Havlicek steals a few moments to offer his thoughts

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Havlicek steals a few moments to offer his thoughts


By Marvin Pave, Globe Staff, 5/2/2003

ohn Havlicek, who always gave it his all in a Celtics uniform, didn't hold
back again last night when asked about current Celtics star Paul Pierce -- and
about himself.



''He's probably the best one-on-one player the Celtics have ever had,'' said
Havlicek of Pierce prior to last night's Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers at
the FleetCenter. ''Me? I didn't want [to handle] the ball. I only wanted it
when I could catch it and shoot it or pass it. Everyone on the team could beat
me one on one. But when it came to finding open holes in the defense and being
able to use different people for screens and that type of thing, I found a
way. I knew as a defensive player at Ohio State that the toughest man to guard
was the one who was moving.''

Havlicek, who now resides in Florida, said the Celtic teams of the 1960s and
'70s weren't comprised of one-on-one-style players, but that doesn't mean they
didn't have players capable of doing what Pierce does so well. Havlicek, who
never played in a losing championship final series, said teammates like Sam
Jones, Charlie Scott, Jo Jo White, and Paul Westphal were effective one-on-one
players but that the flow of the game in that era rarely brought that out.

Nor was there a 3-point shot, which was fine with Havlicek.

''I liked the game the way we played it,'' he said. ''I think sometimes the
3-point shot gets in the way of basketball. There are too many of them taken
and consequently there's no middle game. You don't see the 12- and 15-footers.
When the 3-point shot first came in, it was very different because no one had
a design on what it was going to do to the game. Now I see teams go downcourt
four on one and they'll shoot a three. So, you live and die with it.

''They often said when I was playing that you lived and died with the jump
shot, and I don't think it's any different than today with the 3-pointer.''

Havlicek said he particularly enjoys watching Utah's style of pick-and-roll
basketball and Sacramento's give-and-go. ''Those are the teams that catch my
eye a little more,'' said Havlicek, who felt the 1974 Celtics championship was
especially meaningful because it was the team's first without Bill Russell.

And Havlicek revealed that before Game 7 of that series in Milwaukee, Celtics
coach Tom Heinsohn asked the high-scoring Havlicek to act as a decoy and take
the double team to free up other shooters. Havlicek was surprised at first,
but the plan worked to perfection as center Dave Cowens had a monster game and
made the difference as the Celtics took the title.

''Your goal is to make the playoffs,'' Havlicek said. ''After that, anything
can happen. We finished fourth one year and won it all.''

And the Celtics of today, he said, have the same opportunity as any other
other team in the postseason with Pierce in the forefront.

''Pierce handles the ball and you can't teach what he does because it's
instinctive,'' said Havlicek. ''I don't think he knows what he's going to do
half the time, but it ends up being something that frees him.

''He has the uncanny ability to do that.''

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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