Re: All-Star game

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

It's true that it doesn't make much of a difference to us as fans whether
anyone from the Celtics makes the All-Star team because we care about the
team winning. But I think it does matter to the players. Yes, we hope that
they think team first and don't care about individual honors, but truly
it is something that they value and something that can motivate them. Pierce
was clearly motivated to get Rookie of the Year and it was something that
was positive for the team. Antoine was motivated to make the All-Star team
two years ago and that helped the team. Of course, gunning for individual
honors can certainly have a negative effect.

But it would certainly be good for the team if Pierce and Antoine continued
to play unselfishly and create team success, and are rewarded for it with
individual honors also. It would create some positive reinforcement for
this type of play. All-Star selection actually does encourage this to
a degree, because typically players on bad teams don't get selected by
the coaches regardless of gaudy stats. I think that All-Star status seems
to help with the refs too, which couldn't hurt =)

Alex

> Quite frankly, I don't give a heck if either of them make the All-Star team,
> or anyone else from our team.  Seems as if the biggest reason for our small
> dose of success thus far has been the overall unselfish attitude of each
> player.  That kind of attitude will win many ball games, but may not win
> many individual awards.
> 
> Cecil