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So much to love about this Celtics team. Let’s count the ways

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5 months ago

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So much to love about this Celtics team. Let’s count the ways

John Rooke
 |  Special to The Providence Journal

Thinking out loud… while wondering if I should have a welcome mat at my front door. I tell the truth …

As a kid, I hated the Celtics. But as I began to become more involved with sports, there was an eventual realization of how hard it really is to win. And the Celtics seemed to do it all the time in the 1960s.

There’s a lot to be said for that kind of success. My friends and I nicknamed our Little League baseball team “Celtics” because all we wanted to do was win.

And persevere. Like Al Horford has, gaining a championship after 17 seasons and an astounding 185 career playoff games. When Kristaps Porzingis went down, Al stepped up. NBD = No Big Deal. He did what he always does.

More: Here are six Rhode Island connections to the 2024 NBA Finals

Johnston Joe Mazzulla? One of three major Rhode Island connections to this Celtics’ championship, he’s six years removed from coaching college in Division II. The ex-Hendricken Hawk is the youngest coach (35) to win since Bill Russell won as coach in 1968, which is most fitting.

Back-to-back ex-Hendricken Hawks (Mike Malone at Denver last year) as NBA champion head coaches? Qualifies as a ‘wow’ in my book.

There are more storylines here worth following than banners hanging in the Garden rafters… and imagine the tales those banners would tell if they could.

Another Rhody connection to this Celtics’ title run — is ABC/ESPN’s Doris Burke. The ex-PC player (Class of ’87), coach and radio commentator became the first woman to call a major men’s championship on television. If you know Doris, you know that’s no big deal… even if it is.

Doris got her broadcast start calling PC women’s games on the old WICE-AM with Carl Grande and filling in for Joe Hassett with me on the men’s side in 1990 and ’91 on WPRO. Then-athletic director John Marinatto asked me at the time if we could “find a way for Doris to contribute?” Imagine that. True story.

She contributes today by not overstating the obvious, not becoming overwhelmed with emotion, and not overdoing the description.

That’s her real strength. She prepares but doesn’t overprepare. She simplifies, without oversimplifying. She explains, without offending or insulting. Sure, she has critics…as all network-level announcers do.

But those who criticize wish they could do what Doris does well, especially on that stage, with all the lights, cameras, action and attention getting in the way.

The third RI connection to Banner 18? Celtics’ team president Rich Gotham, Providence College Class of 1986. That was a pretty good time, wasn’t it? Just sayin’.

∎Know what was really admirable about the Celtics winning? It’s cliché, of course. But it was a team effort, led by the established stars, the 26-and-27-year-old Two Jays. Jayson Tatum had 31 points and 11 assists; Jaylen Brown was the series MVP.

∎But wait, there’s more. Jrue Holiday was the leading rebounder and top defender, Sam Hauser had two killer threes and Payton Prichard nailed another legendary half-court buzzer beater.

∎X post of the Week I, from @PatrickMahomes on Pritchard’s penchant for half-court heaves: “Bro i hate this dude.”

∎Veteran Al Horford, at age 38, was anything but average. Derrick White lost a tooth. Porzingis shouldn’t have played at all but did. And no one seemed to care, except for what mattered most… winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The Celtics were the best team from start to finish, the first team with the NBA’s best regular season record to win the title in seven years. They won an astounding 80 games, all told. And it was a guy from Johnston, Rhode Island that figured out a way to keep it together.

The real key to ultimate success? Had to keep those egos in check. Tatum was first team all-NBA; Brown was first team all-snub. But it was Brown who provided the electricity and consistency needed in the finals’ series with Dallas, if not the numbers, to win the series in five games.

Both praised each other, which was smaht. Because both needed each other, and they knew it.

∎Best Celtics’ team ever? You can make a case for it, based on the talent and athleticism on this team and within the league these days. ’86 was unforgettable, and you can pick a team from the ‘60’s run with Russell, Cousy, Havlicek, Heinsohn, Sanders, Jones and Nelson involved.

We’ll let time ultimately decide who’s best. But 2024 is the record-breaker. Banner 18 tops the 17 championships won by the rival Los Angeles Lakers. It re-establishes league supremacy, tradition, and legacy that is unmatched.

Don’t forget to thank Danny Ainge, who built the foundation. But it was Brad Stevens who took over as contractor, changed a few of the bricks, and finished the job.

∎Speaking of finished, Mike Cragg announced he’s out at St. John’s as athletic director at the end of June. Were the rumors of ‘rifts’ between Cragg and Rick Pitino true? And if you’re the new AD, but didn’t hire the coach… how secure is your job?

∎One thing is certain about the Friars for next season – they’ll be TALL. Highly rated 6-10 center Oswin Erhunmwunse (from Putnam Science in Connecticut) made it official this week and reclassified his eligibility for the fall. PC will go 7-2 (Anton Bonke), 7-0 (Christ Essandoko) and 6-10 in the middle. Biggest Friar front line ever?

More: Battle 4 Atlantis highlights Providence basketball’s nonconference schedule

∎Did you see where the 1983 NC State NCAA championship team is suing the NCAA for NIL pay? Ten members of Jim Valvano’s Wolfpack that beat Houston in that memorable finish are seeking compensation for unauthorized use of their names, images and likenesses. And they would appear to have a case.

∎Maybe the new-look Big 12 Conference has it right. Commissioner Brett Yormark is pursuing an unprecedented move in college athletics – by potentially selling the naming rights to his league.

Allstate Insurance is a possible suitor (the “Allstate 12?”) that could generate hundreds of millions for the league as they play “keep up with the Joneses,” aka the Big Ten and SEC.

∎At the other end of the bag o’ money spectrum, the University of Washington expects it will cost $30 million for their move into the now-oversized Big Ten. They may need to sell a lot of logos to make that up.

∎Sounds like the NASCAR-ization of college sports is here to stay. For this turn on the track, anyway.

∎And one-time Big East football exec Nick Carparelli, now the executive director of the Football Bowl Association known as “Bowl Season,” sez don’t be surprised if bowl games follow the lead of Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and the Arizona Bowl by paying NIL money to participating teams and players.

∎That would certainly be one way to keep players from ‘opting out’ of the postseason. No play, no pay. Kinda ironic, amiright?

∎My buddy “Big E” sez people think he goes out of his way to annoy them. Trust me, it’s not out of his way at all.

∎Did You Know: In spite of the ratings success, attendance and attention that Caitlin Clark’s arrival to the WNBA has created for women’s basketball… the WNBA is losing money – about $50 million this year alone.

Why? First, the women play 42 fewer games per season than the men do, generating far less income. And, the WNBA TV deal is worth $65 million, while the NBA’s contract is worth $2.8 billion.

∎Not for nuthin’, the Red Sox this week won four of six against the two best teams in baseball, the Phillies and the Yankees, then swept Toronto on the road. That’s definitely not nuthin’.

These go-go Sox lead the AL in steals, they lead MLB in triples, they’ve scored 7+ runs in 6 of 8 games through midweek, and they lead MLB in batting average (.295) and OPS (.849) for the month of June. 32-4 when they score five or more runs.

Which is great, sure. It reminds us that baseball can be fun to watch when you win. Which hasn’t been often enough of late. Credit to players stretching their limits – and to coaches for developing their elasticity.

∎Based on those often useless in-game interviews we often suffer through; can Tristan Casas play as well as he can talk?

∎Willie Mays’ “The Catch” in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series off of Vic Wertz’ shot to centerfield is an iconic baseball moment. So it stands to reason Mays, who passed away at age 93 this week, is an iconic player in making that play.

But it doesn’t seem fitting to merely call the “Say Hey Kid” an icon, does it? Best ever, or best all-around? He’s certainly in that discussion, and not from his prodigious numbers or his Hall of Fame status. Mays was gifted; he was transcendental.

∎X post of the Week II, from @mroctober (Reggie Jackson): “We all wanted to be like Willie. When we played against him u got caught watching him. He was pure… I wanted to be like Willie.”

∎Wondering how my buddy Edward in East Providence feels about tennis star Novak Djokovic suffering a knee injury in the French Open that required surgery… and likely will force him to miss Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics next month?

∎Can you believe it? It was 30 years ago this week OJ Simpson led a police chase in his infamous white Ford Bronco after being charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole and Ron Goldman. That was one of those “where were you” moments in time.

∎40 championships for Boston/New England in 121 years. 13 winnahs since the turn of the millennium. We have been so spoiled. Titletown has ratcheted up expectations since 2000 after going oh-for-the-90’s, with titles won once every two years. So… who’s got next?

Interested in having your questions on Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Think out loud and send your questions, comments, and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/threads right here! Join me on Twitter/X, @JRbroadcaster…on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke, and on Instagram and Threads @JRbroadcaster.

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