The Jim Ard Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, May 2nd, 2005
The
Celtics won their thirteenth NBA Championship that season, defeating Phoenix in
a series that includes "The Greatest Game Ever Played". What was it like for
you to finally win a world championship, and what do you remember about that
triple-overtime game against the Suns?
There
are so many things that still stand out. I remember the heat in the Boston
Garden. I remember that we had a big first half – we were dominating the Suns
in just about every aspect of the game. And then, just like that, we quit
hitting shots. I don’t have an explanation for it, other than to give Phoenix
all of the credit for making the adjustments defensively. Westphal played a
great game. He helped the Suns cut into the lead in the second half, and played
a pivotal role by calling that timeout the way that he did.
The fans were rowdy, no doubt about that. I remember Gar Heard’s shot, the
clutch play of Glen McDonald, and my own contributions in overtime. And there
were so many bizarre calls by the officials. Somehow we hung on to win. I
remember thinking, in that third overtime, that whoever hung on to win this game
would probably win the series. It was that pivotal. Everybody was spent. Had
we lost that game, we would have gone to Phoenix for Game 6 needing a win just
to stay alive. The Suns would have had the huge mental and physical advantage.
Their fans would have been just unbelievable. But we were able to win it, and
then we were able to lock up the championship in Phoenix. Charlie Scott played
great in that game. Winning that championship was an unbelievable experience.
The
1975-76 champions were stocked with talent. Please tell me a little about
Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Jo Jo White and Paul Silas.
Dave
and Paul worked so well together. They were a great combination. Whenever
Dave would roam outside, Paul would be underneath the basket, hauling down
rebounds. I think each made the other a better player, and each benefited
from having the other on the court with them. Dave was the unquestioned
leader. Paul – I could talk about him all day long. He was ferocious on
the glass. He was relentless. He had those big hands and that big, strong
body. You weren’t going to get around him. Even guys much taller couldn’t
handle him. He was a beast.
Havlicek was just a great athlete, and an exceptional basketball player.
When it came down to taking the last shot, he was the guy you wanted with
the ball in his hands. If I were the coach of that team and the game was on
the line, I’d set up a play and run the ball through John. He was going to
score more often than not.
Jo Jo – he was a strong man. People may not realize that about him. He was
an ex-Marine, and he was always in such terrific shape. He could have been
a superstar on other teams in the league, but he was all about winning. Jo
Jo knew that he had Cowens, Havlicek and Silas on his team. His job was to
distribute the ball, score when the opportunity presented itself, and play
punishing defense. That, and push the ball up the court. Tom Heinsohn, who
was our coach at the time, developed an up-tempo attack that we used very
effectively. Jo Jo was key to that philosophy, and one of the main reasons
it proved so successful.
The great
Celtics teams of the 1970s often get overlooked, in large part due to the
success of the Bill Russell and Larry Bird Eras. How do the 1975-76
champions stack up against the best in the NBA today?
Well,
it depends on the rules. There were no zones back then, as there are
today. The hand-checking rules are far different today. And I understand
why all of these changes have been made. The game has evolved, and in that
process there has been some offensive stagnation. In the late eighties,
there was a trend toward isolation plays on the offensive end of the court.
There was no ball movement. A team would bring the ball up the court, and
the best player would go one-on-one and try to score. It became boring.
When you look at teams today, teams like Phoenix and Dallas, you are almost
surprised that they push the ball up the court and play team basketball.
Everyone is involved. You’ve got great players like Steve Nash and Dirk
Nowitzki, and the teams are running on every possession. There is a lot of
ball movement. It’s really beautiful to watch. Well, that’s the way
basketball was played in the ‘70s. That style was the rule, not the
exception, and it didn’t look so unique because everybody played it. Now,
it’s almost a novelty. That’s a shame, because I think that brand of
basketball is far more exciting to watch. It’s definitely more fun to play.
But to answer your question, I think a lot depends on the rules. If the
rules are the rules that we played under, then I think that gives our team
an advantage over the best in the NBA today. If we play by the rules today,
I’m not so sure how we’d stack up. I think we’d be very competitive, and
one of the better teams in the league – a contender for a championship. I
just don’t think the new rules would allow us to maximize our strengths as a
team.
