Chris Bosh intimidated by the TD Garden crowd
Chris Bosh admitted something surprising after Saturday’s Game 3: he was intimidated by the TD Garden crowd. (ESPN)
“Given all the elements that were out there last night … they were so hyped,” Bosh said. “My emotions got the best of me early on and it kind of dictated what I was doing for the rest of the game.” …
“I was not trusting my game,” Bosh said. “The toughest thing to do in hostile environments is not just to trust your teammates but to trust yourself. Trust things you’ve been doing all your life.” …
“There’s a bunch of things I could’ve done better personally to affect the game more and get myself in rhythm,” Bosh said. “Mistakes teach you more than anything else. Last night’s game was a huge teacher.” …
“I wasn’t relaxing and playing, I play better when I’m just relaxing,” Bosh said. “I have to take the emotions out and play basketball.”
Look, I played basketball. I never quite played in front of 20,000 fans, but I played in front of some hostile environments. I played in front of crowds that chanted “Brokeback Mountain” every time one of my teammates was at the line. I played in front of crowds that harassed me for my hair (which, at the time, was very Tom Brady-ish, except Giselle didn’t tell me what to do). I played in front of crowds that made fun of my mother, yelled derogatory things about my girlfriend, and generally did some really scumbag things.
Despite anything ever directed at me, I never, ever stopped trusting my game just because the crowd was rooting against me. If anything, visiting crowds lifted me to another level. And I was just a halfway-decent high school player, barely good enough to ride the bench for one of the very worst teams in Division III. I’m not trying to toot my own horn, either. I just assumed everyone was like that. Not Bosh, though.
Look, Bosh is a supremely talented player. He’s 6’11 with soft touch and a nice face-up game. There are reasons he was so sought-after this summer. But let’s be honest: it’s about time he becomes a man. Even if, as a Celtics fan, I’m hoping he stays just the way he is.
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Celtics Blog | Jay King | May 9, 2011
I think Bosh is just being honest. I like Bosh. I think we can beat. I certainly hope Garnett and the Garden can continue to intimidate him and turn him into a Garden nonfactor. Doesn’t mean I’d hate seeing him in Green one day, on the receiving end of Rondo passes …
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DAMN! I wonder how it feels to be in TD Garden… :’(
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one game away from playing on the garden floor back in hs…..
bosh is a bitch… he says dumb things, hes not a super super star because stars never admit that stuff , NEVER
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I’m losing respect for Doc fast. It started earlier in this season, when Rondo went out for a while, and Doc tried to play it off as ‘just losing another guy’. He would never have tried to play off losing one of the Big Three that way, as was demonstrated when Garnett went down a little later in the season. There was no pretense then by Doc that Garnett was ‘just another guy’.
Then came The Trade. I think that 90% of Celtics fans understood instantly that Ainge’s Folly had turned us instantly from championship frontrunners to mere hopefuls, just so he could avoid a possible future contract problem with Perkins. But most of those fans were persuaded to love the trade by Doc primarily, by the fact that Doc chose not to be honest about what had happened, but to try to sell the public and his team on Ainge’s blatant prevarications, EVEN AFTER Ainge publically admitted (in a stunning moment of candor) that he ‘probably wouldn’t have made The Trade had Perkins signed his contract offer’. Small wonder that ubuntu thinned out like mountain air, down the stretch. Doc has a lot of credibility, but he’s spending it down fast.
Now he’d rather protect Wade than Rondo, declaring that Wade didn’t mean to hurt Rondo. Really? Wade backed up hard into Rondo (clearly not just blocking out), knocked Rondo off balance, lost his own balance, and then grabbed Rondo on one side, did a leg sweep on the other, and used his weight and power to drive Rondo into the Garden floor. Not trying to hurt Rondo? Every fan knows that’s a lie. And it’s not like we hate Wade. Most of us like Wade a lot. But we can see what’s patently obvious; that Wade has lost track of the difference between playing tough and playing thug. The league should remind him to dial it back, but if the league isn’t going to do it, Doc certainly should.
But I think we can all agree with Rivers on one thing: the way for the Celtics to retaliate tonight is to play tough, play aggressive, and beat the Heat while showing them what championship basketball is really all about.
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Doc may be saying that to keep his team from retaliating. The last thing they need is a suspension right now (unless they send Troy Murphy into the game to competely jack up Wade with a hard elbow to his throat, something I would not be opposed to)
I would recommend Krystic for the task, but something tells me he would miss his target and likely hit one of his teammates in the throat.
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