Monday, October 5

Nice to return to a full computer screen and, most important of all, keys that fit my fingers (after several days with the BlackBerry).  For those who are interested, it was a great trip.  My daughter and her boyfriend were surprised (shocked in fact), but they insisted on spending about half their short time with me, and we had a blast!  Stayed out so late that the time change never became a problem.

Anyway, they reran that Celtics Training tv special so many times that I got to see most of it.  Very interesting; very encouraging, although I thought the scrimmages looked sort of helter skelter (I guess to be expected; I'm not sure when it was filmed).  The thing that most impressed me was their togetherness of purpose.


In contrast, I read the following squib by Mark Murphy in the Oct. 4 Boston Herald:
(Quote) 
An accomplished big man coach may be back on the market now that young Lakers center Andrew Bynum has apparently decided there’s not much else he needs to learn from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Hall of Famer told the Los Angeles Daily News last week that his young protege, who has made marked progress under his wing over the last two years, has apparently out-grown the partnership. “I think there are things that have to do with basketball that he could learn, but he’s getting on in years,” Abdul-Jabbar said. Replied Bynum: “As long as he is helping me everything is going to be fine.”
The rift appears to have been caused by Bynum’s decision to spend his summer traveling through Europe - and, in Jabbar’s view, at the expense of working on his game. He also stayed out of touch with Jabbar. “He’s got to figure it out,” said the former Laker great, who added that he is still there for Bynum. 
(End Quote)

So apparently a new era of self-proclaimed greatness has dawned in L.A., and we can now call Kareem "Mr. Irrelevant."  I wonder what would happen if Russ were hired to work with Perk.  Different story, I know, because of the valued presence of Clifford Ray.  But somehow I would envision a radically different scenario.  Just another testament to the transcendent greatness of the Celtics tradition that many people simply don't have a prayer of understanding.

***** 

Interesting that, at the same time, Doc was talking about the importance of recapturing the Celtics' spirit of Ubunto, which may have taken a hit last season.  I'm not certain he was pointing to any single player (I know people have been wondering about Rondo), but he clearly indicated that young guys, in particular, can have a tendency to go off in different directions when severe adversity hits.  (He mentioned contracts, so I assume that at least Baby was included as well).

So, when one gets right down to it, Doc may really have been talking (at least between the lines) about the importance of team leadership in difficult times.  I guess there are different types of leaders.  There is the "Get on my back boys" type—Pierce, Max, etc.  And there is the "It all flows from the team" type—KG, Russ, etc.  (I wanted to include Larry in one of these, but he may have been an exceptional combination of both.  Havlicek too.)

Moreover, notwithstanding all we hear about "locker room presence," leadership is probably a whole lot more effective when exerted by example on the floor than when wearing a suit in the locker room.  I expect that KG realized he was not cut out to be a sideline cheerleader, which is probably why he stayed in the locker room so often.  I doubt it mattered either way.  They really needed him driving them on the floor.

*****

Now that the preseason games are about to start on Wednesday, I assume today will be their last in Newport.  I'd be interested to hear people's impressions of what kind of camp it has been and what the implications may be for the season.

***** 

This site was initiated (in part) to facilitate a civil "post game" discussion of each game.  I have no desire to intrude on the Boston.com "game-on" thread and hope to participate myself (although that site just seems to become more and more contentious).  But, since a blog like this, by definition, has one "poster" and (hopefully) a lot of "commenters," here's how I suggest we do it.

Toward the end of each game, I'll start a post called "Reflections on Game of (DATE)."  That post will be an open opportunity for civil discussion of the game.  Just comment and comment and comment to your hearts' content.  If no comments are forthcoming after the game (and assuming I'm not slumped over a table in some bar), I'll chip in with some observations of my own.

And, if anyone has suggestions of related features we could consider on an ongoing basis, please let me know.  Voting for the game's MVP?  (There's no "polling" feature on this site, so it would have to be done via comments.)  Maybe a report card for the team on a number of dimensions of the game?  (If so, what dimensions would you suggest?  Something as simple as offense/rebounding/boards/coaching or something more in-depth to include more subtle things like chemistry, intensity, passing, ball-control, etc.?  My goal is for the blog to be a democratic venture, so that all can have inputs not only as to content but also as to format.  We can consider the "Reflections..." a work in progress over time.  SUGGESTIONS ARE ALWAYS MOST WELCOME ON ANY MATTER.

***** 

And, finally, I'm sorry about the no-edit limitation.  I can edit my posts, which are a different category from comments.  If you had the ability to delete your comments, you could just "cut" your comment, then delete it, then change it, then re-"paste" it.  But I gather that's not available to you.  There isn't even a spellcheck feature (apparently there used to be one).  So all I can suggest for the moment is (1) proof what you've written—a hassle, I know—or (2) exercise mutual patience and understanding when it comes to typos.  And, to Bob H., typing "not" for "now" is my most frequent error and causes me no end of embarrassment by often completely reversing what I'm trying to say.  So I feel your pain.

Best regards and GO CELTICS,

Sam