Root for the Celts?

[Scott M]

From Bill Simmons' (aka the Sports Guy) Mail Bag on ESPN.....

Q: I have been a T-Wolves fan almost my whole life. I was in seventh grade when we drafted Kevin Garnett and he has been my hero ever since. He's the reason I was ever interested in the NBA and I even wore his number throughout my own basketball career. Seeing how Kevin McHale has completely destroyed my hometown team … I'm wondering if per your rules of being a true fan, am I allowed to drop the Wolves in favor of the Celtics? I want to be a real fan, but I have so much respect for KG and very little for the Timberwolves organization. Can I switch teams without being a fraud?

--Jenna, St. Michael, Minn.

SG: Absolutely. According to my "20 Rules for Being a True Fan" column from 2002 (which needs to be updated to account for the fact that I've broken at least four of the rules since it was written), one of the addendums in Rule 19 clearly states you can switch teams or renounce a franchise altogether (as I did with the Bruins) as long as "the owner of your favorite team treated his fans so egregiously over the years that you couldn't take it anymore." In the case of the pathetic T-Wolves, this rule clearly applies. When I write a 2.0 version of the column someday, we need to add an additional rule called "The Ray Bourque Corollary," in which you're allowed to follow your favorite player to another team for the rest of his career, as long as he left because of front-office incompetence and as long as he stuck around as long as he possibly could -- to the point that everyone was imploring him, "GO! JUST GO!" -- before finally asking out of the abyss.

(With that said, I really hope the Minnesota fans give Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes a chance. Both those guys are good, and both of them give a dump. Please be gentle with them. If there was ever a time when a GM should have slipped on a Robin Williams beard and a cardigan and done the "It's not your fault, it's not your fault" monologue with two players he was trading, it was Danny Ainge with Gomes and Al. Those guys will be heard from on a good team. At some point.)

Q: First Ortiz, then Moss, now KG? Boston can kiss my Minnesota (Contact Us Please).

--Kevin, Minneapolis

SG: Just wait until we come after Prince, Bob Dylan and the Mall of America. We're not done yet.

[Juan Grande]

I'm totally going to root for Boston this year. It will be easy since they're in the East, I'll still watch the Wolves and cheer for them too.

I like Pierce, Allen and I love KG and it should be a fun season if they could all stay healthy.

Gomes is a solid player and could be a valuable sixth man. Jeffereson will be an all star. Hopefully, the Wolves recognize this and lock up both of them with new contracts.

[Flaco651]

I will be getting my new KG jersey soon.

[The Donk]

Hopefully the target center will be full of green 21 jerseys, Mchale could use a good chew of that cud....

[Flaco651]

garnett is gonna wear #5.

[Scott M]

Yeah, Bill Sharman (#21) had his jersey retired. Boston is kind of silly, they have 22 numbers retired. I guess when you win that many championships you have that problem.

I don't know if Garnett has said why he picked #5, but I would guess that maybe it has something to do with his draft number from 1995.

[ocf1]

We should sell his jerseys right outside of the stadium.... WHAT A MONEYMAKER!!!

[bgreen82]

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Yeah, Bill Sharman (#21) had his jersey retired. Boston is kind of silly, they have 22 numbers retired. I guess when you win that many championships you have that problem.

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ive never even heard of the guy. im not a huge old school b-ball or celts though. 22 is a lot though. i wonder how many the yankees have.

[PierBridge]

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i wonder how many the yankees have.

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15,16 or 17 depending on...........numbers, players or actual Yankees...

Jackie Robinson's number 42 was retired by every major league baseball team and when Mariano Rivera who wears #42 retires or stops playing for the Yanks nobody will wear that number either.

Looking at the Yankee list I was surprised to see Ron Guidry's name being on the list.

Ooops sorry wrong forum...

[Scott M]

5-0. Still haven't had a chance to watch one of their games but I will have to check out the TNT schedule or something. No depth whatsoever but maybe they can make some mid-season trades for some people to fill in the gaps.

[CabinBoy]

They are fun to watch and can really put some points on the board. They've got a young point guard showing some potential, but if 1 of the "big 3" goes down, it could get interesting for them. Wish KG all the best though and hopefully he gets his championship, he's earned it!

[Scott M]

Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo have played pretty well. But they are starters....No bench whatsoever.

[Scott M]

Garnett is on a mission.

Check out this little snippet from Bill Simmons, aka the Sports Guy on ESPN regarding the Celts and KG:

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1. BOSTON CELTICS

Preseason prediction: 49 wins (third)

Revised prediction: 62 wins

There's no comparable situation in sports history to Pierce, Allen and KG finding each other at the same exact, "I don't care about stats, I don't care about credit, I just want to win" point of their careers. These guys aren't just hungry, they're Fat Dickie's Hungry. (I'll explain in a second.) They've played six straight games like they were playoff games, and even when they were winning by 35 against Denver last week, none of those three guys wanted to let up. It's like they were avenging every blowout loss that happened to every crappy team they played on these last three years. Can they maintain that passion for nine straight months? Frankly, I don't know.

But here's what we do know: Defensively, they have a chance to become as good as San Antonio. Offensively, they have a big man who draws double-teams and two perimeter guys who can create quality shots whenever they want. And they're nearly impossible to beat at home because of the reborn crowd and KG's ongoing William Wallace impression. The first half of the Denver game was the single greatest display of basketball by a Celtics team since January 4, 1991, and that team could have won the title if Larry Bird's back never went out. For all the die-hard Celtics fans who spent the next 16 years wondering if their team would ever matter again, watching the Nuggets get eviscerated was like watching a beloved relative emerge from a coma or something. It's one thing to have a good team; it's another thing to have a great team. These guys didn't want to just beat Denver, they wanted to break the Nuggets' will. And they did. This team will win 60 games if it stays healthy. At least.

(As for the Fat Dickie's reference … when I was in college, every once in a while, my buddy House and I would get tired of campus food and drive to a barbecue place called Fat Dickie's. Then we'd order an obscene amount of food and chow down -- we wouldn't even talk; we'd just be intensely plowing through the barbecue and occasionally nodding at one another. That's what Pierce, Allen and KG have been like all season. They're Fat Dickie's Hungry. It's a whole other level.)

Reason No. 12,366 why I love the NBA: You can't even imagine KG's crazed demeanor during these home games in Boston with a great crowd pumping him up. He looks like Jonathan Papelbon coming out of the bullpen with a one-run lead, only he stays like that for two and a half solid hours. It's incredible. His teammates are alternately enthralled and terrified by him, and honestly, so are the fans. He's a man on a mission. He's possessed. He's a borderline lunatic. Remember when Ronnie Lott had half of a broken pinky amputated so he wouldn't miss the '85 playoffs? You get the feeling that KG would do the same so he wouldn't miss a mid-January home game against the Hornets. And after admiring him in person for five games, my delighted father (a 34-year season ticket holder) revised his "Favorite Celtics Ever" list, bumped Dave Cowens down a spot and named Kevin Garnett "1B" behind Larry Bird's "1A." Five games! That's all it took. I'm going out on a limb and saying this was a good trade.

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Still haven't caught a game on TV yet but I will...

[Weed Shark]

I miss watching Garnett play hoops. Wouldn't it be great if they televised all the Celtics games in Minnesota?

[Scott M]

Finally saw the Celts play. Picked a bad game to watch as KG barely played since the Celts slaughtered the Knicks. Almost set a couple records for futility until Nate Robinson hit a 50 footer at the buzzer.

It was 93-43 at one time, more than doubled up. As much as I dislike McHale as GM, could you imagine Isiah or Millen?

[maros91]

Isiah Thomas was a great baketball player but is a terrible GM/coach. He made some bad moves with the Knicks. I swear everyone he signed he gave like a 6yr deal and way overpaid them. Jared Jeffries, Quentin Richardson, Malik Rose, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Jerome James. I mean come on, all of these players are role players with the exception of Crawford and Curry. Then his trade of Zach Randolph who 4yrs and over 60mil left on it. There is not one player on that roster I would want. Maybe David lee.

[lookincalifornia]

zeke has made bad moves every where he has been since playing. he took over a pacers team that went to the finals, and failed. he tried to revitalize the CBA, and failed. the was the GM for toronto, they didn't get better till colangelo took over. now with the knicks, failed miserably. i think he would have made a great analyst for tv, but he has become so laughable as a GM/coach, that you almost couldn't hire him.

i do think that the celts are as good as the knicks are bad. that makes for a 50 point rout every time.

[maros91]

It is going to be a long year in New York if they keep Thomas around. Sometimes players are not ment to Coach or GM after they retire.