Monthly Review HONDO

The book HONDO – Celtic Man in Motion, by John Havlicek and Bob Ryan, is an autobiographical book written by a professional basketball player who played for the Boston Celtics during the 1960’s through the 1980’s. He decided to write this book because he wanted to share with others his life and basketball journey by including all of his disappointments, failures, and successes. He talks a little about his childhood and how he was from a poor family and he learned that he had to work hard to earn everything. The main audience he wrote this book for is for the fans and followers of the Boston Celtics, the athletes who were his teammates, his opponents who he played against, and those who may have heard of him or watched him play, but really didn’t know much about his personal life. I think he does a great job explaining the game of basketball because as a basketball player myself, I can really relate to his thoughts and experiences. John was a product of this environment; humble, hardworking, honest, family oriented, and poor. The only choice he had was to earn his way since he was not about to be given opportunities easily. But when he was given an opportunity, he made sure to seize it.

At Bridgeport High School, Havlicek starred in basketball, baseball and football. An All-State selection in all three sports, he was a highly recruited quarterback who could throw the ball 80 yards. He got scholarships to many colleges and his father was confused because he thought it was weird someone would let his son go to school for free because he played basketball. But with no interest in sports or school, he let John go with no argument.

“My dad didn’t know much about either sports or schooling. When I began to get scholarship offers from various colleges, he thought it was a little strange. Why would someone send me to school for nothing just because I played basketball well? But he certainly wasn’t going to say no.”

Hondo chose Ohio State but did not play football. Although he did play baseball and batted over .400 in his freshman year, he focused on basketball. A collegiate All-American, Havlicek scored 14.6 points per game in three varsity seasons, playing on Buckeyes teams with Jerry Lucas, Bobby Knight and future Celtics teammate Larry Siegfried. Havlicek's Ohio State teams compiled a 78-6 record and won an NCAA Championship in 1960. The one thing that Hondo regrets and will always be the most disappointed at was when he did not make the Olympic team in 1960. He truly believed that he should have been on the team and he was cheated because of politics in the Olympic basketball committee. He explains how he was one of the best players in the try outs and he wasn’t selected because there were other college players that had political associations with the committee.

“About the only unpleasant aspect of my amateur career, aside from losing two NCAA title games to Cincinnati, was my experience with the Olympic basketball committee. Not making the 1960 Olympics basketball team because of politics in choosing the team is my most bitter disappointment in sports, and I will never get over it. You get only one chance. I knew I should have been there, and I wasn’t.”

During the course of Havlicek’s basketball career, he has had many successes. In his college career, he won a NCAA championship in 1960 (the year he didn’t get picked to be on the Olympic team.) As a rookie for the Boston Celtics, he made the rookie all-star team. The amazing part about Hondo is that he did not start the games he played. He was best known as being the “sixth man.” His coach Red Auerbach did this on purpose because usually a team has their five best players on the court as the starters. But when they substitute players, the substitute player is not as good as the starter. So when other teams made their substitutions, they lowered they’re overall abilities on the court by subbing their starters for bench players, the Celtics gained ability by putting in Hondo.

“Coming off the bench mostly as a forward, he averaged 14.3 points during his rookie year, many of them coming at the receiving end of Cousy's famous passes on the fast break." I made a living off Bob Cousy," Havlicek often said.”

Hondo is also well known for his constant movement and stamina. He says that he developed his stamina and creative moves from when he was a small boy and he had to get to places from his home by running through the woods and dodging trees because his parents had no time to drive him and they didn’t want him riding a bicycle so very near to the freeway next to their house.

“I developed my stamina and ability to change directions from playing in the woods near my home, taking a path to the top of the hill and on the way down, I would not take the path but run down the hill dodging trees using different fakes and maneuvers.”

He won eight NBA championships with Boston Celtics and in 1974, he earned the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award. Seven Times in a row he made the All NBA Second Team from 1964-1970. Then he made the All NBA First team 4 years in a row from 1971-1974.



Hondo mentions that he is very lucky to have been picked by the Celtics because they really appreciated his hard work and he fit well into their system. He also thanks the Celtics for making him a better player than he would have been if he was on another team. He learned how to be more of an offensive threat to score and to make things happens instead of just playing defensive.

“Had I not broken in with the Celtics, my game would have been stymied. My game was based on constant movement without the ball and I possessed little one-on-one ability. The Celtics used me to the best advantage. Had I gone with anyone else, I would have been little more than a mediocre ball player.”

Another trait that John Havlicek had was that he got the job done no matter how he did it. He didn’t care if he looked bad doing something as long as the results came out good, it wouldn’t have mattered to him. He wasn’t an egotistical person so he didn’t care about what people thought of how he looked. He was taught by the Celtics to set aside your personal goals and concentrate on what you could do for the team.

“One of the more interesting compliments I’ve ever been paid came when somebody said that the best thing about me was that I wasn’t afraid to look bad. If you’ve got the kind of ego which leaves you afraid to look bad, then it stands to reason that your ego won’t allow you to give yourself up by moving without the ball in order to create opportunities for someone else.”

The person who enforced this idea was his coach, Red Auerbach. Most people determine a good basketball player by his or her statistics like points per game, rebounds, steals, etc. Red didn’t believe in that kind of mentality. He thought that a team could have the five best players in the world and still lose because they are only watching out for themselves and they don’t care about the team. He believed what a player provided for his or her team determined whether they were a good or great player.

“Our coach, Red Auerbach would say, ‘Don’t bring me any statistics about how many points you scored, or how you did this or that. What did you do for the team?’”

John Havlicek wrote the book HONDO – Celtic Man in Motion, to share with people the journey and legacy of himself. He wrote this book for mainly people who are Celtic fans and they want to learn more about his experiences. He talks about how his childhood and how his neighborhood was poor but he learned that he had to work hard through life in order to get somewhere. He also tells his past stories about his failures and successes through his high school and college career, especially his biggest disappointment at not being chosen to play for the 1960 United States Olympic basketball team. But his biggest accomplishment was getting picked by the Boston Celtics because he believed there was no other team that could have been better match for him and he his very thankful for his coach Red Auerbach who saw his abilities put it to the fullest.

LC Letter 3

In the beginning of the last section, Hondo talks about his coach, Arnold “Red” Auerbach and the traits, abilities, and type of person he was that made him a great coach. He repeatedly said he was lucky to be coached by Red because his type of play fit in well with the type strategies that Red had. He explains how Red was a very good coach…only if you were on his team. If you were the opposing team playing against him, you would probably want to kill him. He would do things like turn off the hot water in your showers and lower the air temperature in the locker room so when you started to play, your body would not be warm and ready to play. But what Red is most famous for is his “victory cigar”. Whenever he knew that he had the lead in the fourth quarter and they were going to win, he pulled a “victory cigar” and started smoking it somewhat mock the other team that they were going to lose.

Also Hondo talks about the Celtic way, how fundamental the game was, and how it fit his style, not fancy, but smart and teamwork. More teamwork, and less ego! He talks about how their team had a lot of talent but a lot of discipline, and that’s why they were so successful. He talks about how a play is better when it’s done with affection and not hurried. He says that a play should involve all five players on the court and there shouldn’t just be one guy doing what he wants to do. If all of the players are involved, it creates more pressure on the defense because they have to be aware of 5 players rather than just focusing on one. Hondo talks about how lucky he was to play for the Celtics…while others complained about travel and money. He always looked at it from a half-full perspective…he learned to appreciate what the game was about and what the game gave him.

Pitching

Some may wonder how can pitchers in baseball get there ball to curve, sink, go left, or go right. It's all a matter of physics, the pitchers grip, on the ball and the way he throws the ball. There a few common pitches that almost most every pitcher may throe. First there is the simplest pitch which is the four seam fastball. It might be the simplest but a pitcher has to have a good fastball in order to be effective. The objective of a four seam fastball is to obviously throw it fast so the opposing batter cannot catch up with the speed of the ball. But not only is speed a factor but location is huge. a pitcher can have the hardest and fastest fast ball, but if they can't throw it as a strike, then its useless.

Another common pitch that many pitchers like to throw is the curveball. Now there are many types of curveballs depending on what type of pitcher there is. There can be a slow up to down curveball, a fast up to down curveball, a slow diagonal curveball, or fast diagonal curveball. To throw this pitch, the pitcher needs to grip the ball on one half-side of the ball and keep you middle finger and pointing finger together on a seam. when you throw the ball, the objective is to get as much spin on the ball as possible. The spin is what makes the ball move. The pitcher should flick his wrist down as if he were casting a spell on someone. the ball should feel like its slipping out of your hands and before you know it, its in the air. A curveball is somewhat hard to throw because your target is not at the strike zone. Your target is actually at the batter's head. A pitcher must throw it at the batter's head or somewhere relatively around there because when the curveball drops, it will end up in the strike zone.

The last pitch I would like to talk about is a pitch I'm trying to work on myself. It's called a splitter. Typically, it's only a good pitch if you've got bigger hands. That's because the pitch itself should be "choked" deep in the hand. This is how splitters get their downward movement. Your index and middle fingers should be placed on the outside of the horseshoe seam. The grip is firm. When throwing this pitch, throw the palm-side wrist of the throwing-hand directly at the target while keeping your index and middle fingers extended upward. Your wrist should remain stiff. This confuses many batters because when the ball is approaching the plate, it looks like a fastball right down the middle until it suddenly drops in the middle of their swing.

The Rules of Love

The rules of love are actually very simple but some people including myself, sometimes struggle. But believe that shouldn't stop two from loving each unless it's really extreme. Some of these simple rules are being yourself (don't try to do too much), show interest when you talk to your partner, try not be forceful (let her talk about herself. A relationship should be a dialogue, not a monologue.), but you can't be too quite because women don't like it when men don't act like men. And the simplest but yet hardest rule is to express your feelings to her. Tell her you love her, give her hugs, etc. To break these rules, a guy either has to be unfaithful, not interested anymore, lie, or do something to hurt the girl's feelings. There is one rule that a guy should know. Girls are not very forgiving when it comes to a relationship. If you break a rule once, the most chances she will forgive you is maybe twice at the most. After that, your pretty much toast. If a guy wants to find or keep a relationship, I think they need to be confident and they have to earn the trust of the girl. These rules are not necessarily made up by someone but to me it’s just commonsense. Seriously, if you truly love someone, you would do anything for them. If you couldn’t do that for someone then you don’t truly love them. You might think you do but the truth is you don’t. On the other side, you might truly love someone but they don’t like you. Now what do you do? As sad as it sounds, you just have to move on. It’s better being with someone who enjoys you rather than someone who’s just with you because you want them to be.

LC Letter 2

Hondo’s college career at Ohio State was very impressive… lost 6 games in three varsity seasons, was NCAA Champions his sophomore year, runner-up two years, and selected as an All-American as a senior. He played on a team with very good players as well; Jerry Lucas was an All-American who also had a long career in the NBA, Bobby Knight became one of the greatest college coaches ever, coaching at Army, Indiana, and Texas Tech, Larry Siegfried joined Havlicek on Championship Boston Celtic teams, and Joe Roberts became an assistant coach with the San Francisco Warriors, helping them win an NBA Championship in 1974. It was during a high school All-Star game that a future teammate named, Mel Nowell, who couldn’t pronounce his name, came up with the nickname, “Hondo.” Nowell decide that “Havilicek” was too difficult to say correctly, and since John resembled the movie star, John Wayne, who was starring in a new western movie, “Hondo”, he began calling Havlicek, “Hondo!”

“Mel was the one who came up with the name “Hondo” for me. When we first met during those high school All-star games, he couldn’t pronounce my name correctly. He decided that I looked like John Wayne from the side, and he said, Let’s call him ‘Hondo’ ” because that was the name of a John Wayne movie which was out at the time.

One of the biggest disappointments that Hondo had as an amateur was his experience with the United States Basketball Olympic Committee. He was invited to Denver in 1960 for the Olympic trials and played very well. Unfortunately, politics got in the way. As most All-Star teams are chosen, at any level, whether it be Little League, to a World Team, there usually is some degree of politics in selecting the “All-Stars”, versus who truly are the “Best Players”. The organizers wanted each team invited to have at least one player from that team be selected. Since Jerry Lucas, his teammate at Ohio State, was chosen to the first group, Havlicek was passed over by less skilled players from other teams. From reading the passage, Havlicek describes his contempt for the Olympic Committee.

“Not making the 1960 Olympic basketball team is probably my most bitter disappointment in sports, and I will never get over it. You get only one chance. I knew I should have been there, and I wasn’t.”

The Perfect Game

On Friday May 7, during my baseball practice, my coach gave me two A's tickets for May 9th which was mother's day. So I thought I'd take my mom to an A's game for mother's day. Recently, the A's have not been doping well at all and there has been a lack of audience attendance. I didn't think that anything exciting would happened. I just wanted to take my mom to the A's game. On Mother's Day, my mom and I went to the A's game where they were playing against the Tampa Bay Rays. The pitchers were A's young Dallas Braden vs. Tampa's flame throwing James Shields. When we got to the stadium, there were only about 1,200 people there. There's more people at school than that!!During the game, the A's pitcher, Dallas Braden was doing excellent and the Rays, who have the best record in the MLB were not doing to good. By the 7th inning I realized that the scoreboard had all zeros for Tampa Bay which means they have no hits and no runs. I got the feeling that Dallas Braden had a very good chance to complete a perfect game at the rate he was going. When the 9th Inning came around, all of were on our feet cheering for the young left handed pitcher. When the last out was made by shortstop Cliff Pennington, the crowd went crazy because they have experienced a perfect game. It was extra special because it was on Mother's Day and it was 42 years and one day since the last A's pitcher, Catfish Hunter had a perfect game.

Not only was it a special Mother’s Day for me, but it was especially a special Mother’s Day for Dallas Braden due to his rough past. When he was a senior in high school his mom past away from cancer. I think it’s truly amazing how this guy could bounce back up from adversity like that and create history for himself. I admire Dallas Braden not only for making history for pitching a perfect game, but also because he is fearless as a young player. When he yelled at Alex Rodriguez for running across his mound, he really caught my eye. I don’t know if any other pitcher would have done with Braden did. Braden was born and raised in Stockton California where it is very uneducated, high rates of crime and poverty, and with very steep taxes. When he was in high school, he was about to fail high school and was barely holding on. After his mom died, his grandma was the person who really straightened him up so he could get an education and so he could be in the major leagues. After the game, Dallas Braden went over to his grandma and gave her a big loving hug to show his respect and thanks to her. Dallas Braden gives his Grandma a pink bat every game he pitches in memory of his mom as a cancer patient. I hope he continues to succeed.

LC Letter 1

In the first chapter of Hondo, Havlicek describes how he used a dish pan to soak his injured foot to help his Boston Celtics win a Championship. You may not know who John Havlicek is because he played back in the 1960’s and 1970’s but he is truly amazing. He grew up in small, poor neighborhood in Lansing, Ohio where his mom and dad owned a grocery store. His mom was his disciplinarian who made him fix the beds, wash the dishes, and clean the floors. Literally, his house was 15 to 20 feet from route 40 so his parents wouldn’t let him ride a bike because it was too dangerous so if he wanted to go somewhere, he had to run to his destination. As he got older, he knew short cuts through the woods so he would run through the woods while practice dodging the trees and bushes. He believes that this helped him as a basketball player to run the whole game and tire his defender. Because he was poor but had good parents, he was taught to be humble, hardworking, honest, family oriented, and he knew that he had to earn his way and take advantages of opportunities given to him.

In high school, he was a three sport player. He played football, baseball, and basketball. He was excellent in all three and got a scholarship to Ohio State. His dad was confused when he heard his son say that he’s going to college for free for playing basketball but he didn’t argue. At Ohio State, he won an NCAA Championship, and was runner-up in two other years. After his college career ended, he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns for football and the Boston Celtics for Basketball. After a few weeks of playing for the Browns, Havlicek got cut and went on to play basketball where his legacy began.