Big Baby

At the seven minute mark of quarter two against the Cavs, ESPN showed a video of Big Baby running sideways up a grassy hill. His shirt is off. He looks lean, mean and ready to go, a younger version of Karl Malone. The next shot is live on court, with Big Baby wearing a Celtics uniform. This time he looks a relative of Oliver Miller.

Color me confused.

KG's Impact on Celtic-Laker Big Man Debate

The Lakers are a proud franchise. In moments of personal strength (and Laker demise), I will acknowledge that the Lakers have an impressive legacy. Part of that legacy is a history of dominant centers, starting with George Mikan and ending with Kwame Brown. Just kidding. Mikan, Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq are a pretty impressive quartet. In fact, it could easily be argued that each of those four were the best centers of their eras (arguable, not indisputable).

The Boston Celtics, of course, have their own storied legacy, one that includes a number of talented and dominant centers. Russell typically had the better of Wilt, and won more titles than Wilt and Mikan combined. Kareem won six titles over a period in which Cowens and Parish also won six (though Parish didn’t play a key role in winning his fourth title with the Bulls). And, of course, Shaq won more titles than Vin Baker and Mark Blount (NOTE: It doesn’t really change the math if we exclude the title Kareem won with the Bucks, the title Parish won with the Bulls, or the title Shaq won with the Heat.).

Speaking of math, if we alter the equation just a tad, by evaluating dominant Big Men instead of dominant centers, our perspective seems to change as well. Throw in Bird, McHale, and Walton for the Celtics, and the question becomes what do the Lakers have to offer up of similar stature? Bob McAdoo and Mychal Thompson aren’t Hall of Famers. In fact, I struggle to find any power forward in Laker history who has taken up permanent residence in Springfield, MA. Keep in mind, too, that I am omitting a number of power-forward candidates from the great Celtics teams of the 1960s (just to be charitable to our friends in the Purple, who are currently down on their luck).

The problem with trying to objectively compare Russell, Cowens, Parish, Bird, McHale, and Walton to Mikan, Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq is that Parish, Bird, McHale, and Walton are all from the same era. So any attempt to compare total championships won would be misleading because the titles won by four of the Celtics overlap. Nonetheless, all twelve players are among the 50 Greatest of All Time, and seven of them wore GREEN. Walton only played one full season with the Cs, while Wilt played several for the Ls, but won only one title. On and on, back and forth. You say thrust, I say parry.

Now we see why the internecine fight over Kevin Garnett was so bloody. We are at a tipping point in NBA history. The Celtics have 16 titles, the Lakers 14. Red and Phil are tied. The Lakers have a richer history of centers, the Celtics have a richer history of big men. Not much separates the two teams, and had the Ls landed Garnett, well, I can barely muster up the courage to contemplate the depths of my despair.

Let me put it another way. If the KG press conference represented the happiest moment of my Celtic fanhood since 1986, then the Kobe-forced trade of Shaquille O'Neal was a close second. Everyone in Celticland celebrated the trade. The nightmarish run was finally over. No more 24/7 Lakers. The networks would no longer combine to broadcast 75 regular season Laker games a year, and, even if they did, that would be ok, too, as we all enjoy watching a good Purple drubbing now and again.

After Danny landed the Big Fella, Magic Johnson admitted that the Lakers had been pursuing Garnett for as long as he could remember, convinced on at least two occasions they had finally nabbed him. Laker fans, of course, jumped the gun in announcing KG’s arrival in LaLa Land as early as Spring of 2006. These fans believed they were entitled to The Ticket as part of some divinely orchestrated plan by which every era’s best big man winds up wearing the Purple. In other words, it was from Orders on High that KG would carry the torch passed by Shaq.

Whether you believe that the Celtics won the KG sweepstakes because (1) the cards were stacked in their favor (http://lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2007/10/mountain-man-mchale-and-kg-trade.html); (2) Red intervened from the next world; or (3) Danny’s brilliance in stockpiling poker chips finally paid off, the end result is the same: the Boston Celtics landed one of the game’s premier big men, a player whom if he wins one title will earn a place at the table with the Pantheon of all-time great Celtic and Laker Bigs. If he wins more than one title, he will move the Celtic-Laker big man debate decidedly in Boston’s favor, not to mention adding some breathing room on the banner tally.

Kendrick Eyes Wilt's Record

Wilt Chamberlain took 586 shots for Los Angeles Lakers during the 1972-1973 regular season and made 426 of them for a field-goal percentage of .727. No. That isn’t a misprint. Chamberlain shot almost 73 percent over 82 games. Laker fans, fond of pointing out that many of the Celtics titles and records were set before the modern era of basketball began (no shot clock, narrower lanes, no three second penalty, and a dearth of big men), don’t have to worry about being “hoisted on their own petard,” as no serious NBA historian would describe professional basketball played after 1970 as anything but part of the modern era (skimpy gym shorts, aside).

Needless to say, Wilt’s efforts not only represent an NBA record, but a record of Lou Gehrig proportions. But like the Iron Horse's consecutive-game mark, Wilt’s record will be broken some day. Perhaps this year. Perhaps by a Celtic.

Kendrick Perkins shot an eye-opening 80% in the preseason. Sure, he missed three games. Sure, he only took 15 shots. But I view these as mere triflings. With KG, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo driving the lane and drawing Perk’s defenders away from the big man, the Beast could easily string together a series of 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4 games in the month of November. Throw in a couple misses per week, and the product of Ozen High could easily enter December shooting 70 for 75 from the field. This would give #43 a field goal percentage of 93%.

The 2007-2008 season could truly be an epic one for the GREEN, and not just for the Fab Three.

Celtic Championship Parade - - Walton Style!

Did Doc Blow the 2005 Series against Carlisle?

Everyone knows Doc Rivers’ perceived shortcomings. He’s inclined to make substitutions wholesale, as if he were coaching the Boston Bruins and not their professional basketball counterpart. He doesn’t do Xs and Os. He has only a faint familiarity with the fundamentals of defensive schemes. He doles out playing time on an inconsistent basis, thereby frustrating and confusing the roster from top to bottom. On rare nights where he finds himself firing on all cylinders, the other team usually ends up winning important games because it is coached by a Master in one or more of these areas.

The evidence most frequently cited against Doc comes from the first round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs where a badly hobbled and undermanned Pacer squad (Ron Artest was out for the series. Jamaal Tinsley missed games due to injury. Jermaine O’Neal couldn’t lift his arm above his shoulder) defeated a healthy Celtic team in 7 games, even though Doc’s team crushed the Pacers twice in the same series. The deciding 7th game was played in Beantown, and the loss was by 27 points, the biggest margin of defeat in Celtic playoff history. The feeling among Celtic faithful was that a Jim O’Brien coached team would have closed out Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle, and the depleted Indiana Pacers in less than 7 games, being that OB always got his players to overachieve.

For the last two years I’ve found this argument persuasive.

But I’m now giving it a second look.

A brief series recap.

Game 1

Celtics win at home 102-82. Doc goes with kiddies during crunch time, and is rewarded. Five Celtics reserves started the second quarter. Second-year point guard Marcus Banks and rookie forward Al Jefferson each scored 8 points as the Celtics outscored the Pacers, 23-4, in the first six minutes of the second quarter to take a 41-24 lead. Even when Indiana starters Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller re-entered the game 1:01 into the quarter, Celtics coach Doc Rivers stuck with his subs. Banks then stole the ball in the backcourt from Eddie Gill and scored a layup to spark a 10-1 spurt and force a Pacers timeout. Pierce was sitting at midcourt waiting to enter the game when Indiana called time out, but Rivers realized his reserves were playing so well and changed his mind about inserting Pierce. Rookie Delonte West hit a 3-pointer and Jefferson made a couple of baskets down low to push the lead to 41-24 before the starters came back midway through the quarter. The Celtics made 20 of their last 31 shots (64.5 percent) in the first half, an amazing turnaround considering they hit on just 1 of their first 13 and fell behind, 12-4.

Game 2

Celtics lose at home 82-79. Celtics score one field goal in last 8:23.
Austin Croshere, Scot Pollard, Jeff Foster and James Jones neutralize Al Jefferson.

Game 3

Pacers win at home 99-76. Miller goes for 33 on 10-16 shooting. Doc acknowledges that Carlisle’s adjustments from game 1 helped the Pacers win the last two games.

Game 4

Celtics win 110-79. Doc, countering Carlisle’s moves from last two games, goes small, starting Ricky Davis and Paul Pierce at the forwards, and benching Tony Allen in favor of Delonte West.

Game 5

Pacers win 90-85. The Celtics starters combine for 22 turnovers. Rivers sits Walker during crunch time because he wasn't moving the ball, and the other players were standing around watching Antoine dribble.

Game 6

Celtics win by 3 in overtime. Doc goes back to starting line-up from game 1, with Delonte replacing Allen at the 2-spot. Celtics pick up 4 technicals, including two on Pierce, earning him an ejection. Pierce shows up at post-game conference with bandage on his head, suggesting that the “mugging” he received justified his game-ejecting behavior.

Game 7

Pacers blow out Celtics in Boston. Cs pick up 6 technicals, including game ejections for Kendrick Perkins and Justin Reed. With the Pacers up 46-41 in the second, Pierce picks up another technical foul triggering Indiana run that essentially put the game out of reach. Herald calls all behavior of Celtics in series embarrassing, while Globe calls it humiliating.

Other than immature and stupid play, Doc explains the up and down series this way:

In the losses we took 67 percent of our shots with two passes or less, and of those shots we scored less than 40 percent of the time. In the wins, we typically made three passes or more before shooting, shooting over 50 percent when we did. The Pacers are a veteran team. They remained composed when it counted, and we self-destructed. We kept fouling, and they hit their free throws.

Unless you are of the opinion that Doc’s style of coaching permitted or encouraged the Celtics implosion, it is difficult to argue that Doc did something to cost the Celtics the series. In game one, Doc was perceptive enough to call Pierce back to the bench when the subs were dominating the Pacers. After Carlisle tweaked his strategy, Doc made adjustments of his own (going small) to win game 4, overcoming (or perhaps aided by) the absence of Antoine Walker whose behavior in game 3 resulted in him being suspended for game 4. By the time game 6 arrived, the implosion was under way. After getting ejected from a game earlier in the series, Pierce admitted that he should have controlled himself better, and, yet, in the heat of battle during game 7, he lost control again.

Is that a character flaw of the player, a coaching flaw of Doc’s, or just something that happens between players in the emotionally charged setting of the NBA playoffs? The Pacers had already suffered through several suspensions from their brawl with the Pistons. So it is probably fair to conclude that they bore some culpability in provoking Pierce. And, who knows, maybe Pierce, having been knifed to within a couple of inches of his life in an off-court incident a few years before, is more susceptible to such provocations.

Regardless of where you come down on this debate, at least some responsibility for the loss to Indiana seems to lie more with the Celtics' inexperience and immaturity than with anything else. Don’t forget, either, that Al Jefferson’s success early in the series proved difficult to duplicate once he started facing double-teams. In the end, I guess it is a judgment call, and, if forced to choose, I will blame the players before I blame Doc, at least until I see something more than Doc's failure to anticipate and control his player's on-court, heat-of-battle behavior as the reason to hang the series defeat on him.

Need I say More?

"A Total Disgrace to the Game of Basketball"

Revisiting the 1985-1986 Season: Installment One

The Boston Celtics opened the 1985-1986 regular season revealing the flaws that would cost them at least seven of their 15 losses that year. Suffering from boredom and a series of mental lapses in playing a grossly inferior opponent, the vaunted green looked like anything but world beaters, as they blew a 19-point third quarter lead on the way to 113-109 overtime drubbing at the hand of the lowly New Jersey Nets.

"It was exactly the way not to play basketball, and no one knows that better than me," said Bill Walton, who had seven turnovers in a rather inauspicious Green debut. Shouldering most of the blame, Walton said, "I played a terrible game. It was a total disgrace to my team and to the game of basketball."

Larry Bird shrugged off back problems, scoring 21 points to go with 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 8 steals, but he made only 5 of 15 shots, missed a bomb which could have won it in regulation and committed six turnovers. Robert Parish and Kevin McHale each made 8 of 10 shots, but McHale had only a Blountesque two rebounds in 38 minutes and both big men fouled out before the end of regulation. Jerry Sichting was 2 for 7 from the floor and missed an easy (for him) jumper which would have cut it to two in the final minute of overtime. Dennis Johnson also had a clunker of a game, or maybe that should be "clanker," as DJ missed 8 of 13 floor shots, committed six turnovers and clanged a pair of free throws which would have clinched the game in regulation.

Boston led, 99-97, with 10 seconds left in the fourth period when DJ was fouled by Mike O'Koren. An 85 percent free-throw shooter last year, DJ missed both. Eight seconds later, Micheal Ray Richardson (16 points, 7 steals) hit a 21-footer to send the game into extra innings. DJ's boulders came on the heels of two deadly turnovers by Walton in the final 1:12 of regulation. Walton's first big blunder was a traveling violation which gave Jersey (trailing by three) a chance to get back in the game. Seconds later, Walton let Buck Williams (23 points, 15 rebounds) steal a defensive rebound.

Mountain Man, McHale, and the KG Trade

It is hard to imagine that there are still doubters out there. But they remain. To be sure, Kevin McHale tells the public it was pure coincidence that The Big Ticket landed in Beantown, instead of, say, Los Angeles, playing for Phil Jackson, or in New York, working for Isaiah Thomas. McHale, of course, has a history of being brutally honest, when a little less candor might have been warranted. He didn’t earn a reputation as one of the league’s best interviews for nothing.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s recap.

Kevin McHale might be the greatest power forward ever to lace them up and run down a basketball court. Every type of defense was thrown at him, and McHale had an answer for them all. Laker fans like to think Mychal Thompson provided an antidote to the Black Hole. But, in fact, Thompson was just another victim of the Torture Chamber.

Lest your memory play tricks on you this Halloween, go back and watch video of the 1987 NBA Finals. It’s available on youtube. McHale was fabulous, as always, and close to unstoppable. The only things that stood in his way of scoring 30 every game on 12-12 shooting was the fact that (1) McHale was mortal; and (2) he was playing on a broken foot. Yes, that is right. Despite being just off his game by a fraction here and there, McHale played through the entire series with an injury that would leave him with a permanent limp.

Oh, and did I mention that the name on the front of his jersey for more than 10 years of his Hall of Fame career read “Celtics”? McHale’s #32 was retired by the hallowed GREEN and hoisted to the rafters with the rest of the Celtic dignitaries. As part of that heritage, McHale added new chapters to the Celtics-Lakers rivalry. Many contend it was never more heated than it was in the mid-1980s.

A few highlights.

In 1984 the Lakers looked poised to end their run of Finals futility against the Celtics, when a Kevin McHale clothesline helped turn the series around and send the Lakers to defeat again. A year later, when the Lakers finally won a playoff series against the Cs, the first words out of Pat Riley’s mouth were “Now they can’t mock us anymore.” No one had to ask who “they” were. Everyone knew. The year after that, Red Auerbach had assembled the greatest team in NBA history. The 1986 Celtics had one noteworthy flaw: mental lapses that resulted from boredom. Every fan of that team remembers the losses to New Jersey in the second game of the season and to New York on Christmas day. In both games the Celtics lost leads of more than 20 points. In the 1986 Finals, the Cs lost twice to a Houston team that would probably have been swept had the Celtics attention not been diverted by the Sampson-Sichting Heavyweight v. Cruiserweight bout.

One team the Celtics never lost focus against were the Lakers. The two teams played each other four times in the pre-season alone, getting into fights during three of the games. The Celtics played the Purple twice during the regular season that year. Going into the home game in January, the Purple somehow managed to own a better record than the Green. By the end of the game, however, there was no doubt who was the better team. The Celtics won 110-95, amassing a 25 point lead in the fourth quarter. A few weeks later the two teams played again in the Forum, this time sans McHale, and the Celtics repeated their demolition-ball act.

After the second game, both Magic Johnson and Kareem conceded that the Lakers were no match. What they didn’t say was that the season was over for the Purple after that game. The Lakers never recovered, putting in a halfhearted effort the rest of the season, an effort that ended in a 4-1 Western Conference Finals defeat at the hands of a team Vegas handicapped as a prohibitive underdog.

What happened?

No one ever said publicly. But there were all sorts of hints, rumors, and innuendos. The Lakers could not face humiliation in the Finals, and so they chose defeat in the WCFs rather than get swept by the GREEN. Unrealistic, you say? The Celtics were playing at the top of their game. Walton owned Kareem in the two regular season games, holding Kareem to 3-14 from the field. DJ neutralized Magic. The Lakers two biggest stars were rendered hapless. Would the Cs have suffered a mental lapse, perhaps? Not against the team they hated this much.

Which (finally!) brings me to the subject of this post.

When Tom Gugliotta was a healthy and productive member of the Timberwolves, Jerry West and the Lakers were offering everything and anything (other than Kobe and Shaq) to acquire him. After six weeks of trade talks, the Minnesota media asked McHale why he wouldn’t pull the trigger on a deal with the Ls. “Believe it or not,” McHale said, “my job is not to help the Lakers win more titles.”

What an interesting choice of words, Kevin. Any Celtic or Laker fan today knows that the Celtics have 16 NBA titles while the Lakers have 14. The Lakers have won 5 titles since the Celtics last won number 16 and three titles since McHale retired. In other words, the Lakers are getting a little too close for comfort. Under no circumstances would McHale trade Tom Gugliotta to the Lakers. I repeat Tom Gugliotta. Since when did he become the latest incarnation of Karl Malone? Regardless of what you think of Googs, no one has any doubts about the stature of The Ticket.

MVP in 2004 with a decent supporting cast, Garnett spent the last three years waiting for McHale to get him more help. Problem was the roster actually got worse, and Garnett and his immense talent were left languishing on a lottery team.

Enter Danny Ainge. Walton was McHale’s alter-ego, and make no mistake, the two had their own private celebration at mid-court after the last title was in the bag (see picture above). But it was Ainge who was and remains McHale’s best friend. Ainge had been working McHale for Garnett over the last two seasons. Garnett didn’t want to go to Boston in June? No problem, McHale told Ainge. Just go about your business and we’ll try again later. Ainge acquires Ray Allen on draft day, and, you know what? McHale and Ainge did resume talks. This time, KG saw the light and McHale and Ainge got the deal done.

Phil Jackson’s response?

“I guess we didn’t have the right pedigree.”

My response?

Wow. Now there's some brutal honesty. If the Timberwolves weren't going to win a championship with KG, then there was really only one place he was gonna go--McHale's Boston Celtics. In other words, the next best thing to happen in the World According to Kevin McHale was if the Wolves can't win a title, then we better see if we can do something to help McHale's other team win number 17 and create a little breathing room between the GREEN and the purple.

It wasn't long before GMs from around the league were echoing Phil Jackson's sentiments. McHale never said so. But what did you expect? He already lost 3 first rounders for suffering from loose lips in the awful Joe Smith deal.

So when the Celtics hoist up the next banner (and the banner after that), I don't expect McHale to be invited. But I sure hope Danny arranges for a closed-circuit viewing where Ainge, Bird, McHale, and KG (and Walton, the last great #5) can hold up their glasses to celebrate the achievement.

Exactly what kind of Mormon is Danny?

The 1985-1986 Celtics were renown for trash talk. One time late in the game on a West Coast trip with the score tied, KC Jones called a time-out to diagram the next play. As the time-out expired, Bird strolled past the Phoenix Suns bench to "his" spot in the corner beyond the arc, and told anyone who would listen, "DJ's gonna pass me the ball right here. In one motion, I'm gonna catch it and shoot it, and the next sound you'll hear will be the ball snapping through the net. The good news for your team is you have front row seats." After the time out, the play went down as Bird said and the Celtics walked home winners. As KC later said, "now that's arrogance."

But the trash talk wasn't always directed at opponents. Bill Walton was often the focal point. Bird liked to ride Walton about his radical political views, long-haired days from Portland, and, of course, his injuries. One of the 50 greatest players of all time, Walton could have been even greater had his body not failed him. Over the course of his career, Walton missed the equivalent of nine full seasons of basketball, and Bird never let him forget it. One night after Rick Carlisle played a crucial role in about 10 minutes off the bench against the Lakers, Bird told Carlisle in front of everyone else, "now, Rick, if you can do that in 10 more games, you will have contributed more in one season than Walton has during his entire career."

Ainge was thankful that the Celtics signed Walton during the summer of 1985. Prior to his arrival, Ainge bore the brunt of Bird and McHale's wit. Despite proclaiming to be a devout Mormon, all Ainge ever talked about was money and his golf scores. He bragged about both. Ainge tithed all his money to the Church, and every time he reported his golf score, it seemed to improve over the last time. McHale tired of this, and always had an antidote ready: He'd pull out a copy of the Mormon Holy Book, ask Ainge to place his hand on top, and repeat his score to the entire locker room. Ainge never played along.

The Celtics Need a Coach Like KC

Doc Rivers has won coach of the year once, and is the favorite of many pundits to win coach of the year this year. Yet he might be the most maligned coach in the NBA, and the most maligned Celtics coach since Rick Pitino.

So what gives?

Part of the problem has been his substitution patterns, which more closely resemble the sport of hockey than they do basketball. Another problem has been his crunch-time decisions in the fourth quarter of close games. They seem to make sense when he explains them, but they have rarely netted a win when it counted. Most observers feel he was outcoached by Rick Carlisle in the first round of the playoffs a few years back, when a healthy and deep Celtics team fell in 7 games to a badly hobbled Pacers team.

Which leads to the subject of this post.

While most Celtics fans respect the fact that Jim O'Brien got more out of his players than anyone expected, a growing throng of Celtics fans can be heard calling for the "good old days" of KC Jones. Now there was a coach. First year on the job in 1984, KC earns himself another ring. Surely, he was a Master Tactician, right?

Not so fast.

In his autobiography, Bill Walton recounts the following events:

Late in the fourth quarter of a close game in the 1985-1986 season, KC called a time-out to diagram the next play. Larry would inbound the pass to DJ, who would hit Danny cutting across the lane. Robert would set a pick for Danny, who would then either take the shot or hit Walton under the hoop. Larry took one look at the diagram and said "To hell with that. Just give me the ball and tell everyone to get out of my way." KC looked down at the play he had just spent the last two minutes drawing up and said, "Ok with me."

The KG Show

The Inaugural Triple Double

The Kevin Garnett court-length pass to a streaking Eddie House was the signature play from last night’s game (it was also reminiscent of baseball passes once thrown by the last great Celtics big man, but more about that later. Trust me, I will spend plenty of time reflecting on the 1985-1986 season and drawing parallels to the 2007-2008 season). Combined with his Triple Double in 33 minutes of play, KG is sending a message to the league and league observers:

If you liked what you saw in 2004, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

KG has Only One Move

The often-repeated notion that KG has only one-move—namely a fade away jumper—was once again proven false against the Cavaliers. The man has more moves than I can count. But let’s try anyway: 1) Spot-up jumper; 2) Fade-away jumper; 3) Turn-around, fade away jumper; 4) Straight-up drive and dunk; 5) Rick Barry head-fake, followed by a drive and dunk; 6) Baby hook left; 7) Baby hook right; 8) McHalesque up-and-under. And if you pay close enough attention, each of these has several variations. Now I am open to the idea that in the past he may have been reluctant to use more than one or two of these moves in crunch time. So for now, let's agree to say the jury is out on that subject.

Ray Ray

If Ray Allen stays healthy this year, he will absolutely demoralize opponents. On most nights, teams will need to double-team KG. When they do, and I mean as soon as they do, you can expect to see Ray Allen move to a vacant spot on the floor for at worst an open jumper and at best a wide-open jumper. Do I need to remind you whom we are talking about here? The jump shot of one Jesus Shuttlesworth is every bit as sweet as it was when he came into the league. And for those of a mind that he is over the hill, you may want to check your stats. His scoring numbers have gone up each of the last four years. They won’t go up again this year. But it won’t matter, cuz the ones he hits will be unforgettable, dagger-in-the-heart specials.

Best of the Rest

Other notable performances from last night's game included those offered by Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Big Baby Davis, James Posey and the aforementioned Eddie House. Rajon Rondo is more than effective at getting into the paint, losing his defender along the way, drawing a big man, and then dishing to his teammate left open by the big-man defender picking him up. If Rondo is the worst point guard in the East, there sure must be a lot of all-star caliber quarterbacks in that conference.

Like his nickname suggests, Perk is indeed a beast. But whodda thunk he would be such a beast on offense? If KG is the Celtics best passing big man since Bird and Walton, Perk might be the most unheralded passing big-man in Celtics history. His dish to KG from 5-10 feet beyond the arc was a jaw-dropper. His jump hooks over the 7-4 Ilgauskas left me salivating for more. Again, if Perk is the worst center in the East, then the East must be chock-full of all-star big men. Oh wait. The East doesn’t have any all-star centers, unless you count the 365 pounder from Miami.

James Posey drawing charge after charge reminded me of the skills once exhibited by this annoying guy who won defensive player of the year for the Pistons in the 1980s. Speaking of the Bad Boys, I have a question for you: Who heats up faster, Eddie House or Vinnie Johnson? If Big Baby Davis starts playing defense and grabbing glass like he scored the rock last night, he will be the first big man off the bench. It is also worth noting that if Scot Pollard gets healthy and Brian Scalabrine and Leon Powe provide consistent contributions off the bench, this group of interchangeable big men might slowly be recognized as a poor man’s version of the interchangeable big men who came off the bench for the Bad Boys and Jordan’s bulls.

Toine Talk

Finally, last night’s game probably put an end to Antoine Walker Talk, at least for a few weeks. Antoine still has some game left, but, for the most part, that game reveals itself on the offensive end. The Cs proved last night that they have no trouble putting the ball in the basket. On defense, Antoine has more difficulty, and for this reason, I don’t see him taking the last roster spot, at least while PJ Brown remains available.