Word: havlicek
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...town has Bird's word that this year's edition would have beaten the '84 and '81 champions. "Definitely, they would have taken our '74 and '76 teams," adds John Havlicek, the retired god. "They're much better. But the '60s teams--they'd have to play them." For that matter, the Celtics still have to play the Rockets, though with two to five games left in the tournament, Coach Bill Fitch was already invoking General Custer, and 7-ft. 4- in. Ralph Sampson, who caught an elbow instead of a break, had a seam of sorrowful stitches sewn along...
...Cousy and Bill Sharman passed it on to K.C. and Sam Jones, and they passed it on to John Havlicek and Jo Jo White, and some day Larry Bird and Kevin McHale will have to pass it on too. That's what I'm doing now. I'm 34, still competitive in practice, still running as hard as I can, pushing players from behind but without causing them to look over their shoulders. It's just my turn to pass...
...Bird's self-assessment, just a typically restrained presumption that "people probably tend to forget how good players really were. I'm definitely one of the top ones today, but calling anyone the best ever is too harsh a statement. I put myself in the same category with John Havlicek, someone who works for everything he gets." Not that either MVP denies his ability. "This game is all confidence," Bird says, "and, you know, sometimes it's scary. When I'm at my best, I can do just about anything I want, and no one can stop me. I feel...
Consistency is also always potentially dull, even when the consistency demonstrated happens to be excellence. John Havlicek, never former basketball star of the Boston Celtics, almost never made a mistake on the court. He used the backboard with astounding precision, and stood exactly where he was supposed to on every fast break. Yet Havlicek was a far less satisfying player to watch than Philadelphia's Julius Erving, who continually sur prises spectators and defenses with moves no one (including him self) is possibly anticipate. One might argue that Erving is consistently amazing, but the reason he so grasps...
...Celtics--Cowens and Havlicek included--have departed over the last few years, Hondo after a year-long farewell party, Cowens with only his personally written epitaph as a goodbye. But Arnold Auerbach remains, and the boundless ability of the oldest Celtic of them all is why the Celtics--infinitely capable of finishing third in the NBA Atlantic Division--might instead garner another green and white flag for their rafter collection...