The Burd...

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

I'm sure many of you have already read this Boston Globe article from 
yesterday, but it really put a smile on my face and seemed worth saving for 
a future re-read. Long live Larry Bird.

I wonder who the Bird would draft if he ran our team today?

Go Boston!

Joe


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http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/155/sports/View_from_Bird_s_eyes+.shtml

View from Bird's eyes
Even from a distance, game remains a classic
By Bob Ryan, Globe Staff, 6/4/2001

NAPLES, Fla. - ''Game 5, huh?'' says Larry Bird, settling into one of the 
10 cushioned, high-back chairs in his luxurious home theater, with the wall 
screen the size of a bedsheet.
Bird is aware of, but has not yet seen, the 1976 Boston-Phoenix triple 
overtime clash played 25 years ago today alleged to be the Greatest Game 
Ever Played. ''Game 5, to me, always was, the game, no matter what the 
series situation was.''
Bird actually had played with one participant of said game - Dave Cowens. 
He also had played, however briefly, against four members of the Celtics 
and five members of the Suns. The players whose games he was most 
personally familiar were the two Phoenix rookies, Alvan Adams, who lasted 
in the league until 1988; and guard Ricky Sobers, whose career went until 
1986, later playing for Indiana, Washington, Chicago, and Seattle. ''You 
know, we tried to get him once,'' he points out. ''I would have loved to 
play with him.''
The game starts and almost immediately Bird is leaning forward in his 
chair. He is like a dedicated archeologist encountering a long-lost 
treasure. Dave Cowens and Paul Silas are rebounding, pitching the ball out 
quickly and then running downcourt. A man, usually Jo Jo White, is 
dribbling the ball upcourt as players are fanning out on the wings. Cowens 
is timing his delayed entry, making himself available as a foul line jump 
shooter. So what is this strange formation? Could it be ... nah. Well, 
maybe. Good Lord, it is! It's a fast break.
''Great rebound, perfect outlet, the floor spread perfectly,'' Bird 
marvels. '' That's the way to run a fast break.''
The period progresses. The Celtics are relentless at both ends, playing 
their absolute best two-way basketball of the entire 1976 playoffs as their 
lead keeps mounting: 9-3, 20-5, 32-12. There is great defensive pressure 
and every time the ball changes hands all five Boston players immediately 
marshal their thoughts in concert toward one goal - trying to get a 
fast-break (it was before the term was upgraded to ''transition'') basket. 
And Bird is loving it. ''Here they come again!'' he howls. More than once.
He catches on immediately to the ultimate beauty of the old Auerbach- and 
Heinsohn-taught fast break, which was the exquisite use of the trailer, in 
this case Cowens, but for many years Don Nelson, as well. ''That's how a 
slow team should run a fast break,'' he declares.
Bird is enthralled by every aspect of the game. ''Look at how many guys are 
using the glass,'' he points out. ''You don't see that anymore, except for 
[Tim] Duncan.'' Watching Charlie Scott and even Jim Ard (a lefty hook 
swinging across the lane) bank home shots, Bird says, ''Oh my God. Isn't 
that great?''
The jump shooting catches his eye, as well. ''Just about everybody has 
great shooting form,'' he says.
But it's not just the fast breaking Bird likes. Watching Boston's 
spread-the-floor, 3-2 offense, a scheme Heinsohn had devised in 1970 to 
exploit Cowens's combination of quickness and jump-shooting capability, he 
oozes admiration. He is also appreciative of the Suns' half-court offense, 
which is built around Adams, a slender 6-foot-9-inch high-post center who 
could both pass exquisitely and shoot effectively.
There is nothing Bird is seeing on this tape in the present-day NBA. ''Look 
at that nice 3-2 offense Boston is running,'' he says. ''That's not calling 
plays; that's an offense. Pass and pick away. Guys are just out there 
playing basketball. If teams ran like that, and made cuts like that in the 
halfcourt, and moved the ball like that, they wouldn't be talking about 
zone defense. There is no way, with today's athletes, you could stop a team 
from running if they were taught to play this way.''
Settling in gets right into the game with a 23-7 run in the first eight 
minutes of the third quarter, tying the score at 68. ''The Celtics don't 
come out very strongly in the third quarter, do they?'' Bird observes. 
''They're all jammed up now. No spacing. And there's only a couple of guys 
running, but they all were running before.''
The fourth quarter opens with a camera pan of the Garden. ''That's a 
heckuva place to play a basketball game,'' Bird says. ''The best.''
Boston cannot expand on a 77-72 third-quarter lead against the stubborn 
Suns. But again Bird's attention is drawn to Silas, who doesn't rebound 
basketballs so much as rip them down. ''Is this a great game for Silas?'' 
he inquires. Told that, no, this is nothing but a typical Silas game, Bird 
shakes his head. ''He's better than I ever thought he was,'' Bird declares. 
''I had no clue.''
The plot thickens
The early pace has caught up with the Celtics, whose key players - Havlicek 
(playing with a bad foot), Silas, Cowens, White, etc. - are all mid- or 
late-career. ''Dave's getting a little fatigued,'' Bird says. ''But one of 
those timeouts should refresh him. In these games, that's all you need. 
There's still a lot of buzz in the building. And you can tell the 
difference when Johnny [Havlicek] isn't in there.''
The Celtics go up by 9 with a little more than three minutes left, but they 
cannot discourage the Suns. ''In a game like this, the pressure is on the 
home team,'' Bird explains. The Suns ride a Paul Westphal virtuoso blitz 
into a tie game by the end of regulation. ''How did this team only finish 
two games over .500?'' Bird wants to know.
Bird takes the Richie Powers non-call of Silas's requested timeout at the 
end of regulation calmly. ''I've been in a lot of them games,'' he says, as 
if we didn't know. ''They're not going to decide a game like that.''
The game moves into the second overtime. ''Phoenix still has a lot of 
movement,'' he says. And, inevitably ... ''Silas is the man!'' as the great 
Boston forward snatches rebound after rebound. When Cowens spins in and 
makes contact with Dennis Awtrey in the second overtime, Bird instantly 
yells ''Offense! That's an offensive foul!'' The opinion is seconded by 
referee Powers, and Cowens is gone with the Celtics leading by 1.
Bird cannot believe what he is seeing in the final 20 seconds of the second 
overtime. Down by 3, the Suns get a Dick Van Arsdale jumper, a great 
Westphal steal on the inbounds (''Same as my steal on Laimbeer. Look at 
John. He doesn't come to the ball.'') and a second-chance corner jumper of 
his own miss by Curtis Perry. ''Oh! Oh!'' he exclaims. ''You're [naughty 
word]-ing me! They're down 1?''
He stands up in disbelief when Havlicek banks home the go-ahead shot 
(''Only Havlicek could make that'') and he can't believe what he is seeing 
when the fans storm the court and one of them attacks Richie Powers. When 
he discovers what Westphal is doing as a result of his conversation with 
referee Powers, which is to get his team a technical while getting the ball 
at midcourt, he is dazzled. ''What a move!'' he exclaims. ''Westphal did 
that? Is that the greatest move in the history of the game?''
Bird is totally hooked now. Gar Heard makes his famous moon shot. ''I have 
seen that shot on TV before,'' Bird admits. ''And Nelson is playing good D, 
too.''
The game goes into the third OT. Silas fouls out, Glenn McDonald makes his 
two big hoops and when he sees Jo Jo sitting on the floor as McDonald sinks 
a pair of free throws to make it 126-120, Bird says, ''Yeah, you've got to 
be tired by now.''
Then Westphal makes his phenomenal 360 spinning bank shot. ''I've seen that 
one before, too,'' Bird says. McDonald hits the bottom of the rim while 
trying to guide in an Ard pass and Bird winces. ''You don't need a score,'' 
he moans. ''Get it back out.''
The game ends and Bird pronounces judgment. ''What a beautiful game,'' he 
declares. ''That great first quarter. All that running. The defense. People 
say the defense is any better today? Forget it. Did you see Cowens? We've 
got to get back to playing like that. I hear young guys today think these 
guys couldn't play? Hah. The only thing I'd say is that nobody seems to 
have much of a left hand. I also thought there'd be a few more picks set. 
But everybody has great shooting form. That's a great basketball game. A 
lot of guys made big plays.''
He'll leave the ''Greatest Ever'' evaluations to somebody else. ''That's 
just a great game,'' he concludes. ''Nobody left the Garden early that 
night, did they?''
This story ran on page 01 of the Boston Globe on 6/4/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.

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