Celtics Considering Personnel Moves Despite Obvious Chemistry

January 6, 1980

CELTICS SEEKING CHANGES? LET'S HOPE NOT

Before the Celtics' management makes any personnel moves this season, they had better be certain the new addition can make a substantial on-court difference. No Celtic team of the past decade has been any closer personally from top to bottom.

Though every player knows they all won't be back next year, they are highly conscious of finishing together this season. The idea that a professional team can enjoy each other as this one does is probably the most refreshing revelation I've had in a long time . . . Bill Fitch on turnovers and bench-playing time: "When you come off the bench, you should still have a feel for the game. Turnovers are probably the one thing that will sit you down quickly. I think our players are learning by the reward system. Don't throw the ball away and you'll get to play more." . . . Jeff Mullins, who was a very classy guard for the Warriors (he and Nate Thurmond had one of the great two-on-two acts of the '70s), now runs a Chevrolet dealership in North Carolina.

Just thinking about Earl Strom and his $2500 fine recently levied by Comr. Larry O'Brien, and wondering how many more incidents the higher-ups will tolerate before they tell Strom to stay home. Remember that he was withheld from the playoffs last year because of behavioral problems. What sense is there in employing a veteran ref if you don't even want him in the playoffs? . . . Fitch says he wouldn't mind going to war with a starting team of Bill Cartwright, Larry Bird, Calvin Natt, Sidney Moncrief and Magic Johnson, even if they are all rookies. "And that group would really play well together," Fitch points out . . . It has been a marvelously satisfying experience to observe the quiet professionalism of Don Chaney at work. The Duck has become a big contributor to the cause . . . We may live in Taxachusetts, but at least we have some dignity. A San Antonio newspaper is actually running a contest to name the mechanical Armadillo - Hell, yes, I'm sober - which runs all over the HemisFair court during time outs. First prize will be "two season tickets to all 1980-81 Spurs' home games, a deep-sea fishing trip (is the Armadillo invited?) and an overnight stay following the trip in a plush Corpus Cristi hotel" . . . Jeff Judkins has been answering to the name "Hollywood" ever since Julius Erving picked up a relatively innocuous Judkins quote following the Dec. 19 Celtic triumph over Philly to use as a means of rousing himself for the game on Dec. 22. Judkins, of course, is a much of a rabble rouser as Miss Ellie.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar appears to be in a stage comparable to the late- middle phase of Wilt Chamberlain's career, just prior to the "No-Shot" nonsense. Kareem doesn't seem to care about shooting at all. He is, however, passing very well and clogging the middle intelligently. He'll never be the rebounder his 7-foot-3 frame suggests he should be, but he is adequate enough. He's still capable of turning in a 40-point game, but it won't be needed on a team with Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes, Jim Chones, Spencer Haywood, and, of course, the Magic Man. What it comes down to is that Abdul-Jabbar is playing very effectively within the context, and, yes, it is good enough to make him a championship center for the second time in his career . . . Proposed theme song for the Phoenix Suns: "How Do You Do What You Do To Me?" What's really amazing is how many times they get back into a game with a unit of Jeff Cook, Joel Kramer, Alvin Scott, Mike Bratz, and Johnny High . . . Johnny Most on Bob McAdoo: "Two things seem to happen when McAdoo leaves a ball club. Either the franchise goes to another city, or the team gets better" . . . Jo Jo White on Bird and the Celtics: "Bird's a player. You can just tell a player. And the Celtics are again playing together. That's all it takes" . . . Bird, incidently, is talking about going to see Indiana State play during the All- Star break. The only problem is that he will be in the game. "Naw, not this year," he says. "I don't belong, but I will next year." Wrong, kid. You do belong, and the coaches aren't silly enough to leave you off the East squad.

Ah, it must be fun to coach the Bullets. Bob Dandridge, idle with an injury of some kind (the official releases were somewhat nebulous), showed up for the recent Bullet-Sonic game while the first quarter was in progress. He wound up playing and scoring 12 points. Dandridge had stated when he first left the lineup that, "I'm going to pull a Kevin Grevey and come back when I'm healthy," referring to Grevey's chronic hamstring pulls and Grevey's decision to cease playing until a cause could be determined . . . Speaking of leg injuries, under the care of trainer Ray Melchiorre, who has labored diligently from Day One, Chaney has avoided the constant leg and groin pulls which so hampered him last season. It's another reason why I say trainers are the most undervalued and underpaid people in professional sports. Anyone who has ever traveled with a professional team can tell you how valuable they are, and what a good one is worth . . . The Celtics would very much like to make Fitch the All-Star coach, and a look at the schedule indicates that it won't be a piece of cake to do so. While 'tis true that the Celtics should benefit from the six home games they play between now and the cut-off date to determine the coach (the man at the helm of the best conference team after games of Jan. 20), so, too, should Philadelphia milk a schedule which includes five home games and two winnable road games (New York and New Jersey). And who's to say that Boston couldn't lose to such upcoming Garden foes as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles or Seattle?

The strange thing about Chris Ford and his three-pointers is how little use he and the Celtics were able to make of his long-range ability in the beginning of the season. Ford was a mere 3 for 16 in the first 18 Boston games until he began bombing on Nov. 24 in Atlanta. The toughest thing about shooting from the corner, his favorite spot, is getting the footwork down to make sure you don't step out of bounds. By the time a pro sets his size 14s, or whatever, in that space, there isn't much room . . . Rick Barry on Tiny Archibald: "Archibald is finally playing the way he should have four or five years ago, when he'd score 30 points and they'd lose. He's probably having a lot more fun, too. I'm happy about it, and I hope kids out there are taking notice."