Doc hit the WEEI airwaves today… and was asked about what the hell is going on with this team right now.
Jets center Nick Mangold said that the reason they’re
winning games is because of the closeness of the locker room. Does that
apply in the NBA?
It’s absolute and there’s no doubt about that. You can still win
games without that, but you’ll never be the winner. During the course
of a year, NBA teams go in and out with that. In football and baseball
it’s probably the same thing but definitely in basketball. That
happens. It goes in and out. The teams that become the winners and the
teams that become the ultimate winner is the team where each guy is
playing for the ultimate goal and no individual agendas and nothing
else. That happens throughout the year.
Is it harder to get that point across in January then it is in April?
It’s the process of working through it that gets you there. It is
more difficult [now.] I think every coach in the NBA will tell you that
the most difficult time to sell that [is January] because you have the
All-Star game coming up. Every individual player has dreams of being an
All-Star and it’s easy to get sidetracked from that goal.
So does he mean that when the Celtics get a lead, the guys who are borderline All Stars start to go off on individual "hey look at me… vote for me" missions? In a weird way… that's both disturbing and reassuring. Disturbing that these guys would do that.. but reassuring that it's almost over and maybe, post-All Star break we can get back to business.
Doc also addressed the Big Baby situation.
Was Glen Davis making progress, and is what he did last night a big step back?
Yeah, it is a big deal. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that it had
transpired. I didn’t know until after the game, when you talk to the
press pool and it was brought up, and you could see it was a big deal
to the press. I still don’t have the clear picture on it. I’m assuming
whoever watched the game heard it, and very clear. I didn’t even know
that. I never watch the game, when I watch film, with sound. But that
stuff can’t happen. I always say, ‘To the victors go the spoils,’ if
you know what I’m saying. If the other team is winning and the fans are
on you, that’s part of it. We’ve been taught you have to take it and
you have to keep playing. I don’t think it’s a huge step backwards, but
it is a step backwards, and Glen Davis has to grow up.
Doc pulls no punches. It's the second time he's said that about Big Baby… the first was right after he broke his hand.
Man… Davis is having a tough year. The Globe is reporting he apologized via Twitter… but I'm not 100% sure that's his twitter page. It kinda looks like a fake. We're looking into it.
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