News 4/7

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1085499&format=text

‘D’ should be ‘Big Ticket’ to award

By Mark Murphy / Celtics Beat | Monday, April 7, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Stuart Cahill (file)
All signs point to Celtics [team stats] forward Kevin Garnett winning his first NBA Defensive Player of the Year award this season.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The deadline for media voting on NBA awards is April 17, and those banking on a second MVP honor for the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett will likely be disappointed.

But as Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and maybe even Paul Pierce [stats] fragment the process, Garnett should have another calling.

He has transformed the Celtics into the league’s best defensive team. He’s not only responsible for the greatest turnaround in league history but one of the NBA’s most remarkable defensive turnarounds, as well.

It’s inconceivable that Garnett has never won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award, but that drought deserves to end this year.

Regardless of Shaquille O’Neal’s recent snippy remark about Garnett not playing defense - an apparent reference, we think, to Garnett’s preference to play off his man - no one has had a greater impact this season on shutting down the other team.

Try to think of the last time the Celtics were noticeably beat off the pick-and-roll.

Think of the Hornets’ Paul and the Suns’ Steve Nash - two of the best at cutting apart a set defense who ran into a wall of denial while trying to find cutters off picks in their last games against the Celtics.

Think of Kendrick Perkins [stats]’ development as an enforcer now that he has a great player at his back.

Think of a team that leads the league in both scoring and field goal defense after wallowing in the bottom five of both categories last year.

Think of the Celtics’ win Saturday at Charlotte, without Garnett, Pierce or Ray Allen on the floor. The team has grown so accustomed to Garnett’s communication and direction, shutting down the Hornets - who shot just 42 percent from the field - was like second nature.

Roughly a month into the season, an impressed Brian Scalabrine called Garnett the greatest defender against the pick-and-roll he had ever seen.

If anything, Scalabrine is even more resolute on the subject now.

Defensive player of the year?

Scalabrine, enjoying a postgame southern meal of fried fish, cornbread and greens Saturday night, excitedly put down his plate to make the case for Garnett.

“No question,” he said. “No one else should be getting any votes for that award. He anchors our defense. If he doesn’t win that, then it would have to be the craziest vote that there is.”

For Scalabrine, it goes back to the pick-and-roll argument.

“There can be 90 pick-and-rolls run against you in a game, and not a lot of those are going to work against us,” he said. “He’s so quick that he can hedge out on a shooter and still get back quickly enough to cover every time.

“I might be biased. But I’m not saying this from a biased standpoint.”

P.J. Brown, who developed his defensive chops under coach Pat Riley in the mid-1990s with Miami, should also be considered an authority on the art of defense - and interior defense in particular.

“I’ve been in this league for 15 years and (have) never seen a team make the total jump that this one has,” he said. “This team is as good defensively as any I’ve seen.”

The reason is ironclad, according to Brown.

“I would think that (Garnett) is the best defensive player in the league - he’d get my vote,” he said. “He sets the tone, along with Perk, and that filters out to our guards. Everyone on this team is on the same page.

“The MVP award is something that goes to the wire, and there are a few guys who can get that. But defensively? There’s no one who has his kind of impact.”

Surely, the voters realize that much.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1085517&format=text
Ewing ready to find out if he’s elected to Hall of Fame

By Associated Press | Monday, April 7, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | NBA Coverage

Photo by AP (File)
NEW YORK - At the end of a miserable season, the New York Knicks might finally have a reason to celebrate.

Patrick Ewing, the team’s career scoring leader, will find out Monday if he is elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Growing up in Cambridge, Ewing said he made occasional trips to the Hall of Fame, located in Springfield. But he never thought about someday being a member of it, nor did he spend much time worrying about it as a player.

"You don’t have time to think about it," Ewing, now an assistant coach with Orlando, said Sunday during a press conference before the Magic played the Knicks. "You’re concentrating on the present, trying to be the best player you can be and trying to do the best you can to help your team win a championship."

Ewing got close, but never accomplished that. The Knicks lost the 1994 NBA finals to Houston in seven games, and Ewing was hurt when New York lost to San Antonio five years later.

He joined the Knicks as the No. 1 pick in the 1985 draft and spent 17 years in the NBA, most with the Knicks. Ewing also is the team’s career leader in rebounds and blocked shots and was voted one of the league’s 50-greatest players.

A video of Ewing’s highlights was shown on the overhead scoreboard during a timeout in the second quarter, followed by a standing ovation from the Madison Square Garden crowd. Ewing’s No. 33 hangs from the arena’s rafters.

"The thing that always comes to mind when you think of him is his warrior spirit," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "He always went out on the floor and competed extremely hard. He came into the league as a shot blocker-rebounder, and he worked himself into being a dominant force."

Ewing, former Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon and Miami Heat coach Pat Riley, all in their first years of eligibility, are the leading candidates. Riley, who coached Ewing in New York, has said how much it would mean to him if they went in together, something Ewing said they discussed during a Georgetown game in the NCAA tournament.

"He came over and we sat and we talked about it, and you know it’d be great," Ewing said during his press conference, attended by Knicks Hall of Famers Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, plus former teammates Herb Williams and John Starks. "Pat was one of the coaches that brought the great franchise of the Knicks back to the glory days and one of my best coaches, and it would be an honor to go in with him."

The 2008 class will be announced in San Antonio at the Final Four. Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy, who worked under Riley and now employs Ewing, said there’s no doubt those two and Olajuwon should be inducted.

"You look at the list and you say Patrick and Hakeem and Pat Riley have got to be the three that absolutely go in based on what they’ve accomplished in this game," Van Gundy said. "And I think certainly with Patrick, I can’t imagine you having a vote and not voting for him."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/07/garnett_is_big_name_from_a_small_town?mode=PF
Garnett is big name from a small town
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | April 7, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Chicago's Farragut Academy is always mentioned when the Celtics' Kevin Garnett is introduced in the starting lineups. You can hear a hint of a New York accent when he speaks, which isn't surprising since his mom is from that city. The forward also spends much of the offseason in Los Angeles.

But home for Garnett is actually about a 90-minute drive from Charlotte in a small South Carolina town called Mauldin. South Carolina has produced numerous current and former NBA players, like ex-Celtic Xavier McDaniel, Hall of Famer Alex English, three-time All-Star Larry Nance, Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal, and Bobcats guard Raymond Felton. Celtics guard Ray Allen went to high school there, too. And when NBA teams come to Charlotte, it's not uncommon for some players to cross the state line to get a quick taste of South Carolina.

"It's home," said Garnett, whose Celtics practice in Charlotte today before departing for Milwaukee for a game tomorrow night in the middle of a three-game road trip. "I went home Friday night to see my mother, some friends, and some family. It was good and very much needed. It's always a good time when I get to see my people and my personal friends."

Mauldin is a suburb of Greenville in northwestern South Carolina. The population was 15,224 in the 2000 census. While actor Orlando Jones is also from there, Mauldin's most famous native is Kevin Maurice Garnett, who was born there May 19, 1976.

Juan G. Hernandez Abrams, a Celtics fan from Greenville, S.C., his wife, and their two children came to Charlotte to see the Celtics' 101-78 victory over the Bobcats Saturday night. Abrams was disappointed when he learned before the game that Garnett, Allen, and Paul Pierce were given the night off, but he understood. Abrams said Garnett is a huge star in the Greenville area.

"The NBA is not very big there, but the name Garnett is," said Abrams. "He's big in Mauldin. We're Celtics fans all around, but more for Garnett."

Ex-Clemson and NBA Development League player Merl Code recalls first seeing Garnett play as an eighth-grader at Springfield Park in Mauldin and also at a gym called The Armory nicknamed "The Oven" because it was without air conditioning. "The Oven" always showcased aspiring hoopsters who got their rep playing against former and current college players, street legends, and grown men, and the win-or-go-home pressure sometimes lead to fistfights.

Code believes Garnett got his renowned intensity from playing in the Greenville area.

"He was skinny as a rail, tall, long, unbelievably coordinated," Code said. "At that time he was maybe 6-7. You didn't see guys like that with so much basketball skill. He could handle the ball, shoot the ball. He [had] exceptional basketball skill at an early age."

Garnett starred his first three years at Mauldin High. However, after a fight between black and white students before his senior year, he became fearful of being targeted. Instead, Garnett moved to Chicago, where he led Farragut to a 28-2 record his senior year and was named USA Today's National High School Player of the Year in 1995.

Had Garnett attended college instead of entering the NBA out of Farragut, he says he would have chosen between North Carolina and Michigan, with South Carolina and Clemson not in the mix. Garnett's love for his home state, however, still runs deep.

"I know exactly where I'm from," Garnett, 31, said. "I've never claimed Chicago as a first home. It's definitely my second home among homes. But I'm from South Carolina, and I'll be a South Carolinian until I die. I rep the South with dignity and integrity."

Walter Ray Allen 3d is a son of an Air Force mechanic and was born in Merced, Calif., on an Air Force base July 20, 1975. He spent time growing up in England, Oklahoma, Southern California, and Germany. He also lived in Sumter, S.C., which had a population of 39,643 in the 2000 census and is nestled in the middle of the state.

Unlike where Garnett is from, Sumter wasn't known for producing basketball stars. But Allen led Hillcrest High School in nearby Dalzell to a state championship. Code recalls playing on an AAU team with Allen and a mix of South and North Carolina prep stars, including future NBA players Jerry Stackhouse and Jeff McInnis.

"I'd heard of his name before. South Carolina is one of those states where if there is a guy who is really good you heard his name," Code said. "He was thin as a rail, could really shoot it, and was really athletic. He was trying to make a name for himself and was from part of the state where you didn't get a lot of credibility or notoriety."

Allen said he was recruited by Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Alabama, Connecticut, and Kentucky and wasn't interested in South Carolina because it was on probation. He said he respects then-North Carolina coach Dean Smith "to the utmost" because he called to tell him he was a great player, but the Tar Heels were set at his position. Despite originally committing to Alabama, Allen left South Carolina after falling in love with UConn.

Allen's teenage daughter lives in Sumter with her mother and he still has friends and family in South Carolina, some of whom attended the Bobcats game. While Allen appreciates his time in the Palmetto State, he doesn't have the strong ties to it Garnett does.

"A lot of people ask me where I'm from all the time," Allen, 32, said. "But it's interesting because a lot of people in South Carolina declare me as one of their sons. I have no problem with that, but I have people in California that do the same thing and other states I lived in that feel the same."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080407/SPORTS/804070354

FREE THROWS: C's pull back, but not very far
April 07, 2008 6:00 AM
"Come see all the stars of the Boston Celtics as they begin preparing for the NBA playoffs. Leon Powe! Brian Scalabrine! Three-time All-NBA Defensive Second Teamer P.J. Brown! And making his much-anticipated return from the NBDL, Gabe Pruitt! To order your tickets, just go to Celtics.com or call 1-866-4-CELTIX."

That type of advertisement wouldn't do much to sell out the TD Banknorth Garden — not that they're having any trouble — but if you have tickets to either of the Celts' two remaining home games, don't be surprised if you see the "big names" in limited action.

"I'm going to absolutely start playing some different guys for a while," head coach Doc Rivers said last week, while also acknowledging as the postseason gets even closer, he thinks it's more important to "crank it back up.

"One thing I don't like is resting going into the playoffs."

Still, he took advantage of the five-day quirk in the schedule that put a game with the lowly Charlotte Bobcats between four days off. Paul Pierce was back in Boston on Saturday night, tending to his fiancee and newborn daughter, Prianna Lee. Both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were held out of the lineup to rest.

But while the rest is much appreciated, KG and his teammates share Doc's sentiments about cranking things up.

"I just don't believe that you get to the playoffs and you wake up in the morning and blink and all of a sudden you turn it on," Garnett said. "I think you prepare yourself up until a point, and we have to do that. And we win these games and we try to keep a focus and a certain level of play, and we have to do that going into these last couple games and hopefully flow right into the playoffs with that same intensity, if not higher."

The win gave the Celtics the largest turnaround in NBA history, having improved by 37 wins (and counting) from last season. It was also their 22nd 20-point win of the season, with six straight wins by at least 14 points — the first time since 1986 they've won that many consecutive by such a margin. So Rivers had to make the tough decision to disrupt the flow of his team to get some key players some rest.

Of course, it helps when your bench features players like Powe, who has been averaging 14.2 points and 8.8 boards in 22.8 minutes for the past five games. He put up 22 points and nine rebounds starting in place of Garnett. James Posey, who also started, added a season-high 19. Backup guard Eddie House chipped in with 16.

While that trio won't exactly replace the 57-point average the Big Three brings each night, it was enough to help the Celtics secure the top seed in the East and home court throughout the playoffs.

"Nothing we do right now is what we're trying to do," Rivers said. "It's what we're trying to get to later. That's how we focus."

So while two out of the Big 3 might also sit for Tuesday's game in Milwaukee, Rivers said he expects to play the whole team the rest of the way.

In short, hold onto those tickets. You might just see some of the "big names" for a bit.

Tim Weisberg covers the NBA for The Standard-Times. Contact him at [e-mail]



HOT
DOUBLES FOR MELO

Denver's Carmelo Anthony is now the franchise record holder for games with double-digit points, passing Alex English's mark of 200 straight set from 1987-89.

PHILLY'S IN

Twelfth in the conference in late January, the 76ers clinched a playoff spot with a win Friday night. They've posted the fifth-best record (23-9) since Jan. 25, after opening 16-28.

REMODELING, ON THE COURT AND OFF

Now that Donnie Walsh has been hired to remake the embarrassment that is the New York Knicks, the owners of Madison Square Garden are planning a $500 million remodel of the 40-year-old facility, which hasn't been upgraded since the early '90s. That's roughly two seasons worth of an Isiah Thomas payroll.

NOT

MARION IN MIAMI

Acquired in early February, forward Shawn Marion has missed 11 of 12 games with back spasms, and now is expected to miss the rest of the season with a left foot injury. Is "The Matrix" legitimately hurt, or does he "” with the potential to opt out of his contract this summer "” just want away from the league-worst Heat?

THAT'S TERRI-BULL

According to the Boston Globe, Chicago mascot Bennie the Bull shot a T-shirt air gun in the direction of Kevin Garnett and James Posey during a time-out on Tuesday night. Word is, Lucky the Leprechaun is threatening to turn Bennie into ground beef.

BROWN BORED

Larry Brown gave away the secret that wasn't all that secret: He doesn't actually do much as a Sixers executive vice president. He's trying to get a pro or college coaching job again because, he says, he's "bored." If he goes, I'll gladly take his old, "boring" job.

[FLCeltsFan]

forum.connpost.com/celticscentral/2008/04/have_the_celtics_achieved_bala.html#comments

Have the Celtics Achieved Balance?
There was an article I wrote before I started writing for CelticsCentral for the Connecticut Post. It was at the very beginning of the season. September 12th, 2007, actually.


It was called Celtics: A Question of Balance. It was, by far, my most popular article (and most heavily read) on that site, though I'm not really sure why. I guess sports readers love statistical interpretations in their reading.


It dealt with the question that everyone was asking, "Would those three stars be enough?"


Here is the link


Here is a portion of it...


"This 2007-08 Celtics will have one of the league’s premier big men coupled with two of its top swingmen. All of them could score 20-25 points every single night, even under great duress.


The fact that Garnett, Allen, and Pierce are so equally good is exceptional in recent memory. Defending two great scorers is a difficult task. Guarding all three will be a huge challenge for opposing defenses.

I see these three averaging about 60-65 percent of the team’s points this year. If it’s five percent less than that, it means Doc has devised a good system to get other players in the flow. "


That question has been answered.


As it has turned out they are averaging 56.8 points of the team's 100.5 each game. That is .565% of the team's scoring. Hence, by my opinion, based on looking at where the team was at the time, Doc has done a great job of getting supportive scoring from the rest of the team. This is in comparison to the Celtics first Big Three and other top three scoring units as measured in the article


Rajon Rondo has managed the 10 points a game that I thought he must, and Perkins is close to the 8 points I thought he must average to help keep the dogs off the three stars.


House and Posey have also done as well as anyone could expect. I did have Posey going for a career year in scoring (14 points per), similar to his best year in Memphis. It hasn't happened obviously. But that's because it hasn't had to happen. Posey is defending the power forwards more this year than ever before in his career. He still scores when they need it, and his stats are tracking the last few years pretty closely


The surprise contributions, (or preseason unknowns) have come from Glen Davis and Leon Powe. Both bring positives to the court most every time they play. Both can score, rebound, and play defense, though they do all of those things very differently from each other.


In fact, Leon Powe is the golden boy at the moment. He just keeps getting it done every time he goes out there. He is looking more and more comfortable out there. If he keeps this up, he is the Ryan Gomes pick of his draft, and Danny has struck gold late in the 2nd round twice (Powe was the 49th pick obtained from Denver in a trade).


There are almost no disappointments with the entire roster this season. Pollard and Scalabrine qualify, but that is about it. That is really rare and a credit to Doc for working everyone in, in a productive way.


Going forward, his job will be to get Sam Cassell and PJ Brown woven into the fabric of what they are doing in the final 6 games. I think he will be able to, as they are both very experienced vets.


This team has been hard to defend and that is because the support players have stepped enough to cause great damage when Paul, Kevin and Ray are double teamed. It is also worth mentioning that 2/5ths of the starting 5 are the remaining 2 young holdovers from the massive trade exoduses and doing quite well, thank you.


The recent win by the team over the Bobcats without all three stars, speaks well of the entire team and the coaching staff.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2008/04/07/02/2704-72/index.xml

Return of the C's

Record-breaking Celtics team reminiscent of the banner years
NBA. Visions of Larry Bird waving a towel in his short-shorts at a smoky Boston Garden are being replaced by images of Kevin Garnett, whooping and hollering around the parquet with banner-years confidence.

That’s because Garnett, an MVP candidate, has led the Celtics to their first postseason appearance in three years. When the playoffs begin next week, the C’s will be a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1987-88 and fans can't help drawing parallels to those glory days.

"I'm just so excited for the chance to see the Celtics win," Caitlin Flannery, 25, who has been following the C's all her life. "The last time it happened, I was 3 years old."

They’ve also locked up the best record in the NBA, which the once-dominant franchise hasn’t accomplished since Bird ruled in 1985-86.

But the Celtics understand the championship legacy that was built by Red Auerbach, Bill Russell and Bird. And Garnett and captain Paul Pierce say this season will only be a success if they can hang a 17th banner from the Garden rafters.

“I’m just fortunate to be in this position,” said Pierce, whose Celtics have 61 victories, a league-record 37-win turnaround from last season. “Coming from a year ago, I’m thankful that we’ve got the players around that we can do that.

“It’s all fun. It’s good for the media guide. It’s good for the papers and the fans, but our focus is much narrower than that. We’re looking straight ahead with a common goal, and we’re going to focus on that.”