Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 7, 1990 TAG: 9005070080
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CLIFTON BROWN THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
After being out since March 20 with a broken left hand, Oakley returned for the playoffs, although the bone in his hand had not completely healed.
Then on Monday, with the Knicks trailing Boston 2-0 in the best-of-five series, the former Virginia Union standout publicly criticized his teammates, questioning their effort and calling their play "selfish."
Then during the last three games of the series, Oakley switched defensive assignments from Kevin McHale to Robert Parish, a 7-footer who has a 4-inch height advantage on Oakley.
All of Oakley's actions were instrumental in changing the momentum of the series in favor of the Knicks. He was a constant force Sunday with 26 points, 17 rebounds, and four assists in 44 minutes.
And he outscored and outrebounded Parish, who finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. Parish scored only four points in the fourth quarter.
After the game, Oakley had little to say and dressed quickly, letting his teammates handle most of the postgame commentary. But Oakley's actions spoke for themselves.
"I don't know if the statements he made were out of frustration, or if he intentionally meant to say something like that," said Kenny Walker, New York's forward.
"But whatever it was, it worked. The way you use that anger is very important. Sometimes you can start to point fingers, but that's the wrong thing to do.
"I think the way we responded was the way a professional team should. No one could really say anything to Charles about what he said, because he didn't single out anyone. He said it about the whole team. And I think we all took it upon ourselves as individuals to make ourselves better, as a team."
Oakley grabbed more rebounds (17) Sunday than Larry Bird and Kevin McHale combined (16). But his defensive success against Parish was one of the most surprising aspects of the series. In the three games Oakley defended Parish, Boston's veteran center scored 11 points, 10 points, and 22 points, respectively.
Putting Oakley on Parish was a daring defensive move by the Knicks' coaching staff, but they felt they had to make a change after the Celtics dominated inside play during the first two games of the series. The strategy worked to perfection.
"I don't know who made the original suggestion, but Stu Jackson had to approve it, and he did," said Paul Silas, one of the Knicks' assistant coaches.
"With Patrick guarding McHale, we didn't have to double-team McHale when he got the pass. And we felt if Oakley could push Parish off the block with his strength, we wouldn't have to double-team Parish as much, either.
"It was surprising that Oak played this well after just coming back, but if you look at Oak, the things that make him successful don't require a lot of finesse."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB