A few years
ago I was standing in line for a nightclub in Los Angeles, where I heard
a couple of guys bragging about the Lakers domination so far in the playoffs
(thankfully for me they were eliminated by Utah in four games. However,
what occurred to me most was when I interjected on behalf of Rick Fox.
"Rick Fox,
I said, do you really think Rick Fox is going to help you guys win a championship"
"Yeah why?"
"Fox is a bum,
he couldn't even lead us in scoring when we had 15 wins and now he's going
be the missing link to your title come on."
"You from Boston"
they asked sort of smirking- then the kicker.
"They still
got a team in Boston?"
There it was
laid out for me clear.
"They still
got a team in Boston?"
How could this
have happened: 16 world titles, the greatest dynasty in the history of
sports, and Yankee fans should hold their tongue - 11 out of 13 is a number
that will never be matched, I don't care how you put it. More Hall of famer's
then any team, three generations of some of the greatest to ever play the
game. Russell, Cousy, Havlicek, Cowens, Bird, Mchale. Then I thought, "do
we still have a team in Boston."
If you are
a fan of the NBA then you might answer that question easily- no. According
to David Stern's marketing machines that seek to promote stars instead
of teams, the folks at TNT and NBC, Boston has no team. Where we were once
perennial features on NBC's Sunday Basketball, playoff and championship
coverage, we are now in the realm of the great forgotten.
"And he wept
for there were no more worlds left to conquer"
Does anyone
else care that the greatest team ever to exist in the sport of Basketball
has been reduced to has-been status- to WNBA standards in the national
consciousness? I guess not, not unless you live in Boston. Who wept for
Alexander the Great but himself when he realized that he had nothing left
to prove? Nobody roots for Goliath, as Wilt once said. While there are
many mitigating factors to this: sub par ownership, horrific coaching and
management decisions by one Rick Pitino and a little bit of egregious decisions
by the commish and his lackeys (may they forever be ashamed at denying
the Celtics cap relief with for the tragic death of Reggie Lewis). All
that is in the past, we will be back and I am here to tell you it will
be sooner then you think.
Forget the
new zone defense rules that have turned any team with a jump shooter into
a contender overnight. Forget the conventional rules about teams like the
Clip joint and Hawks stockpiling free agents and a lot of press. The Celtics
will be in the thick of it this year and will definitely make the playoffs.
How, you may ask? Two words: Pierce and Walker. They are prepared to make
the leap. Never mind the fact that no one else in the league seems to recall
that these two were second only to Kobe and Shaq in scoring tandems last
year. Remember this - Walker is 25 and Pierce is 24.
Anybody who
plays the game past high school - and I'm not talking strictly college
athletes here, I'm talking about weekend warriors, pick-up players, corporate
leagues - knows that there is an age in which if you keep in shape you
become the master of your body. While it is true that NBA players are true
genetic freaks and have amazing control of their bodies, what is also true
is the inevitable mastery of all parts of your body with age. This leap,
which mostly applies to our resident power forward Antoine Walker, I will
call the Webber theory. It is basically the combination of explosive physical
skills meeting the natural maturation of: number one: getting the most
of your facilities and how to prepare in the off season and number two:
how to exploit your advantages to hide your weakness'. Every so often I
like to compare Webber's numbers at a similar age with Antoine Walker's
at the same point in his career.
Granted, Antoine
is only seven games in, but given his career totals hover in the 20-10-4
ranges it's safe to say he is ahead of Webber in several statistical departments.
In addition, remember that it was in 97-98 that Webber led the Wizards
to his first appearance in the playoffs. So it's safe to say that Antoine,
if we use the Webber model, is ready to make that leap to the next level
and that is - "winner." In addition, Walker is a better passer and three-point
threat - all this without Webbers early trouble with the Washington police
department.
On the other
side of the starting lineup sits Paul Pierce and if you want to see pure
scorer, look no further then the once chubby kid from Inglewood. Pierce
came into this league with the appropriate chip on his shoulder. I'll never
forget the story of him calling out the names of the ten teams that passed
on him as he rained jump shots from all over the court. In addition, the
league's best feel-good story last year (recovering from eleven stab wounds
and not missing a game) that nobody would touch, choosing instead to make
an issue out of Alan Iverson's rap lyrics. Sometimes the NBA is it's own
worst enemy. Speaking of which, Pierce was Rick Pitino's one saving grace,
although anyone who would have passed on Pierce at ten should have been
automatically sent to early retirement. As deep of a draft as 98 was (Carter
and Nowitski to name a few), Pierce is definitely in the top three and
if you ask me he's number 1A to Carter. Pierce as a third year player was
eighth in scoring and it only looks to improve given his performance so
far this season.
In addition,
you add the smoothest, most polished Celtics rookie in years, Joe Johnson,
along with gritty role guys like Eric Strickland, Eric Williams and Milt
Palacio, combined with young guns learning the game in Forte and the athletically
explosive Kedrick Brown, throw in a veteran that definitely has something
to prove Kenny Anderson (the definition of a contract player) and what
you have is a team poised to garner that elusive playoff spot. We deserve
it as fans, and the Celtics deserve it as a team. The greatest organization
in the history of the NBA and basketball deserves the respect, and the
league needs to recognize it. While it's true that in basketball, hope
springs eternal in November, here's one fan's hope that the dog days of
winter in Boston bring about some much needed glow from the Fleetcenter
and a playoff birth in the spring.
