Basketball fantasies

No, not fantasy basketball but what could have beens that tantalize the hoop junkie's imagination.

My first one is the 1986 Celtic playing the 1987 Lakers in the finals. These were probably the two best teams I've ever seen. It would have been a finals for the ages.

My second one is John Havlicek playing with Larry Bird. Hondo was two years retired when he visited Boston during Bird's rookie year and worked out with the team. After scrimmaging with the team, Hondo said something like if he knew there was a chance to play with a guy like Bird he would not have retired.

Havlicek also said something like in any given situation he knows what should be done but 90% of the time it is not but when Bird is on the court, 90% of the time it is.

Hondo and Bird. It would have been a purist's delight.

Carpe,

It's significant that neither Larry nor John depended on his athleticism for his greatness. What they had in common were a thorough grasp of the fundamentals, a variety of skills in abundance, the instinct to move without the ball, a burning desire to win, and extreme basketball IQ and instincts. (And, although John had better endurance than almost anyone, Larry was no slouch.)

Your fantasy pairing is "fantastic" for me because it clearly illustrates that the blending of players who know the game and its nuances, are multi-faceted, and practice selflessness is VASTLY more appealing than sheer athleticism on a basketball court. (In my estimation, of course.) And one of the enticing things about the immediate future is that there's a lot of that going on within the current Celtics team too.

So, although you'll unfortunately never see that particular fantasy play out, you may see some reasonable facsimiles this coming season.

Nice post.

Sam

Carpe,
How about 86 C's and pick one of Jordan's best teams? I'm biased of course. But still food for thought.
And how about Paul Pierce and Tim Duncan togethger on the C's? I know, I know ....Pitino.... Sheesh....
Hoop

That '86 team against Jordan's Bulls? Yeah, that woulkd have been something.

It would have been interesting to see how Pitino coached the Celtics if they had gotten Duncan.

When Pitino coached the Knicks, one of the bones of contention between him and GM Al BIanchi was that Bianchi thought that Wonder Boy Rick's college zone press stuff would never work in the NBA playoffs.

Sam, I'm looking forward to some telepathy from the team this year. Rondo and Garnett hooking up for alley-oops remind me of DJ to Bird going back door in terms of its split second timing.

Carpe,

That's chemistry at its best. The kind of teamwork that arises out of instinct and game flow rather than out of eye contact or signals.

Can't wait.

Sam

Carpe

I'm with you. In my watchin days the 86 Celts and the 87 Lakers were the best I ever saw. All over Jordan's Bulls.

Dj swears by those knick teams. The Russ teams must have been brutal.

In my mind the 86 celts had the best team I ever saw.

As great as jordan was his legacy is tarnished because he never went against a squad as good as his. Or BETTER than his.

Not his fault but true nonetheless.

Jeb

Jeb,

Not to make a big deal of it because people get sick of reading it, but how about a team that had seven basic plays and a number of options on most of the plays so that I've heard estimates that they had a grand total of between 20 and 40 options in total.? And they'd signal the play they were going to run; but the option was decided by mutual "telepathy" (nice word) arising from what was to become available through the flow of the game. No signals; not even a raised eyebrow. And the other teams knew all the plays and knew which play was coming but couldn't stop them because of all the options and the incredible collective instincts of the team that allowed all of them to recognize instantly which option was coming.

That was the Russell Celtics. Auerbach would freqently sign some over-the-hill retread and would get at least a couple more really prodctive, contributing years out of him. And they'd never have to teach the plays to the guy because he already knew all the plays coming in. He just had to have a high basketball IQ so he could tap into the team's collective sixth sense regarding which option to run at any given moment.

That almost "other wordly" chemistry throughout the entire team has been (and will always be) unmatched in the annals of the game as far as I'm concerned. The core of the team stayed together so long that the chemistry amounted to second nature. And this long-term togetherness (facilitated largely by the lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement plus a lot of two-way loyalty) is why I feel it was unmatched and always will be. They didn't have to "put in" plays as Doc does each preseason; they just trotted out the "usual suspects." For the most part, they could focus their training sessions on conditioning and preparing themselves mentally to defend the title.

And, yes, their Green Team (bench) often defeated the white team (starters) in practice, too. Which is why it was such a treat to attend their practices in those days. To see what was arguably the best basketball of all-time, from a front-row bench, for free.

Sam

My basketball fantasy is to buy the Warriors.

(I'd really love to own the Lakers, but I know that's totally unrealistic. Owning the Warriors is just unrealistic.)

Great fan base, major market, one of the best areas of the country to live, incredibly inept ownership that has lowered fan expectations to an unbelievably low level.

Whoever buys the team, which is for sale, will be an absolute hero in the Bay Area by simply having any level of success. If you put together a championship team ? Never have to buy another drink in SF or the Oaktown.

I would bring back "The City" uniforms they used to have, and play some games in The City and in San Jose to really make it the Bay Area's team.

My friends and I have given this some thought and figure we could raise some money to buy the team. The bad news is we think we're about $250m short of what we would need.

Anyone on this board actually Wyc in disguise ? Want to help me put together $250m ?

Any help is appreciated.

Sky,

If you owned the Warriors, what would be your thinking about the coaching situation?

Sam

I would like to see either this years team vs. the 86 celt team. They will probably lose but kg vs. mchale and pierce vs. bird, sheed vs. walton would be pretty good. I think they would match up well. I would also like to see any of the russel teams vs. the 87 lakers. Russ vs. Kareem would sell it by itself.

Sam wrote:Sky,

If you owned the Warriors, what would be your thinking about the coaching situation?

Sam

I would immediately fire Nellie. I think he's the most overrated coach in the game. HIs whole small-ball thing has never worked, and he has alienated so many players over the years, it's amazing.

When all is said and done, it's a players' league today. The best coaches in the modern era are the guys who get their most talented players to put their egos aside, give up individual stats, share the ball and play D for overall team success. Phil, Pop, Doc- that's what these guys do.

Nellie does none of those things.

Sky

Having lived in the bay area and watched that fine team with Mullie and hardaway and mitch slowly die during the whole Webber fiasco I can only say I agree with you all the way. He and everyone he brought on board should be canned stat.

Bay area fans have lived through the basketball book of Job.

It's pathetic.

Jeb

Billy Owens my ass.

It's amazing to me that he still has a job.

Mullie actually brought in some good talent, which Nellie refused to play (Anthony Randolph being the most recent example), and then Mullie gets canned.

What a joke. Cohan and Nellie are terrible.

I really do wish I could buy the team and give those fans something good to watch. Considering how loyal they are despite all the losing, they deserve some success.

Sky

Word up.

Nellie is way out beyond phoning it in into double secret phoning it in. Keith Smart does most of the heavy lifting. It's a disaster and has been for frickin ever.

The greater bay area deserves far more.

Jeb