Grousbeck: Celtics were being Belichickian about KG's Knee

No, their most recent ploy - the management of Kevin Garnett's knee injury - apparently was taken straight from the playbook of Bill Belichick.

The Patriots, known for shielding injury information with the paranoid fervor of a police state, apparently influenced how the Celtics guarded the particulars about Garnett, his gimpy knee and availability during the playoffs.

``We were being Belichickian,'' Celtics managing partner Wyc Grousbeck said of the infamously covert Pats coach. ``We had a great example to follow with the New England Patriots, and we were following their World Championship lead.''

Grousbeck said last week that a heavy dose of gamesmanship went into the trickle of information - or misinformation - regarding Garnett. It might have paid a small playoff dividend to leave opponents - and the media - wondering whether Garnett was coming back, even when the team apparently knew better.

Consider a conversation between Grousbeck and representatives from Orlando and Cleveland during an ownership meeting shortly after the Celtics' first-round elimination of Chicago.

Orlando president Bob Vander Weide asked Grousbeck if Garnett would be available for the conference semifinals between their teams, and the Celtics co-owner left the door of possibility wide open, even if the chances virtually were nil.

``That way they didn't know what to expect,'' he said.

The truth, according to Grousbeck, is the team's medical staff knew exactly what it would find during the operation on Garnett's knee last week.

Though Danny Ainge, the executive director of basketball operations, said last week that surgeons ``did not have to touch'' the tendon during arthroscopic surgery, the inflamed muscle indeed was caused by the bone spur, according to Grousbeck.

Though everyone from Ainge to Doc Rivers intimated during the playoffs that the two knee issues may not be related - that the inflamed tendon somehow was independent of the bone spur - the Celtics managing partner said everyone knew the truth.

``There was no mystery about the problem,'' he said. ``The only mystery was how (Garnett) was going to be able to do something on it. We just didn't feel like sharing that with the media at the time.

``It was just a matter of declining to comment on it. I mean, he did come back to play four (regular-season) games, and I believe that he might have tried to play against Cleveland if we had made it that far.

``But this all threw our opponents into some confusion about what was happening.''

As Vander Weide now knows, his Magic weren't exactly undone by the misinformation, or misdirection, or whatever the Celtics choose to call it.

``But we were able to more or less keep this in the locker room,'' said Grousbeck who, even at this, admits a Garnett return wasn't out of the question.

``KG was still around at shootarounds, and he was still working out,'' he said. ``But regardless of how it looked, Doc and Danny were still out there saying we didn't expect Kevin to play.

``And remember, nobody wanted to play more than Kevin did.''

Good business

The Celtics won the award for several reasons, most recently including a league-leading percentage (high 90s) of season ticket renewals. Those fans obviously expect to see Garnett a lot more next season than last.

Grousbeck also said the stated intentions of Ainge and Rivers to sign a veteran free agent or two this summer are not hollow.

The checkbook, he said, will be open for the right player, regardless of luxury tax ramifications.

``We're planning to look for ways to improve our team,'' Grousbeck said. ``We're willing to invest in the right way. If it's the right situation and the right player, then we'll do it.

``I think we all have someone in mind right now,'' he said of some of the names that are about to become free agents. ``We're willing to consider all sorts of ways if it means winning Banner 18.''

The willingness to spend is, of course, most important with the season ticket-holders. The award committee took other factors into account, like community work and sponsorships in addition to ticket sales.

Another factor?

``Our TV ratings tripled locally for Comcast,'' Grousbeck said. ``The pleasing thing about this was that all of the teams that were in that final group - like Cleveland and the Blackhawks - are teams that are really on the upswing.

``And that's where we are. The product on the floor obviously makes the rest of this happen. But our sellout streak actually goes back to the end of the last year when we didn't play well.

``People wanted to watch that team because players like Rajon (Rondo) and Al Jefferson gave them something exciting to follow,'' Grousbeck said. ``I think it shows that we haven't forgotten how to treat people, and we'll keep doing that.''

Another Grousbeck impression might strike some as a bit of a stretch.

``I've almost got a feeling that people became even more connected to our team this year than during (the championship) because it was such a violent battle, and we had to survive,'' he said. ``I got so many e-mails from people saying what a great fight it was this year.

``Of course they loves the parade, but there was something there this year that I think forged an even greater bond.''