Doc Rivers addressed the injured big men status today.
On video from ESPNBoston he said that Jermaine O’Neal practiced for most of the practice today. Shaq did not practice at all.
Jermaine will play on Tuesday against Detroit. When asked, Doc said that Semih Erden, the 7 foot rookie from Turkey may play as well. It will be his first NBA ‘live’ action if he does. Erden is the 24 year old center from Turkey’s silver medal team in the recent Euro Worlds Championship that the U.S. won.
Shaq may not practice tomorrow either. Shaq has been quoted as saying he will play on Tuesday. Both O’Neals have injuries to the knee area.
The ‘Fight gate’ and convening soap opera are over. So says Delonte West after practice today.
Here is the main part…
Asked if he felt the two had patched things up, West added: “Oh yeah, no question. We laughed about it [Sunday].”
and…
On Sunday, West and Wafer stood in the same huddle with the second unit and West suggested the dust-up wouldn’t linger.
“Guys get into scuffles, or whatever you want to call them. At the end of the day, we’re like brothers in here,” West said. “We had a big laugh about it today with the help of [Shaquille O'Neal] and [Kevin Garnett]. At the end of the day, we’re trying to win. We’re competitive — fiery guys in here — but you gotta move on. We’re focused on the next game, the next challenge.”
So that is how it goes on sports teams with a lot riding on making teams and getting playing time. It isn’t all pretty and it isn’t all nice. At this point, I see nothing to worry about going forward. Of course, if any additional incidents emerge that may thinking may be altered.
That competitiveness that can drive a team forward, if it isn’t allowed to drive it off the tracks. Again, we are not talking about team stars that don’t get along, though Delonte West in particular can play a significant role on this team and even Von Wafer can have some magic moments along the way.
#1 After another intense three-on-three game in practice today, Delonte West and Von Wafer got into a fist fight in the locker room.
#2 Punches were thrown and the players had to be separated. The Celtics are considering releasing West, who is on a non-guaranteed contract.
#3 Sources say that Wafer tried to walk away but West followed him into the locker room and threw the first punch. Doc and vets aren’t happy.
Then Kennedy followed that up with a more detailed article on Hoopsworld that you can read here. But I’ll add this part for a particular reason….
“West has gotten into skirmishes with multiple teammates this season and his confrontational ways have grown old very quickly in the locker room. He is currently serving a ten-game suspension after pleading guilty to weapons charges in July.”
Ainge said that neither player was in jeopardy of being released. He went to bat for West, saying any notion that the 27-year-old guard had been involved in conflicts beyond this one and a previous dust-up with Wafer last week were untrue.
“I did read that story and there was a lot of lies in that story,” Ainge said. “Things were twisted. It’s not true. We’re not releasing Delonte. There have not been any other of these altercations that have happened this year.
“Guys trash talk and that kind of stuff, but I’m not aware of any other altercation among any players at all during the course of the year. These things happen. It’s not acceptable behavior. We’ll just handle it internally and that’s it.
“Whoever wrote the story had something [against] Delonte. That’s for sure. There’s some untruths in that story.”
So one might wonder how the story, as written, made it out to the media and more specifically from Alex Kennedy in the manner it was portrayed. Does Kennedy have an ax to grind? Did someone slip him bad information? How and why did he run with it in the manner he did?
“Actually, the Celts do have an idea, with sources saying they believe the entire report emanated from the Wafer camp. The Celtics’ current plan is that West will enter the rotation when he returns, and Wafer will move deeper down the bench.”
The part that is most troubling is Kennedy stating that “West has gotten into skirmishes with multiple teammates this season” then mentioning his “confrontational ways” and his 10 game suspension for a weapons charge.
I’m smart enough to know that locker room incidents can be covered up through public denial, though experience has been generally been that, when those skirmishes make it out to the public, they are usually admitted to by the offending party or parties. And everyone moves on.
Remember the ‘almost’ confrontation between Glen Davis and Leon Powe 3 years ago, when they were vying for minutes at the same position? Acknowledge it, have a laugh, and move on. That is what Doc Rivers and the Celtics will do here as well.
In Bulpett’s article both Ray and Shaq suggest the same…
“I’ve seen a lot of fights,” he said. “I mean, you’d be amazed. . . . It doesn’t make a difference. It doesn’t change the dynamics of the team.”
He added that such fights can become humorous.
Shaq…
“I’ve seen something like that every year for 20 years.”
But it is possible that things may run a bit deeper here due to the history of both parties (Von Wafer has had his own behavior issues and was out of the NBA for the past year largely because of those) and the fact that Von Wafer is the 15th player on a 15 man roster.
There are two ways to look at the whole thing.
The New York Yankees won a world championship as they fought and argued with each in 1978. We witnessed it some of it as it happened and Sparky Lyle wrote a book about it calling his team the Bronx Zoo. Like the Celtics, they were a very talented team. But they were professionals between the lines and put it all behind them to focus on winning every game. I can see the Celtics having similar traits.
Last year they proved two things. a) Chemistry is a fragile thing. b) They are as focused and as tough minded as they come when it comes times to play ball when it counts – in the playoffs.
If something is going to interrupt this team’s focus this year it won’t be by the 15th player on the team.
The second way is to see conspiracy theories everywhere and to suggest this may have deeper ripples than we might think. I’ll go with the first idea.
Danny saying that he’s ‘not aware’ of any other altercations doesn’t mean, de facto, that they haven’t occurred. But, my guess is that he would have heard of anything unusual like that. More important at this time, it would be prudent to confirm them, if they had occurred.
So, I’ll let you read between the lines and make your own opinions about agendas, personalities, playing time and the such. With what has come out at this point, it would be good advice to those of us who put word to paper (so to speak) to make sure we have the facts as correct as possible before releasing things into the digital universe.
I trust that Doc Rivers and the Celtics will tamp this down and the team will move on. But one does wonder if both players will make it through the year with the Celtics.
Before the game, Rajon Rondo went out on the court to receive a trophy from Doc Rivers for making the all defensive team and leading the league in steals while also setting a new Celtic record last season with 189. He then went out during the game and almost set another Celtic record…for assists. He finished with 24, second all time only to Bob Cousy’s 28.
Rajon Rondo has been good for so long now that it wasn’t noticeable at first. Rondo was putting on quite a show, but doing it in a workmanlike manner as he dished out his 24 assists for a new career high. For good measure, Rajon also had a triple double with 10 rebounds and 10 points.
After falling behind early 11-2, largely through Rondo’s efforts, the Celtics took control and hung on to win a close game 105-101.
24 assists meant that Boston players were hitting shots. The Cs had a number of solid offensive performances led by Paul Pierce’s team high 25 points and 14 rebounds for a double double himself while adding 5 assists of his own.
Kevin Garnett looked good and contributed 24 points on 12 of 17 shooting and a double double as well with 10 rebounds in 29 minutes before fouling out with 36 seconds left.
Glen Davis continues his solid play with 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting and 6 rebounds in 23 minutes. He is shooting the jumper with more authority this season and is finishing around the basket much more effectively. It is still early but this could be a break out year for Glen Davis. And it comes none too soon as Jermaine O’Neal was deactivated before the game and Luke Harangody activated.
Davis’ solid and unexpectedly strong offensive showing allowed Shaq to rest and kept the Celtics rolling. Davis’ defense was also good as he used up all six of his fouls and fouled out in the final minutes. Davis had the best plus/minus on the team by far at +15 in only 23 minutes of play.
The Celtics had 6 players in double figures as Ray Allen added 12 and Shaq added 10. The Celtics out rebounded the Knicks by a substantial 54-38.
If the Celtics had so many fine performances and solid stats, why the game so close?
It is not a concern just yet, but they still seem to play to the level of the team they are playing. In addition, the Celtics turned the ball over 16 times to the Knick’s 10. The Knicks had 8 steals to the Celtics’ 2. The Knicks blocked 9 shots. The Cs blocked one. The Cs shot 12 of 18 from the free throw line to the Knicks’ 18 of 24.
The Knicks hit 4 more three pointers than the Celtics including 2 big ones by Stoudamire in the 4th quarter. Amar’e hit one with 17.5 seconds left to bring the Knicks to within 2 points at 103-101. Stoudamire has hit 2 three pointers only one other time in his career according to a tweet by Gary Washburn of the Globe. Paul Pierce then hit 2 foul shots to ice the game and Amar’e was blocked by Daniels near the arc with 5.9 seconds left to close the game out.
Stoudamire led all scorers with 27 points and Wilson Chandler helped the Knick cause with 19 points and 4 blocks off the bench.
Before the game Doc Rivers discussed the fight earlier in the day between Delonte West and Von Wafer, saying only that it did happen and they would handle it in house. Von Wafer would not acknowledge that it happened, only repeating multiple times that the media would have to ask Doc Rivers and Danny about that.
Shaq injured
He and Amare banged knees and Shaq is listed right now as day to day. There is swelling but no damage. He joins Jermaine O’Neal with swelling knees. That is as reported by the Boston Globe here.
Ainge said that neither player was in jeopardy of being released. He went to bat for West, saying any notion that the 27-year-old guard had been involved in conflicts beyond this one and a previous dust-up with Wafer last week were untrue
“I did read that story and there was a lot of lies in that story,” Ainge said. “Things were twisted. It’s not true. We’re not releasing Delonte. There have not been any other of these altercations that have happened this year.
It went to state that it was handled internally.
There has been a number of tweets from respected journalists taking a different point of view than Kennedy’s. I won’t go into them now.
Suffice to say, there may be more to the altercation than has been originally reported. Time and Celtic management will sort it out. I’ll report the results when they are made public.
A number of tweets report that Delonte West and Von Wafer have gotten into a fight in practice after a 3 on 3 competition. They have had at least one confrontation before, caught partially on video. This time there were punches thrown and teammates had to separate them. West is reported to have followed Wafer into the locker room and threw the first punch.
Less than one week after tempers flared during a two-on-two game in practice, Delonte West and Von Wafer had another altercation earlier this afternoon.
After Wafer had showered and sat down at his locker, West approached from behind and threw a punch. Wafer didn’t see the punch coming but quickly got off of the ground and connected on two punches of his own. He then wrestled West to the ground before being separated by the team’s veterans.
The vets are said to be unhappy generally with what happen, and more so because they are playing tonight, against the Knicks.
All sorts of rumors are flying about the reason. Delonte is currently serving a 10 game suspension for a weapons charge and has been diagnosed as Bi-Polar. He is taking medication for it.
Kennedy reports that there have been other confrontations between West and other teammates.
We learn that TV exposure helped fuel Chris Bosh’s move to Miami from Mark Miller at Yahoo….
But it wasn’t just championship rings and hanging with pals inspiring Bosh to make the move. “Really, it’s all about being on TV at the end of the day,” Bosh said, according to TSN.ca. “Seriously. A guy can average 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds), and nobody really cares. If you don’t see it (on U.S. national TV), then it doesn’t really happen.”
The sad part is that he is partially correct. The dollar driven sway that TV has over sports is unbelievable. It might only be those over 40 who know the difference. Whether it is better or worse I’ll let you decide. If money is how we keep score (sports metaphor!), it is better. Certainly ESPN is not the only sports network but they are the most visible and a large part of American culture now.
Mind you Bosh didn’t specify ESPN in particular. It is TV that matters. I’m just using them as a market leader.
ESPN’s Connecticut Connection –
They are still headquartered in Bristol Connecticut, the town it all began.
ESPN – the 800 pound gorilla
ESPN started in Connecticut on September 7, 1979 when cable was still a new medium. The price of oil hit a new high of $24 a barrel that year. Saddam Hussein took over in Iraq. Like those seemingly innocuous events at the time, it was the beginning of something bigger. Maybe it was a coincidence or maybe it was a sign that Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ was a hit that year (Billboard Top 100 at # 91).
For Bill Rasmussen, the creator of ESPN, the original idea was to cover sports events in Connecticut like the Hartford Whalers, Connecticut Huskies (before they were good) and the Bristol Red Sox, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Modest enough ambitions, right?
How the heck did that idea get transformed into such a gigantic concept? I would simply say it was an idea whose time had come and was part of the increased media and information blitz that was only in its infancy and assaulting our culture. I am sure there are more complicated answers.
Sports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, not unlike the CNN idea and general news, was a new concept. TV programming drives our major sports now.
So…
if a guy gets 20 points and 10 rebounds in the woods (or in Toronto), did it really happen?
Only if a TV camera was there to record it and sent the feed to a large audience.
The second question is…
Do I feel clean or less clean now?
The answer is that we didn’t stop until we got enough.
Just a few notes of interest I thought I’d pass along…
First let’s check up on recent Celtics playing in new lands with new teams and different hopes.
The beloved Brian Scalabrine is with the Bulls and here is his stat line in his first game against the OKC Thunder in game the Bulls lost 106-95:
Brian Scalabrine – Chicago Bulls
Scal played 10:37 shot 1-1 for 2 points with an assist and a rebound. His plus/minus was –1 in that time which was much better than team mate Ronny Brewer who was –12 and 0-6 shooting in 15 minutes of time.
Eddie House – Miami Heat
2 games
Celtics: played 26:30 scoring 8 points, on 3 of 8 shooting, and 2 of 4 from the arc, 2 assists, a steal.
76ers: played 21:39 minutes scoring 3 points on 1 of 3 shooting (1of 2 from the arc) with a rebound and an assist.
Bill Walker – New York Knicks
Toronto: played 10:25 scoring zero points on 0-6 shooting with 2 rebounds, a TO and getting blocked twice.
Last but not least the inestimable Tony Allen…
Tony Allen – Memphis Grizzlies
Atlanta: played 11:04 also shooting 0-6 with a rebound, assist, TO, steal and 4 fouls, zero points
From time to time we (meaning I) will check up on them.
