News 4/23

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1089079&format=text
Celtics’ Rajon Rondo brimming with confidence
Point guard not the weak link many expected

By Mark Murphy | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone (File)
He always has been considered bright beyond his years, and certainly smarter than the rest of the people on the floor.

If the best basketball players see the game develop at a slower speed, then that was Rajon Rondo [stats] from the time he became a point guard.

“He’s so smart,” said Doug Bibby, who coached the Celtics [team stats] point guard for three years at Louisville (Ky.) Eastern High School, before Rondo moved on to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. “I pick his brains right now whenever I get the chance.”

Everything about the energetic, wiry guard spoke of something from a higher level.

Bibby saw the game against Detroit earlier this season when Rondo drove home a Celtics win with a spectacular dunk over Jason Maxiell.

Compared to the confident high school star who could do everything well — from point guard, to quarterback, to a natural ability to excel in the classroom — Bibby saw nothing in that dunk that was a revelation.

“His sophomore year we ran an alley-oop for him, and he dunked on a guy’s shoulders,” said Bibby. “He was literally over the guy’s shoulders.”

Rondo also moved in rarefied circles at a young age. Deion Branch, the former Patriots [team stats] wide receiver and Super Bowl XXXIX MVP, was at the University of Louisville at the time and occasionally gave pointers to Louisville Eastern’s young quarterback.

“I hung out with a lot of older guys — Derek Anderson as well,” Rondo said of the Kentucky and NBA veteran.

Bibby also took Rondo out to Sacramento to meet his famous cousin, Kings point guard Mike Bibby, who now runs the offense for the Hawks. They shot around together and Rondo absorbed everything from the unusual opportunity.

The two are presently locked in a first-round NBA playoff series as opposing starters. Back in high school, Rondo undoubtedly foresaw this moment, or something like it.

“It’s just not me,” Rondo recently said with a shrug of whether he’s ever been awed.

That attitude is made to order for someone asked to man the point for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce [stats] and Ray Allen this season. Someone with a lesser sense of self wouldn’t have managed nearly as well.

When the majority of the NBA rightly pointed to Rondo as the Celtics’ major issue six months ago, the large chip on his shoulder wasn’t taken into consideration.

He expected to succeed.

“He’s heard naysayers all year, and I told him that you don’t answer them, except to play,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “If I had tried to answer all of those people, I would have been gone years ago.”

Changing perceptions

Just before a game not so long ago, Garnett pulled up a chair in front of Rondo in the locker room and started to talk, and talk. The younger player said little.

His eyes were trained on Garnett’s, occasionally nodding his head, but otherwise simply absorbing the wisdom. It’s difficult to imagine Rondo, who appears to be as malleable as clay, came out of college with the tag of being uncoachable.

He finds it hard to believe as well, but that was indeed the perception — that Rondo, after two frustrating years of attempting to adapt his open court game to Tubby Smith’s more deliberate system at Kentucky, was too bull-headed.

If there’s something that can get even a minor rise out of Rondo, it’s that accusation. But he had to live with it. After leaving Kentucky following his sophomore season, Rondo had to answer the question from every general manager he met.

“I don’t really know how it came up,” he said. “There was one game at Kentucky where I got benched, and I guess it might have come from that. It wasn’t just me. There were a couple of starters. One day a team was kicking our butts, and me and Randolph Morris were taken out of the lineup.

“I don’t know if that hurt me in the draft, but people interviewed me. I was asked that by a couple of teams.”

The Celtics, too, were aware of this rap, though Danny Ainge ultimately was undeterred in his decision to pass up taking a guard higher in the first round of the 2006 draft. He instead traded for Phoenix’ pick at No. 21 and took Rondo.

“That’s the sort of thing thatwe do check into,” Ainge said. “I had heard that he was a difficult kid to coach. I watched Rajon, and I could tell that he wasn’t on the same page with his college coach. He wasn’t listening to what his college coach was saying. I think it was a lot of things that went into it — a little bit of it was intensity, but he wasn’t playing the way that he wanted to.

“I saw what I saw, I knew some of the issues, and I didn’t think there was anything that was uncorrectable. There was a great talent in Rajon. We were confident after meeting with him that we could get along. Doc has done a great job of coaching Rajon, and that’s what coaching is.

“He’s matured a lot with the coaching, and understanding the difference between being coached and being criticized,” Ainge said.

To this day Rondo insists he is friends with Tubby Smith. The friction wasn’t personal. Part of the trouble simply stemmed from that intelligence — the unwavering confidence he knew as well as anyone else how to play the game. Kentucky wasn’t the only place where Rondo was benched. Bibby admits Rondo arrived at Eastern High with a sizable attitude about his own abilities.

“I had to bench him in some games,” Bibby said. “There were some things I didn’t agree with. In the beginning it can be hard enough going from middle school to high school. But it’s not that I thought Rajon was uncoachable. He just wanted to win.

“Rajon and Tubby actually have a great relationship. But early on Rajon was the fourth or fifth option on the floor, and he might have been a little uncomfortable with that,” Bibby said. “If Rajon had stayed at Kentucky for a third or fourth year, you would have seen the relationship between him and Tubby would develop a lot more.”

According to Bibby, maturity wasn’t the problem, and certainly not intelligence.

“He was one of the brightest kids in my geometry class — he was very special in a lot of ways,” he said. “I think his maturity was actually an eye opener for me and Tubby Smith. I was shocked by how quickly he picked up my system. I don’t run what would be considered a simple system for high school, and Rajon picked it up in about a week.”

So Bibby was more inclined to listen when, after pulling Rondo to the side during a dispute, the guard pointedly talked back.

“I remember one time we got into it, and I said, ‘Rajon, remember that I’m the one who feeds the floor,’ ” he said. “And he said ‘Coach, I’m the one on the floor.’ I had to step back and think about that for a moment.”

Quick development

He still talks back, as evidenced by an oncourt argument with Ray Allen over an inbounds pass during a recent game in Chicago. Allen respected Rondo’s chutzpah, as well as the young guard’s apology upon realizing that he was wrong.

The process continues.

“He’s not easy, but he’s better than he was,” Rivers said. “He’s a kid with a great basketball IQ and stubbornness, and those things get in the way sometimes.

There’s a difference between individual and team knowledge. I’m sure that got him in trouble in Kentucky, and it’s been that way here at times.”

What few outside of the Celtics locker room saw coming was the influence of an All- Star lineup on such rapid development by Rondo.

“Clearly,” Rivers said. “Put any of these guys next to Kevin, Ray and Paul and it will help them. But when someone speaks up you can’t take it personally, and he doesn’t. He’s had disagreements with the Big Three at times. But I’ve told them all that you have to stand up for yourself. “I talked with Tubby about him, and he just said that Rajon’s a stubborn kid. He was kind of a loner at Kentucky, which wasn’t going to work here. The one thing I got on (Rondo) about was that as point guard, you can’t take energy away from your team like that. You have to give energy.”

At least now the setting is right.

“They make it easy,” Rondo said of his celebrated company. “It was not easy last year. It was different because we had a lot of young point guards. My only vet was Paul. But I listen. I have an open mind. I still voice my opinion a lot, but I don’t look at everything as the coach criticizing me. I got my thick skin last year, because I was a rookie, and I had to take everything.”

Besides, Rondo finally has realized that at least on this level, many more see the game at the same speed.

“He sees a lot of what you don’t see,” Rondo said of playing for a former point guard. “I have an advantage in that way. On one play (last week) I made a mistake, and he just said, ‘Keep your chin up, the next time you’ll make the right decision.’

“I know I have a long way to go, but I can still see the play before it happens.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1089066&format=text
Kevin Garnett pulls out stop
Award winner a Boston Celtics team player

By Mark Murphy | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Angela Rowlings
If the Celtics [team stats]’ league-leading sense of team defense is what earned Kevin Garnett his NBA Defensive Player of the Year award yesterday, then he wanted to make sure that no one was left out.

At the end of practice, with a swarm of NBA types setting up a podium to make the formal announcement, Garnett summoned his teammates and coaches to center court.

“I told them that you could really pick anyone on this team,” Garnett said. “We are a group.”

And if Garnett is that group’s oversized heart - the one whose unrelenting intensity and especially loud voice have kept the standard high through 83 games - he also wants to be known as one of the guys at a time like this.

“James Posey is one of the best one-on-one defenders I’ve seen in a long time,” said Garnett, who was given the keys to a Kia Borrego for winning the award, then donated the SUV to the Boston Centers for Youth and Families. “Him and Tony Allen. (Rajon) Rondo is just great at setting the tone up the top.

“I’m just the one who happens to speak louder than the other guys.”

If communication has been one of Garnett’s most overlooked skills this season - his ability to orchestrate assistant coach Tom Thibodeau’s defensive rotations and sets as if he was Tedy Bruschi [stats] setting up the Patriots [team stats]’ defenders - it’s also the result of years spent thinking about the game in opposite terms from the crowd.

Garnett wanted to thank everyone yesterday, from Duke Fisher, his first high school coach in Mauldin, S.C., a disciple of Dean Smith who once told Slam Magazine, “If you don’t play defense, you don’t play,” to the Hall of Famer who probably has had the biggest impact on Garnett’s thinking.

Bill Russell, the Celtics legend for whom the Defensive Player of the Year award should be named, plays the role of wise uncle to Garnett’s not-so-young giant.

“I thanked (Russell) when I met him for setting a tone in the league and exemplifying what it meant to play defense,” Garnett said. “Although he didn’t get it himself, you know from the start what that award was all about.”

Curiously enough, a Celtic had never before won the award, though Garnett certainly nailed the honor down in emphatic fashion.

Garnett garnered 90 out of 124 first-place votes. Denver’s Marcus Camby, last year’s award winner, received 12 first-place votes, followed by Houston’s Shane Battier with 11. Rondo even received a little love with one third-place vote.

“Dealing with so much history already in this organization, it’s a big achievement,” Garnett said. “It’s an individual award but I won’t take credit. If this was tennis or golf I would, but this is a team.”

And as a team, the Celtics have taken over categories owned last season by the San Antonio Spurs, the defending NBA champs.

To do that, Garnett had to make his teammates as effective as he has always been in the paint.

“As I always say, it’s like a blessing to have him there,” center Kendrick Perkins [stats] said of his comrade in the paint. “You don’t find too many superstars who take that kind of pride in defense. I can only name three - Dwight Howard (Orlando), Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) and Kevin Garnett. (Garnett) controls the whole court, refs and all. He’s helped me with a lot of little stuff and even made me a better post defender. I just try to learn from him every day. But it’s more his heart than anything.”

Hard to imagine, perhaps, that Garnett had never won this award before. But the same is true of the Spurs’ Tim Duncan, another defensive giant for whom that skill apparently is taken for granted. Duncan finished ninth in the voting, with six second-place votes and four thirds.

“It surprised me that (Garnett) had never won the award before,” Perkins said. “But he’s been overlooked on a lot of stuff because of the situation he was in in Minnesota.”

Perkins wasn’t alone.

“I actually assumed he had won it before,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I assumed he had won three or four of them.”

Perhaps that’s the penalty for consistency at an incomparably high level.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1089068&format=text
Bibby targets Garden’s ‘fair-weather fans’

By Mark Murphy / Celtics Notebook | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by AP
In Mike Bibby’s defense, Celtics [team stats] fans were rough on him Sunday night.

According to several onlookers, the Atlanta Hawks point guard was mercilessly heckled by spectators directly behind the visitors bench during the C’s Game 1 win at the Garden.

However, Bibby made his visit worse yesterday when, before the Hawks’ final practice for tonight’s Game 2, he casually lit up the Garden faithful, calling them, of all things, fair-weather fans.

“It’s good that they know I’m here,” said Bibby, who along with teammate Josh Smith did some verbal sparring with the crowd while walking out of the arena after their team’s 23-point loss. “It was just a little confrontation to get them involved a little bit. But they are fair-weather fans if you ask me.”

At another stage Bibby said, “They were kind of loud in the beginning, but a lot of those fans are bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this now. I played here last year, too (with the Sacramento Kings), and I didn’t see three-quarters of them. They’re for the team now and they might get a little rowdy, but that’s about it.

Fair-weather fans?

“You could say that,” he said. “I remember them having bags over their heads. It’s a different look. I guess that’s what happens when you win.”

The Celtics had varied reactions to Bibby’s verbal bait. Kendrick Perkins [stats] appeared to take it the hardest.

“He said what?” Perkins said with a disbelieving look, before thinking back to Bibby’s subpar Game 1 performance. “Coming off a 2-10 night shooting, you’d say something like that, too.

“We have the best fans in the world. We don’t expect other players to like our fans.”

When it was suggested that he might be playing in front of a packed house in notoriously lukewarm Atlanta as well, Perkins said, “About time. It’s taking us to go down there and pack out that house for them.”

Perkins may not get his wish. As of last night, the Hawks reportedly still had numerous tickets available for Saturday night’s Game 3.

Other Celtics fended off Bibby’s comments in milder terms.

“The guy don’t really know what he’s talking about,” Paul Pierce [stats] said.

Said Kevin Garnett: “Hey, that’s Mike Bibby talking. I won’t say that’s the smartest comment, but that’s Mike Bibby. In my younger days I might have said something, but you let your play do your talking.”

Coach Doc Rivers shrugged off the comments.

“Let Bibby do the talking,” Rivers said. “We’ll just keep playing.”

Green with envy

Bibby might have to do a little research about the city where he currently plays.

Atlanta has long been considered home to one of the most fickle sports communities in the country, and not just for the NBA. The Hawks, with Saturday’s Game 3 still not close to a sellout, are reportedly set to release a block of tickets for Celtics use - something generally unheard of.

If the C’s April 12 visit to Atlanta was any indication, Philips Arena already was set to host a rather awkward proportion of Celtics fans. . . .

Now is the time of year when adjustments get magnified, though it’s also possible, according to Rivers, to become overly obsessive about what the Hawks will do next.

“They ran a play we didn’t (expect) the other night, and we only lucked out because they missed the shot,” Rivers said. “But you don’t want to outthink yourself.”

First-rate numbers

The folks at Comcast should be especially pleased with the start to the postseason.

Game 1 scored the highest TV rating (7.3) since Game 5 of the second round between the Celtics and Detroit Pistons in 2002 (10.1). The previous high over the last seven years occurred last month, a 5.7 rating on March 5 for a game against the Pistons.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1088887&format=text
Garnett earns ‘D’ award; Bibby stirs pot

By Mark Murphy | Tuesday, April 22, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by John Wilcox
It’s difficult to imagine, perhaps, but after 13 seasons in the league, Kevin Garnett finally won his first Defensive Player of the Year award, with the announcement coming during a ceremony today at the team’s Waltham practice facility.

“I actually assumed he had won it before,” said Celtics [team stats] coach Doc Rivers. “I had assumed he won three or four of them.”

Instead, it took a trade to the Celtics - now the best defensive team in the league, thanks to his presence - to bring the award Garnett’s way. He celebrated by calling his teammates to center court aftrer today’s practice for a group thank you.

Garnett then told them that anyone on the Celtics could have won the award, based on how well they have all defended this season.

“I just so happen to be the one who talks the loudest,” he later said, before being presented with the keys to a new Kia Borrego, which Garnett promptly donated to the Boston Centers for Youth and Families.

On a more incemndiary note, Hawks guard Mike Bibby took a surprising shot at Celtics fans this morning, calling them fairweather fans and noting that last season they were all wearing bags over their heads.

Bibby, traded to Atlanta this season from his longtime home in Sacramento, obviously is still becoming aquainted with his own Phillips Arena crowd - not exactly known for its undying support over the years.

Kendrick Perkins [stats], warming to that subject, said of the prospect of playing in front of a packed house in Atlanta, “It’s about time. It takes us to go down and pack out their house for them.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/23/honor_goes_to_garnett?mode=PF
Honor goes to Garnett
He wins Defensive Player of Year award
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | April 23, 2008

WALTHAM - From the time the Celtics were founded in 1946 until this season began, every major NBA award but one had been won, at one time of another, by a member of the organization.

Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Dave Cowens, and Larry Bird all have been named MVP. There have been Coaches of the Year, Rookies of the Year, and Sixth Men of the Year.

The only major award a Celtic had not claimed was Defensive Player of the Year - until Kevin Garnett made franchise history by winning it yesterday.

"Dealing with so much history already with this organization, obviously it's a big achievement," said Garnett. "Obviously, it's an individual award. But I won't take this credit. It's for the team.

"This is a team effort, man. It's an individual award, but it wouldn't mean anything without the team and the teammates that I have and the coaching staff. I have to give credit where credit is due."

Garnett won the award - which was first given in 1983 - for the first time in his career, earning 493 points and getting 90 of 124 first-place votes. Denver's Marcus Camby, who won the award last season, finished a distant second with 178 points, and Houston's Shane Battier was third with 175 points.

Garnett, a 13-year veteran, averaged a team-best 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and 1.4 steals, describing this as the best defensive season of his career. The Celtics were second in the league in team defense, allowing 90.3 points per game, after allowing 99.2 a season ago.

After yesterday's practice, Garnett thanked his teammates, coaches, and the organization at center court.

"Things don't hit you until later on," Garnett said. "I'm pretty sure as I'm driving home, when I really sit back or when I'm done playing basketball, it will hit me."

Said coach Doc Rivers, "I really believe that the only way you can be a defensive award winner is to have great team defense to allow that one individual to express himself even more. Kevin really understands that. There is no other guy, to me, really, that deserves it more."

Camby, the former University of Massachusetts star, expressed his congratulations to Garnett to reporters in Denver yesterday.

"I'm surprised he hasn't won it before in his career," Camby said. "What he's doing in Boston is great. I know a lot of credit should go to [Celtics assistant] Tom Thibodeau. He's an assistant coach I played for in New York, and I know what he meant to that ball club, especially on the defensive end.

"If I was going to lose it to anyone, I'd rather it be KG, even though I think my defensive numbers this year were a whole lot better than last year when I won the award - 4 blocks and 13 rebounds, I'll take that."

Teammates Kendrick Perkins and Paul Pierce both said they were surprised the first-year Celtic hadn't won the award before, and gave their thoughts on why he is so strong defensively.

"He's 7-1, but he likes to say he's 6-11," Perkins said. "He is very long, athletic. He moves his feet well. You never know how valuable he is until you play with him. He controls the whole court. He's the only player besides Kobe Bryant that I've seen control the whole court."

Said Pierce, "He's able to guard two, three, four positions on the court from the way he talks on defense, to the way he moves. He controls the paint. Blocks shots. He does a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet. Talking. His defense on the pick-and-roll is tremendous.

"He takes teams out of their offense. There are a number of things he is able to do to disrupt a team night in and night out."

Russell is widely considered the greatest defender in Celtics history, perhaps league history, and Garnett showed him respect.

"When you think of Bill Russell, the one thing you think about is defense," Garnett said. "I told him when I met him that I thank him for setting the tone, for setting the pathway for guys such as myself to be a big man and really exemplify excellence not only on the offensive end but exemplify it from a defensive standpoint. I tried to follow that lead the best I could through effort and hard work."

With the defensive award in hand, the MVP candidate is focused on getting the highest team award next.

"At the end of the day, when I get back in mode, I'm thinking about that one goal, and that's that championship, the banners," he said, "because to me that exemplifies excellence and teamwork."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/23/this_hawk_left_the_celtic_nest_early?mode=PF
This Hawk left the Celtic nest early
By Peter May, Globe Staff | April 23, 2008

On the night of Nov. 14, 2001, a rookie named Joe Johnson went for 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists against the Indiana Pacers in a 101-93 Celtics victory. Celtics basketball guru Leo Papile walked past the Boston locker room after the game, muttering, "ROY, ROY." As in, Rookie of the Year.

"I remember that game," a seven-year veteran named Joe Johnson said yesterday. "But I don't remember a lot more of my time here. My playing time here was very short. I really don't have any memories. It's like it didn't happen."

Johnson was a Celtic for 48 games in the 2001-02 season. He started 33 of them. That's not exactly "very short" playing time but, like Chauncey Billups four years earlier, he was a lottery pick who left town before his first year was over and went on to bigger and better things. He finished the 2001-02 season in Phoenix, stayed with the Suns for three more years, then was traded to Atlanta, where he has just completed his third year. He's a two-time All-Star, a possible 2008 Olympian, and he's only 26.

The memory of his time in Boston is framed mainly by what didn't happen. He joined a team hell-bent on making the playoffs, something the Celtics had not done since 1995. (And they backed in that year.) Coach Jim O'Brien had brought in !!!GREENIAC!!! Harter with an eye toward emphasizing defense and toughness. As a rookie, Johnson had little of either.

But he had undeniable talent. That was good enough to get him a starting job for those 33 games. But the pressure to win and the attention to defense eventually forced the coaching staff to turn to Eric Williams. Johnson soon fell out of the rotation and eventually was basically replaced by fellow rookie Kedrick Brown, who did have some defensive skills.

It was a pretty dramatic dropoff. He went from starter against Houston Jan. 18 (0 points in 18 minutes) to DNP-CD the next night against the Pistons. He had a DNP the game after that against Toronto. By the time Indiana came back for a second visit Jan. 23, there was no more ROY talk for Johnson. Brown had supplanted him in the starting lineup. It was a humbling comedown, even though he did participate in the Rookie Challenge over All-Star Weekend in Philadelphia.

"Coach came to me and told me that it was time for them to give Kedrick a chance," Johnson said. "I didn't play [much] again. No one ever gave me an explanation. Then, the next thing I knew, I was traded."

Did he ever think about what might have happened had he stayed?

"No," he said. "Not at all. Like I said, I don't really have any memories here."

The Boston Years won't get much attention when they make "The Joe Johnson Story." By the time February rolled around, the Celtics were well over .500, a rare spot in those times, and figured they needed to make one more move to see if they could do some damage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. As the team headed for its annual Western swing after the All-Star Game, Johnson played 16 minutes over five games. His last night as a Celtic, Feb. 19 in Los Angeles against the Lakers, he was a DNP-CD.

The next day, Johnson was sent to Phoenix along with Randy Brown, Milt Palacio, and a first-round pick. The Suns sent free agent-to-be Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk to Boston. It was a bit of salary dump for the Suns, who weren't going to re-sign Rogers and who wanted to shed Delk's onerous (at the time) contract. They could have had Brown instead of Johnson, but Brown was playing reasonably well at the time, so he stayed. Ironically, once Delk came on board, Brown, too, fell out of the rotation.

It was a Celtics team of strong personalities, led by Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, and for Johnson, a quiet kid from Little Rock, Ark., it wasn't the easiest of fits. His coach in Atlanta, Mike Woodson, says he has no memory of Johnson's Celtic days, either. He was an assistant in Philadelphia under Larry Brown at the time.

"I know he didn't play much," Woodson said. "The rap on him was that he was well-rounded, a good, all-around player, but not NBA-tested. That's about all I remember."

Now he's been Johnson's only coach in Atlanta since the Hawks acquired him in a sign-and-trade in the summer of 2005. It's hard for those who knew Johnson in his short stay in Boston, where he was quiet, reserved, and deferential (all good qualities for a rookie, by the way), to think of him as the captain and conscience of a playoff team. But he is.

"Sometimes people look at numbers and say, 'He should do this. He should do that,' " Woodson said. "But who is going to turn down a max contract? The question is, can you live up to it and do the best you can do to uphold your end of the deal? Joe has done that.

"He was the third or fourth option in Phoenix. He was the first option here on a young, unproven team. He has stepped in and excelled."

Johnson had an underwhelming Atlanta playoff debut Sunday night. He needed 22 shots to score 19 points. He did have 7 assists (6 more than Mike Bibby) and 5 rebounds in 41 minutes. He'll get another shot tonight against his former team, the one he doesn't seem to remember and would very much like to forget.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/23/bibby_takes_some_jabs_at_the_fans?mode=PF
Bibby takes some jabs at the fans
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | April 23, 2008

During Sunday night's Game 1 loss to the Celtics, Hawks guard Mike Bibby responded to hecklers in the TD Banknorth Garden stands by saying this was a seven-game series. One fan asked Bibby repeatedly whether he really believed the eighth-seeded Hawks would last that long against the top-seed Celtics.

With Game 2 coming up tonight, Bibby jabbed back at Boston fans before his team's practice yesterday.

"They were kind of loud at the beginning," said Bibby. "But a lot of these fans are bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this now.

"I played here last year, too, [with Sacramento] and I didn't see three-fourths of them. They're for the team now and they might get a little rowdy, but that's about it."

In 34 minutes, Bibby missed 8 of 10 shots, including 4 of 5 3-point attempts, and had one assist. He and teammate Josh Smith had some words with Celtics fans as they left the floor after the loss.

"It's good that they know I'm here," Bibby said. "It was just a little confrontation to get them involved a little bit. But they are fair-weather fans, if you ask me."

Bibby also recalled yesterday that some Celtics fans wore bags on their heads as their team struggled last season and said they jumped on the bandwagon after the acquisition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Several Celtics players have said they enjoyed the boisterous environment during Game 1. They also responded to Bibby's verbal slap.

"If you had a 2-for-10 night shooting, you'll say something like that, too," said Kendrick Perkins. "You're bound to say anything.

"We have the best fans in the world. We don't expect players from other teams to like our fans. That's not what they're supposed to do, anyway."

Said Kevin Garnett, "That's Mike Bibby speaking his mind. I wouldn't say it's the smartest comment, but it's Mike Bibby. I have nothing to do with that. Our job is to come out and protect home court."

Said Paul Pierce, "With Bibby's comments, I hope they come even louder in Game 2."


Focus group
On the focus needed for tonight's game, Garnett said, "When you are in a series, especially when you win big, your mentality has to be the same: Intense. You know they are going to make some adjustments. We have to make some adjustments. I look for Bibby to be a lot more aggressive, Joe Johnson to be aggressive, Josh Smith to be a lot more aggressive." . . . Hawks rookie center Al Horford ate dinner at the home of fellow Dominican David Ortiz Monday, according to the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. It was also a monthly dinner that Ortiz has with Red Sox teammates. "It was definitely a good time," Horford told the paper. "A real good time." . . . Asked whether Cleveland star LeBron James was fouled too hard by Washington's Brendan Haywood in Game 2 of their series Monday - a foul for which Haywood was ejected - Pierce said, "It's really hard to tell what's a basketball play and what's a hard foul. It's a judgment of the referees. We really don't have a lot of control of that. To me, I don't think it warranted [Haywood] getting kicked out the game. I saw no other way to stop him from getting a layup, but that was the judgment of the referees."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/green_room/2008/04/playoff_intensi.html
Playoff intensity
Posted by Jesse Nunes April 22, 2008 10:06 AM
It's been a while since a playoff game felt like this. Sure, the C's had a good buzz going into 2005 before they took on the Pacers in the first round after reacquiring Antoine and taking the Atlantic title, but it wasn't really close to what this felt like.

That's what this kind of expectation does. It builds and it builds and then is released like a laser.

Before Sunday night's playoff opener against the Hawks, the intensity in the Garden was visible. The pre-into slow-mo highlights on the Jumbotron to that "Requiem for a Dream" song, the on-court fireworks, and Paul Pierce screaming "Let me hear it!!!!" on the big screen fired up the Garden. That's what the TV audience saw, and it was pretty cool to see live as well.

But the game was over before the Celtics even took the court.

The crowd wasn't going to let it. About 30 minutes before game time, the big screen cut to an empty hallway that leads from the C's locker room to the court, and the crowd went nuts. We were cheering white painted brick walls, as far as any outside observer was concerned.

But we knew … what we've waited 82 games for was finally here, that wait accompanied by an endless winter that made 2007 seem 3 years ago, and now it was here.

So as chants of "Let's Go Celtics" wafted about in syncopation around the arena, followed by slight boos for the Hawks as they ran out of the tunnel, the Celtics had made their way into the hallway for their pregame Ubuntu ritual. And when the camera caught them readying themselves, they broke their jumping huddle, and the buzz in the crowd grew.

There are certain moments when the level of anticipation for a big game reaches those skin-tingling levels. It's giddiness, nervousness, and euphoria mixed into one. And for me, the greatest part of the whole game was right then.

Ray Allen turned from the huddle, a look of absolute concentration -- no, determination -- on his face, and sprinted out of the tunnel as he led the team onto that court. It's hard to properly describe what that looked like, but I can only say that if the redcoats had seen that look and that sprint coming at them at Lexington in 1775, they would have surrendered right there and the American Revolution would have been over before it started.

That look on Allen's face, and that immediate break from jumping to sprint, to see that was to know what these Celtics are all about.

And at that point, as the crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the Green took the court, it was over. The Hawks didn't have a chance.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x2103873198
Celtics: C's 'D' a credit to KG
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By Scott Souza/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Apr 22, 2008 @ 10:07 PM

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WALTHAM — Kevin Garnett made defense cool again in Boston.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers preached it for three years. Captain Paul Pierce called for it for the better part of two lottery seasons. Last winter, Kendrick Perkins often seemed alone in his desire to embrace it within a locker room of recent McDonald's All-Americans.

It took Garnett to turn a generation of players raised on dunks and 3-pointers on to the street cred that comes with making stops down the other end of the floor.

"You absolutely needed Kevin to change the culture here," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers yesterday shortly after Garnett was officially named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. "That's what people don't get about him. It's not just his play, it's the culture change that has just been an amazing difference."

It was a difference Rivers wanted to make shortly after he took the reins back in 2004. But he soon found that his schemes and directives were getting lost in translation with players who spoke the language of video games and SportsCenter highlights.

"When I first got here I decided that since they were playing at a snail's pace (under former coaches Jim O'Brien and John Carroll) we were going to change the pace of the team first," he said. "After that, it's all been defense. But then you had all young guys. They are always trying to show they can play offense first. That's what young guys do."

Pierce tried to intercede - insisting throughout the previous two years that the Celtics had plenty of offense to win games, but needed to improve the defense if they hoped to win. But even the captain had little pull with a supporting cast so inexperienced.

Part of his growing frustration became how his teammates' inattention to defense reflected on him.

"When I played on poor defensive teams I would get singled out as a poor defender," he determined.

Suddenly, Pierce is said to be playing the best defense of his career. He is also playing on the best team of his career, at 67-16 heading into tonight's first-round Game 2 against the Hawks (TNT, 8 p.m.).

The difference? Instead of playing alongside 22-year-olds whose priority is scoring, he's playing alongside Garnett.

"With him coming in, along with Ray (Allen), they understand that to win in this league it has to be with defense," he said. "If you look at the champions of years past, they have been among the top two or three teams in the league on defense. If you want to get in that position, it has to come on the defensive end."

With Garnett leading the way, this year it has. The Celtics led the league by a landslide in field-goal percentage allowed (41.9 percent with Houston second-best at 43.3), field goals allowed (32.4 per game with Detroit next at 33.3) and point differential (10.3 per game with Detroit a very distant runnerup at 7.4).

"We all played a part in that," said Eddie House. "But (Garnett) played the biggest part. That's why he has the trophy."

The part Garnett played went beyond his ability to race out to the perimeter on the pick-and-roll or shut down an opposing power forward one-on-one. Though his physical attributes are still immense at age 32 in his 13th year in the league, his ferocity often intimidated teammates into trying to keep up with his feverish pace the best they could.

"He gets into it," Rivers said. "He gets so excited about stops and taking charges that our young guys actually get excited about making a defensive play. They also know now that when they don't, it stands out, and that it's talked about.

"When you don't hold your own defensively on this team there is a lot of accountability. Kevin holds you to it and that's important."

For his part, Garnett tried to spread the credit among his teammates yesterday. He addressed them before practice and thanked them for helping him win the award, while telling them they owned a share of it.

He concluded at his press conference that this has been the best defensive season of his career precisely because his teammates have supported his defensive mantra so well.

Like they had a choice.

"It is a trickle-down effect," House said. "When you see your star so intense, and going so hard every day, you don't want to let him down."

"You should see shootaround," offered Perkins. "When we are going over the other team's plays, he is very focused, and he wants you to lock in, too."

On the bench, in the huddle, running the offensive sets and, especially, on the defensive end, Garnett's passion has been both refreshing and contagious.

The Celtics certainly wouldn't be where they are this season without it.

[FLCeltsFan]

aol.nba.com/celtics/playoffs2008/sidebar042208-garnett-defensive-player-year.html
KG Calls Defensive Player of the Year Award a "Team Effort"
By Couper Moorhead
Celtics.com Correspondent
April 22, 2008

WALTHAM - After Monday's practice, Doc Rivers said it would be tough for any Celtics to be honored for any individual league awards because of the role-playing style his team plays.

Apparently, Kia Motors really does have the power to surprise. After Tuesday's practice, the NBA and Kia proved Rivers wrong and named Kevin Garnett the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, recognizing KG's impact on a Celtics defense that ranked first in field goal percentage allowed, three-point field goal percentage and scoring differential, and ranked second in points allowed.

"Before we even started this [press conference], I got my teammates and coaches together and said that when a team does well, you can really pick anybody on this team," Garnett said. "To me, that exemplifies what we do every night. Defense is not a one-man thing, it's totally a team-committed effort."

Garnett is the first Celtic to win the award since it's inception in 1983, and he joins an elite club of defensive stalwarts who've won the award, including Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo and David Robinson.

"I'm just a little bit surprised that this is his first one," Paul Pierce said of Garnett, the 2004 NBA MVP winner. "I think he's been the class of the NBA defensively for a long time now. It's good that he's finally getting recognized for it."

Though the award winner has traditionally been among the league leaders in individual defensive statistics, Garnett being honored while ranking outside the NBA's Top 10 in blocks (1.25 per game), steals (Rajon Rondo is tied for sixth) and defensive rebounds drives home just how crippling Boston's defense was during the regular season and how essential Garnett was to it.

"The only way I really believe you can be a defensive player award winner is you've got to have great team defense to allow that one individual to express himself even more," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Kevin really understands that and, to me, there's no other guy that deserves it more."

Rivers said KG's package of basketball IQ, athleticism, energy and focus -- not to mention raw intensity -- are what makes him such a great defensive player. That package, and the forward's ability to stifle even the smoothest of pick-and-rolls, transformed both the team's defensive mentality (the 06-07 Celtics ranked 24th in field goal percentage allowed) and eating habits.

"It's a lot of things he's done with the organization," Pierce said of Garnett's effect of the team. "You see the guys after practice lifting weights, they're all in there. He even got guys eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before the game. He's definitely impacted this team like I haven't seen."

Newcomers to the organization like Eddie House can certainly feel Garnett's presence, both on and off the court.

"His intensity is like a trickle down effect," House said. "Kevin's got a lot of people doing a lot of things, not only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. A lot of things."

House declined to elaborate, but one of those things has been helping Celtics starting center Kendrick Perkins (who finished with more blocked shots than his elder at 1.46 per game)with his post defense. He also instills a bit of on-court attitude in his mates.

"He gives us our whole swagger," Perkins said, noting that few NBA superstars take pride in playing defense. "We chose to be the bad guys of the league right now. It's all about the Celtics. If you ain't about the Celtics we might not speak to you off the court. That's what he brought to the team."

As for the value of the award, Garnett said it will be nice to look back on sometime, but he remains intensely focused on his team's mission.

"As I come into the NBA season I never think about the individual parts of this game," Garnett said. "But at the end of the day...I'm thinking about that one goal, that's that championship. That's these banners you see in [the Celtics practice facility]. That exemplifies excellence and teamwork. Individual parts come with it but that's not the motivation."

[FLCeltsFan]

blogs.metrowestdailynews.com/celtics/?p=1251
Garnett Defensive Player of the Year; Celtics respond to Bibby’s attack on Boston fans
Posted on April 22, 2008 by Scott Souza
Filed Under Uncategorized |

WALTHAM - To no one’s surprise.

Or at least it shouldn’t be.

The best defensive player on the best defensive team, Garnett received the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award for (remarkably) the first time today. Garnett received a large trophy for his efforts, as well as a 2009 Kia Borrego, which was automatically donated to Garnett’s charity of choice - his “Big Ticket Challenge” program in Boston.

Garnett answered questions briefly about the award in a press conference setting. Here are the highlights:

Doc Rivers: “I am really thrilled with it. Honestly, I thought there was no other one. The thing that I like most about this award is that Kevin, obviously, has bought into our system. He has brought a defensive presence, not only himself, but to our entire team. He has changed the culture of the entire team. To me, that’s the most important thing. Individually, he’s been fantastic, but his presence with the team has stood out. So this is not only an individual award, but a testimony to the team as well.”

Garnett: “I said before we even started this - I got my teammates and my coaches together - and told them that when the team does well this is an example of (what happens). Defense is not a one-man thing. Defense is totally a team being committed. I not only thank my coach and the organization, but I also thank my teammates. We are all a simple group that has been committed to what this man to the left (Rivers) has been speaking about all year.

“Coming into the NBA season, I never think about the individual parts of this game. I am thinking about that one goal - and that’s the championship. These banners in here, to me, that really exemplifies excellence. Obviously, the individual parts come with it. But that’s not the motivation.

(This is similar to the sentiment covered here a couple of weeks back in the Sunday Courtside View column.)

“I told (Bill Russell) when I met him that I thanked him for setting the (defensive) tone for guys such as myself as a big man and really exemplify excellence, not only from the offensive end, but also from a defensive standpoint. I try to follow that lead the best I could through effort and hard work. Even though he didn’t get it (the award didn’t exist in Russell’s time) when you see him you see that he pretty much exemplifies what the award has been all about.” …

In other Game 2 talk, some of the talk was about Mike Bibby’s comments earlier in the day that Boston fans are “fair-weather fans” and “bandwagon jumpers” who were nowhere to be found last season.

“Mike Bibby said that?” said Kendrick Perkins before launching into a precious retort. “You come off a 2-for-10 night shooting (5 points, 1 assist) you are going to say something like that too. I mean, you know, you are bound to say anything when you see a (stat line) like that.

“We’ve got the best fans in the world. But we don’t expect other players from other teams to like our fans. That’s not what they’re supposed to do anyway.

“It takes us to go down there and pack their damn house for them.”

Eddie House, a friend of Bibby’s, responded with a hint of understanding and a smirk.

“He’s a player on another team so he can make any statement he wants. I have been here all year and they’ve been there all season long supporting us from Day 1.

“I don’t think they are bandwagon fans in Boston. I just think last year it was a bad team. Who wants to watch a bad team play basketball?

“There is a great chance he will (hear it from the fans in Game 2 tomorrow night). … I don’t know (why he said it). I will ask him later on today and I will relay it back to you guys (the media) tomorrow.

“Maybe he said it to kind of get (his team) going - be the Lone Ranger in the building. Having everybody on him may make him (and his teammates) rise their play to another level. I don’t know.”

Paul Pierce noted that the Celtics had a number of sellouts last year, including during their 18-game losing streak, as a defense that they are not “fair weather.”

Pierce later added this: “I hope our fans hear that and come even louder tomorrow in Game 2. I think that’s totally disrespectful to our fans.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080423/NEWS/804230605/1009/SPORTS
Bibby’s mouth louder than shot

Guard says C’s fans are ‘bandwagon jumpers’

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[e-mail]




Atlanta Hawks guard Mike Bibby, shown driving against the Celtics’ Tony Allen on April 12, had some choice words about Boston’s fans. (ASSOCIATED PRESS File Photo)
Enlarge photo


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WALTHAM— Atlanta point guard Mike Bibby wears jersey No. 10, but he could become public enemy No. 1 in the minds of Celtics fans tonight when the two teams meet at the Garden in Game 2 of their opening-round playoff series.

Before the Hawks practiced at the Garden yesterday, Bibby called Celtics fans “bandwagon jumpers” and “fair-weather fans.” Celtics captain Paul Pierce then urged Celtics fans to let Bibby have it tonight for those remarks.

Here’s what Bibby said about the sellout crowd at the Garden for Boston’s 104-81 victory in Game 1 Sunday night: “They were kind of loud at the beginning. But a lot of these fans might be bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this. I played here last year here, too, and I didn’t see three-fourths of them. They’re for the team right now and they might get a little rowdy, but that’s about it.”


Bibby went on to say, “Don’t you remember when they had bags on their heads last year? It’s a just different look. I guess that’s what happens when you win.”

Some of the fans got on Bibby in Game 1 while he made only 2 of 10 shots and scored just five points.

“It’s good that they know I’m here,” Bibby said. “It was just a little confrontation. I was standing there talking to them to get them involved a little bit, but they are fair-weather fans if you ask me.”

A few Celtics fans did wear bags over their heads last year, but for the most part Celtics fans continued to support their team during their down years. The Celtics sold all 18,624 seats for every home game this season for the first time since moving to the new Garden for the 1995-96 season, but they did average a respectable 16,843 fans a year ago when they finished with the second-worst record (24-58) in franchise history and lost 18 in a row.

The Celtics, in fact, averaged more fans last year than the Hawks did this year (16,280). When Bibby visited the Garden with the Sacramento Kings in January 2007, attendance was 16,019, far better than what Bibby claimed was only a quarter of what the team drew this year.

The Celtics vehemently disagreed with Bibby’s comments.

“I just hope our fans hear that,” Pierce said after Celtics practice at HealthPoint, “and come to be even louder come Game 2. I think that’s totally disrespectful to our fans and him not really knowing what our fans are all about in Boston.”

“If you’re coming off a 2-for-10 night,” Kendrick Perkins said, “you might say something like that, too. … We’ve got the best fans in the world. We don’t expect other players from other teams to like our fans.”

“I won’t say it was the smartest comment,” Kevin Garnett said, “but that’s Mike Bibby. I have nothing to do with that. … Back in my younger days, I probably would have said something, but I’ve learned to let your play do your talking.”

“I don’t think there are any bandwagon fans in Boston,” Eddie House said. “I just think last year was a bad team and who wants to watch a bad team play basketball?”

House knows Bibby better than any other Celtic because he’s married to Bibby’s sister. Does House expect the fans to get on Bibby tonight?

“There’s a great chance that they will,” House said.

Why would Bibby criticize Celtics fans, knowing that they’ll likely respond by letting him have it tonight?

“I don’t know, I’ll ask him that later on today,” House said.

Bibby may have purposely said those things to force the fans to concentrate on him and take the pressure of Atlanta’s younger players.

“Maybe he said it to kind of get him going,” House said, “to be the lone ranger in the building and get everybody on him and make him raise his play to another level. I’ll have to ask him.”

The Garden rocked for Game 1.

“I ain’t never played in front of a crowd like that,” Perkins said. “That was unbelievable, that was fun to be a part of.”

Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta this weekend, by the way, have yet to sell out. Apparently, Hawks fans have yet to jump on their team’s bandwagon.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.projo.com/celtics/content/sp_bkn_celts23_04-23-08_4Q9SBT7_v15.38fabac.html
Celts credit Rivers for leading turnaround

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 23, 2008

BY KEVIN McNAMARA

Journal Sports Writer

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers sold the Big Three on playing as a unit and led Boston to an NBA- best 66 wins in the regular season.


The Providence Journal / Kris Craig
BOSTON — Two days ago, Doc Rivers gave a little plug for James Posey and his role as the Celtics’ super sub this season.

Rivers spoke about Posey’s acceptance of his job in the team’s drive to the NBA’s best record and the fact that he’s clearly sacrificed personal acclaim for the good of the team. He said he’s fortunate that the Celtics have become “a role-playing basketball team and everybody buys in and they do it unselfishly so their numbers are skewed. But we don’t really care about it.”

Rivers could’ve also been speaking about himself. Take a step back and look at the job he’s done this season. After winning 24 games in 2007, the revamped Celtics rolled to 66 wins this season for the biggest one-season improvement (42 games) in NBA history. Rivers gleefully welcomed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen onto his roster (not to mention Posey and Eddie House, among others) and smoothed over any ego problems that could’ve arisen with Boston’s resident star player, Paul Pierce.

Yet when names are thrown around for Coach of the Year honors, it seems Rivers is not the easy quick pick. In fact, he’s barely mentioned. In one ESPN.com poll of 20 voters, Rivers was selected once.

Does a coach who suddenly welcomes two superstars and a few key supporting actors and goes on to the league’s best record deserve any acclaim? Or did he just roll the ball out and let Allen, Garnett and Pierce go to work?

Garnett and Pierce addressed the issue recently and basically said that the Celtics wouldn’t be sitting where they are entering tonight’s Game Two of an opening-round playoff series with Atlanta if it weren’t for Rivers’ skills. “Doc isn’t really mentioned in Coach of the Year, but people don’t understand what comes along with putting together a whole new team and meshing together the egos of the players you’ve got on this team. That’s work,” Pierce said. “People can’t assume that (since) you’ve got Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen that this is going to be a great team. The coaches have to work on maintaining the right type of attitudes, the right type of egos on a day in and day out basis.”

That’s been one of Rivers’ strong points. As a former player, and a superb one when he teamed with Dominique Wilkins with the Hawks in the mid-1980s, Rivers knows what it’s like to play at a high level in the NBA. He’s dealt with the long grind of training camp, an 82-game season and two months of playoffs. He’s seen how both the superstars and the lowly grunts need to get along on a never-ending carousel of charter planes, buses and West Coast road trips.

Perhaps more than the X’s and O’s, the players say the way Rivers has coached the team’s personalities has been the key to success.

“Doc’s pretty straight up. You know where he’s coming from,” said Garnett. “He doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve done in this league. If he feels like we’re not playing our hardest or he can get more out of us, he says it. There’s not one person he caters to. We love it like that. We love the fact that he treats everybody equal and we know where he’s coming from.”

Getting the team to buy into a defense-first attitude was Rivers’ key move. Garnett, who was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year yesterday, clearly was the catalyst in a defense that allowed the second-fewest (90.3) points in the league.

The pride the team takes in its defense can help smooth egos on the other end of the floor. Allen, Garnett and Pierce have seen their scoring averages drop by at least five points a game over last season. The Big Three average between 13 and 14 shots a game.

Pierce said that a pre-season trip to Rome and London helped the new group bond early on.

“I’m going to tell you the truth. I don’t think we’d be a 66-win team if we didn’t go to Rome. We’d be good but I just thought that trip brought us together. That was something that just had to happen,” he said.

As Pierce spoke, Garnett looked down but nodded his head in quick agreement. Clearly, these Celtics seem to speak in harmony, thanks in large part to the efforts of their coach.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.projo.com/celtics/content/sp_bkn_celtsjo23_04-23-08_LE9SEU5_v7.38f7008.html
Garnett thanks teammates for superior defense

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 23, 2008

BY KEVIN McNAMARA

Journal Sports Writer

Celtics star Kevin Garnett, center, has the ability to tie up opponents, such as Atlanta’s Josh Smith, left, which has earned him this season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.


The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson
WALTHAM, Mass. — Kevin Garnett has won an MVP award, an Olympic gold medal and been chosen to the NBA’s all-league team three times.

Now in his 13th season as a pro, Garnett is the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. Garnett received the award yesterday in recognition for his role in not only a league-record 42-game turnaround for Boston in wins but also because the Celts allowed the second-fewest points (90.3) in the league.

Garnett was a landslide winner with 493 points, including 90 first-place votes, from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Denver’s Marcus Camby, who won the award last season, finished second with 178 points and Houston’s Shane Battier finished third with 175 points. Garnett is a five-time, first-team All-Defense selection but he’s never won the Defensive Player of the Year award.

“Defense is not a one-man thing. It’s about a team and a committed effort and I thank my teammates because we are a simple group that’s been committed to what this man [coach Doc Rivers] has been speaking on all year,” Garnett said.

Much of the public credit for Boston’s defensive improvement has gone to associate head coach Tom Thibodeau. Like Garnett and Ray Allen, Thibodeau joined the Celtics after last season and he’s known as one of the keen defensive minds in basketball.

“Coach Thibodeau challenges us every day to be the best defensive team in this league. He always asks us, can you take it to another level? Can you get this stop?” Garnett said. “We’ve had numerous challenges in games this year and that’s when it came to us. We knew we could score the ball but I think, collectively, I can remember us really locking in and everybody putting forth 100 percent on the defensive effort.”

Garnett will certainly receive votes in the NBA’s balloting for MVP but he is not seen as a leading contender like the Laker’s Kobe Bryant, the Cavaliers’ Lebron James or New Orleans guard Chris Paul. Garnett says awards aren’t his goal anymore.

“As I come into an NBA season, I’m never thinking about the individual parts of this game,” he said while sitting in the team’s training facility. “I’m aware of them and I have causes but at the end of the day I’m thinking about that one goal and that’s that championship and those banners up here. To me that exemplifies excellence and teamwork. The individual parts come with it but that’s not the motivation. At the end of the day, it’s about winning.”

Aiming for perfection

The Celtics feel they can play much better than they did in a 104-81 romp in Game One of their first-round playoff series against the Atlanta. That must be a scary thought for the Hawks.

“We can play better and we know that they can too,” said Rivers. “Offensively we showed patience at times but some of our passing threw guys off their spots. I thought both teams (played) very emotional. I didn’t think either team played great. We’ll play better, for sure, but the atmosphere was amazing.”

The Hawks had better play better. Their starters struggled shooting the ball (38 percent), they turned the ball over 15 times and everyone faded badly when the Celtics made a decisive charge in the third quarter. First-game jitters may have played a part in the Hawks’ troubles.

“We have to relax and play basketball. I thought we were so tense and so uptight that we got down early,” Joe Johnson said. “We have to somehow find a way to get defensive stops and not to play so stagnant on the offensive end. I think the guys will be a lot more relaxed and ready to play now that they know what the atmosphere will be like and how intense the game is going to be.”

Brown electrifies team

Rookie Glenn “Big Baby” Davis saw just three minutes of action in the first game and was beaten to the floor by veteran center P.J. Brown. Rivers clearly trusts Brown a bit more on the defensive end and he’ll use the 15-year vet if Garnett falls into foul trouble early on.

Davis is more of an energy player. If Leon Powe falters, expect to see the 6-foot-9, 290-pounder on the floor more in this series.

“I’m an energy guy. That’s what I do, get loose balls, dive on the floor,” he said. “In these games, you can feed off the energy of the crowd. It’s unbelievable, really. They are a factor in the playoffs.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.patriotledger.com/sports/sports_columnists/x2124112383?view=print
Bibby comments promise to make crowd even louder
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The Enterprise
Posted Apr 23, 2008 @ 03:56 AM

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WALTHAM — The noise level for the Boston Celtics’ opening game of the playoffs at the TD Banknorth Garden Sunday night was, as expected, high.

Thanks to some comments made by Atlanta Hawks point guard Mike Bibby, it will probably go up a few more notches during Game 2 tonight.

Prior to practice Tuesday morning, Bibby took a couple of swipes at Celtics’ fans, saying they “might be bandwagon jumpers” and used the term “fair-weather fans” because, he said, they were not around during the woeful 2006-07 season.

“They were kind of loud at the beginning (of Game 1),” Bibby told reporters. “They might be bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this now.

“I played here last year (with the Sacramento Kings) and I didn’t see three-fourths of them. They’re there for the team now and it might get a little rowdy and that’s about it.

“I remember them wearing bags on their heads last year. I guess that happens when they win.”

Even though they went 24-58 last season, the Celtics drew an average of 16,843 with nine sellouts. Every game drew a capacity crowd this season when the Celtics went 66-16.

“Let Bibby do the talking,” responded Coach Doc Rivers. “We’re just going to keep playing.”

Said Paul Pierce, “That’s just his opinion. There’s fair-weather fans in every sport. I think our fans really showed up a year ago. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. We’re not going to get caught up in that.”

Celtics guard Eddie House, who is married to Bibby’s sister, Charlsie, said he was going to see his brother-in-law later Tuesday, would find out what he meant “and I’ll relay it back to you guys (in the media).”

“He’s entitled to his own opinion,” said House. “He can make any statement he wants. I’ve been here all year and they’ve been here all season long supporting us from Day One.

“I don’t think there are bandwagon fans in Boston. I just think last year was a bad team. Who wants to watch a bad team play basketball?“

Asked if he thought the crowd would be on Bibby tonight, House said, “It’s a great chance that they will.”

Prize is donated:
Kevin Garnett, who received a 2009 Kia SUV for winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, donated the vehicle to the Boston Centers for Youth and Families … Rajon Rondo finished in a tie for 16th place in the balloting when he received one third-place vote … Pierce on Garnett winning the award: “I was surprised this was his first one. He’s been very good defensively for a long time and he’s getting recognized for it.” … The teams will have two more days off after tonight’s game. The series resumes Saturday night in Atlanta.