Kite Has Numbers as Proof

Earlier in the season, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe called Greg Kite “the least talented player in the NBA.” Another paper called him “the most boring athlete in Boston.”

Here was Tony Kornheiser’s lead in the Washington Post after Game 3:

“BOSTON--Apparently, a radio guy in L.A. called the Celtics ‘dog meat,’ which led to a radio station here putting up a billboard at Logan Airport that says, ‘Every dog has his day. Go Celtics.’ Which in its way leads us to Greg Kite, the Celtics’ deep-depth center, who has been called a dog so often, he answers to whistles the rest of us don’t even hear.”

Not a lot of respect there. Did the media go overboard on Kite’s no-points, nine-rebound performance against the Lakers?

Not the way Sam Goldaper of the New York Times explains it. When Kite replaced Robert Parish with eight minutes to go in the first half, the Celtics were trailing, 39-30. When Parish returned with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, the Celtics were leading, 82-69. That’s a 22-point swing.

Kite even came through after the game, proving to be anything but a bore in interviews.

Asked what adjustments the Lakers would have to make against him in Game 4, he said: “No major adjustment. Just double-team me and watch when I spot up for the 3s.”

Add Kite: Asked about Tom Kite, winner of the Kemper Open, he said: “We’re not related as far as I know, but it was a great day for the Kites. We both came from Texas, so maybe there are some roots somewhere.”

If so, one would guess some of the roots got more water. Tom is 5-8 1/2. Greg is 6-11.

For What It’s Worth: Greg Kite, Fred Roberts and Danny Ainge of the Celtics were teammates on the 1980-81 Brigham Young team that beat UCLA in the NCAA East Regional, 78-55. It’s the worst playoff loss ever suffered by the Bruins. Ainge had 37 points, Roberts 17 and Kite 12.

BYU then beat Notre Dame, 51-50, on Ainge’s length-of-the-court drive for a buzzer-beating shot, but then lost to Ralph Sampson and Virginia, 74-60, in the regional final. Sampson outscored Kite, 22 to 4.

Add Ainge: Giving the parquet floor an assist for slowing up the Lakers, he said: “This is a slow court. A lot of times you bounce the ball on a fast break and it doesn’t come up. You never know when you dribble behind your back when you’re going to come up empty.”

Wait a Minute: Said Byron Scott of the Lakers after the game: “Nobody said it would be easy.”

Yes, they did.

Trivia Time: On the day Rick Monday rescued the American flag from protesters at Dodger Stadium, why didn’t he return to the Dodger dugout after the inning? (Answer below.)

Just Asking: Now that Penn State and Indiana have won the football and basketball titles under those apostles of purity, Joe Paterno and Bobby Knight, and Stanford, the Harvard of the West, has won the baseball title, will the college scouts start looking at grade-point averages instead of 40-yard dash times?

Trivia Answer: He was playing for the Chicago Cubs. The year was 1976. The next year he was traded to the Dodgers in a deal that sent Bill Buckner to the Cubs. Quotebook

Bob Hope, on the exclusiveness of Cypress Point on the Monterey Peninsula: “Cypress had a very successful membership drive last month. They drove out 40 members.”