Blame Jordan!

[JB <jimmetz@xxxxxxx>]

    Michael Jordan, in his prime, was not only the most successful scorer in
the league, but his athleticism and one-on-one moves generated the most ESPN
highlight tape, by miles and miles.
    There were always the highlight reel guys: Chamberlain, Baylor, Dr.
J.,etc., but the difference with Jordan was that his teams won. In the past,
the Dominique Wilkins, George Gervins, of the league, were sucking Bill
Russell's, Magic Johnson's and Larry Bird's exhaust fumes. We even saw
championships go to the unselfish Knicks, the Walton Blazers, the Maurice
Lucas, Sonics and the Wes Unseld, Wizards, in the seventies.
    When Jordan started to rule, the emphasis shifted from the team game to
the exceptional athelete/scorer, as the fuel for the championship fire.
    In the sixties, seventies, or eighties, would Red Auerbach have drafted
Jerome Moiso and Kedrick Brown in back to back drafts, or would he have been
looking for someone who could actually play basketball?
    While I was stunned by the lack of success in the world games, I guess
it shouldn't have been such a shock. For a guy who always valued the savvy
of a player with lead feet, like Pepe Sanchez, I should have understood what
it meant to respect the game and play as a team.
    Paul Pierce should never have made the public pronouncement that N.J.
had no one to cover him. Not so much because it wasn't true; it was. Not so
much because it gave N.J. locker room bulletin board fodder; but because it
was irrelevant. Basketball is a team game and after Jordan, or Shaq, any
player can be stopped, with a good design and total commitment.
    I don't blame Paul for failing to recognize this facet of the game, it's
the prevailing mentality of the NBA, as he was raised in it. Just as he
bailed out a dead end franchise,  the Celtics, with his scoring and intense
play, he tried to do the same against the Euro players. It worked for a few
games, but then the other teams made adjustments.
    Mohammed Ali or John MacEnroe could make those statements and get away
with them, because they were all alone on their respective stages.
    Now it's time for the Celtics and Paul to take the next step. We have
added a post player and some high % shooters to take the pressure off Pierce
and Walker. 
    The C's have tasted success, they know the ecstatic thrill of victory
and the rank smell of defeat. They've seen how less talented teams in New
Jersey, Yugoslavia and Argentina have used the nuances of the game to exert
their will and cradle the trophies and medals that we thought had our names
on them. 
    Without Anderson, they have their work cut out for them to play offense,
as a team, but sooner or later they will learn. There was something about
how Anderson made such a big, public, deal, about his "sacrifices" that
stuck in my craw. His reversion to true point guard play should neither have
been such a sacrifice, not should have been his "pat me on the back" mantra.
Perhaps it was a good time for him to move on.
    
    

    
   JB 


                                                     Unchain My Heart!