Jason Terry Calls Former Teammate Kris Humphries ‘Soft’ While Doc Rivers Questions Celtics’ Toughness

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Ben Watanabe on Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 12:13AM

With all the movement that takes place through trades, waivers and free agency in the modern NBA, players inevitably end up being teammates with guys they probably would not invite over for dinner. So it was for Jason Terry during the 25 games Kris Humphries spent with the Dallas Mavericks three years ago. In the wake of the second-quarter brouhaha that erupted during the Celtics’ 95-83 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, Terry offered the clearest analysis of the player who felled Kevin Garnett with a hard foul late in the first half, setting off a tussle that would result in Rajon Rondo, Gerald Wallace and Humphries himself being ejected. “That was unnecessary,” Terry said. “Some guys are tough. Some guys pretend to be. He’s one of those that pretends to be. I played with him. Maybe that’s the role Avery [Johnson] wants him to have, but he should leave that to somebody else.” To leave no doubt as to his meaning, Terry explained exactly what type of player Humphries was when they played together. “Soft,” Terry said. Terry was not the only person throwing around the “S” word after the game, however. Celtics coach Doc Rivers used the same term in describing his team, even telling his players that to their faces during halftime. When Rondo stood up for his fallen teammate and tackled Humphries into the expensive seats behind the basket, Terry took that as a sign of togetherness and toughness. Rivers saw it as no such thing. He acknowledged that he was upset at Rondo’s ejection, but did not try to claim the referees’ decision was unwarranted. “If I’m Brooklyn and the league, you’ve got to think we’re pretty soft, the way we’re playing,” Rivers said. “We’re a soft team right now. We have no toughness, and that stuff’s not toughness. All that stuff, that’s not toughness.” Toughness is hard to measure, but one good gauge on Wednesday came on the glass, where the Nets hauled in 17 offensive rebounds. Maybe the Celtics misconstrued Rivers’ take on offensive rebounding last week. Rivers has never put much stock into counting offensive boards — for his team. Giving up 17 extra possessions made it easy for Brooklyn to rack up 23 second-chance points, which happened to be just two points more than Brooklyn’s largest lead. As for Humphries and Terry, they were briefly teammates after the Raptors sent the then-24-year-old Minnesota Gopher to Dallas as part of a four-team trade in 2009. Humphries was a bit player on a team that bowed out in the first round to the San Antonio Spurs, playing a shade under 13 minutes per game and averaging 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. Humphries must have left the Mavericks as unimpressed as he did Terry, because they traded him that January. The veteran guard even took one last shot at Humphries on Wednesday when he was informed of Rivers’ comments about his own team’s softness. “Well, Humphries might as well come play with us, then,” Terry replied. Touché, Jet.

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On ESPN's First Take today, the Celtics-Nets skirmish was discussed. Stephen A. Smith while giving Ainge credit for some of his off-season deals, also criticized the Celtic boss for not bringing in an Enforcer, someone who could have KG's back as he is advancing in years and does not have the girth to handle the pounding meeted out under the boards. "Sheed didn't do it when he was here, Shaq wasn't healthy enough to be a constant force year before last. The Celtics haven't had a nasty hombre to be fearded who could intimidate since James Posey. The dude feared no one. While whatever did or did not happen for him after the Celts chose not to meet his contract demands, it cannot be denied that the Celtics board persence has become as soft as Charmin since his departure. The Celtics have no one on the current roster that intimidates the opposing team, nor anyone capable of getting key rebounds mixing it up under the boards. Until Ainge addresses this, the Celtics will be no better than a .500 team.

MD

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In my mind, there's a similarity between being an NBA bigmouth and being an NBA tough guy. In both cases, it only works if you can back it up by your play on the court. If the Celtics were suddenly to turn into a tough (or even rough) team without also elevating their level of play, they could very well be thought of by fans and especially referees as punks who are trying to compensate for inferior play with cheap shots.

I certainly hope they can add an element of toughness to their play, but I also hope that goal will not overshadow the importance of learning how to play better together. Being tougher without commensurate improvement in their chemistry is likely to result primarily in more techs, more ejections, more suspensions, and more injuries.

Sam

Sam,

The toughest job is to teach chemistry. Sometimes the stats do not add up to reality because players just don't click. Red had that problem when he brought in "Bad News" Barnes and one other player that slips my mind at the moment. Good stats but did not work.

Sam it's like dating........good looker but your minds may not match up....so you move on. Like last year......we did not end up with the best looking girl but the girl we end up with lead us to the best defense in the league!

I think you have a little of that appearing now.

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Just found an interesting article in Boston Herald.....Big Al Jefferson would like to return to Boston.

See my post.

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I don't think chemistry is taught. It's an intangible combination of ingredients, some of which can be taught, and others that can be acquired mainly by repetition. Timing, rhythm, instinct, "feel" (e.g., feel for teammates), motivation, and IQ are just some of the intangibles to which I'm referring. Doc and his assistants have to teach tangible skills and strategies and hope that, as the players gain repetitions in those areas, they're also gaining chemistry in a larger sense.

Sam

Sam,

Right, that was my point. When I talk on chemistry you must have timing, rhythm, feel etc as well as the intangible.

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