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Re: Walker/Bird



Ryan Lee wrote:
> 
>It's true that Bird had a better quality team than Walker did as a
>rookie but I remind you that the Celtics team that Bird inherited won
>only 29 games the year before his arrival (1978 I think).  It's not
>like he inherited a playoff team or anything.  It also shows the
>strength of the league back then (not this watered down crap we see
>today) if a team with ML Carr, Cedric Maxwell, and Tiny Archibald only
>won 29 games.
> 
>R

The 1978-79 season was the ultimate proof of Murphy's Law: "Everything
that can go wrong will go wrong."  The Celts had their worst season
because Havlicek had just retired, they had too many uncaring and
untalented players, and management was moronic.

Satch Sanders was fired as coach after a 2-12 start, and Dave Cowens (of
all people) was named player-coach.  JoJo White played with painful bone
spurs in his heels, yet Auerbach criticized his performance and JoJo
(how could Red question his heart?) was insulted.  The turmoil led to a
mid-season trade.  Headcase owner John Y. Brown then traded three No. 1
draft picks for Bob McAdoo, which made Red almost accept an offer to be
President of the Knicks!  Boston even signed Dennis Awtrey, a pathethic,
detestable stiff (McIlvaine talent, Laimbeer attitude).  It was a true
disaster of a season.

However, the Celts did add Chris Ford and Rick Robey through trades, got
rid of bums like Curtis Rowe, Earl Tatum, Billy Knight and Marvin
Barnes, and later traded McAdoo for the draft picks that would become
Parish and McHale.

So the nucleus of Cowens, Max, Tiny, Ford and Robey was in place when
Bird arrived for his rookie year, 1979-80.  ML was also signed that year
(he was not a member of the 29-win team) as a free agent from Detroit. 
A real coach, Bill Fitch, was hired; Gerald Henderson played his first
season as a Celtic; and Pete Maravich was added at mid-season to come
off the bench.  Bird was the key, but many elements played a part in the
turnaround.
-- 
Mike Dynon
North Kingstown, RI

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