NEW YORK — Column contributor Irwin Sirotta wants New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni to know how greatly indebted the Celtics and their faithful are to him for his overly generous contribution.
“First Rajon Rondo, then Nate Robinson, thanks, Mike,” memos Boston’s biased.
Robinson’s constructive impact — 13 points in the second quarter of a game already decided — figures to be momentary; the crack of dawn allocated by Doc Rivers will never be large enough to allow the ex-Knick his specialty of winning it for either side.
As for the Celtics’ leader, recently ordained publicly by influential teammates, he needs to change his name to Ron Dough . . . and not just because a freshly minted $54 million, five-year extension kicks in next season.
Rondo is money, guaranteed not to rust, bust or collect dust . . . the pressure point on defense (nobody’s better on and off the ball) and offense that rewires, recharges and reboots the Celtics.
Think of the poetic justice a Celtics-Suns series would have presented had Kobe Bryant, every bit as unstoppable as Michael Jordan was during his championship prime, not demolished (37 pulsating points in Saturday night’s 111-103 closeout to propel the Lakers to the NBA Finals plateau for the 31st time) on Dough’s opportunity to face the team that drafted him.
For those who have forgotten, the Kentucky sophomore was selected No. 21 overall, June 28, 2006. An hour or so afterward, Phoenix traded him to Boston for Brian Grant and a No. 1 pick in 2007.
At the risk of repeating something I’ve probably written before, D’Antoni was behind the Suns’ fleeting glance at Rondo. No sooner had they drafted him than D’Antoni proclaimed it was unlikely he would use him . . . because “he can’t shoot.”
So, rather than keep a guy the coach already was down on, someone who was assured of banking $1.5 million or so for two or three years, owner Robert Sarver ordered his staff to find Rondo a new home.
“There is a herd mentality in all of the professional leagues because so few people have an eye for the game and for talent,” underlined a friend of mine who played/coached college and is presently an athletic director for a designer institution.
“I agree with D’Antoni that Rondo was a poor shooter at that time, but his other gifts were evident. I believe someone once said of Churchill, ‘His flaws were immediately apparent, but his virtues became evident over time.’ “
There is nothing slow about Rondo or the emergence of his virtues.
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Not that I plan to get in an uproar over it, but I would just like a rational explanation.
How does Orlando — coming off a stellar summer stalling two nights earlier — allow itself to get left at the lurch in Game 6 . . . by a team whose mental and physical states qualified for ObamaCare?
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Late first quarter Saturday . . . loose ball rolling past mid-court to the Lakers’ basket.
Amare goes after it, though not as passionately as Jordan Farmar, who dives in pursuit while Stoudemire bends down to retrieve.
Farmar nearly lands on Stoudemire’s right ankle and calf, sending him tumbling, and picks up a foul.
“Those are the 50-50 balls, and you have to get all of them,” television commentator Doug Collins tells us.
Huh?
If you could get all of them, they wouldn’t be 50-50 balls.
Other than the TV executives who keep hiring Collins every time he becomes an unemployed coach, who’s not lighting candles that he enjoys everlasting success as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers?
Collins is such a turnoff analyst, I’ve retroactively switched my support to the Soviets regarding the 1972 Olympics controversy.
Of course, I reserve the right to retract that statement should Collins resume his permed hair style.
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Is the LeBron James/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh, et al. free agent summit anything like the old Houston Summit?
I find this whole Summit charade pretty amusing. Together, they boast one championship ring, college or pro and needed Shaq’s help to get it.
Can you imagine Jordan-Magic-Bird-Isiah-Kobe, guys with 22 rings and counting, meeting to compare notes?
As for LBJ, his hometown of Akron plans to stage “LeBron Appreciation Day” this month.
According to a wire story, it is not known at this point if James is gonna show up.
Kind of like Game 5 of the Celtics series all over again.
I’m shocked the words “Calipari” and “investigation” once again are linked in the same soiled sentence.
The paper of record reported the NCAA is taking a peek into Kentucky’s one-and-done point guard Eric Bledsoe.
Far be it for me to suggest Coach Cal might be looking to bolt the Bluegrass pronto, but he’s demanding all prospective suitors provide a company car and a pit crew.
Even BP finds this guy oily.
Peter Vecsey cover the NBAfor the New York Post.