'69 - it was a very good year

There are so many stories from that magical season, so many superlatives that a mere recitation of facts seems like showering glowing praise. Every player was a hero, even on the opposing team, to such an extent that it was the only time a player whose team lost nevertheless deservedly won the MVP.

JERRY WEST: "When I think of those Celtics playoffs, there is so much frustration. There were so many years of giving everything we had, but coming up short because we weren't good enough. But '69 was different. There was no question, we were the better team."

EARL STROM: "That Celtics team was so old and beaten up, when it took the court it needed only a fife and drum to look like the Spirit of '76. Satch Sanders could hardly walk. Sam Jones was limping. Russell was hunched over and everyone was taped up like mummies."

JOHN HAVLICEK: "It was a Celtics tradition to play hurt. In his last game as a Celtic, Bob Cousy's body just gave out and he fell over. He went out for a minute, but came back, hobbled along and still controlled the team down the stretch as we won the title in six games. If there was a seventh game, I doubt Cooz could have played. But he made sure there would be no Game 7. Russell played one year on what later was discovered to be a broken foot. In that last year, he had terrible tendinitis in his knees. There was that mentality of playing with pain, of taking the pain - even if it was only to give the team 45 seconds. Back then, all we had was ice and a whirlpool for treatment. You could only hope that the Celtics' mystic power would come into play."

LARRY SIIEGFRIED: "We were beat up and we were the oldest team in the league. We played a tight rotation, eight guys - Russ, Havlicek, Nelson, Sam Jones, Bailey Howell, Satch Sanders, Emmette Bryant and myself. But we also knew we could play defense when it mattered. Russell would say, "I don't care about a guy's age, I just care if he can get it done." We knew that as long as we had Russell, we could get it done against the Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain or anyone else. We had seen Russell do numbers on Wilt before. We never feared him because we knew in a big game down the stretch, Russell would own Wilt."

JOHN HAVLICEK: "We sort of limped through the regular season. In the last couple of weeks, Russell took time off. We could see he was resting up for the playoffs. All we wanted to do was stay in position to make the playoffs, we didn't care about homecourt advantage. We knew we had the experience and confidence to win a short series anywhere. We didn't have much trouble with Philadelphia in the first round. Darrall Imhoff was their center, and Russell had his way. We could see that Russell was rested, and a rested Russell even at 35 was still the greatest money player ever. That came true when we faced New York in the second round. The Knicks owned us in the regular season, and Willis Reed was a terrific young player, but Russell rose up and neutralized him.

"At the time no one said a word about it being Russell's last year. In the back of our minds, we may have wondered how long he would go on because there were days he was in complete agony. But we also knew that if he watched his minutes, he could play another 2-3 years. So when we faced the Lakers and Wilt, we looked at it as trying for another championship. Certainly adding Wilt to the Lakers made them formidable, and we respected Wilt. But we were never in awe of hime because we knew that we had beaten Wilt in big games before."

FACTS:

The Celtics competed in 18 grueling playoff games in 1969. Bill Russell averaged 46 minutes per game. John Havlicek averaged 47. The Lakers also played 18 playoff games. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 46 minutes per game and Jerry West averaged 39.

Spike,

Definitely worth persevering through your logon problem.

My favorite all-time Celtics team, whose exploits influenced so much in my life and values.

I think the real Celtics fans of the time (obviously fewer than there are now) were unparalleled in their ability to appreciate. Ovations
would not last for a paltry minute or so. They'd go on for three, four, five minutes layering crescendo after crescendo just when it seemed
they were dying down.

I believe the affection for that 1969 team built like none other during the playoffs. Expectations were not high (a dramatic understatement). When they beat Philly, it rekindled recollections of the pride when they had done the same the previous year in more
dramatic fashion (with Wilt on the 76ers team). People seemed to walk a little straighter going into the garden. There was a more obvious murmur before every game.

Then they beat Reed and the Knicks, and the murmur became a steady buzz. They had inexplicably reached the finals. Fortunately there
were no message boards back then because the bombardment from Lakers trolls would have been incessant. They
would have made today's trolls seem like sissies. As it was, the national media were pretty much operating in the trolls' stead. I don't
recall any media entity outside of Boston offering the Celtics even a remote chance. The invincible three: West, Baylor, Wilt, and a supporting case of mini-Supermen.

And then the Celts went out to L.A. and lost game one by a hearbreaking two points (120-118), as West scored 53. Yet all the Celtics needed in L.A. was a split, and Boston hopes for game two were high.

But the Celts also lost game two, as West and Havlicek neutralized one another with 41 and 43 respectively but Baylor went off for 32. They lost that game, 118-112, and the guys limped home.

Game 4 deservedly gets the headlines, but Game 3 was a major turning point. In the first place, the fan buzz had not vanished. Aside from being loud, the true blue fans had no quit in them. They were really raucous in their support of the Celtics, who responded by mounting a 17-point lead at halftime. But the Lakers made up every one of those 17 in the third quarter, as the writing seemed to be on the wall. Talk about a momentum shift!

Yet the fans STILL never gave up; they just became louder. And, once again, the old guys responded. Riding principally on the backs of Havlicek and Siegfried, they pulled away to a 12-point lead in the fourth. Despite the fact that Havlicek got poked in the eye at the end, he went to the hospital with blurred vision safe in the knowledge that his Cs had prevailed, 111-105.

So now it was 2-1 Lakers, and Game 4 could only be described as ugly. I don't believe turnover stats were officially kept in those days, but I've read that the Lakers committed 27 and the Celtics 23. The two Ohio State guys (Havlicek and Siggy) were once again huge for the Celts, but the guys in white still trailed by a point with the ball and five second left.

I won't belabor the final play, which has been described numerous times on every Celtics message board. Suffice it to say that Sam Jones went behind a triple pick (on a play praced all season long but never before used in a game); started to put up a jumper from the top of the key; slipped; and had the presence of mind to put extra backspin on the ball, which circled the rim softly three times before dropping in at the buzzer for the 89-88 victory. I feel that was the single most consequential shot in Celtics history to date.

The Garden exploded! Guys were kissing guys (severe razor burn). And I swear that, in the back of my mind, I could hear the buzz turn into a series of gong beats as the bell stared tolling for the Lakers. I absolutely and irrefutably knew at that moment that the Celtics were going to win that series.

So the series was somehow tied, but the geezers had to play two of the last three in L.A. And the Lakers handily won Game 5, 117-104. But, back in Boston, the Celts (and their fans) were far from through. The Bostonians flew out to an early lead (55-39 at halftime) and withstood Laker comebacks to win, 99-90. Don Nelson led the Celtics with 25 points. (Has anyone ever known me to say, "It's all about the team?")

Oh, and by the way, the Celts beat the Lakers in Game 7, 108-106. (It wasn't that close. The final two Lakers points were on a layup at the buzzer.) Once again, the Cs followed the best possible forumula for winning—grabbing the early momentum and forcing the opponent to play catchup. And the Lakers did a good job at catchup until the Celts doubled West in the final minutes, completely took him out of the game, and even forced him to make several turnoves.

And, by the way, at the time when Wilt was injured in the fourth quarter, Old Man Russ was regularly beating him down the floor (by a wide margin). Fresh replacement Mel Counts actually kept up with Russ better than Wilt had been, especially in the rebounding department.

That season ushered in the first public victory celebration I ever recall for the Celtics. It was held at City Hall Plaza (no parade), and an absolute sea of fans showed up. The ovations had no Garden walls to bounce off, but it didn't matter. None of the Celtics had anything to say about the dietary habits of an opponent, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the opportunity for those Celtics to witness how much they were appreciated.

And still are.

Sam

Sam

There were so many storylines in that series; when I started making notes about it, I realized I might not be able to figure them all out alone.

For instance, here's just a few: Sam Jones's shot (clutch? - if he missed it would almost certainly be remembered as his last shot as a pro, his last in Boston Garden); Wilt versus Bill (with Bill knowing it's his last game); Jerry West finally feeling victory in his grasp; John Havlicek emerging as Bill's successor; the balloons; the whole history with the Lakers; the role of luck exemplified by both Sam's and Nellie's shots - Havlicek's 'mystic power'.

Back up a bit and there's Bill's tremendous showdowns with the two new powers at center, Wes Unseld and Willis Reed. Wes had been the MVP and ROY and Willis was Willis, iresistible and unstoppable. And somehow Bill found a way to defeat them.

There was Havlicek's taking over the offense, going mano a mano with West, with the Celtics actually playing a one-man offensive game pretty much the entire series. There was Bill's coaching, Sam fighting thru injuries and scoring his jersey number in Game 7, Emmette's story, Nellie's story, Red getting attacked in the stands, not to forget, the ultimate fate of the balloons.

It's a treasure trove of stories. I have notes here and there from different sources that I'm hoping to add to this thread as time goes by. If I can remember where I read them. Now where the heck did I see that thing about Red getting something thrown at him?

s

Guys

this is what I remember most

from about the 8:25 mark on to the end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U_joRPqWts

beat

Here are a bunch if interviews in the lockeroom after the game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v04yqjjgb8&feature=related

beat

beat wrote:Guys

this is what I remember most

from about the 8:25 mark on to the end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U_joRPqWts

beat

Great stuff beat,
I've always been struck by how Russell pauses after asked if it was a great win...To me he's trying to find the words to explain to someone how it is that you win 11 championships in 13 years...all the work, sweat, pain, highs and lows...all of it...and he is simply overcome by what he and his teammates have done...Amazing stuff.
I remember listening to the game on my transistor radio...what a game.

"I couldn't go to heaven. Because leaving (the Celtics) and going anywhere else would be a step down."

Bill Russell

"We felt we never lost. Time just ran out on us."

John Havlicek

"The Lakers cannot beat us. There's just no way that can happen."

Bill Russell

"When we lost, we thought it was a mistake."

John Havlicek

That was a magical year. So many people sold the Celtics down the river, saying that the old timers would never win. I don't think I ever enjoyed basketball any better than that year. We travelled to Phillie to see them win there, and turned around and came right back home. Never even stopping in Philadelphia for something to eat or drink. My Father was so worried that we would get beat up in the stands, the blood was that bad between the two teams. When they won the game it was as if life came back into that team.
Knowing that this was it for Sam was a heartbreaker. How would we ever
replace such a phenomenal player. I don't think I have seen anyone use the glass as often as he did since he left the game. He was that era's version of Ray Allen, a kind, caring gentleman. Everyone loved Sam.

I remember watching the final game in LA, looking at those balloons and getting more and more agitated. God, I loved that team! There were players who were misfits elsewhere, who fit in on that team.

I think this is why I love this version of the Celtics. They have a clock ticking
also, father time is threatening every day. But, I feel, once healthy and together, these men will accomplish what the '69 team did, and that was win the title.
No one could ever replace Russell, and I feel, no one will ever replace Garnett or Pierce. They have the hearts of true winners. Thanks for reminding us all of that wonderful era of basketball. People are shocked when they ask me if I am still a devoted Celtic fan and I say yes. "you didn't ever give up"? NO, and either did they!!

NOTES ON WEST AND HAVLICEK

In the first 5 games, Jerry West scored 53, 41, 24, 40, and 39 points. And scoring was only part of Jerry's game.

Coach Bill Russell had Emmette Bryant guarding West in the first game. After that, Jones and Siegfried alternated covering Zeke (who wasn't really) from Cabin Creek. When those two couldn't take anymore, John Havlicek valiantly stepped in.

In years past, KC Jones made his way into the Hall of Fame in no small measure because of his chewing gum defense on West, but KC was retired and pursuing more rings as a coach.

John Havlicek scored 37, 43, and 34 points in the first 3 games. A rookie, Bill Hewitt, started out guarding John. Eventually, Keith Erickson and Tom Hawkins alternated off the bench covering him.

LARRY SIEGFRIED: "We had to go to John because he was the only one doing it. But the funny thing - and the scary thing - is that it's always been the other team with the one-man show and the Celtics with a whole team to go to."

In Game 3, John suffered a black eye. Warming up before Game 5, he pulled a muscle.

JOHN HAVLICEK: "The guy I felt sorry for in those playoffs was Jerry West. He was so great and he was absolutely devastated. As we came off the court, I went up to Jerry and said, "I love you and I just hope you get a championship. You deserve it as much as anyone who has ever played the game." He was too emotionally spent to say anything, but you could feel his absolute and total dejection about losing, and I hurt for him."