News 3/10

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1079152&format=text

Street clothes don’t make C’s man

By Steve Bulpett | Monday, March 10, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Stuart Cahill
PHILADELPHIA - Brian Scalabrine is not unaware of the mathematics. Thirteen does not go into 12.

As soon as Sam Cassell is cleared to play - which could be as early as tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers [team stats] - the Celtics [team stats] will have a nightly decision to make. With Scot Pollard out for the year due to ankle surgery and Gabe Pruitt dribbling in the NBA Development League, the C’s will have to make one player inactive. Judging from the way the rotation has been going lately, Scalabrine is in the crosshairs.

“Nothing has been said yet, so I don’t want to comment on it,” Scalabrine said. “I don’t want to say what’s going to happen if it’s not going to happen. I don’t know which way we’re going to go. Maybe it does look bad for me; maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know.”

Coach Doc Rivers insists the Celts will continue to approach the issue by committee. It’s just that with the additions of Cassell and P.J. Brown, the committee is now larger.

“I tell them all that every single one of them will have something to do with it if we become successful at the end of the year,” Rivers said. “Every single one of them will have done something. That could be coming in when guys are injured in a pinch. Scal’s already done that a couple of times. That could be in practice pushing the guys who are playing. The thing I love most about this team is that. They have a single focus, and minutes and even wearing the uniform is not it.”

In that injuries always seem to work their way into the equation, it would be foolish for anyone to close up shop, and considering how hard he is still working after practices and before games, Scalabrine isn’t about to take the leisurely approach.

“I’m just going to continue to do what I need to do to be ready to play,” he said. “That’s all I can do. But bringing in these two guys gives us a better chance to win a championship, so it doesn’t matter for Brian Scalabrine. It doesn’t matter if I’m playing or not playing. If this puts us in a better position to win, then that’s great for the Celtics.

“That’s how I feel about it. We’re doing something special, and some people are going to have to make sacrifices. That’s just the way it is. It’s business.”

Rivers certainly appreciates Scalabrine’s take.

“Our guys have a great attitude,” Rivers said. “All of them do. We’ve got a lot of good players, and there’ll be nights where Scal will be on the list and maybe nights when someone else is on the list. There’ll be injuries and other guys will need to dress and play. That’s how it’s going to work.”

What may be a tougher matter for Rivers is doling out the minutes. Each game he will have a dozen players who may deserve to play but, absent foul trouble or injury, he doesn’t want to go more than nine deep - 10 at the outside.

“That’s a great problem to have,” he said. “But as far as dealing with it, it’s all about agendas. If guys have the same agenda, then that’s never a problem. If guys have different agendas, then it’s always a problem.”

Celtics notes

Rivers was asked about Kevin Garnett passing 20,000 points and Ray Allen crossing the 18,000 barrier in Saturday’s win at Memphis.

“Well, I have no idea,” Rivers said. “I was nowhere near there (9,377 career points). I don’t know how you do it, but it’s remarkable.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/03/10/deep_thoughts_on_roster?mode=PF

Deep thoughts on roster
Rivers savors team's success
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | March 10, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - The Celtics have perennial All-Stars in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, one of the league's best young players in Rajon Rondo, and recent veteran additions in Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown. With its league-best 49-12 record after Saturday night's 119-89 rout of the Grizzlies in Memphis, an argument can be made that Boston has the best, and deepest, roster in the league.

But coach Doc Rivers hasn't gotten too excited yet, because the team hasn't proven anything in the postseason.

"[Having] talent is one thing, but I don't look at it that way," Rivers said. "I see a team coming together. Individual talent? I saw a team [in Philadelphia in 1977] with George McGinnis and World B. Free, Dr. J. [Julius Erving] get their [butts] kicked. I saw a Portland Trail Blazers team [beat them] with the only star on the team in Bill Walton.

"If you just trace our league, talent means nothing. Obviously, you have to win. Talent with an agenda is more important. We have good names, Sam and P.J. and the other guys that we have. But they are just names."

The coach, in his fourth season with the Celtics, did acknowledge, however, that this is the best roster he's had, and in Orlando he had Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill.

"I've never had a roster like this as a coach," Rivers said. "Most coaches don't."

It doesn't get much deeper than Celtics teams of the 1950s and 1960s with such stars as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Don Nelson, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, and K.C. Jones, who helped win the majority of the franchise's NBA-best 16 titles. The 1980s Celtics had Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, and Danny Ainge.

Until today's Celtics win a championship, Ainge, now the team's general manager, doesn't believe it's worth comparing eras.

"Oh boy, [that's] hard," he said. "The league is different. The competition is different. The Celtics of the '60s and the Celtics of the '80s are some of the best teams ever. This team has to win to be compared to those teams. I think it's unfair to compare today's team to Celtics teams past until they have a few years run on it."

While Rivers has a talented roster, he also has the challenge of convincing everyone to put aside their agendas.

"Doc has done a great job," Ainge said. "He has a great staff that helps him. He's a leader. They need a leader like Doc. He's done a good job coaching veterans and working with the young guys."

With the addition of Cassell and Brown, several Celtics will have their roles changed or minutes cut. Rivers believes it won't be an issue since his players are committed to winning.

"There are always concerns about that for teams that don't want to win," Rivers said. "When you want to win, no one really cares about their minutes. They are focused on winning. When you want to perform individually, you focus on minutes. I don't think we have that type of team."

Rivers, who was Coach of the Year in 2000 while with Orlando, seemed to take the added pressure in stride when much was made about the new "Big Three" of Garnett, Allen, and Pierce before the season began.

"You can fall in love with names," Rivers said. "I fall in love with productivity. As far as depth, our names are good. We have to mesh as a group. If we do that, then we're deep."

"Pressure's a privilege. You want it. That's what you're in it for."

Cassell could make his debut tonight against the Sixers . . . The Celtics didn't practice after flying to Philadelphia yesterday . . . In his second game with Boston, Brown had 2 points and two rebounds in eight minutes in Saturday night's romp. "I really felt a little bit more comfortable than I did [Friday against Chicago]," Brown said. "I just have to keep working. I have a lot of work [to do]. But I think I'm a little bit ahead of where I thought I was."

[FLCeltsFan]

It's for you
Sports teams enlist new technology and big name players to encourage fans to buy tickets
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | March 10, 2008

Don Therrien, Boston College class of 1970, found an unusual message on his answering machine last November, two weeks before the BC football team headed to its first appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

It was from Matt Ryan, the Eagles' star quarterback.

"On behalf of the entire BC football team, I would like to ask you to join us as we travel down to Jacksonville on Saturday, December 1st, to compete for the ACC championship," Ryan said, as the school's fight song, "For Boston," blared in the background.

Ryan then gave out ticket information, and Therrien did just what Boston College hoped when it sent out the message to more than 100,000 BC alumni and fans: He booked a trip to Jacksonville with some buddies the next day.

The Ryan message campaign, made possi ble by Internet phone technology powered by Vontoo Inc., an Indianapolis company, is part of an approach local teams are using to pump up sales and reach fans more effectively. For about $10,000, Ryan's phone message helped the team sell more than 4,000 tickets in just two weeks, earning $200,000 and beating sales for some of the Eagles' previous bowl appearances, according to Jamie DiLoreto, Boston College's associate athletics director for external operations.

The calls are cheap - they cost about 10 cents each - and the technology can track how many people pick up the messages, which ones go to voice mail, and how many transfer immediately to a ticket agent. It's a far more cost-efficient tactic to reach fans than snail mail. And while e-mail has grown in popularity as a way to communicate with supporters, teams are increasingly finding their messages get lost in spam filters.

Even before the Boston Celtics added all-stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and got off to their torrid start in the 2007-2008 season, the team got some off-the-court help last spring from players like center Kendrick Perkins, who left messages asking thousands of past season ticket holders to renew their purchases. On the day the team ran its phone message campaign, the Celtics nearly doubled the number of season ticket renewals purchased in the same day the previous year.

The Celtics are planning to use Vontoo again later this month, to send out playoff information and to get an early start on season tickets (which should be an easier sell, given the team's current success). The team is also looking to use the technology to make money in other ways, such as allowing fans to listen to game-day messages from coaches or players, for a fee.

"We don't have the issue selling tickets like we did last year, but we really think people actually enjoy getting a message from a player," said Paul Cacciatore, director of ticket services and operations for the Celtics. "There's a uniqueness we can capture, and Vontoo allows us to get out a message very quickly, you don't have to wait for thousands of pieces of mail to be printed."

Vontoo's system allows the Celtics or any other group to send voice transmissions cheaply over the Internet and broadcast the message to thousands of fans who have agreed to receive communication from the team. Vontoo says its service is not glorified telemarketing, and every call it sends out offers people the opportunity to opt out of future messages, according to Vontoo cofounder Bob Compton. For example, political candidates looking to blast out messages to every registered voter are not allowed to use Vontoo's system, however, they could send calls to pledged supporters. Vontoo's rivals include companies such as PhoneTree and OneCall Now, but they offer Internet message services that are not always permission-based.

For sports teams, the payoff is obvious. The 10-cent phone message can fill a seat that, if it remained empty, would cost hundreds of dollars, between lost admission, concessions, and merchandise, said Christopher Cakebread, a Boston University professor who teaches sports marketing and advertising. And getting a message from a player is particularly appealing to rabid sports fans who want as much access as possible to their favorite team, Cakebread said.

"The call from Matt Ryan was really exciting and made you feel included," said Therrien of Andover. "Where a lot of my friends may have been on the fence, the call says BC really wants us there to support the team."

Already, about half of the National Basketball Association teams have used Vontoo, and other organizations are trying out the technology for their marketing efforts. In August, trendy Houston locals received a call from American Idol finalist LaKisha Jones, who, in her sultry voice, testified to the praises of a weekly nightclub gathering, Plan B Sundays at Belvedere, as a way to drum up interest in the club. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation last year sent messages to thousands of its advocates as part of a campaign to increase funding for diabetes research. Vontoo was able to immediately transfer listeners to their congressional representatives' offices, and the campaign resulted in 65 senators and 262 representatives adding their names to the funding letter.

The Pawtucket Red Sox, meanwhile, are planning to use Vontoo this spring after a successful campaign last year. The minor league baseball team, which sometimes struggles to get weekday audiences for its early spring games, drew its biggest crowd for the last week in May after a message from outfielder Brandon Moss urging fans to buy tickets was phoned to everyone living in a 25-mile radius who had purchased tickets for a single game within the past two years, according to Cookie Rojas, general sales manager for the team.

"We're always looking to find unique ways to reach fans and offer them a nonthreatening invitation to the games to say, 'Hey, don't forget about us,' " Rojas said. "It's good family fun after all, but it sounds cooler to have a player say it."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080310/SPORTS/803100366

FREE THROWS: Kendrick Perks up Celtics

By TIM WEISBERG
Free Throws
March 10, 2008 6:00 AM
To what can the Boston Celtics attribute their return to form over the past two weeks, following a three-game slide after the All-Star Break? Kevin Garnett is finally 100 percent, Rajon Rondo is playing like a veteran All-Star and the Celtics recently shored up for the playoffs by signing two of the most sought-after free agents.

But one of the biggest reasons — and perhaps the most surprising — is the emergence of center Kendrick Perkins as one of the best big men in the East over the first 10 days of March


Perkins has been playing the best basketball of his career all season long, but has really upped the ante over the past few weeks. After a one-rebound effort against Cleveland back on February 27, he responded by just missing a double-double with 19 points and nine boards against Charlotte. From there, he has rattled off four straight double-double efforts, averaging 12 points, 13.5 rebounds, three blocks and two assists in those games.

"Perk's been phenomenal," coach Doc Rivers said following Perkins' career-high 20 rebounds in a win over Detroit. "Not just his rebounds, but his defense. And we talk about it all the time: He did his job. He did what he does. Rebounds, blocked shots, he's starting to make nice passes in the interior. That's who he is."

There's no doubt the presence of veteran pickup P.J. Brown helped to motivate Perkins a little, but it's not the sole reason Perk has "perked" up. With Garnett finally rounding back into form following a nine-game layoff with a strained abdominal muscle, and Rondo upping his game in conjunction with the addition of Sam Cassell, Perkins is once again the forgotten man of the Celtics' starting five — a role that allows him to flourish under the basket. Defensively, with KG back alongside him in the post, Perkins no longer needs to shoulder the load in the paint and is most effective when playing as part of the Celtics' help defense.

Not coincidentally, the Celtics as a whole are also playing some of their best defense of the season in their current eight-game win streak. After scoring an embarrassing 77 points against Phoenix last month — on a West Coast trip where they allowed the opposition to average 101.2 points a game — the Celts clamped down on the defensive end, allowing an average of just 81.2 points in their subsequent winning streak.

If Perkins can continue to improve over the course of the season and avoid the injuries that have sidelined him in the past (plantar fasciitis and shoulder issues among them), he'll be the best center the Celtics have had since Hall of Famer Robert Parish, if he isn't already. The Chief came to Boston for his fifth NBA season, and even though he was already averaging solid double-doubles with Golden State, playing as part of the Big 3 helped him earn three championships with Boston and a spot in Springfield.

Perkins, now in his fifth season, is one of the role players alongside the nouveau Big 3 of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. And maybe that makes him even more dangerous than No. 00.


GOES DOWN SMOOTH
Just like the Sam-I-Am of Dr. Seuss fame praised the virtues of Green Eggs and Ham, the Boston Celtics' own Sam Cassell arrived already taking large gulps of Green Kool-Aid.

The veteran point guard, decked out in green apparel, made no bones about the fact that he is here to back up incumbent starter Rajon Rondo, and that he's a big fan of the second-year guard's game.

"I understand what he brings. I'm not here to challenge for his job; I'm here to be his backup. I want to make that clear, first and foremost," Cassell told the media before Friday night's game against Chicago. "He is the starting point guard for the Boston Celtics. I may be the calmest backup he ever had in his career, because I don't want his job. I'm here to make his job easier."

Cassell has yet to play for the Celtics, but head coach Doc Rivers indicated he believes Cassell may see action tonight in Philadelphia.


RILEY RILED UP
Heat coach/president Pat Riley has had enough of the lackluster effort his team has put on the floor this season, while compiling a record of 11-50 and losing 32 of their past 35 games.

"I should write a check tomorrow to each season-ticket holder and send them back (their money)," Riley told reporters. "I should write the check back because I can't get them to play hard. They have a tendency to give in and not hold their ground, we've seen that a lot this year."

Riley also threatened to start shaking up his roster with hungrier D-League players.

"I have to ferret out the guys who really don't care. I have to ferret them out of here and (put) them on the bench and bring in a bunch of young guys," he said. "It's so unprofessional, it's ridiculous, but I'm the one responsible for it. I can't allow it to continue. I've got to get guys out there who might not be as good as the guys talent-wise, but at least they're going to make an effort."

"There will be a day of reckoning," he said about those players not giving it their all for a losing cause. "They'll be somewhere else."

While nobody expects Riles will actually blow up his team and fill it with Dwyane Wade and a bunch of 10-day contracts, he did say he's going to start skipping a few games to begin scouting potential draft picks. So it will be interesting to see if the effort increases or decreases in Riley's absence.