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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN num: 9781416552123
ISBN number: 141655212X
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: February 01, 2007
Publishing house: Simon & Schuster
Sale Popularity Level: 382150
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Rated by buyers 
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Peter May's book about the 1985-86 Celtics is a great way for Celtics fans to experience the franchise's greatest season for a second time.
I was only 9 years old during that basketball season, meaning it was the very first Boston sports championship I could really comprehend. I have vivid memories of watching those playoff games with my parents -- the Ralph Sampson fight with Jerry Sichting, the stunning home dominance, Bill Walton's impact off the bench, etc.
But it was great, years later, when I was old enough to fully appreciate what that team had accomplished, to get a view from the inside. May has covered the Celtics for a long time, and he told some great anecdotes while presenting the season in a nice narrative. Because basketball teams only have 12-15 players, I felt like I knew them all when I finished the book.
It's hard for me to say how a casual NBA fan, or a non-Celtics fan, would feel about this book. It's a book about one season and very little else; there are no cultural issues or prolonged looks into NBA history. But readers will learn more than what they got from watching the Celtics that season. It's not a classic by any means, but Celtics fans over the age of 30 would love it, and those under 30 will enjoy getting a closer look at the superstars -- including the original Big Three -- their parents have spoken so highly about for so many years.
Rated by buyers 
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The 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers would have smashed the 1985-86 Celtics' team into the hardwood. Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale would have been rendered helpless in the paint against 7-1, 300 lbs Wilt Chamberlain and the 6-10, 275 lbs Luke Jackson, two of the strongest players in NBA history. Between them they averaged close to 40 rebounds per game----that's more than the per game average of the entire 1985-86 Celtic team. The sensational Bird would be his usual handful, but that would not be nearly enough to compensate for the 76ers' incredible array of talent. Beyond Wilt's 25 ppg, 25 rpg, and 8 apg, and Luke's tenacious rebounding, intimidation, and defense in the paint, the Celtics would also have to contend with three other 20 points per game scorers, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, and Chet Walker. The 76ers could run you off the court, break your bones under the basket, or simply shoot the lights out from the corners and top of the key. I'm not sure if Mr. May actually believes his hyperpole or he is simply trying to sell his book. Either way, the term "the greatest" is very elastic; but since the author took it upon himself to write in absolutes, I'll respond by stating that the 1966-67 76ers would have absolutely destroyed the 1985-86 Celtics. Put that in your purple beer and drink it.
Rated by buyers -
is to counteract the plethora of IDIOTIC opinions such as the last one that have no sense of historical context. Notice how the last reviewer's greatest list consisted of teams of the past decade (which by all accounts and standards consists of watered-down teams and play) and the 1986-87 Lakers (which btw wasn't even the best Laker team of all time in terms of record or strength of competition) while "he" called the Celtics teams from 1957-1969 who won 11 out of 13 years "OVERRATED". What's next? Titanic is the greatest movie of all time? Leonardo DiCaprio is the greatest actor? Justin Timberlake is the best singer?
Although I am a Celtics fan, esp. of the incredible 1985-86 team which I do think is the best for many of the same reasons as stated in the book, I can objectively state that really only four teams deserve to be in the discusion as the greatest single season team: the 1967 Sixers, the 1983 Sixers, the 1986 Celtics, and the 1972 Lakers. The books that chronicle these other teams also make good points too. This book does a reasonable job of showing why these 1985-86 Celtics should be there. In addition, this book gives a great chronicle of the entire 1985-86 season.
One more opinion that I would state is that at any given time, the 1986 Celtics could put on the court FOUR of the NBA's Top 50 (and s/b 5 because Dennis Johnson was certainly worthy of being in the list). The only other team who could even possibly boast this would be those "overrated" Celtics teams from the 1950s and 1960s.
BTW, if this opinion seems far-fetched, note that on a recent ESPN poll show, this 1985-86 Celtics team was ranked third of teams of all time and the number 1 team on that poll, the 1996 Bulls, was deservedly ridiculed by the second-guessers. The number 2 team, the 1972 Lakers, is too tough to argue against. There are also many articles on the web that state why the previous reviewer's argument is greatly flawed.
Another note, the past reviewer was right about three things, 1) the 1985-86 Celtics team was the best Celtics team of all time (which is obvious given that it is in the top 5 of greatest teams of all time), 2) yes you can see the old games on DVD, the old games show just how incredibly talented and in sync the 1986 Cs were, and 3) the 1986 Rockets were that good, so good that they beat a team that was quite similar to the 1987 Lakers in 5 games. However, when you lose by double digits in 3 games to the Cs, bad calls will almost never explain that. But believe this, if the 1986 Celtics could handle both Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon, they can certainly deal with Shaq plus whatever scrub big man was subsequent to him and they certainly would've obliterated the 1987 Lakers if the Cs were at full strength (even at half strength the Cs pulled off two victories against a Laker team that on paper should've swept them and this was after the Cs playing two consecutive seven game series with one of them being the eventual champion Detroit Pistons).
Rated by buyers 
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Peter May is right about one thing, the 1985-86 Boston Celtics championship team was special:with Bill Walton added to the team that lost in 6 games to the 1984-85 NBA Champion LA Lakers, the Bird-Walton combination was devestating, and the 67-15 regualar season record and 15-3 in the playoffs proved it. And May's right about something else, too, that Bird and Walton had a special chemistry, something never seen before or since between two NBA big men, a unique ability to know what play the other player wanted, and when!
But the problem with this book is its claim that this was the BEST TEAM EVER, and with today's acess to dvds of old games, all you have to do is look at the 1986 very first round playoff series against Chicago to see the Celtics' weaknesses. Yes, they beat the Bulls in 3 straight games--the very first round series were best-of-five then--but the legendary GAME TWO was a matchup against a younger, quicker Chicago team that with a healthy Jawann Oldham in the lineup might have toppled the Celtics. As it is, they came very close in the Game Two, the famous game where Michael Jordan scored 63 points in double overtime.
And other teams that were better? Even the team the Celtics beat to win the 1986 Championship, the Houston Rockets, who on video in Games 1 and 2 were the recipients of some terrible hometown Boston calls by referees. With Lewis Lloyd and Robert Reid in the backcourt, and Jim Petersen, Ralph Sampson and Akeem Olajuwan up front, the Rockets weren't just faster, they were bigger, too! If the Rockets had gotten the calls in Games 1 and 2, the series might have ended differently. And the 1987 Lakers team ran the Celtics off the court, and even though, yes, there was no healthy Bill Walton or Kevin McHale, who did the Celtics have to stop Magic Johnson at his peak??? Heck, they couldn't even stop Byron Scott!
And of course, there's the Jordan-Pippen-Rodman Bulls, about whom former Celtic Dennis Johnson himself was once quoted as saying, "I know we could have stayed competitive with them, but could we have beaten them...I just don't know..."
And then there's the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant-Coach Phil Jackson LA Lakers, probably the REAL BEST TEAM EVER, with ULTIMATE CENTER SHAQ, and THE BEST BOSTON TEAM EVER would be lucky to last 5 games against them! Who would have guarded Shaq? And Danny Ainge or DJ against Kobe Bryant??? Forget it!
And another team in the running for BEST TEAM EVER never even made the Finals, the 1999-2000 Portland Trailblazers, with Arvydas Sabonis--an even bigger and stronger version of Bill Walton--at center--Rasheed Wallace at his peak at power forward, Scottie Pippen at small forward, and guys like Detlef Schrempf, Stacey Augmon, and Jermaine O'Neal on the bench, and only bad coaching by Mike Dunleavy cost them the title!
The 1985-86 Boston Celtics team was THE BEST BOSTON CELTICS TEAM EVER, because Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Bill Walton, Dennis Johson, and Danny Ainge would have destroyed the former Celtic championship teams like the John Havlicek-Dave Cowens-Paul Silas 1970s champions, or even the many overrated Bill Russell winners of the 1960s and 1950s, but there were a lot of other teams that were better, and I haven't even gotten to the 76ers yet! The 1985-86 Boston Celtics was the BEST BOSTON CELTICS TEAM EVER, and that's all!
Rated by buyers 
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This book chronicles the 1985-86 Celtics--a team that the author thinks would beat any team before or since in the NBA. I agree with him--it's nauseating to hear people say with a straight face that the champions of today's expansion-diluted era could beat Bird, McHale, D.J., Ainge, and The Chief.
If you pine for the days when the NBA was filled with teams that could score in triple digits and when the NBA Finals was an event that you looked forward to with relish every year, read this book.
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