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A smorgasbord of servings from Schilling

Email|Link|Comments (1) Posted by Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff June 9, 2008 09:58 AM

Curt Schilling at Game 2. Getty Images Photo / Elsa

Rehabbing Red Sox righthander Curt Schilling weighed in on a number of Sox (and Celtics) topics today, including his take on the Manny Ramirez-Kevin Youkilis scrap in the dugout at Fenway last Thursday night and what he thinks about Kobe Bryant's leadership style.

In a 2,319-word entry on his blog, 38Pitches.com, Schilling provided some perspective on Celtics-Lakers Game 2 from his front row seats at the Garden last night: "Who doesn't know Kobe Bryant right?," asks Schilling. "I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren't doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about 'hey let's go, let's get after it' or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said 'Let's f'ing go, right now, right here' or something to that affect.

Kobe Bryant during Game 2. Reuters photo

"I am not making this observation in a good or bad way, I have no idea how the guys in the NBA play or do things like this, but I thought it was a fascinating bit of insight for me to watch someone in another sport who is in the position of a team leader and how he interacted with his team and teammates. Watching the other 11 guys, every time out it was high fives and 'Hey nice work, let's get after it' or something to that affect. He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or pissed off, the whole game. Just weird to see another sport and how it all works. I would assume that's his style and how he plays and what works for him because when I saw the leader board for scoring in the post season his name sat up top at 31+ a game, can't argue with that. But as a fan I was watching the whole thing, Kobe, his teammates and then the after effects of conversations. He'd yell at someone, make a point, or send a message, turn and walk away, and more than once the person on the other end would roll eyes or give a 'whatever dude' look."

Observing the Celtics' efforts, Schilling was clearly impressed with Kevin Garnett and how he handles himself on the court. "His eyes are on the floor, or the ball, all game," writes Schilling. "What an incredible pleasure it is to watch and be a fan of. I am blown away in that he came out of high school, something that can be a huge disadvantage, and has ALWAYS maintained who he was purported to be ...

"Last night KG goes to the line, Lamar Odom (who I became a fan of last night) is saying 'Hey KG why don't you help on the ball down here?' Pointing to the paint, and I am guess referencing the fact that KG wasn't down in the paint mixing it up. He says it again, loudly, KG doesn't even acknowledge him, and sinks both. Impressive, total focus."

More from Schilling:

On Lakers center Pau Gasol: "I don't know much about the NBA beyond some of the star players and the famous teams. I heard that the Lakers got Gasol in a horrible steal of a deal and that the league should have investigated the trade for some sort of punishable crime. I saw a 7 footer last night who grabbed like 4 rebounds and spent the entire game whining about getting fouled."

On the Youkilis vs. Manny scap: "Trust me, this was a TOTAL non-issue and an event that happens far far more than you ever see or hear about. Many times, most times, events like this play out in clubhouses and no one outside the team ever knows about it. Bottom line is that 99 times out of 100 these are never personal, just like this one. The analogy I used was this. Most teams, most non-world championship caliber teams, have things like this crop up later in the year. For pretenders it happens in August, September, the 'Dog Days'. It does so because there is an awareness or belief that games, ABs, innings are somehow more important now, and the intensity ratchets up. That's not what happens here. Due to an organization wide commitment to winning the world series every year, and a fan base that will accept nothing less, we open the season, be it in Japan or Anaheim, and play 162 games with that approach, that intensity. Things happen when you have that level of intensity and our level of talent on a daily basis. It happens, punches might get thrown, and it ends, and we move on."

On Manny hitting 500 homers: "The thing about Manny is this. Those 500 homers come with other even more impressive numbers that make his 1st ballot HOF selection a lock. His consistency year in and year out are astounding and in some cases unprecedented. I've said before, when you do something in a game that is more than a century old, for the first time, or only time, you've truly done something. Congrats to Manny and here's to him hitting 600 here at Fenway."

Read Schilling's complete post on last night's Celtics game and much more at 38Pitches.com.

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1 comments so far...

Curt Schilling...maybe instead of telling us about what you saw on the basketball court, like anybody cares at all about it, you should focus on getting back from your injury, coming back after u used to throw 98 and now throw 88 and shut your mouth for once in your life.

I wonder why Curt had nothing bad to say about any celtic players?

Gasol grabbed 4 rebounds Curt? The box score says 10...maybe they were wrong...

U want to see a guy complain about every call, take a look at Paul Pierce...Cmon man, stick with what you know man. Why would u go at Kobe Bryant? One of the best to ever do it man, the closest we have to MJ and your gunna knock him because his team was playing soft?

Knock a guy like Manny, who fights his own guys. Your a joke, only a guy whose layed up on the DL is gunna knock a team in the Finals of the NBA...

U wanna talk about Soft- AL KG does is shoot outside jumpers, get back healthy so u can come back and get rocked...

Posted by Joshua June 10, 08 11:56 AM