Making their points (Worcester Telegram)

["Alessandro Celtics-Fan" <alessan420@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Celtics' inexperience at point guard following the trade of
            Kenny Anderson for Vin Baker bothers radio analyst Cedric
            Maxwell more than it does television analyst Tom Heinsohn.
                 You can cook the best meal in the world, Maxwell said,
            but if it's in the kitchen and nobody brings it out, it goes 
for
            naught. That's what the point guard is able to do. I just look 
at
            this team as a question mark.
                 Now they've got a center, which is even tougher to get 
than a
            point guard, Heinsohn countered. Even in a running game, you
            don't need a quintessential Bob Cousy, (Nate) Archibald type of
            point guard. My teams ran and we didn't have a quintessential,
            ball-handling point guard. Everybody was a middle man on the
            break. Jo Jo White, John Havlicek, Don Chaney, Dave Cowens,
            everybody brought the ball up.
                 Heinsohn and Maxwell have won both ways. Heinsohn won
            six NBA championships playing alongside Cousy, then coached
            the Celtics to two more NBA titles without him. Maxwell won a
            title with Archibald and another with Dennis Johnson and Danny
            Ainge, neither of whom was a pure point guard.
                 We did it by committee, Maxwell explained, but remember
            that we had three or four guys who were going to be Hall of
            Famers and in the top 50 of all-time. This team is going to 
have to
            learn on the go.
                 You'd like to have great players at every position, but 
it's
            tough to do in this era, Heinsohn said.
                 Both analysts agreed that co-captains Antoine Walker and
            Paul Pierce handle the ball a lot, so they'll be able to take 
the
            pressure off of Boston's inexperienced
            point-guard-by-committee, Tony Delk, Shammond Williams and
            rookie J.R. Bremer.
                 I felt more comfortable with the team they had last 
year,
            Maxwell said, because I knew what to expect, but at the same
            time I can look at this team and see that there's a possibility 
of
            them being better than they were last year. On one hand I'm
            apprehensive, but on the other hand I'm very encouraged. I'm 
one
            of these toss-ups with this team. I'm not sure whether it's 
going to
            be heads or tails.
                 Heinsohn believes the Celtics' success hinges on coach Jim
            O'Brien working Baker into the mix.
                 Jimmy O'Brien did a great job last year, Heinsohn said. 
His
            challenge this year is the chemistry of the ballclub. He 
developed
            great chemistry last year and now he has new elements.
                 As anyone who has ever heard Heinsohn call a Celtics game
            knows, he wants the team to run. To him, it's the Celtics way.
                 There was no alternative for 25 years, he said. You ran 
or
            you left the area. It's an ally to winning games because you 
sap
            the stamina of the other team. The other coach makes mistakes
            because he doesn't want to pull guys out of the lineup. All of 
a
            sudden you can blow past teams. You don't necessarily have to
            have the greatest players to win. That's why all of us who 
played
            that way believe in that style of play.
                 Maxwell is entering his seventh year as radio analyst. 
Last
            season was his first trip to the playoffs as a broadcaster.
                 It's lot easier when you're winning, Maxwell said.
                 Maxwell, 46, has a unique style and over the years, 
listeners
            have adapted to him.
                 As a broadcaster, he said, I had to learn a lot of 
things. It's
            a tough position being the analyst because you only have a 
finite
            amount of time to develop an idea and get that idea across, to 
be
            funny and be informative. It took awhile to learn that. Now 
that
            I've learned that and I have my own little lingo, a lot of 
people
            have been able to connect with that.
                 Somebody else might say it's X, Y, Z. I might want to go 
A,
            Z, N. I want to do exactly the opposite just to have fun.
                 Maxwell and Heinsohn are both analysts, but they look at 
the
            same game in different ways.
                 I see the game sometimes the way my kids see the game,
            Maxwell said. They see the game with all the shake, glamour 
and
            roll. Tommy sees the basic game, the way it is. It's a 
different way
            of looking at it, but to a degree we both want the same thing, 
just
            a good broadcast for our fans to enjoy.
                 Heinsohn, 68, is entering his 22nd year on Celtics 
broadcasts
            alongside Mike Gorman, the longest active tenure of any duo on
            television. Heinsohn, 68, said he has no idea how much longer
            he'll keep announcing. He's not even the team's oldest
            broadcaster. Cousy, 74, will work 10 TV games again this
            season.
                 Because of a bad back, Heinsohn had to be wheeled to
            courtside for his final Celtics playoff game against New Jersey 
last
            season. Physical therapy enabled him to avoid surgery and the
            back is fine now.





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