Across Rivers and Into The Green

WHEN THERE'S SMOKE Rivers turning Red 

FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE this as a fan of Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics. Honestly, I started rooting for them a year before the Big 3 was formed, that was when they had that awful losing streak (18 games) after dedicating the season to their fallen patriarch, the fabulous Red Auerbach, who died just before the 2006-2007 season. That was the year which featured the likes of Al Jefferson, Wally Szczerbiak, Gerald Green and Delonte West, with Paul Pierce, of course, as their top dog (did I mention that that was Rondo’s rookie year?). They were a young, athletic team, hungry to say the least, and eager to prove something in a not-so competitive Eastern Conference. I rooted for them because they simply played hard even at a losing end.

But my heart goes out to Doc Rivers at that time. The amount of criticism he received following that discouraging losing streak was a kind of penitence on his way to a crucifixion. Critics began to include him on the firing squad (as is the case in the NBA when a team somehow falters), while Executive Director of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, was so close to breaking up with his beleaguered coach, paving perhaps the lowest point in the history of the celebrated club. So severe was the downfall of the Celtics that it only managed to put up a forgettable 24-58 record, with Paul Pierce playing only 47 games for the season. But the brunt of the whole mess weight heavily on Rivers, who, before that infamous losing streak began, was said to be one of finest coaches in the NBA. 

All that changed during draft night the following year when Ray Allen was traded to the Celtics for Jeff Green, a Georgetown standout drafted by the Celtics (5^th overall), to the Oklahoma City Thunder, that things began to take shape for the men in green. Former MVP Kevin Garnett immediately stepped in, taking a cue perhaps from Allen, as he lead a mega-trade that sent almost half of what’s left in that 2006-2007 roster, including a promising player in Al Jefferson. A bunch of wily veterans, Eddie House, James Posey, Scott Pollard and Sam Cassell (PJ Brown later in the season) joined in, while retaining the services of some its key role players in Tony Allen, Rajon Rondo, Leon Powe and Kendrick Perkins, with Glen “Big Baby” Davis as their rookie. Both Pierce and Rivers couldn’t be more satisfied, with Pierce fresh from his alleged request of a trade and Rivers off to a rough postseason with rumors of his remaining days with the Celtics.

FOR THE RECORD 18 game losing streak in 2007

So from that point on, the Celtics came out firing from all cylinders. Although at that time I did not expect that they would immediately click right away, what with the presence of those three superstars jellying their time, and egos as well, all for the common goal of grabbing a hold of that Larry O’Brien piece and become an NBA champion. Not only were they stormed pass the league with a sense of urgency and intensity, but dominated it in all aspects of the game. Garnett ran away with the “Defensive Player of the Year”, Allen almost secured the MVP honors at the All-Star Games (Lebron stole the show), and Pierce, who came out from a knee injury at the start of the Finals, went on to become the best player in that championship series with the Lakers.

But thanks in part to Doc Rivers’ ingenuity, like he had it all figured out right from the get-go. When the team had their training camp in Rome, following that media frenzy with the formation and the announcement of the new Celtics Big 3 (Larry Bird-Kevin McHale-Robert Parish being the original), Rivers concocted a specific mantra for the team. “Ubuntu”, basically an African philosophy, meaning, "I am what I am because of who we all are," was initiated by Rivers as a way of dealing with individuals talents for the good of the team. It has become a battle cry for most of the Celtics players since the arrival of the Big 3, but it was so pronounced during the first year of Allen, Pierce and Garnett, that the team always make it a habit to chant the said word when breaking a huddle. It was as if Rivers had actually found the fountain of youth and “Ubuntu” was its magic potion.

This was evident during Game 4 of their championship series against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in 2008. The Celtics were down 24 points in the 2^nd quarter, after an offensive onslaught by the Lakers at the start of the game, with Lamar Odom and, yes, Kobe Bryant leading the charge. Sensing a massacre in the making, Rivers went back to his Ubuntu philosophy, reminding his team that they have to do it by committee, “no hero ball” (a line Rivers popularized over the years), for them to get back in the game. And it sure did, after a House jump shot with 4 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to take an 84-83 lead, the Lakers were never the same again, as the Celtics took a commanding 3-1 series lead and went on to secure their 17^th championship banner. Perhaps that was the apex of Rivers’ Ubuntu, notwithstanding the blowout they did to the Lakers in Game 6, and that complete season turnaround from being a mere 24-58 lottery team to a 66-16 championship caliber squad.

UNDER FIRE It takes two to tango

The succeeding years of the Big 3 era, however, were a bit of a denouement, depleted perhaps either by injuries and surgeries. Their 2009 campaign was cut short by a devastating knee injury by Garnett midway through the season, and after surviving an overtime-ravaged first round series with the Chicago Bulls, the Celtics eventually bowed down to the Orlando Magic in the semifinals. They went back in championship form the following year after acquiring a serviceable big in Rasheed Wallace, only to be delivered at the hands of the Lakers, when Kendrick Perkins suffered a shoulder injury prior to Game 7. In 2011, the blossoming of mercurial point guard Rajon Rondo somehow gave them at least a jolt on their way to the playoffs, couple with the arrival of the O’Neals, Jermaine and Shaq, but after Rondo’s gruesome arm injury in the playoffs and the O’Neals’ injury-plagued season, the Celtics somehow regressed, albeit signing Rivers to a 5-year extension as head coach a few months before that. But they somehow found their mojo late last year when they battled the eventual champion Heat in the East Finals, despite season-ending surgeries of some key role players.  

Now it appears that the glory days are gone. After the 2012 season, Ray Allen eventually signed with the Miami Heat, a move that has caused a lot of uproar in Beantown, and prompting a sour response from Garnett when he said that he no longer has Allen’s number. Even Doc Rivers, who seemed to be casual about disagreements within the team, said that at some point he was disappointed about Allen’s decision to side with the Heat after offering the beleaguered veteran a lot to play with the team again. Allen allegedly was not happy with the way Rivers relegated him off the bench in favor of defensive ace Avery Bradley late in 2012, not to mention his now infamous disagreements with Rajon Rondo. The Celtics, however, made some significant signings after their magical run in 2012, bringing in Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, and Jeff Green, who underwent a successful surgery after being diagnosed with aortic aneurysm.

And true to their form, the 5-year reign of the Celtics Big 3 has ended (or is it?) the way it was predicted. Somehow they paved the way for the new power structure that would make a championship team (Miami followed suit). And it has always been the team first, individual accomplishments could come in later. Seldom do you find, even in posters, a player from the team, especially those All-Stars, being highlighted for all to see, unlike Bryant, Nowitzki or Anthony (as most cases); players with unbelievable individual stats and media savvy. It doesn’t take an expert’s eye to see how that team concept is induced every time a player, including the new ones, wears the green. You would notice that even Jordan Crawford (in his Washington days was known as a flamboyant scorer) somehow had taken the extra mile of keeping a pass-first mentality with the Celtics. I find it amusing though every time Crawford makes an assist. And I think I know the reason why.

DRENCHED Rivers taking a drink?  

Doc Rivers was already a coach when he played for Mike Fratello in Atlanta. He led the team in assists, with 3,866 career dimes (a franchise record), and was more or less an extension of the "Czar' (Fratello) on and off the court. But even before their championship season in Boston, Rivers had that distinction already, perhaps until now, as the players’ coach, something that has garnered him enough leverage as far as his relations with NBA players are concerned. The great thing about Rivers as a coach I think is his ability to level off with his players without actually being sorry for doing so. Somehow he made coaching so easy like shooting a basketball. And he had a coaching pedigree that goes beyond the conventional X’s and O’s when early on he manned (as a point guard) the offensive juggernaut of the Atlanta Hawks in the late 80’s, and coaching a one-man army in Tracy McGrady in his celebrated coaching days with the Orlando Magic. You could say that he had seen both sides of the coaching grind, a trait that enables him to wade through the dynamics of big time basketball. And so right from the very start he was, and still is, the perfect coach for the Boston Celtics. 

Not to take anything away from Danny Ainge and Wyc Grousbeck, who have done a fine job of gathering a bunch of talented and self-sacrificing players over the years, and still parading that Celtic Pride of old, but Rivers was the glue to it all, in much the same way as with Garnett anchoring that defense on the court. Rivers had gone through a lot of ups and downs, a lot of defining moments, the latest of which was quite emotional, when he embraced his prized trio, teary-eyed, minutes before his C’s succumbed to the eventual champion Heat in the East Finals last season, ending perhaps the saga that was the Big 3.   

And as I write this, the Celtics are in the midst of their first round series with the New York Knicks, who had taken the Atlantic Division away from them, a fortress which was impenetrable during the Big 3 era. Rivers, however, knowing the stakes full well, chose to rest his standard bearers in favor of that Atlantic seeding, perhaps for that last gasp of Celtic pride to go through the postseason, minus Allen, and Rondo as well, after the latter suffered a season-ending ACL tear. His team had been decimated by a host injured players for the better part of the season, a predicament that had him settling in that 7^th seed in the East, his lowest since the foundation of the Big 3. Rivers may not be able to see the remaining vestiges of his glory days in Boston after this season, as his contract extends way beyond what KG, Pierce and Rondo (three remaining players from that championship year), may bring to the table, either a trade for Rajon or a possible retirement for KG and Paul. But win or loss against the Knicks, Rivers’ place in NBA lore is already secured. What a ride!

And I know we will be taking that ride again someday, when Rivers along with his boys will chant their “Ubuntu” again across Springfield, Ohio and into basketball history.

(photo credits: nba.com. sikids.com, sportherniablog.com, celticsgreen.blogspot.com)