mk@linus.UUCP (Mike Kaplan) (05/20/85)
I am really tired of the accusations that the Celtics are the dirtiest team in the NBA. Allow me to list a few of my top choices for players who qualify: Malone, Erving Grunfeld Shelton Olajawon Molkeski (sp?) Ivarone (sp?) Rambis, Cooper This is only the beginning of a list that would include half the players in the NBA. The point is that basketball is not the prissy, sissy game that many of you fans (Lakers) would like to see. If I want to watch players hit outside shots all day I could go down to my old high school and watch the girls team play. Finally, I hope that the Celtics - Sixers series is putting to rest the notion that the Celtics are a protected team. In game 4 the Celtics were called for 4 technicals while Ainge fouled out. In game 2 Malone took a kniption (sp?) fit at the refs and he was not given a technical. As a matter of fact, the refs love to give fouls to McHale, Parish and Ainge. Granted, Ainge deserves most of them. I hope I live long enough to see Malone foul out of a game (of course the refs will probably only do that if the Sixers are up by 30 points with 2 minutes left to play). Mike Kaplan P.S. How about a technical foul for Barkley hanging on the rim?
srt@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/26/85)
In article <389@linus.UUCP> mk@faron.UUCP (Mike Kaplan) writes: > >The point is that basketball is not the prissy, sissy game >that many of you fans (Lakers) would like to see. If I want >to watch players hit outside shots all day I could go down >to my old high school and watch the girls team play. > I think you miss the point. I don't object to a physical game of basketball, if the physical play arises out of playing basketball. What I object to is a team that use physical play as a tool to gain an advantage in playing basketball. There is nothing wrong with a player who boxes out agressively. There is something wrong with a player who uses his elbows to incapacitate the man guarding him. And I think that kind of tactic is something we see too often from the Celtics. Partly this discussion arises from the Celtics meeting the Lakers. The Celtics are probably one of the roughest teams in basketball and the Lakers probably the team with the most finesse. That difference probably arises out of personnel more than any difference in team philosophy. Kareem is old and simply cannot play physical basketball anymore. As far as finesse basketball being boring to watch, I can hardly believe you said that. The Lakers are far and away the most intereseting team in the NBA to watch. Maybe that's bad - like the massive offense prevalent in the NFL nowadays - but at least its great fun to watch, much better than watching Ainge and Bird fumbling around under the basket. Scott R. Turner ARPA: (now) srt@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA (soon) srt@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!srt SPUDNET: ...eye%srt@russet.spud
lor@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/26/85)
> I am really tired of the accusations that the Celtics > are the dirtiest team in the NBA. Allow me to list a > few of my top choices for players who qualify: > > Malone, Erving > Grunfeld > Shelton > Olajawon > Molkeski (sp?) > Ivarone (sp?) > Rambis, Cooper > > This is only the beginning of a list that would include > half the players in the NBA. If you know basketball, you should have known the difference between doing the dirty work (Rambis, Cooper, Malone, and Olajawon) and playing dirty (Ainge, McHale). However, whether a player is dirty, which is purely subjective, doesn't worth being argued. > The point is that basketball is not the prissy, sissy game > that many of you fans (Lakers) would like to see. We ain't no Laker fans who like to see the prissy, sissy game. The Lakers ain't playing that kind of game neither! The Lakers are not afraid of playing physical opponents, but they simply can't play a team that is violent but tolerated by the officials. This is not the Kings vs the Bruins, or the Raiders vs the Patriots. If you don't believe the Celtics are just a dirty team, look at the 76ers. They play an equally physical game, but nobody has ever billed them as a dirty team. The Celtics simply -- use all kind of football and hockey skills on the basketball court. Remember the tackle by linebacker Mean Dan Ainge on Tree Rollins? -- irritate the opponents to provoke fights. -- make awful fouls on an opponent just to set the tempo of the series. -- consider this kind of foul "just part of the game", -- consider an equivalent retaliation from the other team "the worst foul ever seen". If you don't believe the Celtics are protected by the league, just recall the fragrant foul by Sparrow(?) on Bird in game 6 of last year's series against the Knicks. Sparrow was tossed out immediately. However, McHale's equally awful tackle on Rambis resulted in NO ejection. If this isn't double standard, what is? How the Celtics can get away with all these infractions is really no mystery. As I said before, the officials have already been intimidated and influenced by the "cigar-sucker". However, I am not surprised at what the Boston fans said in the net. All Celtics associates, let it be radio broadcasters, TV analyst, or fans, are awfully biased. -- Eddy Lor ...!(ihnp4,ucbvax)!ucla-cs!lor lor@ucla-locus.arpa
plw@panda.UUCP (Pete Williamson) (05/28/85)
>There is something wrong with a player who uses his elbows to incapacitate >the man guarding him. And I think that kind of tactic is something we >see too often from the Celtics. This is a fairly serious accusation ... when, in the history of the NBA, has a Celtic incapacitated a guarding opponent by throwing elbows? Who were these players? How "often" has this happened? How badly were these opponents incapacitated? >As far as finesse basketball being boring to watch, I can hardly believe you >said that. The Lakers are far and away the most intereseting team in the NBA >to watch. Maybe that's bad - like the massive offense prevalent in the NFL >nowadays - but at least its great fun to watch, much better than watching >Ainge and Bird fumbling around under the basket. That's another East vs. West cultural difference, I think. Bird doesn't have the physical skills to compare with J or Michael Jordan, but he is the brightest and most alert player to ever play in the NBA. This makes Boston the most exciting team to watch and Larry the most amazing player to watch. Love the way he "fumbles"!! -- Pete Williamson "By hook or by crook, we will !!" ... #2
david@fluke.UUCP (David L. Epperson) (05/28/85)
Well Boston showed that they can run and shoot as well as anybody including LA. They blew LA's socks off with the outside shot and defense. Poor old Kareem proved once again that LA may be a running team but that he does not like to cannot) run. Boston took LA's runnning game away by out rebounding LA and getting back on defense. For LA to beat Boston they are have to rebound alot better and play better team defense. The Celtics may be a very physical team but they do not use their elbows any more than LA. Watch Kareem on defense or after he gets a rebound (which is not to often), he loves to fling his elbows.
alee@ucbcad.UUCP (Alex Lee) (05/31/85)
> If you don't believe the Celtics are just a dirty team, look > at the 76ers. They play an equally physical game, but nobody has ever > billed them as a dirty team. > > .......... > However, McHale's equally awful tackle on Rambis resulted in NO > ejection. If this isn't double standard, what is? > -- > Eddy Lor I can't agree with you more, Eddy. Both 76ers and Knicks, and even the Bucks play tough D, but they are far from being dirty. By the way, I don't think Ainge is the dirtiest player in the league. By reviewing video tapes of last year's and this year's playoff games, I found Kevin McHale on top of my dirty player list, with Larry Bird being a close second. Also, do you believe that Larry Bird "stumbles" a lot? Well if you do, you've been had. I've noticed since long ago, that a lot of times when Bird fell to the floor he didn't have to. He does that for two reasons: First is to earn him that never-quitting be-all-you-can-be kind of reputation - this is a bit speculation. But the second reason is an absolute worthy cause - to cheat refs into calling fouls on opponents. It worked last year against Cooper, and this time against Worthy (in game 2). Alex Lee