re: Kenny on Kenny

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: "Jim Meninno" <jam@london.com>

> I don't know whether to be encouraged (Kenny's
> at least working out and has a good relationship with Dick Harter) or 
> dismayed
> (Basically nothing is ever Kenny's fault.  It's always the situation.)

I had a similar two-fold judgement about this story, Jim.  Kenny being 
Kenny isn't new (the third person references, as Joe points out, the 
paragraphs of words that really don't say much of anything, the apparent 
lack of taking any sort of responsibility for his performance, or lack 
thereof), but what's really important is how he will play on the court.  
There's nothing to suggest he'll be any different, but that isn't to say 
that he can't be, just that Kenny Anderson needs to realize that it isn't 
about trying to say the right thing, but putting together a respectable 
season.

Some excerpts:

> ''I don't want anybody to think I want to be treated special. I can adapt 
> to
> any situation, but I need a productive situation for me to do well and 
> for me
> to help the team. I don't want people to sign Kenny Anderson and not use 
> me to
> my advantage. Then, you want to know what's wrong with me? Nothing's wrong
> with me - it's the system you've got around me.''

My god, it's full of stars.  For Kenny, it appears to be all about the 
system.  That may be, but a realistic player realizes he isn't going to 
change the system, especially by complaining that he isn't being used as 
he ought to be.  Except for that brief stretch when he first joined the 
team, when has he shown he can be a productive Boston Celtic?  Same as 
Portland -- shows flashes of good play, then plateaus at a much lower 
performance level.


> ''That's what they say, but that's not bad energy,'' said Anderson. 
> ''People
> are going to make excuses when they expect people to play a certain way 
> and
> they're not doing it. So, they've got to look at the money issue. It was 
> never
> the money. I didn't even go through the motions because I was injured. I
> couldn't play. I ... did ... not ... go ... through ... the ... motions.

I'd like to believe him on this one, but from watching the games he played 
in last year, I'd say he just went through the motions -- just as he did 
in the waning games of his Blazer stint.

> According to O'Brien, the Celtics envision the veteran handling his 
> starting
> role competently this season, and their public stance is that they are 
> pleased
> to have Anderson in their employ, despite the fact that the team tried to 
> move
> him to Dallas before the February trading deadline.

Publicly, I'm sure Obie has to put the "aberration" tag on last year's 
Kenny, but imo, it _is_ a downward trend, and the aberration would be if 
Kenny bounces back without joining another team, which has been his modus 
operandi all along.

> ''My agent [David Falk] and I talk,'' said Anderson. ''He tells me, `You'
> ve
> got the same thing: People doubting you, whether you still want to play. 
> But
> nobody's doubting your play. They're doubting your head.' That's what so
> weird. But I understand that. I told my agent I was all right and he said,
> `The Celtics want you. They just want you to be into it.' I'm into it, but
> I've just got to know that I'm wanted.

No, I actually doubt his play, not his head, contrary to the Uberagent.  
 From a fan's point of view, it's foolish for a team to "want" an 
underperforming player, but that's what Kenny wants.

> After completing his senior season at Molloy, Anderson received an 
> autographed
> advance copy of ''Cousy on the Celtic Mystique.'' It was a gift from the 
> first
> New York high school player ever named All-City four straight years to the
> second prep player so honored. The inscription on the inside cover reads:
>  ''To
> Kenny, Good luck in your career, Bob Cousy.'' The book sits tucked away 
> in the
> Anderson home, awaiting a thorough reading.
>
> ''When I'm over playing, I'll read all of it,'' said Anderson. ''It should
> give me some knowledge. I should read it now, huh?''

Ya think. Kenny?  Man, this one had me flabbergasted.  Read the damn book,
  Kenny.  You sure had enough time last year to read the freaking thing.  I'
m not saying that every Celtic ought to read all these Celtic-related 
books (though that wouldn't be a bad idea), but when Bob Cousy gives you a 
book, and you allow it to languish on the shelf for over a decade, even 
after you're traded to the team it talks about, I think that's pretty damn 
sad.  Sad, and ultimately indicative, more than likely.  More's the pity, 
but I guess I shouldn't be as surprised as I am.

The basketball gods help us if KA gets major minutes next year.  If Kenny 
does well, no one will be happier than I will, but I'm having a hard time 
convincing myself that Kenny Anderson will break the cycle.

(The Celtic "Tird",
  Celticus "tirdius")