That was an ugly, ugly loss.
One hardly knows where to begin.
Julius's Jeckyl & Hyde manifestations baffle me.
After an exemplary game at the Garden, where he eschewed settling for long jumpers with aggressive drives to the hoop, well....
RJ, IQ and Grimes were 9-18 from trey.
Randle and Burks were a combined 2-12.
Julius did not get to the free throw line a single time, and despite 12 boards and 6 assists, 6 turnovers.
Worse, the Knicks were 6-15 from the FT line, while the Celtics were 15-17. UNACCEPTABLE.
PS: I love Obi, but the notion that somehow he is ready to supplant Julius, or that Thibs has gelded him, is dubious. Two things. ONE: Without both ROSE and WALKER, the kind of back cuts and P&R opportunities an effective PG can precipitate with an athelete like Obi are pretty much negated. TWO: Obi has yet to display a consistent, effective, NBA grade outside shooting game on par with his college heroics, either in the form of a midrange stop and pop off of the dribble, or from three point range, where he has been a horrific 12-58. EVERY TIME OBI HITS A JUMPER, AN ANGEL GETS HIS WINGS.
PPS: Too bad we didn't get to see if Fournier was down for two effective games in a row. The ripple effect of his absence was all too obvious, as the cutting lanes which might otherwise have been available to Randle and Burks with someone offering the threat of an outside game, were shut down, and they were forced to SETTLE FOR CONTESTED JUMPERS, rather than PRECIPITATE OFFENSE with drives to the hoop.
PPPS: Of course, with drives to the hoop, it doenst hurt to hit your damn free throws.
OH WELL.... San Antonio, Dallas, Atlanta and Charlotte beckon. Things could get quite ugly in the forseeable future.
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