McHale Clotheslines the NBA

Originally Published by Lex January 2008

At 29-3, it's time to give thanks where thanks are due. Others can say Danny hoodwinked his old friend Kevin McHale. But by now members of the Celtics family know better.

McHale gave us Kevin Garnett.

Al Jefferson is a nice player. He puts up some good numbers. But he barely plays a lick of defense. He is not a leader. There is not a prayer this team would even have 20 wins at this point, much less 29, if Jefferson were on this roster instead of Garnett. I'm not even sure we'd be over .500.

Throw in Theo Ratliff's expiring $11m contract, and the deal gets a little sweeter. The bottom line remains that we got Kevin Garnett for a bunch of junk.

McHale got along famously with KG. He took him under his wing. He was responsible for transforming his line-drive jumper to the thing of beauty it is today. McHale tried to surround Garnett with championship talent for 12 years. It didn't work out.

Plan B?

Send him to McHale's other team. The team McHale played 13 years for, and won three championships. The team that retired his number in the city that still adores him and which he still adores.

If the Timberwolves weren't going to win a championship with McHale, well, then, the Celtics were.

We already retired McHale's jersey once. But, you know, we retired Russell's jersey twice. If we win the title this year, maybe the Celtics should re-retire McHale's jersey, only this time at the bottom of the McHale banner would be found the numbers 44 and 5, for Ainge and the Ticket.

Number 5 is also the number worn by Bill Walton in the Celtics last championship season.

He deserves an invitation to the championship parade, too.

KG Deal Better than Parish/McHale, DJ, or Walton Trades

Originally Published by Lex on 1/6/2011

I would hold off on making this assessment until #17 is hoisted to the rafters.

But our old friend Peter May is suggesting that is the case even before we know what happens in June.

Flip Recalls First KG Encounter

Flip Saunders got nostalgic this week, reminiscing about his time with Boston forward Kevin Garnett, whom he coached while with the Timberwolves.

He told a funny story about how Garnett ended up with Minnesota in 1995. When the Timberwolves went to scout him as a high school senior, Saunders and other front-office executives agreed that they would come out telling everyone they wanted him.

They hoped that by hyping Garnett, a team in front of them in the draft order would pick him, allowing Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Joe Smith or Jerry Stackhouse to fall to Minnesota at No. 5.

"So we went and we watched him work out," Saunders said, "and about five minutes in, I turned to (vice president Kevin) McHale and said, 'We better hope he's still there at No. 5.' "

Saunders also recalled the first time he started Garnett -- in Boston, coincidentally.

"And he was playing a lot," Saunders said. "When I took him out at the end and he walked by me, he said, 'Coach, thanks for playing me so much.' He was just 19 at the time. Things have kind of changed."

Now Garnett is a perennial all-star, a most valuable player candidate and a likely hall of famer.

"He's going to go down as one of the greatest power forwards of all time," Saunders said. "I said it eight years ago when he was 24, he would go down as the most versatile player to ever play the game.

"No one is as versatile as him when you look at a guy who can score, rebound, can defend all five positions, is a great passer, his unselfishness and his passion to play. He's a special player. Fortunately for me, I was lucky to coach him for nine years."

1986 C's Fight Over History

The 1985-86 Boston Celtics were something special.

There's no disagreement about that.

But as memories fade over time, the 72-10 record of the 1995-95 Chicago Bulls tends to stand out when the debate turns to all-time great NBA teams.

Make no mistake, members of the 1985-86 Boston Celtics are intimately aware of the need to continue fighting for their place at the table.

First, Danny Ainge was asked about the 1985-86 Celtics home court advantage. "You guys were 40-1," the interviewer posited. "Actually," Danny said, "we were 50-1, if you include the playoffs." "Yeah, and I guess you'd have to include the playoffs since they are the most important part of the season," the interviewer conceded.

The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls lost two games at home.

Next, Larry Bird was asked about the new Big Three. He responded by saying that the phrase "Big Three" as applied to the 1985-86 Boston Celtics was a kind of backhanded slap in the face to Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, Bill Walton, Scott Wedman, Jerry Sichting, and Rick Carlisle.

Dennis Johnson was selected to the all-defensive team nine times. He won the finals MVP once, and was largely responsible for holding Magic Johnson in check during the 1984 finals. He was also considered "money" in the fourth quarter of big games.

Bill Walton was a former league MVP, and won Sixth Man of the Year in 1985-86, leading the entire league in rebounds per minute. Scott Wedman had been an NBA All Star, and filled in for Kevin McHale when he missed 14 games with an injury. During that stretch, the Celtics went on a long win streak that included two wins over the Lakers. All Jerry Sichting did was shoot .570 from the field and .920 from the stripe in substituting for DJ and Ainge at both guard spots.

After the Chicago Bulls Big Three of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman, the rest of the starting lineup was comprised of Luc Longley and Ron Harper. Neither of those two would be confused with an NBA Finals MVP or 9-time All-Defense member. Toni Kukoc did win Sixth Man of the Year, and Steve Kerr was probably about as good as Sichting. But to even mention Bill Wennington in the same breath as Bill Walton, who absolutely owned Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in both games against the Lakers, is ridiculous to say the least.

Speaking of Mountain Man, Bill Walton was the latest to weigh in on the 1985-86 Celtics. In an interview with Bill Simmons, Walton was asked to comment on the two games he dominated Kareem that year. "Oh come on, Simmons," Walton protested in feigned disbelief, "you must be smoking some good stuff because I never dominated Kareem." Walton always defers to his UCLA predecessor when anyone hints that he outplayed him in head-to-head matchups.

Next Simmons asked Walton if he thought the Cs would have even won the title that year without him. Again, Walton feigned disgust with the interviewer.

But Walton's tone changed when the subject came to how the team as a whole stacks up against the all-time great teams in NBA history.

"Now in your single home loss to Portland that year," Simmons interjected, "the Trailblazers gave you some matchup problems."

I thought Walton was going to come through my headphones at work.

"Match-up problems? What matchup problems? This is the 1986 Boston Celtics we're talking about here. There were no matchup problems for us that year!"

Walton went on to explain how out of the team's 15 losses that year, 14 came to teams with losing records (by which he actually meant losing records at the end of the season). The only serious foe the Celtics faced that year, Walton continued, was themselves. The team's own inability to stay focused, he said, probably cost them a shot some improbably high won-loss record.

Keep on a fightin', guys.

The battle in the trenches may be over, but the battle over history is just beginning.

Clutch Effort by DJ Leads C's to Win

Clutch Effort by DJ Leads C's to Win

1985-86

MILWAUKEE Naturally, it was Dennis Johnson. With a tough game on the line, he is the one the Celtics like to see with the ball in his hands.

It was a familiar story last night in a 112-109 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks here. Kevin McHale led the Celtics in scoring with 29 points. But that seemed secondary when compared to clutch three-point effort by DJ with 1:37 left, accomplished with a crowd of 11,052 and Milwaukee's Paul Pressey screaming at him.

His 19-foot fadeway jumper from the right side wiped out a 107-104 Milwaukee lead. Johnson was fouled on the play and sank a free throw to create a tie. From there, the Celtics found it almost easy to overcome a 108-107 lead provided by a Ricky Pierce free throw 11 seconds later.

McHale put Boston ahead to stay with a jump hook, 109-108. Then Boston's defense forced a 24-second violation and Johnson finished the Bucks off with a driving layup with 26 seconds left to hand Milwaukee its first home-court loss of the season.

In fact, it was the first loss for the Central Division leaders in 24 straight games here. Johnson, who added a free throw with four seconds left, hit seven of 10 shots and finished with 16 points as the Celtics won their eighth straight.

"Seems to me he's done that to Milwaukee before," said the Celtics' Scott Wedman. "I can remember a couple of clutch shots against them with a hand right in his face. He likes that situation."

Johnson, who was playing most of the fourth quarter with five fouls, said he took the shot because it was there, and it was no time to be timid.

"The shot came off a busted play that we were running," said Johnson. "We went down to Larry (Bird) and he got tangled. The ball jolted loose. He pushed it out to me and I got free on it. The jumper was there.

"I will take it if it's there. I've missed a lot in my career but I know I will make some. Besides, I wasn't really shooting that badly."

Johnson said the 24-second violation on the next sequence was just as important.

"That was probably the best defense we played all night," he said. "What I think happened was they were behind and the crowd was making so much noise that nobody paid attention to the clock. People were out there saying 'shoot the ball, shoot the ball.' But by the time they did, time had expired."

This was one of those NBA games that isn't decided until the final two minutes. But if you waited that long to show up, you missed a classic duel of division leaders. Boston hadn't won here in two years, and the Bucks (15-7) seemingly have their best team since the Bob Lanier era. If it wasn't Pressey (28 points) giving the Celtics fits, it was Terry Cummings (25) or Sidney Moncrief (22).

The Celtics had their problems. Robert Parish (1 for 7) disappeared on offense and had but three rebounds. But it hardly seemed that way early as Boston once led by 15 points, 50-35.

But that was before the Bucks went on a 23-10 run to close the second period and cut the Boston lead to 60-58. Cummings had 18 of his 25 points in the first half. Celtics coach K.C. Jones, his roster reduced to 10 players again, went to his bench late in the third period, and what had been a 79-73 lead was turned into an 85-84 deficit.

With the lead gone, Boston went back to basics. Bird and McHale returned, and the inside game began to work. A clutch basket by Rick Carlisle and two free throws by Bird got Boston an 88-84 lead. McHale hit two straight and Boston led, 92-89. Milwaukee came right back to tie the game at 94 on a three- point play by Pierce with 6:54 to play.

Milwaukee took the lead at 96-94 on a fast-break hoop by Sidney Moncrief. But McHale hit a jump hook and Bird finished off the Celtic gold rush with a 14-footer and Boston led with 5:03 left, 98-96.

Milwaukee fell behind, 102-99, and then rallied for a 105-102 lead with 2:27 left, with Pressey and Moncrief leading the way. But they couldn't hold Boston down.

"One thing about Dennis," said Jones. "He's always been a player that plays bigger than 6-4. He always comes up with the big play. We've come to expect it.

"You need luck to win a game like this and we got some. Course, there was the 24-second violation. Sometimes, you have to make your own luck.

Exactly what kind of Mormon is Danny?

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.

1986 REUNION IN 2007

7/15/07

1986 REUNION IN 2007

Nice to see former Celtic Scott Wedman at the summer league. The new coach of the CBA's Great Falls Explorers was on the lookout for players who may fall his way. ``Know Your Body'' Scotty said that, of his former teammates, he keeps in touch with Bill Walton the most.

``Then a couple of days ago a bunch of us were sitting down. It was Rick Carlisle, Kevin (McHale) and Danny (Ainge) and myself - and we were watching Jerry (Sichting) coach,'' Wedman said. ``We had five players there. We could have suited up . . . and walked up and down the court. Maybe.''

Wedman has been doing clinics for more than 15 years, working with young players in AAU programs and the like. This is his second season coaching in the minors, and he seems to enjoy the situation.

The NBA Finals Ain't What they Used to Be

6/23/94

The NBA Finals Ain't What they Used to Be

Exhibit A: the 1985 Celtics-Lakers series.

Remember Game 1, the Memorial Day Massacre? Boston 148, LA 114? Recall that Scott Wedman shot 11 for 11?

Scott Wedman was not Boston's sixth man. That was Bill Walton. Scott Wedman was not Boston's seventh man. That was Jerry Sichting. Scott Wedman was Boston's eighth man.

When Scott Wedman stroked the first of those 11 baskets in that game, the score was Boston 52, LA 29. Here was a man capable of making 11 consecutive outside shots in an NBA Finals game, and he couldn't get into the game for the first 15 minutes.

Let me ask you something: You see any Scott Wedmans on either of these teams? Me neither.