Re: Don't get the detractors

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Perhaps so,  but that's not what Dan said.

He said, "They regularly dumped on the Bird era slomo basketball yet we 
won't 3 titles from a superior athletic team."
To me, that means that Dan is stating that THIS CURRENT CELTICS ROSTER is 
athletically superior to the Bird-era teams.

And that, I say, is wrong.

At 04:31 PM 2/22/2004, Josh Ozersky wrote:

>Snoopy,
>
>I think what people mean when say that "athletically superior"
>is not that they are better players, but just have greater physical
>tools.  "athleticism" in this sense basically is an umbrella term
>for vertical leap, quickness, and so on.  Think of Jerome Moiso,
>and some of the freak specimens recently imported to the NBA
>from exotic lands.  That's all it means.    The bird teams had two
>great athletes in DJ and Ainge, and of course all three frontcourt
>players had great physical gifts (Bird's hand quickness, Parish's
>footspeed, McHale's ridiculous arms) but were generally klutzy
>and cumbersome in comparison with the league's sleekest specimens.
>
>Josh
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Snoopy the Celtics Beagle" <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: <celtics@xxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2004 4:12 PM
>Subject: Re: Don't get the detractors
>
>
> > Wait a minute, there.  I can't be reading that one right.  Did you just
> > state that the current roster of Celtics players are athletically superior
> > to the "Bird era" teams???
> >
> > Because if you did, I have point out that I believe you are wrong.
> >
> > Let's look at some of the players of the "Bird Era", 1979-80 to 1991-92,
> > focusing on the most recognizable names.  I went to www.celticstats.com
>for
> > the list.
> >
> > Danny Ainge, Nate Archibald, Dee Brown, Larry Bird, Quinn Buckner, ML
>Carr,
> > Don Chaney, Dave Cowens, Chris Ford, Kevin Gamble, Gerald Henderson,
>Dennis
> > Johnson, Reggie Lewis, Pete Maravich, Cedric Maxwell, Kevin McHale, Robert
> > Parish, Rick Robey, Brian Shaw, Jerry Sichting, and Bill Walton.
> >
> > Now, let's look at the roster as it is today:
> >
> > Chucky Atkins, Vin Baker, Marcus Banks, Mark Blount, Ricky Davis, Brandon
> > Hunter, Lindsey Hunter, Jumaine Jones, Raef LaFrentz, Walter McCarty,
>Chris
> > Mihm, Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce, Michael Stewart, and Jiri Welsch.
> >
> > Of that group, Raef is out for the season, Atkins couldn't even report to
> > play because of a biopsy performed in the wake of his physical, Lindsey
> > Hunter was put on waivers before the ink dried on the trade
> > agreement,  Baker's situation is up in the air until the arbitration is
> > complete.
> >
> > Of those who ARE playing, Banks, Brandon Hunter, and Perkins are all
> > rookies.  Welsh has one year to his name.  Chris Mihm can't go more than a
> > few minutes without collecting fouls like trading cards, Blount drops any
> > pass sent to him faster than 5 mph, Walter's been relegated to three point
> > shooting so long he's nearly forgotten how to do anything else,  and no
>one
> > seems to know what they're doing as a team.
> >
> > So, I think we've resolved the relative athletic abilities of these
>groups.
> >
> > as to the "Bird era slomo teams" concept, try asking Pat Riley how many
> > grey hairs he got when the three slowest guys in NBA history--Larry Bird,
> > Robert Parish, and Bill Walton--were running the fast break against the
> > Lakers and winning!!
> >
> > Those teams racked up three consecutive seasons of 60+ wins in the regular
> > season.  That means in three consecutive years, the won over 180
> > games.  This team won 129 games in the three seasons prior to this one,
> > That's an average of 43 wins each season.  Don't gripe about the lockout
> > year, because they were losing so badly(35-47), their percentages would
> > likely have dropped if it had gone the full 82 games.  RIGHT NOW, they're
> > 23-34.
> >
> > I like our current team, and want very much for them to find a way to
> > win.  But there is no way on this earth or any other--unless there's an
> > earth out there where the Celtics roster comprises the membership of the
> > Justice League--that this group can in any compare with that one.  Only
> > Paul Pierce can make any reasonable claim to being in that mix, and his
> > recent play has diminished him considerably in that regard.
> >
> > It just isn't so.
> >
> > At 02:49 PM 2/22/2004, Dan Forant wrote:
> >
> > >The detractors have made it political like and just don't like Ainge
>because
> > >he shipped out Toine's uncoachable butt.. I'm convinced even if in a year
>2
> > >or 3 we win the Conference they will be naysayers because of the Toine
> > >trade. The Boston Press is true to form. They regularly dumped on the
>Bird
> > >era slomo basketball yet we won't 3 titles from a superior athletic team.
> > >
> > >DanF
> >
> > Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
> > Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website