News 1/20

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1067813&format=text

House hopes to find home with C’s

By Steve Bulpett | Sunday, January 20, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by AP
Eddie House is on his eighth team in eight NBA seasons, and the song has pretty much remained the same.cw-3

Team likes his outside shooting and energy. Team decides to replace him with someone who has more traditional point guard skills. Team misses what it lost with House.cw-0

You’d think he’d be used to this by now, with some Celtics [team stats] fans begging the club to bring in a veteran point to back up Rajon Rondo [stats].

“You don’t ever get used to something like that,” said the 6-foot-1 House, who has started at the point the last two games and done a credible job in place of the ailing Rondo. “You always feel like you’re deserving of an opportunity, and when people say that you can’t do something it just makes you work that much harder.

“I can play the 1 and I can play the 2. I think that’s a dynamic that a lot of people don’t have. The ability that I have to be able to shoot the basketball, I think a lot of other people don’t have that either. So I don’t get caught up in those other things.”

While some focus too acutely on specific tasks, House sees his job as simply being a basketball player and doing the right thing in any given situation.cw-3

“I don’t think I change the way I play,” he said. “To set up the offense you’ve got to be aggressive. The defense is going to tell you what’s there. Then you just make your play from whatever the defense dictates. If it’s a pass, then you have to make the pass. If it’s a shot, then you have to take the shot.”

Opponents thus far have had some success against the Celtics when they pressure guards who aren’t named Rondo. Though House and his mates have done well in most cases, turnovers against a press tend to look worse and stick in the mind longer. To that end, House has been going through post-practice drills to improve his work against such defenses.cw-3

“I think you just have to work on it and learn all the little tricks,” he said. “I think if I continue to work on it I won’t have too much of a problem. The more you play, the more comfortable you get. Things get easier the more you’re out there with your teammates. You know how to counter those pressure situations.cw-0

“I’m just going to keep working on things. I’m going to keep working with (assistant) Armond (Hill) and (director of player personnel) Mike Crotty before games and after practice. I’m working on my counter-pressure moves.”


Celtics notes
Paul Pierce [stats] had a rather strange numerical night in the win over the 76ers Friday.

It was his first game of the season without a single rebound, something that last happened Feb. 14, 2007, in the 18-game losing streak-breaking win over Milwaukee. He didn’t have a rebound-less game during the 2005-06 season.

It was also interesting that Pierce took just nine shots in his 30 minutes. It wasn’t as if he was cold or anything; he made seven of the nine, including all three of his 3-pointers. It was just the third time this season Pierce has attempted fewer than 10 field goals.

Nonetheless, his 22 points against the Sixers marked the first time he’d hit his average (20.7) after six games below it.

“We know what we have with me and KG (Kevin Garnett) and Ray (Allen),” Pierce said. “Other teams realize it, too, so they’re going to devise schemes to try to take us out.

“It’s going to be like that every night. They’re job is to try to get the ball out of our hands. We just have to find ways to get it done no matter what - even if that’s getting the ball to other people.” . . .

The Celtics took yesterday off and will practice this morning before an afternoon flight to New York for tomorrow’s matinee with the Knicks.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1067815&format=text

League missin’ the point
The 2 minus 1 equals two

By Mark Murphy / NBA Notes | Sunday, January 20, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by AP
Scratch beneath the surface of the Celtics [team stats] starting rotation - beyond the young Rajon Rondo [stats] - and you’ll find almost nothing that fits the point guard profile.

Eddie House, the main backup and starter during Rondo’s recent injury struggles, is a voracious and oft-deadly shooter who is a stretch at running a team.

Tony Allen is a young athlete and neither a pure shooter or playmaker.

Gabe Pruitt is a rookie with years to go in his development, but better suited to organizing an offense than either of the other two.

The Celtics aren’t alone in their playmaking shallowness. Many teams are scrapping old ideas about needs at the point guard position, and replacing it with the belief that the system can step in as a surrogate playmaker.

The Celtics are simply one of the league’s more obvious in their de-emphasis of the position.

“We’re (32-6), and we haven’t lost one of those games because of bad point guard play,” Danny Ainge asserted last week.

Many disagree, which is why between now and the Feb. 21 trading dealing you will continue to hear names like Sam Cassell and Damon Stoudemire offered up by agents and national media types who can’t fathom how a team with title aspirations can survive without a legitimate backup playmaker.

Even Doc Rivers has lamented that without a healthy Rondo, the Celtics are getting into their offense a lot later in the shot clock than a month ago.

But management doesn’t sound concerned.

It’s the belief of Ainge and Rivers that the system (i.e., the overall skill of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce [stats] and Ray Allen) is enough to keep the ball moving.

“I think point guard is an overrated term,” said Ainge, whose general response is to cite the 1980s Celtics, when a pair of combo guards (Ainge and Dennis Johnson) worked wonders with the help of Larry Bird.

“You have guards and hopefully a small forward who can pass,” he said. “I grew up playing basketball all my life with a 2-guard who was able to play the 1 and 2, and the guy I always played with was a 1 and 2.

“Our (offense) now is like what the Bulls have with their combo guards. The Lakers never really had point guards after Magic (Johnson). There aren’t many coming along. The exception is a team with a Chris Paul (New Orleans) or a Deron Williams (Utah).

“I still see great success with two-guard basketball.”

As evidenced by similar situations in Cleveland, where management continues to search in vain for a point guard to support LeBron James, and Denver, where the shoot-first Allen Iverson [stats] continues to carry his stamp as the prototypical shooting point guard, many teams have simply decided to move on without forcing the issue.

“As important as it has always been to have one, what teams are now doing - and I agree with it - is if you don’t have a true point guard, then don’t run a point guard system,” said Rivers, who was converted from 2-guard to the point years ago as a Hawks rookie. “It’s a good move. Old school coaches would have refused to do it, but it makes sense.

“You have more shooters coming into the league now, but also not so many point guards.”

Has the role of the pure playmaker become a dying art in the NBA?

“I thought for a while that was the case,” said Rivers. “But now you have some young ones coming along like Paul and Deron Williams. Mike Conley is going to be good. He has a great tempo, a nice sense of the game.”

The problem is that fewer seem to have that sense.

That’s when a team like the Celtics starts talking up Ray Allen, one of the great shooters in the game, as a potential fill-in at the point.

“I wouldn’t say the position is being de-emphasized, but you don’t see a lot of guards who are dominating the ball like they used to either,” Ray Allen said. “Steve Nash and Jason Kidd have shown that teams need a great point guard to run a system. But trying to distribute, rebound and score is something that not all of them are capable of.

“Now the game has changed so much from when I first came in - now it’s guys just playing basketball with the point guard just a facilitator,” he said. “Take Dwyane Wade. Is he a point guard or a 2? He’s playing a lot of point for (Miami). But that’s where they’re getting their scoring from. And you can’t avoid it. You have to go all the way with him.

“But systems across the league are defined by the teams that have dominated - San Antonio, Detroit and Phoenix - and all three of those teams have great point guard play,” said Allen. “They’re not the primary scorers. But one thing you’ll notice is that there aren’t great scorers on any of those teams.”

Tony Parker, Chauncey Billups and Nash, however, head an elite minority. Most NBA teams are run by point guards who are more comfortable looking to the rim, some especially ill at ease in any other role.

That’s why, when it’s time for Rondo to take a breather or miss a couple of games to injury, Ainge would rather have the system take over.

“The majority of teams are trying to make point guards,” said Ainge. “Chauncey Billups was labeled as not being a point guard in Boston, Toronto, Orlando or Minnesota, and yet he was a world champion point guard with Detroit. But he’s a scorer.

“The bottom line is that when you have Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett as your forwards, it takes a lot of pressure off your point guard.”


They’re Wiz-zing along
As always, the league is defined by streaking teams.

Charlotte and Washington, the two teams responsible for the Celtics’ last three losses, had gone a combined 11-9 over the 10-game stretch heading into Friday night - the Bobcats with back-to-back wins over Denver and Orlando following their Celtics triumph.

Rivers expects Washington at least to continue its surge, even while its chief star remains inactive.

The Wizards, second in the Southeast Division despite the loss of Gilbert Arenas, are thriving with a more balanced attack that owes its success to a major change in strategy.

“I know they were really focused on defense before the year started,” said Rivers. “Eddie (Jordan’s) whole thing was that they had to be a better defensive team. They had tried it as an offensive team for two years and it didn’t work, so they went that way.”

It may seem like more than coincidence that this team emerged in its new guise at roughly the same time the shot-obsessed Arenas headed for the trainer’s room, but Rivers disagrees.

“I guess it might seem like that - a byproduct - and that’s how it looked when he went out,” said Rivers. “But I think they were already going in that direction anyway.”

And now the league has developed more appreciation for one of River’s favorite players to watch, except when he’s authoring back-to-back wins over the Celtics.

“(Caron) Butler is a terrific player - tough to guard, tough when he’s guarding our guys,” he said. “Last year I kept saying that I didn’t understand how this guy could keep going under everyone’s radar, but not anymore. I just wish that he didn’t have to surface against us.

“But now with Gilbert out, he’s really playing his (butt) off.”


Substance of issue
The murkiness of the NBA’s drug policy was never more apparent than when David Harrison, Indiana’s backup center, flunked his third drug test last week for marijuana.

The problem?

Pacers management, under league guidelines for substances deemed weaker than cocaine, was never told that he had failed twice before.

“How are we supposed to get a guy the help he needs when we’re not told he’s tested positive?” said team president Larry Bird. “When the league called me and told me about David, I told them, you’ve got to be kidding.”cw0

Harrison is now serving a five-game suspension. He presumably was assessed penalties for the first two offenses - enrollment in a marijuana program and then a $25,000 fine and program re-entry - without the Pacers knowledge.

The Players Association bitterly fought during negotiations in 1998 to shield the first two tests from teams.

“I have great faith in the way the NBA does things, but on this issue I feel notification is something they ought to revisit,” said coach Jim O’Brien. “I understand the union wants to protect its players. But if we don’t know there’s a problem, we have no way of helping the player address that problem.”

O’Brien knows about the importance of this issue. He was front and center in the Celtics’ attempt to help Vin Baker conquer a debilitating alcohol problem.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1067816&format=text

It’s no dream world in LA-LA land for Kwame

By Mark Murphy | Sunday, January 20, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | NBA Coverage

Photo by AP (File)
Bet you thought Los Angeles was supposed to be a cool place, right? Laid back. Home to a sophisticated basketball public that was above devouring one of its own, or at least not stooping to the kind of base behavior you would find in, oh, the Northeast, for example.

So Kwame Brown probably never expected what was about to hit him Thursday night.

Long considered the league’s biggest underacheiver, the former No. 1 draft pick was asked to step in at starting center when Andrew Bynum went down with an injury that is expected to keep the youngster out until mid-March.

The Staples Center crowd responded by booing each time Brown touched the ball in the second half of their 106-98 loss to Phoenix.

How uncool.

Brown’s teammates agreed.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Ronny Turiaf. “I’m sure his confidence took a hit today.”

Said Jordan Farmar: “We all stand behind him. We have faith in him. We’re going to need him with Andrew out. (Booing) is just not right. As a Lakers fan, you should support your team.’

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/20/fatherhood_has_strong_effect_on_celtics_powe?mode=PF

Fatherhood has strong effect on Celtics' Powe

By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | January 20, 2008

Leon Powe II didn't have a father figure in Leon Powe I. But with the arrival of Leon Powe III to the world last Wednesday, the Celtics power forward is intent on being the strong father figure he never had.

"I just want to be there for my kid, no matter what," Powe said. "You can only teach him so much. But ultimately, he has to make decisions on his own. I just want to guide him in the right direction."

Powe's childhood was anything but storybook.

He was born in Oakland, Calif., in 1984, and his mother, Connie Landry, made ends meet for her six children by selling trinkets, toys, and used clothing at a flea market. When Powe was 7, one of his younger brothers set the family home on fire while playing with matches. Landry and her kids slept in motels, one-bedroom apartments, cars, and homeless shelters. Food wasn't always available. Powe also missed school at times to mind his siblings.

"It was what my mom had to do," Powe said. "If she didn't do that, I don't know how she was going to get food on the table. It was hard. But she made a way out of no way. That's what I remembered at all times, because she always found a way to get it done even when it was looking like there wasn't no way.

"My situation was different. I had to learn everything off the streets. My mom could only teach me so much."

Powe spent most of his teen years in foster care. His mother died of a heart ailment when he was a junior in high school.

So where was Powe's father through all this? Powe wasn't sure, since he hadn't seen him since he was 2. But when he was 17, he said, his father visited him at a foster home. While they haven't seen each other since, they occasionally speak on the phone.

"I talked to him about a year ago," said Powe. "He called me on my phone. But the conversations are short; that's because of me. That's how I feel about it."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers was blessed to have a strong father figure in Grady Rivers, who died at age 76 last Nov. 4. But that wasn't the case for many of his players.

"Unfortunately, a lot of our players are fatherless," Rivers said. "It sometimes hinders coaching because they don't trust a male figure in their life. It's just that deep at times. It just takes us a little bit to get through that.

"Leon, on the other hand, has been terrific. He accepts coaching. But he's gone through more than any player I've coached, that's certainly a fact."

Fortunately for Powe, he had something of a father figure in Bernard Ward, who became his legal guardian. Ward was a basketball star at Oakland Technical High School who spent time in prison before turning his life around and becoming a probation counselor. With Ward's influence, Powe improved his grades dramatically at Oakland Tech, stayed on the right path, and earned a scholarship to Cal-Berkeley.

"He helped me out a whole lot," Powe said. "He wanted me to realize that school was very important to being successful in life. Before I met him, I didn't like going to school at all. I was doing bad stuff.

"He just told me I wasn't going to get nowhere doing that. I listened to him and it changed the things that I used to do and tried to move forward on it."

Powe missed the Celtics' victory over Portland last Wednesday because his significant other, Llorren Cook, was giving birth to Leon Powe III in Boston. The seldom-used forward returned to the team in strong fashion Friday night, getting season highs of 10 points and 6 rebounds in 14 minutes in a win over Philadelphia.

"It's an exciting time," said Ward. "[Powe] told me, 'I know I work hard, but I'm working even harder now.' "

Powe averaged 4.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 63 contests (11.4 minutes per game) as a rookie last season. This year, the 6-foot-8-inch, 240-pounder is averaging 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in 15 games (4.9 minutes per game).

Although free agency is looming for Powe after this season, he believes everything will work out. He has overcome much worse situations.

"God has a plan for every man," said Powe. "That's how I always look at it. I have to keep working hard and do the stuff I've been doing. I haven't been doing anything wrong. I come in and work every day. I put in the extra time.

"Something good is going to happen for me - now, later, or whenever. Something is going to happen for me if I keep working the way I've been working."

Something good happened last week with the birth of his son. Powe e-mailed a picture of the baby to Ward, who noticed that the baby's hands were nearly as big as his face. Ward called the new dad to share a laugh and some joy.

"It's something else to watch the young man grow up and receive a family," Ward said. "He'll be the best father in the world. He takes care of his brothers and sisters. I tell him not to hold it against his dad, just be a father to your son, the best father in the world."

Said Powe, "Any time he needs something or needs someone to lean on, I want to be that person. That's what fathers are supposed to do."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x661706654

Courtside View: Opposition zoning in on C's

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By Scott Souza/Daily News staff
GHS
Sun Jan 20, 2008, 12:01 AM EST

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When the Wizards used a zone defense to help hand the Celtics back-to-back losses last week, the league took notice. A national publication even went so far as to say that perhaps this was the model for teams to follow in trying to slow down the balanced and veteran offense.

Maybe. Then again, like most other defensive schemes this season, the zone's success is probably more temporary than blueprint material.

"The second game against them we went 2-for-17 in wide-open shots," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "So I'm not worried. We have gotten great shots against it. We just didn't hit them."

The Celtics' problem against the zone was likely more how they attacked it - specifically how they did not attack it - than the defense's potential for long-term effectiveness.

"I think the times the zone worked were against Washington and it was when we weren't moving the basketball," said Eddie House, who helped carry the load at point guard in the two games with Rajon Rondo (back, hamstring) mostly sidelined. "The ball was staying on one side of the floor. We were just throwing it to one side and it was staying there. We weren't swinging the ball, we weren't setting picks, we weren't throwing it in the post.

"We weren't playing basketball the way we usually play. That's what the zone wants you to do - take quick shots, keep it on one side of the floor and not make them work."

Rivers seemed to welcome opponents testing the zone going forward.

"Teams that have zoned us have basically gotten out of them pretty quickly," he said of its overall effectiveness for the season. "Washington at home (last Saturday) stayed in it longer than any team this year.

"We prefer for teams to play zone because we not only get post, we get our shooters wide-open shots. Portland just stopped it (in Boston's 100-90 victory on Wednesday). After Tony Allen made one 3-pointer, they never ran it again."

The zone is just the latest way teams have tried to get a handle on the Celtics offense. Early in the season, foes looked clueless as Boston rang up one blowout after another.

Then the focus became stopping Kevin Garnett with more physical play and double teams in the post. Recently, there has been another shift with opponents following the Detroit model of jumping out on the pick-and-roll and slowing the Celtics at the point of attack 25 or 30 feet from the basket, leaving them little time to run their offense.

"Early on," said Ray Allen, "they were doubling Kevin a lot. That was their big focus - double, double, double - so we were getting a lot of shots (on the perimeter) because it was so easy.

"Now they are saying let Kevin beat you. That's something that is interesting because we have so much - we have splits, we have shooters on the perimeter - and that's where, at times, we have to take what the defense gives us because we have talented players in position to make plays everywhere on the floor."

Another development has been that teams have chosen to target Ray Allen aggressively considering he has been the least proficient of the Big Trio - along with Garnett and Paul Pierce - for most of this season.

"Teams are double-teaming Ray on the perimeter and forcing him to give the ball up," said Rivers. "They don't usually trap too many guys on the pick-and-roll, but that's one guy they have been trapping."

The goal seems to be to lure Pierce into driving into traffic and taking their chances with House and James Posey - a dicey proposition over the long haul.

"Teams don't leave me when I come off the pick-and-roll," said Ray Allen, who figured to get a lot more open opportunities this season with Pierce and Garnett soaking up all the defensive attention next to him. "They jump and that's where we have to have a counter for that. We can have double teams out of pick-and-roll coverage just as much as we do in the post. (Rajon) Rondo and (Kendrick) Perkins have reaped the benefits from those double teams. Then when Eddie House and James Posey come in, they get the shots from those openings."

In Friday night's game, the Sixers took a different tact. They decided to pressure the Celtics with House, Tony Allen and Gabe Pruitt running the point in Rondo's absence. Andre Miller got one turnover in the backcourt on House for a layup in the first half, but mostly the goal was to slow the progression and leave the Celtics little time on the shot clock for ball movement.

It worked for a while, but eventually the Celtics pushed the ball up the court via the pass rather than the dribble to greater success. With the Sixers also back to the traditional strategy of clamping down on Garnett whenever he touched the ball, the power forward expertly passed out of the crowds and found seldom-used Leon Powe for 10 points in the final 15 minutes as the Celtics opened the floor and blew away the Sixers in the fourth quarter.

"It's just constantly making adjustments," Garnett reasoned.

That process will continue the rest of the season.

"When teams were starting the season off teams didn't know how to play us because we were new to the fold," said Ray Allen. "Every team adjusts. They have scouts and they have coaches dissecting film. Whenever we have lost games, they are watching that and trying to figure out where we are bad. Then they try to put us in those situations.

"Offensively, we just have to figure out how to stay away from those weaknesses."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.lowellsun.com/sports/ci_8027039

A star shines bright in Boston
By Lynn Worthy, [e-mail]
Article Last Updated: 01/20/2008 07:00:27 AM EST


Kevin Garnett has taken a bite out of Boston with his attitude, hustle and all-around basketball ability. AP PHOTO KGTwo letters have rarely carried as much weight and signified such a drastic change as they do now.

Kevin Garnett, the man whose initials have become synonymous with the rebirth of Celtic Pride, arrived in July, and since then he has set the tone for the Celtics' transformation into the best team in the NBA through his play, his daily approach, and his interaction with teammates.

"It's rare when you get a guy of his caliber that has the character that he has that understands that even though his talent may be above the team, he never puts himself above the team," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers says. "That's rare. A lot of the stars in our league try to elevate themselves above the family. Kevin never does that. He actually goes the other way. It's a great attribute."

Garnett is Boston's leading rebounder (9.7 rebounds per game), second-leading scorer (19.3 points per game), and ranks third in assists per game (3.7). His statistics are slightly below his career averages (20.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists),


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but he does not have the burden of carrying the team every night.
Garnett had taken almost 17 shots per game in his career entering the 2007-08 season. Through 38 games this year he had taken just under 14 shots per game.

Even with slightly lower numbers, the 6-foot-11 220-pound power forward leads the NBA All-Star voting, and he was showered with chants of "M-V-P" at the TD Banknorth Garden while on the free throw line last Monday night.

A little more than two months into his first regular season in Boston and with the season nearing the halfway point, Garnett appears to have embraced the franchise and his new teammates.

"It's been cool," he says. "A lot of hard work. But it's been fun. This has been one of the best group of guys I have been with. It's not even a challenge. It's fun. A lot of people want me to describe it. It's fun coming into practice every day. It's not like they cater to one or two guys. Everything has a new challenge and it stays interesting. But it's fun. I'm enjoying it. Winning makes it a lot better."

Even with the best start in franchise history through 30 games, Garnett is a constant voice reiterating that the team's early success (an NBA-best record of 32-6) is far from the team's ultimate goal.

"We don't want to disrespect the history of this great franchise," he says. "I think we are a lot more in tune to what we are not doing well versus the things that we are doing well."

In Garnett's case, he may be playing as well or better than he has in his 12 previous seasons, which have included an NBA MVP and 10 All-Star appearances.

Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine defended Garnett last season when KG was still with Minnesota. His tactic was to fight Garnett for every inch, attempting to both tire him out and get him in positions where help defense was nearby.

Looking at the players around Garnett this season and the array of moves he's displaying, Scalabrine says Garnett is at a level where "I don't think I would've had any chance of stopping him."

"I think he fights harder for position," Scalabrine says. "I feel like, with our surrounding cast that we have here, he gets the ball in better position. He gets the ball when he's open as opposed to he's open now and then later, later, later he finally gets it when I've pushed him out three or four feet. Now, I feel like he gets it where he wants to get it. He goes to work where he wants to go to work. Even more than last year he's using the pump fake and he's playing the game."

Trickle-down effect

A truly great player can also affect a game or a play ways that statistics don't show.

Garnett, who Rivers says "facilitates" the Celtics offense, gets teammates open simply by being on the court.

Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo are having career years in part because teams are leaving them open. Celtics captain Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, one of the premier shooters in NBA history, also have room to operate that they never would've seen if not for Garnett's presence.

Rivers explains, "What people don't see is Ray Allen made a three last night, well why did he get that three? Because Kevin Garnett sets the pick, and they're so concerned about Kevin that they told the guy guarding Ray to literally go under a pick so Kevin's guy wouldn't lose contact. Who would ever say go under a pick on Ray Allen? Well, when Kevin's involved, they had no choice. They went under the pick and that gave Ray Allen the three. Ray had to make the shot, but that whole play was due to Kevin Garnett's presence."

That presence is just as pivotal on defense.

He directs traffic similar to the way a goalie in soccer might position defenders. Garnett, an eight-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection, probably alters more shots than he blocks, and his ability to play smaller players on pick and rolls and to get in passing lanes also has a tremendous impact.

The Celtics came into play Friday night's game against Philadelphia as the league's top scoring defense as well as the top field goal percentage defense.

New England fans are just getting hip to Garnett and his endless energy at age 31 that would shame the energizer bunny, but he's been this way for most of his career since getting drafted fifth overall out of high school in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Detroit Pistons head coach Flip Saunders was Garnett's head coach for the first 10 years in Minnesota.

"He still plays with the same passion that he has always played (with)," said Saunders earlier this season during a visit to Boston. "He's still very unselfish, very much energetic. He has a passion. He draws it out of his teammates because of how he plays. He plays at such a high energy level that as a teammate you're almost forced to play that same way or else you'll feel bad."

Garnett's reputation proceeds him, but players who've admired him over the years get an entirely new understanding of his daily approach to basketball and to his everyday life once they become teammates.

It took some getting used to for a rookie player like 22-year-old Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who Garnett has taken under his wing.

"I was still a fan," Davis says of his first meeting with Garnett. "I'm still a fan to this day, but I was more of a fan than a friend. So you have to get used to his personality. He's a different guy. He's intense in everything he does on and off the court."

Steer clear on game day

Garnett is so intense on game days that players and reporters alike tend to stay clear of him prior to tip-off. It wasn't until this past week that he revealed in a radio interview that part of his pre-game routine involved watching the animated television series "Family Guy" in the trainer's room shortly before taking the court for warm-ups.

His work ethic is quickly becoming legend in Boston to rookies and vetarans alike.

"I've played with good players, I've played with great players," says Scalabrine, now in his seventh year in the NBA. "I've never seen a guy that's mentally focused every time we step on the court. And I'm not discrediting anybody else I've played with. I think it's an anomaly."

While a member of the New Jersey Nets, Scalabrine played with stars like Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson as well as Jason Kidd, arguable one of the best point guards of all-time.

Garnett has a day-in day-out ability to challenge himself and his teammates. When some players are looking for a day off, having played 40 minutes the night before, Scalabrine says Garnett wants teammates to go at him even harder in practice.

He tries to win every scrimmage and every drill, and he wants to do the drill over if it's not perfect. He doesn't turn it on when the game comes. It's always on.

"You just don't see that with the stars," Scalabrine says. "They do amazing things at 7:30, but most of the time they pick and choose their times to go at 10:30."

KG is not the average star, and Celtics fans can be thankful for that.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080120/COLUMN08/801200623/1009/SPORTS

Portland blazing a new trail

Taking Big Baby steps...Rivers is seeing stars...

PRO BASKETBALL

Bill Doyle NBA
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As the young Celtics stumbled through a franchise-record 18-game losing streak and finished 24-58 last season, they preached patience, insisting that youth can’t win in the NBA.

Someone must have forgotten to tell that to the Portland Trail Blazers. Either that or they are simply too young to realize that they’re not supposed to be any good.

Despite having the third-youngest roster in NBA history with an average age of 24.1 years, the Blazers are as hot as their nickname. They have won 19 of 22, including 13 in a row in December, to move atop the Northwest Division.


“I somewhat agree with that,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said of the belief that youth can’t win in the NBA. “It’s very hard to develop players and win at the same time.

“We’re doing some things that you really don’t see a lot.”

“The age is young,” said ex-Celtic Raef LaFrentz, the oldest Blazer at 31, “but they’re a mature group of kids who are growing up together. It’s neat to see. They’re extremely unselfish. It’s a different guy every night for us. That’s a unique situation.”

“If we play well, we can beat anybody,” said Blazers guard Jarrett Jack, a former Worcester Academy star.

At 24-15, the Blazers are the surprise of the Western Conference, especially considering they’re winning without Greg Oden, the top pick of the NBA Draft last June.

The Blazers went from the high of winning the NBA Lottery and drafting the 7-foot, 257-pound center from Ohio State to the low of losing him for the entire season in September because of microfracture surgery on his right knee.

The Blazers haven’t had a winning season since 2002-2003 and haven’t won a playoff series since 1999-2000. They didn’t give their fans any reason to believe they’d end either drought after losing nine of 10 to drop to 5-12 overall. Then the turnaround began and it hasn’t stopped yet. These guys are definitely ahead of schedule.

Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard, who averaged 4.2 points in 11 games for the Celtics early in the 1991-92 season, has compiled a team that could be successful for many years. June 28, 2006, will go down as one of the best days in Blazers history. That draft night, Portland drafted Tyrus Thomas, then dealt him to Chicago for its draft pick, LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers also acquired LaFrentz, Dan Dickau and the draft rights to Randy Foye from the Celtics for Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a 2008 second-round pick, then sent Foye to Minnesota for Brandon Roy.

Timberwolves fans must fight over which was Kevin McHale’s worst trade — sending away Roy or Kevin Garnett. Roy went on to become NBA Rookie of the Year last season and the 6-foot-6 guard has blossomed into Portland’s best player this season, leading the team in scoring (19.1) and assists (5.7). Steve Blake is listed as the team’s starting point guard, but Roy handles the ball much of the time.

The Blazers are touting Roy to become the team’s first All-Star since Rasheed Wallace in 2001.

“Right now,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers before his team beat Portland on Wednesday, “you’d have to put him in the top three or four for the MVP.

“It’s clear when you watch them play who they want to get the ball to and who they want to make the decisions and that’s very unusual for the other young guys to accept that he’s going to be the man because most of the time, they want to be the man.”

On the other hand, Foye has yet to play for Minnesota this season because of a knee injury. Pritchard traded malcontent forward Zach Randolph, the leading scorer on last year’s 32-50 team, to New York for Channing Frye to create more playing time for Aldridge. The 6-foot-11 Aldridge was first-team All-Rookie a year ago and ranks second on the team in scoring (17.9) and first in rebounding (7.5) this year.

“We felt like his jump shot is pretty good,” McMillan said, “but we wanted him to learn to play in the paint, play with his back to the basket and get to the free-throw line.”

Meanwhile, Thomas averages only 5.9 points and 4.5 rebounds for Chicago and the dreadful Knicks are reportedly looking to dump Randolph and his huge contract.

Travis Outlaw averages 12.1 points and 5.1 boards off the bench in his fifth season after the Blazers drafted the 6-9 forward out of a Mississippi high school with the 23rd pick of the 2003 draft.

Portland’s lone recent draft-day mistake came in 2005 when it passed up the chance to draft Chris Paul or Deron Williams and took Martell Webster with the sixth pick. Webster, who grew up playing basketball with Roy in Seattle, has become a starter at small forward in his third season in Portland, but he’s not as good as Paul or Williams.

Nine Blazers average at least 18 minutes a game. James Jones, purchased from Phoenix last summer, averages nearly 10 points and shoots 53 percent from threeland. Jack started last season, but backs up Blake at the point this year and averages just under 10 points a game.

“That’s part of the reason this team is having some success,” McMillan said. “We’ve asked guys to make sacrifices. Jarrrett has made it work. He’s been a spark off the bench.”

Frye averages 6.9 points. Oden’s injury enabled Joel Przybilla to keep his starting center job and he averages 5 points and 7.2 rebounds.

Pryzbilla is Portland’s oldest starter at 28. Next year, Oden, who turns 20 on Tuesday, should take over at center. Roy is 23, Aldridge 22, Webster 21 and Blake 27. The bench is young as well: Outlaw (23), Jack (24), Frye (24) and Jones (27). LaFrentz, 31, is Portland’s oldest player, but he rarely leaves the bench.

McMillan tried to look on the bright side when Oden was lost for the season, telling his team: “We will be better when Greg joins us next season because we’re forced to play without him.”

How will Oden affect team chemistry next year?

“I have no idea,” he said. “I hope I can add to that and the guys can win a couple more games than what they’re winning this year. When I go out there, they’re already going to be a good team and I’m going to try to play my part.”

Youth isn’t winning in Minnesota, which has nine players aged 25 or under, but it’s been a boom for the Blazers. Apparently what matters most is how talented the young players are.

Glen Davis embraces his nickname of Big Baby. The words “Momma’s Boy” are tattooed on his chest and a big baby in a diaper is tattooed on his back.

But the Celtics need Big Baby to grow up soon. He has softer hands than Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard to receive passes under the basket and he’s an excellent finisher. Some nights, like at Detroit, he provides a spark.

Other nights, however, he doesn’t.

“He’s young,” Rivers said. “We understand that he’s not going to be good every night. If he’s not, you have to try to go in another direction.”

A sore knee has slowed Davis’ progress recently. Fear of injury was one reason he gave up football to concentrate on basketball at his high school in Baton Rouge, La., after leading the team in rushing as a junior.

Davis became a McDonald’s High School All-America basketball player, but he thinks the football team could have gone to the state championship had he continued to play.

“They were mad at me, but I didn’t care,” the 6-foot-8, 290-pound Davis said.

When Davis stayed in his home town to play basketball in college, LSU football coach Nick Saban tried to talk him into playing football.

Saban left LSU a few months into Davis’ freshman year to coach the Miami Dolphins and Davis went on to lead LSU to the Final Four as a sophomore.

Rivers is ambivalent about coaching in the NBA All-Star Game.

“I think we all want the weekend off,” Rivers said, “but I clearly would take the honor. I don’t think about it a whole bunch to be honest.”

The coaches with the best records in each conference through games two weeks from today will coach the All-Stars on Feb. 17 in New Orleans.

The Celtics own the best record in the NBA and the only Eastern Conference team with a chance to catch them over the next two weeks is Detroit, coached by Flip Saunders.

“It would be great for Doc to get the recognition for the great job he’s doing,” Celtics captain Paul Pierce said. “He’s been a great coach since he’s entered in the league, but he’s finally got an opportunity to coach some veterans and he’s shown what he can do. I think he’s one of the more underrated coaches in the league and this would be a great honor.”

Boston is 32-6 and will play six more games over the next two weeks: at New York, Orlando and Miami, and at home against Toronto, Minnesota and Dallas.

Detroit is 29-12 after losing to Chicago last night. The Pistons have six games remaining through Feb. 3: at Orlando, Philadelphia and Indiana, and at home against Orlando, the Lakers and Dallas.

No matter how Detroit fares, all the Celtics have to do is go 2-4 in their final six games before the deadline for Rivers to become Boston’s first All-Star Game head coach since Chris Ford in 1991.

Rivers would then get to coach Celtics Kevin Garnett, the leading All-Star vote getter so far, and probably Pierce as a reserve.

If the Celtics stumble, the All-Star coach could be decided on Feb. 3 when Detroit hosts Dallas.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2008/01/20/2008-01-20_celtics_can_learn_from_history_and_save_-1.html

Celtics can learn from history and save legs for what counts - rings
Sunday, January 20th 2008, 4:00 AM

The Celtics are bored. They've been overachieving. They need a better point guard. They can't stop teams with high-scoring small forwards and shooting guards. Their bench is finally showing its warts.

Theories abound as to why the Celtics hit their first stretch of adversity this past week, losing three of four games, including two straight to the Wizards, and two straight at home.

Here's another one to chew on as the Celtics come to the Garden Monday for the first time this season: Wins were coming so easily as they stormed out to a 30-3 start, they were caught looking ahead.

All the way to June.

"Guys are already talking about the Finals," one Celtic told a rival coach this past week. "It's amazing, considering we've never been there. Guys don't know how hard it is to get there."

Getting there won't be easy, as long as the Pistons have a say. But what looks out of the Celtics' reach even more now is 70 wins.

They're still on a pace to win 68 games, but haven't played a game against San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas or New Orleans, and still have to take two five-game road trips after the All-Star break. So 70 wins ranks as a real longshot.

Maybe they should not even try. The last two teams to pursue 70 into the final weeks of the season not only came up short, but they also didn't win the title.

The 2006 Pistons: Tired of seeing Larry Brown get all the credit for their championship two seasons earlier, and seeking to prove they could still win a title without the man who bolted to New York for Jim Dolan's millions, the Pistons won 37 of their first 42 games and were still chasing 70 in late February. They finished with 64 and were upset by Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games.

The 2007 Mavs: Coming off their epic Finals collapse against Miami in '06, the Mavs became the sixth-fastest team in history to win 50 games and still had a shot to win 70 with eight games to play. They finished with a franchise-record 67 victories, but were immediately hit with another postseason disaster, losing in the first round to No. 8 seed Golden State.

"When you're going after 70, like we did and Dallas did, it becomes very, very, very difficult because there is so much pressure that goes into every game you're playing," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said last Sunday. "So you maybe lose sight of what the carrot is at the end. The other thing is, when you're having that kind of season, it's almost like you don't go through enough rough times that you need to go through. When you get in the playoffs, you need to be lucky but you're also going to go through rough times. If you've never gone through them in the regular season, who knows how you will react when that time does come?"

Although Dallas owner Mark Cuban maintains his team's pursuit of 70 wins "had no impact at all, no relevance" in its second-straight playoff collapse, the Mavs certainly did not react well when confronted with adversity. They couldn't even force a deciding seventh game on their home floor.

The '06 Pistons had proven that they could handle trouble, easily defeating the Lakers in the 2004 Finals and then taking the Spurs all the way to a Game 7 in 2005. But after trying to win 70, they were forced that spring to expend extra energy in their seven-game conference semifinal series against Cleveland, a team they easily handled in the regular season, winning three of the four games by an average of 16 points. Their top four players - Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace - had all logged major minutes in the regular season, were all at least 28 years old (the two Wallaces were approaching their 32nd birthdays), and had long playoff resumes stretching back to 2002-03.

The deeper the Pistons went in '06 as the top seed, their age and minutes showed. Their shooting stats steadily declined, indicating that they were a team with tired legs. The night Saunders' team was eliminated in Miami, he admitted that the Cleveland series sapped his veterans, leaving them vulnerable against the Heat. His decision to play them extended minutes during the chase for 70, while failing to develop his bench, almost cost him his job. You can certainly debate the merits of trying to reach a level attained only by one team in history, the 72-win Bulls in 1996.

"You want to go out and win every game you can," Billups said. "But the one thing we learned from that season is that you want to win, but not at the risk of wearing guys out. We experienced that. We got real tired at the end, especially in the Miami series. Going for 70 beat us up a little bit in the playoffs. That was our situation. I don't know what's going on with the Celtics."

It's something similar to the Pistons' situation. The Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are putting in major minutes and they're all over 30, with Garnett turning 32 in May, Allen 33 in July, and Pierce 31 in October. Through their first 37 games, Garnett was averaging 35 minutes; Pierce 39 and Allen 38.

Doc Rivers doesn't have much choice. To stay ahead in the race for the No. 1 seed, he has to keep his Big Three out on the floor.

Will the extended minutes catch up with them in June, if they get that far?

"Those guys have played a lot of years and they're up there in age, so it's tough because you want to win games, but you also want to save your energy for the playoffs," said Hamilton. "We didn't look at what we were doing until we lost that last game down in Miami. Then we all sat there in the locker room and we were like, ‘Oh, man.' It was a missed opportunity. But this year, it's different. We want to get our bench acclimated for late in the postseason. As for the Celtics, it's up to them how they want to approach it."

Considering what happened to the Pistons and Mavs, they should approach it with extreme trepidation.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/ny-spceltics205545384jan20,0,7857651,print.story

Greening of Celtics: Big Three use teamwork, sacrifice to make run at a ring
BY KEN BERGER

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January 20, 2008

After some fairly routine work at the Meadowlands recently, the Boston Celtics assembled in the locker room for the usual postgame eat-and-go, which they typically execute as smoothly as the pick-and-roll. Except that on this night, the spread was less than appetizing.

Center Kendrick Perkins eyed the pasta creation from the chair in front of his locker - some sort of penne a la vodka with chunks of salmon - and complained to coach Doc Rivers, "That's prison food."

Rivers didn't dispute Perkins' assessment, but he offered an alternative on the train ride to Washington, the next stop in the Celtics' dominant regular season.

"We're going to have White Castles on the train, OK?" Rivers said. "Food of champions right there."

Before stumbling for the first time all season last week, the Celtics' biggest concern has been the postgame menu. Riding their superstar trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, the Celtics (32-6) bring the best record in the NBA to the Garden tomorrow for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee.

Their transformation from a 24-win disaster into a juggernaut that earned its 24th win before New Year's actually began with more bad luck in the draft lottery. The Celtics' failure to secure one of the top two picks despite overwhelming odds in their favor led general manager Danny Ainge to change strategies.

He acquired Allen from the SuperSonics on draft night, using fifth overall pick Jeff Green as the key pawn, then still had enough assets left to wrest Garnett from Minnesota. It was the perfect storm of circumstances but one that underscored how quickly the downtrodden can become elite if you assemble - and develop - your assets.

"We learned that youth means hope but it doesn't necessarily mean wins," Rivers said. "We had all the youth and all the hope, but it didn't equal the wins. People wanted some of that hope, and we were able to give it to them and change our team."

Doubts about whether three superstars accustomed to being the undisputed No. 1 option could coexist quickly dissipated as the Celtics sprinted to a 29-3 start. Then they dropped three of four in a recent stretch, including back-to-back losses to Washington, before earning back-to-back victories over Portland and Philadelphia.

"When we first were assembled, behind closed doors, one of the things Doc said - and we all agreed upon - was that we're all going to have to make some sacrifices," Garnett said.

Pierce, the lone star on so many awful Celtics teams, had to sacrifice the most by deferring to Garnett and Allen and sliding from the first scoring option to the third.

"We told 'P' right away, 'This is your team,'" Garnett said. "'We're not here to take it from you. We're here to help you be a better player and vice versa.' . . . Who cares who makes All-Star Games? Who cares who gets the credit? We're trying to win a ring here, and it's bigger than stats and the small things that break teams apart."

But even Tom Heinsohn had his doubts.

"At first, I thought they were going to be 12 individuals, but they are a team now," said Celtics announcer Heinsohn, who won eight NBA championships as a player and two more as a coach in Boston. "They have three players who were asked to carry teams on their shoulders and understand how important it is to be a team so you can win. This is a throwback to the old Celtic teams I played on."

There was no denying the talent of the Big Three, but Heinsohn and others worried about the point guard position and depth. But Rajon Rondo (9.0 points, 4.8 assists) has played better than expected and James Posey and Eddie House have given Boston some experience off the bench. Glen "Big Baby" Davis - a rookie acquired in the Allen deal - has emerged as a competent contributor.

"I don't see any personal agendas," Perkins said.

After a home loss to Charlotte Jan. 9, Garnett gathered his teammates in the locker room and reminded them that coasting and complacency are not allowed. Other than injuries, those are about the only pratfalls that could derail one of the most impressive one-year turnarounds in recent NBA history.

"I always tell people in college that the best team doesn't always win the NCAA Tournament," Allen said. "You run into a hot team, sometimes it takes you getting lucky."

At least in the regular season, the luck of the Celtics is back. But Rivers keeps reminding them that they haven't done anything yet, a message worth heeding after the Mavericks' 67-win regular season was rendered moot by a first-round loss to Golden State last year.

"Dallas has been to the Finals," Rivers said. "San Antonio has won, Detroit has won. They've been through it and they've done things. They know how to respond. We don't know anything. We've done nothing, in our minds. So we know that's a huge advantage that we're not going to catch."

A short time later, Rivers and his team caught a train to Washington, lost to the Wizards and then lost to them again two nights later. Rivers didn't have to say "told you so" to know that his lesson had been learned.