipped in 10 bench points. And then Allen Iverson got the last laugh in the classic duel between the two shooting guards, scoring 32 points. Chris Crawford and Chauncey Billups again served up an awe-inspiring bench tag team with 13 and 12 points and we banished the ghosts of 1995 past, knocking off the favored, if lower seeded Pacers and advancing to the East Conference Finals!!!
Final - Indiana 77 Boston 85

It was another rollicking celebration in the New Garden and everyone went home extremely happy, many at 3 or 4 in the morning.

Now it was on to face the best team in the entire league in the Chicago Bulls. We would need every bit of Cinderella magic we could find, for we would no longer have homecourt advantage, in addition to facing their titanic lineup.

But for that night, we simply savored our success.

[Neuqua]

LET'S GO BULLS!

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[Coffee Warlord]

I heart Neq. :)

I rooted for Boston this far, but, well...die like a dog!

[Izulde]

LET'S GO BULLS!

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:D That was a beautiful dynasty and I'm glad to have been old enough to appreciate it.

I honestly don't think we have any chance of winning next round, but stranger things have happened.

[Izulde]

I heart Neq. :)

I rooted for Boston this far, but, well...die like a dog!

:D

[rjolley]

Sorry Izulde, but Let's Go BULLS!!!

[Izulde]

Sorry Izulde, but Let's Go BULLS!!!

Yeah everybody's anti-Celtics this round. :D

[hoopsguy]

Add me to the Chicago natives reading your thread. Go Bulls!

[Autumn]

Man, no love for the man. Here, I'll say it.

GO CELTICS.

Right around this time in my life I would have paid great sums to see Michael Jordan humiliated in the playoffs.

[Neuqua]

... and Autumn has officially become my first FOFC arch nemesis...

[Radii]

The buildup for this series is HUGE! I'm torn, I was never a big Chicago fan though obviously Jordan is a Tar Heel, I think I would be ok with Jordan averaging 35 for the series but Boston advancing ;)

[Izulde]

hoopsguy: I'm close enough to Chicagoland to partially be a native even I'm not a flatlander. :D And I did love watching that Bulls team as a kid.

Autumn: Finally someone shows me the love so I don't feel guilty if we pull off the upset. Thanks! :D

Neuqua: DDS:PB. Where archrivalries are born organically. :D

Radii: Even though that'd give me palpitations to see His Airness pop off like that, I could dig the final result. :D

[Izulde]

Dola,

And note to self: Need to transfer save game files to email so I can download them on my laptop. Otherwise it'll be August until we find out the result.

[Autumn]

... and Autumn has officially become my first FOFC arch nemesis...

Cool.

Well, I've mellowed over the years and come to appreciate MJ. But if we're playing retro I have to be realistic. I couldn't stand him. Watching him win another title, and every time they'd break to commercial it would be him again. Good God.

[Izulde]

Duncan Unbelieva-Bull In First Postseason
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/duncan_300_060201.jpg
Already in his rookie season, #1 overall pick Tim Duncan has shown the kind of clutch skills that make him the heir apparent to Michael Jordan as the Bulls' franchise face

This is not the same Chicago Bulls team that won the title last season. Last year, it was Michael Jordan who carried them to the championship. This year, His Airness ranks second in scoring behind Sam Cassell and the Bulls are beautifully balanced.

The depth and offensive sharing the Bulls boast are going to be extremely tough for the Boston Celtics to overcome, who are likely still a little tired after winning a dramatic and emotional Game 7 last night against the Indiana Pacers. Also, Glen Rice is still out, reducing the flexibility in Boston's scoring plan.

Point Guard
Howard Eisley vs. Sam Cassell
Eisley significantly improved his shooting stroke against the Pacers and is shooting 39.8% for the postseason, good for 11.3 points, 8.1 assists and a steal per game. Boston will need him to continue developing his point production and get back to distributing more assists to win.

Cassell is actually the Bulls' leading scorer this postseason, averaging 19.7 points, 5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals. On the other hand, that comes at the expense of 38.4% shooting. He's secure with the ball, but Cassell is best known for his scoring prowess and excellent rebounding for a guard than anything else, as he's only mediocre in his floor generalship. Average defender as well, but very disciplined and smart. In some ways, he brings the inverse of what Eisley does, but it's worked well for the Bulls as Cassell's proven a dynamite free agent signing.

Advantage: Chicago

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson vs. Michael Jordan
AI is still the Celtics' lead scorer at 20.8 points per game, with 4.2 assists and 1.8 steals. He's shown off terrific security skills, with a 3.3 A/TO ratio, but he's also continuing to convert at a 37.1% clip. That's not going to cut it against the Bulls and his idol.

For the first time in years, maybe even ever, His Airness has looked human during the postseason, shooting just 40.8% for his 18.9 points and 1.9 steals. Make no mistake about it, however. He's still one of the top scoring threats in the league and plays excellent defense, especially at making the highlight steal, even at 34 years old. He should be able to contain Iverson easily.

Advantage: Chicago

Small Forward
Tom Gugliotta vs. Scottie Pippen
Head coach/GM Bobby Troilus is ecstatic that Gugliotta's at full health at the start of this series, because the Celtics need him. 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals might not look impressive a postseason line, until you consider that he was hampered by a knee injury for much of the first two rounds and still managed to convert to the tune of 49.7% from the field.

Pippen's age appears to be catching up with him at 32, for he's shooting an anemic 31.7% for just 11.3 points and 1.9 steals. He's still a topnotch defender, but his offensive game has greatly declined, making his mission simply to shut Gugliotta down and let Chicago's other shooters take over the game. He can do it, but he's definitely looked several steps slower this year.

Advantage: Boston

Power Forward
Bo Outlaw vs. Tim Duncan
After a sparkling first round against the Hornets, Outlaw fell quiet against the Pacers. He's still averaging 13.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 seals and 2.8 blocks at a ridiculous 68.9% rate and he's still a fantastic defender in the post.

Duncan has been absolutely phenomenal in his first playoffs, averaging 17.4 points, 10 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. He has no real weaknesses in his game, though he's not an elite-level defender quite yet, merely pretty good. But that 7', 248 lb body and his natural shotblocking skills, not to mention his incredible scoring and shooting repertoire are going to make the much shorter Outlaw's series a very uncomfortable win. In fact, the #1 pick has a definite argument for Finals MVP should the Bulls win the title.

Advantage: Chicago

Center
Pervis Ellison vs. Dennis Rodman
Ellison just keeps right on having a quietly successful postseason, averaging 8.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.8 blocks with extremely careful shot selection and efficient patrolling of the post. He's not a great center, but he fits perfectly in Boston's scheme.

The Worm is now 36 and he's a one-dimensional player as a rebounder, but he does it extremely well, averaging 5.5 points, 14.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals these playoffs. But even with the board-gobbling skills and stil superlative passing ability, he's atrophied on defense and could very well be bullied by the younger, more balanced Ellison.

Advantage: Draw

Bench
The story of the Celtics' deep run rests almost exclusively on the shoulders of their two rookies: 15th overall pick Chauncey Billups of the 11.3 points and 3.4 assists per game and 2nd round selection Chris Crawford (4th pick in 2nd), who's putting up an absolutely stunning 9.7 points per game. Lost in the shuffle is Chris Dudley, who's been contributing 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals as a stalwart defender and rebounder.

Mitch Richmond may be averaging 4.6 points and 1.2 steals a game, but he's completely fallen off a cliff in his accuracy, shooting a woeful 30.4%. Not the offensive sparkplug the Bulls were looking for when they traded for him. Still a topnotch defender, however. First round pick Adonal Foyle contributes rebounding, defense and shotblocking, attested by his 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks off the bench, but he's shooting 33.3% himself.

Advantage: Draw

Final Thoughts
Chicago's firepower is too much for the still hamstrung Celtics to have any realistic hope of overcoming, especiall when the Bulls have the stoppers on the bench to counter Boston's two hotshot reserve rookies. This one should be over fairly early, allowing Chicago to march on for a title defense.
Final Prediction: Bulls in 5

At least they weren't predicting a sweep was my only thought upon reading the article.

Game One
Home court advantage belonging to the Bulls didn't help matters any, as I'm sure you can imagine. They took full advantage of being in Chicago in the opening round, or rather, Sam Cassell did, posting an awe-inspiring for the fans 44 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds. Scottie Pippen erased the rumors of his offensive death with 23 points and Dennis Rodman picked up 10 points and 10 rebounds. We just didn't have anything to match up against that, Tom Gugliotta's 28 points and 11 rebounds and Chauncey Billups's 13 bench points the closest we came to it.
Final - Boston 92 Chicago 111

Game Two
Michael "Air" Jordan took his turn to embarass us with 28 points and Tim Duncan added 10 points and 12 rebounds in an ugly, defensive game that saw our best performances from Tom Gugliotta with 22 points and Chris Crawford's 11 bench points. Unfortunately, they were the only two Celtics in double-digit scoring as we got crushed down into the 0-2 hole.
Final - Boston 69 Chicago 91

Game Three
It was going to take an Irish-luck miracle to get us back in the series in Boston and it didn't seem likely after Michael Jordan's 34 points and Sam Cassell's 22 points. But just like Game Two, the losing team had only two players in double-digit scoring. Unlike Game 2, we needed just about all of Allen Iverson's 26 points, Tom Gugliotta's 14 points and 12 rebounds and Chauncey Billups's 13 bench points to steal the win and get back in it.
Final - Chicago 81 Boston 90

Tom Gugliotta injured his triceps during the game, making him doubtful for the rest of the series. We were in serious trouble now, even though Gugliotta insisted, just like before, in fighting through it.

Game Four
Both our starting forwards hurt again. I smelled a 3-1 brinking loss, followed by a swift Game 5 knockout. Chicago thought so too, as they put Dennis Rodman at the 3 and inserted Adonal Foyle at starting center, making Scottie Pippen the 6th man to try and shut down our reserves. Tim Duncan scored 26 and Scottie Pippen added 17 points, but we countered with Allen Iverson's 28 points, Pervis Ellison's 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks and, in the perfect time for him to break out, 24 points from Howard Eisley to steal a second game and knot the series up. The fans went crazy in the seats when the final buzzer sounded. Against all odds, we had new life.
Final - Chicago 91 Boston 97

Game Five
Back in Chicago for the most important game of the series. Whoever won this one would be in the driver's seat for the East title. The Bulls were naturally heavily favored and it would take a miracle of epic proportions to beat them on their own court. And indeed, there were no miracles that night, as Chauncey Billups's 17 and Chris Crawford's 11 bench points were easily overturned by Michael Jordan's 28 points and Tim Duncan's ridiculous 14 points, 16 rebounds and 7 blocks. Allen Iverson played just 17 minutes before fouling out as the Bulls gored us in the worst loss of the series.
Final - Boston 76 Chicago 105

Game Six
We needed to pull off another upset to force a Game 7, but either way, we looked to be thoroughly cooked. Allen Iverson rose up for 29 points, Howard Eisley came through with 22 points and Chris Crawford had a monster 17 bench points, but the three-headed hydra of Michael "Air" Jordan and Sam Cassell's 29 points, plus Tim Duncan's 21 points was just too much to overcome. We made a late run to make the score look respectable, but that was all we could do.
Final - Chicago 113 Boston 106

Still, I felt no shame in the loss. We'd played far better and for far longer than anybody realistically expected us to, especially after Rice and Gugliotta's injuries.

Utah beat the Spurs in six games as well, causing a repeat Bulls/Jazz matchup for the Finals.

The Bulls jumped out to a 3-0 series lead on the strength of Michael "Air" Jordan and Tim Duncan, the latter of whom scored 34 points to give Chicago the nail-biting open game victory. Utah stormed back to within 3-2 before the Bulls blew them out in Game 6 to repeat as NBA champions. Jordan was given the MVP, but it was a -very- close call between him and Duncan.

NBA Lottery
We were sitting with the 5th overall pick before the balls rolled and it was a tense moment as we sat at our table.

13. Orlando Magic
12. Portland Trailblazers (-1)

Our collective hearts sank when we saw Portland's ball come up. It was unbelievable, but a team had just defied the odds in an astronomical way and that was tough to take.

11. Seattle Supersonics (-1)
10. Los Angeles Clippers (-1)
9. Vancouver Grizzlies (-2)

From bad to worse as a second team jumped the line. Things were looking grim for our draft selection now.

8. Miami Heat (-2)
7. Boston Celtics (-2)

On the one hand, this was a fairly deep draft. On the other hand, 7th took us out of the elite players and into a broad second-tier range. But then again, I reminded myself, I'd rather have had this drop and AI than a leap in this draft and no AI.

6. New York Knicks (-2)
5. Philadelphia 76ers (-2)
4. Sacramento Kings (-3)
3. Milwaukee Bucks (+9)
2. Toronto Raptors (+7)
1. New Jersey Nets (+1)

Unbelievable, I thought to myself. The Bucks had a lot of catchet with the basketball gods to keep the first overall pick two years ago and to now make a huge lottery jump with this selection. The Raptors were thrilled as well and now had a shot at another prime piece to add to Damon Stoudamire, Kerry Kittles, Juwan Howard and Chris Anstey, though I still thought Anstey was a terrible reach the year before at #7.

And of course Milwaukee would get another great player to pair with their crew of youngsters. The East looked to remain the dominant conference for many years to come with breaks like those, even if they weren't quite Duncan-to-Bulls sized breaks.

NBA Awards

Player of the Year
David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs - 22.7 PPG 11.0 RPG 2.6 APG 3.0 BPG 1.5 SPG
Defensive Player of the Year
David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs - 22.7 PPG 11.0 RPG 2.6 APG 3.0 BPG 1.5 SPG
Rookie of the Year
Tim Duncan - Chicago Bulls - 17.0 PPG 7.3 RPG 2.3 APG 3.0 BPG 1.3 SPG
Head Coach of the Year
Bobby Troilus - Boston Celtics

I was absolutely floored when I received word that I was named Coach of the Year. The papers cited our 18 game unbeaten streak and our giving the Bulls a run for their money despite the injury problems and praised my ability to turn around as bad a franchise as Boston was. I still have that trophy sitting in my bedroom and I look at it every day. I rank it as one of the greatest accomplishments of my career even now.

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Jason Kidd - Dallas Mavericks
SG Reggie Miller - Indiana Pacers
SF Grant Hill - Detroit Pistons
PF Chris Webber - Washington Bullets
C David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs

All-NBA 2nd Team
PG John Stockton - Utah Jazz
SG Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
SF Tom Gugliotta - Boston Celtics
PF Kevin Garnett - Minnesota Timberwolves
C Hakeem Olajuwon - Houston Rockets

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Kevin Johnson - Phoenix Suns
SG Latrell Sprewell - Golden State Warriors
SF Cedric Cellabos - Los Angeles Lakers
PF Karl Malone - Utah Jazz
C Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks

I loved seeing Tom get that 2nd Team recognition and he deserved every bit of it. I hoped to re-sign him to Boston, but depending on how the draft went, it was possible it might be smarter for the long term interest of the team to let him move on. It was one of the biggest questions surrounding us that offseason.

All-Defense 1st Team
PG Gary Payton - Seattle Supersonics
SG Latrell Sprewell - Golden State Warriors
SF Scottie Pippen - Chicago Bulls
PF Kevin Garnett - Minnesota Timberwolves
C David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Mookie Blaylock - Atlanta Hawks
SG Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
SF Grant Hill - Detroit Pistons
PF Chris Webber - Washington Bullets
C Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Brevin Knight - Charlotte Hornets
SG Marko Milic - Los Angeles Clippers
SF Tariq Abdul-Wahad - New Jersey Nets
PF Tim Duncan - Chicago Bulls
C Zydrunas Ilaguskas - New York Knicks

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Antonio Daniels - San Antonio Spurs
SG Derek Anderson - Phoenix Suns
SF Tracy McGrady - Detroit Pistons
PF Keith Van Horn - Vancouver Grizzlies
C Michael Stewart - Minnesota Timberwolves

Clifton Gross was over the moon with pleasure at how well we did that season and he hoped we could duplicate it the next year. I put the breaks on and told him that I thought we could get our third straight Atlantic title, but asking for more than that was too much. He accepted that, but warned me I would have to keep salary under 8 digits. I told him I could manage that, after a moment's thought.

After winning Coach of the Year, I couldn't very well step down without a huge backlash from the fans and I saw no reason to change any of the rest of the coaching staff, so we kept the group together for another season.

Mock Draft
A slew of hot names were available, so it was difficult to have a consensus #1, but in general, it was felt that UNC's Vince Carter and Kansas's Paul Pierce were the top two players available, with German PF Dirk Nowitzki just behind them.

Projected Mock Draft
1. SG Vince Carter - New Jersey Nets
2. SG Paul Pierce - Toronto Raptors
3. PF Dirk Nowitzki - Milwaukee Bucks
4. PF Andrae Patterson - Sacramento Kings
5. PF Antawn Jamison - Philadelphia 76ers
6. SG Larry Hughes - New York Knicks
7. PF Robert Traylor - Boston Celtics
8. SG Bonzi Wells - Miami Heat
9. SG Ricky Davis - Vancouver Grizzlies
10. PG Mike Bibby - Los Angeles Clippers
11. C Nazr Mohammed - Seattle Supersonics
12. C Raef Lafrentz - Portland Trailblazers
13. SF Tyrone Nesby - Orlando Magic
14. SF Predrag Stojakovic - Atlanta Hawks
15. SG Cuttino Mobley - Atlanta Hawks
16. C Jahidi White - Charlotte Hornets
17. PF Kornel David - Houston Rockets
18. C Keon Clark - Boston Celtics
19. PF Mirsad Turkcan - Dallas Mavericks
20. PG Damon Jones - Los Angeles Lakers
21. PG Jason Williams - Indiana Pacers
22. SF Ruben Patterson - New York Knicks
23. SG Corey Benjamin - Los Angeles Lakers
24. C Michael Olowokandi - Los Angeles Clippers
25. SG Toby Bailey - Orlando Magic
26. SG Jeffrey Sheppard - San Antonio Spurs
27. C Brad Miller - Los Angeles Clippers
28. PG Earl Boykins - Utah Jazz
29. C Jerome James - Chicago Bulls

I'll admit, I was intrigued by Robert "Tractor" Traylor and Keon Clark, who the mocks had us taking. I was also fascinated with a few other players who were likely to be around at #18. I didn't really like our options at #7 unless somebody dropped.

But one thing Chicago's back-to-back titles had shown me was that you don't need an elite-level floor general at point guard to win ballgames and that had me strongly considering a swingman and moving Allen Iverson to PG, with Howard Eisley as the top backup. We desperately needed a young center that we could build on as well and if we weren't going to bring back Tom Gugliotta, which I had every intention of doing, we would need a power forward as well.

Lots of options and possibilities for our two first round picks and #56 pick. Now all that we had to was work people out and see where the dominoes fell.

[Radii]

The Clippers being projected to still manage to end up with Olowokandi is hilarious. :D


grats on the coach of the year award as well!

[hoopsguy]

Yep, good work last year. Considering the injuries, I think your team maxed out.

[Izulde]

Radii: No kidding. :D And thanks :)

hoopsguy: Thanks :) I agree completely that we went as far as we could with those injuries. Of course, that only raises expectations for the upcoming season.

[Izulde]

OOC Note: My computer ate my post, so this is a truncated version WRT Summer League and FA

After workouts, we had a pretty good idea of who we wanted and thought we would do well to sit right where we were at 7 and 18.

1998 NBA Draft 1st Round
1. SG Paul Pierce - New Jersey Nets

I thought certain the Nets would go with Carter, but Pierce was the guy we had highest on our board, so it made sense.

2. PF Dirk Nowitzki - Toronto Raptors

We weren't happy to see Dirk go so early, because we really wanted him in a Celtics uniform, but at least he wouldn't go to Milwaukee now.

3. SG Bonzi Wells - Milwaukee Bucks

The arena roared with shocked disbelief at the pick. I was equally flabbergasted. Why in the world take Wells when Vince Carter was still on the board?

4. SG Vince Carter - Sacramento Kings

Huge, huge celebrations in Northern California when this pick was made. Arguably the #1 talent in the draft and he fell all the way to the fourth pick. Mitch Richmond, your replacement has been found, I murmured to myself.

5. PF Andrae Patterson - Philadelphia 76ers

I was tempted to move up to the #6 spot, but realized there were still a couple players I'd be happy to get, so sat tight.

6. SG Larry Hughes - New York Knicks*

Hughes was one of the players I was looking closely at, but he went to the Knicks, the first selection right by the mock drafts. That set up an argument in our war room over who to take. A lot of people were pushing for Robert "Tractor" Traylor as the mocks wanted us to and we certainly did need a big man. But there was another talent on the board who was far too good to pass up on.

7. PF Antawn Jamison - Boston Celtics

What won me over was Jamison's clutch ability. Given the struggles a lot of players had in the playoffs, we needed someone with that kind of quality to step up and be the man for us. He also appeared to have the type of versatile game to play either forward spot, which would be huge in any case.

8. PG Mike Bibby - Miami Heat

Without a doubt, the best point guard in the draft. A great pick by the Heat there.

9. SG Ricky Davis - Vancouver Grizzlies*
10. C Jerome James - Los Angeles Clippers

Pandemonium broke out and I was among the shouting, disbelieving crowd in our war room. A guy tabbed as a late first selection in every mock and he not only goes Top 10, but he's the first center taken? None of us could believe it, but there the evidence was staring us in the face.

11. PF Robert Traylor - Seattle Supersonics

Shawn Kemp wasn't turning out the superstar everyone thought he would be, so taking the Tractor here wasn't as suprising as you might think. Besides, Seattle was, like we'd done four picks earlier, taking the best player on their board.

12. C Jahidi White - Portland Trailblazers
13. C Raef LaFrentz - Orlando Magic

A LaFrentz-Shaq frontcourt would look pretty good and might finally reverse the Magic's underachievement was my opinion upon hearing the pick.

14. C Nazr Mohammed - Atlanta Hawks

A shocking pick, given that the Hawks had plenty of depth available at the center spot. I didn't even consider Mohammed the best player on the board.

15. SF Predrag Stojakovic - Atlanta Hawks*

I tried to move up to get the Greek League player, but the Hawks weren't interested in listening. It wasn't all bad though, as while Stoja had a stellar scoring mentality, his defense was extremely suspect.

16. SF Tyrone Nesby - Charlotte Hornets
17. PG Jason Williams - Houston Rockets

We absolutely had to come out of this draft with a center now that Stoja was off the board and of the guys we'd brought in, one of them stood literally head and shoulders above the rest.

18. C Michael Olowokandi - Boston Celtics

"The Kandiman comes to Boston!" announced one of the talking heads and the reaction was one of slight surprise. I didn't care. We needed a young center we could invest our future in the post in and Kandiman fit that bill.

19. PF Mirsad Turkcan - Dallas Mavericks*
20. PG Earl Boykins - Los Angeles Lakers
21. PF Rashard Lewis - Indiana Pacers
22. SF Matt Harpring - New York Knicks
23. C Keon Clark - Los Angeles Lakers
24. PF Kornel David - Philadelphia 76ers

Philly's continual stacking of forwards in their drafts surprised me, but the City of Brotherly Love apparently loved their forwards. Either that or they still hadn't gotten over the loss of Sir Charles Barkley.

25. C Vladimir Stepania - Orlando Magic

"Wow!" was the collective reaction as the Magic took yet -another- center and one who wasn't even close to being the best one available. I suspected there was going to be an opening in the Magic Kingdom very soon with boneheaded picks like these.

26. SG Felipe Lopez - San Antonio Spurs
27. SF Ruben Patterson - Los Angeles Clippers
28. PG Damon Jones - Utah Jazz

Excellent value pick by Utah, which didn't make me happy. Jones looked like a capable heir to John Stockton and given that we held the Jazz's pick the following year, that wasn't a good thing.

29. C Jelani McCoy - Chicago Bulls

In the second round, one of the interns thought it would be cute to run up a card for us and took Jeffrey Sheppard. I wasn't amused, but it turned out to be a boon, because the Phoenix Suns wanted him so much, they were willing to trade their 1999 1st round pick for him. Of course, it was also the Suns' fault for taking a 29 year old point guard with their first 2nd round pick in LaMark Baker.

Biggest Drop
SG Cuttino Mobley - Mock - 15th overall - Drafted - 34th overall (2nd round, 5th pick)
SG Toby Bailey - Mock - 25th overall - Drafted 51st overall (2nd round, 22nd pick)

Antawn Jamison looked disappointing post-draft, Michael "Kandiman" Olowokandi respectable.

Summer League
PF Chris Crawford
PF Antawn Jamison
C Michael Olowokandi

In summary, we finished with a winning record, but it was bad news for our rookies. Neither Jamison or Kandiman showed anything that inspired much confidence and it made me seriously think about trading them. Ed O'Bannon was our best player, in fact.

Free Agency/b]

Lot of old, big names were available, like [b]Michael "Air" Jordan, Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek. Some young talents as well, most of whom re-signed with their original teams.

We re-signed Tom Gugliotta to a 6 year, $36 million deal. It was overpaying, I know, but he was in many ways our most important player and he deserved to be on a team that appreciated him after the Minnesota debacle.

Our attempts to steal Michael Jordan failed as he re-signed with the Bulls, as did Jeff Hornacek with the Jazz despite our offering him a million more. We als offered a contract to Ed O'Bannon, but he spurned us for our archrivals, the Washington Bullets. So we settled for re-signing Chris Dudley and rescuing Charles Oakley from the rebuilding project in New York.

Major Player Switches
Cedric Cellabos - Houston Rockets - 4 years, $14.7 million
Travis Best - Toronto Raptors - 4 years, $6.1 million
Marcus Brown - Los Angeles Lakers - 5 years, $16.3 million
Tony Delk - Toronto Raptors - 4 years, $10.9 million
Derrick Coleman - Chicago Bulls - 1 year, $3 million
Matt Maloney - Toronto Raptors - 4 years, $10.3 million
Othella Harrington - San Antonio Spurs - 4 years, $11.4 million

Patrick Ewing signed with Cleveland and Dikembe Mutombo got a two year deal from the Rockets.

Training Camp
A very discouraging camp saw Allen Iverson continue to make no gains, Antawn Jamison make minimal improvements and Michael Olowokandi actually regress. The only good thing that happened all camp was the suggestion by one of my assistants that we try a lineup of Iverson/Glen Rice/Tom Gugliotta/Jamison/Olowokandi.

That and the fact that Chauncey Billups continued to make gains and looked like he was going to be a possible star in time.

I explored some trade options, but while I was able to find takers for Kandiman, no one was willing to give us fair value for Jamison. Although it would hurt our center position, I made a deal.

Boston Celtics receive
SG Jalen Rose
Denver Nuggets 1999 1st round pick
Denver Nuggets 1999 2nd round pick

Denver Nuggets receive
C Michael Olowokandi
PF Bo Outlaw
PF Charles Oakley

What this means for the Celtics
GM/Head coach Bobby Troilus didn't like what he saw out of Kandiman in training camp, so he brings in Rose, a sweet-shooting, good-handling big guard able to play 1 through 3 with ease. The former Fab Five member could see the starting lineup or he could be an extremely versatile 6th man. With the Nuggets not expected to be much good, the first round pick, now Boston's fourth in the upcoming draft, could be a lottery selection.

What this means for the Nuggets
Kandiman gives Denver a 7', 269 lb big man that allows them to shift Antonio McDyess to his natural PF position. The rookie's got decent all-around skills, but nothing eye-popping. Outlaw, a defensive specialist, will struggle to find minutes while Oakley is regulated to the end of the bench.

Winner: Draw
This would be a victory for the Celtics, except that it means another year of Pervis Ellison starting at center and no answer in sight. On the other hand, Rose, at 26, is the heir apparent to Glen Rice and could replace him as soon as this season, should Rice be dealt midseason.

I signed 36 year old Kevin Willis to fill in as the third center and 12th man.

Season Preview

The Bulls were again favored to win it all for a threepeat, with Detroit and Orlando deemed the other two top contenders. Toronto, which in addition to all the guards they signed from other teams, retained Damon Stoudamire and looked like a playoff team. We were picked for 7th in the conference and 4th in the Atlantic behind Orlando, Philadelphia and New Jersey. I could see the Magic beating us, but not the other teams.

Fast-rising Dallas and old standby Houston were the favorites in the West along with Houston. I was pleased to see Utah considered a lottery team and Phoenix a mid-tier playoff team.

Of course, it was far too early to predict anything.

1998-99 Boston Celtics Opening Night Roster
PG Allen Iverson
SG Glen Rice
SF Tom Gugliotta
PF Antawn Jamison
C Pervis Ellison
6th Jalen Rose (SG/SF)
7th Chauncey Billups (PG/SG)
8th Chris Crawford (SF/PF)
9th Howard Eisley (PG/SG)
10th Chris Dudley (PF/C)
11th Dee Brown (SF/PF)
12th Kevin Willis (PF/C)
Inactive
Dana Barros

[Radii]

WOOHOO! Hopefully Jamison can develop into a strong player for you.

[Izulde]

WOOHOO! Hopefully Jamison can develop into a strong player for you.

Umm... well...

[Izulde]

Although we were more deep and more talented overall than we were the year before, when we went 60-22, I still couldn't help but feel a sense of nervousness. At least I had a bride now to talk things over with, as Nicole and I had gotten married over the summer.

The fans got a real treat for our first game, a 126-123 thriller over the Milwaukee Bucks. Tom Gugliotta poured it on for 32 points and 12 rebounds and Glen Rice and Allen Iverson blossomed in their new roles, with 24 points and 29 points, 14 assists respectively. Chauncey Billups and Jalen Rose were excellent off the bench with 14 and 13 points. Antawn Jamison was just 1 of 2 for 4 points. Not a good start to his NBA career. For the Bucks, Vin Baker had 31 points and 10 rebounds, Don Maclean 15 points and 10 rebounds, Rick Brunson 25 points and Kobe Bryant 12 points and 10 assists. #3 overall pick Bonzi Wells played just 1 minute. Great drafting job by Milwaukee there.

We lost a close one, 95-92, in Chicago the next night. Jalen Rose's 12 bench points were our highlight, easily outdistanced by Tim Duncan's 26 points and Sam Cassell's 17 points and 10 assists.

Antawn Jamison was benched the next game and we obliterated the Suns 128-84 on Glen Rice's 28 points out of the small forward spot, Tom Gugliotta's 14 points and 10 rebounds as the power forward and Chauncey Billups and Dana Barros lighting up the bench with 24 and 11 points. We won all four quarters by at least 8 points. Suddenly I felt very good about having Phoenix's first.

We had to start Chris Dudley at center against the Magic and Shaquille O'Neal got him to foul out early as we had to play Kevin Willis most of the game thanks to Pervis Ellison's injury. Shaq ripped us for 32 points and 11 rebounds and Penny Hardaway scored 25 as Orlando made a fourth quarter surge to beat us 102-98. So much for Glen Rice's 23 points, Tom Gugliotta's 13 points and 14 rebounds, Allen Iverson's 12 points and 11 assists and Chauncey Billups's 12 bench points.

Utah came to town 2-5 and left 101-83 losers as we negated Karl Malone's 30 points with 27 point double-doubles from Tom Gugliotta and Allen Iverson, 12 rebounds and 11 assists the respective add-ons. This, too, greatly pleased me.

I took even greater pleasure in whipping Washington 114-94. Glen Rice was unconscious all game long with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 7 steals. Tom Gugliotta picked up 18 points and 14 rebounds as his partner in crime and Allen Iverson garnered 18 points and 16 assists. But what really made me smile was Jalen Rose breaking out for a blistering 31 point game to melt the Bullets.

What didn't make me smile was Chris Dudley straining his hamstring. I didn't want to start Kevin Willis, so before our next game the night after against the Bucks, I hit the phones.

Boston Celtics receive
C Alonzo Mourning

Miami Heat receive
PF Antawn Jamison
C Kevin Willis

What this means for the Celtics
Boston's had injury problems with their centers early this season and lacked depth. While Mourning has had injury problems himself, when healthy, the 28 year old is an All-Star quality center. He's a breathtaking defender and shotblocker and has a very accurate shot. Although the Celtics have yet to find their center of the future, Mourning instantly turns them into a title contender by taking over the middle.

What this means for the Heat
7th overall pick Jamison got in Bobby Troilus's doghouse early and never got out. That said, he has the potential to be a scoring star in this league and he could develop into an All-Star given the opportunity. He'll get the chance with the Heat as the starting PF. Willis is filler.

Winner: Draw
Although Jamison could be something special, the Celtics are loaded with first round picks and they need Mourning now. Meanwhile, Miami gives up an injury-prone player for a young, potential All-Star. Good fit for both squads.

I also signed Ervin Johnson that afternoon before the game.

Alonzo Mourning looked fatigued, having had to catch a flight from Miami to Milwaukee on the fly, if you'll pardon the pun, but we still beat the Bucks 97-86 thanks to Glen Rice exploding for 39 points. It was a good counter to Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson's 20 points and Vin Baker's 17 points and 10 rebounds.

A heartbreaking 103-102 loss versus Houston followed and it wasn't Jason Williams's 21 points or Cedric Cellabos's 22 points and 10 rebounds that depressed me. It was Stephon Marbury's 33 points, 16 assists and 8 rebounds. Sweet revenge game for Starbury it was, as he nixed Jalen Rose's 20 points and 10 assists, Tom Gugliotta's 18 points and 14 rebounds and Chauncey Billups's 21 bench points.

As if that wasn't enough, Alonzo Mourning strained his calf, but at least we had Pervis Ellison back to full health for our game in Charlotte. It didn't help as we lost 111-106. Ray Allen scored an unbelievable 50 points and combined with Cedric Henderson's 19 bench points, they overwhelmed us. Tough break for Glen Rice's 32 points, Jalen Rose's 21 points and Chris Crawford's 11 bench points. It felt like revenge of the former Celtics month.

The losing streak hit three as we fell apart in the fourth quarter of a hair-pulling 94-90 loss to Golden State. Latrell Sprewell scored 26 and Bryan Stith added 19 bench points and we couldn't keep pace, even with Allen Iverson's 22 points, Glen Rice's 21 points, Tom Gugliotta's 18 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Crawford's 15 bench points.

Although Ray Allen torched us for 27 points, we hosted the Hornets to a 107-80 smackdown on [b]Allen Iverson[b/]'s 22 points and Tom Gugliotta's 21. It was a victory we desperately needed, as our season was in danger of derailing.

The Pistons had a frightening 11-1 record when they came to Boston, but we didn't blink, topping them 101-87. Allen Iverson continued to play with renewed confidence with 26 points and Tom Gugliotta chipped in 19 points and 11 rebounds. Brian Evans had 15 bench points for Detroit and Tracy McGrady was their top starter with 12 points and 11 assists.

Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Jerald Honeycutt dropped 24 points a piece on us and Priest Lauderdale grabbed 16 points and 13 rebounds, but we still whipped New Jersey 119-97 on Allen Iverson's 43 points and 10 assists, Jalen Rose's 24 points, Glen Rice's 22 points and Tom Gugliotta's 10 points and 10 rebounds.

We finished the month on a happy note the next night, beating the Bullets 95-83. Chris Webber rampaged for 31 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks, but he was neutralized by the combined efforts of Glen Rice (27 points, 10 rebounds), Jalen Rose (22 points), Tom Gugliotta (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Chauncey Billups (16 bench points).

It added up to a 9-5 first month, putting us 3 games behind 13-3 Orlando in the Atlantic. Bad time for the Magic to get hot, when I'd promised our owner we'd repeat the division title. But at least we were in second place and not in the Central, where Detroit was 13-2 and Atlanta 12-4. Chicago was looking a very mortal 7-8.

11-5 and 12-4 gave Houston and Golden State the respective early leads in their divisions. Denver was doing much better than expected at 8-6, while Phoenix was 9-6. Utah was definitely a lower-tier team at 5-11, which gave me hope for the lottery.

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
1. Glen Rice - 23.0
2. Allen Iverson - 18.9
3. Jalen Rose - 16.6

Assists
1. Allen Iverson - 8.5
2. Jalen Rose - 3.8
3. Glen Rice - 3.1

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 9.6
2. Pervis Ellison - 8.6
3. Alonzo Mourning - 6.3

Blocks
1. Alonzo Mourning - 2.5
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.3
3. Jalen Rose - 1.2

Steals
1. Glen Rice - 1.8
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.7
3. Tom Gugliotta - 1.6

[Radii]

Umm... well...

go heat! ;)

[Cap Ologist]

glad I added Rose before you did. ;)

[Izulde]

Radii: I figured as much :D

Cap Ologist: Well-played! I'd completely forgotten you grabbed Rose. I just happened to be going through different trade scenarios and Jalen fit the type of SG I tend to like, so I got him. :)

[Izulde]

A record was set for earliest in-season trade on the first of November, which made fairly big headlines.

Cleveland Cavaliers receive
PF Etdrick Bohannon

Minnesota Timberwolves receive
Cleveland Cavaliers 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Cavaliers
Bohannon, 26 and in his second season, is a poor shooter, but he's an exceptional rebounder and has a fair amount of upside as a defender, shotblocker and ballthief. At the very least, he's a better handler than Tyrone Hill and will split time at the PF spot with him.

What this means for the Timberwolves
The Cavaliers will make the playoffs again in all probability, so this is another likely late first. But considering Minnesota's overloaded on quality young bigs and they really need a young shooting guard to replace 34 year old Dell Curry next year, this isn't a bad move at all.

Winner: Draw
Both teams get some benefit out of it.

Los Angeles Lakers receive
PF Austin Croshere

New Jersey Nets receive
Los Angeles Lakers 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Lakers
Second year man Croshere looks like a solid, balanced all-around forward, but the Purple and Gold already have Lawrence Funderburke and John Wallace, who are both young and starting at the forward spots. The only place for him is the 6th man role.

What this means for the Nets
With the Lakers projecting to again be one of the worst teams in the league, the Nets land themselves another whopper of a building block to go with all their other pieces. And to think Croshere was a #28 selection to boot.

Winner: New Jersey
It's sad to see Showtime continue to suffer from such outrageous neglect. A far cry from the restoration work Bobby Troilus has done in Boston.

I agreed with the sadness of the Lakers' sorry state. Although it sounds criminal for a Celtics fan, coach and general manager to say this, I didn't and still don't hate the Lakers. I didn't really hate any team. We had our rivalry with the Washington Bullets of course and I intensely disliked the Utah Jazz, but hate was far too strong a word.

Alonzo Mourning was back at full strength to face his former team and had his best game so far in a Celtics uniform with 20 points as we chilled the Heat 116-93. But it was Glen Rice's 34 points, Allen Iverson's 21 points and 12 assists and Chauncey Billups's 14 bench points that really iced Miami.

Things didn't get any better for the Heat on their own court as we trounced them 96-74. Jalen Rose scored 24, Alonzo Mourning put up 20 points and 12 rebounds and Chauncey Billups reprised his 14 bench points.

We kept right on rolling with a 114-103 road win in Philadelphia. Jerry Stackhouse's 21 points were topped by Tom Gugliotta's 23 points and 12 rebounds, Alonzo Mourning's 20 points and Chauncey Billups's 11 bench points.

A big game against the 14-5 Hawks came the night after, but we had no problems pulverizing them 110-98 in front of our home fans. Allen Iverson was sensational with 26 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds, Jalen Rose matched the 26 and Chris Crawford was the one to come up with 11 bench points this time. That's not to take away from John Starks, who had a superlative 21 bench points for Atlanta.

We traveled to Toronto and routed the Raptors 104-86 on Glen Rice's 26 points, Allen Iverson's 22 points, Jalen Rose's 20 points and Tom Gugliotta's 13 points and 10 rebounds, easily negating Juwan Howard's 26 points.

Back to Boston we went, beating Jerry Stackhouse's 24 points and David Wesley's 12 bench points to knock off the 76ers 112-91. Allen Iverson led the way with 23 points and 12 assists, with support from Tom Gugliotta (12 points, 16 rebounds) and Chris Crawford (13 bench points).

Tom Gugliotta sprained his ankle, so I gave Pervis Ellison, who'd been complaining about playing time, the start at power forward. We promptly ravaged the Raptors 126-76. The benches got an early emptying, but that didn't stop Juwan Howard from getting 16 points and 10 rebounds or Glen Rice from scoring 37, including a perfect 7 of 7 from 3 point range. Toronto reserves Anthony Avent and Derrick Wells used the increased time for 12 points, 12 rebounds and 13 points respectively. On our bench, Howard Eisley scored 17, Chris Crawford 16 and Chauncey Billups 10 points.

The Bulls were barely treading water as they tried for their threepeat and Allen Iverson made sure they stayed that way, scoring 35 points in our 118-109 OT win. Sam Cassell scored 30, Michael Jordan doubled for 14 points and 11 rebounds and Tim Duncan looked dominant with 23 points and 12 rebounds as Chicago put up a heck of a fight, but in the end, AI, Alonzo Mourning's 27 points and Jalen Rose's 22 points got it done.

The Hornets always played us tough, but we eked out a 95-90 win in Charlotte, overcoming Ray Allen's 23 points with Allen Iverson's own 23, Jalen Rose's 20 points and 10 rebounds and Pervis Ellison's 12 points and 11 rebounds.

I feared Minnesota the next night, but home court advantage and Glen Rice's 30 points carried us to a 105-94 win. Kevin Garnett bullied his way to 20 points and 12 rebounds and Isiah Rider scored 26, but we threw Allen Iverson's 28 points and 11 assists and Jalen Rose's 26 points on top of Rice to eliminate the Timberwolf threat.

Tom Gugliotta came back to the starting lineup for our next game and broke his nose in an injury eerily similar to that of Glen Rice's last year. He was deemed out for a little over a month. To make matters worse, we lost 110-107 to end our win streak. Earl Boykins scored 23, Vlade Divac hauled in 10 points and 16 rebounds and Lawrence Funderburke scored 19 off the bench as seven Lakers scored 10+ points. And despite all the injuries and all the balance, we still almost won behind Jalen Rose's 33 points, Glen Rice's 20 points and Allen Iverson's 13 points and 12 assists.

Despite the significant double-loss, we dug in to beat the Traiblazers 97-83 the night after. Alonzo Mourning stepped up with 22 points, abetting Allen Iverson's 24 points and 11 assists and Chauncey Billups's 15 bench points. Chris Mills was the lone Portland star with 25 points.

Our four game West Coast road trip continued with a 108-89 loss to Seattle, Jalen Rose's 26 points and the double-doubles of Allen Iverson (16 points, 10 assists) and Alonzo Mourning (13 points, 12 rebounds) buried beneath Gary Payton's 26 points, Rick Fox's 21 ponts, Shawn Kemp's 17 points and 15 rebounds and Shandon Anderson's 17 bench points.

Fortunately, we snapped back the next evening for a 2-2 West Coast swing and 106-86 drubbing of the Grizzlies. It was a game decided by the benches, as Chris Crawford and Chauncey Billups combined for 16 and 10 points versus George Lynch's 12 points.

The book closed on calendar year 1998 with a 95-83 victory over Portland. Glen Rice and Alonzo Mourning combined for 24 and 22 points to erase Rod Strickland's 16 bench points.

Even though we had our holiday hiccups, at 22-7, we'd charged to take the Atlantic lead by a half-game over Orlando. We were also the #2 seed, with 26-4 Detroit owning a 5.5 game edge on Atlanta. The Bulls were 16-13, but appeared no more than an ordinary mid-playoff team rather than the two-time defending champions they actually were.

23-9 gave Houston the West's top seed, four games ahead of Denver of all teams, which didn't make me happy. Nor did Phoenix's Pacific leading 18-9 record, a half-game ahead of Golden State. Even Utah was managing not to be horrible at 12-19.

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
1. Glen Rice - 20.9
2. Allen Iverson - 19.7
3. Jalen Rose - 18.4

Assists
1. Allen Iverson - 8.6
2. Jalen Rose - 4.2
3. Glen Rice - 3.1

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 8.3
T2. Alonzo Mourning - 7.3
T2. Pervis Ellison - 7.3

Blocks
1. Alonzo Mourning - 2.6
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.7
3. Jalen Rose - 1.0

Steals
1. Glen Rice - 1.5
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.4
3. Allen Iverson - 1.3

Oh yes, I should also mention the Atlantic was a two-team race at that point, for the third place team was the 12-17 Bullets, already 10 games back.

[Izulde]

My first New Year's Day with my wife went much the same as my bachelor's days, at least as far as the morning goes. Nicole liked to sleep in late when she could, so I got up early for my traditional hot cider and rookie class reviews.

It looked to be a draft class of no real superstars, but several solid players. My scout liked Elton Brand the best of all the players and so did I, though Shawn Marion also greatly intrigued me. There were also a number of scoring point guards, led by Steve Francis. Unfortunately for our center quandary, the best player available appeared to be Todd MacCulloch, a University of Washington senior who had impressive size at 7', 280 lbs, but nothing else. So we'd have to hope that Alonzo Mourning stayed healthy.

A surprising number of trades happened in December, including a deja vu stunner.

Toronto Raptors receive
SG Drew Berry

Orlando Magic receive
Toronto Raptors 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Raptors
This trade makes absolutely no sense for Toronto, which has Damon Stoudamire, Kerry Kittles, Matt Maloney, Tony Delk and Travis Best. While Barry has legitimate pass-first skills, he has little scoring talent and is 26 years old with no upside to speak of. What the Raptors really need is a big man upgrade, not a career D-leaguer.

What this means for the Magic
Orlando may or may not win the war for the Atlantic with Boston, but they've just landed themselves a possible lottery pick for a guy they took in the 2nd round (10th pick) last year. That's what we call a steal.

Winner: Orlando
Shades of Jamie Feick from Chicago to Denver here. And we all know what -that- turned into.

Atlanta Hawks receive
SG Bobby Phills

Miami Heat receive
Atlanta Hawks 1999 2nd round pick

What this means for the Hawks
The 29 year old Phills is an accurate shooter, but what he's best known for is his lockdown defender capability. He'll be the first swingman off Atlanta's bench and between him and Stacey Augmon, the Central-leading Hawks will be able to keep an elite defender at the 2 and 3 whenever more offensive-minded players Eric Williams and rookie Predrag Stojakovic need a rest.

What this means for the Heat
Miami will be lucky to even make the playoffs, so dealing Phills isn't a bad thing, even though the second round pick won't be worth much. The move also allows silky-passing Nick Van Exel to step back into the lineup.

Winner: Atlanta
The Hawks got a great fit for a very cheap price. That can't make the other teams in the East happy.

Vancouver Grizzlies receive
PF Roshown McLeod

Houston Rockets receive
Vancouver Grizzlies 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Grizzlies
What do you call it when a team trades for a player that was taken with the 17th pick in the 2nd round this draft, who's shooting 27.8% and has never heard of defense and has no understanding of defense? You call it a stupid move and you call it outright insanity when it's a lottery pick. As much as we've loved the drafting Vancouver's made in the last few years (Keith Van Horn, Shareef Abdul-Rahim, Ricky Davis), we can't agree with this one at all.

What this means for the Rockets
Houston may not find a replacement for Hakeem Olajuwon in the upcoming draft, but they may very well find the heir apparent to Clyde "The Glide" Drexler or Cedric Ceballos thanks to this highway robbery.

Winner: Houston
What's going up in Canada, eh?

Indiana Pacers receive
SG Doug Christie

Toronto Raptors receive
Indiana Pacers 1999 2nd round pick

What this means for the Pacers
Indiana's getting long in the tooth with their backcourt and Christie allows them to get younger at 28 years old. He's not a great player except for one thing: He's an absolute gunner from 3 point range, shooting an electric 47% from downtown for his career. He'll be the first guard off the bench and also has some very good stealing instincts.

What this means for the Raptors
Toronto's glut of guards is eased somewhat by dealing Christie, but they could've gotten more than a playoff team's 2nd round pick.

Winner: Indiana
Great pickup for the Pacers, who are trying to stay relevant in a powerhouse East.

Washington Bullets receive
PF Jamie Feick

Denver Nuggets receive
Washington Bullets 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Bullets
Apparently Washington didn't pay attention to the fact that the last time Feick was traded for a first, he turned into Tim Duncan. Admittedly the Bullets are in panic mode, as they're slated to go from playoffs to lottery, but this is a team that has Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace both capable of playing the 4. What they -really- need is an upgrade in their backcourt or at center. Feick is a mid-bench player on this Bullets squad and for that he's worth a potential lottery pick?. We don't think so.

What this means for the Nuggets
Although this pick won't turn into a Duncan and it's still possible that the Bullets can regroup and make the playoffs, because they've got a good enough combo in Webber and Wallace to do it, they're still bound to get a better player than Feick.

Winner: Denver
And so Feick's curious career continues as he'll be known more as a trivia piece for who he turned into than his actual on-court performances.

New Jersey Nets receive
C Olden Polynice

Miami Heat receive
C Will Perdue

What this means for the Nets
Polynice can rebound a little and score a little and that's it from the 34 year old. He'll serve as a mentor to Priest Lauderdale and [b]Jelani McCoy[/b though.

What this means for the Heat
Perdue's a virtual clone of Polynice, except that he's an accurate shooter where Polynice isn't and is much bigger. He's also not as smart a mentor. Oh and he wants more playing time than he's likely to get in Miami.

Winner: New Jersey
In a swap of old centers nobody cares much about, the Nets get the better deal in a smarter center who won't wreck their team chemistry with complaints.

I couldn't believe myself some of the deals that were made. My only hope was that the trades would improve the likely lotto teams enough that they would supersede the Jazz, but it didn't look especially likely.

Patrick Ewing punished us for 26 points and 11 rebounds and Terrell Brandon scored 28 as the Cavaliers humiliated us 92-73. We shot just 37.1% and Chris Crawford was our only highlight with 12 bench points.

We continued to miss Tom Gugliotta, losing 89-83 to the Mavericks. Marcus Camby tore into us with 20 points, 12 rebounds, 6 blocks and 5 steals, Popeye Jones had 10 points and 16 rebounds, Jason Kidd 13 points and 10 assists. In contrast, we had 22 points from Glen Rice, 10 points and 10 rebounds from Pervis Ellison, and 11 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks from Alonzo Mourning.

Allen Iverson was really struggling with his shooting percentage operating out of the point guard spot, so I experimented with moving him back to SG and putting Jalen Rose at the point.

The move paid off as Allen Iverson had 27 points and 5 steals in our 99-79 lambasting of the Knicks. He was joined by Glen Rice (29 points, 10 rebounds) and Alonzo Mourning (18 points, 10 rebounds) in hammering the rebuilding team, whose best player was Larry Johnson with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

We obliterated the Kings 112-80 the next night, riding 21 points a piece from Glen Rice and Jalen Rose and Chauncey Billups's 17 bench points.

Glen Rice ripped through the Knicks for 38 points and 13 rebound as we won big again, 114-83. Allen Iverson, who'd rediscovered his shooting stroke since moving back to SG, scored 26, and Chris Crawford added 14 bench points. Tim Thomas was the most noteworthy player for New York with 13 bench points.

Another big matchup with the Hawks in Atlanta came the night after and we cruised to a 101-90 win on balanced offense led by Alonzo Mourning and Glen Rice with 24 and 21 points. Predrag Stojakovic scored 23 for the Hawks, while Nazr Mohammed picked up 11 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists and newcomer Bobby Phills scored 12 bench points.

The new backcourt continued to work like a charm, Jalen Rose and Allen Iverson combining for 27 and 20 points in our 93-79 squash of the Spurs in San Antonio. Alonzo Mourning and Glen Rice had identical 19 point, 11 rebound, 5 assist games to boot. Armon Gilliam had 18 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn't close enough to enough.

And then a problem arose the day after. Howard Eisley came to my room in Houston, where we were scheduled to play the Rockets the next night, and demanded a trade. He said he was unhappy with the amount of playing time he was getting and didn't want to have to rely on an injury to one of our players to get more minutes.

We talked for some time and I told him that I would either trade him or find him a way to get more playing time. He accepted that and I spent all the rest of the day working the phones.

It took some work, but I was finally able to strike a deal that both made Howard happy and brought to Boston a player I'd been trying to get for quite some time.

Boston Celtics receive
SF Michael Finley
PG Trevor Ruffin
Phoenix Suns 2001 1st round pick
Phoenix Suns 2000 2nd round pick
Phoenix Suns 2001 2nd round pick

Phoenix Suns receive
SG Chauncey Billups
SG Dee Brown

What this means for the Celtics
The 25 year old Finley is a player Boston GM/head coach Bobby Troilus has long coveted and almost traded for a few times before and with good reason. Finley's capable of playing every position but center and boasts exceptional ballhandling, a very accurate shot, good defense and high discipline and basketball intelligence. The scary part is, he hasn't yet fulfilled his potential. The 2001 first round pick is too much a wild card at this point. Ruffin's an average all-around point guard, but he's a much better third point guard than Dana Barros. The C's also ditch Brown's pricey contract.

What this means for the Suns
Kevin Johnson is 32 and his health is always suspect. 22 year old Billups is able to play both guard spots with great scoring ability and passing talents. He forms an excellent backcourt of the future along with Derek Anderson, the Suns' first round pick last year, but for now, he'll be the explosive 6th man for Phoenix that he was in Boston. If there's one knock on him, however, it's that he's prone to being very inconsistent. Brown is 30 and the best thing to say about him is that he's disciplined. He'll see a lot more minutes in Phoenix, though and might actually earn some of his overpaid salary.

Winner: Boston
The Celtics had a glut of good guards and not only frees up more playing time for Troilus favorite Eisley, but it allows Boston to field a lineup of Jalen Rose/Allen Iverson/Finley/Glen Rice/Alonzo Mourning. That's more than enough cover until Tom Gugliotta gets back from injury, whereupon Finley can serve as the supersub and 6th man.

Eisley was ecstatic when he heard the news, because it meant he was the unquestioned 6th man and first guard off the bench until Gugliotta healed up and from there, we'd have to wait and see.

Judging from his stats, Michael Finley didn't have the most exceptional of debuts for us, but he still garnered 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal, shooting 6 of 9 and limiting Cedric Ceballos to 15 points on 7 of 18 shooting. Incidentally, we beat the Rockets 102-87. Jalen Rose sparkled with 37 points and 10 rebounds as the shooting guard, Allen Iverson had 21 points and 12 assists as the point guard in a switch I hadn't realized I made until it was too late. But it obviously worked out. Alonzo Mourning added 14 points and 16 rebounds. Stephon Marbury starred with 22 points and 10 assists, but that was it for the Rockets.

We went back to the Rose/AI backcourt the next night and Allen Iverson responded with 28 points as a key part of our 119-96 mauling of the Mavericks. It was Glen Rice who really took off though, netting 35 points and 14 rebounds while Michael Finley broke out for 24 points. Pervis Ellison pulled down 15 bench boards. The Mavericks were led by 3 double-doubles: Marcus Camby (16 points, 16 rebounds), Jason Kidd (19 points, 10 assists) and Popeye Jones (18 points, 12 rebounds). Robert Pack was brilliant off the bench with 18 points, but it didn't help much.

Our road trip ended with a 123-95 reaming of the Raptors in Toronto. We overwhelmed Juwan Howard's 21 points and Tony Delk's 20 points with 7 Celtics in double-digit scoring. Alonzo Mourning had his best game in a green and white jersey with 32 points and 12 rebounds while Glen Rice stayed white-hot with 27 points and Howard Eisley and Chris Crawford spearheaded the reserves with 13 and 10 points.

We came home a few days later and blew out the Lakers 130-68. They had just two players in double-digit figures and John Wallace was their high with 14 points. In contrast, we had 3 players with 20+ points: Allen Iverson (24 points), Alonzo Mourning (23 points) and Glen Rice (23 points). Oh and Howard Eisley's 10 bench points.

The Pacers played us closer, but we still rolled 98-77. Alonzo Mourning scored 25, Jalen Rose just missed the double-double with 21 points and 9 assists and Glen Rice had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Indiana had a balanced attack, but when their star of the night was Rik Smits with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists, that just wasn't going to cut it.

A much-anticipated matchup against the Magic in Orlando resulted in a disappointing 112-103 loss, Allen Iverson's 33 points gone to waste along with Jalen Rose's 14 points and 11 assists and Glen Rice's 22 points. Penny Hardaway scored 29, but it was really Orlando's balance that beat us, best signified by Vladimir Stepania's 14 bench points.

We went home and took out our frustrations on the Grizzlies the next night. Our 106-85 win was keyed by Glen Rice's 30 points and Allen Iverson's 22 points, neutralizing Shareef Abdur-Rahim's 21 points and Ashraf Amaya's 11 points and 13 rebounds out of the center spot, for Bryant "Big Country" Reeves was out yet again, this time with a broken wrist.

As good as we'd looked after the trade, we were still definitely beatable by good teams. Orlando proved that and so did the Pacers as we lost 103-93 in Indiana. Reggie Miller led a three-pronged attack with 25 points and 11 assists and he was aided by Dale Davis's 21 points and 10 rebounds and Rik Smits's 20 points. Allen Iverson did well in our cause with 22 points and Alonzo Mourning snapped up 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Sadly, January ended as it began, with two straight losses. The Heat surprised 89-85 the night after in Miami, Rony Seikaly making us look silly with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Rookie Mike Bibby contributed 15 points and 10 assists as we flushed away Jalen Rose's 24 points, Glen Rice's 21 points and Alonzo Mourning's 13 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks.

So in short, we lost two in a row at the start of the month, then ended it by losing three of four games. Everything in between was golden, though and we needed it to be. At 33-12, we were fending off Orlando by half a game. It was still a two-horse competition in the division, as 19-27 Miami was 14.5 half back in third place. The Hawks had a terrible 6-10 month to drop to third in the Central and be replaced by a breathtakingly 38-5 Detroit, who enjoyed an 11.5 game edge on the newly resurgent Chicago Bulls.

The Rockets ruled the West at 33-14, 8 games ahead of the Spurs for the Midwest lead, while 27-16 Phoenix still held a game and a half edge on Golden State for the Pacific. Denver had slid to 22-22, while the Jazz were 17-27, fourth worst in the West and in the top 10 worst in the league.

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
1. Glen Rice - 21.6
2. Allen Iverson - 19.5
3. Jalen Rose - 18.0

Assists
1. Allen Iverson - 7.2
2. Jalen Rose - 4.8
3. Michael Finley - 4.1

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 8.3
2. Alonzo Mourning - 7.9
3. Pervis Ellison - 6.8

Blocks
1. Alonzo Mourning - 2.6
2. Pervis Ellison - 1.7
3. Jalen Rose - 0.9

Steals
1. Allen Iverson - 1.5
2. Glen Rice - 1.3
T3. Pervis Ellison - 1.2
T3. Tom Gugliotta - 1.2
T3. Michael Finley - 1.2

The best news: Tom Gugliotta would be back in time for our first game in February.

[DaddyTorgo]

You traded Chauncey. Booo

[Coffee Warlord]

Don't you mean...

Bah bah bah BOOOOO

[Izulde]

DaddyTorgo: Yeah I knew it was going to disappoint you and I hesitated myself. But in the end, Finley's versatility and actual ability to play perimeter D, something we don't really have, plus the future first were just too much to resist.

Coffee Warlord: :D

[DaddyTorgo]

that's true...that's true. i can't fault your decision-making there.

[Izulde]

that's true...that's true. i can't fault your decision-making there.

Indeed.

[Izulde]

Atlanta Hawks receive
PF Ray Owes

Detroit Pistons receive
Atlanta Hawks 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Hawks
From the Pistons to the Spurs back to the Pistons and now to the Hawks the 26 year old Owes now goes. He's not only a mediocre player, he's a 6'4, 200 lb forward.

What this means for the Pistons
Owes finally started developing an accurate shot, but flipping a late 2nd drafted player who isn't worth much for a late first is always a wining situation.

Winner: Detroit
The fast track to sustained success just got a little more oil.

Vancouver Grizzlies receive
C Dikembe Mutombo

Houston Rockets receive
Vancouver Grizzlies 1999 2nd round pick

What this means for the Grizzlies
Vancouver's been in pick-trading mode, but this one actually makes sense. Even at 32, Mutombo has Defensive Player of the Year type ability; the only thing is, he's not starting when he should be. Just by himself he'd be worth more wins than Ashraf Amaya in the post.

What this means for the Rockets
Houston's been trying to unload Mutombo all year and given his age, a high 2nd is fair value. But if Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon goes down, watch out!

Winner: Vancouver
The Rockets put their center position in a precarious spot, because if Hakeem goes down, Sean Rooks scares no one.

Indiana Pacers receive
PG David Wesley

Philadelphia 76ers receive
SF Dickey Simpkins

What this means for the Pacers
Wesley's got a great long-range shot and he's disciplined, but that's all you can really say about him.

What this means for the 76ers
Simpkins is a raw, lazy 26 year old with no redeeming value to speak of, other than perhaps his alleged ability to play spots 1 to 3.

Winner: Indiana
A dull trade, but Wesley has some legitimate value. Simpkins has none.

Indiana Pacers receive
SG Eric Washington

Charlotte Hornets receive
Indiana Pacers 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Pacers
Indiana's determined to keep making the playoff push, but the 24 year old Washington, who was a second round pick last year (19th selection in round), isn't the way to go about it. He can't shoot at all, can't pass and is only a mediocre defender.

What this means for the Hornets
A scrub second round youth for a mid-late first is always a winning combination and it's another move we see played out here.

Winner: Charlotte
Don't think Hornets fans have gotten over the Glen Rice/Larry Johnson deal though, because they haven't.

New York Knicks receive
SG Mitch Richmond

Chicago Bulls receive
New York Knicks 2nd round pick

What this means for the Knicks
Richmond's shooting ability fell off a cliff during last year's playoffs and still hasn't returned. That said, the 33 year old is still a good defender and, arguably most importantly, he's a disciplined, intelligent veteran who can serve as the team's 6th man and mentor the glut of young New York guards.

What this means for the Bulls
A high 2nd for an aging Richmond is decent value, but after Derrick Coleman tore his ACL and was lost for the year, the onus really gets put on Toni Kukoc and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf to step up the bench scoring.

Winner: Draw
Both teams benefit about the same amount.

New Jersey Nets receive
C Jelani McCoy

Chicago Bulls receive
Los Angeles Lakers 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Nets
McCoy is raw, but the 21 year old rookie, taken with the last pick in the first round, has potential to be a good all-around center. However, the Nets are in love with Samaki Walker as their 6th man, so McCoy's not going to get near the minutes he needs to in order to develop.

What this means for the Bulls
What is it about lottery teams overrating Bulls' players and giving Chicago lottery firsts? The Bulls get another gift here and while the player won't be another Tim Duncan, if the balls bounce right, they could end up with another Top 3 selection. That's if the Lakers don't implode and become even worse than they are now.

Winner: Chicago
It's a cliche, but unbelieva-bull is the only way to describe it. It's Jamie Feick all over again.

Phoenix Suns receive
SF Cedric Henderson

Charlotte Hornets receive
SG Jeffrey Sheppard

What this means for the Suns
The 24 year old Henderson may not have the glittering qualities that the recently traded Michael Finley does, but he's a good defender with some scoring pop off the bench and is versatile.

What this means for the Hornets
Sheppard's an out and out chucker and that's the most positive thing you can say about this young man. Absolutely worthless.

Winner: Phoenix
Nice steal by the Suns in getting a partial replacement for Finley by dealing a nobody.

I was absolutely thunderstruck by the Bulls' dealing of McCoy. Even if they didn't threepeat, between Tim Duncan and whoever they landed from the Nets' pick, they'd reload in a hurry.

Tom Gugliotta's return was a 19 point, 10 rebound success as we edged the Cavaliers 106-99 in OT. Alonzo Mourning drew praise for his 19 point, 10 rebound, 6 block showing, but Jalen Rose led us in scoring with 20 points and 10 assists and Glen Rice was all-around good with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Michael Finley was first off the bench with 11 points. Terrell Brandon had 21 points and 11 assists for the Cavs, but it was perhaps Kenny Anderson's 19 bench points and Tyrone Hill's 14 reserve rebounds that were most impressive. Brett Szabo also netted 13 points and 10 rebounds.

I couldn't believe the Spurs were only .500, so when we lost 102-99 the next night, I wasn't too perturbed. David Robinson and Sean Elliott torched us for 21 and 24 points, negating Glen Rice's 25 points and Tom Gugliotta's 16 points, 14 rebounds and 5 steals.

And then began our annual February road trip from hell.

We started off by smashing the Clippers 120-84 behind sensational 31 point performances by Glen Rice and Allen Iverson, with 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 11 rebounds, 7 assists besides. Alonzo Mourning doubled for 15 points and 10 rebounds.

And then Michael Finley's acquisition became all the more important, because Glen Rice tore his MCL towards the end of the game and was naturally gone for the year.

It was sobering news to receive as we traveled to Oakland the next night and played shell-shocked in losing 97-88 to the Warriors. Allen Iverson got it together for 17 points and 12 assists, but the rest of the team was awful. Joe Smith abused us for 20 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks and Latrell Sprewell added 22 points. Travis Knight piled it all on with 11 points and 18 rebounds.

What became readily apparent is that we needed a scorer off the bench.

And then a gift fell in our laps.

Boston Celtics receive
PG John Stockton

Utah Jazz receive
C Pervis Ellison
Denver Nuggets 1999 2nd round pick
Phoenix Suns 2000 2nd round pick
Phoenix Suns 2001 2nd round pick

What this means for the Celtics
We've seen this before, where Boston acquires an aging star where it didn't work out (see: Patrick Ewing), but something tells us the 36 year old Stockton will be different. He'll start at PG alongside Allen Iverson, allowing the Celtics to move the dynamite Jalen Rose to 6th man, where Rose can fulfill Chauncey Billups's old role in the wake of Glen Rice's torn MCL. For even at his age, Stockton's still a premiere passer and very good defender. Another possibility, and perhaps one more likely, is Stockton/Iverson/Rose/Tom Gugliotta/Alonzo Mourning[/b] with Michael Finley then the 6th man.

What this means for the Jazz
There's understandable outrage in Salt Lake City over the trading of an institution and the Stockton-to-Malone connection will be no more. But with the Jazz decaying and Karl "The Mailman" Malone out with a broken ankle, it's time to start rebuilding. Ellison at 31 obviously isn't part of the plan, but he's here only for salary purposes, even if he's a very good rebounder and shotblocker. This deal's about getting Utah the plethora of 2nds of unknown value to work with, giving rookie Damon Jones the starting job now rather than later and getting Stockton a shot at a ring before he retires. With just 18 wins on the season, it's time to acknowledge an era is over.

Winner: Draw
While this move may push the Celtics to a title, it also weakens their big man depth considerably, especially since Ellison worked so well with last year's squad. There's also a chance Stockton could be another Ewing in green, so it's a gamble. On the other hand, Utah has to face fan anger and open questioning as to if they got sufficient value for Stockton.

It was gutsy, but it had to be done. As it turned out, I decide to start with the Stockton/Iverson/Rose/Gugliotta/Mourning five with Finley off the bench.

While it wasn't exactly the best test of the new lineup, we dethroned the Kings 100-69. Jalen Rose adapted beautifully to the small forward spot if his 23 points were any indication. Allen Iverson bounded for 26 points and 10 rebounds and John Stockton had a nice Celtics debut with 12 points and 11 assists. Michael Finley showed signs of being that guy off the bench with 13 points. The Kings had all of 3 players who scored even so much as 5 points: Jason Caffey with 21 bench points, Brian Grant with 20 and Vince Carter with 9.

For the second straight game, we held our opponents to just 2 players in double-digit figures and under 70 points as we beat Denver 81-68. Allen Iverson and Jalen Rose each scored 21 and Alonzo Mourning doubled for 10 points and 11 rebounds. Dino Radja got some measure of revenge on me for 22 points and 11 rebounds, but that was all.

Defense continued to be our new calling card as we trekked to Salt Lake and met a conflicted crowd in our 96-76 muting of the Jazz. Damon Jones did his best Stockton impersonation with 17 points and 10 assists and Theo Ratliff scored 12 bench points. But even though John Stockton didn't have a great game, Alonzo Mourning and Tom Gugliotta stepped up with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 23 points respectively. Michael Finley chipped in 11 bench points. While we were 3-0 since the trade, the Jazz hadn't won a game yet.

We didn't send anyone to the Rookies/Sophomores game, but the second years destroyed the first years 112-87 on MVP Keith Van Horn's 33 points. And that was with Tim Duncan missing the game because of a foor injury.

The weariness of the road finally overtook us in Phoenix the next night and we blew it in the fourth quarter to fall 106-102. Sharone Wright shredded us for 29 points, Kevin Johnson added 20, Shawnelle Scott doubled for 10 points and 15 rebounds and Danny Manning and Chauncey Billups knocked in 12 and 11 points from the bench. Howard Eisley actually outdueled Billups with 15 bench points, but outside of him and Alonzo Mourning's 20 points, we were inconsistent with our shooting.

Allen Iverson was named the starting PG for the East, but had an awful 1 for 10 night, a key contributor to the West's 98-80 victory. Grant Hill was a deserving MVP for the losers though with 31 points, highest on the night by far.

East All-Stars
PG Allen Iverson
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Grant Hill
PF Chris Webber
C Shaquille O'Neal
Juwan Howard
Ray Allen
Terrell Brandon
Jermaine O'Neal
Vin Baker
Reggie Miller
Predrag Stojakovic

West All-Stars
PG Jason Kidd
SG Vince Carter
SF Jamal Mashburn
PF Kevin Garnett
C Marcus Camby
David Robinson
Cedric Ceballos
Antonio McDyess
Stephon Marbury
Latrell Sprewell
Hakeem Olajuwon
Kevin Johnson

Despite the close loss to the Suns and despite the sprained ankle Allen Iverson picked up in the All-Star game, I decided to sit quiet at the trade deadline. We still needed to let the new unit gel.

A few days rest and the Nets meant a 120-92 stroll in the Garden State. Alonzo Mourning hammered Jersey for 33 points, Tom Gugliotta wasn't far off with 28 points and John Stockton picked up 17 points and 13 assists. Priest Lauderdale had 23 points for the Nets, while Tariq Abdul-Wahad doubled for 16 points and 10 rebounds and Lindsey Hunter burst off the bench for 17 points.

The Pacers had really improved thanks to their wheeling and dealing and were 35-19 when we hosted them the next evening. I was wary and rightly so as they hung a 93-89 loss on us that wasn't as close as the final score appeared. Doug Christie went ballistic for 29 points as the starting SG and Reggie Miller chipped in 16 points and 11 assists. Even with Alonzo Mourning's 30 points and Michael Finley's 12 bench points, we couldn't do it. Our biggest rivals in the Central were just too good.

Ray Allen loved playing against us and he did it again with 40 points, but we still won over the Hornets 91-79 thanks to Jalen Rose (22 points, 14 rebounds), Tom Gugliotta (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Michael Finley's 13 bench points.

We coasted to a 96-83 win versus the Sonics in our next game. Shawn Kemp's 21 points and 12 rebounds and Steve Smith's 14 bench points were neutralized by Allen Iverson's 24 points, Alonzo Mourning's 19 points and 10 rebounds, Tom Gugliotta's 16 points and 12 rebounds and John Stockton's 12 points and 10 assists.

Hard-charging Chicago was our final game of February the next night on the Bulls' court. Like Indiana, I worried about this one. And indeed, the Bulls overran us 98-82 despite 25 points from Jalen Rose and 22 points from John Stockton. Michael "Air" Jordan had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Sam Cassell scored 20. But the big story of the night wasn't either of those two. It was trade deadline pickup Vin Baker's 21 points and 11 rebounds out of the center spot.

So I greeted March with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we were 41-17 and with a two game lead on the Magic. On the other hand, Detroit was 49-7 and the Pacers and Bulls were improved enough to make a serious run at our #2 spot along with Orlando. Glen Rice's absence was a major one, to be sure.

The Rockets still held the West at 40-18, an astounding 11 games ahead of the .500 Timberwolves and Spurs. Utah had managed to win a couple games, but were still bad at 20-36. Meanwhile, Seattle surged to the Pacific lead, 36-21 giving them a 1.5 game advantage on the Suns.

NBA Leaders

Points
1. Ray Allen (CHA) - 27.5
2. Chris Webber (WAS) - 24.3
3. Grant Hill (DET) - 24.0

Assists
1. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 12.1
2. Stephon Marbury (HOU) - 10.2
3. Kevin Johnson (PHO) - 9.3

Rebounds
1. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 12.2
2. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 11.8
3. Chris Webber (WAS) - 10.8

Blocks
1. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 3.7
2. Jermaine O'Neal (DET) - 3.2
3. Shawn Bradley (PHI) - 3.1

Steals
1. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 2.4
2. Gary Payton (SEA) - 2.2
T3. Derek Anderson (PHO) - 2.1
T3. Bruce Bowen (IND) - 2.1
T3. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 2.1

Rookies Leaders

Points
T1. Vince Carter (SAC) - 19.5
T1. Predrag Stojakovic (ATL) - 19.5
3. Jason Williams (HOU) - 17.4

Assists
1. Mike Bibby (MIA) - 9.0
2. Earl Boykins (LAL) - 7.9
3. Jason Williams (HOU) - 5.5

Rebounds
1. Brad Miller (TOR) - 9.0
2. Nazr Mohammed (ATL) - 8.8
3. Michael Doleac (SEA) - 6.2

Blocks
1. Raef LaFrentz (ORL) - 2.2
2. Brad Miller (TOR) - 2.1
3. Jerome James (LAC) - 1.2

Steals
1. Jason Williams (HOU) - 1.8
T2. Ruben Patterson (LAC) - 1.5
T2. Predrag Stojakovic (ATL) - 1.5

Boston Celtics Leaders

Points
1. Glen Rice - 21.7*
2. Allen Iverson - 19.0
3. Jalen Rose - 17.9

Assists
1. John Stockton - 8.4
2. Allen Iverson - 6.8
3. Jalen Rose - 4.8

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 8.7
2. Alonzo Mourning - 8.2
3. Glen Rice - 6.5*

Blocks
1. Alonzo Mourning - 2.6
2. Jalen Rose - 0.9
3. Tom Gugliotta - 0.7

Steals
1. Allen Iverson - 1.6
2. Tom Gugliotta - 1.5
3. Glen Rice - 1.3*

Our lead scorer, third-leading rebounder and third-leading stealer all out in the form of Rice. Granted, we'd had to deal with that hardship before in last year's playoffs, but it was tough going without him nonetheless.

[Izulde]

I know you're eager to hear about how the Bulls acquired Vin Baker, but there were other deals, of course.

Detroit Pistons receive
PF Kornel David

Philadelphia 76ers receive
Detroit Pistons 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Pistons
David, 27, is an old rookie who chucks up a lot of shots and that's pretty much the only thing he does, as he's terrible in everything else. A puzzling addition for the league's best team.

What this means for the 76ers
It's not likely to yield a star at #29 and Philadelphia already has just 3 players age 30 or older on the team, but any player they get is bound to better than David, who was a mistake at #24.

Winner: Philadelphia
A player as overrated as David could destroy Detroit's dreams of championship glory.

Seattle Supersonics receive
PF Kurt Thomas

Miami Heat receive
Seattle Supersonics 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Supersonics
Thomas, 26, may not take many shots, but when he does pop off with a jumper, he usually converts. He's also a fantastic rebounder, even if he's a turnover machine and poorly disciplined. He'll step in as the starting small forward for Seattle as they try to break through and get to the Finals.

What this means for the Heat
It's a late first, but the pick isn't the real reason Miami made this move. Instead, dealing Thomas allows them to start rookie Antawn Jamison full-time at PF, a spot held down by Thomas since the beginning of the season. The Heat's going nowhere this season, so developing Jamison, who has All-Star potential, is their best move.

Winner: Miami
Developing Jamison + a first = winner.

Orlando Magic receive
PF Karl Malone

Utah Jazz receive
Orlando Magic 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Magic
Orlando saw a huge opportunity when John Stockton went to the Celtics a few days ago and they took advantage, acquiring the Mailman for their first. Malone hasn't lost a single step in his age 35 season, still averaging 22+ points with 53%+ shooting. The Magic have just made a huge push towards the championship, as the Mailman, Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway are a deadly trio.

What this means for the Jazz
A late first for a 35 year old half-season rental is pretty darn good, even if it's one of the greats. On the one hand, you have to admire Utah's determination in committing themselves to rebuilding. On the other hand, you can't help but feel they should've gotten more than they did for Stockton and Malone, especially with how angry their fans are right now.

Winner: Orlando
This could very well mean a trophy in Florida. Bonus points in that Stockton and Malone are now playing for division foes.

Chicago Bulls receive
PF Vin Baker

Milwaukee Bucks receive
PG Ron Harper
Los Angeles Lakers 1999 1st round pick

What this means for the Bulls
When Chicago struggled in November, most people wrote the Bulls off. Then they came charging back and they've capped off with a stunning grab in Baker, who's averaging 21 points a game on 55% shooting. An extremely disciplined, smart player, he may be average outside his scoring and shooting ability, but the 27 year old All-Star is the best player the Bulls have put up at center in years and that includes Dennis "The Worm" Rodman.

What this means for the Bucks
The Lakers pick is a surefire lottery selection and likely a high lottery pick at that in a pretty nice draft class. Kobe Bryant and Bonzi Wells are 20 and 22 respectively and while Bryant's having a breakthrough year in his third season, the best is ahead for both of them. Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson is still just 26, so with their pick and the Lakers' first, Milwaukee could put together their future in a hurry. Harper's a $5.2 million expiring contract, a million more than Baker's.

Winner: Draw
As incredible as it sounds, this is a fantastic and equal move for both squads, as it fits in perfectly with their plans. Chicago would have the edge if Baker was signed for more than a year, but the Bulls will have to try and retain him in free agency.

Houston Rockets receive
C Dean Garrett

New York Knicks receive
Houston Rockets 1999 2nd round pick

What this means for the Rockets
Exceptional rebounder? Check. Great defender? Check. Great shotblocker? Check. Fills a gaping void? Double-plus check. Houston was in serious trouble if Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon got hurt, but in the 32 year old Garrett, they got a very capable ill-in and a huge upgrade at backup center. Although he's not a good shooter, he showed in Boston that he's capable of being a fifth starter.

What this means for the Knicks
Garrett may be in his third season, but he's too old to be in the Knicks' plans. It's a late second that will probably never make New York's roster, so the only real benefit is more time for Tim Thomas and Lorenzen Wright.

Winner: Houston
Although the development time is useful, Garrett helps the Rockets immensely.

I was aghast when I heard about the Malone and Baker trades, the Malone deal especially. We were already in a dogfight for the Atlantic and the Magic's cunning steal of a player who'd given us problems in the past only added to the difficulty.

But we resolved to press on, because that was the only thing we could do.

The Bucks paid for their dealing of Baker with a 114-100 loss. Allen Iverson scored 21, Alonzo Mourning 20 and John Stockton had 14 points and 13 assists. Michael Finley added in 18 bench points, though he was bested by Steve Kerr's 19 bench points for the Bucks and Corliss Williamson ensured Milwaukee's reserves won that battle with 13 points of his own.

Our starters scored all but 4 of our points in a 118-96 crushing of the Clippers. Alonzo Mourning led the parade with 29 points, Tom Gugliotta followed with 23 points and 16 rebounds, Allen Iverson matched Gugliotta's 23 points, Jalen Rose scored 20 and John Stockton just missed all five starters with 20+ points as he netted 19 points and 17 assists. Loy Vaught's 12 points and 11 rebounds and Danny Ferry's 16 bench points were nothing in the face of that onslaught.

It's not often a team gets blown out when one of their players scores 36 points, but as the only player on his team to score more than 7 points, that's exactly what happened to Terrell Brandon and his Cavaliers. We locked them down 106-69, our offensive fireworks provided by Allen Iverson's 31 points, Tom Gugliotta's 20 points and 10 rebounds and John Stockton's 14 points and 10 assists.

We went to Milwaukee a couple nights later and beat up the Bucks 116-90. Tom Gugliotta hammered them for 24 points and 14 rebounds, Allen Iverson racked up 25 points, Jalen Rose scored 21 and John Stockton handed out 13 points and 16 assists. Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson scored 21, while Corliss Williamson picked up 14 bench points.

Alonzo Mourning finished off Philadelphia with 27 points in our 94-78 win, aided by Michael Finley's 13 bench points. Jerry Stackhouse scored 20 for the 76ers and former Celtic Brian Shaw added 12 bench points, but we still won comfortably.

We went to Cleveland the next night and I smelled a classic trap game. We won, but it required a second half comeback on the wings of Allen Iverson's 31 points and Tom Gugliotta's 19 points and 10 rebounds. The 90-83 margin was close, even if the Cavs' most statistically noteworthy showing was Etdrick Bohannon's 10 points and 10 rebounds.

And then we got back to routing form with a devastating 113-60 win over the Nets. I'll let the box score speak for itself:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/routfun.jpg

It was one of my finest coaching moments, even given how terrible the Nets were that year.

Our biggest game of the month came next, a highly anticipated showdown with the Orlando Magic for the first time with Karl "The Mailman" Malone on their roster. And I'm happy to report we won easily, 104-89. Yes, Shaquille O'Neal got 22 points and 19 rebounds and Karl Malone scored 20, but we had 3 players with 20+ points. Allen Iverson led all scorers with 28 points, Tom Gugliotta bulldozed his way to 22 points and 14 rebounds and Jalen Rose hit 20 on the nose. John Stockton put the icing on the cake, beating his old teammate's new team with 11 points and 13 assists.

I feared a letdown after that sweet win and sure enough, the Nuggets beat us 99-95 a couple nights later, which also hurt our draft position. Jalen Rose's 26 points were undone by 20 points from Anthony Parker, Scot Pollard's 14 points and 10 rebounds and, in the biggest shocker, Vitaly Potapenko's 22 bench points on a blazing 10 for 12 night. Disappointing to say the least.

But we shrugged the misstep off to chill the Heat 107-78. Alonzo Mourning was in a foul mood after the Denver loss and abused his old team for 26 points and 8 blocks that went neatly with Allen Iverson's 21 points and John Stockton's 11 points and 14 assists.

I always hated playing Indiana in those years and so was quite happy to beat the Pacers 96-81 on their home court. As impressive as Allen Iverson's 33 points and Tom Gugliotta's 17 points and 18 rebounds were, Alonzo Mourning blew them both out of the water with a 23 point, 14 rebound, 8 block performance. Again, we kept the opposing team from any highlight players.

But Kevin Garnett wasn't going to be stopped the next night in Minneapolis. He had a beautiful game with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Unfortunately for him, none of the other Timberwolves showed up and we won 100-82. Jalen Rose scored 23 and he was supported by a couple of double-doubles from Alonzo Mourning (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Allen Iverson (18 points, 10 rebounds. Mourning only got 3 blocks that game, by the way, ending his mini 8-block game streak. Michael Finley led the reserves with 11 points.

Off we went to Philadelphia, where Jerry Stackhouse's 24 points were blown by in our 118-72 romp. Allen Iverson and Jalen Rose each scored 25 and Tom Gugliotta and Alonzo Mourning double-doubled with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 15 points, 13 rebounds respectively.

The home and away against the Hawks finished off March and we won the first leg, 89-73 on Alonzo Mourning's 23 points, Allen Iverson's 13 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Dudley's 10 bench points in 7 minutes. Predrag Stojakovic scored a game-high 26 points and Allen Henderson banged his way to 12 points and 11 rebounds. I admired the rookie Stoja a great deal and really wanted him on our team, but I knew such dreams would have to wait.

Although Mookie Blaylock scored 25, the game in Atlanta went much easier. Just two Hawks scored in double-digit figures and we strung them up 97-71. Allen Iverson took high scorer honors with 27, Alonzo Mourning netted 22 points and John Stockton doubled for 11 points and 12 assists.

Just one loss away from reprising our undefeated 15-0 March of the year before. One letdown game against the Nuggets from a repeat 15-0.

It was tough to swallow, but we contented ourselves with our clinched third straight Atlantic title at 55-18. Orlando had problems adjusting to their new lineup and had unexpectedly struggled with chemistry issues. As a result, they were 10.5 back at 44-28. We didn't have much chance of catching the 61-10 Pistons, but on the other hand, we ourselves looked pretty secure with the #2 seed ahead of 50-21 Chicago, who didn't have any difficulty absorbing their All-Star deadline pickup.

Houston looked to be in good shape to have the West's top seed at 50-22 and already clinched the Midwest. 44-28 Phoenix and Seattle were deadlocked atop the Pacific. Denver had unexpectedly tanked and were 30-42 and a likely lottery team, while Utah was 25-47, also lotto-bound.

It was a great position to be in, all in all. The Pistons would have pressure on them to live up to their exalted regular season record and the Bulls had the weight of the threepeat chase hanging over their heads.

On the other hand, despite our probable #2 seed, nobody was giving us much opportunity to win the title. Chicago, Detroit and Orlando were too strong, everyone said. All the Magic needed was more time to envelope the Mailman more completely into their system and the Pistons and Bulls were two of the hottest things going.

It was an underdog role I secretly relished.

Celtics Leaders

Points
1. Glen Rice - 21.7*
2. Allen Iverson - 19.8
3. Jalen Rose - 17.7
4. Alonzo Mourning - 15.7

Assists
1. John Stockton - 9.1
2. Allen Iverson - 6.2
3. Jalen Rose - 4.5

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 9.1
2. Alonzo Mourning - 8.1
3. Glen Rice - 6.5*
4. Jalen Rose - 5.4

Blocks
1. Alonzo Mourning - 2.7
T2. Tom Gugliotta - 0.8
T2. Jalen Rose - 0.8

Steals
T1. Allen Iverson - 1.6
T1. Tom Gugliotta - 1.6
T3. Glen Rice - 1.3*
T3. John Stockton - 1.3

[Izulde]

With but a handful or so of games to play and our position relatively assured, we wanted to avoid two things: complete implosion and another crippling injury a la Glen Rice.

That's not to say the final set was devoid of interesting contests. For one, we started off with a matchup against the Magic. They beat us 104-97 as we couldn't come back from an 18 point halftime deficit. Shaquille O'Neal grabbed 24 points and 11 rebounds, Nick Anderson scored 20 and Penny Hardaway made it 3 20+ with 20 points of his own. In this way, Allen Iverson's 25 points, Tom Gugliotta's 21 points and 10 rebounds and Alonzo Mourning's 12 points and 11 rebounds were inconsequential.

And yet, we managed to stifle dominating Detroit 107-80. Allen Iverson elevated for 27 points, Jalen Rose scored 24, and Tom Gugliotta was a rebounding machine with 18 points and 21 rebounds. Alonzo Mourning repeated his prior 12 point, 11 rebound showing and Michael Finley scored 12 bench points. For the Pistons, Eddie Jones surpassed Finley by 1 with 13 bench points, Grant Hill netted 20 points and 10 rebounds and Jermaine O'Neal found his way to 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Outside of Larry Johnson's 21 points, the Knicks posed no threat and went down 111-67. Allen Iverson led the way with 30 points and 4 steals, Jalen Rose scored 22, Tom Gugliotta picked up a poor man's double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and Michael Finley scored 15 off the bench.

Our rivalry with the Bullets certainly appeared short lived as we stopped them 116-94 the next evening. Rasheed Wallace's 36 points were reversed by balanced offense highlighted by 21 points from Allen Iverson and Jalen Rose, 14 points and 10 assists from John Stockton and Michael Finley's 16 bench points.

Points came in profusion as we pulverized Toronto 130-95. Jalen Rose (29), Alonzo Mourning (22) and Allen Iverson (20) each broke the 20 point barrier, while Michael Finley tacked on 14 bench points. Chris Antsey had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, but it was an insignificant line, all in all.

The Pistons were hungry to avenge themselves on us, but we calmly went to Auburn Hills and beat them by 10, 106-96 courtesy of a 33-17 come from behind fourth quarter. Allen Iverson poured on 32 points, Alonzo Mourning banged inside for 16 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks and Michael Finley tapped in 14 bench points. No doubt frustrating for Detroit, who had Grant Hill's 24 points and 14 rebounds, Jermaine O'Neal's 12 points and 11 rebounds and Eddie Jones's 18 bench points to show for their efforts.

We again proved Bullet-proof, winning 107-91 on a superior frontline performance. Jalen Rose scored 29 and Tom Gugliotta and Alonzo Mourning each scored 20 as half of a double-double, 16 and 10 rebounds respectively the other half. Howard Eisley commanded the reserves with 11 points. Tough luck for Chalbert Cheaney's 25 points and Pat Garrity's 18 bench points.

Complacency set in against the Nets and we barely escaped with a one point win over one of the league's worst teams, 96-95. Tariq Abdul-Wahad sprung 20 points on us and Priest Lauderdale hauled in 17 points and 10 rebounds. We were bailed out only by Allen Iverson's 29 points, Tom Gugliotta's 12 points and 11 rebounds and Michael Finley's 10 bench points.

Our final game of the regular season was a pedestrian 95-84 win over the Knicks, Mitch Richmond's 18 bench points overrun by Jalen Rose's 25 points and 12 rebounds and Tom Gugliotta's 14 points and 14 rebounds.

We improved over last year's 60 win season with a 63-19 mark, but repeated our #2 seed. On the other hand, by sweeping the Pistons in the last two games, we spoiled their bid for 70 wins, forcing them to settle for a heartbreaking 69-13.

East Conference Seedings
1. Detroit Pistons (69-13)
2. Boston Celtics (63-19)
3. Chicago Bulls (59-23)
4. Orlando Magic (52-30)
5. Indiana Pacers (51-31)
6. Atlanta Hawks (49-33)
7. Charlotte Hornets (44-38)
8. Toronto Raptors (40-42)

West Conference Seedings
1. Houston Rockets (58-24)
2. Phoenix Suns (50-32)
3. Seattle Supersonics (49-33)
4. Portland Trailblazers (46-36)
5. Minnesota Timberwolves (43-39)
6. San Antonio Spurs (42-40)
7. Golden State Warriors (42-40)
8. Dallas Mavericks (40-42)

Glen Rice was extremely disappointed about not being able to play against his old team, but it was how it was. We would just have to bear up and find a way to beat the Hornets without him.

NBA Leaders

Points
1. Ray Allen (CHA) - 26.6
2. Chris Webber (WAS) - 24.3
3. Grant Hill (DET) - 23.1

Assists
1. Jason Kidd (DAL) - 12.0
2. Stephon Marbury (HOU) - 10.2
3. John Stockton (BOS) - 9.3

Rebounds
1. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 12.1
2. Chris Webber (WAS) - 11.0
T3. Kevin Garnett (MIN) - 10.5
T3. Dennis Rodman (CHI) - 10.5

Blocks
T1. Marcus Camby (DAL) - 3.5
T1. Jermaine O'Neal (DET) - 3.5
3. Shawn Bradley (PHI) - 3.1

Steals
1. Gary Payton (SEA) - 2.3
2. Mookie Blaylock (ATL) - 2.2
T3. Derek Anderson (PHO) - 2.0
T3. Karl Malone (ORL) - 2.0
T3. Rick Brunson (MIL) - 2.0
T3. Michael Jordan (CHI) - 2.0
T3. Bruce Bowen (IND) - 2.0

Rookies

Points
1. Predrag Stojakovic (ATL) - 20.0
2. Vince Carter (SAC) - 19.9
3. Jason Williams (HOU) - 16.2

Assists
1. Mike Bibby (MIA) - 8.1
2. Earl Boykins (LAL) - 7.8
3. Jason Williams (HOU) 5.7

Rebounds
1. Nazr Mohammed (ATL) - 8.5
2. Brad Miller (TOR) - 8.2
3. Raef LaFrentz (ORL) - 5.8

Blocks
1. Raef LaFrentz (ORL) - 2.2
2. Brad Miller (TOR) - 2.1
3. Jerome James (LAC) - 1.3

Steals
1. Jason Williams (HOU) - 1.9
2. Ruben Patterson (LAC) - 1.7
3. Predrag Stojakovic (ATL) - 1.5

[hoopsguy]

Wow, the East is awfully rugged this year. Even with Rice I'm not sure you would be a favorite against those teams.

[Izulde]

Wow, the East is awfully rugged this year. Even with Rice I'm not sure you would be a favorite against those teams.

FWIW, I agree with you. :)

The Pistons, despite their sexy record, don't scare me.

It's the Bulls, Magic and Pacers that are the teams to watch in this playoffs, because of the pickups of Vin Baker and Karl Malone in the case of Chi-town and Orlando and because they just match up really well against us in the case of Indiana.

[Izulde]

In Search of Stockton's Ring
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/john-stockton-keeping-it-real.jpg
Utah Jazz legend John Stockton has been quietly efficient since coming to Boston at the deadline

John Stockton harbors no anger to the Jazz.

"Yes, it was disappointing to leave the team and Karl (Malone), but like Coach (Jerry) Sloan told me, it was my opportunity to win a ring before I retired", the 36 year old point guard said.

After star forward Glen Rice went down for the year with a torn MCL, the Boston Celtics needed to bring in another player to move a strong 6th man to the bench. That player turned out to be Stockton, who stepped in at point guard, allowing Jalen Rose to move to small forward and the versatile Michael Finley to shift to the 6th man spot.

Stockton's paid off great dividends for Boston in the short time he's been here. Since acquiring him at the trade deadline, the Celtics have been on a tear, aided greatly by his defense and playmaking ability.

Talk of a championship ring may sound premature, especially considering an East loaded with powerhouse teams who also made deadline moves like the two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls and the newly resurgent Orlando Magic, but Boston's definitely in the conversation, even without Rice, their leading scorer.

The second-seed Celtics' quest begins with a first round matchup against the Charlotte Hornets.

Point Guard
John Stockton vs. Brevin Knight
Don't let his age fool you. This isn't Patrick Ewing all over again. Stockton's an extremely intelligent, accurate shooter with unequalled passing ability. Plus, being on a good team allowed his assist per game total to jump up 1.1 per game after the move to Boston, allowing him to finish with regular season numbers of 10.8 points, 9.3 assists and 1.3 steals. He's the best perimeter defender the Celtics have had at the point in the Bobby Troilus era to boot.

The 23 year old Knight is an exceptional passer in his own right and an even better defender than Stockton, averaging 9.8 points, 7.8 assists and 1.4 steals. On the other hand, he's nowhere near as accurate a shooter or as intelligent a player.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson vs. Ray Allen
Last year's marquee first round matchup reprises itself here. Iverson really stepped up his game after Rice went down and averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.6 steals on the year, the first 20+ point per game season of his young career. A good, but not overpowering defender, there's few weaknesses in his game.

Allen won his second straight scoring title this season, with 26.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals. Not bad for a 14th overall pick in his third season. In many ways, he's a 5 inch taller version of AI, save for the fact that he's only a mediocre defender.

Advantage: Draw

Small Forward
Jalen Rose vs. Tyrone Nesby
Rose, an offseason acquisition from Denver, displayed great versatility as he started at PG, SG and SF during the regular season and shot 50.8% while compiling 18.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals. A very gifted player, he can shoot, pass and rebound and is one of the most disciplined players in the league. The one knock on him is that, like Allen, he's not a great defender.

The rookie Nesby, taken with the 16th overall pick, averaged 13 points and 1.2 steals, but he only shot 38.9% and developed a bit of a chucker reputation. Still very much a raw player with no outstanding attributes other than his scoring instincts, which doesn't bode well for him against the more experienced Rose.

Advantage: Celtics

Power Forward
Tom Gugliotta vs. Christian Laettner
The big question surrounding the Celtics' richest man: Can he stay healthy? His injuries in last year's playoffs and his broken nose earlier this season had a significant impact on Boston's fortunes. When healthy, Gugliotta's the perfect glue man: 14.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals. A smart player with beautiful shooting stroke, deadly rebounding instincts and underrated defense, his one flaw is a tendency to be turnover-prone.

Laettner's a carbon copy of Gugliotta except that he's more durable, but also more inconsistent. Still, he averaged 16.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, a block and 1.2 steals and he's eager to atone for his 34.7% first round ugliness last year against this same Boston team. Overall, though, he gives the impression of being a dilution of Gugliotta rather than being his true equal.

Advantage: Celtics

Center
Alonzo Mourning vs. Roy Rogers
Finally the Celtics found an answer at center in Mourning, a dynamite defender and shotblocker with good passing skills for a big man and a fairly accurate shot good for 15.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and a steal per game. Not an exceptional rebounder, though he does get his share and he's also notoriously injury-prone and in fact has a sprained wrist right now.

Rogers, a first round pick of Troilus's, has never relinquished the starting center spot since he entered the league. He's a poor shooter for a big, but he's a pretty good rebounder and defender and one of the top shotblockers in the league, posting 8.3 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks a game in the regular season. He'll have a rough time of it against Mourning, though.

Advantage: Celtics

Bench
The only reason Michael Finley is on the bench is because he can play 4 positions all extremely well and is one of those players who's good at all areas of the game, but master of none. He still averaged 11.4 points and a steal per game between Phoenix and Boston, starting just 38 games and making himself a strong 6th Man of the Year candidate. It'll be interesting to see if Chris Crawford can reprise his rookie postseason success, but by and large, this looks like a typically weak Boston bench.

Kendall Gill may only play 1-3, but he's Charlotte's answer to Finley, averaging 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Not a great ballhandler and only an average shooter, but he'll find a way to get his points. Grant Long is the textbook definition of average all-around player, though he does boast good defense to go with his 5.5 points per game. But overall, the Hornets' reserves look suspect, too.

Advantage: Draw

Final Thoughts
There just isn't an area where the Hornets can legitimately say they beat Boston. If Charlotte so much as wants to avoid a sweep, they'll need Ray Allen to go gangbusters on Allen Iverson and hope they can contain Boston's plethora of scoring options. A timely injury would help, too.
Prediction: Boston in 4

I wasn't sure about a sweep, but I'll admit, the matchup did look good for us on paper.

Game One
Ray Allen did cut loose for 23 points, but we held the Hornets to 33.3% shooting on the night and when Allen Iverson's firing for 27 points, Tom Gugliotta's hauling in 18 points and 16 rebounds, Alonzo Mourning 15 points and 16 rebounds, and John Stockton's seeing his way to 11 points and 12 assists, you know this was just an out and out blowout.
Final - Charlotte 66 Boston 91

Game Two
I didn't think all the games would be a repeat of Game 1 and the Hornets were furious after their opening humiliation. Ray Allen broke out for 31 points, Christian Laettner scorched us for 24 points, Roy Rogers put up 10 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks and Kendall Gill came off the bench for a huge 16 points. We responded with 21 points from Jalen Rose and 20 points and 10 rebounds from Tom Gugliotta, but it wasn't enough to prevent the five point upset to tie the series.
Final - Charlotte 97 Boston 92

Game Three
The firefight between the star shooting guards continued and in the first Charlotte game, Allen Iverson scored 31 to outpoint Ray Allen's 26. The Hornets won the bench battle, though, as Michael Finley's 14 points were countered and passed by Kendall Gill's 13 points and Grant Long's 10 points. It was with the other starters that the game was ultimately decided and Tom Gugliotta and Alonzo Mourning's matching 16 point, 11 rebound double-doubles paired with John Stockton's 11 points and 10 assists to carry us to an easy victory to seize back the momentum.
Final - Boston 109 Charlotte 91

Game Four
The Hornets knew if they lost here, they were done for. It didn't help when we jumped out to a 33-20 first quarter leader and Allen Iverson shut down Ray Allen all night, holding him to a 2 for 10 evening. Iverson led all scorers on top of it with 28 points. Jalen Rose chipped in 21 points and Alonzo Mourning's 12 points and 12 rebounds helped ensure that Charlotte's balance went all for nothing as we shoved the Hornets to the edge in a game that wasn't really as close as the score indicated.
Final - Boston 91 Charlotte 82

The Pistons earned some rest by sweeping the Raptors, but all other series played on.

Game Five
The Bulls and Hawks was a 3-1 series at this point, so I really wanted to close out in Boston. We did just that, ripping apart the Hornets with all five of our starters scoring 13 points or more, led by Jalen Rose's 26 points and Alonzo Mourning's 14 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrone Nesby's breakout 22 points came far too little, far too late, as did Kendall Gill's 14 bench points.
Winner - Charlotte 74 Boston 101

It was an important win, because it not only gave us the chance to heal up the minor nicks to Alonzo Mourning and Michael Finley while avoiding other serious injury, it also ensured we'd have the same amount of rest as the Bulls, who knocked out the Hawks in five.

The other first round series to end in 5 was Portland with what I thought was an upset over Minnesota.

All the other series were done in six games. Houston eliminated Dallas, Seattle punched out San Antonio and Phoenix brushed aside Golden State. And the Orlando Magic showed the importance of Karl "The Mailman" Malone by besting the Pacers.

It was going to be some great basketball in the East in the second round. 69-13 Detroit versus the beastly Magic in one half of the bracket and a repeat of last year's East Conference Finals in the other half between us and Chicago.

Did we have it in us to knock off the two-time defending NBA champion Bulls and destroy their threepeat dreams?

The only thing I knew is that it was going to be one hell of a challenge.

[Coffee Warlord]

Same rule as last year.

GO BULLS!

[Neuqua]

Same rule as last year.

GO BULLS!

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[rjolley]

Sorry Iz, but Go BULLS!!!

Team loyalty is thicker than dynasty loyalty.

[Autumn]

Oh man, I've got to pipe up again.

GO CELTICS

[Izulde]

Well, we'll just see how it goes. :)

Fact, I think I'll sim it now.

[Izulde]

Baker Best Bull
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/act_vin_baker.jpg
Vin Baker has been the catalyst and leading scorer for the Bulls this postseason and arguably their best acquisition

December 19th was a dark day in Chicago, for it was on that day that Derrick Coleman, the prize free agent signing and starting power forward for the Chicago Bulls, ended his season prematurely with a torn ACL.

The Bulls succeeded without him, however, and even went on to find a more than adequate replacement in Vin Baker at the trade deadline in a blockbuster deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Baker was the MVP of Chicago's opening round series against the Atlanta Hawks and he'll need to have another big outing if the Bulls hope to beat the high-octane offense of the Boston Celtics.

Like the Bulls, the Celtics lost a premiere starter when Glen Rice tore his MCL in mid-February and like Chicago, Boston found a capable replacement, although theirs was much earlier, as offseason trade pickup Jalen Rose filled Rice's big shoes, especially in the playoff opener against the Hornets.

Now these two dealing titans meet up again in a rematch of last year's East Conference Finals and it will take everything Boston has to stop the running of the Bulls to a threepeat.

Point Guard
John Stockton vs. Sam Cassell
Stockton hasn't exactly lit up the scoreboard so far in the playoffs, but he hasn't needed to. And when he does take his shots, he's been more hit than miss at 52.8%. 10.8 points, 10 assists and a steal per game is exactly what head coach/GM Bobby Troilus wanted out of him and the Celtics will rely on Stockton's fine perimeter defense to shut down Cassell.

Cassell proved last year you don't need an elite passer to win a championship and he's doing the same this season, averaging 16.8 points, 6.8 assists and 1.4 steals. The important thing is, even if he doesn't rack up the assists, he also doesn't turn over the ball. Disciplined and intelligent, he's unfortunately also not much of a defender. But against Stockton, that won't matter much.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson vs. Michael Jordan
Iverson averaged a magnificent 24.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and an incredible 3 steals per game in the opening round. Last year's playoff shooting woes are behind him as he converted at a 47.3% clip. He finally started making the strides he's capable of this season and he'll be a handful for His Airness.

But on the other hand, even at 35, Air Jordan has no weakness in his game. More importantly, he's deferring to his teammates as evidenced by his 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals so far. This matchup is going to be one of the most pivotal battles of the series, a titanic fight between a rising young star and the greatest player ever to play the game now in his twilight years.

Advantage: Draw

Small Forward
Jalen Rose vs. Scottie Pippen
Rose stepped up bigtime in the first round, shooting 49.4% for 18.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.8 blocks. In short, he's been precisely the kind of versatile, well-rounded player that the Celtics hope Michael Finley will be should he ever get promoted to the starting lineup. Rose also did an admirable job of containing Tyrone Nesby.

Pippen's completely lost his shooting stroke, as he struggled to hit 40% for the season and is 37% in the playoffs. He's also hampered by a strained knee. On the other hand, he's still a great defender at 33, making his 9.8 points, 2.2 steals and 1.2 blocks more valuable than first appears. There's a reason he's starting and that's to try and shut down Rose.

Advantage: Celtics

Power Forward
Tom Gugliotta vs. Tim Duncan
Gugliotta's been doing it again, averaging 16.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals. The rise of Rose has allowed Gugliotta to take more of a secondary role, one where he can concentrate on contributing in as many areas of the game as possible.

Unfortunately, he's got a tough draw in Duncan. Last year's #1 pick hasn't exactly scored a ton of points this year, either in the regular season or the postseason, but as his 16 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks illustrate, he's been as well-rounded as Gugliotta. His height and superior defense give him the edge here, though.

Advantage: Bulls

Center
Alonzo Mourning vs. Vin Baker
As celebrated as Rose has been, it's on Mourning's shoulders that the Celtics' ultimate destiny might rest. 12.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in the first round, but it's his superlative defense on Baker that's going to be all-important for Boston's advancement hopes.

And then there's Baker himself. 21.6 points, 7 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks. As electric a scorer as Mourning is a defender, he sets up the classic battle of unstoppable force vs immovable object. Smart and disciplined to boot. But he has his weaknesses as well. He's not a great rebounder and, perhaps most dangerously, he's only an average defender. That could prove fatal against the underrated offense of Mourning.

Advantage: Draw

Bench
It's been pretty much all Michael Finley with 6.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals, though Howard Eisley's 4.4 points and 3.4 assists have been comparatively impressive, considering them come in at just under 12 minutes per game. But Mourning -has- to stay healthy, because an ancient Chris Dudley is the top backup at center.

Toni Kukoc is the top scorer at 5 points a game off the bench, but he's struggled with his shot this year and he faces a top matchup against the defensively good Finley. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, despite his 4.6 points a game, has been even more poor a shooter. Dennis Rodman's now just a 4.2 rebounds per game reserve and nothing else, but at least Chicago has some big depth with The Worm and Adonal Foyle.

Advantage: Draw

Final Thoughts
Age is starting to catch up with the Bulls, even with their masterstroke and lucky additions of Duncan and Baker. The Celtics have simultaneously improved and frankly, this looks like a very difficult series to call on paper. Boston has to hope for a short series, though, because one injury to Mourning and they're done. In the end, it doesn't seem like they'll quite have enough against Chicago, but the C's should be back in it next year.
Prediction: Bulls in 6

I felt like we could win, but it was going to be a war.

Game One
One of the reasons I felt optimistic was because unlike last season, we had the homecourt advantage that year. That still didn't stop Tim Duncan from breaking out for 26 points or Vin Baker from putting up 22 points and 16 rebounds. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf scored 10 bench points and Dennis Rodman snagged 10 bench rebounds. But then Allen Iverson held His Airness to a 2 for 13 night, giving us hope. Jalen Rose scored 21 and Michael Finley rose off the bench for 18 points. However, victory was not secured until Alonzo Mourning abused Baker's porous defense for 42 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks in the standout performance of the playoffs for us so far. And so we went box to wire, never looking back from a 30-19 1st quarter lead.
Winner - Chicago 91 Boston 105

Game Two
I knew the Bulls weren't going to take the Game 1 loss lying down and Sam Cassell broke loose for 34 points. Tim Duncan stayed hot with 27 points and Vin Baker chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds. Allen Iverson had a splendid 33 points and 10 rebounds and Michael Finley scored 10 bench points, but Scottie Pippen earned his defensive rep by holding Jalen Rose to a 2 for 11 night and that was the differencemaker. The Bulls won by 5 to even up the series.
Winner - Chicago 94 Boston 89

Game Three
If we could just get a win in Chicago, I'd rest a lot easier. The Bulls owned the first quarter, however and were led in the game by Scottie Pippen's surprise 23 points and Tim Duncan's 17 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks. Unfortunately for the Bulls, Air Jordan was just 1 of 12 and Allen Iverson compounded the difficulties with 21 points. Tom Gugliotta snapped out of his funk for 22 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals and Alonzo Mourning posted 14 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks as we swept all the remaining quarters and won quite handily to go up 2-1.
Winner - Boston 94 Chicago 81

John Stockton's back locked up with spasms during Game 3, so against my better judgement, I started Howard Eisley at point guard. It was risking a blowup performance from Sam Cassell, but with a series lead, I felt we could gamble for a game.

Game Four
A ferocious defensive brawl played out this game and my fears of Sam Cassell playing great were unfounded, as he went 2 for 10. But Tim Duncan just missed a triple double with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks, Vin Baker just missed 20 points with 19 and Dennis "The Worm" Rodman had a staggering 18 bench boards. The combined efforts were just enough to beat Tom Gugliotta's 22 points and 14 rebounds and Chris Crawford's 13 bench points. And so we went back to Boston tied at 2.
Final - Boston 77 Chicago 81

No sweeps this round, which surprised me a little as I thought Houston would punch out Portland early.

Game Five
It goes without saying that this was regarded as the pivotal contest of the series and the Bulls played like it, with 4 Chicago players scoring 20+ points. Sam Cassell popped up with 26 points, as Howard Eisley was still starting, Vin Baker grabbed 24 points and 13 rebounds, Michael Jordan scored 22 and Tim Duncan 21 to go with his 6 blocks. We answered with Jalen Rose's 23 points, Alonzo Mourning's 21 points and 11 rebounds, Tom Gugliotta's 12 points and 15 rebounds and 10 bench points each from Michael Finley and John Stockton. In the end, it was Scottie Pippen's goose egg that felled the Bulls, handing us a 10 point win and the crucial 3-2 driver's seat.
Winner - Chicago 97 Boston 107

Houston eliminated Portland in 5, which was no surprise, but I was stunned when I heard that Detroit sent Orlando home in just five games. Evidently The Mailman still didn't deliver and the Pistons were better than most people gave them credit for.

Game Six
Winning in Chicago to close out would be great, but I knew a far more realistic scenario was a Game 7 in Boston. Vin Baker posted 21 points and 13 rebounds, Sam Cassell scored 27 and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf netted 12 bench points. Tom Gugliotta fired back with 28 points, Allen Iverson just missed the 20 point mark with 19 and Michael Finley chipped in with 11 bench points. It came down to a fierce fourth quarter rally on our parts and in the end, the 33-19 final 12 minute period gave us the comeback and the four point stunner over the two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls!!!!
Final - Boston 101 Chicago 97

It was deathly silent in the arena while we celebrated so joyously on the court. And I understand the fans' pain even as I was so happy for ourselves and our fans. Michael "Air" Jordan had looked very much an ordinary man this series and this might finally be his swan song.

I remember thinking at the time that there might never again be a modern-day dynasty like what we witnessed with those 90's Bulls. Of course, I hoped that we might be able to replicate it in terms of rings, but in terms of personality, of charisma and story, we likely wouldn't be able to.

Love them, hate them, the Bulls of that decade captured the attention and hearts of a nation. Even I, the Celtics fan, felt a love for those Bulls (of course, it was helped by the fact that my mother was a diehard Jordan fan and it was something that we bonded over).

But we were the ones to end it all that night in Chicago.

His Airness spoke to me during the post-game handshake and his words still ring in my ears to this day.

"Win this one for me. If I have to lose, let me lose to the champions."

I vowed aloud and silently to fulfill his wish.

Oh yes, that reminds me. The Suns beat the Sonics in six as well.

[Radii]

congrats!!!! Its sad seeing Jordan perform so badly though.

[Neuqua]

:(

[Izulde]

Radii: Thanks. And I agree. Happy to have won, sad to see Jordan struggle.

Neuqua: Sorry. :(

[Izulde]

Paradoxical Underdog Top Seeds To Face Off For East Crown
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/granthill.jpg
Grant Hill has been absolutely masterful for his Pistons this postseason

It isn't often that the #1 and #2 seeds in a tournament are the decided underdogs, but that's been precisely the case for the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics in the East Conference playoffs.

In spite of a stunning 69-13 record for Detroit and a third straight season of improved win totals in Boston, the heavy money was on the two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls, who picked up Vin Baker at the trade deadline and the Orlando Magic, who pulled off a stunner in getting Karl "The Mailman" Malone around the same time.

But here the Pistons and Celtics are, having legitimatized their regular season success by meeting up for the East Conference title and a trip to the Finlas for a shot at it all.

There's a chip on Detroit's shoulder, for it was their two losses to the Celtics in the final nine games of the regular season that cost the Pistons their shot at a record-breaking 70 wins and they'll be eager to beat Boston in revenge.

In counterpoint, Boston returns to the conference finals after losing in 6 to the eventual champion Bulls last year and are determined to break through this season as a validation of their decision to trade for John Stockton at the deadline and to prove their triumph over Michael Jordan's Bulls in the second round was no fluke.

It promises to be a tense, exciting series.

Point Guard
Howard Eisley/John Stockton vs. Tracy McGrady
Stockton's still bothered by back spasms, so Eisley of the 5.4 points and 4.7 assists will start the first two games. No matter which of them is on the court, however, the Celtics are guaranteed to have a supreme pass-first floor general, as Stockton garnered 8.6 points, 8.9 assists and 1.1 steals despite missing 3 starts. Stockton's defense will be key once he returns to full health.

At 19, McGrady is still raw, but he showed great strides in his second season, particularly in the playoffs, where he's averaging 15.9 points, 6.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks. A 6'8, 210 PG is a scary thing and while McGrady's best suited to play the 2,3, or even 4, his sparkling shooting ability means he can play anywhere 1-4. He's pretty good in all areas now, but if and when he fills out his potential, he'll be truly great and a legitimate franchise player. Boston can only be thankful that he's still in the developing stage.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson vs. Allan Houston
Iverson famously made Michael "Air" Jordan look old and ordinary in the last round while still showing great all-around flare with 21.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals. This postseason has truly been his coming out party and he's eager to prove it even more in this series.

Houston's got talent on the offensive end, but he's notorious for freezing up in the playoffs, which doesn't bode well against Iverson. He'd actually be a better fit with his passing and handling skills to run the point than McGrady. Has some rebounding ability as evidenced by his postseason averages of 12.4 points and 5 rebounds. But he's only an average defender and can't make the highlight defensive play. If he can't contain Iverson or at least find his regular season accuracy levels, this series could go the wrong way for the Pistons.

Advantage: Celtics

Small Forward
Jalen Rose vs. Grant Hill
Despite facing a defensive beast in Scottie Pippen the last round, Rose is still averaging 15.5 points, 5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 blocks a game in the playoffs in keeping with his multi-faceted game. Unfortunately, he also allowed a couple of 20+ point games from the offensively anemic Pippen, which spells trouble.

For Hill is averaging a breathtaking 24.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals in the playoffs. For a small forward to be averaging double-digit boards, you know that he's one of the most instinctual rebounders this side of The Worm and he's also a splendid passer and extremely intelligent, to say nothing of his incredible scoring gifts. He's also learned to be more patient with his shots, resulting in much higher accuracy. In short, there's not a flaw in his game.

Advantage: Pistons

Power Forward
Tom Gugliotta vs. Gheorghe Muresan
Celtics GM/head coach Bobby Troilus has been heard to remark that Gugliotta is Boston's most valuable player. And indeed, he brings the kind of great all-around game that's made him a multi-time All-NBA selection, evidenced in the playoffs by his 16.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. But it might more be the case that the Celtics lack depth behind him that makes him so valuable.

Detroit's hoping Muresan's 7'7 height is going to be enough to contain Gugliotta and limit his rebounding abilities. A careful shooter, who converts over 60% of his field goal attempts, Muresan has 10.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in the postseason, with just 6 starts. He can bang it inside, rebound and shotblock, but he's extremely undisciplined and isn't a good defender in spite of his blocking talents. His effectiveness may prove quite limited.

Advantage: Celtics

Center
Alonzo Mourning vs. Jermaine O'Neal
Mourning's defense has really carried the Celtics this playoffs and he's even 100% from downtown after a nailing a three-point shot in Game 6 versus the Bulls. 16 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 3.2 blocks in the postseason only start to tell the story of just how much his shutdown presence has been critical to Boston's success. He contained Chicago star Vin Baker last round and he'll be asked to do the same to youngster O'Neal here.

It may be unfair that a 20 year old has been hounded for his poor shot selection, but that's exactly what O'Neal's faced in his third season after being drafted 10th overall in the 1996 draft. Fortunately for the Pistons, he's found some shooting accuracy this postseason and is putting up 16.6 points, 12 rebounds and 3.3 blocks a game. He's nowhere near as good a defender as Mourning, but he's pretty good in his own right and he's just as dynamic a blocker, in addition to being a better rebounder. This is going to be an exciting matchup and the winner of this position fight might well win the series.

Advantage: Draw

Bench
Boston relies almost exclusively on Michael Finley's versatility and 8.9 points per game in the playoffs, with support from either Eisley or Stockton at the point. They're certain to look for an upgrade bench big man with one of their four first round picks in the upcoming draft.

Eddie Jones may not be a great passer, but he's a career 50.7% 3-point playoff shooter, who's averaging 12 points, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals this go-round. He's also an underrated defender with thieving skills that are almost without equal. Brian Evans is a chucker, which explains how he manages to average 8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game despite being the very definition of mediocre. Both teams only really go two-deep in quality on their bench, though.

Advantage: Draw

Final Thoughts
If Glen Rice was healthy, we'd still be calling this a close series. This is quite simply just a tough one to call, maybe even more difficult than the Celtics/Bulls series last round. In the end, though, we see homecourt advantage deciding it in a thrilling, all-out, 7 game full-limit epic.
Prediction: Detroit in 7

I couldn't fault them that and of course, there was always the worry of injury.

Game One
It was a capacity crowd and then some in Auburn Hills, the fans there excited beyond all measure to be playing us for the chance at the Finals and revenge. The noise was deafening at times and it definitely affected our players. Jalen Rose scored 20 and Tom Gugliotta picked up 16 points and 16 rebounds, but Grant Hill tore into us for 32 points and 10 rebounds and Jermaine O'Neal put up a masterful 20 points and 20 rebounds in a powerful rejection of all the pre-series press. We were never really in this one.
Final - Boston 88 Detroit 100

Game Two
Game 2 was damned frustrating. We had a 7 point halftime lead and pissed it all away. Grant Hill led a second half surge with 24 points, followed closely by Gheorghe Muresan's 23 points to combat Jalen Rose's 25 points and Tom Gugliotta's 24 points. Our fate was sealed by Jermaine O'Neal's 18 points and 10 rebounds, Tracy McGrady's 15 points and 10 assists and Eddie Jones's 11 bench points. Finding ourselves in an 0-2 hole was not a good way to start the series.
Final - Boston 98 Detroit 107

Game Three
I hoped the combined factors of being at home and having John Stockton back in the starting lineup would allow us to get back in the series. A close game followed in which Jermaine O'Neal thundered for 24 points, 17 rebounds and 6 blocks, Gheorghe Muresan scored 25 and Grant Hill netted 12 points and 12 rebounds. Alonzo Mourning showed up for 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and Tom Gugliotta got the weak man's double of 10 points, 10 rebounds. It looked quite grim, especially since Allen Iverson shot 4 for 20, until Jalen Rose turned on the afterburners for 36 points to give us the win. It was only by 5 points, but it was a victory we needed more than anything. Oh yes, Michael Finley also had 10 bench boards. But the important thing was, we were back in it.
Final - Detroit 99 Boston 104

Game Four
Detroit was furious to be denied the sweep and they came out with guns blazing. Gheorge Muresan continued to show that size does matter in scoring 21 points, Grant Hill added 20, Jermaine O'Neal got 10 points and 15 rebounds and the Pistons' bench piped up for 11 and 10 points from Brian Evans and Eddie Jones. But we fired back with 3 players in 20+ points, Jalen Rose with 27, Allen Iverson with 22 and in the most unlikely performance of all, 27 points and 9 assists from 36 year old John Stockton. it was a beautiful thing to see and he was mobbed after the surprisingly easy win that tied the series at 2 and officially announced to the world that it was a whole new ballgame.
Final - Detroit 97 Boston 110

Both conference finals were turning out as action-packed as people expected, because the West was also tied at two after four games.

Game Five
Game 5s are, in general, the momentum games if they get that far and I felt this one was no exception. The bad news for us was that it was in Detroit and the Pistons weren't about to take us lightly, not after we fought back in Boston. Grant Hill rained for 34 points, Tracy McGrady sprung free of the Stockton trap for 20 points, Jermaine O'Neal doubled for 14 points and 16 rebounds and Eddie Jones and George McCloud of all people poured in 17 and 10 bench points. Against that onslaught, Allen Iverson's 21 points, Tom Gugliotta's 14 points and 14 rebounds and Michael Finley's pleasant 20 bench points looked like so much nothing.
Final - Boston 94 Detroit 118

Game Six
Of course, down 3-2, this game in Boston was a must-win. And we avenged ourselves for Game 5 quite beautifully, holding the Pistons to Tracy McGrady's 23 points and 11 rebounds and Eddie Jones's 17 bench points. Meanwhile, Tom Gugliotta roared for 27 points and 18 rebounds, Allen Iverson scored 22 and John Stockton had a gorgeous double of 19 points and 17 assists as we blew them out to force a Game 7 in Auburn Hills.
Final - Detroit 93 Boston 115

Both conference championships not only featured a 1 vs 2 seed pairing, but both of them went to Game 7, as the Rockets and Suns were knotted up as well after six. That 1998-99 postseason was certainly one of the more riveting in recent memory, at least the conference finals round.

Game Seven
And so it all came down to this. The 69-13 Pistons in their packed home arena, eager to take their revenge at the lost 70th win in the form of the East conference crown we longed for. The odds didn't look good, as Detroit was dominant at home and we'd not shown we could hang with them for four quarters yet this series. All the heavy money lay on the Pistons and rightly so. And then Allen Iverson said Hell no to that, bursting for 33 points to pair with Jalen Rose's 22 points. But Detroit replied with Jermaine O'Neal's 30 points and 11 rebounds and Tracy McGrady's 26 points. What really doomed us, however, was John Stockton's 0 for 8 night. It was a bitter, total defeat. Once again, we'd come close to the East crown, only to lose it.
Final - Boston 96 Detroit 115

Making the matter even more bittersweet, the Phoenix Suns upset the Houston Rockets in Game 7.

Detroit went on to take a 3-0 Finals lead and continue the East's run of titles, winning 4-1.

At least there was that small consolation of having nearly won the NBA's toughest conference. The West certainly had an inferiority complex in the second half of the '90s, even though they could point to the Rockets' wins in the two years prior to my GMship as signs they weren't completely irrelevant.

But in the end, it wasn't the coming close that mattered. It was the trophies. And we'd come up just short two years in a row in our bid to make the NBA Finals.

[Izulde]

We held the 11th and 7th picks to start in the lottery. Not good odds, to be sure, but better than nothing.

NBA Lottery
13. Minnesota Timberwolves
12. Denver Nuggets
11. Boston Celtics

It was as I expected, so I merely smiled and shrugged as it came up.

10. Houston Rockets
9. Milwaukee Bucks
8. Boston Celtics (-1)

Bad luck to drop a spot, especially since it meant Miami, who was just behind us, had launched into the top 3.

7. Los Angeles Clippers (-1)
6. Philadelphia 76ers (-1)
5. Milwaukee Bucks (-3)

I'll confess to great glee upon seeing the Bucks drop three slots. Milwaukee was a team I detested for some of their moves and I particularly disliked their often lottery luck.

4. New York Knicks (-3)
3. New Jersey Nets (+1)
2. Sacramento Kings (+1)
1. Miami Heat (+7)

And so it was the Heat that Lady Luck smiled on that year. On the other hand, as I've said before, there was no number one consensus pick.

NBA Awards

MVP
David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs - 22.5 PPG 10.1 RPG 2.5 APG 3.0 BPG 1.7 SPG
Defensive Player of the Year
Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks - 16.1 PPG 12.1 RPG 2.3 APG 3.5 BPG 1.6 SPG
Rookie of the Year
Vince Carter - Sacramento Kings - 19.9 PPG 4.2 RPG 3.5 APG 1.1 BPG 1.3 SPG
6th Man of the Year
Ashraf Amaya - Vancouver Grizzlies - 12.4 PPG 7.5 RPG 1.3 APG 0.5 BPG 1.3 SPG
Coach of the Year
M.L. Carr - Detroit Pistons

Yes, that's unfortunately correct. The man I'd fired as our head coach had just won Coach of the Year and a title with the Pistons. It's something I didn't bring up before because it still galls me to think of it.

I also thought Predrag Stojakovic was unfairly robbed of the Rookie of the Year award, though it was a close vote.

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Kevin Johnson - Phoenix Suns
SG Ray Allen - Charlotte Hornets
SF Grant Hill - Detroit Pistons
PF Chris Webber - Washington Bullets
C David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs

All-NBA 2nd Team
PG Stephon Marbury - Houston Rockets
SG Kobe Bryant - Milwaukee Bucks
SF Cedric Cellabos - Houston Rockets
PF Kevin Garnett - Minnesota Timberwolves
C Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Jason Kidd - Dallas Mavericks
SG Reggie Miller - Indiana Pacers
SF Glenn Robinson - Milwaukee Bucks
PF Vin Baker - Chicago Bulls
C Hakeem Olajuwon - Houston Rockets

I couldn't believe Allen Iverson was so wrongfully snubbed. He deserved it over Bryant and Miller and the former Celtic retribution continued with Starbury's being named to the 2nd team.

All-Defense 1st Team
PG Gary Payton - Seattle Supersonics
SG Rick Brunson - Milwaukee Bucks
SF Scottie Pippen - Chicago Bulls
PF Kevin Garnett - Minnesota Timberwolves
C Marcus Camby - Dallas Mavericks

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Mookie Blaylock - Atlanta Hawks
SG Latrell Sprewell - Golden State Warriors
SF Bruce Bowen - Indiana Pacers
PF Tim Duncan - Chicago Bulls
C David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Earl Boykins - Los Angeles Lakers
SG Vince Carter - Sacramento Kings
SF Predrag Stojakovic - Atlanta Hawks
PF Dirk Nowitzki - Toronto Raptors
C Raef LaFrentz - Orlando Magic

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Mike Bibby - Miami Heat
SG Paul Pierce - New Jersey Nets
SF Ruben Patterson - Los Angeles Clippers
PF Pat Garrity - Washington Bullets
C Brad Miller - Toronto Raptors

Cliff Gross was fine with the promise of another Atlantic title and even authorized us to spend $10-15 million over the cap it it would give us a shot at finally getting to the Finals.

Mock Draft
Although I told you it was an even year that year and to a great extent it was, as the draft drew closer and closer, it became more apparent that Duke big man Elton Brand was the clear-cut #1 choice and the likely top pick by the Miami Heat, despite their acquiring Antawn Jamison from us the year before.

After that, it was anybody's guess, so I'll give you the mock draft I usually looked at.

Projected Mock Draft First Round
1. PF Elton Brand - Miami Heat
2. SF Shawn Marion - Sacramento Kings
3. PF Lamar Odom - New Jersey Nets
4. SG Steve Francis - New York Knicks
5. PG Andre Miller - Milwaukee Bucks
6. SF Ron Artest - Philadelphia 76ers
7. SF Corey Magette - Los Angels Clippers
8. PG Baron Davis - Boston Celtics
9. SG Richard Hamilton - Milwaukee Bucks
10. PG Jason Terry - Houston Rockets
11. C Todd McCulloch - Boston Celtics
12. PG Chucky Atkins - Denver Nuggets
13. PG Anthony Carter - Minnesota Timberwolves
14. SG Eddie Robinson - Dallas Mavericks
15. SF Dedric Willoughby - Utah Jazz
16. PG Rafer Alston - San Antonio Spurs
17. SF Adrian Griffin - Golden State Warriors
18. SF Wally Szczerbiak - Minnesota Timberwolves
19. C Calvin Booth - Charlotte Hornets
20. SF James Posey - Portland Trailblazers
21. C Jeff Foster - Miami Heat
22. PG William Avery - Detroit Pistons
23. PF Scott Padgett - Boston Celtics
24. PF Obinna Ekezie - Charlotte Hornets
25. SG Milt Palacio - Orlando Magic
26. SG Derrick Dial - Houston Rockets
27. C Cal Bowdier - Chicago Bulls
28. SG Vonteego Cummings - Boston Celtics
29. PG Chris Herren - Philadelphia 76ers

While I couldn't fault the position selections for our picks and I was quite impressed with Davis and Cummings for their areas in the drat, McCulloch and Padgett didn't impress me one whit.

Besides, there were other players I had a keener eye on.

[Radii]

hahah, the year that duke was no longer immune to players leaving early, as it seems like their entire team fucked over coach K. A true thing of beauty.

I'm interested to see what Elton Brand can do not saddled down by the horror that is the Clippers franchise.

Also, it seems like there's a lot of pretty good, but really nothing great in this draft class.

[law90026]

Damn, 4 1st round draft picks. No chance of parlaying that into a higher pick?

[Izulde]

Radii: :D Now watch, Brand'll slip all the way to the Clips. FWIW, I agree with you. It's a pretty deep class, but no real exclamation point players.

law90026: It's possible. It's just a question of how much I want to do that and whether or not the AI is going to be anal-retentive about it.

[Izulde]

We had a definite shortlist in hand after bringing players in for workouts. For the 8th pick, however, it only ran a few players deep, so we would try and move up at some point.

1999 NBA Draft First Round
1. SF Shawn Marion - Miami Heat

A fairly unbelievable pick to judge from the roars in the crowd. I was stunned myself until I considered that Marion's purported versatility would serve the Heat fairly well. But to pass on Brand in favor of Marion made no sense.

2. PF Elton Brand - Sacramento Kings

First they got a gift of Vince Carter the year before. Then the Kings lucked out by getting the best player in the draft in Brand. Impressive.

3. PF Lamar Odom - New Jersey Nets*

Odom struck me as a lighter version of Marion in many respects and perhaps even more versatile. Still, I wasn't impressed with him at all.

4. SG Steve Francis - New York Knicks*

Everybody in the building knew Stevie Franchise was headed to New York if he was still there and sure enough, that's where he went.

5. C Todd McCulloch - Milwaukee Bucks

A second shocker, one even bigger than the Marion at first selection. There was no way he was worth a Top 5 pick, even as the best center in an extremely weak draft. His selection made that we would be guaranteed at least one of our top two targets, as I was determined to trade up into the 7th spot.

I'd tried getting into slots 5 and 6, but neither the Bucks nor the 76ers were listening.

6. SF Corey Maggette - Philadelphia 76ers

Nobody could believe their ears when they heard this pick and neither could I. Maggette struck me as extremely overrated, made overly shiny by the Duke name. Even more puzzling when you consider they already had Darvin Ham.

Off #8 and our 2001 2nd went to the Clippers for #7 and the player we wanted most.

7. SF Ron Artest - Boston Celtics

The talking heads loved the pick, as he should have been taken by Philly if they were going to take a SF. They also speculated that this meant of the end of Glen Rice in Boston. They were right.

8. SG Eddie Robinson - Los Angeles Clippers

I didn't rate Robinson at all, so I loved the pick.

I tried to move up to #9, but the Bucks weren't interested.

9. SG Milt Palacio - Milwaukee Bucks

It was a draft of shocking picks and a 5'5 guard going 9th overall made no sense. Especially one who had no point guard skills.

The Rockets knew our reputation for moving up and wouldn't let us move in to the 10 spot no matter what we offered them.

10. PG Jason Terry - Houston Rockets*

I'd wanted either Terry or the player I thought about taking at #8 if Artest would've been off the board and the one I preferred somehow fell to me, which floored me.

I wasted no time in rushing the pick in.

11. PG Baron Davis - Boston Celtics

The Baron at 11 was an out and out steal and I loved the cheers from the Celtics fans in attendance and basked in the praise of the announcers, who called it the best pick of the draft so far. Never did I imagine he'd fall to 11.

12. PG Andre Miller - Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets were equally ecstatic to land Miller at 12. Projected 5th overall in the mock draft, he experienced a real tumble.

13. PF Scott Padgett - Minnesota Timberwolves

This pick was another brow-raiser. Without question, this was going to go down as one of the most unexpected drafts in history.

14. SF James Posey - Dallas Mavericks
15. SG Richard Hamilton - Utah Jazz
16. SG Vonteego Cummings - San Antonio Spurs

As much as I admired Cummings, 16 was far too early for him. But then, as old as the Spurs were, any youth was good.

17. SF Dedric Willoughby - Golden State Warriors
18. C Calvin Booth - Minnesota Timberwolves
19. SG Derrick Dial - Charlotte Hornets

I saw a major opportunity with a player falling, so I dealt #23 and #36 to the Portland Trailblazers for #20 and their 2000 and 2001 2nd round picks.

20. SF Wally Szczerbiak - Boston Celtics

I loved watching Wally World at the Miami University of Ohio and for a player of his scoring talents, there was no good reason why he should still be there at 20. This overpadded our small forward situation, but he made a perfect 6th man in my opinion.

21. SF Adrian Griffin - Miami Heat
22. PG Chucky Atkins - Detroit Pistons

At 26, his age is what brought Atkins down. Otherwise, he was a very talented player.

23. PG Anthony Carter - Portland Trailblazers
24. PF Obinna Ekeze - Charlotte Hornets
25. SG Jermaine Jackson - Orlando Magic
26. SG Dion Glover - Houston Rockets
27. C Jeff Foster - Chicago Bulls

The Bulls continued their run of taking players with late firsts and in doing so, they drafted the center I'd intended on grabbing.

So I took a flier on a player.

28. C Cal Bowdler - Boston Celtics

Nobody much liked the pick, but I didn't care. In Artest, Baron and Wally World we had a dream draft. I couldn't take another year of Chris Dudley as our best backup center.

29. SF Jumaine Jones - Philadelphia 76ers

Our first look after the draft revealed just how much of a jackpot we'd hit. Baron Davis looked absolutely godly at point guard, able to pass, defend and score all magnificiently. He should've really been a top 3-5 selection, not fallen all the way down to 11. Of course, he did have a ways to go, especially in discipline and basketball awareness.

Ron Artest had shoot from anywhere capability and lockdown defense possibility. I saw him as a possible heir apparent to Tom Gugliotta at power forward. He would be fighting it out with Michael Finley for the starting small forward spot.

Wally Szczerbiak looked a lot like Predrag Stojakovic last year and he looked like a clear-cut case of 6th man. On the other hand, it was possible he could fall later in the depth chart.

Cal Bowdler appeared to have a little upside and was quite an ordinary, acceptable backup center at first glance, which was fine for pick #28.

With Artest, Wally World, Gugliotta, Finley and Jalen Rose, coupled with the fact of his injury, I had no choice but to sadly renounce Glen Rice's contract. Once I did that, it was simple enough to renounce everyone's contract, leaving us $1.47 million in cap space and 10 players under contract without the forthcoming expected cap raising. I of course intended to bring back Howard Eisley and likely Chris Crawford as well.

Summer League
PG Baron Davis
SF Ron Artest
SF Wally Szczerbiak
C Cal Bowdler

Expectations were high for the Four Leaf Clovers, as the Boston press had taken to calling them and so the summer league was much anticipated. We won the first game 107-95 over Orlando, but it was reserve Dejaun Wheat's 28 bench points that stole the show. Wally Szczerbiak scored 24 off the bench. Wheat was an interesting study. Once projected as a mid-first round pick, he'd fallen to the 2nd round (3rd pick - Vancouver - 1997 draft) and had a couple decent, if unspectacular seasons as a starter with the Grizzlies. My guess was he'd go back to Vancouver, but on the other hand, he play better defense than Howard Eisley.

We lost 104-91 to the Nets, despite Dejuan Wheat's 26 points and Wally Szczerbiak's 12 points off the bench. Far more worrisome than anything was Ron Mercer's teeing off on us for 41 points.

Finally somebody other than Wally Szczerbiak (29 bench points) started showing something in our 83-65 win over the 76ers. Cal Bowdler broke out for 17 points and 14 rebounds.

The Knicks nipped us 108-107, despite 28 and 27 points from usual suspects Dejuan Wheat and Wally Szczerbiak respectively. I was shocked we hadn't seen anything from our higher picks yet.

An annoying 84-81 loss to the Heat followed, but when Dejuan Wheat was our lead scorer with 13 points, but it was to be expected.

Ron Artest finally showed scoring touch with 20 points, even though he was trumped by Dejuan Wheat's 33 points as we snapped the streak and won 103-91 in Washington to finish the summer league.

Our disappointing summer showing had me worried about our chances in the upcoming season, in particular with Baron Davis's flameout.

There was a lot of thinking to do before free agency.

[Autumn]

Wow, great draft, looks like we'll be seeing a new look in Boston these coming seasons.

[Izulde]

Wow, great draft, looks like we'll be seeing a new look in Boston these coming seasons.

On paper it looks good, but Baron's surprising lack of summer league production worries me. Especially since he was getting torched on defense.

But we'll see. :)

[Izulde]

Free Agency

With a windfall of $4 million in salary cap increase, we were $5.468 million under the cap and so had room to bring a quality player. Then again, everybody had cap room except the Chicago Bulls.

A lot of the old, big names who'd signed one year deals before were available of course, along with Vin Baker, who was arguably the hottest name on the market. There was also such players as Jamal Mashburn, who despite injury concerns had played all 82 games all 4 seasons I'd been GM and who was a 3-time All-Star to boot. A pity we were already overloaded at his position group, as I always liked him.

It was a tough outing. We offered all of our cap space to Sir Charles Barkley on a year deal and he took $500,000 less to stay in Phoenix. That same day, a lot of the top names went off the market, including quite a few changing teams.

Major Changes
Derrick Coleman - Houston Rockets - 4 years, $21.1 million (Despite a torn ACL that would have him miss the first part of the season)
Danny Fortson - Utah Jazz - 5 years, $20.2 million
Scot Pollard - Sacramento Kings - 5 years, $20.6 million
Dejuan Wheat - New Jersey Nets - 5 years, $17.7 million

It was a crushing blow to lose Barkley, Wheat and Pollard all on the same day, as I had Pollard as a backup possibility. Oh yes, Vin Baker also re-signed with Chicago and Karl Malone with the Magic that day.

A couple days later, Ron Mercer cashed in his 41 point summer league game against us for a 4 year, $13 million contract with Minnesota and Glen Rice jumped ship to, of all teams, the Bulls, for 2 years, $8 million.

We made headlines the next day when we signed Dennis "The Worm" Rodman to a 1 year deal for all the rest of our cap space, which was $3.468 million after our offers to the players we wanted to return. Yes, he was 38 years old and a one note rebounder, but I always enjoyed The Worm's antics and thought maybe he could be the lucky piece we needed. Howard Eisley returned with a 3 year, $3 million contract in hand as well.

Also on The Day of the Worm, the Suns took care of any point guard issues if Kevin Johnson went down by stealing Mookie Blaylock from the Hawks at 5 years, $19.9 million.

Atlanta struck by signing John Stockton to a one year, $2.61 million deal the day after and Chris Crawford got a comparatively fat paycheck of $6.23 million for 3 years from the 76ers. I couldn't blame Chris for taking the deal. It was over double what we were offering him and who knew what kind of playing time he'd get with us anyway.

We finished our free agency by bringing back old friend Bo Outlaw to a 2 year, $2 million deal, giving us 13 players and zeroing out our cap space.

Training Camp

Ron Artest appeared to have an even higher ceiling than we thought, but Wally Szczerbiak and Cal Bowdler were what we thought they were. Bowdler did show a little more upside than we figured, but Wally was strictly a scorer and nothing more, with no room for growth.

But the biggest blow was that my fears about Baron Davis were correct. He was nowhere near as talented as I thought he was and his drop appeared justified. Although he still had it in him to be a quality starting point guard, all signs indicated to his being a chucker with overrated defense.

Season Preview

We were picked to finish 6th in the East, 4th in the Atlantic behind New Jersey, Orlando and New York. It was a crock, really, because the Nets were overrated, even if they did sign Jeff Hornacek in free agency, Shaquille O'Neal was out the entire season with a torn Achilles, which negated the Magic's chances and the Knicks were simply still too young.

Detroit was favored to repeat, with the Bulls their closest challengers, which made perfect sense to me in both cases. The Nets at number three I've already dismissed.

The Rockets were the understandable top pick in the West, followed by the perpetually underachieving Timberwolves and the starter-strong, bench-weak Mavericks. In a sign of just how far the Jazz had fallen, they were picked for last in the conference and deservedly so. Damon Jones was their best young talent and he couldn't play defense, while Danny Fortson, their prize ree agent signing and top player, was out almost two months with a torn knee tendon.

Oh and Glen Rice would only miss a week and a half with the Bulls before suiting up for Chicago. Our battles were certainly going to be epic.

1999-00 Boston Celtics Opening Day Roster
PG Jalen Rose
SG Allen Iverson
SF Ron Artest
PF Tom Gugliotta
C Alonzo Mourning
6th Baron Davis (PG/SG)
7th Wally Szczerbiak (SG/SF)
8th Michael Finley (SG/SF/PF)
9th Cal Bowdler (PF/C)
10th Dennis Rodman (SF/PF/C)
11th Howard Eisley (PG)
12th Bo Outlaw (PF/C)
Inactive
Dana Barros

[Izulde]

The first game of the season on Halloween night always fills me with a certain amount of eagerness and excitement and the 1999 opener was no exception. We would be relying quite heavily on our rookies, which is always a dicey proposition.

Fortunately, we played another youth dependent team in the Bucks and blew them 107-72 in an opener that saw every Celtic player get at least 4 minutes of playing time, resulting in Ron Artest as our lead scorer with 18 points. Cal Bowdler and Baron Davis had 6 and 4 points respectively in their own pro debuts. Milwaukee got a double-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds from Rick Brunson but that was it.

I was thankful Glen Rice was still out when we went to Chicago the night after or our 104-84 whipping at the hands of the Bulls would've been even worse. Tim Duncan thundered for 30 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 8 blocks and 5 steals and Vin Baker dropped in 16 points and 11 rebounds. With just 3 Boston players in double-digit scoring, led by Alonzo Mourning's 19 points and 18 rebounds and Jalen Rose's 21 points and 13 assists, it's little wonder we lost as badly as we did.

A frustrating 106-101 loss to the Suns followed. Chauncey Billups[/b torched us for 28 points and [b]Shawnelle Scott piled on 20 points and 13 rebounds. Thus did we waste Allen Iverson's 23 points and 3 bench players with 10+ points: Wally Szczerbiak's 18 points and 12 points each from Michael Finley and Cal Bowdler.

We righted the ship with a 116-87 hammering of the Magic. Ron Artest led all scorers with 24 points, Alonzo Mourning took advantage of Shaquille O'Neal's absence for 22 points, Allen Iverson netted 20 points and Wally Szczerbiak added 10 bench points. Orlando's best outing came courtesy of Horace Grant's 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.

Lowly Utah was so terrible in our 117-72 sweeping of them that they had no highlights. Meanwhile Jalen Rose blitzed them for 23 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds and Ron Artest and Alono Mourning scored 22 each.

Even though Randy Livingston and Rasheed Wallace combined for 25 and 20 points, we still bit down the Bullets 110-89. Alonzo Mourning was unstoppable with 30 points and 11 rebounds, but Tom Gugliotta also woke up for the first time in the young season with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Jalen Rose was showing off surprising passing skills with 10 points and 12 assists and Wally Szczerbiak continued to be the bench sparkplug with 12 points.

The Bucks gave us a tough fight the next night, but we still won 96-91 on Tom Gugliotta's 30 points and 10 rebounds. Just two Bucks players had 10+ points, but they were major gamers, with 26 points from Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson and 23 points from Bonzi Wells. Allen Iverson aided Gugliotta's efforts with 25 points and Alonzo Mourning tipped in 17 points and 10 rebounds.

I felt good after beating the Rockets 105-95, Stephon "Starbury" Marbury's 12 points and 10 assists topped by Allen Iverson's 30 points and Wally Szczerbiak's 13 bench points. We needed to prove we could win over a good team and that victory gave us that confidence.

Despite Ray Allen's 31 points, the Hornets posed no problem in a 110-87 stinging. Alonzo Mourning tore into them for 27 points and 12 rebounds, Tom Gugliotta scored 21, Allen Iverson 20 and Baron Davis made his first worthwhile contribution with 11 bench points.

We blunted the Warriors 108-77 on Tom Gugliotta's 28 points and Allen Iverson's 20 points. i was very pleased with how we'd turned things around after our 2-2 roughshod start.

The Hornets came buzzing to Boston for revenge, but we swatted them 112-83. Christian Laettner and Roy Rogers had inspired performances of 26 points and 15 points, 15 rebounds respectively, but they were more than answered by Tom Gugliotta's 24 points and 11 rebounds, Allen Iverson's 22 points and Jalen Rose's 19 points and 10 assists.

A hotly hyped showdown with Detroit came next and we won 95-85, even though we had just two players in double-digit scoring. Tracy McGrady hit us for 23 points and Jermaine O'Neal doubled for 12 points and 16 rebounds to put us on the ropes. But then Jalen Rose came through with a 30 point, 9 rebound, 7 assist outing, Allen Iverson scored 22 and Alonzo Mourning had an all-around game of 9 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 blocks to get us the victory.

It was sweet to absolutely obliterate overrated New Jersey 123-85, Jerald Honeycutt's 12 bench points brushed aside by Allen Iverson's 28 points, Tom Gugliotta's 20 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Rose's 20 points and 10 assists and last, but not least, Michael Finley's monster 20 bench points.

Don't let the 104-101 final fool you. It was only a furiously fought fourth quarter that brought the Bullets even that close to us the next night. As you might expect from that, it was their bench players that powered Washington. Pat Garrity scored 21 and much-maligned Jamie Feick scored 17 to go with Chris Webber's astounding 22 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 blocks. Fortunately, Allen Iverson was there to explode for 33 points. Alonzo Mourning tacked on a pair of 13s in points and rebounds and Jalen Rose picked up 18 points and 10 assists.

And so we were 12-2, riding an 11 game winning streak. That gave us a 4 game early lead on the Magic, who despite missing Shaq, were still 9-7. But our accomplishment was dwarfed by the 12-1 Pacers and 13-2 Bulls and Pistons. It was a truly top-heavy East that first month.

9-5 Dallas had a half-game lead on San Antonio in the Midwest, but 11-4 Phoenix was better still and a game and a half in front of Sacramento and Seattle besides.

Celtics Leaders

Scoring
1. Allen Iverson - 22.0
2. Jalen Rose - 16.7
3. Alonzo Mourning -16.5
4. Tom Gugliotta - 16.4

Assists
1. Jalen Rose - 8.6
2. Allen Iverson - 5.0
3. Ron Artest - 3.6

Rebounds
1. Tom Gugliotta - 8.6
2. Alonzo Mourning - 8.2
3. Jalen Rose - 5.6
4. Ron Artest - 5.5

Blocks
1. Alonzo Mourning - 2.4
2. Tom Gugliotta - 0.8
T3. Jalen Rose - 0.5
T3. Ron Artest - 0.5

Steals
1. Ron Artest - 1.8
2. Allen Iverson - 1.6
3. Tom Gugliotta - 1.4