Belichick offers support
If there is a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals, perhaps Patriots coach Bill Belichick might feel compelled to do more than grace the Celtics with his presence courtside at TD Banknorth Garden.
Perhaps, Belichick might replace Lucky the Leprechaun for one game, don the green, and hurl himself through the air on those trampoline-aided dunks. Then again, maybe not. Still, Belichick has been such a devotee of the Celtics of late, and become such a fixture at home games during this series, he's drawn the loudest cheers when he's been shown on the video screens above the court.
"I feel like the team mascot," Belichick told reporters today in Foxborough.
Belichick, who has been spotted seated near the visitors' bench, hasn't been the only one from the Patriots organization to lend the Celtics their support. Adalius Thomas, Richard Seymour, and Vince Wilfork have been regulars at home games this season.
While his friendship with Red Sox skipper Terry Francona is no secret, Belichick was asked what kind of rapport he enjoyed with Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
"Doc and I have talked several times over the last few years," Belichick said. "He has been really supportive of us and I really appreciate that. The Celtics take great care of not only me, but you also see a lot or our players [at games]. I know all the guys love to get over there and watch those great athletes perform. The Celtics have been great. They have been very supportive of us and they have taken great care of us and we appreciate it.
"We are pulling for them," Belichick added. "Hopefully, they won't have to come back from Detroit and play them Sunday. Hopefully, they can wrap it up in Detroit. We are pulling for that."
Less is more
Rivers said his decision to shorten his rotation of big men in Wednesday's Game 5 - limiting it to Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, and P.J. Brown - wasn't based on a gut decision. "We actually do give these things thought," Rivers said with a laugh. "We meet as a staff and we talk about stuff before we go into games, and we just wanted to limit and shorten the rotation as much as we could. The key for us was trying to keep Kevin or Perk in when Rasheed [ Wallace] was in. That's basically what we were doing." Asked if he was happy with the result, especially given the 33 points submitted by Garnett and the monster 18-point, 16-rebound game by Perkins, Rivers said, "Oh, I was happy with the way Perk played, so yeah. Will we do that again? We may. But we did it for a specific reason." . . . Rivers had nothing new to report on Tony Allen, who did not dress for Game 5 after injuring his right ankle playing one-on-one Tuesday. "I haven't talked to him or [trainer] Eddie Lacerte yet," Rivers said. "He was in this morning getting treatment, and we'll find out tomorrow." . . . An aficionado of the fight game, Rivers said he has taken up the practice of showing the team films of Muhammad Ali bouts. "You're obviously going to hit some in the playoffs, but you're going to get hit and you're going to get hit hard, and the key is how many times can you get hit and still move forward," said Rivers. "That's basically the real theme of it is how many times can you get hit and keep moving forward, and that's what champions are made of and that's what we talk about." Asked if it would be apropos to show the team clips of Marvelous Marvin Hagler, of Brockton, vs. Thomas "Hitman" Hearns, of Detroit, Rivers said with a laugh, "No, because they quit too early. It was three rounds." Told that Hagler and Hearns traded haymakers, Rivers replied, "Yeah, they were haymakers. I think the best one, for me obviously, and guys who know me know I love fights and I love Alis, is the [George ] Foreman-Ali fight where he took punishment for eight rounds and then got off the ropes, obviously. Then there's the Thrilla in Manila, you don't even have to use words. Just show the fight."
