We've Become THAT Guy at the Gym

[huzy]

I remember when I was in high school and before going to college I worked out at a Health Club in the offseason. Generally, most of the guys that I played against were 10-15 years old than me. Most of the time, they were just trying to stay in shape and therefore were good natured and carried friendly demeanor on the court. But occasionally there would be this one super competitive guy in his late thirties who spent the entire game playing overly physical (dirty) and talking an unbelievable amount of trash. I was much quicker than him because I was younger and training to play organized ball (high school / college) and therefore most games, my team would end up winning. The problem was that he wouldn’t let it go. The stuff this guy would say was way beyond pickup basketball trash talking and being 18 years old at the time; I almost couldn’t believe that he would say such crazy stuff to a high school kid.

The point of this story is that the guy was holding on to whatever basketball ability and athletic accomplishment (in this case wining a pickup game) he had left. When he couldn’t keep up with younger and more athletic players, he got frustrated and compensated by trying to intimidate them or push them around. Unfortunately, basketball isn’t a game where you can completely cover for a lack of athleticism and conditioning with brut force and a scowl. At the end of the day, he was just a guy who was being a complete jerk and ultimately embarrassed himself because of his behavior.

Unfortunately, the demeanor of the current Celtics team now reminds me of this guy. They no longer can get up and down with younger teams and try to compensate for that with bully ball and trash talk. The previous two seasons it was at least credible because of their success and it went hand and hand with their “take no prisoners” defensive style.

Now…it’s just embarrassing and unearned. When I see KG talking trash with Brandon Jennings after a two point loss in Milwaukee and  then barking at Verajao after he coasts to a 15 point first half I can’t help but think, “where does he get the nerve?”

Look, KG is a Hall of Famer, All Time Great. But, he’s on the back end of his career. He no longer is a dominant defensive force and he is a shell of himself offensively. I’m cool with all of that. But, he is now a player whose bark is much worse than his bite. I don’t appreciate that.  The same goes for the rest of the team. We are notorious for trying to intimidate teams and talking our way through every game. Clearly we have depreciated our right to act in this manner.

After the first time I played that guy at the gym I talked to somebody about him. They told me, “don’t sweat him, he’s all talk.” And I never did again. The Celtics need to realize that the rest of the league is starting to come to a similar realization.