By Kevin Henkin

Hey, they can’t all be masterpieces. The Friday night game against the Bobcats had “mid-season grind” written all over it. Anyway, I was fortunate to witness the game in person and came away with the following stream-of-consciousness observations as the game progressed:

Pre-Game

There’s not much going on before the game so I take the opportunity to thumb through the Bobcats’ Media Guide. On each player, there is a “Personal” section that lists various tidbits. For example, Derek Anderson’s bio notes his charitable partnership with an organization called B.R.I.C.K. (no mention of whether Anderson’s .355 shooting percentage this year played a role in his selection as B.R.I.C.K.’s spokesman). Meanwhile, Othella Harrington’s “favorite pre-game meal is shrimp, fish and fries” (which goes a long way in explaining his, um, girth) and Primoz Brezeec “regularly surfs the internet and reads newspapers (otherwise known as porn) from all around the world”. Hmm. These guys aren’t exactly the 1977 Portland Trailblazers in terms of team personality.

First Quarter

It’s less than four minutes into the game and Garnett is already back on the bench with two fouls. The second whistle came when he had to pick up Jason Richardson from Paul Pierce on a drive. This was after Pierce watched Richardson roll by him like a Kleenex float at a parade. Not a good sign.

The Celtics Dancers arrive on the court during the first time out. Just as predicted by Kate Darnton in her Boston Globe editorial, when little girls in the stands witness the Dancers in action, they immediately stop listening to their fathers, abandon their commitment to studying in school and sneak out to apprentice at the nearest strip club. Oh, the humanity.

Rondo finds Perkins down low with a perfect pass just off the box. Perkins receives the past chest high and immediately dribbles the ball into three defenders and loses possession. Later in the quarter, he converts a tough And 1, lobs a nifty pass over the interior defense to a wide open Pierce and then is the lone hustler down the floor after a Rondo pocket-picking (Rondo rewards him by waiting patiently under the basket and giving him a free bunny jam). By the end of the quarter, he has 11 points and 1 rebound.

Rondo is on fire. He has six assists by the end of the quarter. Maybe Isiah Thomas was right about Rondo’s supreme level of importance to the team. Bear in mind, however, that even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Second Quarter

I read in the Bobcats Media Guide that Jason Richardson has a wingspan of 6’11.5’’. This might help explain why Pierce has match-up problems with him.

One of the reasons I enjoy attending games in person is because it’s always fun to watch Tom Thibodeau act like he’s either passing kidney stones or receiving electroshock treatments whenever the Celtics let up an easy basket.

The Celtics blow a fast break and throw the ball away on consecutive possessions. I blame the Dancers for being a needless distraction and destroying the sacred purity of the game. And remember, Red Auerbach agrees with me here, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.

As Paul Pierce launches a killer three at the end of the quarter, P.J. Brown is the first guy on the bench to jump up and give the Hail Mary signal. I like this guy already.

Third Quarter

Emeka Okafor just might be the worst foul shooter I’ve ever seen. He genuinely looks cursed from behind the line. It is very bad to steal Jobu’s rum.

It’s Mascot Night at the Garden. The Bruins bear is here, as well as a few other big fuzzy characters I don’t recognize. This probably explains the sell-out.

Four minutes into the third: Jason Richardson 21 points. Paul Pierce, 9.

The refs make what I refer to as an Occam’s Razor call on Kevin Garnett. In other words, if an opposing player inexplicably tumbles out of bounds despite no physical contact, then hell, the nearest Celtic must have been the cause. TWEET! Loose ball foul! Somewhere, Violet Palmer cooks her bacon and eggs and smiles.

Fourth Quarter

It’s generally been a sloppy game thus far. Eight minutes left and the Celtics are up by 9. Seems like they should have put these guys away three hours ago.

Rondo feeds the ball to an open Ray Allen behind the arc for his 15^th assist. This eclipses his career high by 3. A monster evening all around for the floor general.

Coming out of a timeout, Garnett stands at center court with his arms raised while The Scorpions blare from the PA. The crowd erupts. It’s a small moment but regardless: What a difference a year makes.

Another timeout. Celtics up by 5 with 2:01 left and there are people actually leaving with their coats. It’s 9:53 p.m. on a Friday night. I don’t understand these people.

Under two minutes to go. Garnett wants the ball, he gets the ball, he sinks the ball from eighteen feet two possessions in a row. Then a steal/breakaway/Ray Allen dunk seals the deal in a game that never should have been this close.

As I mentioned up top, it was truly a mid-season grind game where the much better team put in just enough effort to pull out the ugly win. How many times did we see opposing teams do this to the Celtics last season? A far superior squad like Dallas would come in, play like crap for three and half quarters and then wake up, rub the sleep away from their eyes and stick a fork in the Celtics just when there appeared to be hope. Alas, I can’t say it too many times. It’s nice to be on the other side of such an equation. 45 W’s and counting…

By Kevin Henkin

 The arrival of spring looms in the air, and so too does the inevitableness of a Celtics post-season berth. Let’s be obnoxiously premature and look ahead to the potential match-ups that await Boston. We’ll begin by comparing each potential Eastern Conference playoff opponent and their respective home cities in an attempt to answer some very important questions. For example, do the Celtics stack up well against the other Beasts of the East? Does Boston compare favorably to the other hubs in the hunt? Is this the laziest idea for a column ever conceived? I think you’ll find an emphatic YES answered to all such inquires, as is proven below.

Detroit

They have riots. We have rolling rallies. They have rampant street crime. We have Dan Shaughnessy. They have Chauncey Billups. We had Chauncey Billups, until Rick Pitino traded him away after 51 games like an impatient short-sighted megalomaniac tyrant. Excuse me. The Pistons are very good and seasoned. The Celtics are very good and inspired. Draw.

Orlando

They have Mickey Mouse. We have Butch Stearns. They have Hedo Turkolgu. We have Tommy Heinsohn trying to pronounce Hedo Turkoglu. They have gorgeous sunny weather most days of the year. We have a better basketball team. Advantage: Boston.

Cleveland

They have one All-Star (but it’s LeBron James). We have three All-Stars (and one of them is Kevin Garnett). They had a river that caught on fire. We had Ron Borges. They have Wally Szczerbiak, a poor man’s version of Ray Allen. We have the real Ray Allen. They have a new rotation of players learning to play together. So do we, although we’ve had since the beginning of the season to jell. Frankly, though, these guys frighten me a little bit. Draw, until further notice.

Toronto

Their city has a sophisticated multi-cultural international flavor. We outsource our international flavor requirements to Harvard and Boston University. They have six players from another country. We have Scot Pollard, who is from another planet. They have socialized medicine. We have Dan Shaughnessy. They have Chris Bosh. We have three guys who are still better than Chris Bosh. Advantage: Boston.

Washington

They have former UConn standout Caron Butler. We have Ray Allen. They have Agent Zero’s hilarious blog. We have Rajon Rondo’s (I still can’t get over him listing Will & Grace as one of his favorite television shows). They have a middle-of-the-road hockey team. So do we (It’s called Bruins, folks). Their season is on a road to nowhere, with or without Gilbert Arenas. Our team’s season appears booked into the late spring. Advantage: Boston.

New Jersey

They traded away their best player and got worse. We held onto ours and got better. Their remaining best player (Richard Jefferson) sounds like the guy in Beverly Hills Cop who says “We’re not going to fall for the banana in the tailpipe”. Our new best player (Kevin Garnett) sounds like William Wallace heading into battle. The Nets have less soul than Clay Aiken. The Celtics have more soul than James Brown. Advantage: Boston.

Philadelphia

They have A.I.’s “Tribute to Practice”. We have Pitino’s “Discourse on Negativity”. They have a .439 winning percentage. We have Dan Shaughnessy. They have Moses Malone as an Assistant Coach. We have Clifford Ray. They claim in commercials to be “like a baby New York”. We’d rather boil ourselves in oil than compare ourselves to New York. Huge Advantage: Boston.

To the other Eastern Conference teams and cities not discussed above, I feel their pain. After all, THEY have teams that are decidedly out of title contention. We? Let’s just say we’re strapping our seatbelts on, ready for a ride that hasn’t come to Celtics-ville in far too long.

By Shirley Coshatt

The success of the Celtics so far this season has taken even the most diehard fans by surprise. Most expected them to do well but very few of us expected them to win this much this early. Many would contend that at the heart of their success are the Celtics’ three stars. Others would point more specifically to Kevin Garnett as the driver behind Boston’s success. The primary reason for this team’s phenomenal start, however, actually rests elsewhere. It’s in their defense.

Consider the evidence. In the span of one season, the Celtics have gone from one of the worst defensive teams to one of the best. Last season, Boston ranked 18th in points allowed, 24th in field goal percentage allowed, 12th in 3 point field goals allowed, 10th in rebounds allowed, and 24th in the point differential. This season, they are first in every one of those categories (Editor’s Note: This was still true at the time of writing, before the team inexplicably gave away the store in their first two games of their west coast swing).

Kevin Garnett is well known as a defensive stopper. On the other hand, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have never been known for their defensive play. It isn’t hard to realize that it isn’t a player or even several players who have made the biggest difference in this team. It is a coach.

During the off-season, Danny Ainge brought in Tom Thibodeau to serve as an assistant coach specializing in the establishment of an effective team defense. Prior to his arrival in Boston, Thibodeau had coached in the league with 17 seasons with Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Seattle and Minnesota. During that time, his teams have finished among the top 10 in fewest points allowed 14 times. Perhaps his most notable stint was as an assistant with New York (1996-2003). In 2000-01, the Knicks set an NBA record by holding opponents to fewer than 100 points in 33 consecutive games. In his first year in Houston, Thibodeau helped the Rockets set franchise records in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.

A native of New Britain, Connecticut, Thibodeau graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and a then a Master’s in Counseling from Salem State College. He lettered in four seasons at Salem State. He was inducted into the New Britain, CT Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.Thibodeau entered the NBA in 1989 as an assistant coach with the expansion entry Minnesota Timberwolves under the late Bill Musselman. After two seasons with the Timberwolves, he joined the Seattle SuperSonics in 1991 as an advance scout. The following year, Thibodeau moved to San Antonio, where he worked with Jerry Tarkanian and John Lucas as a Spurs assistant coach for two seasons. He left San Antonio to become an assistant coach under Lucas with the Philadelphia 76ers. Thibodeau stayed in Philadelphia two seasons before joining the Knicks. With the Knicks, Thibodeau worked with Jeff Van Gundy for five years and Don Chaney for two more seasons. He has coached in 87 career NBA playoff games, including New York’s appearance in the 1999 NBA Finals.

During his four seasons with Houston, the Rockets advanced to the postseason in three of those seasons and won 50 games in two seasons. Thibodeau guided the Rockets to a top five ranking in the NBA in both opponents’ scoring defense and field goal percentage in each of the past four seasons. Thibodeau also led the Rockets’ summer league teams to a 10-0 record over the past two seasons. In 2005-06, he worked with All-Star Center Yao Ming as he became the first Rockets player to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1995-96. Thibodeau has gone to China the past two summers to help Yao work on his individual skills. Yao speaks often of Thibodeau’s role in his breakthrough play after coming back from the toe surgery last season. A look at tape of Yao from three seasons ago, before Thibodeau began working with him, and a tape of him from this past season would be compelling evidence of Thibodeau’s effectiveness.

Before taking the Celtics job, Thibodeau interviewed for several head coaching jobs and agreed with Washington to be an assistant for the Wizards. He worked several days with the Wizards and then had a change of heart and didn’t sign the contract. Reports are that he was promised the head assistant position and then wasn’t given it and that is why he backed away from working with the Wizards. The Celtics had shown interest in him and it is reported that theys also offered him a deal before he agreed to the Wizards job. He requested a one year contract according to the Herald and that may be because he is considered to be head coaching material and may want to explore what is out there next season. Or, it may be because each of Doc’s assistants current serve under one-year contracts and he didn’t want to one-up them.

This season, Thibodeau added coaching the Sophomore team in the Rookie Challenge during All-Star weekend to his resume. It may be the first time in the history of the game that a team came in prepared to play defense. The Celtics have obviously suffered occasional defensive lapses, as we have seen on the west coast swing thus far, but there is no denying the effect that Thibodeau has had on this team’s defense. There is no doubt that there will be a fair level of interest in Thibodeau this off-season as teams seek to replace head coaches. Before the off-season arrives, Danny Ainge should do whatever it takes to ensure that his resident defensive guru returns to Boston because even with three stars in place, the heart of the team’s success lies with Tom Thibodeau.

By Tom Lambert

After an abysmal performance by the referees on Tuesday night that just may have cost the Celtics the game, several immediate questions came to mind. For example, I pondered what it takes to actually become an NBA referee. Is there required certified training or a school that they must attend? If so, what types of rigorous behavioral and judgmental exercises are they put through to pass muster? And just who decides on the number on their back? Is it chosen via lottery or does the ghost of Joe Cabot assign it? I needed answers and I demanded them faster than Violet Palmer could blow an easy call. My search began and ended with the website for The National Association of Officials.

According to the site, the NSoA is the world’s largest organization for sports officials at every level and all sports. Currently they have more than 16,000 members. Think about that. 16,000 referees. It’s like an entire town of people with poor judgment and closets full of cheap black chinos. Towards the middle of the page there was a “How to become an official” link. Below, you will find what I found (if you are not sitting down already I advise you to please do so immediately, for this is heavy material worthy of solemn contemplation), interspersed with my own commentary in bold. Apologies are offered in advance to the geniuses at firejoemorgan.com for using their format.

And now, onto…”How to become an official”, in their own words:

You’ve thought about becoming a basketball official and need a place to get started.

Find out about the local officials associations in your area. An officiating association is a group of officials who meet periodically to discuss rules, mechanics and philosophy. They are a great way for new officials to learn from veteran officials.
“So if I’m following you correctly, I wait until after the player has fallen to the floor and glares at me? Then I blow my whistle?”

Attend a game in your area and ask the officials what association they belong to and whom to contact for information. The association will be a valuable pool of resources for training, obtaining games and getting to know the officiating community.

This is a good start. Attend some games. Watch how the guy manages to shake his head both with and without his whistle. Follow him to his car when the sun goes down.

Physical Demands and Initial Training

Expect great physical demands. As the players’ ages increase and the competitive levels increase, the physical demands will rise. You will be required to run short distances many times. You will be constantly moving and on your feet.

Now this is misleading, much like Amway claiming they have “enthusiastic selling techniques”. At a minimum, they should also mention the emphatic skipping and thrusting.

Expect lectures, demonstration and exercises on the basic rules at local association meetings.
“Take your right hand. YOUR RIGHT HAND….place it behind your head…BEHIND YOUR HEAD LIKE YOU ARE POSING AS A PIN-UP”.

Attire:
Polished, black, athletic shoes.
Black socks.
Black slacks with a belt is acceptable at lower levels but as the level of competition rises, beltless pants are the norm.
A striped shirt, V neck.
A whistle and a lanyard.
Estimated cost: $200. Sometimes, veteran officials have “hand—me—downs” that help new officials get started.

Wouldn’t you love to know who the beltless pioneer was? This has Bob Delaney written all over it.

Here’s the path for starting and continuing your officiating career:

*The youth level: Many officials start at that level. Contact your local recreation department leaders. Your local association should also help you make contacts to get games.
*Upgrading to high school: After working some games, you may feel you have the skills and confidence to work higher level competition. Contact your state association for registration information.

Something tells me it takes more than a few games to get accustomed to being bitched at by some acne-stained, arm sleeve wearing punk, probably named Tyler .

College officiating is a highly competitive level.. Obtaining a conference schedule and advancement within a conference is based on the league or conference. When first trying to enter a particular college conference, talk with officials who are currently in the conference. They can give you valuable information such as the conference commissioner and officiating camps to attend. College athletic directors or sports information directors can also be helpful. Click here for a NCAA college conference directory.

“So all I do is place tiny classified ads and wait for my income to grow?? Sounds great, when do I start??!!”

Attending officiating camps is an important tool to improve your officiating. Not only can you learn from experienced officials, you can be seen by those who assign games at that particular level, most often conference commissioners or officiating supervisors.

“I’m sorry honey but we have to cancel our European Vacation. It conflicts with the Referee Camp…But all the other conference commissioners are going to be there…Do you want me to miss out on becoming the next Ed Hightower??? You would like that, wouldn’t you??!!!”

Professional league: Though you don’t have to have top—level experience to become a professional official, some experience is required.

“I have to say your resume is impressive…Just one question, how were you able to minimize conflict when the shirts refused to go skin??”

For example, it would be unlikely that a person with one year of high school experience would be a serious candidate for the NBA or WNBA, though there is no set number of years or certain level of achievement required by the professional leagues.

So, you may or may not need a year experience to work at the highest level? Is the NBA that desperate that they need to lower the requirements to include any intramural jerk with a Foot Locker uniform? Why not rent some space at the Convention Center the next time the career fair blows through town. This explains so much, and yet I don’t feel any better.

Next, you may be invited to a summer identification camp. At the camp you will officiate and become familiar to the professional staff. From there you may be placed into the development program, which consists of off-season and in-season camps.

You’ve got to love how they use the terms “camp” and “program” to describe a guy with a comb over and polyester pants bragging about the time he barked “That’s enough, A.I.!” to a 14 year old Allen Iverson. And what exactly is the difference between off-season and in-season camps? Are the whistles different? It makes you wonder if there is an “in-season” bar where a bunch of wannabe refs, who have watched The Departed one too many times, haze the off-season guys that haven’t made to the in-season session. “What…are you having your period?”

If progress is made from year to year, you will be invited back to summer identification camps. You may then be chosen to be a professional official, continue working in the development program, or be released. As you progress through the evaluation process, you may be hired by the NBA to work in the NBDL. In your first three seasons, you will likely work NBDL, WNBA and NBA games before becoming a regular member of the NBA or WNBA staff.

At this point, I’m expecting to see a picture of Lindsay Wagner with a disclaimer that reads “There is no obligation. Just return the black Spot-Bilts within 30 days and there will be no charge. We’ll even pay the shipping!!!”

I walked away from the screen, a wiser man and yet no less frustrated. Alas, I took comfort in the fact that with those that I walk among, beltless pants are most definitely not the norm.

By Kevin Henkin

Everyone has a right to express their opinion. Even if it’s so one-sided and ill-informed as to be laughable. I refer specifically to an op-ed piece on the Celtics Dancers that the Boston Globe took seriously enough to feature in the center of their most recent Sunday editorial section.

If you haven’t read the editorial, I’ll do my best to summarize it for you (otherwise, you can read it for yourself via the link I’ve provided at the bottom of this article). In essence, the piece (titled “Go-go dancing all over Red’s grave”) argues that the Celtics Dancers are a dirty and embarrassing distraction to the fans who attend the games. The author (Kate Darnton) uses the term “porn” four times in describing what the dancers do. She makes repeated references to strip joints and ridicules the names and the outfits of the Dancers. She also predictably uses Red Auerbach’s well-publicized disapproval of the Dancers to bolster her point (hence the title of the piece, which obviously panders to old-fashioned Celtics die-hards). From atop her soapbox, Ms. Darnton indignantly makes her case primarily on behalf of…..(everyone say it along with me)…The children.

Ah yes, of course. For the sake of the children, always one of the easiest tactics to employ from the moral bully pulpit. After all, who wants to include themselves on the side of those who would willingly taint and sully the minds of our most precious commodity? Of course, the issue at hand is far more complicated than it is presented, and it always takes a bit of courage and deeper thinking to stand up to those who would anoint themselves as our morality censors and the guardians of America’s youth.

Before I continue in my attempt to dismantle this tired, prudish and deeply flawed argument, for the sake of perspective, I should first be up-front about my own view of the extracurricular entertainment provided at most NBA games. In a nutshell, if someone wants to make the case that the experience of attending Celtics games can be hindered by an excess of loud distractions, I won’t disagree. This, however, is because I am a certified hoops junkie, a basketball purist, if you will. The game itself is enough to keep me entertained from the moment of my arrival to my departure. The action on the court is more than enough to captivate me throughout. To coin a phrase from a chick flick thinly disguised as a sports movie, the Celtics had me at ‘hello’. However, I am sensible enough to realize that I have become the exception rather than the rule. I recognize that a fair percentage of my fellow attendees do not share my almost irrational love of the game. It is for these people that the additional level of entertainment is provided. Providing such entertainment is a quite simply a business decision and it is one that I fully understand.

If you have any doubts as to why such entertainment is in place, look around the arena when the T-shirt Patrol roams the court or when the Jumbotron features a number of fans dancing around like loons. Many people other than me truly enjoy watching this sort of thing. It adds to their experience. The kids in particular seem to love it. Then again, children aren’t the only demographic being served. In fact, considering the late start to most of the games, they represent a vast minority of those in attendance. This is not an afternoon showing of the circus, after all. It is a professional sporting event that almost always stretches late into the evening. In recognition of the mostly-adult audience, a more adult-oriented level of entertainment is also provided by the team. This is where the Celtics Dancers come in, those women who supposedly so disrespect the grave of Red Auerbach.

Before moving onto the Dancers, allow me a brief aside on Red. The references to him in the editorial bother me because a couple of the stated facts about him are wrong and because it is my opinion that his disapproval of the Dancers was misunderstood. The aforementioned inaccuracies lie in Ms. Darnton’s timeline. Specifically, she states, “The Celtics would have cheerleaders over his dead body, Red said. And so the suits waited. In February 2004, Auerbach told the Globe, ‘They’re just waiting for me to die so they can get cheerleaders.’ He was right. Two and a half years later, Red was dead, and at the first available opportunity the girls took the court.” It all sounds so dastardly and underhanded. If only it were true. What actually happened was that the Celtics formed the entire roster of the dance team while Auerbach was still alive. Subsequently (perhaps in a case of minor cosmic karma), just before the Dancers were to be unveiled in their first in-game performance, Auerbach passed away. It’s true that he never saw them perform but he knew full and well that they existed and were on deck. Maybe I’m getting stuck on a minor misrepresentation but it’s my thought that if you’re going to invoke the thoughts and words of a legend, you should at least get all of your facts straight.

As for his famous disapproval, anyone with any sort of understanding of the Auerbach psyche would expect nothing less than his scorn at the idea of dancers. He was stubbornly resistant to such changes. And why wouldn’t he be? He was there when the league was in its infancy and then spent the rest of his life deeply dedicated to the game. In the old days, it was all about the basketball and that was seemingly good enough for everyone involved. Therefore, it’s understandable that Auerbach would prefer the continued presentation of the game in its purest form. However, as is want to happen over a period of fifty years, the world tends to change. Auerbach’s heyday was well before the invention of video games, the internet, DVDs and the explosion of cable television offerings. Entering into modern times, the NBA was forced to compete harder for its audience and they acted accordingly. Again, such decisions were based on business considerations. The dance teams exist across the league because they are skilled entertainers and because a lot more people like watching them perform than those that do not.

As for the Dancers themselves, they are certainly worthy of more respect than to be compared to people who peel off all of their clothing in seedy establishments. In addition, to refer to them as producers of pornography is borderline slanderous and is certainly inaccurate. It’s also crass and grossly unfair. These are women who dedicate a large amount of their time training and preparing to perform those routines that entertain the masses. They are students and professional women alike who also dance on behalf of the Celtics, not as a lucrative career (it’s not) but because they enjoy entertaining people with something that they happen to do particularly well. They work hard at their craft and are fully aware of the image that they portray. Please note that they do not engage in strip teases or sexual innuendos during any of their time spent on the court. Their actions are not cause for shame. They simply dance, and they do it well. They also happen to serve their local communities by making charitable appearances on behalf of the Celtics. The fact that some in the stands choose to find their movements offensive is predictable. Recall that Elvis Presley’s gyrating hips were once deemed unfit for television. It’s all a matter of perspective.

As for the sake of kids, consider this. You are the parent of your own children. I am the parent of mine. It is not your duty not to decide whether dancing women in full attire are appropriate viewing for others. Specific to your own children, however, it is your duty to provide them with a fair and balanced view of what they see so that they might better understand the world in which they live. Little girls aren’t going to enlist themselves in stripper camps immediately after watching the Celtics Dancers. They might, however, try to emulate the Dancers in terms of their high level of physical fitness and their commitment to serving their local communities. I’m pretty sure even Red Auerbach would light up a cigar to that.

Link to the Globe editorial.

By Kevin Henkin 

Let’s face it. Some of our local teams are more fun to root for than others.

For example, the Red Sox teams of the late 80’s fell decidedly into the “not fun to root for” category, mostly because they were populated by a bunch of unlikable knobs who had a tendency of losing badly on the big stage. When they weren’t getting their rear ends handed to them by Dave Stewart and the Oakland A’s, they were either willing themselves invisible, bragging about carrying their own luggage or short-changing the grounds crew when divvying up playoff shares. The Sox teams in the early 2000s, filled with the likes of Dante Bichette and Mike Lansing, were similarly tough to root for. There were just far too many overpaid guys with lousy attitudes wearing the Boston laundry back in those days. Again, not fun.

Alternatively, the latest Patriots team certainly has plenty of likable players from Tedy Bruschi to Wes Welker to Tom Brady. However, despite all the wins, their overall likeability factor has taken a hit this year due to a succession of issues that include the ever-expanding cheating scandal, alleged poor sportsmanship from their coach and their improbable Super Bowl loss to an inferior opponent that simply out-gutted them to victory. Does anyone feel good about being a Patriots fan at this particular moment? I don’t. The on-going moping on sports radio and other mediums suggests I’m not alone there.

Carrying this theme over to the Celtics, remember how much fun it was to root for guys like Rick Pitino, Todd Day or Pervis Ellison? Root canal never looked so inviting by comparison. Being on the same side as Rick Pitino felt like being part of MC Hammer’s posse after 1990. In other words, in retrospect, it was a very embarrassing time to be a Celtics fan. Bearing all of this in mind, the likeability factor of this current Celtics team has truly been a revelation, the icing on the cake, if you will. Sure, their winning ways have played a large part in all of it but even beyond the W’s, this squad has been beyond easy to root for. Since the moment the Garnett trade was consummated, they have remained the NBA’s feel-good story of the year. It all started with the kumbaya pre-season trip to Europe and James Posey’s pre-game hugs. At the risk of sounding like Bob Ryan at his haughtiest, I contend that if you don’t like these guys, you don’t like basketball or even enjoy the spectacle of sports in general. Digging deeper, I offer the following reasons why these current Celtics remain a team that is huge fun to root for:

They’re Resilient

The Celtics enjoyed good health up until the flu contagion, Kevin Garnett’s abdominal strain and Kendrick Perkins’s latest shoulder woe. Regardless of those recent challenges, the Celtics have continued to hum along. Without Garnett, the team has won 7 out of 9, including those gutsy home victories over Dallas and San Antonio. The only game where they devolved into pre-Garnett form was that silly loss to the Cavaliers when they suffered from defensive amnesia. Otherwise, they’ve proven they can roll with the punches over the course of a long season.

They’ve Exceeded Expectations

It’s always a lot more fun to be on the side of the up-and-comers who shock the world with their level of success rather than the heavy favorites who don’t live up to expectations. Just ask the lucky morons (left) who root for the New York Giants. Yes, there’s still the matter of the Celtics competing for the real prize this spring but in the meantime, they have cemented their status as legitimate title contenders already. Many of us thought they’d be pretty good right away, and very good sometime down the road, but only the most optimistic among us believed they would be this good, this soon.

They Play Defense

Teams that are prolific at scoring but poor on defense are like bouquets of cut roses in the spring. They certainly look pretty but they don’t last very long. Big offense is always sexy on Sportscenter but it is the dirty work of defense that makes a team into a serious contender. Acting accordingly, the team finally hired a defense-minded guru assistant coach and acquired its defensive anchor in Garnett, then complimented him with James Posey. The end result is a full roster of players who have bought into the system. Fundamental basketball = fun.

The Gift of Positive Personalities

Everything that is good about this team begins with Kevin Garnett. Everything. You know that clip they show on the Jumbotron of him screaming like William Wallace just before the game starts? Chills. Gets me every time. How can anyone not enjoy watching this man play basketball? His ceaseless 100% effort is inspiring on every level, to both fans and teammates alike. It is impossible not to root for someone who has so much respect for the game and who submits such an effort towards winning.

Several other players are similarly likeable, even if you don’t love everything they do on the court. During the Knicks game earlier in the week, Eddie House made a sweet pass that was converted into an easy bucket. The camera immediately shifted to Rajon Rondo, who was on the bench, for his reaction. He looked truly elated by the play. That’s Rondo in a nutshell. He doesn’t care about his touches, stats or the exact number of minutes he plays. He’s all about the winning, which is an especially important attitude for your starting point guard to possess.

Even looking at the far end of the bench, you’ll find a likeable guy in Brian Scalabrine. I acknowledge that he’s not particularly skilled in any one area. You can also recognize the fact that he’s had a poor shooting year. However, you must also recognize that he never allows himself to lower his head after a mistake and his commitment to the team is always above the self. I’ll always root for a guy like that.

Enjoy the All-Star festivities this weekend. It’s nice to have the men in green fairly represented there again. I’m glad that Ray Allen finally received an invite. I’m also glad that Kevin Garnett is wisely choosing to save himself for the games that count. I guess I’m saving my full attention for those games myself. After all, that’s when the real fun from watching these guys begins again.

By Mike Brilliant 

It didn’t look like they were heading into a good week on paper but the Celtics for the most part came out smelling like wild Irish roses anyway. They went 3-1 over the last seven days despite the fact that they were undermanned throughout, with Kevin Garnett out for all four of the games and Kendrick Perkins out for the past 1.5. Coming off the big win versus Dallas a week and a half ago, this week was just as impressive. Essentially, the one point loss to Cleveland was the team’s only disappointment but they more than redeemed themselves by showing the nation they’re for real by beating San Antonio at their own game on Sunday. Not a bad week at all. Not at all. Onto the grades…

Coach Doc Rivers: A+

Superb motivator? Skilled X’s and O’s man? Has Red come back from the dead and taken over Doc’s body?

Rivers has seemingly has made all the right moves with Garnett out of the lineup (although I’ll never agree with starting Scalabrine and playing him more than garbage time, except for the S.A. game.) If not for a defensive mistake against the Cav’s Ira Newble, the Celtics could have easily been 4-0 this week. Rondo, Powe, Big Baby and even Tony Allen have all stepped up offensively and, more importantly, defensively to carry the load in KG’s and Perkins’s absence. How did they win against the Spurs without both of their defensive anchors? 

By now, it seems clear that Rivers hasthis team believing they are a championship level team. And even ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy called Rivers one of the best play-callers out of a timeout in the league. That Pierce to Big Baby pick and roll hoop “and one” in the 4^th against the Spurs certainly did nothing to dispel that notion. 

Paul Pierce: A

The Captain has stepped it up, big time. BIG game Sunday against the Spurs. The Truth set the tone early in that game by scoring by 14 points in the first five minutes. Then again, he was efficient throughout the week. I’m talking Hollinger efficient. He averaged 22 points while shooting 55% in only 33 minutes per game this week. Not to mention he’s continues to play lights out D. Who knew?

On the constructive side of things, I’d still like him to lighten up on the threes and take it to the hoop more often. He did go to the line 12 times against the Spurs but only attempted 7 free throws in the previous 3 games. Even when he’s drawing the calls, however, he still makes me nervous at the line. I know he’s shooting a career best 83%, but I can’t stop having flashbacks of Game 4 of the 2002 conference finals. There’s just something that bugs me about his free throw shooting…..

Kevin Garnett: DNP-INJ

The team made the right move in declaring Garnett out until after the All-Star break. They need him completely healthy for the stretch run and in the meantime, it’s giving guys like Big Baby and Leon Powe an opportunity to show that they belong in the rotation.

Those pluses aside, it was nice to see video footage of Garnett running and working out. At least the healing process is moving in a positive direction (off and on the court).

Ray Allen: B

Old Jesus Shuttlesworth unexpectedly got snubbed a second time for this year’s All-Star game. I don’t think anyone who has watched all of the Celtics games this year truly thinks that Ray Allen has had an All-Star season. That said, because of the way the NBA runs this game, many of us thought he had just as good of a chance of making it as anyone else. Have you seen Rasheed Wallace’s stats this year?

In terms of what-have-you-done-for-me-latelys, Allen was a consistent scorer this week in the absence of Garnett. Specifically, he had games of 24, 19, 18 and 19 points this week while shooting 45% from the field. Of note, it’s been nice to see him taking the ball to the hoop more often. Usually, when Allen’s struggling with his shot, he tends to get back on track with a few easy lay-ins. 

Getting back to the constructive side of things, I do have one criticism for Allen: With the game on the line and 4+ seconds remaining, he elected to take the ball to the rim himself on a 4-on-1 break against Minnesota, which is not the veteran move. When does Ray Allen not make the veteran move? He certainly did get hacked on the play to no avail but the referee wasn’t about to make that kind of call in a hostile arena  with only seconds remaining. Luckily for the Celtics, and for Allen, Leon followed up the miss with an easy game-winning basket and thus essentially erased the poor decision on the play.

Rajon Rondo: A+

Name this point guard’s stat line from a recent 4 game stretch:

20 points - 7 boards - 3 assists

24-5-8

12-7-3

5-11-12

Steve Nash? Nope. Jason Kidd? Not him either. Chris Paul? Not this week. Deron Williams? Not quite. Rajon Rondo? You got it.

I’m not afraid to say it. This second-year, 21 year old has been playing at an All-Star level as of late. As good as the “New Big Three” have been this year, I still think the following question deserves asking: Who has been more valuable this year, Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo? Give this some thought before coming out with the knee-jerk answer.

Ironically, Rondo’s best two games were against his potential future competition, Sam Cassell (hopefully) and against the Spurs. It seems like Rondo steps it up when the pressure is on. I can’t wait to see what he does in the playoffs.

My highlight of the week, besides the Powe game-winning put back, was Rondo snaring a one-handed rebound over Duncan and the rest of the Spurs’ big men.

Kendrick Perkins: B-

Perkins was steady once again this week. In his three games, he averaged 6.3 points, 5.3 boards and 1.67 blocks in 25 minutes. Unfortunately, he slightly separated the same left shoulder he had surgically repaired two off-seasons ago against Minnesota.

With Pollard out, the Perkins setback has left the Celtics short on big men for the near future. Maybe Danny Ainge will shift his attention away from finding a backup point guard to looking for another big man. I know many Boston fans are hoping for P.J. Brown, who would be a key contributor for this team down the stretch. However, the only way I see him coming here is if he doesn’t find a home before the trading deadline. Rumors persist that Brown hopes to be part of a Chicago sign-and-trade deal so he can cash in on a big payday. We’ll find out who blinks first by February 22^nd.

James Posey: B

As always with Posey, the stats don’t tell the whole story. Why doesn’t he receive a mention in any of the 6^th man of the year conversations? I know the answer: Because he’s not averaging 17+ points per game. But seriously, isn’t he just as valuable to the Celtics, the team with the best record in the NBA, as any other 6^th man in the league?

Posey turned into a bit of a playmaker this week. He had 6 assists against the Clippers and 5 assists against the Spurs. Throw in his 7 boards against the Spurs and he had a good all around week.

Eddie House: B

After a slow first game against the Cavaliers (2 points), House turned it up with 7, 14 and 10 points over the final 3 games of the week. His 10 points in the first half of the Spurs game in particular were sorely needed. During that stretch, the Celtic had fallen into a lull on offense and Eddie bailed them out.

Tony Allen: B+

After knocking TA’s consistency last week, he played good, solid ball this week. He had scoring totals of 14, 17, 5 and 8 in the respective games. He appears at this point to be settling into his role of 15-20 minutes off the bench. I like how Rivers has been preaching driving to the hoop to Tony. Allen’s shot simply isn’t good enough to be firing too many bombs from long distance. Instead, Allen should be going the hoop and either laying it in or getting to the line. And no excess dribbling! (Tommy voice)

Leon Powe: A-

Powe received his minutes largely based on match-ups this week. The Cavaliers and Spurs have bigger front lines, Powe only saw 8 and 14 minutes respectively in those games. But with the smaller lineups that L.A. and Minnesota presented, Powe saw 26 and 27 minutes. The more minutes, the more Powe produced. His 13 points and 10 boards versus the Clips and 16 points and 8 boards against the T-Wolves were stellar performances.

Powe is the typical undersized, hard nosed player that has worked for, and earned all of his recent success. Nothing epitomizes him more than his first game-winning hoop of his career, a hustling workmanlike clean-up on the break at the buzzer.

Glen “Big Baby” Davis: A-

Looks like Big Baby is back on the radar screen. After some success early on in the season, he seemed to lose his spot in the rotation to Leon Powe. But boy did he take advantage of some injury minutes against San Antonio. He stood up to the best big man in the NBA in Tim Duncan, both offensively and defensively. 

A great quote from Doc Rivers: “He’s taller than you; you’re heavier than him. And you’re lower than him. You’re not going to grow today. He’s going to be taller than you … but because you’re low and you have a low center of gravity, get into his legs and try to push him of the block.’” And that’s exactly what Big Baby was able to do to Duncan and it ultimately won the game for the Celtics down the stretch.

Davis also had a decent game against Cleveland earlier in the week. He saw 13 minutes of action and contributed with 9 points on 4 of 5 shooting.

Brian Scalabrine: D+

Why is this guy starting over Powe? And why is Rivers wasting 18 minutes a game on him? Scalabrine did provide hustle against the Spurs on Sunday, I must admit, but why can’t he do that for five minutes off the bench? I can see him getting extended minutes with both KG and Perkins out, but when only Garnett is out, Scalabrine should be limited to getting friendly with Gabe Pruitt at the end of the bench.

Scot Pollard: Incomplete

4 DNP-CD’s. What is wrong with this guy’s ankle? Is it serious? It must be if he couldn’t even play versus San Antonio when both Garnett and Perkins were out. At this point, the Celtics need to enlist some help. P.J. Brown, Dale Davis and anyone else who’s 6’10” or taller that’s out of work better start getting in shape. Those phones are finally going to start ringing.

Gabe Pruitt: Incomplete

4 DNP-CD’s.

By Shirley Coshatt

To Johnny Most, being called a “homer” was a badge of honor. In fact, it was his complete and utter lack of pretense about his rooting interests that made him a “must listen”. During his heyday, many fans were known to turn down the television and listen to his broadcasts instead. They were always rewarded with a colorfully painted picture of the on-court action peppered with his blind praise for all things Celtics and his often-amusing hostile distaste aimed toward those wretched players not fortunate enough to wear the green. As last month marked the fifteen year anniversary of Most’s passing, it’s an appropriate time as ever to take a look back at the man who served as the primary voice of the Celtics during their lengthy reign as the best team in basketball.

It’s fitting to begin by pointing out that there was a lot more to Johnny Most than what you heard in his broadcasts. As an aerial gunner on a B-24 bomber, he flew 28 combat missions with the 15th Air Force during World War II, earning seven medals. He was also a prolific poet who wrote these lines as he looked over the graves of his fallen comrades just after VE Day:

“I stood among the graves today and swept the scene with sight.
And the corps of men who lay beneath looked up to say goodnight.
The thunder still, the battle done, the fray has passed them by;
and as they rest forever more, they must be asking, ‘Why?’”

After his service to his country, Most began his broadcasting career in the 1940s, initially mentored by Marty Glickman, the voice of the Knicks and Giants for over twenty years. In New York, Most cut his chops calling road games for the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers as well as for the Army football team. In 1953, Boston Celtics owner Walter Brown and legendary coach Red Auerbach came calling, hiring Most to replace Curt Gowdy as the team’s radio play-by-play man on WBZ radio.

During his tenure with the Celtics, Most was never shy about criticizing the other team’s players, often delivering delicious insults and derogatory nicknames at their expense. For example, Most once described the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kurt Rambis as “something that had crawled out of a sewer.” He also nicknamed Washington Bullets players Rick Mahorn and Jeff Ruland as “McFilthy” and “McNasty.” Kareem Abdul Jabbar was “Kareem Puff”, Isaiah Thomas was “Little Lord Fauntleroy” and Magic Johnson became “Crybaby Johnson” whenever he challenged a call. Most’s pro-Celtic descriptions frequently turned shoving matches into “blood baths” and minor fouls into “vicious muggings” and once during a game in Detroit, he loudly proclaimed, “Oh the yellow, gutless way they do things here.” Even now, whenever a Celtics player is fouled hard, I imagine the voice of Johnny Most declaring that an unfathomable crime against the Celtics had just been perpetrated. On the flipside, whenever a prior sworn enemy such as Xavier McDaniel would come to the Celtics, he would instantly be rehabilitated into a wonderful guy.

Most was also famous for coming up with his own phrases to describe the action on the court. Perhaps he is best know for the term He originally used the term “fiddlin’ and diddlin’”, which he used to describe the habit of Philadelphia point guard Maurice Cheeks of dribbling the ball for four or five seconds while he waited for his team to set their offense. Eventually, it also became a signature expression to describe the play of Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge. Neither Ainge nor DJ were true fast break style point guards and both would frequently dribble the ball to one side of the court and then back to the middle while waiting for the offense to set up. Rather than describe the seemingly aimless ball-handling for five or six seconds at a time, Most would use the phrase “he fiddles and diddles” while he waited for the ball to move.

Johnny’s most notable call came, of course, during the closing seconds of Game 7 in the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals between the defending champion Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. Taking you back to that game: the Celtics’ lead had shriveled to 110-109, and Philadelphia had regained possession with five seconds left after an inbounds pass attempt by Boston’s Bill Russell hit one of the wires that ran down from the ceiling of Boston Garden and helped support the baskets in those days. Hall of Fame guard Hal Greer prepared to toss the ball inbounds under his own basket. The logical target seemed to be Wilt Chamberlain in the low post, but Russell fronted Chamberlain and took away that option. K.C. Jones, guarding Greer, leaped along the baseline and frantically waved his arms to distract him as the five seconds ticked away. To get a better view of the court, Greer jumped up and spotted high-scoring forward Chet Walker, seemingly open beyond the key. But Boston’s John Havlicek had taken a position several feet off the direct line between Greer and Walker, making it look like Walker was open when he really wasn’t. After counting off a couple of seconds in his head, Havlicek sneaked a peek over his shoulder at Greer just as he prepared to release the ball. He moved into the passing lane…but we’ll let Most tell the rest of it:

“Greer is putting the ball into play. He gets it out deep,” Most intones, before his voice rises into a frenzy. “Havlicek steals it. Over to Sam Jones. Havlicek stole the ball! It’s all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!”

Havlicek had tipped the inbounds pass away from Walker and toward teammate Jones, who dribbled out the clock as fans poured onto the court. The Celtics had the win, and would go on to capture their seventh consecutive championship. As Havlicek tipped the ball, Johnny Most could be heard yelling into the microphone in his raspy voice, “Havlicek stole the ball! Havlicek stole the ball! It’s all over! It’s all over!”

His second most famous call (and my personal favorite) came in Game 5 of the 1987 playoff series against the Detroit Pistons, the series tied at 2-2. Detroit had a one-point lead late in the game and merely needed to inbound the ball to secure the victory and take a 3-2 Series lead, with Game 6 to be on their court. Isiah Thomas was inbounding the ball to Bill Laimbeer, who was in the backcourt. But in the words of the immortal Johnny Most…

“Now there’s a steal by Bird! Underneath to DJ! He lays it up and in!! … What a play by Bird! Bird stole the inbounding pass, layed it up to DJ, and DJ layed it up and in, and Boston has a one-point lead with one second left! OH, MY, THIS PLACE IS GOING CRAZY!!!”

But perhaps his most memorable on air moment wasn’t even the call of a play, but rather when he dropped a lit cigarette into his lap, setting his pants on fire while he was on the air.

On October 10, 1990, Johnny Most, who was a lifelong smoker, announced his retirement due to health concerns. On December 3rd of that year, Most was honored with the permanent installation at Boston Garden of his microphone, silver-plated and encased in a Celtic-green frame. The microphone was attached to the façade of the vantage point that Most always described as “high above courtside.” Just a shade over two years later, on January 3, 1993, Most died at the age of 69 from a heart attack in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

Shortly after his death, Johnny Most was awarded the prestigious Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Trustees of the Basketball Hall of Fame for his contribution to basketball. The honor was ironic, considering Most was Gowdy’s replacement as the Celtics’ play-by-play announcer. On October 4, 2002 (almost ten years after his death), Most was inducted into the media category of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame at the University of Rhode Island.

Looking back, Johnny Most is fondly remembered by a legion of Celtics’ fans who were fortunate enough to have listened to his broadcasts and appreciate his unique humor as well as his superior play-calling. As for those who criticized Most for being a homer, perhaps Red Auerbach said it best: “You’re damn right he is, and that’s just the way we want him!”