This is #4 in a series of threads to determine the 25 Greatest Celtics of All-Time.
It´s the off-season, and we need something to talk about besides nonsensical trade-rumors.
So I thought we could make a big poll to decide once and for all who are the greatest Celtics of all-time. I´m sure it has been done many times before, and I know that it´s tricky to rate our legends, but I think there´s no better place for this than Celticsblog, and I haven´t seen such a poll here before.
Players to consider:
Bob Cousy
Tommy Heinsohn
Paul Pierce
Dave Cowens
Kevin McHale
Sam Jones
Rules1. Only former or current players are eligible.
No former coaches, GMs or owners. The Celtics´ history has just too many characters to include all of them.
2. You can include off-the-court performances.
Although only former or current players are eligible, it is perfectly fine to include Tommy`s contributions as a coach and broadcaster, Danny Ainge´s work as a GM, or Dave Cowens´ nap on a parkbench after celebrating with the fans in 1974 in your evaluation.
3.
You have three votes.The first vote is worth 4 points, the second 2 points, and the third 1 point. This system is certainly more suited for a poll like this than a simple "one vote" poll.
Just write a post with your votes, and after the poll is closed, I will go through the thread and count every vote personally. I´ll close the poll in 2-4 days.
And if you want to discuss your votes, do it here, please:
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=28994.0Makes it much easier for me to count the votes.
Thank you.
#1 Bill Russell
#2 Larry Bird
Winner of the last poll:
John Joseph "Hondo" Havlicek8× NBA Champion (1963–1969, 1974, 1976)
1× NBA Finals MVP (1974)
13× NBA All Star (1966–1978)
1962 NBA All-Rookie Team
4× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974)
7× All-NBA Second Team (1964–1970, 1975–1976)
5× NBA All-Defensive First Team
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1969–1971)
Scored a total of 26,395 points for the Boston Celtics over his career, which puts him at #1 all-time.
When Havlicek joined the Celtics in 1962 they had won four consecutive NBA titles. Boston was loaded with talent, but star players such as Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Ramsey, and Jim Loscutoff were in the final stages of their careers. Havlicek's youthful physical intensity was like a shot of adrenaline for the aging team. Coming off the bench mostly as a forward, he averaged 14.3 points during his rookie year, many of them coming at the receiving end of Cousy's famous passes on the fast break. "I made a living off Bob Cousy," Havlicek often said.
An NBA All-Rookie Team selection for 1962-63, Havlicek displayed great hustle and tenacious defense, but he didn't impress everyone in his first season. According to Sports Illustrated, Cousy assessed him as a "non-shooter who would probably burn himself out." But Havlicek possessed awesome physical skills. Among the first of the great swingmen, he combined brute force with quickness. At 6-5 he could overpower most guards, yet he was quicker than most forwards.
He also had the inner drive that characterized "Celtics pride." After his first year Havlicek went home and worked hard to improve both his outside shooting and his dribbling. The next season he led the team in scoring, averaging 19.9 ppg and he showed that he was ready to assume Ramsey's position as the Celtics' all-important sixth man. Despite Cousy's retirement, Boston won 59 games in 1963-64 and vanquished the San Francisco Warriors in five games for the NBA crown. Havlicek made the All-NBA Second Team.
For the next five seasons Havlicek was the best nonstarter in basketball. As Boston's "supersub" he came in at either guard or forward and was usually on the court at the end of a game. Along with Russell, Havlicek routinely accumulated the most playing minutes among the Celtics during a season.
Havlicek didn't mind the sixth-man role. "It never bothered me," he once said, "because I think that role is very important to a club.. One thing I learned from Red Auerbach was that it's not who starts the game, but who finishes it, and I generally was around at the finish."
During the 1960s Havlicek proved that Cousy had misjudged him. The "nonshooter" had blossomed into an offensive force who could be counted on to score 18 to 21 points per game. Havlicek could hit from anywhere and excelled at shooting on the run. He showcased his talents at the 1968 NBA All-Star Game, in which he racked up 26 points in 22 minutes. In addition, his improved ballhandling made him just as effective at guard as at forward.
Nor did Havlicek burn out as Cousy had predicted. The "man in motion," as he was dubbed in a book title, continued to run defenders into the ground. It was once estimated that he ran three to five miles per game.
The quiet, even-tempered Havlicek didn't cut an imposing figure, but he had the broad-shouldered, sinewy frame of a steelworker. He also brought tremendous self-discipline and a methodical approach to tasks. When a reporter made fun of his habit of keeping his socks on a hanger in the locker room, Havlicek defended his fastidiousness in Sports Illustrated. "I'm a man of routine and discipline," he explained. "My socks have to dry out. My whole life has been thought out."
In addition to his impressive statistics, Havlicek showed great poise. At crucial moments when a decisive play had to be made, it was "Havlicek time." A classic example of his clutch performing occurred in the seventh game of the 1965 Eastern Division Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. With only five seconds left in the game, he deflected an inbounds pass from Hal Greer to save a one-point Celtics victory, prompting broadcaster Johnny Most's legendary call, "Havlicek steals it. Over to Sam Jones. Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!"
In 1968, during another seventh game against the Sixers in the division finals, he scored 40 points at Philadelphia to help Boston to a 100-96 victory. Later, in the pivotal Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals, he sank a miraculous, game-saving basket against Phoenix in the closing seconds of the second overtime to force a third extra period. The Celtics outlasted the Suns, 128-126, and went on to win the championship.
Havlicek in the 1969 FinalsBy the end of the 1968-69 season it had become clear that the Celtics' old order was passing. K. C. Jones had already retired, Sam Jones was 36 years old, Russell was 35, and "Satch" Sanders was 30. The team finished in fourth place during the regular season. In need of his firepower, the Celtics looked to Havlicek for scoring, and he responded with 21.6 points per game. With a strong effort from Havlicek in the playoffs, Boston's graybeards defeated Wilt Chamberlainand the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games to capture the NBA title. It was the Celtics' sixth championship in Havlicek's seven seasons.
The 1969-70 campaign put an end to the Celtics' dynasty. With Russell and Jones retired, the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. Under new coach Tom Heinsohn, Havlicek became a starter and the hub of Boston's offense. He had a sensational year, accomplishing the rare feat of leading his team in three categories: scoring (24.2 ppg), rebounding (7.8 rpg), and assists (6.8 apg). He ranked eighth in the league in scoring and seventh in assists.
Havlicek, whose nickname, Hondo, was inspired by the John Wayne movie of the same name, led a Celtics comeback during the early 1970s. In 1970-71 and 1971-72 he averaged 28.9 and 27.5 points, respectively. Despite having turned 30 years old in 1970, he led the league in minutes played for both of those seasons, averaging more than 45 minutes per game.
As the one remaining star from the Celtics' past, Havlicek became captain of a team that now included Jo Jo White, Don Chaney, and newcomer Dave Cowens. Employing a fast break that brought back memories of Cousy's Celtics, Boston rolled through the 1972-73 season with a 68-14 record.
The Celtics might have won an NBA title that year, but misfortune struck when Havlicek severely injured his shoulder in the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks. He made a valiant return later in the series, but the Knicks ousted the Celtics in seven games. Prior to the fourth game at Madison Square Garden, the New York fans gave Havlicek a spontaneous standing ovation when he appeared in street clothes.
Five years after Russell's retirement the Celtics returned to the top of the NBA by beating the Milwaukee Bucks for the league title in 1974. Voted NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, Havlicek was now recognized as the leader of the new generation of Celtics. Customarily stoic, he became emotional after the triumph, according to The New York Times. "Thanks for doing this for me," he said, as he hugged and kissed teammates in the Boston dressing room after the final game. "This is the greatest one."
The following season Havlicek continued his whirlwind offense and defense. The New York Times reported that after watching him put on a one-man show against the Knicks one evening, Bill Russell was heard to say, "The man is crazy. One of these days he'll find he can't do it anymore." But Havlicek was able to do it right up until the end. He played in all 82 games and averaged more than 16 points during his final campaign in 1977-78, despite turning 38 in midseason. His last year was a dismal one for the Celtics, however, as they fell to the Atlantic Division basement. But Hondo was treated to a two-month farewell tour in which fans flocked to arenas to pay tribute.
Havlicek retired with a slew of impressive statistics. He was the NBA's all-time leader in games played at the time. He also ranked in the NBA's top 10 in minutes played and in total points. At the end of his career Havlicek had so many championship rings that he could have opened a jewelry store. He had been on eight Boston championship teams, six with Russell and two without. In 1980 he was named to the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team. In 1983 he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 1996 he was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Jerry West told Sports Illustrated, "The guy is the ambassador of our sport. John always gave his very best every night and had time for everybody-teammates, fans, the press." Cowens added, "You tell me how many class guys there are like him anywhere. They ought to retire his number from the whole NBA. Just take 17 and stash it up there in lights."
But the highest compliment may have come during a halftime salute in his final game at Boston Garden, in which Havlicek, in typical fashion, scored 29 points. "He epitomizes everything good," said Celtics General Manager Red Auerbach in The New York Times. "If I had a son like John I'd be the happiest man in the world."
Source: Hoopedia
Final Outcome (points in parenthesis):
Total Votes: 23
John Havlicek (68)
Bob Cousy (41)
Paul Pierce (15)
Tommy Heinsohn (10)
Kevin McHale (11)
Dave Cowens (7)
Sam Jones (4)
Dennis Johnson (2)
Brian Scalabrine (1)
Topic: 25 Greatest Celtics of All-Time : #4 (Read 7072 times)