SB Nation User Blog: Jim

Dave Cowens Biography Please

Jim — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:22:24 -0000

My dad always talks about Dave Cowens in reverential tones because of plays like this one (both are sweet but it's all about the dive). He was 6-9 and would battle anyone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar included, at the center position. He ran like the wind, played possessed and went after rebounds as if his life depended on them, at least that's what I've been told. I was not alive then. But my favorite story of all time, one my dad told me many times, is recalled here by Bob Ryan:
"Stories? Hey, I got a million of 'em. How about the time an enraged Cowens, fed up with a second fake flop to draw an offensive foul in the same game, ran the Houston guard down in front of the Celtics' bench, leveled him with a double forearm shiver, and then ran over to referee Bill Jones.

'Now that's a foul!' he bellowed." - Bob Ryan

That brings me to the point of this post. I know a book about Cowens exists. I intend to buy it soon. But it was published in 1977. Are we sure it covers his cab driving stint? It definitely doesn't get into how his playing career ended. And I'm interested in his days as the coach of the Charlotte Hornets. Hmmm who could write it? I can't think of anyone who followed the C's back then. Anyone getting the sarcasm here? Of course there might not be a huge audience. Still who cares (would be publishers I guess)? Bob Ryan has nothing left to prove. Do it. As a side note where the hell is that Charles Oakley book? It's almost been a year. Come on now...

via www.fansedge.com

Boston Celtics @ Denver Nuggets - 2/19/08

Jim — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:32:46 -0000

Over the course of the summer I'll look back at some of my favorite Celtics games from the 2008 season. Ironically I've decided to focus on a loss first. Let me set the scene. Following the All Star game the Celtics struggled through one of their worst stretches of the season with back-to-back-to-back losses to the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, and Phoenix Suns. However, it was not as bad as the record indicated (0-3) thanks to several reasons:

1. It was not much of a break for Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce because they were part of All Star weekend. While players on the opposing teams, minus Golden State, had All Star reps as well they had the benefit of sleeping in their own beds.

2. Kevin Garnett returned to the lineup for the first time after missing 9 games due to an ab injury. He was rusty.

3. The Celtics once again proved they were difficult to beat. It took a raucous playoff style crowd in Denver and some quality free throwing shooting down the stretch by the Nuggets (after the C's clawed back into it), a buzzer beater in Oakland, and steady play by the Suns to hold off a rally after Boston played arguably its worst half of basketball of the season.

4. All three of those teams, especially the Nuggets and Warriors, needed it a lot more than the Celtics due to the tight playoff race out West.

5. KG mixed it up with Amare Stoudemire a bit. Granted that hurt the C's when Garnett got a cheap third foul, went to the bench, and halted a promising rally. But that attitude served Boston well later on and it was good to have him back.

For the record I'm slowly creeping up towards Tommy Heinsohn territory in terms of being a Celtics apologist. Anyways back to the reason for this post. That Nuggets game was an absolute blast. It was one of those west coast games that killed me because I just had to stay up, particularly after the All Star lay off. In fact it made me noticeably unproductive at work the next day. Yet it was worth it. Living on the east coast I always feel like I'm part of a special club if I stay up late to watch one of my teams out west and something cool happens. Now to be fair dropping 118 points on the 2008 Nuggets does not sound like a major accomplishment. But it was given the fact that KG shot 2-7 from the field and finished with 4 points in roughly 20 minutes. At the same time giving up 124 points and losing are not causes for celebration. Yet I enjoyed numerous aspects of this one.

1. Leon Powe scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. And though I can't remember anything off the top of my head I'm sure he was a bad ass, which had to make the Nuggets regret trading him.

2. Tony Allen played one of his better games: 9 points on 4-5 from the field, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals and a +6 +/-.

3. But in the end it was all about the highlight plays:

Paul Pierce facial over Nuggets (via Marksman1996)

Rajan Rondo "Slick" move vs. Nuggets (via Marksman1996)

Rajan Rondo putback vs. Nuggets (via Marksman1996)

To review Pierce dunked on Marcus Camby (shades of Antoine Walker on Camby), Rondo broke someone's (Chucky Atkins?) ankles, and then Rondo outdid himself by throwing down the put back dunk, which A. told me everything I needed to know about the Nuggets and B. led to me calling reader Rondo even though it was well after midnight. And he was up.

YouTube and Stars of the Past

Jim — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:03:02 -0000

Looking at Shawn Kemp's highlights a couple of days back made me think about guys that played before the YouTube era. For some of them there is simply not a lot of footage about them. Meanwhile, with others, such as Shawn Kemp, there are highlight clips but it is not the same. There is something about going the day after to catch up on the moves I watched or heard about from the night before. Anyways I've come up with a list of guys that would have been great to watch in the YouTube era. Consider the following before calling me a moron:

1. I put it in alphabetical order to avoid rankings debates.

2. I left MJ off simply because we definitely saw every aspect of his career and then some. He was marketed that well.

3. Obviously I left a lot of great talents off. Jerry West, Rick Barry, and Oscar Robertson come to mind. What can you do?

On to the list.

Len Bias *
Wilt Chamberlain
Bob Cousy
Lloyd Daniels *
Julius Erving
Connie Hawkins
Shawn Kemp
Pete Maravich
Bill Russell - for the defense alone
David Thompson

* I wish they had NBA primes. Still Daniels' high school footage and Bias' Maryland stuff would have been epic.

Seattle, Scratch that - Oklahoma City Sonics

Jim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:52:32 -0000

[Green Bandwagon Update: Henry Abbott is all over this story.]

Well it looks like that could actually happen next season. I've been against this move from the start. I'm torn because there are a lot bigger problems out there. At the same time I don't like to see David Stern's dark side. I'll close with my favorite Shawn Kemp mix:

shawn kemp mix (via spyder9669)

More Free Agent News: Gilbert Arenas, Corey Maggette, Gerald Green

Jim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:35:41 -0000

1. In my earlier post about Gilbert Arenas I forgot to link to Bullets Forever. My bad. I always enjoy Pradamaster's work and they're all over Washington's free agent moves.

2. Earlier today I argued that Corey Maggette would not sign in Boston because he would go for a bigger pay day. I was wrong. He appears to be leaning towards San Antonio for the full MLE. Still I'd argue that he's a much better fit with the Spurs than the Celtics. He gives that offense and added dimension with his ability to get to the line. I am intrigued.

3. By all accounts there's a pretty good chance that Gerald Green will never, ever get it. But he's got another shot. As far as I can tell Mavs Moneyball does not see this as the final piece in the championship puzzle. Meanwhile, head over to Ball Don't Lie where Kelly Dwyer focuses on a pretty damning Green anecdote. For the record Paul Pierce alluded to this type of thing after Green was sent packing.

NBA Free Agency - Gilbert Arenas, Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Corey Maggette, and More

Jim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:55:22 -0000

1. First you need to check out Kelly Dwyer's take from 3 days about the preposterous Arenas rumors that inexplicably came true. Regular readers know that I'm a fan of Arenas but not at that price tag - $120+. And at this point the Warriors have offered a lucrative, albeit one year shorter, deal as well. Crazy.

2. I still can't get over the fact that Baron Davis will be a Clipper. Head over to Clips Nation and Golden State of Mind for decidedly different reactions. Personally I'm a little down about this one. In a span of less than a year we've watched the run and gun Phoenix Suns and now the Warriors disband. Both teams played some of the most exciting offensive basketball around. Obviously they did not win a title. In fact Golden State missed the playoffs in 2 of Davis' 3 years in Oakland and barely squeaked in during the other. Ultimately teams want to win championships and that wasn't happening. Although I imagine even Chris Mullin was caught off guard by Davis' departure. Still crazy times.

3. Did Elton Brand look at what happened in Boston and decide to team up with Davis? One difference. Both will have to make less than they could have to play together. And there are only two of them. But all of the sudden that's an interesting team. Remember Chris Kaman can play, Al Thornton is a mature scorer, and Eric Gordon could be an X-Factor. As a side note how happy are Clippers fans that the Kings out bid them for Beno Udrih? One final note on the Clippers. They had some pretty unfortunate occurrences out in LA that severely weakened a team on the verge of making some noise. It got so bad last season that the Clips fielded an awful team in their trip to Boston. But as the Celtics showed one year can make a world of difference.

4. Check out Fooch's post (and vote in his poll) about the C's offering Corey Maggette a contract. I don't see it happening but the fact that it's at least somewhat plausible is yet another sign that the C's have come a long, long way.

5. In other news it looks like Jose Calderon, Beno Udrih, and most importantly Chris Paul are not leaving Toronto, Sacramento, and New Orleans respectively anytime soon.

Tony Allen: Unrestricted Free Agent - The Writing is on the Wall

Jim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:21:24 -0000

I expected James Posey to opt out of his contract and he did yesterday. That same article reveals some other Boston Celtics related free agent news:
"One move was made last night when the franchise failed to make Tony Allen a qualifying offer, thus making the guard an unrestricted free agent, according to his agent, Mike Higgins." - Marc J. Spears
This interested me for three reasons:

1. As Spears noted the Celtics sent some strong signals once they drafted and traded for J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker respectively.

2. I find "the the franchise failed to make Tony Allen a qualifying offer" wording funny as if it was accidental. It's not like the time Terrell Owens' camp messed up his impending free agency. Although that appears to be the industry standard.

3. It looks like the Tony Allen era is over. And a long, strange trip it has been. First off you should know that I'm a huge fan of guys that throw down dunks in meaningless summer league games. It is what it is. But Allen was different. The Celtics were not particularly good during his rookie season but that did not stop Allen from assaulting the rim. I think he only had two goals - defend on the perimeter and slam home rebounds. Of course he struggled with setbacks - a knee injury and the incident at the White Palace Grill - during his sophomore campaign. Those struggles carried over into his third season where he got off to a slow start and even prompted Tommy Heinsohn to call for a 3-dribble rule. However, he then got white hot for a truly atrocious team. The highlight of that stretch had to be the Salmon and Mashed Potatoes Game. And then this happened. Unfortunately he was never quite the same, playing the entire 2008 season with a bulky knee brace. On top of that there were numerous plays where Celtics fans had to think - he just doesn't have that old explosiveness. Although to be fair on that fateful night of his knee injury Allen fought threw the adversity to say the following to his mother as Brian Scalabrine drove them to the hospital, "This this is better than an ambulance. This is Scal!" Still fantastic.

To be honest I should not I care, given the fact I never entirely trusted Allen, particularly when he dribbled. Consider this post, which I wrote upon hearing rumors that he might start a post season game. Ultimately it has to be because he showed flashes of excellent play. Furthermore, I had to find ways to enjoy watching the Celtics as they continued to lose more and more games each season. Ultimately there were a bunch of guys - Allen, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, Delonte West - that I wanted to see make it. And if you look at that list only 2 really did not - Allen and Green.

Hey maybe I'm wrong and Allen does return. But I'd be lying if I argued that his destination was as important as James Posey's. Still I always rooted for him and I wish him the best now. And in the end there will always be this:

Tony Allen with the wicked reverse Ally-oop Game 6 (via creativetfh)

Assorted Thoughts on the 2008 NBA Playoffs

Jim — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:59:42 -0000

The Guy I Underrated the Most Prior to the Playoffs

Honorable Mention - Rip Hamilton. Man he's an assassin. On top of that he cared throughout the Celtics series, which did not appear to be the case for some of his teammates. Now on to the winner.

Even after he made the All Star team and dropped 37 points on the Celtics I still felt that David West was a little overrated, largely due to playing with Chris Paul. I tend to make up for overvaluing Celtics by undervaluing players around the league. Then West averaged 21.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.9 blocks during the playoffs. On top of that he had the face-tapping incident with Dirk Nowitzki, the run in with Fabricio Oberto (not sure why that’s on fast forward), and overall a sense that he could lose his cool at practically any moment. At this point I’m sold on West’s talent, wonder if he’s secretly xenophobic, and think New Orleans needs another competent big coming off the bench. Although I do wonder about West's wiring. He might need to tone it down a few notches. And this is coming from a guy that defends Kevin Garnett against all critics.

As a side note did you watch that YouTube Clip of Nowitzki and West? What the hell was Dirk supposed to do? Hit him? The Mavericks got beat soundly as is, but would have been in a much worse state without Dirk for a game.

The Guy That Reminds Me of My Favorite Fantasy Sports Joke

"Man his team would be unstoppable...in 2002." Note that joke really does not work if it is in fact 2002. But you get the point. And the winner is...Jason Kidd. Not a strong playoffs for him. He put up roughly 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while absolutely getting worked by Chris Paul. And let's not forget Kidd throwing down Jannero Pargo.

The Guy That Opened Eyes But Then Came Back Down to Earth

Speaking of Jannero Pargo. He came out of the gate strong against Dallas and had his moments versus San Antonio as well. Unfortunately the wheels came off in that game 7 against the Spurs. Long story short he's still a role player, but a good one at that.

The Guy That Might be the Best Player in the NBA Regardless of What Others Say

LeBron James. I called him the best player in the League and then took it back after Kobe Bryant and the Lakers stormed through the Western Conference. Well then the Finals happened and once again I must reconsider. Would anybody argue that LeBron's supporting cast is better that Kobe's? On top of that I gave Kobe the nod because I viewed him as a better outside shooter. Well that didn't come through in the end despite a few three-point flurries. And don't forget, "A LeBron James Team is Never Desperate."

The Guy That I Felt Better About Before the Playoffs

I'm sure people have several different players in mind. But Carlos Boozer stands out for me. His 21 and 10 from the regular season were missed in Round 2 against the Lakers. I'm still convinced that a strong showing from Boozer would have made the Jazz dangerous. Well that and a concerted effort as a team not to slap opposing players, frequently sending them to the line in the process.

The Guy that Got Called Soft the Most

Pau Gasol. I wouldn't bet against him gaining redemption in the years to come.

The Guy That Yelled at His Mom in Front of the Most People

Lebron James tells Mom to Sit Down After foul (5.12.08) (via 23witty)

That still kills me.

The Guy That Launched LeBron James' Acting Career

Darius Songaila. You call that a punch? Seriously if LeBron tried that on someone like Dave Cowens he would have hated their next encounter.

The Announcer That Defended/Praised a Superstar to the Point That It Was Too Much

The nominees are...

1. Mark Jackson's "some players are champions even if they never win a trophy" argument in defense of Kevin Garnett, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, and anyone else (himself included I guess) whose game he admired.

2. Marv Albert's take on the Songaila/LeBron confrontation.

3. Doug Collins for his "looked like he had the ball a little bit", "hard foul", "I think they'll call a flagrant 1", and "frustration foul" after Kidd threw down Pargo.

4. Doug Collins throughout the "LeBron sit your ass down" segment but particularly at the end of this clip when he went into the "wise beyond his years" discussion.

5. Doris Burke for praising LeBron to the point that even LeBron was embarrassed in the Cavs/C's game she called.

6. Mark Jackson's "that's a clean play" after KG knocked Zaza Pachulia to the floor with a pick in the back court. Although to be fair I agreed with his assessment that Pachulia's teammates have to call out the pick. But I couldn't tell if my Boston bias was in overdrive.

And the winner is...Doug Collins! His defense of Jason Kidd was just too good. To review Kidd grabbed Pargo by the neck and threw him to the ground. The kicker? Pargo was in the air. Incredibly dangerous.

The Guy Who Added Insult to Defeat in the Most Convincing Fashion

Kevin Garnett for his pick on Zaza Pachulia in the waning moments of Game 7. Now this one is a little controversial. Plenty of people piled on KG for backing down from Pachulia in game 4. But as Donny Marshall noted, Pachulia for Garnett is a trade Atlanta would take any day of the week. Some guys are just too valuable to their teams. Still KG's critics call him a bully until players stand up to him. Blazers fans in particular bring it up. It's an interesting debate. Yet I like KG's approach. A player needs to keep his cool, stay in the game, file it away, and get revenge in a way that is not detrimental to the team.

The Stupidest Team in the League

The Wizards. Hat tip to Charles Barkley for coming up with this. Washington, in particular DeShawn Stevenson, needs to let its play do the talking and shy away from publicly taunting LeBron.

Those Who Love The Game – Glenn "Doc" Rivers on Life in the NBA and Elsewhere: Book Review

Jim — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:12:50 -0000

I first learned about Those Who Love The Game – Glenn “Doc” Rivers on Life in the NBA and Elsewhere, in this article by Bill Reynolds. Rivers worked with Bruce Brooks and I like how they went about it. As a reader it is easy differentiate Rivers’ words from Brooks’. In doing so they created a nice balance and avoided a lot of the pitfalls of ghost written fluff pieces. More importantly now seemed like as good a time as any to take a closer look at Rivers. For the record I doubted Rivers’ ability to coach a champion. In the wake of being proven wrong I’m more than happy to admit it. At the same time it has been interesting to watch the reactions of others. On the one hand Rivers has received a ridiculous amount of back handed compliments. Yet others have gone incredibly far to stress his tremendous coaching ability. Like a lot of things in life the reality probably lies somewhere in between the two approaches. Either way Boston won a championship and Rivers deserves credit.

A few more things before getting this party started. One warning. I read the book at some point during the NBA Finals and typed this shortly after the Celtics won. As a result I made a lot of connections to the 2008 Celtics. It is what it is. Regardless, if you take one thing away from this know that Rivers was incredibly candid throughout the book. His views on fans, other players, (Dominque Wilkins in particular comes to mind), and numerous other topics drew me in.

For previous book reviews, go here. Otherwise click "Continue reading this post" and enjoy.

In a tradition inspired by Jack McCallum's work I've broken this review into themes:

1. The Media
2. Family Life
3. Race
4. Rivers on his Peers
5. Coaching/GM
6. Types of Players
7. The 92/93 Knicks
8. Stats
9. Learning to Win
10. Improving as a Player

1. The Media

The book opened with Rivers discussing his concern over the attention John Starks received for dunking over Horace Grant and Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals. For the record I disagree with his contention that Starks dunked on Jordan. Back in 1993 Jordan arrived late and was “there” in the loosest sense of the word. It was no Scottie Pippen on Patrick Ewing, which in hindsight was outrageous because of the dunk itself and the subsequent taunting of Ewing and Spike Lee. But back to Starks. I was intrigued by Rivers’ argument that one play can be detrimental to a player. When reporters (print and television), fans and seemingly everyone a player encounters praises a ridiculous play it can impact the way that player approaches the game. The Starks anecdote segued into Rivers’ opinions on media:

"I pretty much like the writers and media people. I understand their predicament – their job is to find something new to write about in each game, when in fact all eight-two games are basically the same. And they have to do it tomorrow! It’s a hard job. But some them can be like kids – they won’t listen, because they know everything. It can be pretty funny.” – Doc Rivers (Brooks 7).

Rivers elaborated on that final point, arguing that the real NBA is entirely different from the “media packaged version of the NBA game” (Brooks 8). So sometimes a player will dunk on a team because he can and it’s the highest percentage shot available. But a journalist may then report that it was a statement dunk, even if the player is adamant it was not. Rivers went on to say that it is dangerous when a player is influenced by the “media packaged version of the NBA game” (Brooks 8). Overall I found Rivers' take interesting for three reasons:

- This book came out in 1993 when fans followed the game by watching it live, reading newspapers/magazines, catching highlight shows, and listening to sports talk radio. Fast forward 15 years and throw in the explosion of 24-hour television, the NBA package, Internet (blogs, Facebook type sites, YouTube, and everything else), and cell phone cameras and the climate is altogether different. Not only are sports fans around the world following the NBA more they are starting to have their own opinion and possibly feeding into the “media packaged version of the NBA game” (Brooks 8). Rivers detailed how reporters often ignore what the players say in hopes of making a story. Well people such as myself make a story without ever talking to a player or coach. And if you think Rivers is not aware of the new ways sports are covered – think again.

- Reporters can be a coach or player’s best friend or biggest enemy. We don’t like to think like that because ideally reporters are neutral and lack an agenda. But they’re also human. At some point Rivers learned how to interact with the media. I’m not saying he is disingenuous. But there’s a reason I claimed Rivers could be the greatest salesman of all time at some point during the 2007 season. He learned what any successful coach must learn – don’t ignore members of the media or go out of the way to anger them either. Just watch one of Rivers’ press conferences some time. He’s as smooth as can be.

- Is every game really the same? Wouldn't that mean that, barring injury, the outcome of any one game does not matter? I agree with Rivers to a degree. For example Washington beat Boston three out of four times this season. Does that make the Wizards better than the Celtics? I’d argue no. And had San Antonio advanced to the NBA Finals Boston’s regular season sweep would not have counted for much. However, I’d argue that the Celtics turned a corner in the “media packaged version of the NBA game” (Brooks 8) as well as the real NBA with the Texas Triangle sweep and the beat downs they put on the Suns and Hornets to avenge previous losses. Similarly it was important for Boston to beat the Raptors and Bobcats on the road with buzzer beaters. Yet in the end what do I know?

2. Family Life

The book was written around Rivers’ 10th season in the league. In NBA terms he was an old man (32). On top of that he was happily married with two young children. Rivers went into detail about how a family grounded him. He described the lives of many NBA players as follows:

“you’ve got young men who are larger than everybody else and richer than everybody else and more pampered than everybody else, whose biggest crisis – shooting a jump shot, reduced playing time – is completely contained by a game that has no real meaning relative to the challenges in the world. When there is a chance for interactions with such challenges, somebody else usually steps in to take care of the contact. If you mess up, somebody usually cleans up. You can get away with a lot. – Doc Rivers (Brooks 19).

Rivers maintained that family helped keep him in reality, which Brooks outlined as “responsibilities, illusion-free choices, flattery-free critiques of one’s actions.”

I found the chapter on family relevant for two reasons:

- Rivers explained that he was a rebel as a youngster. In fact he did not take school all that seriously until 8th grade, something he regretted at the time of the book’s release. He acted out a lot and hung with a bad crowd some. Yet from age 6 Rivers was transfixed by watching his uncle (future NBA player Jim Brewer) play basketball. Those games became an important part of Rivers’ life. And at one point in the second grade his behavior was bad enough that his parents threatened to make him miss a game. Attempting to call their bluff young Rivers did not change his ways. As a result he missed a game, which devastated him. His parents did the right thing and refused to give into his hysterical pleas to attend. Later Rivers would recall that as a turning point. They could have let him go, but what would that have done? It speaks to a bigger issue in life. At times the easy decision in the short term can be disastrous in the long term. That’s something anyone working for a NBA team knows all to well. Given the nature of the league (star based, only so many players) elite players will at times act in detrimental ways. Does the team simply cover it up or take a stand? I’d bet that a lot of times teams cover it up because it seems like the right, easy choice in the short term.

- Rivers’ father died in the fall of 2007 and yet after missing one game for the funeral he went right back to work. In hindsight his ability to do so with a great deal of success was impressive. As a side note after reading Rivers’ explanation of his father the following quote made perfect sense:

"My first thought was, 'What would my dad say?' And honestly, I started laughing because I thought he would probably say, if you knew my dad: 'It's about time. What have you been waiting for?'" - Doc Rivers

3. Race

This was arguably the most interesting chapter in the whole book and clearly a topic Rivers is passionate about. In fact it’s worth a read whether you agree with his views or not. One of his major points was that black athletes get passed along throughout school because of their talent. As a result their grammar is not particularly strong and they get portrayed as stupid. Rivers pointed to Moses Malone as a prime example. He later talked about pursuing tutoring in the summer to get caught up on education he should have picked up in the 5th grade.* While I definitely agree with the idea that an athlete can make it through college reading at a grammar school level, I would assume that hot shot white athletes would get similar treatment. That’s debatable. Yet even if black and white athletes both get passed along I was intrigued by Rivers’ opinion of Bill Walton. Essentially Rivers used him to point to the discrepancy between the labels athletes get. White players can be creative, free spirits that march to the beat of a different drummer while black players are strange, dangerous, and have an attitude problem. Rivers went on to list some of Walton’s indiscretions. Personally I’ve always gotten a kick out of Walton to a degree (he’s a small doses guy). Yet I’ve wondered about some of the things he pulled. For example Walton speaks glowingly of his Celtics career. Yet I encourage you to look at some of the moves he made following the 86’ season.

* To be fair Rivers admitted that there were teachers that tried to help him when he was younger but he was not interested.

4. Rivers on his Peers

Patrick Ewing: Rivers initially viewed the long time Knick as unhappy, mean and a poor leader. After joining the Knicks Rivers came to see Ewing as a nice, smart, and thoughtful leader. Interestingly Rivers talks about Ewing – great shooter, tremendous defensive presence, hardest worker at all times – the same way a lot of people talk about Kevin Garnett. That’s a strong contrast to Ewing’s legacy nowadays, which is not as positive.

Chris Mullin: King of Tempo, allowed him to score on bigger, faster, stronger players.

“Chris Mullin has more gears – more well-paced speeds, than anybody. And he is a master at using them. A defender has a terrible time adjusting.” (Brooks 44).

Michael Jordan – Clearly Rivers respected MJ. But he never went any further than that, offering a warning instead –

“He zeroes in on any opening. If he catches you admiring him – you are dead.” – Doc Rivers (Brooks 58).

Along those lines Rivers tells an epic Jon Koncak/MJ/high five story. I won’t ruin it but in Rivers’ words it involves “the single greatest expression of contempt” (Brooks 58).

Rivers also talked about Moses Malone, Dr. J, Johnny Davis, Dennis Johnson, Eddie Johnson, Sly Williams, Gus Williams, Kevin Johnson, Dominique Wilkins (of course) Maurice Cheeks, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Some interesting stuff to say the least. But I had to include my favorite exchange from the whole book, which happened during a Knicks/Hornets playoff game. It went down as Alonzo Mourning protested a foul call on one of his teammates:

“Zo I think he fouled him.” – Doc Rivers
“Who the bleep are you? Bleep you.” – Alonzo Mourning

I used the bleeps because they were in the book. And I still enjoyed it. A lot. Ironically there's an outside chance that Rivers could coach Zo in 2009. As a side note I'm not sure the NBA is ready for KG and Zo, even this late in his career, playing on the same team.

5. Coaching/GM

At different points throughout the book Rivers made it clear that he wanted to win a ring as a player, coach, and GM. Right now he’s 1 for 3. Not bad. Along those lines I found his take on the coach/GM role fascinating:

“All I can say is: When I am a coach, and later a GM, if I am lucky enough to get it right, I will recognize that I’ve got a team, and I’ll do everything possible not to mess it up. Sometimes that’s a coach’s best move: to make no move. Sometimes the best trading decision for a GM is not to make any trades.” – Doc Rivers (Brooks 52).

Upon reading that I couldn’t help think about P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell. I’d say the Celtics were 50% successful with those late season acquisitions. Do the Celtics win it all without Brown? That’s an interesting question, and a difficult one for a staunch Leon Powe supporter such as myself. Meanwhile, it’s clear that Cassell does not have much left in the tank and he definitely appeared to be detrimental at times to what the C’s did – defend and share the ball. Meanwhile, it’s hard to argue that the C’s were not getting it done prior to those additions. For what it's worth I admire how Rivers’ said, “when I am a coach and later a GM” and not if.

6. Types of Players

Rivers puts NBA players into 3 categories:

1. Guys who like the benefits, work hard, are professionals, try to win, but don’t live and die by the game of basketball.

2. Guys who were pushed towards basketball, usually because of height, and came to love the special treatment it gave them. However, many of these guys may in fact hate the game of basketball.

3. Guys who love it, need to play.

“You could tie them up in the parking lot and chain them to a car, and by halfway through the first quarter they’d come out on the floor dragging the car behind them, ‘Hey I’m open!’” – Doc Rives (Brooks 55).

If you’re like me you’re assigning a whole list of player to each of those categories right now. I won’t go to in depth with that but Cassell has to fall in category #3. Maybe that’s part of the reason he continued to get burn even after Celtics fans had completely lost confidence in them. That and the fact that Celtics fans don't coach the team, which is a very good thing.

7. The 92/93 Knicks

Eric Anderson, Greg Anthony, Rolando Blackman, Tony Campbell, Hubert Davis, Patrick Ewing, Bo Kimble, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, Doc Rivers, Charles Smith, John Starks, Herb Williams. Of course Pat Riley was the coach. That’s a loaded squad. Of course they ran into the Charles Smith missed layups game and MJ’s crew.

8. Stats

Rivers described individual stats as worthless and vowed to ban stat sheets from his locker room as a coach. To make his point he went into great detail about Maurice Cheeks and his ability to contribute in ways that never made the box score. (Obviously I thought of James Posey when I read that.) And I agree with much of what Rivers said. Stats don’t matter for role players like Posey or Cheeks. But they matter for Paul Pierce. As important as defense and the little things are, teams need guys who can create their own shot, piling up stats in the process.

9. Learning to Win

Rivers was obviously not pleased with how the ’93 season ended. Yet he talked about how much it taught the Knicks and knew they would come back stronger. As a side note the Knicks went to the finals in ‘94 in a MJless league. Were the Knicks better? Probably. But they didn’t go through MJ or Hakeem for that matter. But back to team growth, which Rivers explained as follows:

“Pat Riley has a saying: Humiliation before honor. We’ve paid some dues, and we’ll pay some more.” – Doc Rivers (152).

That speaks to the idea that a team must grow together, get knocked out of the playoffs, and eventually make it to the top of the mountain. The fact that the 2008 Celtics were thrown together, ripped through the regular season, and won it all defies that and annoyed a fair amount of people. I could care less. And perhaps Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce paid their dues in Milwaukee/Seattle, Minnesota, and Boston respectively, prior to 2008. Just another reason the 2008 Celtics were unique.

10. Improving as a Player

If you asked Rivers in the early 90s how to improve your vertical he would have told you to jump as high as you could and touch a spot on the wall. Then jump over and over again until you touched a higher spot on the wall. He wasn’t a big plyometrics guy back then. Shooting? Bend your legs and follow through. If you practice a shot enough, even one with bad form, you’ll get good at it. I don’t entirely agree. I recently watched the Better Basketball shooting DVD and I'm working on my shot. It's nice to fall back on technique when things go awry. I'm only slightly better but I can be my own coach and understand what I do wrong when a shot is errant. Of course I'm a big believer in the shot doctor. I'd be remiss if I did not point out that Rivers went more in depth than "bend your knees and follow through". For example he adhered to the following practice strategy to improve his shot: find 5 or 6 spots on the floor that are good spots (we all have them) and hit 5 in a row from each spot. That ties into a quote I enjoyed, although not as much as the aforementioned Zo quote:

“The difference between a guy who is going to be good and a guy who says he wants to be good is that, while they both start out with the intention of hitting five, only one of them does so.” – Doc Rivers (Brooks 179).

Of course that reminds me a lot of the 2008 Celtics. A lot of teams talk about defense and winning championships. However, Boston put the work in all season, played as a team, and moved light years beyond clichéd rhetoric. The same is true for Rivers. He had goals stretching back to at least the early 90s, if not earlier, worked hard, and achieved some. Give the man credit.

New T-Shirt

Jim — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:51:34 -0000

If you're still looking for a t-shirt to celebrate banner #17 consider this one. It's definitely original and comes from an independent artist, rather than a big chain store. So check it out.