Do you remember where you were when the Boston Celtics signed Brian Scalabrine? I sure as hell don't. In my defense the Celtics announced the deal on August 2, 2005. That would be summer. And since I was not yet a blogger, one can assume I had some sort of a life and was probably doing something cool. That's what I like to tell myself at least. However, if you rephrased the question and asked, "Do you remember where you were when you heard how much money the Celtics gave Brian Scalabrine?" then the answer is most definitely yes. I learned the figure while playing pick up basketball with some friends. The point guard on my squad mentioned it between games and I was absolutely floored. I thought, "Are there two Brian Scalabrines?" After a little bit of research I learned that as far as the NBA and the Boston Celtics were concerned there was only one Brian Scalabrine. And yes he had parlayed 4 years with the New Jersey Nets, which essentially boils down to his performance in game 5 of the 2004 playoffs against the Pistons - 17 points, a save of a ball going out of bounds and a victory clinching three pointer in that triple OT affair, into a $15 million contract. Also don't forget about his brain type. Courtesy of a Kiki Vandeweghe Daily Dime:
I tried like hell to put a positive spin on the signing at the time. I could not. Although in hindsight I may have underestimated the time he made the Boston Pro Summer League 2nd Team in 2003. Regardless the Bird/Jordan brain type did nothing for me. And Scalabrine did not come out and silence his critics. His 38% field goal shooting, 13 minutes a game, ill-fated blog and of course the big contract failed to impress the fan base. 2006 was a wash.
While the Celtics' fortunes continued to spiral downward in 2007, people started to come around on Scalabrine, due in part to the fact that he appeared to be in better shape. Meanwhile, Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce and others praised his defense and expressed their displeasure with the fans' treatment of Scal. However, it was not until the Celtics acquired Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Eddie House, Scot Pollard, and James Posey that Scalabrine's true value would be revealed to us. He was billed as an intelligent glue guy who would do the little things to help a team win. Scal's supporters claimed this was the perfect team for him. 30 regular season games, a handful of DNPs and one huge game by Glen Davis on the road against Detroit later and I'm left wondering what Scal's role will be as the season progresses. As it stands now he may just be a good character guy that the fans cheer for in blow out home victories. In case you missed it Celtics' fans chant, "SCAL-A-BRINE" in big wins and go crazy if the red head scores. And that's cool. Hey if the guys like him, he practices well and is an all around positive presence I'll take it. It's hard to complain when the team is 29-3.