Shaughnessy Rhapsodizes About The Celtics

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Believe it: Celtics are back 


By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff, Globe Columnist, 03/05/99 


There will be bumps in the parquet - like the narrow loss to the Nets on 
Monday and the hideous beating in Cleveland Tuesday - but the Celtics are 
New England's feel-good team of this spring season.

Truly.

The Green Team hasn't played a postseason game since 1995 (the Bruins, Red 
Sox, and Patriots all made the playoffs last year) and they are under .500 
as they prepare to play the Nuggets at home tonight. Still, the C's are the 
team that pleases. Maybe it's the 16 banners. Maybe it's Rick Pitino's suits.
Maybe it's just illogical hope.

Whatever the reason, there's a feeling around the Celtics today that is much 
like the karma that engulfed the upstart Patriots in 1994 - Bill Parcells's 
second year on the sidelines. That Patriots team won its last seven games to 
sneak into the NFL playoffs. They were beaten by Cleveland, but it felt like 
they were going to be important again. Two years later, they were in the 
Super Bowl.

Pitino is to the Celtics what Parcells was to the Patriots. In Rick We Trust.
Of course we have to tease him about ''lyin' and laughin''' (why do we write 
down anything the man says?) but there's a confidence and command about Pitino 
that makes the New England fandom believe.


The Celtics are young, hungry, and entertaining. They have the blocks necessary 
to improve. The NBA's new basic agreement will allow them to keep their best players. 
They have a good coach. They are going to get better. They are going to get back 
to the big games. And it is going to be fun to watch.

Consider the other three New England teams:

The Red Sox won 92 games last year, but lost Mo Vaughn, who was their blood and 
thunder. Like the rest of the American League, they are hopelessly behind the Yankees. 
Meanwhile, general manager Dan Duquette has sapped all color and controversy from the 
clubhouse. It is spring, but the Sox are not the hot topic around here.

The Patriots are dissolving in front of our eyes. A new player bails out every other 
day, the coach is embarrassingly powerless, the director of player personnel is in a 
draft slump, and the owner just wants to make money, move to Hartford, and fire 
anyone who still speaks to Parcells.

The Bruins continue to skate their wing and make us wonder when they'll next go deep 
into the playoffs. Even the Hockey Krishnas seem resigned to the fact that the B's 
are doomed to one-and-out playoff bids while the man in Buffalo puts more cash in 
his mattress.

The Celtics, meanwhile, are giving fans reason to believe. After five home games, 
attendance is running ahead of the last three seasons (an average of 17,747 compared 
with 15,767 last year after five home games). Not only that, but fans are getting to 
the game on time and staying until the end. In recent years, we've grown accustomed 
to the empty lower bowl at the start and finish of most Celtic games. (By the way, 
who decided to put loud yellow/orange seats near courtside in the new building? They 
exaggerate the no-shows and late arrivals.)

When the Celtics played the lowly Nets Monday the lower bowl was almost full at the 
start of the game. No one left early. It was a thrilling 48 minutes of basketball, 
not decided until Keith Van Horn's putback broke the Green at the buzzer.

Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, Paul Pierce, Kenny Anderson, and Tony Battie are lottery 
picks. With the possible exception of Anderson (who has suspect knees), all of these 
players should be around for the next championship run. In the meantime, there will 
be rough nights like the ones we saw Monday and Tuesday. And could Antoine burn his 
Dino Radja Defense Manual?

The Celtics have no legitimate big man, no offensive scheme, and no transition offense. 
But they've got the energy of the innocent.

''We know who we are and where we're going,'' says Pitino. ''We're painfully young. 
But the great part is, we're young and talented. There's a promise for tomorrow. 
This is a young talented team that keeps getting better and better, continues to play 
hard, and continues to grow.''

Boston sports fans are unusually patient when it comes to the Celtics, but it would 
be nice to see the C's in the playoffs this year.

''I'd say we're not ready yet,'' says Pitino. ''Would it shock me? Absolutely not. 
We could make it, but things don't come easy yet. But I look down the road and I see 
Antoine and Kenny and Paul and Ron. I think the future is really bright.''

New England sports fans, ever a cynical lot, seem to think the same way.


Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist

This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on 03/05/99. 
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.