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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Thanks, Red: Reebok's Tribute to Red Auerbach

"You handle animals. You deal with people"--Red Auerbach's description of his interactions with his players.

Paul Dalessio of Fleishman-Hillard passed along a video clip tribute to Celtics' patriarch Red Auerbach:



Red Auerbach coached the Celtics to nine championships (1957, 1959-66) and posted a 938-479 (.662) regular season record and a 99-69 (.589) playoff record. For many years, he held the records for most regular season wins and most playoff wins. Thanks to Boston's Finals victory this season, he remains tied with Phil Jackson for the most championships won by an NBA coach. Auerbach engineered the trade that brought Bill Russell to the Celtics, a move that formed the cornerstone for 11 championship teams. Auerbach also played a role in building the teams that won the 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984 and 1986 titles. Although not directly involved in putting together the 2008 championship squad, he certainly influenced the thinking and basketball philosophy of current Celtics President Danny Ainge, a player who Auerbach acquired in the early 80s and who was a member of the 1984 and 1986 champions.

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posted by David Friedman @ 3:56 AM

2 comments

2 Comments:

At Thursday, June 19, 2008 8:21:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fantastic commentary all season long David. You run a very insightful Blog that I am glad I found. Keep up the great work.

Go Celtics!

Also, how is it possible Vegas can already favor the Lakers next year, over a team that clearly displayed dominance over them just days ago? Am I to believe Bynum will make that big a difference? Will the Big Three age so drastically next year? Will our free agency signings deteriorate that badly? Aren't they essentially judging the rosters as they stand at this moment... and therefore should be using the Finals as the means to measure said outcome?

 
At Thursday, June 19, 2008 6:31:00 PM, Blogger David Friedman said...

Bukes:

Vegas lines are not predictions per se but also a reaction/anticipation of public perception. There is a widespread perception that the Lakers will be the favorites next year, so Vegas wants to entice bettors to bet on other teams by providing a higher pay off if those teams win. If Vegas makes the Lakers 100-1 or something and the Lakers win then the bookmakers would go broke paying off all those bets--well, not literally "broke," but you get the idea.

I'm not sure who the favorite should be because I don't know what the rosters will look like on November 1, let alone June 1, 2009.

My inclination right now is to think that the Celtics will not repeat as NBA champions. Their key guys are not young, several of their bench players are up there in years as well and I question whether the team will have the tremendous hunger that it displayed this season. The Celtics also enjoyed good health this season and there is obviously no guarantee that this will continue.

 

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