Meet The Bench: JR Giddens
November 30, 2009 by Lee Herman
Everyone knows the starters by heart and could probably rattle off individual stats of each player and their favorite And1 tour move that they are capable of. That’s all fine and dandy but I’m the fan that looks ahead while appreciating the now. I can see the legs going on the Big 3. Maybe not now, maybe not next year but much like Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, they can go at any time.
Without further ado, our first edition to Meet the Bench:
JR Giddens. Number 4 in your program, number 15 on the bench.
Why JR first? I don’t know. I’m high up on him for no particular reason other than the parallels to The Truth. Blasphemy, I know. Let me give you something to chew on.
Giddens went to Kansas (for two years, mostly because Bill Self retained JR as a recruit after Roy Williams had already signed him on and then bolted to UNC) and lo and behold, so did Pierce. Rock, chalk, coincidence? In his second year at Kansas, Giddens was involved in a nightclub stabbing in which his calf needed thirty stitches. Count your teeth real quick, that’s about how many stitches were in the dude’s leg assuming you practice good oral hygiene. (The rest of you, Randy Jackson has a number of a guy good with veneers that will make you look like you have a mouth full of halogen bulbs.) Paul Pierce, stabbed in a night club. Pierce had to face accusations of poor work ethic early in his career and in his loyalty to the team. Giddens was suspended in New Mexico by coach Ritchie McKay who said, “He did nothing illegal, nothing unethical. This program tries to promote being a good teammate and I want to emphasize that.”
Character issues have swirled around both players at one point or another during their careers and they could have become embroiled in petty, self aggrandizing agendas or the Frost like path less taken to redemption.
Both players responded admirably. Pierce took the C’s to the Eastern Conference Championship. Giddens played for the Lobos, so he was going nowhere with them. Sorry, you can’t dispute the facts. At any rate, JR manned up and took
responsibility for his actions instead of bemoaning left, right and inside out about being branded as a bad teammate with poor social decision making. He decided that he wanted to be better than your average disgruntled talent and that is something you don’t see in the college ranks. Usually once you get branded as a bad teammate, other teams and people tend to avoid you like the plague or a Nickleback concert.
JR’s received a bigger boost in my eyes when Sports Illustrated’s (and Boston’s own) Chris Mannix wrote an article about players in the D league. The amount of growth and general great nature of this once exiled young man was great to hear. One example Mannix writes:
“You bring your A-Game?” asks Giddens as I put on my gear.
“I brought whatever game I have,” I reply.
“Good,” Giddens says. “Because if I get the chance, I’m going to dunk on you.”
“Then I might foul you,” I shoot back.
Giddens smiles. “You think that’s going to matter?”
The whole entertaining article can be found here.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for redemption stories. Maybe I’m just a sucker. When I see a guy turn his life around when he has every opportunity to continue the downward spiral, it just sucks me in. So maybe I do know why I’m high on this kid and I just made a liar out of myself. It’s hard not to like the guy from word one by most accounts after his attitude adjustment. It’s just as hard not to like the future of the franchise with players like him being drafted and receiving grade A tutelage from three Hall of Fame players. I’m enjoying the Veterans now but I find myself wishing for blowouts, not even for the win but to see what sort of talent is riding the pine.
Or in this case, $350 leather chairs.
What should we do next?
Well, since you’ve made it to the end of this post, you might be interested in these related articles and resources.
Did you love this post?
Then please share it!
November 30, 2009 at 9:19 pm | Celticsfanatic
It’s not only the Big Three — even though we’ve seen an energized Rasheed Wallace, it won’t last for the number of years we need it to last. I, like you, am prepared to take a look at the bench because once again I, very much like you, realize that this dream has an end.
I think you did an exceptional job looking at Giddens. I was and forever will be impressed with that 13-rebound game during the preseason. He has the long arms and legs to be a good defender in the future if given a chance. Unfortunately the Celts didn’t pick up his contract for next year, but maybe a team will take a stab at him and get lucky.
Well-done Lee. A fantastic start to a series I look forward to.
November 30, 2009 at 9:24 pm | Lee Herman
I know about the contract situation and this was sort of an homage to JR. Like my other favorite bench player, Leon Powe, I expect Giddens will not be long for this team. I just hope that if Ainge and his crew can keep up the draft picks like him and Billy Walker, the C’s will be in fine shape.
I appreciate the feedback also. I’m all about discussions with people reading my stuff because it helps me know what is working and what isn’t, that way you won’t have to sift though a bunch of boring stats or something I like to get myself into.