Celtics Past: 1994

[D Parker <danp@town.ipswich.ma.us>]

Hi Everyone,

The original plan was to go back into the archives and determine if Greg
was truly insane or whether Josh had mumbled something so grossly
offensive the entire list should be chasing him with torches and
pitchforks and I just somehow missed it.  It was the first time I visited
the list archives and I quickly got completely side-tracked from my goal.

The list starts in early 1994.  The Celtics were finishing up a pretty
rotten year where they would miss the playoffs for the first time since
the 78-79 season.  It was the season after Reggie died.  Robert Parish's
last season.  No Larry Bird.  No Kevin McHale.

Fascinated, I downloaded the digests for the entire year and read every
one.

I think the Celtics were at a crossroads that year, and unfortunately they
took a wrong turn.  Dee Brown and Rick Fox were at the end of their
contracts, it was generally accepted the Chief would not be resigned and
as a result they would be able to sign a decent free agent with Parish's
salary slot.  Dino was looking like a bona fide All-Star and he was
relatively young (26 or 27).  Oh yes, they also had their lowest
(highest?) draft pick since 1986 -- number 9.

The Lakers were also in a rebuilding mode, and oddly enough would draft at
number 10 -- one spot behind the Celtics.

Well, you all know what happened, little of it good:

* Dee Brown was resigned to a huge contract.  His play continued to be
streaky, making him virtually untradeable.

* Rick Fox was resigned to much more reasonable money.  Play was
inconsistent.

* Dominique Wilkins was signed with Parish's slot.  To the savy fan, this
was clearly a sign the Celtics didn't intend to rebuild, but instead limp
along with a .500 record or so, make the playoffs (if lucky) and get
mediocre draft picks until the end of time.

* Ed Pinckney and some Russian dude was traded to Milwaukee for Blue
Edwards and Derek Strong.  Not a bad trade, really, but it didn't make
much difference for the C's.

* Greg Minor was signed.  A good move, until he showed the C's next to
nothing but was resigned to a large contract anyway.

* Eric Montross was drafted at number 9.  Ugh.  A classic case of drafting
by need rather than talent.  Eddie Jones went at 10, making it even
more painful.  Eric actually had a decent rookie season, but went nowhere
after that.  Nothing makes me believe in miracles more than M.L. unloading
this guy to Dallas in exchange for swapping draft order *and* a number one
pick.  Amazing.

* Dave Gavett was bumped up, M.L. took over as GM.

That summer really set the Celtics back about two years.  It wasn't until
95-96 that the C's basically took the hit and accepted that the only way
to get better was to dive into the lottery, and they came away with
Walker.  Then the 15-67 debacle, while painful to watch, helped put the
pieces in place (i.e. the #3 and #6 picks).

On a personal note, I tuned out from the Celtics around Reggie's final
year.  It was pretty clear the C's weren't going anywhere, I wasn't able
to watch many games while in college, and the Celtics were coming up with
awful draft picks like Jon Barry and Acie Earl.  It's pretty sad to think
about how little a sports fan can do to help their team and I just
couldn't bear to watch the Celtics plod through mediocrity like the
Sixers and Bullets year after year.

To help deflect criticism of being a "fair weather" fan, I tuned back in
during the 15-67 season.  I discovered this list and wound up watching
more games that season than I ever had before.  Sure, the Celtics sucked,
but they were on the right track again -- no more fooling around with a
.500 record and a first round dismissal in the playoffs.

--

Okay, back to the present.  Looking over the current Celtics roster, it's
all about chemistry now.  The talent is there -- they should be able to
compete with anyone in the league.  Will one ball be enough?  I look at
the team and just ache, hoping they'll come close to their potential.
When they're young it's easy for them to think they'll have forever to
compete for the title, win lots of games, play on a good team.  I wish
there was some way to explain how short a career in the NBA was, and how
they should cherish each moment.  In fifteen years, no one is going to
care how many millions of dollars Antoine Walker made, probably not even
Antoine Walker himself.  They will know how many championships he won.  I
sure hope he realizes that soon.

I've got my fingers crossed the team will come together and start to
display the swagger of the old Celtics.  Not "wiggling" after flashy
plays, but that air of confidence when you go out on the floor, knowing
you're going to beat the other team and there's nothing they can do about
it.  This team could be so much fun to watch (I agree completely with Joe
-- one 20 rebound night for Fortson and he owns the FleetCenter) but I
thought that about last year's team too, and look what happened.

Hang in there everyone -- pre-season's only about six weeks away!

Dan