The Road to Triumph - Boston Franchise (The Third Act)

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Witnessing Celtics' 17th championship is bitter-sweet, whether you are Boston fan or not.

The triumph marks the end to their 22 years of wilderness and setting whole list of new NBA benchmarks, but more significantly, it demonstrates a group of people with good hearts making it through perseverance, commitment and integrity.

Everyone by now knows Paul Pierce as a player. But as a person, he personifies someone who is willing to face and grow from his untidy history, instead of turning away from it and starting over.

Kevin Garnett personifies a gifted individual, who is willing to carry the responsibility that comes with it. It means sticking to it through tough time and surrounded by public criticism.

Ray Allen personifies role model of the team, the franchise and the community, who serves that role with discipline and commitment.

But we are not just talking about the players.

Doc Rivers is someone who possesses consistent work ethics - day after day even when his team is lousy, and with accountability - even if losing his job. He treats all his players with respect and they, including the bench, are willing to play hard.

Danny Ainge resembles a family-oriented guy both privately and professionally. He serves his Celtics' root with persistence and patient. Ainge understands that it takes time to assemble a team with the right attitude for the game. He values individual heart, genuineness and work ethics.

Wyc Grousbeck, the co-owner of Celtics, resembles a businessman with good heart and perspective in life. He interacts with the community, building working relationship and getting advice from other owners of the Red Sox and Patriots. These owners who are visible and accountable, have vowed to spend the requisite amount of money to field winning teams. Team A and Team B are always pulling for Team C, and joining hand in community fund-raising. The revival of these franchises mirros what's happening to Boston as a whole.

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Their triumph is truely a powerful testimony to other player and management in the league, in which team-success is far more gratifying than 'me-first' or financial fulfillment. And community involvement will serve well in the business world.

Celtics' "secret weapon"

Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt provides this insight.

The Boston Celtics have for the past few years been one of the most data-driven teams in the league. The team employs what the general manager, Danny Ainge, calls his “secret weapon,” a 32-year-old named Mike Zarren, who seems to know every data point about every NBA player, past and present.

Kevin Garnett calls him Numbers, the Celtics Dancers call him Stats and Paul Pierce calls him MIT (his actual title is Basketball Operations Analyst).

Ainge says. “Mike is a much smarter guy than I am. I’m open to smarter people than me. It still comes down to my instincts. I have to make the choice, no matter what my scouts say, no matter what the models say. I don’t think it’s realistic to think that a statistical model will ever be foolproof in basketball because there are so many variables, but I do think it can help us.”

There are two channels through which Zarren can help the Celtics. The first is by assessing potential deals and draft picks, which means bouncing information off of Ainge. The second channel is strategic advice, which means going to Doc Rivers, whom Ainge says is “skeptically receptive” to Zarren’s insights.

Q. What’s the most efficient shot to take besides a layup?
A. Easy, says Zarren: a three-pointer from the corner.

Q. What’s one of the most misused, misinterpreted statistics?
A. “Turnovers are way more expensive than people think,” Zarren says. That’s because most teams focus on the points a defense scores from the turnover but don’t correctly value the offense’s opportunity cost — that is, the points it might have scored had the turnover not occurred.

Zarren admits that Ray Allen’s worth goes far beyond his perimeter shooting, that Rajon Rondo’s rebounding was an undervalued asset, that Leon Powe’s surprisingly strong play was not so surprising to the Celtics and that, as transformative a player as Garnett was known to be, he has generated a variety of offensive and defensive pluses that even the Celtics didn’t anticipate.

Zarren is also responsible for the Celtics’ basketball-related technology and uses a service that delivers video footage tagged with statistical information. With just a few mouse clicks, he can call up every clip in which LeBron James has touched the ball at the top of the key and see whether he went left or right, is double-teamed or not, passes or shoot — and, if the latter, whether he misses, scores or is fouled. So if the Celtics dampen Lebron’s scoring the next time they play a high-stakes game against the Cavaliers, Zarren might be entitled to a smidgen of credit.

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If one wonders how much it has panned out in the Cavaliers series, take a look at Lebron James' stat sheet. He is shooting 35 percent (55 of 155). But in Game 7 yesterday, he explodes and scores 45 points in 48 percent shooting (14 of 29). He is eventually stopped baseline by PJ Brown, who has been inserted in the decisive quarter.

The New Big Three are meshing

Before the season starts, speculation is on about who will be the primary offence (Pierce or Garnett or Allen). I think the consensus concludes that it will be between Garnett and Pierce, through the high/low post, while Allen will wait for the double-team.

Bethlehem Shoals of FanHouse has posted an interesting observation. Shoals compares the New Three's game with Spurs' trio as follow,

But whereas as the serene Tim Duncan has remained the philosophical center of the Spurs, the Celts orient themselves around Paul Pierce--perhaps the most flawed of the team's trio of All-Stars ... he's expected to play to his greatest strength: Pure, unadulterated go-for-self scoring.

Even though Pierce may not be their best player, Shoals believes that the flaw in his game should be viewed as "honest, indefatigable scoring to the table, which at his level is a very valuable commodity."

We have seen how well Celtics have played so far. They won games by the margins of 20, 3, 26, 23 and 11 respectively. While Garnett has streamlined his rebounding and passing game, Pierce and sometimes Allen looks for their shots. If and when Pierce struggles, the other two compensates (Allen won it in OT in the second game).

I have to tip my hat off to Danny Ainge, who "figures out a way (bringing in two of the most adaptable all-stars) to neutralize Pierce's drawbacks while still allowing him to do what he does best".

As Shoals sums up, "that's what makes this Big Three such an ingenious combination."

Comparing Celtics new roster with 2002-03 champion Spurs

The more i compare both teams, the more similarity i see in them. Make me wondering whether Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers are thinking along the same path.

The 2002-03 champion of the Spurs is very different from the team that has won the title a few years earlier. Building a team around the twin-tower of Duncan and Robinson, second-year French star Tony Parker (drafted in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft) is the starting point guard. The squad also features a variety of newly acquired three-point shooters, including veterans, Danny Ferry, Steve Kerr and Steve Smith , swingman and defence specialist Stephen Jackson and Bruce Bowen, and a rookie Manu Ginobili (1999 second-round draft choice playing in his first NBA season). The current roster of Celtics features the trio of Peace, Garnett and Ray Allen, with Rondo and Perkins likely be included to the starting five.

When i compares the two rosters, i see similarity in both building a winning team of similar game (the inside-outside threats) with players of similar skills. Spurs have Duncan and aged Robinson inside complementing each other's play, surrounded by mixed of shooters newly joined the team that year. Celtics have Pierce and Garnett working on the low/high posts and complementing one another. Interestingly either one can also switch and engineer offence from perimeter (or penetration). Of course Ray Allen is their other alternative from perimeter. You may argue that there is a gap in terms of the quality of shooters, in favour to Spurs. I agree. So is Danny and Doc, and that's why they're trying to land another shooter like Reggie Miller.

Another similarity is the starting point guards of both teams, both in their second NBA season with certain limitation, Parker's penetration and sometimes inaccurate jump-shot, and Rondo's shooting skill. Among their other difference, i think the most important one is prior playoff experience, which matters during playoff time.

Both teams have chemistry uncertainty to deal with. Spurs have nine new players then and likewise for Celtics. On hindsight we know how well it works out for Spurs. i sense the same outcome will happen for Celtics, with the leadership of Garnett and Peace and their complementing personality (more detail can be found through google search). i also like Ray Allen and Perkins with their team-first attitude. Overall i like the roster that Danny has put together.

Completing my comparison, the defence standpoint also draws some similarity. Spurs' defence covers almost everywhere from perimeter to the paint. The only weak area may be Parker's defence skill and is often explored by the opposing team with bigger guard. On contrary Rondo's defence skill is supposed to be his strength. Celtics' roster also have filled with players with pretty good defence skill. With Garnett and Perkins filling the paint and backing up by Pollard and Powe, Peace is now focusing his training in perimeter defence and Posey will be joining him to strengthen this catagory. My BIG question mark, however, is how well they gels together in team defence, especially in transition and against point-guard with great passing skill.

If they can deliver soon enough, say within first two to three months into the season, i like Celtics' chance to reach the Conference Final.