Dallas vs. Boston
- Thread starter 14Red
- Start date
wolves82
Highly Respected Expert
I won't watch entire games, but I'll catch bits and pieces. I have to say that the Dallas back court of Luka and Kyrie is probably the best offensive back court in the history of basketball. I'll listen to arguments, but Luka does it all plus score, and Kyrie can score anytime he wants. What a pair.
14Red
Well-known member
So outside of a brief 3rd quarter run by the Mavericks, Boston dominated game 1. And Jason Tatum didn't even play well. Porzingas played better than about anyone expected and Holiday took Kyrie out of the game. Now, the big issue will be if Boston can continue, or sleepwalk like they tend to do in some of these series.
Maple_City_Fan
Well-known member
Puppy's over, and darn, I despise the Celtics. It'll now be 18-17 over the Lakerrrrssss
As a now in my 40s white male I have an obligation to cheer on the Celtics. Me and my brothers joke about that, bc my dad and our uncles on both sides were very big fans of the Celtics due to Larry Bird and his supporting cast and the incredible run they had starting with Bill Russel and company. Since my dad passed 5 years ago we said we'd take up cheering for the Green and White in honor of our dad, I even have a Celtics sticker on my beer fridge. So that means I'll only watch any of these games if my 16 year old son turns it on, I just find the game to boring.
14Red
Well-known member
I'm in my late 50's and I despise the Celtics. I'm a long time Sixer fan and the Sixers, Celtics had alot of battles in the 80's with Bird, Dr. J., McHale, Mo Cheeks, Mo Malone, Dennis Johnson, etc.
This years Celtics have really been the team to beat all season, so there really isn't alot of surprise here. I will say I think the Celtics allure has lost some luster over the years. Still more popular than the average NBA franchise, but not the bell cow like the Celtics used to be 20 years ago. Unfortunately the league has gone more to marketing and pushing players rather than teams, and many old school basketball fans prefer team over individual. There are probably more people watching the finals due to being individual fans of Kyrie and Luka than being Mavericks or Celtics fans.
YTOWN
Well-known member
I grew up a Celtics fan because of my father also. He was a big Celtics fan. The difference is when I was a kid the Celtics still had Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Sam & K.C. Jones, etc and won the title almost every year. Hell Bill Sharman was still with them when I can first remember rooting for them. They had Gene Conley too. He was also a pitcher for the Red Sox at the time. I'm pretty sure he won a World Series with the Braves and I know he won at least two or three NBA titles with the Celtics. The Celtics were the only winner I had as a kid. I don't follow them like I used to either but I still want to see them win it.
Outstanding players/teams. *Cousy was my dad's favorite.
Then came Havlicek, Silas, Cowens, Don Nelson, Don Chaney, JoJo White..........
Then came Bird and "his team".....
14Red
Well-known member
Two major distinctions of those 60's Celtics teams, no free agency and there were like 12 teams in the NBA then. Little to no player movement, and once you had a good team, it was hard for other teams to build.
YTOWN
Well-known member
While that is certainly true the population of the country was only about 180 million in 1960 compared to about 340 million today. Plus there were no foreign players either so a lot less players to choose from. I think there were only 8 teams when I first became aware and started to try to follow the league. I don't think the NBA had 12 teams until my junior or senior year in high school. As I remember it the games were rarely televised when I was a young kid. Even in the finals not all of the games were televised.
Bob Cousy was my father's favorite also. Great guard.
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wolves82
Highly Respected Expert
As I started watching hoops at about age 8-10, the Celtics reign of terror was nearing the end. I quickly started rooting against them since they always won. I rooted for the Jerry West Lakers back in the day, just wanting someone to beat the Celts. A little later I was rooting for the Dr J / Moses Malone Sixers to beat the Celtics. But I never followed the NBA enough to call myself a fan of any team until I went to college in the Cleveland area. Cavs fan ever since.
Still rooting against the Celts to this day. Hoping for a miracle for Luka and the boys.
Still rooting against the Celts to this day. Hoping for a miracle for Luka and the boys.
Here's my Boston Celtics story:
Sometime in the winter of 1987-88, I was on a business trip to New York and stayed in a hotel in the Meadowlands, New Jersey. I saw Greg Kite, a Boston Celtic (or so I thought), on the elevator. The Celtics were in town! I immediately got excited because I went to high school with Jim Paxson, Jr. and I knew him fairly well and he was now a Celtic. My mind flashed to having a cocktail with Jim (and possibly even Bird, McHale, Parish, Walton, Ainge, DJ, etc.), in the hotel lounge. I greeted KIte, "Hey, you're Greg Kite of the Boston Celtics!" He said, "Not anymore. I just got traded to the Clippers." lol. My fantasy bubble was burst. The Clippers were in town, not the Celts. At least I did see Michael Cage and a couple other Clippers that night...but no Larry Bird!
Sometime in the winter of 1987-88, I was on a business trip to New York and stayed in a hotel in the Meadowlands, New Jersey. I saw Greg Kite, a Boston Celtic (or so I thought), on the elevator. The Celtics were in town! I immediately got excited because I went to high school with Jim Paxson, Jr. and I knew him fairly well and he was now a Celtic. My mind flashed to having a cocktail with Jim (and possibly even Bird, McHale, Parish, Walton, Ainge, DJ, etc.), in the hotel lounge. I greeted KIte, "Hey, you're Greg Kite of the Boston Celtics!" He said, "Not anymore. I just got traded to the Clippers." lol. My fantasy bubble was burst. The Clippers were in town, not the Celts. At least I did see Michael Cage and a couple other Clippers that night...but no Larry Bird!
14Red
Well-known member
Yea, wasn't sure so I put "like" before 12. And Celtics fans love that there was so few teams and no player movement. There was virtually no way to attract the best talent back then. Really odd that the NBA didn't gain much traction until the 70's, then drugs riddled the league until the 80's / 90's.
My first real memories of the NBA was the Sixers/ Trailblazers finals in 1977. Really were I became a Sixers fan.
YTOWN
Well-known member
But the rules were the same for every franchise. Boston built the best team under those rules, every other franchise had the same opportunities to build a team. The Lakers had Jerry West and Elgin Baylor for most of those years and then they added Wilt Chamberlain in the 68-69 season. The Celtics finished 4th in the East and still beat the Lakers in the finals that season. It's not like none of the other teams had talent but the Celtics managed to get Bill Russell by trading two future NBA Hall of Famers to the St. Louis Hawks who had the #2 pick and then some bizarre deal about sending the Ice Capades to Rochester for a week so that the Royals would not use the #1 pick to get Bill Russell. The Royals picked Sihugo Green from Duquesne. That meant Russell was still available at #2 and that was when the Celtics dynasty started, 11 titles in his 13 years as a player.
PS:
I had to look it up but the first year the NBA had 12 teams was the 1967-68 season.
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14Red
Well-known member
Oh no doubt, but it's just logical to think that in league with 12 teams its much easier to win than a league with 30 or 32 teams. And with no free agency, there was no way to add talent other than the draft.
14Red
Well-known member
I will say this as much as I hate the Celtics, you have to respect the way that team was built. They have kept their stars and paid them, lost Horford once and got him back. Added Derrick White via trade. Added Jrue Holiday via trade. Added Porzingas via trade. They've just done a masterful job putting the team together. And the Tatum draft still irks me because Philly drafted Markelle Fultz with the #1 pick overall and they could have taken Tatum.
YTOWN
Well-known member
I'm sure that is true, and they may not have won 11 titles in 13 years or 8 in a row, but with some of those early to mid-60s Celtic teams I don't think it would have mattered how many teams were in the league. I think it was the 1962-63 season that they had 9 future Hall of Famers on the roster. One could certainly argue that they would not have been able to amass that amount of talent if the league had 30 teams but the Celtics did make some great trades and drafted several HOFers in those years.
However, they were absolutely obliterated last night. Hopefully they can end this thing at home in game 5.
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Dallas in seven.
YTOWN
Well-known member
I hope not. That would be a collapse of epic proportions by Boston.
14Red
Well-known member
I am happy for Al Horford. Wins two titles with Florida in college, and now an NBA title.#18
I'm happiest for Al Horford. He finally wins that elusive well deserved NBA title.
14Red
Well-known member
As much as it pains me to say, congrats Celtics. Now they actually are set up to be good for awhile, but can Brown and Tatum continue to be up and down as their "star" players? To me the supporting cast is the difference with this team. Holiday, White, Horford. Holiday may be one of the most under appreciated players in the NBA. He's a great defender and can score a variety of ways.