Did the C's Pace Themselves in Russell's Last Years?

[LooseCannon]

Danny Ainge reportedly has said that the current Celtics seem to be pacing themselves.  I think Kevin McHale has also made the same observation.

That makes me think back to history.  In Bill Russell's lsat three years, when he was named head coach, the Celtics finished 2nd, 2nd, and 4th in the division.  The Celtics lost in division finals in '67, but won the NBA title the next two years for Russell.  I seem to have picked up the impression that, especially in the last year, Russell was not interested in spending more energy than necessary to get to the playoffs.  I can't remember exactly why although I believe I read that he wasn't interested in practicing as intensely as under Auerbach.  His minutes also seemed to go down a bit.

Can any team historians give me an idea of what was going on back then, if Russell really was pacing himself and his team to get to the playoffs?

[jdpapa3]

Well, the minutes don't make it seem they were pacing themselves. Russell averaged 43 minutes in his last year. The team went 48-34 and finished 4th in the conference, so maybe the effort wasn't completely there.

[Bozo]

As I recall, my impression was similar to that.  Chamberlin left the 76ers and went out and joined the Lakers, with Jerry West, and Elgon Baylor, to get a Title.  Russel was a pretty intense player, and winning almost defined him.  The group was getting old, and they knew it.  It took a miracle bounce from a Sam Jones shot to keep them in the Lakers series.  Celtic won, and both Russel and Jones retired. With Chamberlin there, I don't think they felt they could beat that Lakers team twice.   KC retired soon after. 

[steve]

They aren't pacing themselves.  If a team is pacing themselves then that means at any given time they should be able to turn it up.  You'd think that under the scrutiny they're facing right now that they would blow a team out just to shut people up. 

[LooseCannon]

Well, the minutes don't make it seem they were pacing themselves. Russell averaged 43 minutes in his last year. The team went 48-34 and finished 4th in the conference, so maybe the effort wasn't completely there.

If you look at the minutes, Russell goes from 44-45 mpg to 40.7 in his first year of coaching and 37.9 in his second.  This coincides with Russell talking Wayne Embry into coming in as a back-up.  In Russell's last season, Embry wasn't there.  There seem to have been problems with the back-up center spot as Bud Olson was acquired on waivers but later waived and the Celtics bought Jim Barnes from Chicago partway through the season.  The other center on the roster was 6'7" rookie Rich Johnson.

Was Russell trying to decrease his minutes, but forced to play more in his final season because he had poor backups?  Did he take it a bit easier to compensate (his rebounds and points per 36 minutes declined) and is that part of why the Celtics were only fourth in the division?

[Jon]

Maybe.  Tough to say at this point.  However, I think the two relevant points to this team are these:

1) Is pacing yourself really so bad?  I don't approve of the way the Colts run things by benching the starters; however, Shaq has clearly coasted through regular seasons on route to titles.  Furthermore, two years ago when the C's went all out during the regular season, they nearly lost in the first round.  So while I'm not convinced that this "pacing it" business will work, I'm also not convinced that going "all out" is the way to go either.

2) More importantly, if the players are pacing themselves and if Ainge is not taking the regular season seriously (as he clearly has acknowledged with how easily he sits hurt players), why is Doc still playing Pierce and Allen so many minutes?  I'm OK with this pacing business, but if that's the case, Doc should probably lay off Ray and Paul. 

[Eja117]

Well when you say they may have paced themselves was there a stretch where they went 7-11 in an 18 game stretch?  That's not pacing themselves. That's just losing

[LooseCannon]

In 68-69, the Celtics lost five straight as part of a stretch where they won 3 of 12.  They had an earlier streak where they won only 3 of 9 and another stretch later in the season where they won only 2 of 8.  They were 2-5 against division leaders Baltimore and 1-6 against the third-place Knicks (but had a winning record against the second-place 76ers) in the regular season and 2-4 against the Lakers.

[Eja117]

In 68-69, the Celtics lost five straight as part of a stretch where they won 3 of 12.  They had an earlier streak where they won only 3 of 9 and another stretch later in the season where they won only 2 of 8.  They were 2-5 against division leaders Baltimore and 1-6 against the third-place Knicks (but had a winning record against the second-place 76ers) in the regular season and 2-4 against the Lakers.

See that's not pacing themselves. That's just losing and should have been major cause for concern, but tp for giving me extra hope that the present Celts can still win. touche'

[Emmette Bryant]

My memory of that 1969 championship team is that they were old and Russell was hurt for a significant portion of the season.  Were they saving themselves for the playoffs?

I don't know.

According to wikepedia:

However, in the 1968–69 season, Russell seemed to reach a breaking point. Shocked by the murder of Robert F. Kennedy, disillusioned by the Vietnam War, and weary from his increasingly stale (and later divorced) marriage to his wife Rose, he was convinced that the U.S. was a corrupt nation and that he was wasting his time playing something as superficial as basketball.[46] He was 15 pounds overweight, skipped mandatory NBA coach meetings and was generally lacking energy: after a New York Knicks game, he complained of intense pain and was diagnosed with acute exhaustion.[46] Russell pulled himself together and put up 9.9 points and 19.3 rebounds per game,[21] but the aging Celtics stumbled through the regular season. Their 48–34 record was the team's worst since 1955–56, and they entered the playoffs as only the fourth-seeded team in the East.

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Once they got into the playoffs, they were a different team.  I still can't believe that they beat the Knicks that year let alone the Lakers.

That 1969 championship still remains my favorite moment in a lifetime of following sports.

[Redz]

My memory of that 1969 championship team is that they were old and Russell was hurt for a significant portion of the season.  Were they saving themselves for the playoffs?

I don't know.

According to wikepedia:

However, in the 1968–69 season, Russell seemed to reach a breaking point. Shocked by the murder of Robert F. Kennedy, disillusioned by the Vietnam War, and weary from his increasingly stale (and later divorced) marriage to his wife Rose, he was convinced that the U.S. was a corrupt nation and that he was wasting his time playing something as superficial as basketball.[46] He was 15 pounds overweight, skipped mandatory NBA coach meetings and was generally lacking energy: after a New York Knicks game, he complained of intense pain and was diagnosed with acute exhaustion.[46] Russell pulled himself together and put up 9.9 points and 19.3 rebounds per game,[21] but the aging Celtics stumbled through the regular season. Their 48–34 record was the team's worst since 1955–56, and they entered the playoffs as only the fourth-seeded team in the East.

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Once they got into the playoffs, they were a different team.  I still can't believe that they beat the Knicks that year let alone the Lakers.

That 1969 championship still remains my favorite moment in a lifetime of following sports.

good stuff!

[Emmette Bryant]

I remembered something else from that season.

Since Russell was hurt/not functioning well during the regular season, I remember him not playing offense.

He would just grab the rebound and start the fast brake with an outlet pass.  Russ would just stay under the basket while everybody else was running for a layup.  The hyperactive Celtics that year were John Havlicek and uh, Emmette Bryant.

I'm not sure how appropriate it is to compare this year's team to the 1969 team.

This year's team has some nice players.  Paul Pierce rose to the occasion and outplayed Kobe in the championship series a couple years ago.

But there's really no Bill Russell on this team.

[tenn_smoothie]

My memory of that 1969 championship team is that they were old and Russell was hurt for a significant portion of the season. 

Once they got into the playoffs, they were a different team. 
 
That 1969 championship still remains my favorite moment in a lifetime of following sports.

my recall is similar, though i was an 11 yr. old kid living in knoxville - not like i had any day-to-day insight into that team.

i just remember that they were the old champions that everyone was writing off after their 4th place regular season finish. they were already kinda my team by that time, but those 1969 playoffs were when i fell in love with the Boston Celtics.