Team In The Mirror

1/19/2006

By John Karalis

Redsarmy.com columnist

I have figured out who the Celtics are.

They're me... on the golf course.

I look the part. I've got the pressed khakis, polo shirt and white glove. I know which club to use. My practice swings even look great. But then something goes wrong. I get sloppy. I make silly mistakes that throw my game way off. And then....

I nail one.

Oh man, that sucker flies perfectly through the air. It sticks on the green like it was coated with rubber cement. And I get excited. People even say "you know, you're not that far off". But when it's all over, the numbers add up to 121, and I shake my head at how bad I really am.

I am the Celtics. They are me. We are one.

And so we are all giddy with the promise of a big run after they beat Minnesota. Sweep the home and home this weekend against New Jersey and suddenly we can sniff second place in the Atlantic.

"You know, they're not that far off".

The best part about beating Minnesota was the combined 35 points and 14 boards for Kendrick Perkins and Al Jefferson. It's the fuel for the "play the kids" chants you're starting to hear. Even Al is buying into it.

"I hope [Doc Rivers] can just have the confidence to let us go out there and play together," Jefferson said. "He always said that we're the future. So I'm saying, 'Let's go. Let's go out there right now, make our mistakes and learn from it and let's become better players together.'"

And that's a nice sentiment Al. I applaud the desire to get out there and play. I'm even happy to hear a tinge of frustration in his voice. It means he's hungry to help. But Doc made an even better point about Al's minutes.

''He's got to earn it," Rivers said. ''Number 1, it makes the player more accountable. Number 2, if you don't do it that way, then you get guys saying, 'Why should I work so hard? I'm going to play anyway.' And, Number 3, you'll lose every guy on your team that has been busting his butt but doesn't play."

Bingo.

I'll admit to my scratching my own head about Doc's substitutions. I wonder about why guys who play well one night will get single digit minutes the next. But you just can't laminate the lineup card with Al and Perk in the 4 and 5 spots.

Young guys need to know that when you don't play defense, you don't play. Young guys need to know that when you turn the ball over too much, you sit down. Don't know the plays? Grab a seat, pull

out the playbook, and study up young man, because you're not just going to walk into this gym and have a spot in the starting rotation bestowed upon you.

Sure, sometimes you've just got to let a guy play. Big Al shouldn't be benched for missing a couple of easy shots. That's something you play through. A couple of bad passes aren't a ticket to the bench. But fundamental mistakes are.

It's funny to hear people who will trash the NBA for its lack of fundamentals call for the head of a man who's trying to teach them to his young players. These guys played in high school before jumping to the NBA. They didn't have a Coach K, or Tubby Smith, or Roy Williams to teach them the finer points of the game. They spent 4 years playing against physically overmatched competition, then they jumped to The League. For Al and Perk, there was no NBDL like there is for Gerald Green to go and work out the kinks.

So it's up to Doc to be all things to all people. Win now, Doc, because we Celtics fans aren't thrilled to be celebrating the 20-th anniversary of our last title. Develop these kids, Doc, because we didn't blow all these draft picks to waste all this potential. Appease your stars, Doc, because this is a players league and as great as things seem to be going, the big names need to their egos managed properly.

It's not an easy task. I wish I could tell you exactly how it should be done.

But I'm too busy trying to find my golf ball in the woods.