Cavaliers: Wally Szczerbiak familiar with Celtics’ rich tradition
NorthCoastNOW
INDEPENDENCE — The team struggled mightily when he was there, but Wally Szczerbiak knows all about the storied past — and present — of the Boston Celtics.
He knows about Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and current stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. He’s aware the Celtics have won 16 NBA championships. He knows about the parquet floor, the leprechaun and former coach and general manager Red Auerbach’s victory cigar.
“It’s a lot of history and you have to respect the tradition,” Szczerbiak said Sunday prior to a Cavaliers practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. “They’ve had a lot of great teams and won a lot of championships. As a player, though, you can’t think about that.”
That’s because Szczerbiak and the defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers will take on the Celtics in a best-of-seven, second-round series that will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Boston’s TD Banknorth Center.
“I’m a Cleveland Cavalier now,” Szczerbiak said. “I want to win this series more than anything. At the same time, you’ve got to respect that group over there (in Boston) and what they’ve done.”
What the Celtics did was win an NBA-best 66 games in the regular season, which is 42 more than they won when Szczerbiak played for them in 2006-07 (he also spent part of 2005-06 in Boston).
That improvement was due largely to the offseason acquisitions of Garnett and Allen, with whom Szczerbiak also has ties. The 6-foot-7, 245-pounder spent the first 6½ seasons of his NBA career playing with K.G. in Minnesota — an angry Garnett once punched him — and was part of the trade with Seattle that brought Allen to Boston.
Szczerbiak and former Celtics and SuperSonics teammate Delonte West were then part of the Feb. 21 blockbuster trade that also brought Ben Wallace and Joe Smith to Cleveland. Szczerbiak and West now comprise the Cavaliers’ starting backcourt.
“I had a great time in Boston,” Szczerbiak said. “It’s a class organization. From (coach) Doc Rivers, up and down the line, they’re great people.”
At the same time, the ninth-year pro fully understands why the Celtics needed to make a major overhaul and bring in a superstar and great shooter to play alongside Pierce.
“It’s self-explanatory what (Garnett) brings,” Szczerbiak said. “He’s really elevated that team quite a bit, but we’ve got to try to beat them. That’s the bottom line.”
Szczerbiak’s time with the Cavaliers has featured way more downs than ups, but he’s coming off a great Game 6 performance against the Washington Wizards — a career-playoff-high 26-point effort that featured 6-of-13 shooting from the 3-point line.
“I told Wally at shootaround (on Friday) that I needed 17 to 20 points from him,” Cavaliers small forward LeBron James said. “What Wally has to understand is that with all the double teams I get, he doesn’t have to work hard for his shot. All he has to do is catch and shoot.”
That realization finally seemed to hit home in Game 6, as Szczerbiak scored 11 points in the first nine minutes, including three 3-pointers.
“I stepped up and made shots,” he said. “I was aggressive. I didn’t hesitate early and I did what I do best.
“It did a lot (confidence-wise), no question. I needed to get a game like that under my belt to get comfortable.”
The next challenge is to perform well against the Celtics, who held their opponents to the lowest field-goal percentage in the league.
“Every game is a new game and every series is a new series,” Szczerbiak said. “Right now, we’re on even ground. You throw out all the banners from the past. You throw out all the championships from the past and just go play basketball.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.
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Filed by NorthCoastNOW May 5th, 2008 in Sports.
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