Posted by Adam Mavrikos on Tue, Oct 28, 2008 @ 09:02 AM
Good morning ChillFans, so I decided to start a segment on the blog known as ChillFans Random Thoughts. If you've got a better name for the segment, I'm all ears. 
Now as many of you know, the band and and most of us ChillFans are big on the Celtics. 17 was so sweet, and tonight I'm going to watch them raise the banner. So for opening night, I'm posting below an insightful and somewhat subjective analysis of the all time greatest Celtics vs the all time greatest Lakers. I owe 100% of the credit to my brother, Drew "Joe Pa" Mavrikos. Here it is, let the discussion begin-
All time Celtics Team vs All time Lakers Team - 7 Game Series
Lakers Starting 5 (can't believe Rodman didn't make Drew's list)
Magic-PG
Kobe-SG
Elgin Baylor-SF
Wilt-PF/C
Jabbar-C
Bench:
Shaq-C
Jerry West-SG
Michael Cooper-SF/SG
James Worthy-SF
George Mikan-PF/C
Gail Goodrich-SF
Byron Scott-PG
Head Coach: Pat Riley, Asst Phil Jackson, Kurt Rambis/van Brenda Koff
Celtics Starting 5:
Russell-C
KG-PF
Basketball Jesus-SF
Havlicek-SG
Pierce-PG
Bench:
Robert Parish-C
Kevin McHale-PF
Dave Cowens-PF
Bob Cousy-PG
Ray Allen-SG
Jo Jo White-PG
Sam Jones-SG
Head Coach: Red, Asst Coaches: KC Jones, Tommy Heinsohn
Boston Garden vs. Los Angeles Forum
The Matchups:
PG: Magic vs Pierce
Magic is the greatest point guard of all time. 6'9" guard, a guy who you definitely want running your team. Ran the fast break offense better than anybody in history. Pierce is out of position at the 1 anyways, but I just don't see how you could start Jo Jo White or Bob Cousy against a guy as big as Magic. I'm going to assume we would see the 2007 defense out of Pierce, not the lazy Pierce from 2004-2006. I think Pierce could definitely score on Magic, as Pierce gets to the line as well as anybody in the league.
Advantage: Lakers
SG: Kobe vs Havlicek
A fun fact on John Havlicek: His lungs were larger than normal and were too-big for an x-ray. As a result, he would just run and run and run and completely wear out his opponents. I'd love to see him D up on Kobe. Sure Kobe would get his points, but over the course of a 7 game series I can definitely see Kobe getting frustrated by Havlicek's intensity on the defensive end. Kobe doesn't want to work as hard. Havlicek could score as well as he averaged 20.6 ppg during his 16 year career and 22 ppg in 172 playoff games (39.9 minutes per game). Kobe has averaged 25 ppg and 24.3 ppg in the playoffs (39.1 mins per game).
Advantage: Slight edge to Lakers
SF: Basketball Jesus vs Elgin Baylor
C'mon let's be serious.
Advantage: Celtics
PF & C: Kevin Garnett/Bill Russell vs Wilt Chamberlain/Kareem
I chose to include them together. You saw that interview with Russell and KG from this past Finals. Russell and KG have complete man crushes on each other. Imagine the chemistry between these 2 playing together. Talk about defense vs offense. Jabbar and Wilt are the 1st and 4th highest scorers in NBA history. Both stand over 7 feet tall while Russell and KG are each under 7'. Bottom line-throw stats out the window for this. Bill Russell is the greatest winner of all time. Between Russell throwing up before each game, and KG being completely insane, the intensity level of these 2 would prevail.
Advantage: Celtics
Bench
You know your team is stacked when the guy who is the NBA logo doesn't even start for you and Shaq would have trouble getting minutes. Other than that, I think the Celtics have the edge here. Cowens, McHale and Parish give you big men relief to help against Wilt/Kareem/Shaq. Magic Johnson learned his style of play from watching Bob Cousy. Cousy could get the ball down low to McHale or Parish or find Ray Allen waiting to stroke the 3. I'd also like to see how Cous would run the offense with Pierce at the 2, Bird at the 3, McHale at the 4, and Russell at the 5. Michael Cooper on Ray Allen worries me somewhat, as I think RayRay would have some issues creating shots against Cooper. I think that Sam Jones and Gail Goodrich cancel each other out. Jones used the glass better than anybody whoever played the game, other than Tim Duncan and Goodrich, somewhat unheralded player from the 1970s, was instance offense. George Mikan I guess is included on this list, but I don't see him getting any minutes. Same with Byron Scott, as the Lakers would probably use West at the 1 when Magic needed a breather.
Advantage: Celtics
Coaching Staff
Red Auerbach is the greatest coach of all time and bottom line knows talent and how to use it. He was not only the coach of that dynasty that won 8 championships in a row, but he was also responsible for building that team. In the same draft he got Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn. He drafted Larry Bird a year early. He signed Russell to a contract for $100,001 just after Wilt got a $100,000 contract. He had the victory cigar. He was the architect of the fast break offense. He was not handed Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaq and Kobe like Phil Jackson was. The guy just knew how to win, knew how to get the very best out of his players. Throw in Tommy Heinsohn who won 2 championships in 1974 and 1976 and KC Jones who won in 1984 and 1986 and that's a hell of a coaching staff. You can't dismiss what Riley did in the 80s, but at the end of the day, there's nobody like Red Auerbach.
Home Court Advantage
Blue-collar Boston Garden vs the Hollywood showtime LA Forum. On the one hand there is The Garden, which every now and then would "accidently" have no hot water in the visitor's locker room, in '84 when they "forgot" to turn the AC on, which took Jabbar completely out of the game (again the Lakers just aren't winners.) Dead spots on the parquet. The Boston fans show up on time, not halfway thru the 2nd quarter like people from Los Angeles. The Celtics hadn't lost a series at home until the Knicks beat them in 1971 (which my father happened to be at. He said nobody knew what to do bc that just never happened. Also was at the 1974 game where Jabbar hit that hook shot in the corner, not to mention the Bucky Dent game...I digress)
Advantage: Celtics
Commentators: Johnny Most vs. Chick Hearn
Hearn had a streak of 3,338 consecutive straight games from 1965-2001. Impressive. However, you can't talk about the Celtics and not think of "Greer is putting the ball in play...he gets it out deep and Havlicek steals the ball!! Havlicek stole the ball!! It's all over! It's all over!" or "Now theres a steal by Bird, underneath to DJ who lays it up and in!" or in '84 Finals when Gerald Henderson steals Magic's crosscourt pass "And it's picked off!! Goes to Henderson he lays it up and in! It's all tied up!! Plus his nicknames (McFilthy and McNasty for Lambeer and Mahorn). The raspy voice gives him the definite advantage.
Advantage: Celtics
side note--I included Tommy Heinsohn as an asst coach instead of commentator here. I think he would have a heartattack giving out so many Tommy Points in this series. Mike Gorman, you're great, but you're no Johnny Most. We appreciate everything you've done and we love you.
Result: Celtics in 7 Games
Bill Russell, KG, Dave Cowens, Larry Bird, Red Auerbach. These guys are WINNERS. They put the team first. The intensity, the competitiveness of these guys would be too much for the Lakers to handle. Other than Magic, the Lakers do not have these types of players. Back in '84 when the Celts went down 2 games to none and Bird questioned his teammates heart (saying they played like a bunch of women), his teammates responded with the clothesline of Rambis, etc and went on to win the series. Kobe just sulks and bitches and his teammates don't rise to the occassion for him because they don't respect him like Bird's or Russell's teammates do. Both teams would want to get out and run the fast break, as both teams would easily average over 100ppg. Larry Bird would get the ball in the clutch, Russell would make a key defensive play and Red would light up the victory cigar to a sold-out Boston Garden as Johnny Most screams "it's all over!!"
Posted by Aaron Fleishman on Wed, Oct 15, 2008 @ 09:53 PM
Hello ChillFans!
It's time for the weekly, (sorry I missed one) manager update. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have found your New Years Eve plans! I know you've all been worrying about what your going to do that day, well think no further. I've got the best night of your life ready. ChillSet has just signed on to play their New Years Eve show at The Asgard in Cambridge MA!
The two keys to this night are simple. One, there is no cover charge, you can walk right in and start drinking. Secondly, there's an amazing after party at the house of ChillSet following the show.
Hope to see as many of you there as possible and we'll make this a great night!
New Years Eve! Wednesday December 31st
The Asgard
350 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139
Doors open at 9pm
No Cover Charge!!