5 Things We Can Learn From The Pats and Red Sox
by Jeff Clark on Sep 17, 2007 5:59 AM EDT
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The Celtics haven’t been serious contenders for a while now. It almost seems like we all have to re-learn what contending is all about. Draft day is no longer the most important time of year (that would be the playoffs). Getting "kids" playing time is no longer the prime reason to make a substitution (resting veteran legs is the reason now). Moral victories will now be known by their true name, "losses."
Sitting here flipping between the Pats and Sox games, I couldn’t help but think that the Celtics (and their fans) could learn a few lessons by observing the other teams in town. Both have been Champions recently and both seem to be contending year in and year out.
Now, the parallels are not perfect. These are very different sports with very different dynamics. However, when broken down to their base elements, the fundamental truths in all sports aren’t so different after all.
Defense Wins
Big bats sell tickets, but they still fail 70% of the time. Star quarterbacks and big name skill players get the headlines, but a great defense can shut them down. Great pitching and great defense wins Championships. Always has, always will.
The Celtics have given lip service to defense for years; largely blaming the youth for the team’s deficiencies. Of course Scott Skiles got his young Bulls teams to play defense. Still, the team has brought in two of the league’s best defenders (KG and Posey) and one of the game’s best defensive coaches (Thibodeau). They now have the pieces in place to put the clamps down on the opposition. No more excuses. Now it is all about heart and wanting it more than the other team.
Leadership Matters
Which brings us to the next point. A team is made up of individuals rallying around a common cause. Those individuals need someone to step up and set the tone and provide direction. For the Red Sox, often times that is played out with Big Papi providing a huge emotional lift. For the Patriots, there’s no question that Tom Brady is in charge.
Now the Celtics have 3 alpha-males. Will that be a distraction or will it be an embarrassment of riches? I have a lot of confidence in the latter, but we won’t know until the regular season drags on and the team hits its first rough patch. Everyone is smiles and fist pumps now. What happens when the team drops a couple of tough games in a row? Who will step up and lead the charge into the next game?
Coaching Matters
Due to the recent controversy, Bill Belichick isn’t the best example to use right now, but he was clearly the mastermind behind the Patriots 3 Super Bowl victories. The way he game-plans for opponents (insert film room joke here) always gives his team an edge. The way he adjusted to what the other team was doing mid-game always put the team in position to put the game away.
Perhaps a better comparison to Doc is Terry Francona. His methods and decisions are questioned by the fans but he’s well liked by the team and he’s juggled a lot of bigtime personalities. Doc will need to do a major ego juggling act this year.
Of course the big difference is that Francona has a Championship ring and Doc just has a Coach of the Year award to his name. The players play, but the coach has to put them in the right position to win.
Handle The Media (including blogs)
Boston loves its sports and the media feeds that need like few other outlets. Unlike New York, there is just one baseball team; one football team; one basketball team. Everything is focused.
The Red Sox in particular have brought in players (big name players) that thought they knew what they were getting into. Soon they discovered how overwhelming the media attention can be and many have fallen flat on their faces. If a player doesn’t have the right mental makeup, they will not make it in this town.
The Patriots make every attempt to shield the players from the spotlight, taking an almost military like approach to the media’s access to players and information.
The Celtics likely won’t take it to that level of restriction, but we’ve already heard from Scott Souza that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett prefer to deal with the media at certain times and within certain time constraints. That’s only smart as they would be fielding endless questions if they didn’t set their own boundaries.
This town has focused a lot of attention on the Sox and Pats over the last few years, and rightly so. But once the Celtics hit the floor, they are going to need to shift a lot of that attention to the NBA. The Boston Globe brought in Marc Spears for just that purpose.
The Celtics need to make sure the players (especially the younger ones) are ready for the scrutiny. Luckily, handling the media is right in Doc’s wheelhouse. He should be able to deflect and spin with the best of them.
It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
The Red Sox put on quite a show during the first half of the year. It looked like the Yankees were dead and buried. The second half of the year hasn’t been bad either, but those Yanks got themselves all the way back into it. Never count out a formidable foe. Never let up.
It is important for this team to come out of the gates firing on all cylinders. On the other hand, they need to remember to prepare for the long haul. That means resisting the urge to play Pierce, KG, and Ray Allen 40 minutes a night. That means giving players a few days off if they are really hurting. On the other hand, it also means learning to play through nicks and bruises that come with the rigors of an 82 game schedule (then the playoffs).
And of course it means staying focused and driven throughout the year. Something tells me that won’t be a problem for Kevin Garnett. Hopefully the rest of the team will follow suit.
Basketball Town
The Pats mini-dynasty has been great for their fans. Boston LOVES its Red Sox for good reason. But still, this is the Boston Celtics we are talking about here. This is the single greatest basketball franchise in the world. 16 banners hang in the rafters as a reminder of all that was good and great about this team. It is time to make this a basketball town again. To do so the Celts will have to learn from the successes and mistakes of the other sports teams in town.
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Sorry, I only see one thing we can “learn” from the Pats and Red Sox: how to be cheating, cheap shot, loser jerks.
I don’t know about you, but that’s the last thing I want to see happen to the Celtics. Let’s keep the discussion to franchises with a legitimate history of winning.
by pressnarc on Sep 17, 2007 7:28 AM EDT reply actions
Great article Jeff. You are of course right. The scrutiny of fans and media is going to be great this year. There is both an upside and a downside to all that attention. Paul, I think, really enjoyed that year we went to the ECF. I wont get hung up on the recent Pats controversies except to say that there is definitely a lot that can be learned from the successes and failures that they’ve had. I think the sports seasons are a blessing here – The Sox will finish up playing before our season starts and the Cs will occupy regular fans minds when the Pats are not playing. In late winter/ early spring basketball will have the primetime ready Cs getting all the new england sports attention as they make their playoff run.
Pressnarc, what we can also learn is that like the Pats, when you cheat, (tanking), you’re sanctioned. Sometimes the Commish announces he’s affecting your draft, sometimes the Commish just does it. Same result.
I found nothing sanctimonious about what occurred last season. Cheating is cheating. It’s disgraceful whether your football team or your basketball team does it.
And #6…..Make sure the video camera is well hidden on the sidelines;). Seriously, I have to agree that Francoma is no Billichik. Coach Bill is amazing. I’m not sure I would want to hang out with him but he’s not getting paid to be our friend.
by The Real Large James on Sep 17, 2007 11:27 AM EDT reply actions
welcome to corporate america. it’s all about big business. as great as the pats team is, it’s not enough, hence the videogate. there are no more walter browns, to save the team. just some cheerleaders to prettify the product. let’s hope our big three are there for more than an image. and let’s hope that doc can do more than give a good press conference.
"’Where is evil? In the rat whose nature it is to steal the grain. Or in the cat, whose nature it is to kill the rat?’ – Master Po
5 lessons from Ranter? only 5? Defense Wins – that’s my favorite.
Who will teach it? Who will value it? How will we find the way?
“‘How do I find myself and the light? – Young Caine
’By taking the path that leads to The Truth.’ – Master Po
‘Will you help me walk the path?’ – Young Caine
‘I can only point the way, Grasshopper. You must walk the path yourself.’” – Master Po
6. Always pull Schilling if he makes it to the 8th.
by FrieCod on Sep 17, 2007 3:28 PM EDT reply actions
Like the article, but even if the team is very successful, this won’t be a “basketball” town. It was only a basketball town once, and sadly, that wasn’t when the Cs were winning title after title in the 60s, it was in the 80s when Bird was here. And a lot of that has to do with the futility of the Red Sox and Pats in that era. While the Cs have always been my favorite team, be honest. If the Red Sox and Pats are doing well, it will never be a basketball town. The Red Sox are a fiber of this city like no other team, and football is king among sports, so unless those two teams are bad, the Celtics will always be third.
But I agree with the sentiment of the article, particularly with regard to defense, leadership, and coaching. We certainly seem to be respecting parts 1 and 2, but watch out for another lesson from the Pats and Sox – the most expensive players aren’t necessarily the best, the important thing is fitting your system (i.e., J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo, Edgar Renteria, Matt Clement, Nomar Garciaparra v. Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Sox and Pats players on rookie contracts)
left field comment… I’d feel a lot better if we still had Delonte. :’(
by Big Cat on Sep 17, 2007 4:41 PM EDT reply actions
There are some of us that remember how fun it was rooting for championship/contending Boston Celtics teams. It will be an easy adjustment to make to feel like you have a good chance to win each game. Hopefully that’ll be the case, and I for one think it will be for at least a few years, and I’ve been convinced by the arguments made, that the chances are good for a carry-over effect into the future.
The components of all winning sports teams are pretty much the same. A well run organization that installs strong management/coaching, acquires talented high character team players, emphasizes team ethic, defense, balance, depth and for the title usually a few breaks. The Celtics have been working in the right direction since the new ownership and seem on track for a big break through with the offseason moves to accelerates
The components of all winning sports teams are pretty much the same. A well run organization that installs strong management/coaching, acquires talented high character team players, emphasizes team ethic, defense, depth and for the title usually gets a few breaks. The Celtics have been working in the right direction since the new ownership and seem on track for a big break-through with the off-season moves made to accelerate the process.
While Doc’s abilities as a coach have been questioned by many, to put it mildly, I think he has established that he can get his players to play hard for him. His use of players to put them and the team in position to succeed and his in-game decision-making are still to be truly tested. I think he’ll come through and what seem like strong additions to the coaching assistants in the last couple of years should help. But the first step, treating the players right and getting them to believe in management and the head coach has been done well under the Ainge/Rivers leadership. The Red Sox new ownership provides a fine example and in this sense and baseball teams with the length/nature of the season may have more in common with basketball than football.
I agree that Boston’s not going to be a basketball town above other pro sports, but we also know that this will almost certainly be a very good basketball town for a competitive Celtics team based on the 80’s, media interest and exposure in this age, and mostly because of strong sports team interest in New England and the preserved connection to the proud heritage that the Celtics teams of the past established.
by SteveZ from Edgemont on Sep 17, 2007 7:34 PM EDT reply actions
’Let’s keep the discussion to franchises with a legitimate history of winning.’
yes i guess 3 out of years isn’t winning.
by dmartin17 on Sep 18, 2007 3:45 PM EDT reply actions
Each franchise has it’s own problems and advantages. Basketball is probably the hardest
sport to bring to the highest level because of the
cap and the salary for salary trade restrictions.
The Sox have it the easiest with no cap and a fandom that is quite rabid. The Pats have done it
in an era that encourages parity (read mediocrity) with a cap. Their ability in talent acquisition is practically peerless. Instead of the wailing and gnashing of teeth regarding filming the other
team, let all the teams do it. The Pats will just do it better. Like they do everything else.
by Greg37 on Sep 18, 2007 5:35 PM EDT reply actions
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