Celtics Try to Strike Blow for the Old Guard

The tone was set from the get-go. The Boston Celtics wouldn’t wait, they would practice hours after they all had been exhausted from answering an array of annoying and unanswerable questions on Media Day.

Normally, they waited until the following day. It generally took that long to recover from the verbal bombardment.

But not this time. Not after a 42-40 season. Not after a year in which they didn’t beat a winning team on the road. Not after a sweep in the playoffs at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. And not with the considerable task ahead.

All of that suited Larry Bird just fine. “As long as we’re here, we might as well practice,” he said. “Besides, why should I care? I’ve been out long enough.”

Four weeks has passed since Bird and his teammates opened training camp. This much seems certain as the club opened the 1989-90 season Friday night against Milwaukee: Bird is on the way back--he still has a ways go--and this year’s Celtics are deeper, stronger, more determined and intent on making last year an anomaly.

Make no mistake about it, a large reason for the unbridled atmosphere in Boston is the presence of Bird. He may be shooting poorly and his conditioning and timing may be off. But he is there. He is back. And one simply cannot underestimate what that means to the success of the whole enterprise.

“To see him out there just raises everyone’s expectations and level of play,” assistant coach Chris Ford said. “They feel Larry is back and now we can do things. He’s nowhere near the top of his game. But his work ethic is something.

“He is the leader, the heart and soul of the team. He brings that to every scrimmage, every preseason game. And we need that.”

Last year, they didn’t have it. But as Coach Jimmy Rodgers has continually stated, he is avoiding any unseemly thoughts of 1988-89. And rightfully so, for this year’s team has only six players who were in Rodgers’ first camp a year ago.

Bird was one of those six, but he soon became a spectator after Nov. 19 surgery for bone spurs in both Achilles’ tendons. He never returned. He added to his conditioning problems by breaking two bones in his back at rookie camp. But he was there on Oct. 6 and he hasn’t been seriously impaired all through training camp.

“It’s coming along,” he said of his current state of health. “It’s taking a little longer than I anticipated. I’m not as consistent as I’d like to be. Hopefully, when the regular season starts, it won’t take long to find out.

“After a month, I should have a pretty good idea of where I am,” he continued. “Once I get in shape, I’ll be all right. Physically, I haven’t felt this good in a long time, so I have nothing to complain about.”

Neither has his coach. Rodgers has had an near idyllic camp. Only a series of injuries to No. 1 pick Michael Smith, about whom the club still knows next to nothing, has marred an otherwise perfect situation.

The team went 7-1. Kevin McHale willingly accepted a return to his sixth-man role, a move that will bring points off the bench and enable Ed Pinckney to blossom. Reggie Lewis still can score, and the oft-questioned backcourt seems more stable with the addition of John Bagley.

“I have not been able to find many negatives,” Rodgers said. “Everyone has worked hard, and the leadership from our veterans has been outstanding. I really like the way people have worked.”

The one inescapable conclusion drawn from training camp is that the Celtics are distinctly more businesslike this season. The whole franchise was stung by last season’s mediocre effort, and there was a unified commitment to stop the bleeding. Immediately.

Said Ford, “I think everyone came back more focused and more committed. That’s the way it has been since Day One. There have been no lapses. They’ve worked hard every day and the competition among themselves has provided a good atmosphere.”

You have to go back--way back--to find a Celtics team as deep and versatile. Rodgers has used all sorts of combinations and is big on keeping everyone fresh and involved.

Robert Parish at last has a legit backup, the first since Bill Walton. McHale and Pinckney can spell each other. The backcourt is multi-faceted if not multi-talented.

“Everyone is fighting for minutes at every position,” McHale said. “Everyone is more aggressive and everyone is digging in. I’m excited. I really am.”

McHale more than anyone should be elated to see Bird back. It was Bird who made the gutsy entry pass, who found McHale where others did not.

“Larry has such a great court awareness,” McHale said. “A lot of guys in this league are either starters or finishers. Larry is a starter and a finisher. Even if he wasn’t on the team, I think we’d be competitive because we just have a better atmosphere. But these guys see Larry out there, coming off a pick, knocking down the jumpers and it just rubs off. It’s contagious.”

That always has been Bird’s one undeniably special trait: people raise their games because of his presence on the floor.

“I know I can play the game,” he said matter-of-factly. “But it’ll be much easier once I get in shape.”

The result of Bird’s conditioning battle is one of many unknowns. On paper this is a good team, but there are others who look just as good. Or even better.

The Celtics must assert themselves on the road, and they’ll get a chance this month with games in Milwaukee, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago and Cleveland. And it remains to be seen how the Celtics, who average 29 years of age, will respond to younger, more athletic-oriented teams.

Rodgers has stressed defense from the opening of camp, and the team has put more pressure on the ball in the games. That rarely happened last year. The Celtics also have run more on offense, though Bird noted wryly, “we always run in the exhibition season.”

What seems unavoidable is that all eyes will be on Bird--and not to see what spiffy new sweater he’s sporting. He himself doesn’t know how far back he will get--or if it will be far enough to please his most demanding critic: Larry Bird.

He just knows now that he’ll be playing Friday night in a game that counts for the first time in almost a year.

“People who watch me now, they may see me miss a jump shot and say, ‘He always used to make those.’ Or see me not jump and say, ‘He used to be able to do that.’ It’s almost like a no-win situation,” he said. “But if the Celtics win the championship and I’m a part of it, everyone’s going to forget about the injury.”