Stephon Marbury's months long wait in NBA purgatory ended tonight. After finally gaining his basketball freedom from his hometown Knicks earlier this week, Marbury made his debut for his new team, the defending champion Boston Celtics. In a 104-99 victory, Marbury made his presence felt by contributing 8 points on 4 for 6 shooting in 13 minutes off the Celtic bench.
That's the journalistic lede, if you will. The Dragnet, just the facts, maam. The who, what, when, where, not even the why.
But it doesn't come close to doing the story justice. Dive in, delve into the details and back stories and you'll see that the full story is much more layered and way more complicated.
Marbury himself is a tough one to pinpoint. A unmistakable talent, Steph was a much heralded phenom from a rough neighborhood that inspired biographies and documentaries about him while he was still in high school. He has put up great numbers in the NBA but has bounced around and each time the team he leaves seems to improve after his departure.
In 2004, Marbury ended up with his hometown Knicks with hopes of redemption. Things soured quickly as the Knicks of the Isiah era became a laughingstock with Marbury front and center. The new regime came along in 2008 and DAntoni realized that he'd rather wipe the slate clean than deal with Marbury. Steph ended up sitting out more than half of 2009 season while collecting one of the 5 biggest salaries in the NBA.
So that's the version of the story that created the public perception: Marbury's a bad guy. A loser. A chemistry killer. Talent wasted. Overpaid.
And why not? He left New Jersey and Phoenix and their teams improved the next year. He was notoriously involved in Isiah's sexual harassment case. The Knicks were willing to pay him $20 million this year to not play.
Now I'm stuck trying to make sense of things after my favorite squad the Celtics signed Marbury for the remainder of the season. On one hand, it's Marbury. On the other, the Celtics are trying to defend their championship and they acquired a player who fills some of their most glaring needs.
I guess I go with Pizzle's theory of sports relativity which says that, basically, it's all situational. Because winning is the ultimate measure of success, players often get unfairly labeled based on being stuck in bad situations. In Steph's case, the theory would say he's been unfairly labeled as a bum when in reality he was just in bad situations. This theory works perfectly for my current situation:
Marbury to the Celtics is an ideal fit, a perfect situation. This Celtics team needs another guard to give 20 solid minutes of the bench. Someone who can take the ballhandling duties from Eddie House and provide some offense, while being able to handle some of the bigger guards on D. Marbury is the perfect fit. Marbury gets a chance to clean up his reputation by helping a team defend a championship. On paper, it's a win, win.
The first game has me believing the hype. Stay tuned...
Friday, February 27, 2009
Starbury Signs with the Celts
I am one of the few Knicks fans on earth who considers himself a Stephon Marbury apologist. Let's get that out of the way. I've never thought he posed as great a threat to a successful Knicks team as was generally accepted. The presence of outspoken vets like Quentin Richardson (lose some weight before you run your mouth and question someone's dedication), Malik Rose (struggling to be relevant long after he was a useful player), and David Lee (all bark, some bite; soon to be grossly overpaid), enhanced Marbury's reputation as a polarizing locker room figure. The comically disheveled state of the Knicks organization prior to Donnie Walsh's arrival only exacerbated the effect of the constant sniping from Marbury's teammates.
Enter Walsh, and it was pretty clear to anyone familiar with the workings of an NBA team that with Marbury in the last year of his gargantuan contract, he wasn't part of the Knicks future. Most are familiar with the way things unfolded at the outset of the 2008-09 season. Marbury was famously benched in the first handful of games, the Knicks swung a couple of trades opening up spots in the rotation, and Marbury either refused Coach D'Antoni's order to play major minutes, or politely declined, depending on whose side of the story you believe.
Marbury's contract was recently bought out by the Knicks, prior to the March 1 deadline for waived players to be eligible for the playoff roster of other potential employers. And so ended the ill-fated marriage between Marbury and his hometown team. It is a saga that could not have concluded more tragically.
As fate would have it, Marbury has been granted a second life with none other than the world champion Boston Celtics. It is a chance to shed the "career loser" label that has been bestowed upon him, justly or otherwise. Nothing would anger the New York fan base more than for Marbury to contribute in a meaninful way towards a successful Celtic title defense. He's been absolutely lambasted by fans calling the sports talk radio stations this week, having been wished every ill fate short of death. It is the culmination of a relationship gone sour. But now, Marbury has a chance to wash that taste from his mouth, possibly with champagne.
Ironically, Marbury will wear number 8, the same number of former Celtic prodigal son and fan pushpin doll, Antoine Walker.
Enter Walsh, and it was pretty clear to anyone familiar with the workings of an NBA team that with Marbury in the last year of his gargantuan contract, he wasn't part of the Knicks future. Most are familiar with the way things unfolded at the outset of the 2008-09 season. Marbury was famously benched in the first handful of games, the Knicks swung a couple of trades opening up spots in the rotation, and Marbury either refused Coach D'Antoni's order to play major minutes, or politely declined, depending on whose side of the story you believe.
Marbury's contract was recently bought out by the Knicks, prior to the March 1 deadline for waived players to be eligible for the playoff roster of other potential employers. And so ended the ill-fated marriage between Marbury and his hometown team. It is a saga that could not have concluded more tragically.
As fate would have it, Marbury has been granted a second life with none other than the world champion Boston Celtics. It is a chance to shed the "career loser" label that has been bestowed upon him, justly or otherwise. Nothing would anger the New York fan base more than for Marbury to contribute in a meaninful way towards a successful Celtic title defense. He's been absolutely lambasted by fans calling the sports talk radio stations this week, having been wished every ill fate short of death. It is the culmination of a relationship gone sour. But now, Marbury has a chance to wash that taste from his mouth, possibly with champagne.
Ironically, Marbury will wear number 8, the same number of former Celtic prodigal son and fan pushpin doll, Antoine Walker.
Monday, February 23, 2009
About us
Pizzle and NC would like to present our blog, (un)creatively named Boston vs. NY. It isn't necessarily a theme of the blog, but lets just say that Pizzle doesn't love Boston sports (specifically, the Sawx and Kevin Girlett), and Botz, while not as flagrant in his expressions, doesn't really love the NY sports scene.
But this is about more than that. It's a medium through which we can discuss sports in an attempt to break down conventional wisdom about particular players, coaches, sports, and philosophies. And bring each other to fisticuffs...
But this is about more than that. It's a medium through which we can discuss sports in an attempt to break down conventional wisdom about particular players, coaches, sports, and philosophies. And bring each other to fisticuffs...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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