Boston Celtics news, highlights and analysis - Celtics Town

Maine vs. Iowa Preview

2009-12-31T07:54:00.001-05:00

Maine Red Claws (8-3) vs. Iowa Energy (11-1)

1:00PM Thursday December 31, Portland Expo, Portland, Maine

Later today your Maine Red Claws face off against the Iowa Energy, who are associated with the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns. Maine will be looking to hand the best team in the league their second loss of the season just three days after handing the worst team in the league their second victory of the season.

Unlike the Red Claws, the Energy are not packed with NBA talent. The Suns have assigned Taylor Griffin to the D-League, but he is not a points leader on the team. Instead, Curtis Stinson of Iowa State, with no NBA experience, is leading the team to the top. Apart from Griffin, the Energy have three players with NBA time, including Earl Barron, who earned a ring with the Miami Heat in 2006. New Englanders will also recognize Rashad Anderson, a UConn product who was part of the 2003-04 championship team.

This is an important game for Austin Ainge and the Maine Red Claws. It’s always been an important game, but it became doubly so after the Sunday loss to Bakersfield. A home win over Iowa would re-establish Maine as one of the top teams in the league and give their season momentum again. Another loss – especially if it’s a thumping – could lead to roster changes.

This game will be a challenge, to be sure. Thanks to the Celtics’ injuries, the Claws are without the C's assignees, though Bobcat Alexis Ajinca remains. The rest of the team will have to step it up in a way they didn’t on Sunday. These two teams match up well, and Maine can’t let the Energy establish an early lead. They have to return to their usual aggressive defense and prevent the Energy from getting into an offensive rhythm.

NEXT THREE: Friday, January 1, vs. Eerie BayHawks, 5PM, Portland Expo; Monday, January 4, vs. LA D-Fenders, Qwest Arena, Boise, ID 3:45PM; Tuesday, January 5, @ Sioux Falls SkyForce, Qwest Arena, Boise ID, 1PM.

The Morning Walkthrough: Doc expected to win, but not affected by loss

2009-12-31T07:29:00.001-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "Celtics coach Doc Rivers wasn't happy that his team dropped its third game in four nights, wrapping up a four-game road trip 1-3 after a Christmas Day win in Orlando. But he admitted the odds were stacked against his shorthanded team Wednesday night at Phoenix as it battles mounting injuries, and he said he hoped his troops learned how important it is to capture winnable games. 'The lesson we should learn on this trip is that when you give away games with the Clippers when you're healthy, then do it again [against the Warriors], and then when you're injured, you need those games back -- but you can't get them back,' said Rivers. 'This game would have been very difficult to win. They're a very good team. When you take your two best scorers away against a scoring team ... you might not win that game. This game doesn't affect me at all.'"

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE - "Despite being without about half of their usual playing rotation, Rivers came into the game with no thoughts of conceding defeat. 'I expected to win,' he said. 'I think we pay every guy. As long as you do, you have to come in the game with the expectations to win.' But it seemed in the game's early stages, the Celtics didn't have the kind of fight you normally see from them. It was as if they bought into the notion that because they were so short-handed - Marquis Daniels (left thumb) and Glen Davis (sprained right ankle) were also out - a loss to the Suns was something they had no control over. 'Somebody has to be the spark. We didn't have that tonight,' said Kendrick Perkins, who had 13 points and seven rebounds. 'We came out like Doc said, we kind of (played like) we knew we were going to lose the game or something like that. Doc tried to give us some energy, but it just wasn't there for us mentally and physically.'"

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "'They were more aggressive than us today,' said Eddie House, who provided the only spark for Boston, hitting five of the seven 3-pointers he attempted off the bench for a team-high 19 points. 'We came out and we were kind of lollygagging after that point, you know, going through the motions. They came out playing hard and they got us. So tip your cap to them. We’ll try to regroup next game. We’ll get it together, it’s a long season.'"

Bright Side of the Sun - "Channing set his season high with 26 points on 9 of 15 shooting including 6 three's. Many of those three's came at key points when the Celtics were making a push to get back in the game. His shooting tonight wasn't just on fire, it was clutch. More impressive though was his 10 rebounds. He understands that his rebounding is as important if not more so to this team and he's certainly focused on that. He's also working hard on adding some dribble drive moves to his game. 'They're closing out so hard on him and that's something he's worked on in practice. He has to be able to put it down for one or two dribbles and shoot it or if there's an ally he's got to be able to take it to the basket. He's gotten pretty good at that,' said Gentry."

Paul Coro, Arizona Republic - "Two nights after routing the Lakers, the Suns lit up the Celtics' NBA-best scoring defense for a 116-98 victory Wednesday night. Boston was finishing a four-game road trip that began in Orlando and finished in the West, and Paul Pierce (knee), Kevin Garnett (knee), Glen Davis (ankle) and Marquis Daniels (thumb) sat out. But the Suns still became the only team besides the Lakers to sweep Celtics since 2007-08, re-establishing home-court success and its offense. 'I say to our guys all the time, 'When we play at home, we expect to win every game,'' said Suns coach Alvin Gentry, whose home record is 26-5 since taking over. 'It doesn't matter who we play.'"

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "Kevin Garnett joined Paul Pierce on the shelf. And there was no Glen Davis or Marquis Daniels. Ergo no real prayer. Rajon Rondo did play in the 116-98 loss to the Suns, but with a tightly wrapped left hamstring, acquiring 13 points and eight assists. He said after his only problem was Phoenix, but he was clearly not his freewheeling self. 'I was proud of him because he’s at the level now where he can play on one leg and dominate the game, and I thought he did that at times,' said Celts coach Doc Rivers. 'He’s really assuming a role of leadership on this team, and I’m probably as proud of him as any player in a long time because he’s come a long way. I’m very happy for him.'"

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Running Diary: Undermanned Celtics again can't rise in the West

2009-12-30T23:36:00.002-05:00

Tic-tac-toe, three in a row. Unfortunately for the Celtics, it's now three losses in a row.

From the very beginning, the Celtics were thoroughly outplayed, and the loss of KG and Paul Pierce were simply too much to overcome against a good Suns team.

As shorthanded as they were, the Celtics simply exhibited very little effort. They gave up offensive rebounds and wide open jumpers all night long. I never wanted to ram my head into a wall harder than I did seeing Channing Frye wide open on the arc play after play. Sure, he was hotter than Mila Kunis (right), but I'm pretty sure things might have been different if he'd had a hand in his face all night.

At the end of the day, though, the Celtics were without two of their stars and another -- Rajon Rondo -- might as well have sat out the first half, too. Beyond that, they were missing two key subs, Glen Davis and Marquis Daniels. With so many players out, it's a testament to the C's track record with injuries that anybody is even upset by the loss. Really, they should have been expected to lose this one, in Phoenix against a good Suns team.

But they just shouldn't have lost like that, with little effort and even less resistance.

If you want to read some more of my thoughts, here's my running diary of thoughts during the game. Hopefully, they will probably bring you a smile, even if your head -- like mine -- is still hurting from ramming it into the wall after all those Frye jumpers.

First Quarter

KG's out for tonight, and I'm going to say it now... To say KG's injury is unrelated to last year's surgery is like saying Tiger Woods' car crash was completely unrelated to his "transgressions." Highly unlikely. The Celtics expect us to believe he got kicked in the knee and that's what's causing all the discomfort? Please don't insult our intelligence.
Tony Allen with a sick behind-the-back in the open court, then right after that leads the break and finds Rasheed Wallace for a breakaway dunk. Allen's resurgence has been more shocking than it would be if Steve Nash went up for a tomahawk dunk.
Not shocking, though, is that Amare Stoudemire is destroying a KG-less Boston front line. Almost before I could sit down in my couch, he already has 8 points. 12-10, Celtics.
After a couple Phoenix threes, Boston's defense looks very porous early on. They're flat, and seem to be in a funk just like they were when KG missed a game earlier in the season. It took them an entire half to recover that night, but that was against the Pacers. If the C's play a bad half tonight, without KG and Pierce, they'll get blown out... no matter how well they play in the second half.
20-12, Suns. Suns are running and gunning, and on a quick 12-0 run. Nash is firing bullet passes ahead to his teammates, and Amare is killing the Celtics whenever Nash or a three-pointer doesn't.
My brother: "This could be a loonnggg night." Reason number one I know it's going to be a long night? Amare Stoudemire just took a charge. Since when does Amare Stoudemire exert any energy at all on the defensive side of the floor?
Reason number two I know it's going to be a long night? Brian Scalabrine was the first man off the bench. Never a good sign.
Less than ten minutes in, Amare looks like the second coming of... searching for a good basketball comparison... not finding one worthy... screw it, fine, Jesus Christ, with 16 points and 6 rebounds. And no help seems on the horizon; he's now being defended by Scal. (Note: I vaguely remember Scal doing a great job on Amare once upon a time. Sadly, I don't believe a repeat is likely.)
The first quarter mercilessly comes to a close, but not after Jesus Christ erupted for 18 points and 6 rebounds. Let's just say the Celtics miss Pierce and Garnett.

Second Quarter

I'm surprised Rondo didn't play a better first quarter. He usually kills Steve Nash, but had a non-existent 2 points and 1 dime in the first. Maybe his hammy is a little stiff?
Stat that makes literally no sense: Celtics had 10 fast break points in the first, Suns only had 4. Huh? Did my eyes deceive me? Weren't the Suns running all over the C's in the first?
The second quarter starts off even worse than the first. Instead of Amare Stoudemire looking like Jesus Christ, it's now Channing Frye and Louis Amundson getting easy dunks and easy layups. None of which looks good for the guys in Green. 36-21, Suns.
Louis Amundson gets fouled on an easy layup look, and Donny Marshall is ecstatic because -- for once tonight -- the Celtics defense rotated. When the announcer is that hyped after a single defensive rotation and a foul that results in two shots for the opposing team, it is never, never a good sign.
Tony Allen strips the ball from Grant Hill (aka pokes him in the eye) and heads off the other way, where he gets fouled by Barbosa. Allen is the lone bright spot tonight. If you think that bodes well for winning this game, think again.
With the Celtics down 44-32 and not showing any energy whatsoever, is there a better time to throw Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens into the fire? And maybe Lester Hudson? If nothing else, they'll bring some energy into the game.
Tony Allen flushes home a nice dunk off a Perkins feed. He continues to be the One Shining Player for the Celts. I thought Rondo would play well, but I'm not really sure if he has even stepped foot out of the locker room yet.
Finally. Another reason to smile, and maybe even a little hope: Eddie House nails two consecutive jumpers, and the Celtics are now down only 9 points.
Ray Allen spends an entire shot clock dribbling, only to end the possession with an awkward, off-balance, running layup that clanks heavily off the backboard then rim. Not so coincidentally, methinks, Doc calls Rondo to sub in on the next play.
Tony Allen picks up his fourth steal, then gets called for a bogus charging foul while finishing the layup at the other end. Granted, he should have given the ball up to a wide open Rajon Rondo, but he didn't commit a charge, damn it!
The bad news: Grant Hill blocks Rondo's half-court heave at the end of the half, and the Suns take a 61-49 lead into half-time. The good news: I finally noticed Rondo was in the game.
More good news: If the Celtics pick up their defense in the second half, and rebound the basketball, they are in position to come back. The bad news? They haven't shown a single sign of doing that yet.

Third Quarter

I just got a glass of water, except I didn't put any ice in it. Is anyone else in the world so lazy that they'll drink lukewarm water rather than get some ice cubes out of the freezer? (Thinking about Rasheed Wallace sauntering around the court... Thinking about Rasheed Wallace's gut... Thinking about Rasheed Wallace's tendency to settle for three-pointers... Maybe there is someone as lazy as I am, after all.)
Reason not to trust Gary Tanguay, under any circumstances: He just said the Celtics are doing a good job without KG and Pierce tonight. Huh? Really, Gary? Did you even watch the Celtics get smoked in the first half?
An early fourth foul for Stoudemire. Donny Marshall says it might be a blessing in disguise for the Celtics. I ask you, what's the disguise? It couldn't be more clear that fourth foul was a blessing if it came stamped "Blessing".
Perk is starting to take advantage of Stoudemire, who the Suns left in the game despite his fourth foul. Earlier I said Stoudemire wasn't likely to exert any effort defensively, so you can imagine what he's like with four fouls. Straight matador. The C's should go to Perk a whole lot as long as Stoudemire stays in the game.
When Amare dunks, it's like the rim did something wrong to him. Like it made him very angry and he just wants to hurt it. He does not go to the hoop weakly.
Perkins gets called for a moving screen. I think it's the millionth moving screen of his career.
The Celtics temporarily had the deficit back down to nine, but it quickly ballooned to 16. That's what happens when you play negative defense and leave shooters and big men wide open. Channing Frye has now hit three wide open threes; something tells me it might have been in the scouting report that he likes to fire from long range. Just a guess.
Rasheed shoots an airball from three-point range, an exclamation point in what so far has been an 0-4 night from downtown. If my eyes weren't mistaken, his lower body was still twisting while he pulled the trigger; 'Sheed had no balanace on that one. I don't know if that's been his problem, but I'll keep a closer eye on it.
The lead is now twenty. I'm contemplating turning the channel and stopping the torture, but I can't; I keep hoping the Celtics will mount a comeback. Me not turning it off is like somebody going through the Chinese Water torture by choice: The water keeps dripping and dripping onto my face, and all I have to do is role over and stop it, but I don't. Somehow, after all this crappiness tonight, I still have a little faith in my Celtics.
Channing Frye right now is a combination of college J.J. Redick, Hoosiers Jimmy Chitwood, and Bulls Steve Kerr. Of course, it helps he's been wide open all game long, but still.
90-73, Phoenix after three. Even the biggest die-hards like myself are close to throwing the white flag.

Fourth Quarter

Shelden Williams starts the fourth off with an emphatic missed dunk. He sure does seem to miss a whole lot of dunks.
Shocking stat of the night #2: Jared Dudley is leading the NBA in three-point field goal percentage. Watching him in college, I would have thought I had a better chance of leading the NBA in three-point shooting than Dudley.
As bad as it's been, the Suns lead is only 15 with ten minutes left. As bad as it's been, I still have hope. Somebody hit me in my head and tell me how stupid I am.
Oh, well, there goes my hope. A quick Channing Frye jumper makes the lead 17, and then Barbosa goes right by Scalabrine and hits a bucket. Two plays later, Frye hits another three. He's as hot as a conventional oven right now.
The lead is twenty, and it's just about time for the youngsters to (finally) get their chance. As for me? My hope has been strangled away by a flurry of jumpers from a guy who looks like an over-sized version of Sean Elliott.

Tell me they don't look alike. Tell me. That's what I thought.
The rest of the game was pretty normal for two teams just trying to run out the clock. Shelden Williams getting a technical was the only thing out of the ordinary but, really, who cares if Williams gets a technical? Not me.
The youngsters finally got their chance, but it was only in garbage time. Actually, the whole game might as well have been garbage time.
Oh yeah, and Shelden Williams missed another dunk.

Garnett out for tonight's game: Is his injury really no big deal?

2009-12-30T20:40:00.002-05:00

Our worst fears have happened; Kevin Garnett is hurt, and the reasons for him sitting are both varied and vague.

According to the Herald and ESPNBoston, he got kicked in the knee. But the Globe's Gary Washburn says he hyperextended his knee, and does that happen just from getting kicked?

The team says Garnett is okay, that sitting Garnett is only for "strategic rest", but pardon me if strategic rest doesn't sound a lot like "Garnett's old injury is acting up again."

It's tough to trust the Celtics when it comes to KG's injuries, mostly because they've lied about them for a year straight. If you're scoring at home, the team says Garnett is okay, but the injury has been described as anything from a thigh bruise to a hyperextended knee. Sounds a lot like lost season, doesn't it?

Uh-oh. At the very least, I wish the Celtics could do me one favor: If KG goes down for an extended period of time, please don't try to replace him with Mikki Moore.

If you still have any faith in what the organization says, here's what the team had to say about the whole incident, via ESPNBoston:

"The good news is we don't have serious injuries that are long-term things that are going to prevent us from accomplishing our goals," Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said in an interview Wednesday afternoon on Boston sports radio station WEEI. "They are just short-term issues that we have to get through."

The Celtics ruled out Davis earlier Wednesday and deemed Garnett a game-time decision.

"If I do decide to sit [Garnett], I'm not sitting him for one game. I can tell you that," Celtics coach Doc Rivers told Comcast Sportsnet. "I told Kevin that."

Rivers told Comcast that if he decided to sit Garnett, he would probably keep him out two games until about Jan. 6, when the Celtics face the Heat, or longer. He said he wasn't sure if that was the direction he was going to take with Garnett but that he was "leaning that way heavily."

"It's early in the season," Rivers told Comcast. "We got tonight and we got two days, and then we got three days after that. To me, if you're going to rest guys, this is the perfect time to do it."

And here's me, hoping it's as small a deal as the Celtics say (Okay, so it's not really me. You get the idea.)...

My favorite Celtics of the decade

2009-12-30T16:13:00.005-05:00

So it's just about the New Year, which means it's just about the end of the decade, which means it's time for everyone and their mother to come up with All-Decade lists. I was thinking about what to write my own All-Decade lists, and couldn't decide what in the hell to do. I thought about writing the Boston Celtics All-Decade team... until I realized I might as well state their starting lineup for this season. I thought about writing about the ten best Celtics plays of the decade... but I'm far too indecisive to choose ten plays. I thought about ranking the top ten players... but that's kind of boring.

So instead of picking the best players, or the best plays, or an All-Decade team (because ANYONE can do that), I chose to write a list of my ten favorite players, mostly because, well, my favorites are probably far different than yours.

And here they are:

10. Walter McCarty - Why Walter McCarty? He was, at best, mediocre. He was a link to one of the worst times in Celtics history. He was Walter McCarty.

To be honest, I love Walter mostly for Tommy Heinsohn's famous call... IIII LOOOVVVEEEE WWWALLLLLLTTTAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! But it wasn't just that. McCarty gave his all on the court, and he did it during a time when not every Celtic gave a damn. And for that, I love Waltah.

9. Delonte West - You're going to start seeing a theme on this list: My favorite players are normally tough, tough bastards. When Delonte was on the Celtics (and now, too), he was a gritty defender, a hard-nosed rebounder, and he didn't yet carry shotgun-filled guitar cases over his shoulder. (At least so far as we know.)

Plus, he was always good for a goofy interview like this one:

8. Ray Allen - Ray's game is as smooth as silk. From his picture-perfect jumper to his finger-roll finishes at the rim, Ray is the epitome of smooth. On top of the aesthetic pleasure I get while watching Ray, he's been willing to sacrifice his game in order to help the C's win ballgames.

More than any other Celtic, Ray has cut back his own game in order to fill the role Doc asks of him. And that, above anything else, is why Ray Allen has quickly become one of my favorites.

7. Eddie House - You take a more accomplished player, a starter, a point guard who can actually handle the rock. I'll take Eddie House, shooter extraordinaire, a player who plays every second like it might be his last in the league. (Okay, damn it. You got me. I'd still like a point guard who can actually handle the rock.)

Just in case you forgot, Eddie was huge for the Celtics in their run to the '08 championship, then even bigger the following season while establishing a new Celtics single-season three-point percentage record. Along the way, he's far surpassed what should have been the ceiling for a 6 foot nothing point guard who can barely dribble the ball upcourt. You've got to appreciate the overacheiver.

6. Al Jefferson - While I love most of the guys on this list for their heart and grit, I admire Al mostly for the way he plays basketball. Watching him whip out post move after post move, I can't help but lust after his great footwork and soft touch. If I had a son who played in the post, I would give him tapes of Al Jefferson to help him become a better player; before long, my son would be doing drop-steps, up-and-unders and jump hooks, all with the soft touch of a goddess. Is there a better compliment you can give a player than saying you wish your son played like him?

5. Rajon Rondo - Selfless on the court, with a mean streak that belies his meek exterior, Rajon Rondo is, quite simply, the best Celtics point guard of my lifetime. (A short lifetime, indeed.) He can do it all on the court, fill up box scores with the best of them, and he does it all with a certain flair that he makes seem so effortless. I love Rondo because he never backs down from any challenge, because he fails to ever believe he might be outmatched. With an attitude like that and all the athletic ability in the world, the sky is the limit for Mr. Rondo.

4. Antoine Walker - Good ol' Employee Number 8 (or is it Broke ol' Employee Number 8?) has always been one of the most polarizing Celtics in recent history. Some people felt his antics, like the Walker wiggle, were played out and unnecessary; others loved to see such joy emanating from a professional basketball player. Some saw 'Toine as merely an underacheiver, capable of far more than he accomplished; others saw him as one of the more talented all-around players in the league, a player who could handle the basketball, pop out for three, or post up.

In the end, he was all of those things, and that's part of what made me love him. He was as accessible as any Celtic I've seen, and he behaved as I might if I got to play one game in the NBA... with unbridled enthusiasm and a passion for the game that most NBA players lose sometime down the road.

3. James Posey - If you need a guy to dive on the floor after a loose ball, Posey's your guy. If you need a clutch three, Posey's your guy. If you need a player who can guard three different positions, Posey's your guy. If you need a homo-erotic hug that makes every fan sitting in the first ten rows (at least) slightly uncomfortable, Posey's definitely your guy.

More than anything, Posey's on this list because he did whatever it took to get the C's wins. He fought for every inch, he never stepped outside his role, and I believe 100% that the Celtics wouldn't have won the 2008 championship without James Posey. Posey was only in Celtics green for one year, but he left an indelible mark as a tough competitor and, above all else, a winner.

2. Kevin Garnett - Even before Garnett became a Celtic, he was one of my favorite players. I loved that he wore his heart on his sleeve, that he couldn't accept losing, and that he played as hard as any human ever has. I loved him most of all for his interview with John Thompson, when a frustrated Garnett didn't demand a trade or sulk... no, he cried because he hates to lose, he blamed himself for the losses, and he stood by his teammates even as the wheels fell off in Minnesota.

I once wrote I love KG not only because he not only plays the game with unrivaled intensity and plays every play like it might be his last, but also because he demands that same kind of effort from every one of his teammates. He's the rare leader who inspires his teammates to bigger and better things simply by being himself.

1. Paul Pierce - Who else could it be? Pierce has been the Celtics' rock, their heart, and their soul since being drafted in the 1998 Draft. Just like me, Pierce has experienced the Celtics during mediocrity, poverty and prosperity. Pierce has been through the ups and downs in Boston, and seeing his career validated by winning an NBA championship was made all the sweeter by knowing that, just like me, Pierce has stayed with the C's during tough times and overcome those hardships.

Knowing what it felt like to root for a team that won only 24 games, I can only imagine what it must have felt like for Pierce to actually play for that team. He deserves the success as much as anyone in Boston, and will always be the player I remember as my absolute favorite.

Lester Hudson back with Celtics

2009-12-30T14:38:00.001-05:00

Gary Washburn tweets that Lester Hudson has been recalled to the Celtics, perhaps in reaction to Rondo potentially missing time with his sore left hamstring.

Garnett, Rondo could miss tonight's game

2009-12-30T14:22:00.000-05:00

And it looks more and more like Garnett's injury is worse than they're letting on...

Via CSNNE:

Boston might be without two additional starters - Paul Pierce (right knee) has missed the last three games - with the most serious injury being to the surgically repaired right knee of Kevin Garnett.

Rivers said he hasn't made up his mind as to whether he will sit Garnett or Rajon Rondo whose left hamstring didn't appear to bother him too much during the team's morning shoot-around.

Garnett's injury is clearly the more serious of the two.

"If I do decide to sit him (Garnett), I'm not sitting him for one game. I can tell you that," Rivers said. "I told Kevin that."

If Rondo and KG sit, that will make five rotation players who won't be suiting up tonight, including arguably the Celtics three best players.

Yikes.

Big Baby out for tonight

2009-12-30T13:10:00.000-05:00

Via the Celtics Twitter account:

Big Baby is not participating in today's shootaround, he's out for tonight's game vs. Phoenix and is considered day-to-day.

One more knife in the chest

2009-12-30T12:40:00.000-05:00

As if watching the Celtics lose two very winnable games against mediocre (at best) opponents, today TrueHoop posted a video of Baron Davis walking through his game-winner the other night.

Since I'm spineless, I decided to alleviate my pain by sharing it with you guys...

The Morning Walkthrough: Rajon Rondo is 'made of carbon'

2009-12-30T08:15:00.001-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "'Things happen to us that you turn and you ask yourself, ‘Why me?’ ” Garnett said as the Celtics had yesterday off in preparation for tonight’s road trip finale against the Phoenix Suns. “I told him when he went to the line (Monday), I smacked him and I said, ‘Yeah, redemption. Payback.’ I just kept filling him with that. It either makes you or breaks you, man. You can’t break this kid. This kid is made of carbon, man. Everybody knows what carbon is. You know that it’s damn near invincible. It’s just more than a pleasure to be his teammate.' Rondo shrugged it all off, but he was seriously down in LA. 'I was bummed out up until gametime (Monday),” Rondo said. “But luckily it’s the NBA. We had a back-to-back, so I tried to redeem myself, but we still got another loss. For me, I get down on myself. I’m very hard on myself. But I’m still confident. I’m going to play the game and feel like I’m the best at it.'"

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe - "'I think it’s a combination of we’re getting some pretty good performances by other teams and we’re not playing as hard as we can play for 48 minutes,' he said. 'We think we can show up for a quarter or a half, and that’s not good enough in this league, and that’s been our pattern. We come out of the gates ready to play and have shown up to play in some cases. Other cases we haven’t; we’ve had to turn it on in the second half. That’s the fear I had at the beginning of the season - play it out and wait for the playoffs to roll around and not bringing it night in and night out. This is the second stretch where we really haven’t really shown up. The urgency of winning from the get-go hasn’t been important enough.' Mentally - and that’s 90 percent of how NBA games are won - the Celtics had the Warriors defeated. All that was required was basic execution for the final three quarters. But with tired bodies on the second game of a back-to-back stretch, Paul Pierce sitting in his Waltham home trying not to kick the television with his healing right leg, and the offense depending solely on Rajon Rondo, the Celtics faltered."

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "On one hand, Doc Rivers has derided his team’s play even in victories. But he seemed to be debating himself when he let his guys off the hook. 'If you look around, all the good teams have tight games against the lower teams,' he said. 'These are NBA players, so they’re going to play well. And it’s tough to win an NBA game. I think if you ask the bad teams, they’ll tell you that.' The problem the Celtics encounter is a boredom of sorts. They generally lose the mental energy to simply run their stuff and make extra passes when they get around teams they see as beneath them. On the rare occasions when they stick with their plan, they systematically run the foe out of the building. But too often they take the ball and try to make individual plays. The issue is even more acute down the stretch. With the experience and alleged wisdom on the team, it just shouldn’t be happening this often."

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE - "For a veteran team, we played with absolutely zero composure,' Rivers said. 'We just didn't play like a veteran basketball team tonight.' Little did Rivers know that would be a recurring theme just 24 hours later. Ill-timed turnovers. Poor shot selection. Mental breakdowns defensively. If there was a way to keep the Warriors in the game, the Celtics were more than willing to give it to them. Kevin Garnett understands what's going on. The Celtics aren't playing Celtics basketball."

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe - "Davis left Oracle in arena wearing a protective boot and walking with crutches. 'I haven't heard anything, which means nothing is serious,' Ainge said. 'I sent (trainer) Eddie (Lacerte) a text and I haven't heard anything and usually that means it's not much.' Meanwhile, Ainge said the team will evaluate Paul Pierce's right knee this weekend to determine when he will return. 'We don't have any definite dates or change on Paul,' he said."

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Throwing some dimes: Rick Pitino's shining moment as a Celtic

2009-12-29T17:08:00.000-05:00

Once in a while, someone else's article catches my eye. Sometimes, it's because the article is so spot-on I wish I'd written it myself. Other times, it's because the article enlightens me with something I never knew. Still other times, it's because I disagree with whatever's written. No matter what the reason, I dish it off to another writer to make his/her point. You know, throwing some dimes.

Red's Army runs through the ten worst Celtics moments of the decade. My favorite? Number nine, Rick Pitino. It's not often a top ten worst moment of the decade can make me laugh for full minutes at a time:

"Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they're going to be gray and old. What we are is young, exciting, hard-working, and we're going to improve. People don't realize that, and as soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this town will be for all of us because there are young guys in that (locker) room playing their asses off. I wish we had $90 million under the salary cap, I wish we could buy the world. We can't; the only thing we can do is work hard, and all the negativity that's in this town sucks. I've been around when Jim Rice was booed. I've been around when Yaz was booed. And it stinks. It makes the greatest town, greatest city in the world, lousy. The only thing that will turn this around is being upbeat and positive like we are in that locker room... and if you think I'm going to succumb to negativity, you're wrong. You've got the wrong guy leading this team."

Celtics Stuff Live runs down the Celtics Team of the Decade, and if you don't want to see who they picked for the team, at least check out the picture... It's priceless.
According to Jon Duke, "Now is the time to dust off Messrs. Walker and Giddens and have them play with the type of reckless abandon that might make even Tony Allen say, 'hey, simmer down fellas.'"
Don't look now, but Rajon Rondo is on pace to set the franchise record for assists.

Wanna throw your own dime, and get someone's article recognized? Email me at jayking@celticstown.com or follow me on Twitter.

The NBA wants to sweep Rasheed Wallace's comments under the rug

2009-12-29T14:32:00.000-05:00

You've got to love Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald for his article today about Rasheed Wallace. Just when the league thought it could get away without shining any more publicity on the Tim Donaghy scandal, Bulpett shined a light on their willingness to do whatever they can to let the scandal slide away:

When Rasheed Wallace said three weeks ago that the NBA was headed for a crash to rival the college basketball betting scandal of the 1950s, it seemed fairly certain the league’s lords of discipline would be hitting him with another fine.

But there was silence from the big offices, and now it appears that was quite by plan. According to sources, the NBA did contact the Celtics about comments from Wallace and Ray Allen regarding allegations by convicted former referee Tim Donaghy, but it preferred to lend no further publicity to the matter.

I really love bringing publicity to the fact that the NBA didn't want publicity, thereby generating the publicity they never wanted... or something like that.

I hope every NBA blog in the world links to Bulpett's article. Putting as much publicity as possible on the Donaghy scandal is a good thing, so that the NBA will be forced to take protective measurements to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again.

Could I possibly have said publicity any more times within this post? Yup. Publicity.

Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen show leadership

2009-12-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

There's a reason why guys like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are given a lot of the credit for turning around the entire Boston Celtics organization. (You know, besides their terrific skills and all that jazz.)

Here's what Garnett said to Rajon Rondo after he ~~choked~~ missed two late free throws in the loss to the Clippers.

Via the Boston Herald:

“I told him after the game, ‘Man, we’ve all been in that position. We’ve all made them; we’ve all missed them,” Kevin Garnett said before last night’s 103-99 loss to the Warriors. “And more than less, I’ve got the confidence in you to go back up there and make those.’ That’s the confidence I’ve got in Rondo. If he was to go up there a hundred times, I’m going to support him a hundred times, if not a hundred and one.”

He shared tales of his own failures, saying, “I have actually airballed game-winners. I think when we had a chance to put the Lakers away I missed two big free throws. I mean, it’s what gives you tough skin.

“And I told Rondo the true essence and the true meaning of confidence is being able to step back up there and take them. A lot of people don’t want to be in that position. A lot of people shy away from that. Things happen to certain individuals, and he’s a special one. You know what? He’ll grow. This is part of it. It’s part of growing pains, and you live and learn with it.”

And Ray:

“The percentage I’m shooting now, you can only get there from habit, those pressure situations that you’ve been in during your career,” Allen said. “I’ve missed plenty of shots, plenty of free throws to win games. So now when I go to the line, you remember those moments.

“I just told him, I said, ‘That’s what you remember. When you go to shoot free throws and you try to duplicate that situation over and over again, it’s going to make you a better free throw shooter. It’s going to make you a better player.’

“It makes him a better player because he has to live with that,” Allen said. “He has to deal with that. We’ve all had that gut-wrenching feeling in our stomachs that you don’t want to eat, you don’t want to do anything until you can play the next game and try to put it as far as you can in the back of your mind.”

You've got to love the support from KG and Ray. Even if they don't really believe in Rondo at the line, just to say that they do should bring Rondo some confidence.

And a night after saying those things?

Rondo went 7-9 from the line.

Doc's genius late-game coaching decision

2009-12-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

Lost amidst another bad loss to a mediocre team was Doc Rivers' (Tom Thibodeau's?) late-game coaching decision to have his two biggest men defend the inbounds passer. With the Celtics down two points and only 4.4 seconds remaining, Doc had Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett harass the inbounds passer on two successive plays.

The first play, C.J. Watson drew the unfortunate task of passing the ball inbounds, and couldn't even see over Boston's two monsters, much less pass the ball over them. Four seconds later, he called timeout and Don Nelson had to switch inbounders to give the 6'10" Vlad Radmanovic a chance. Even Vlad had troubles throwing the ball in, and had to loft a super-dangerous pass right in front of his own basket that, unfortunately for the Celtics, was corralled by Monta Ellis to end the game.

For those of you who didn't see the game, here's what the defense looked like:

Be sure to applaud my serious photo-shopping skills. Look at that high-tech and well-rounded circle.

Seriously, though, has anyone ever seen that strategy employed before? I hadn't, at least not that I can remember. (And it's tough not to remember two seven-footers flailing their arms and doing jumping jacks in a strategy you've never seen before.)

It seems like a great move, as long as you have two long seven-footers to execute it. Who knows? Maybe Doc will start a trend and, before you know it, every team will have their seven-footers jumping all over the place on late-game inbounds plays.

It was almost enough to save the Celtics last night.

Glen Davis sprains his ankle at a bad time

2009-12-29T08:30:00.000-05:00

It's been a rough season so far for Glen Davis. First he went down for a few months after throwing a haymaker at his friend. Then he struggled to come back, played in three games, and now he's hurt again.

Via Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston:

Celtics forward Glen Davis, playing in only his third game of the season after missing the first 27 because of a fractured right thumb, departed Monday's game against the Golden State Warriors with a mild right ankle sprain.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem too serious:

"I didn't even ask; he'll be all right," Rivers said when asked about Davis' health. "The way I look at it, we'll find out [Tuesday]."

The injury comes at a bad time for Davis, who was seemingly just finding his way how to become a professional.

Via the Boston Herald:

“[My injury] made me think about a lot of things,” Davis said. “I still think all the time about basketball, but what happened made me think even more about me as a person, as a man off the court. I’ve just been thinking about what’s important and what I need to do to be successful on and off the court. So it’s been a big time for me to reflect on me as a person and my morals and my goals further on.”

Davis came to the striking conclusion that, at age 23 (he turns 24 on Friday), he didn’t know everything.

“I think I’ve really started to understand that no matter how old you are you can never stop learning,” he said. “You never stop learning how to be a better person. You watch people around you. You have to be able to learn from everyone. I think I’ve also learned the business of basketball even more. You have to go out and play hard and enjoy it, have fun and all that. But at the same time you have to approach it in a serious way, because it is a business. I just came to the conclusion that I’m not as old as I think I am.”

Besides maturing, Davis had shown some signs of playing very good basketball. Against the Clippers, he was a beast on the offensive glass and a menace ~~flopping~~ taking charges. It's too bad he had to go down; hopefully the recovery will be as quick as the Celtics seem to think.

UPDATE: It might not be such an easy recovery after all.

Via the Globe:

Glen "Big Baby" Davis left the arena on crutches and told reporters he has a sprained right ankle. He was wearing a protective boot and said he couldn't walk without aid. He could be out for an extended period. He didn't sound positive. X-rays were negative.

The Morning Walkthrough: Monta Ellis 'had his way with us tonight'

2009-12-29T06:38:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "'[Ellis] played great for them," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "He basically saved the game for them at the end of the game with that play. One misstep and Tony [Allen] would have had a layup. [Ellis] made a great adjustment to get to the ball and maintain control.' Ellis connected on 15 of 26 attempts, and added four assists. Celtics guard Ray Allen admitted there was little the Green could do to slow him. 'We started out putting one-and-a-half guys on him to start the game, which turned into two guys guarding him and that didn’t work,' said Allen. 'By that time it was too late. He basically had his way with us tonight.' Said Ellis of his big night: '[Scoring is] really just coming to me. I’m trying to get everybody involved -- got myself going, and they keyed in on me, so I moved the ball and everybody got involved.'"

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "Celtics coach Doc Rivers pointed to a season-high 25 turnovers as the key in allowing the Golden State Warriors to rally from an 18-point deficit for a 103-99 triumph at Oracle Arena. 'I told the guys [at halftime] that we had 58 points with 15 turnovers -- that's a miracle,' said Rivers. 'Typically, if you have 15 turnovers, you have maybe 35 points. The fact that we had 58 points with that many turnovers was amazing. But you can't have turnovers against them. They score too quick and too easy. Honestly, that was the difference in the game. 'We were up 18 in the first quarter -- that happens. Eighteen points doesn't mean much, they're an offensive team and we knew they'd get back in it. It was more the 25 turnovers that turned the game around.'"

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "Instead of patiently pounding the ball into the paint against the undersized Warriors, the Celts were content to jack up 3-pointers. They went 5-for-19 from beyond the arc and got outscored in the lane, 44-36. The best sign for the Celts was Rondo, who was utterly undaunted by his two free throw failures against the Clippers. Rondo also tweaked a sore left hamstring in the first quarter. 'I thought he played terrific all night,' said Rivers. 'His hamstring is bothering him. We almost took him out at the end but he just wanted to keep playing, and he played great.'"

Tom Halzack, Celtics Central - "In a move never before seen in an NBA basketball game (by me), Doc Rivers stationed his two tallest players, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins, in front of Watson, the player throwing the ball in. Garnett and Perkins went crazy jumping and waving their hands. When Watson was unable to get the ball in, the Warriors called time out and substituted the taller Vladimir Radmanovic as the player to throw the ball in. Perkins and KG again waved wildly, causing a huge distraction as Radmanovic was forced to throw a football pass leading Ellis to a spot in the back court. The scheme almost worked as Ellis started to fumble the ball a bit as he got to it. But he recovered and the Celtics were forced to foul him. Monte made both foul shots essentially ending the game."

Paul Flanner, WEEI - "We have been down this road many, many times before with Tony Allen. Throughout his star-crossed career, Allen has shown sporadic spasms of brilliance, mixed with head-scratching periods of inertia. So, it comes with no small parts of restraint to say that Allen’s return to the Celtics lineup has been nothing short of solid. Yes, Allen still mixes the sublime with the bizarre, but on the whole the good has far outweighed the bad. His latest comeback is even more intriguing because when the season started one would have been hard-pressed to imagine a scenario in which Allen would have even been given the chance to contribute, let alone excel."

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Ellis leads Warriors over Celtics, 103-99

2009-12-28T23:27:00.004-05:00

The Boston Celtics lost their second straight West Coast road game, falling 103-99 to the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis went back-and-forth all night, attacking each other on almost every possession, Rondo netting 30 points and 15 assists and Ellis countering with 37 points. In the end, however, Boston was unable to overcome 25 turnovers, and a poor night of outside shooting.

Ray Allen scored 24 points, but he shot only 1-7 from 3's, while the team combined to shoot 5-19.

Boston jumped out to a 13-point lead after the first quarter, but sloppy ball-handling and a defensive surge from C.J. Watson, who finished with 7 steals (6 in 1st half), allowed the Warriors to work their way back into the game.

With Watson playing so well, heralded rookie Stephen Curry only played 10 minutes and went scoreless, leaving the showdown with Rondo for his backcourt mate, Ellis.

Ellis was supported offensively by Anthony Randolph (18 points, 9 rebounds) and Anthony Morrow (13 points, 6 rebounds, who controlled the pace and flow of the game after a slow first quarter.

A depleted Celtics bench, who continued to miss both Paul Pierce and Marquis Daniels, was severely outplayed by an energetic Warrior bench and probably cost the team the win. The Warrior bench outscored the Celtics bench 35-15 for the game, including a stretch in the second quarter which brought the Warriors back into the game.

Recently activated Glen Davis played poorly, committing 4 turnovers in only 10 minutes, before leaving the game with a mild sprained ankle. Also, according to the great Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston, Rondo injured his hamstring early in the game, but convinced Doc and the doctors to remain in the game.

With Pierce, Daniels, and Glen Davis (again) out, the last player the Celtics can afford to lose is Rajon Rondo.

Undergoing site changes

2009-12-28T22:42:00.000-05:00

Sometime during the next few days, Celtics Town will be undergoing site changes that will make our site a far better place for you to visit. However, you will have to bear with us as our site, for a couple hours or so, will look completely unprofessional and unbecoming. Once the couples hours are over and our new site is up and running, we will also be having a new RSS feed, which I believe (but am not positive) will be www.celticstown.com/feed.

Thanks for sticking with us, and we hope you're as excited for our new site as we are.

Celtics-Warriors game preview: Boston's size vs. Golden St.'s quickness

2009-12-28T17:12:00.001-05:00

Over the past few games, Golden St. has been starting Anthony Randolph at center and Corey Maggette at power forward. Now, if you're playing a pickup game against a team with little structure and no viable big men, that's okay. But against an NBA team with big, talented, physical interior players? Then, it could be a recipe for disaster.

Granted, playing Randolph at center is probably better than playing Mikki Moore, out with an injured heel. (Note: Even sitting with an injury, I still expect Mikki to get into foul trouble.) But against the Celtics, a team that loves to go inside early and often, taking advantage of their big, skilled frontcourt, Golden St.'s so-called big men could be in for some serious trouble.

If Don Nelson expects Maggette to be able to defend KG, or Randolph to defend Perk, he's got another thing coming to him.

On the other end, though, the C's could have some serious issues matching up with the Warriors' quickness. Maggette should be able to drive by KG just about whenever he chooses, and Randolph should be able to go around Perk more or less at will.

Really, whoever dictates the style of play should win this one. If the Celtics slow the game down and pound the ball inside, it could become a bloodbath; if the Warriors get their athletes out in space and utilize their speed, it could be a game.

So what wins, size or quickness?

I say size, but let's just be happy Baron Davis isn't on the Warriors... He has both.

*****

Three things to look for in tonight's game:

Rajon Rondo vs. Stephen Curry - Curry isn't the NBA's quickest player, and Rondo just might be. If Rondo is aggressive going to the hoop, he should have his way with the athletically unimposing former Davidson star.
Rasheed Wallace's shot selection - In the first half of yesterday's game, 'Sheed was posting up and destroying Brian Skinner on the blocks. In the second half, he was short-arming three after three. When 'Sheed's down low, he's a force... he just doesn't do it all the time.
Glen Davis - Big Baby could have a huge impact on this game. He is strong enough to destroy Golden St. down low, yet quick enough to stay in front of the Warriors quick "big men." It's weird to say someone so overweight is quick, but Big Baby is one nimble chunker.

*****

Other links:

The return of Glen 'Big Baby' Davis
Throwing some dimes: Rajon Rondo impressing teammates with leadership
Stephen Curry faces another test against Rajon Rondo

Red Claws Get Jammed

2009-12-28T17:02:00.009-05:00

The Maine crowd no doubt expected another blowout victory for the home team, a repeat of Saturday's blowout.

Instead the Maine Red Claws fell 115-98 to the 2-11 Bakersfield Jam Sunday evening, giving the visitors their second win of the season. The loss dropped the Claws to 8-3 and put them two games behind the league-leading 10-1 Iowa Energy, whom they face Thursday. Bakersfield stepped it up and played well, clearly eager for a win. The Claws were fizzling on both ends of the court, with the defense falling flat and the offense searching desperately for a rhythm.

Celtics fans will be heartened to know that Lester Hudson’s performance was one of the highlights of the evening. In just 24 minutes he had 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. A day after playing decently despite being a little under the weather, Alexis Ajinca had a disappointing game with just 6 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes. For Bakersfield, 6'1" G Jeremy Wise led the team with 24 points.

Maine's usually-balanced offense was apathetic. Four players had double digits, but two of those were closer to ten than twenty, and two starters – Will Blalock and Darnell Lazare – had just two points. Trey Gilder, meanwhile, had a great night with 28 points and 7 rebounds. If another player had played at the same level as Gilder and Hudson, this game might have been a contest.

The Claws have started out slowly in other games and finished with wins, so their lackadaisical first quarter was hardly a reason to hit the panic button. Indeed, Bakersfield was ahead for more than half the first quarter on Saturday as well. That day, though, it was a two-point lead; Sunday it was five. While Maine was behind 13-10 on Saturday with 4:30 left in the first quarter, they finished the quarter up 27-18 and never looked back. On both days the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game.

Sunday night, because the team was never clicking on either end, the Claws weren't able to establish any runs. This would have been fine if they’d started strong, but trading baskets doesn't work when you’re behind. Every time the Claws looked like they might get close, knocking the Jam lead down to single digits, Bakersfield answered. One of the top defenses in the D-League looked like it was playing under the Maine State Pier rather than in the Portland Expo.

This is just the sort of disappointing performance that can inspire serious re-evaluation, so it’s no wonder that the Portland Press Herald quotes Head Coach Austin Ainge as mentioning changes. The process began Monday as the Red Claws waived F Mike Williams, who's seen little playing time. Whether it will continue with signing a new player remains to be seen.

NOTES: Austin Ainge earned his first Technical Foul of the season arguing with referee Steve Anderson...Maine had their fifth straight sellout, with 3,045 in attendance...the next game is 1PM Thursday against the Iowa Energy at home.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Trey Gilder; Honorable Mention to Lester Hudson.

The Return of Glen "Big Baby" Davis

2009-12-28T16:09:00.001-05:00

With Glen "Big Baby" Davis having returned to the Boston Celtics lineup, it's a good time to ask the question: Where does Big Baby fit in the rotation?

(Note: I know he wants to be called Glen Davis now, because he's maturing and growing blah blah blah...but anytime you break a thumb punching a buddy, especially a season after weeping uncontrollably on the bench after a tongue lashing from KG, you're still a Big Baby. I'm Sorry, Glen, it's not my fault the nickname fits. He's immature, maybe, but lovable.)

The Boston Celtics frontcourt has been collectively playing amazing ball during the recent win streak, and Rasheed Wallace and Shelden Williams have more than filled in during Davis' absence.

But it's hard to forget Big Baby's heroic performance last season after Garnett was lost for the season, culminating in this game winning shot in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic:

Before The Big Three was born in Boston, Doc Rivers was well-known as a coach who had trouble maintaining a consistent rotation; one night, Rajon Rondo would play 25 minutes, the next, only 10 minutes. Lineups were mixed, minutes were seemingly random, and the Celtics struggled finding the flow of the game.

However,the arrival of Garnett and Ray Allen was a blessing for Rivers: he had a veteran squad and lineup that was very hard to tinker with.

While I am impressed with Rivers' growth and improvement as a coach, I'm still slightly worried he'll be compelled to tinker with the frontcourt lineups, especially when Paul Pierce and Marquis Daniels return.

Despite Shelden Williams' consistent play, I think Big Baby is a better fit as the fourth big man on this particular Celtics team. Though Big Baby is not a terrific rebounder, he is a superior offensive rebounder and finisher than Williams, and a much better mid-range shooter.

Also, though neither Big Baby or Shelden Williams are great defenders, Big Baby is a better fit alongside Perkins or Wallace because he has the mobility to guard most power forwards, and has really improved at flopping... er, I mean taking charges.

If I were Doc Rivers, my 9-man rotation would include the usual starting five (Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins) with Eddie House, Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels (when healthy) and Glen Davis playing significant roles off the bench. Shelden Williams, Tony Allen, and Brian Scalabrine would contribute spot minutes and provide security, depending on the health of our other players, and the particular game matchups.

When Big Baby gets his body into game shape, I am confident he will be another big factor off our devastating bench. I just hope Doc Rivers figures out the new rotation quickly.

Throwing some dimes: Rajon Rondo impressing teammates with leadership

2009-12-28T16:00:00.001-05:00

Steve Bulpett has a great article about Rajon Rondo developing from a starter into a leader and possibly the best point guard in the Eastern Conference. Here are some quotes from the story:

Doc Rivers: "He’s a leader. He’s obtained that this year, and that’s all off-the-court stuff. His on-the-court (performance) alone has made him an All-Star in my opinion, but we’ll see."

Ray Allen: "What’s different is that what he’s doing now is in the confines of the offense. It’s all part of what we’re doing as a team. He’s making the plays that are there. He’s getting guys the ball, but he’s also making his move when the other team gives him that opportunity. He’s taking it."

Eddie House: "He has a lot more confidence in himself. You know, when he steps on the court he feels like that guy. When you have that confidence in yourself and you go out and prove it night in and night out, people have to take notice. That’s what he’s doing. He’s proving it.

That comes with his confidence. He’s been given the reins. For a time you’re not sure, but now it’s like, OK, go. He has that green light. He’s playing freely. He’s getting guys the ball and he’s making the plays. He does what he wants. He’s just playing basketball at an extremely high level."

You should read the rest of the story. It's a nice look at Rondo's progression, mostly through the eyes of his teammates.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Celtics defense?
Sam Young's blind younger brother plays the piano... and so does Mike Conley.
Glen Davis has provided the Celtics with a spark.

Wanna throw your own dime, and get someone's article recognized? Email me at jayking@celticstown.com or follow me on Twitter.

TrueHoop's Kevin Arnovitz eases some of last night's pain

2009-12-28T15:00:00.003-05:00

If you're like me, Baron Davis' jumper last night made your heart sink. It made your lungs inhale sharply with pain. It made you contemplate taking Baron Davis' beard right off his face and strangling him with it.

So I'm probably not the one to put that loss into perspective for you. But here's Kevin Arnovitz, a contributor to TrueHoop, to show you that things are going to be okay, even if Baron Davis ruined last night for you:

So far as the Celtics go, chalk up last night's loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles as an outlier. Make a mental note that the vicious strong-side pressure defense that works brilliantly on 95 percent of possessions might need to be tabled in tight late-game situations -- something the Celtics don't encounter all that often. Offensively, understand your strengths and exploit them. Your offense works most efficiently with rotating pick-and-rolls that confound defenses and run big men ragged. Yes, there will be mismatches at times that invite exploitation, but understand that whatever you gain by working against inferior post defenders in isolation might be offset by upsetting your offensive rhythm. The truth, though, is that the no team in the NBA can touch the Celtics' offensive-defensive differential. The Celtics are simply killing opponents on a nightly basis. To make wholesale adjustments after fluke losses would be the equivalent of sending Rajon Rondo to the line for technical free throws because he's drained his last three from the stripe. Play the odds, C's, they're in your favor.

And if that doesn't make you feel better about the loss, I don't know what will.

Did Kevin Garnett's injury cool him off?

2009-12-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

What happens when "strategic rest" goes wrong?

A supremely hot-shooting power forward goes ice cold.

Remember how hot Kevin Garnett was shooting before his mysterious thigh bruise forced him to sit out a game? It seemed like he would never miss, like he couldn't miss, like the basket was five feet wide and he was throwing Skittles through it.

For the 11 games prior to his injury, KG took 113 shots and hit 78 of them. He was a smoking hot 69% from the floor and, during that stretch, he only had one game (!) during which he shot less than 50%.

Here's a table of his makes and misses in those games:

Opponent	FGM	FGA
Toronto	6	6
Miami	11	12
Charlotte	5	8
San Antonio	9	15
Oklahoma City	10	11
Milwaukee	9	13
Washington	8	14
Chicago	6	8
Memphis	5	7
Philadelphia	5	14
Minnesota	4	5

He was unconscious. He couldn't miss. And then came the "strategic rest", or injury, or whatever it was, and all of a sudden Garnett can't hit the broad side of a barn.

Granted, it's only been two games, but Garnett had only shot under 50% once in his previous eleven games and has now done so twice in a row since returning from his ailments.

Maybe Garnett's hurting and it's affecting his shot. Maybe he feels fine, but sitting a game was enough to get him off his roll. Hell, maybe I'm just completely over-reacting to two poor shooting games.

Whatever the reason for it, he's no longer shooting at an ubelievable clip.

Maybe a trip to Golden St. and a visit with their meek frontcourt can heal him.

Stephen Curry faces another test with Rajon Rondo tonight

2009-12-28T12:36:00.000-05:00

Just look at Stephen Curry's opponents for this three-game stretch:

Wednesday night, Chris Paul. Saturday, Steve Nash. Monday, Rajon Rondo.

It may not yet be time to insert Rondo into a group with those other two guys, but nonetheless that is a murderer's row of point guards.

At this point, all Curry wants for New Year's is a game against Chris Duhon and the New York Knicks. And, after battling three of the top point guards in the NBA, Curry deserves a night off against the likes of Duhon. (He'll have to settle, though, for tomorrow night's game against Derek Fisher. Fisher will seem like an old washed-up bum after playing Paul, Nash and Rondo in successive games. What's that, you say? Fisher IS an old, washed-up bum? Sorry, I'd forgotten.)

If facing Rondo provides a far different challenge than playing against Nash, it still provides a tough matchup for Curry. Curry, one of the less athletic PG's in the NBA, will have his hands full defending the uber-quick Rondo. Defending Rondo is no easy task, even for the best defensive point guards. But when you get a middling defensive guard in his rookie season, that task looks even more daunting.

"He's doing a lot better than he was at the beginning of the season," Don Nelson told the Contra Costa Times about Curry's defense. "I know Coach (Keith) Smart has been working with him a lot, talking about his stance and not backing up so much in transition."

Curry better hope that stance is looking good tonight, or he may look like he's stuck in quicksand as Rondo blows by him play after play.

From Rondo's side, Curry brings a (probably welcome) change of opponent. After Baron Davis used his brute strength and above-average athleticism to score 24 points and distribute 13 assists, Curry will rely more on his basketball savvy and perimeter shooting. Unlike Davis, Curry won't put his shoulder into Rondo and try to bully his way to the hoop. He'll be looking to pull-up for jumpers rather than to physically pound Rondo towards the basket. Rondo will likely be happy to see he's matched up against a slower, less physical player than Baron Davis was last night.

So what's Curry's best hope for guarding Rondo tonight, despite his speed disadvantage?

He's just got to hope Coach Keith Smart is better at teaching defense than Mark Price is at teaching free throws.

The Morning Walkthrough: 'A whole potpourri of mistakes'

2009-12-28T05:11:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "The 13-17 Clippers outscored the visitors 6-0 in the last two minutes, but C’s coach Doc Rivers reached back further than the free throw line for the reasons behind the defeat. 'The free throws didn’t bother me,' Rivers said after his team’s nine-game road winning streak was snapped. 'Obviously I’d have loved (Rondo) to make them, but that’s not why we lost this game. The free throws had nothing to do with that game. It was our composure and our execution and our focus. The (Eddie House) technical, leaving a guy behind the 3(-point line). I mean, we have a whole potpourri of mistakes that we made down the stretch, mental mistakes. Nothing that anyone did except for us. Like we talk about every night, the only opponent we have is ourselves, and tonight we beat ourselves. Even if we had won, we’d have felt bad about the game, honestly.'"

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe - "Ainge said he is pleased with the team’s 23-6 start, especially since it has yet to play with a fully healthy roster. 'I like our team,' he said. 'I like the attitude of our team and the work ethic of our team. I like the chemistry of our team and so I’m very pleased where we are. I think there’s a level our team hasn’t reached yet that we’re capable of reaching and I’ve seen signs of that along the way that are very encouraging and we haven’t had our team full strength. I still anticipate that we will be at full strength very shortly, meaning where everybody is playing their best, not just having people on the court - it’s having people back on the court playing their best basketball. I think that that is a real possibility for us. I see that possibility in the near future and I am hopeful for it.'"

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - A lot of teams missed the boat on Rajon Rondo in the 2006 draft, but the Clippers weren’t one of them. Unfortunately, they had traded their choice. The Suns took Rondo and dealt him to the Celtics that night. 'On draft day, we tried like heck to get a first-round pick to get up and get him,' said coach Mike Dunleavy, now also the general manager for Los Angeles. “We thought actually that Phoenix would take him because of the fit that he would make for their team. So we felt like we had to get up in front of 21. We tried like heck after 16 and down to try to get a pick to take him. Our guy really had him pegged right as far as how good he was. Obviously you knew he wasn’t a great outside shooter, but everything else he does is pretty terrific.'"

Lisa Dillman, LA Times - "'Coach, run this play for me. I'm gonna shoot and we're gonna win,' Davis said he told Coach Mike Dunleavy. And what a wildly improbable story and finish. The Clippers scored five points in the final 8.5 seconds to defeat the Celtics, 92-90, the winning shot being a fadeaway jumper by Davis at the buzzer. It stopped Boston's nine-game road winning streak, marking only the second Celtics loss on the road this season. This had echoes of the Clippers' upset of the Celtics last season at Staples Center, a two-point victory in February. 'You've got to prepare your mind for it when you're getting ready to take a shot,' Davis said. 'I didn't know what Coach was gonna draw. I made it known that I wanted to get the ball and if I got it with a second left, if I can get to my fadeway over [Rajon] Rondo, at least we'd be able to get a good look.'"

Associated Press - "Rondo scored 20 points in another impressive offensive game for the Celtics, but his free throw woes -- he's hovering near 53 percent for the season -- cost the Celtics dearly. After drawing a foul from Davis, his two misses were actually three, including another shot that was waved off in between the two that counted. 'I made it tough,' Rondo said. 'We just didn't execute down the stretch. I felt confidence shooting them. I wasn't antsy or nervous. I took my time and I kept my follow-through up. But the first one was just long, and the second one was long.' Davis then had a Jimmy Chitwood moment, although his "Hoosiers"-style declaration didn't surprise anybody in the Clippers' huddle. 'Baron said, 'Coach, draw it up and I will make this,'' coach Mike Dunleavy said. 'He told us to give him the ball, so we draw up a play and it paid off.'"

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE - "But the Celtics made enough mistakes against the Clippers to where they should not have even had a chance to steal a victory, which is exactly what they would have done if Rondo would have made one or both of those free throws. 'We beat ourselves,' said Celtics forward Glen Davis. 'We gave the Clippers opportunities to make plays. We can look back at the game and pinpoint a lot of things we could have done. We look back at the game and look at the mistakes we did, it wasn't Celtics basketball. When we play Celtics basketball, it's hard to beat us. We didn't, and the Clippers closed the game.' Unlike some players who shy away from the media when they have a night like this, Rondo was the first Celtic to speak following the loss. 'We just didn't execute down the stretch,' he said."

Jessica Camerato, WEEI - "The reality is, these missed shots don't say too much about whether or not Rondo is a clutch player because he is not a great free throw shooter to begin with. Rondo had only made 37 free throws heading into the game and was shooting 53.6% on the season. That's just three more free throws made than Rasheed Wallace, who had taken 27 fewer attempts than Rondo. Even so, his inability to make free throws represents a vulnerability in his game that opponents will continue to attack until Rondo makes them pay for doing so. If Rondo can show the same ability to address his weakness from the stripe that he did with his jumper, then he will be able to give other teams pause before fouling him in pivotal moments. For now, however, as the rest of his game blossoms, Rondo's poor shooting from the foul line represents a potentially significant development that will be monitored by the Celtics and other teams."

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Running Diary: Celtics done in by bearded man

2009-12-28T00:35:00.002-05:00

Baron Davis is one of the most frustrating NBA players in the game today. He has all the talent in the world -- strength, athleticism, great court vision, soft touch -- but for whatever reason hasn't been able to be a consistent performer over his career.

On any night, though, he can put all those skills on display, and when he does he can be very special. Unfortunately for the Boston Celtics, he decided to put those skills together against Boston, doing it all for the Clippers in their 92-90 win.

With one second left in the game, after two Rajon Rondo misses from the free throw line left the game tied at 90, Davis came up to the top of the key and drilled a jumper with Rondo draped all over him.

Poor Rondo; he went from being the Celtics best player for 47 minutes and 59 seconds to the goat by the end of the game. First the missed free throws, then Davis' jumper in his mug. (Even though you couldn't play much better defense than Rondo played, short of completely denying him the pass.)

For my thoughts while the game was going on, read on. It's my running diary...

First Quarter

It took Tony Allen a little less than two minutes to get his first turnover. I don't want to be too harsh on Tony, he's played well lately, but the only reason he got that turnover was that he decided to look off Rondo, who was looking for an outlet pass. Tony, just a bit of advice: Don't. Look. Off. Rondo.
Baron Davis is far too strong for Rondo. Three minutes into the game, and Davis has been super aggressive going to the hoop. When he plays like this, it's hard to realize why he's not one of the NBA's elite point guards... until you remember he has hardly ever been in shape, continually decides to settle for bad jumpers, and gets injured more often than Evil Knievel.
Eric Gordon just blew by Ray Allen for an easy two-handed flush. I hate to say it when he's playing the Celtics, but I really like the way he plays.
Celtics look a step slow to begin the game. It could be a letdown from winning such an emotional Orlando game, it could be having to travel from Orlando to L.A., or it could be that they saw they were playing a team starting DeAndre Jordan. Whatever it is, they don't have the same sense of urgency they had against Orlando.
Early on, Rondo's the only one with any energy. Thankfully for the Celtics, he's dominating the game, with 6 points and 2 assists in the first seven minutes. Celtics up 13-12.
Since I got on TA for his dumb play earlier, I've got to give him credit now: He just stole an entry pass, then ran his lane down the left wing. What happened? Rondo hit him with a bounce pass and Allen ended up on the free throw line shooting two free throws. Moral of the story? Let Rondo make the decisions. (As I'm writing this, Allen just broke up an alley-oop with a great defensive play. He's done some really good things these last few weeks.)
TA is taking over the running diary. This time, a nice cut from the wing to the bucket, where Rondo hit him for an easy lay-in. One of the big changes Allen has made to help his game is working off the ball. When he is just a finisher, he can be a weapon. When he tries to initiate plays and over-dribbles, that's when he makes bad mistakes. (By the way, I can't believe what I just wrote. Tony Allen "can be a weapon." Before the season, I would have bet my life I would never say that.)

Brian Skinner's little goatee thing is disgusting. I don't want to be too graphic, but he looks like he has Brian Scalabrine's pubic hairs pasted to his chin.

Second Quarter

A minute into the second quarter, Ray Allen gets subbed in for Rondo and the Celtics now have a lineup of Ray, Scal, Eddie House, Big Baby, and Rasheed. Not exactly their best unit.
Remember when I said it wasn't their best unit? I wasn't lying. But it doesn't really matter, because 'Sheed is getting defended by Brian Skinner and Brian Skinner's pubic goatee... And he is torching them both. On one possession, he put the ball right over Skinner's head, as if contemplating about what move to make, then just decided, "Hey, I can just shoot it right over him. I don't even have to make any moves. It's that easy." And so he shot it. And it went in.
Even without Rondo on the floor, Eddie House is playing almost entirely off the ball; Ray and Tony Allen are doing most of the ball-handling.
DeAndre Jordan is an athletic freak. He had a huge alley-oop earlier, and a nice block on a Rondo drive in this quarter. He's a physical specimen but, still, he's not very good. Why not? He's less skilled offensively than my grandmother.

KG just went up to catch an alley-oop, completely botched the dunk, then came down limping. I get the feeling his injury is worse than the Celtics are letting on and, if it is, he should be sitting out some more games. Plus, have you seen that knee brace of his? He's out there looking like a young Forrest Gump.
The starters came back into the game with the score 38-34, Celtics. Now, it's 42-38 Clippers. Bring back Scal!
You can say what you want about Tommy Heinsohn being a complete and total homer; it's all true. But I miss him during road games. Especially when the Celtics get called for a blatantly obvious foul and I just want to hear Tommy's inevitable, "What a bogus call!" Nobody complains about good calls quite like Tommy does. Actually, I'm forgetting about somebody who does... Did you see Kobe Bryant the other day?
I can't believe some of the entry passes L.A. has thrown into their big men. They've already thrown away three our four. I've seen second-grade teams who can throw better passes into the post.
Baron Davis just settled for "the Baron Davis" to end the second quarter. What exactly is "The Baron Davis"? A stepback, fadeaway three-pointer, of course. Surprisingly, it's only his first "Baron Davis" of the night. (Side note: "The Baron Davis" also has an alternate name... "The Vince Carter".
The half ends with the Celtics ahead, 48-46. Rondo leads the Celtics with 10 points and 4 assists. Garnett a paltry 2-7 from the field. The Clippers shot 50%, but 10 turnovers hurt their cause.

Third Quarter

The Celtics have picked it up to begin the second half. Rondo's getting out in transition, Tony Allen's making nice plays, and Kevin Garnett is affecting things on both ends of the floor. A quick 12-4 run to start the half has put the Celtics up 60-50.
If Tony Allen keeps playing like he is, the C's bench will be dangerous when Marquis Daniels returns. Both Allen and Daniels are versatile defenders who can really apply pressure on the other team.
Mike Gorman on Al Thornton: "Thornton's been out there for 25 minutes, and we haven't called his name much." Couldn't have said it better myself, Mike. Still, despite having done literally nothing productive tonight, he leads the Clippers in minutes. Huh?
What's more attractive... Chris Kaman or Brian Skinner's goatee? I vote Kaman, by a hair.
Baron Davis comes off a screen and launches his second "Baron Davis" of the night. In related news, it missed.
The C's are really playing great defense in this third quarter. Every shot is contested, and Garnett and Perk are really doing a great job of owning the paint and not allowing easy shots. (Note: As I was writing this, Eric Gordon sliced to the hoop for a wide open lay-up. The lesson, as always: Don't jinx your team.)
Mike Gorman: "I haven't figured out yet what the Clippers are trying to do." A perfect quote to describe the Mike Dunleavy effect.
I'll say this about DeAndre Jordan: He's good at catching alley-oops. To me, it's his one discernible skill.
I really like Rasual Butler. He's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but he seems to be a pro's pro. He sprints both ways in transition, gives it all he's got on defense, and can really shoot the basketball. He's one of the few Clippers who actually seems to give a damn.
A missed Rasheed dunk turns into a Chris Kaman and-one at the other end... Kaman seems to be really happy, after being named more attractive than ~~Scal's pubes~~ Brian Skinner's goatee.
73-69 Celtics to end the third. A good start to the quarter was ruined by a lackadaisical last few minutes.

Fourth Quarter

Big Baby has played a nice game tonight. He's gotten a few offensive rebounds, taken a few charges, and scored a few buckets. Plus, unlike Shelden Williams, he doesn't have a wife with more skills.
When I watch the Clips play, I wonder why Craig Smith doesn't get more playing time. He can score, he's active on the glass, and he's not Brian Skinner. What more could the Clips want? (Answer: Maybe a power forward taller than 6'7"?)
Another note about Smith: Watching him go against Big Baby is like watching two 6'7" bowling balls play basketball.
I was just about to ask why Eddie House was still in the game with a little over five minutes to go, then Eddie hit an and-one jumper from the corner. I guess that's why. Still, no matter how hot Eddie's been this fourth quarter, Rondo should not be on the bench to finish the game. He just shouldn't be.
With four minutes to go, Doc finally puts Rondo back into the game. Doc, he's been your best player all night long. He should have been in a long time ago.
I don't have any stats to back this up, but Perk seems like he's been far more active on the offensive glass lately. He just had a huge board after a Ray Allen miss, keeping alive a possession that ended with a made Rondo jumper.
Eric Gordon takes three very long steps, then gets called for a travel, and somehow Donny Marshall takes Gordon's side and said he didn't walk. He's like Bizarro Tommy Heinsohn right now.
TA with a huge steal and coast-to-coast lay-in to give the C's a four-point lead. I keep waiting for his inevitable self-destruction at the worst possible time, but he hasn't had one in awhile. (Crossing my fingers that I didn't just jinx the first reliable stretch of play Allen's had in a long, long time.)
.346 -- No, I didn't just randomly write down Albert Pujols' batting average. .346 is actually DeAndre Jordan's free throw percentage on the season. To look on the bright side, though, if he were three times as good from the line he'd be a little better than Ray Allen.
Doc Rivers is subbing offense-defense with 'Sheed and Perk. I like that, but I don't like 'Sheed deciding to shoot a three on his first possession, despite being oh fer five on his first five trifectas.
Rondo drives by Baron Davis with time running down, drawing the foul and getting himself to the line. Mark Price, please tell me you helped Rajon enough to let him make at least one of two.
They show this stat before Rondo takes his first free throw: 54% from the line. He then clanks the first one. So much for the reverse jinx.
And Rondo misses them both. Damn you, Mark Price, damn you.
Baron Davis drills a fadeaway with no time left on the clock. Wow, what a stomach-punch.
That last play ended up well for the Clips, but did anyone else notice these two things about it?... 1) Dunleavy had Rasual Butler, arguably the Clips best shooter, pass the ball in, and 2) Steve Novak, ice-cold after sitting for the first 47 minutes and 59 seconds, was inserted into the game. If you want a shooter, doesn't it make more sense to have somebody else pass the ball in and have Butler -- not ice-cold Novak -- on the court?
For the Celtics, this was an uneven effort. They didn't execute well, either offensively or defensively, and clearly didn't show the same focus and determination they showed in beating the Magic the other night. Really, they didn't deserve to win this game.

Claws Jam Bakersfield

2009-12-26T16:30:00.006-05:00

The Maine Red Claws, as expected, destroyed the league's worst team tonight in front of another sellout crowd in the Portland Expo. Despite Bill Walker being sent back up to the Celtics, Alexis Ajinca not at his best, and Lester Hudson only arriving for the second half, it was no contest. At various times the Jam tried to turn it into a contest. While it looked like they might get it going and make it a game, their rally never quite materialized. After the first quarter it was never closer than nine points.

Bakersfield started strong, to be sure. With less than three minutes left in the first quarter, they were only behind by a point. Initially, it seemed that they might be competitive. Perhaps their recent roster moves had been effective, or perhaps this would into a surprise challenge for the Claws, much like their first home loss. Then the Red Claws went on an 11-3 run, and by the end of the quarter the home team was ahead by nine points. That run would be indicative of the rest of the game. Maine never looked back, defeating the visitors by a final of 105-82.

It took Bakersfield the first three minutes of the second before they were able to score. While the Claws scored five more points in the second than they had in the third, the Jam scored the same. At halftime the Claws were in full command with an impressive 23-point lead - identical to the final margin.

Although a brief rally materialized for the visitors as they pushed from being down almost twenty points to finishing the third with an eleven-point deficit, they only barely got it into single digits when the rally fizzled. This was the only quarter where the Jam outscored than the Claws (35-27). For a while there the Jam looked impressive, but then the Claws dominated the fourth quarter.

It wasn't the NBA assignees who stood out, but Trey Gilder and Noel Felix. Gilder notched 18, leading the team in points, while Felix had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Although Hudson didn't see much time, he played well in 13 minutes and Ajinca was impressive despite a slow start, with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

Maine played a strong game, despite losing Walker and with Hudson only notching 3 points in 13 minutes. The Red Claws showed why they're one of the best teams in the D-League. They also proved they could dominate without their NBA assignees, and that they'll be competitive with or without help from the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Bobcats.

NOTES: Celtics GM Danny Ainge attended the game...the first-place Iowa Energy face the 3-7 Eerie BayHawks later tonight; an Iowa loss would leave Maine and Iowa tied for first place...Lester Hudson arrived late & only played in the second half.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Noel Felix; Honorable Mention to Trey Gilder

Lester Hudson sent back to Maine Red Claws

2009-12-26T11:28:00.001-05:00

Via the Red Claws' Facebook page:

The Red Claws face the Bakersfield Jam today at 1:00 in front of another sell out crowd. Did we mention that Celtics have sent Lester Hudson to us again?!

The move makes sense; with Paul Pierce out with an injury, it's more pressing for the Celtics to have Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens with the big club than it is to have Hudson.

Maine vs. Bakersfield Preview

2009-12-26T10:03:00.003-05:00

Maine Red Claws (7-2) vs. Bakersfield Jam (2-10)

1:00PM Saturday December 26;

5:00PM Sunday December 27, Portland Expo, Portland, Maine

This afternoon and tomorrow evening, the Red Claws square off against the Bakersfield Jam, the worst team in the D-League. Like the Armor, the Jam have the benefit of no NBA assignees. Like the Armor, they're associated with thoroughly mediocre NBA teams: the 7-21 Golden State Warriors and the 12-17 LA's Other Team. In fact, last spring the Jam almost ceased operations entirely.

The team leader so far this season for Bakersfield has been 6'11" C Brian Butch from the University of Wisconsin. While his high school career was notable, and Wisconsin made strides during his collegiate career, he has yet to receive a serious look from an NBA team. 6'6" G Reece Gaines has the most NBA experience on the Jam roster. He played for Louisville in college, then was drafted and signed by the Orlando Magic in 2003, where he sat on the bench. He's played with the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks since then, seeing his playing time decrease steadily, and hasn't been in the NBA since the 2005-2006 season.

These two games should be good opportunities for the Red Claws. While they just lost Bill Walker after Paul Pierce was sidelined for a few games, that shouldn't be too much of a concern. He'll likely be back, and the Claws still have an NBA assignee in 7'0" Forward-Center Alexis Ajinca, from the Bobcats. Ajinca has been steadily improving over the course of his time in Maine, which should please Michael Jordon and Larry Brown as well as Maine fans.

Even apart from the assignees, the Claws have plenty of NBA talent and should continue to be a top-notch team. This organization has a lot of talent, which is reflected by their relatively balanced offense. The Jam, too, have a fairly balanced offense - just for the opposite reason. The difference between the two on defense couldn't be more obvious; if that continues over the weekend, Maine fans won't have much to worry about.

Update: According to the Red Claws Facebook page, Lester Hudson has been sent back down to the Red Claws. At this point, it is unsure whether he'll play in today's game.

Doc: Yesterday's win ugly ball, not bad ball

2009-12-26T09:56:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's win wasn't pretty. The Celtics had 20 turnovers. They shot only 42.5%. They hit only four out of 15 threes. No, the game wasn't pretty at all.

But it sure was a win Doc Rivers could be proud of.

Via the Boston Globe:

“A lot of good things happened for us. Our defense won the game. We talked about it for two days - the only way we’re going to win this game is in a defensive game. We’re not going to come in without Paul Pierce and shoot them out of the game, that wasn’t going to happen. We were going to have a great defensive team and we were. It was not the prettiest ball - I can tell you both teams played tremendous defense, by the way. We didn’t lose points in that stretch - no one was scoring. It was ugly ball. But I don’t necessarily think that’s bad basketball, I think that’s two teams playing extremely hard and playing great defense.’’

I'm not like a lot of people. I'd rather see a low-scoring, grind-it-out game, as long as both teams are giving it their all. I want to see players hitting the floor after loose balls, hard box-outs on missed shots, and contested jumpers rather than open ones.

And by those parameters, yesterday was certainly satisfying.

'It's a Wonderful Life', starring Paul Pierce

2009-12-25T11:23:00.002-05:00

Every Christmas Eve, my family and I sit down and watch "It's a Wonderful Life," the timeless Christmas movie released in 1947. Every Christmas Eve -- without fail -- I claim it's an overrated movie, then get suckered into its heart-warming story. By the end of the movie, I'm without a doubt holding back tears, or attempting to secretly wipe them away from my eyes. I can't let my family detect me tearing up... it's an overrated movie, remember?

Anyways, I will now admit it's one of the best movies ever made, and then hope beyond hope my family doesn't read this post. After all, next year I'll have to make my claim that it's an overrated movie; it's become a Christmas tradition, like opening presents, singing carols, or drinking egg nog. (Of course, an hour or so later I'll be weeping like Adam Morrison in the NCAA tournament; yet another King family Christmas tradition.)

If you don't know the premise of "It's a Wonderful Life", it's this: (Note: I promise there is a point to this. Bear with me.) A businessman named George Bailey runs an exceedingly moral Building and Loan and successfully battles the local tyrant (Mr. Potter) who wants to take over the town and run it down, in the process almost single-handedly saving his town from the clutches of despair. But then he runs into enormous bad luck; his uncle Billy accidentally gives $8,000 to Mr. Potter, and the bank is suddenly short money and in trouble with the police. As George thinks suicidal thoughts, he prays for some help, and it comes... in the form of his guardian angel Clarence.

Long story short, Clarence takes George into an alternate reality and shows him what his life would have been like if he were never born, essentially proving how many lives George has touched.

So why the hell am I talking about It's a "Wonderful Life"? I'm supposed to be discussing the Celtics, aren't I?

And I will, by putting Paul Pierce into the shoes of George Bailey and showing him what the Celtics would have been like had he never been born....

Cue the smoke, bring on Clarence, and let's take Pierce back to the 1998 NBA Draft...

As the future Pierce watches and thinks to himself, "I'm about to get drafted," David Stern comes to the podium to announce the 10th pick of the NBA Draft:

"And with the 10th pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics select... Bonzi Wells."

The crowd murmurs for awhile, wondering 1) who the hell Bonzi Wells is [after all, he went to Ball State, and wasn't exactly a known commodity], and 2) how the Celtics didn't use that pick to scoop up Michael Doleac. Future Pierce, meanwhile, is puzzled.

"But I was drafted with that pick. Not Bonzi Wells."

"Keep watching," said Clarence. "It gets worse."

Future Pierce is whisked away to the following year, to a casino in Las Vegas, where Antoine Walker and Bonzi Wells are playing craps.

Pierce walks up to Antoine, and yells, "'Toine, my man! What's going on?"

Walker looks at him questioningly, before deciding he doesn't know who the hell Pierce is.

"It's me, 'Toine! Paul. The Truth. We went to the conference finals together, 'Toine! We beat the Nets in one of the most memorable comebacks ever. We were the second-best team in the East, 'Toine, and it was almost all because of you and me!"

Walker shakes his head, looks at Wells and starts to laugh. "The Celtics, in the conference finals? This guy must be wild. I've never seen him before in my life, and he's telling me we beat the Nets in one of the most memorable comebacks ever. Ha! Shit, we just went through a 5-45 season. (Editor's note: the lockout.) We started Eric Riley at center half the time. (Editor's note: Eric Riley is a real person, and he started 11 games for the '98-'99 Celtics.) Our backcourt was Kenny Anderson and Ron Mercer, and we had Vitaly Potapenko in the starting lineup too, damnit. Without a real scoring threat, we couldn't even stay in games, never mind win them. And this guy's trying to talk about the Conference Finals? Shit."

Pierce takes another look at Walker and realizes, Wow, he's pretty damn fat. He wasn't that fat back then, was he? How'd he get so big?

Then he takes one more look back at Walker and Wells, who are double-fisting cheeseburgers and losing money at a steady rate. Oh....

Fast forward to the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals...

Future Pierce has seen enough to realize he won't be playing in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals. But what he doesn't realize is that the Detroit Pistons, starting Chucky Atkins, Ben Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Clifford Robinson and Michael Curry, would be in the Finals.

"Michael Curry?" Pierce asks. "Starting in the Eastern Conference Finals?"

"I know," responds Clarence. "It surprised me, too. He averaged a whopping four points per game, and it's not like he was surrounded by a ton of scorers to carry the load. I would have you keep watching, but I can't handle watching basketball this bad. You see, this series would have set basketball back a decade... if anyone in the country had actually been interested in watching Michael Curry battle Keith Van Horn. Without your comeback, your heart, and your passion, this was probably the worst Conference Finals series in NBA history."

A flabbergasted Future Pierce is transported through time back into 2009, Christmas Day. Pierce opens his eyes to see a room full of people wearing Celtics gear and watching the Crhistmas Day games on t.v., only the Celtics aren't who he thought they would be...

Pierce looks to Clarence in shock: "Gerald Green? Sebastian Telfair? Brian Scalabrine? Where are KG and Ray Allen?"

"Without you, neither of those guys wanted to play for Boston. And, besides, the GM wouldn't have wanted them... what's the point of one star player around a roster full of scrubs? The Celtics are committed to rebuilding."

"But with Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfiar?" Pierce wondered. "And who's that 50-year old seven-footer walking around on crutches?"

"Why, that's no 50-year old," explained Clarence. "That's Greg Oden. The Celtics traded away their first-round draft picks for the next five years to get him, and he's been hurt pretty much ever since."

Wow, thought Pierce. I never thought I was this valuable to the Celtics. Just look at what would have happened to their organization if I'd never been born.

"See Paul," injected Clarence. "You're the richest man in town. Remember, no man is a failure who has a ring."

"But Clarence," Pierce said. "One last question... What in the world is Vinny Del Negro doing in here?"

"When Doc Rivers was fired, the Celtics hired him as their coach."

One more reason I love Kevin Garnett

2009-12-25T08:28:00.000-05:00

There are so many reasons I love KG. He never takes a play off, plays unselfishly, and is willing to sacrifice anything of his own to help his own team win. (And yeah, that last reason sounds a lot like the second reason, but I couldn't just stop at "unselfish.")

Here's one more reason.

Via the Boston Herald:

Getting Garnett to take a break before exacerbating an injury has proven a difficult task for the Celtics.

“I only know one way to play,” he said. “And since I’ve been able to come into this league, I learned from some gritty veterans in Sam (Mitchell) and Terry Porter. Those guys pushed through a lot of things. I never want to sit or never try to sit during practice. I don’t believe in days off unless the coach gives them to you. So my thing is to work, and that’s what I do when I come to the gym.

“Sometimes you’ve got to listen to your body, and as I get older that’s probably the smarter thing to do. But when I come here, I don’t come here for social reasons. I don’t come here to lollygag or shoot the (expletive) or shoot the breeze. I come here to work. I come here to get something done.”

I don't care what you think about Garnett's on-court antics. I don't care what type of reaction you have when Garnett blocks a shot after the whistle, or when he constantly spews four-letter words in the direction of his opponent...

No matter what, you have to admire the effort, determination, and passion with which he plays every time he steps on that court.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Or happy holidays. No matter what you celebrate, enjoy your time at home and appreciate your families and everything you're blessed with.

More evidence Gilbert Arenas is a 'gunner'

2009-12-24T20:56:00.000-05:00

As if taking almost 20 shots a game wasn't enough, Gilbert Arenas has now officially proven to everyone that he is a 'gunner'; he is under investigation for holding a firearm in the Washington Wizards locker room.

Via CSN Washington:

"The Washington Wizards have learned that Gilbert Arenas stored firearms in a locked container in his locker, unloaded and without ammunition. The Wizards organization and Arenas promptly notified the local authorities and the NBA and are cooperating fully with law enforcement during its review of this matter and will have no further comment at this time."

Gilbert had this to say to the Washington Times about the incident:

"It happened like December 10th. Right after my daughter was born. I decided I didn't want the guns in my house and around the kids anymore, so i took them to my lock box at Verizon Center. Then like a week later, I turned them over to team security and told them to hand them over to the police, because I don't want them anymore. I wouldn't have brought them to D.C. had I known the rules. After my daughter was born, I was just like, I don't need these anymore.”

Personally, I think he probably just wanted to hold a gun to Mike Miller's head and force him to get a haircut. And you know what? I don't blame him.

(h/t NBA FanHouse)

KG to play tomorrow, Glen Davis might too

2009-12-24T15:38:00.000-05:00

Via the Globe:

There were positive developments on the Celtics' front Thursday afternoon, a day after Paul Pierce underwent surgery for an infection in his right knee.

First, Pierce might be able to return sooner than the two weeks originally estimated. Second, Kevin Garnett (right thigh bruise) practiced at full speed and will play against the Orlando Magic Friday. Third, forward Glen Davis (broken right hand) could be activated against the Magic.

Also, Pierce could be back quicker than the originally stated two weeks:

Rivers said Pierce's return was a "guesstimate by a doctor who never played basketball."

"I think it may be shorter than two weeks," Rivers said of Pierce.

Sorry for the short post...

I just played basketball for the first time in about four months. For a guy who used to be a college basketball player, I am in the worst shape in my life and, quite frankly, I suck. Kind of like Glen Davis in today's practice:

Davis, who was injured in a fight with a friend on even of the season-opener, "went through whole practice, he sucked but he didn't injure himself, so that's good," Rivers said.

He'll be fine once he works himself back into game shape, I'm sure. But for now, he's like me...

Fat, out of shape, and not the player he once was.

Reading too far into things? Or the worst news of the day?

2009-12-24T06:42:00.000-05:00

I don't want you to think I'm reading too far into things... but the last sentence of the this quote seems ominous to me.

Via The Boston Globe:

“It’s a goal of mine not to have KG play 81 games and to not have Paul Pierce play 81 games,’’ Ainge said yesterday. “And to not play 36 minutes a game for 81 games. That’s not my objective at all, or our organizational objective. KG could have played [Tuesday] night. We look for opportunities to give him time off.

“This has nothing to do with wear and tear, especially in Paul’s situation.’’

Why does he have to qualify it, "Especially in Paul's situation?" Is KG's thigh bruise (wink wink nudge nudge) not just a thigh bruise?

It seems as if KG's injury might be a little more serious than the Celtics are trying to let on. If seeing KG -- semingly out of nowhere -- being forced to sit a game out due to injury didn't sound off the alarms in your head, maybe the insinuation that his injury might have something to do with wear and tear might.

If this were only just a bruise, does Ainge come out and say that the injuries have nothing to do with wear and tear... "especially in Paul's situation"? Shouldn't it be "especially in KG's situation" too? After all, it's only a bruise, damn it!

Or is it something worse?

The Morning Walkthrough: Losing Paul Pierce

2009-12-24T06:31:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald - "To compensate for the loss, the Celtics recalled Bill Walker from the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. When the second-year forward got the call, he was in the middle of a practice in Portland. He may now be part of the patching coach Doc Rivers will have to do to fill in the significant lineup gap left by Pierce. 'Positionally, this is going to fall on people like Billy, Tony (Allen), J.R. (Giddens) and Scal (Brian Scalabrine), but how else we make up for it I really don’t know,' Ainge said. 'We really like the progress (Walker’s) been making in Portland.'"

Joel Brigham, Hoops World - After watching 57 players get selected before him in June's draft, Hudson thought for a while that he might not get selected at all. 'I know I'm fortunate to be here because a lot of the other players were on big high school teams and AAU and had gotten that recognition,' Hudson explained. 'I didn't get that recognition until junior year in college. Before that, they didn't know nothing about me. I just played one year of high school, and then I went to junior college. The difference between me and them is that they've gotten the credit all their life. I haven't. That's why I'm just so very happy to be here.' Where many rookies expect to make the NBA their whole lives, Hudson has had to work for it, and his humble demeanor and grateful personality certainly shows the strength of his character. He's working as hard as anyone, and at 25 years old he's also got the maturity and life experience to know what this opportunity to means. 'He's one of the better rookies that I've had,' Ray Allen said, 'just from the standpoint of talent and the ability to want to get better.'"

Jeff Clark, CelticsBlog - "I'm sure Ainge will continue to monitor the trade market, but once again, he likely won't feel pressured into making any sort of deal that he wouldn't have made in the offseason. If a good deal presents itself, great. Otherwise, they'll go with what they've got. So what have they got left? Well, the most logical guy to step up into the starting lineup is Tony Allen. Pause for a moment and reflect on how insane that statement would have sounded 3 weeks ago. But give Tony credit. He's played solid defense, he's attacked the rim, and he's added needed hustle and athleticism to our bench. He's always played better when he was on the court for longer stretches, and he'll get that opportunity now. Perhaps being surrounded by the starters will limit the mistakes and miscues that he's become famous for."

Frank Dell'Apa. Boston Globe - "'That’s what you have to do - it’s a different preparation,' Wallace said. 'When you’re coming off the bench you’re looking more at the guys that they have coming off the bench. At first, I was more focused on [Tyler] Hansbrough and the guys they have, then I focused on [Roy] Hibbert and [Troy] Murphy and try and do what I can with them. That first half, I’m not going to lie, they were kicking our [butts]. They was beating us to loose balls, getting any shot they wanted, getting layups, fast-break points. They were able to pass it without no pressure, going to any spot on the floor. Doc [Rivers] came in here and chewed us out and we knew what we had to do - go out in the second half and apply pressure. We couldn’t give them easy passes and easy buckets.' Wallace’s technical foul count this season was reduced to nine after he successfully appealed one from a game at Miami Nov. 29. 'No, I’m not happy,' Wallace said of the favorable decision. 'Because there are still some more that, hopefully, they can look at. That was the only one we were talking about and that one got rescinded that fast because of the referee [Bennett Salvatore]. As for the outcome of the others, I know it won’t be no time soon because of the simple fact it’s on the backburner because of the [collective bargaining agreement] meetings and all that stuff. So I’m not worried about it, yet.'"

Brian Robb, CelticsHub - Brian Robb: 'Talk a little bit about Tony Allen. No one in Boston was expecting much out of the guy after an inconsistent past 2 seasons as he seemed to have lost his confidence. I had been a defender of TA up until last year when he forced me to jump off the wagon. This year however, he has been a nice sparkplug off the bench. What have you seen from Tony? Do you think he can keep this up on a consistent basis and still be an asset, even when Marquis Daniels returns from injury?' Mike Gorman: 'Doc has told me, and told Tony that if you defend, and don’t turn the ball over, you will get minutes. I think that’s where Tony is right now. He is the most aggressive defender on the floor when he is in the game. Even though he does find himself sometimes being the psuedo point guard here and there on the floor, he has played through those stretches well thus far, not turning the ball over and making good places. So to go back to your original question, I think it’s an embarrassment of riches for the C’s when Marquis comes back, but I think Marquis is going to take a little bit longer to come back than anyone is expecting. Tony is going to have a lot of time and Big Baby is going to have a lot of time to establish some minutes. Doc is just in a great situation since the team is so deep. There are going to be a lot of guys fighting for playing time.'

Paul Flannery, WEEI - "'[Rajon Rondo] just kills your whole gameplan because you don’t know where he’s going to be,' Murphy said. 'He’s all over the place. He’s taking chances. He just creates havoc out there. He’s tough.' Rondo leads the league in steals, which is part of taking chances and creating havoc, yet he’s doing it while playing 'more solid' as Doc Rivers has pointed out several times. There are no metrics for staying under control both offensively and defensively, but that’s what Rondo is doing this year, while still maintaining his creativity offensively and his gameplan destroying nature defensively. In other words, he’s putting it all together. People will start to notice soon off. Even the other players."

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Infectious behavior: How Paul Pierce's knee infection will affect the Celtics

2009-12-24T00:59:00.000-05:00

First, news came - out of nowhere, might I add - that Kevin Garnett would miss Tuesday night’s game against Indiana for a bruised thigh, or strategic rest, or whatever it was. Then news came - out of nowhere, might I add - that Paul Pierce would miss up to two weeks with a knee infection. Now, Garnett - who was originally expected to return for the game in Orlando on Christmas Day - is only a “game-time decision” for Friday’s game.

What’s next? Rajon Rondo gets a hernia? Kendrick Perkins gets a severe case of migraine headaches? Ray Allen gets beaten by his wife for his obscenely sexual tweet last night (which he says was written by a hacker)? (Note: Don’t know what the Tweet said? It’s a little too vulgar to post, but let’s just say it had something to do with a tongue and a woman’s private parts.)

Santa Claus came riding into Boston on his reindeers, and with him he brought a slew of injuries and bad luck. Thankfully for Boston, it’s in December rather than June.

No matter what time of the year KG and Pierce go down, though, they will be sorely missed. We already saw the effects of KG missing games during last season’s playoffs; without Garnett, the Celtics can still score in bunches, but they struggle to get stops and they struggle to maintain their energy. Rarely does one player affect a team’s play so drastically, but Garnett is an exceptional player. Even while he struggles to return to his pre-injury form (last season’s injury), Garnett helps the Celtics in so many ways. He’s their sparkplug, their heart and their soul… and it doesn’t hurt that he’s shooting 56.3% from the field.

Still, as much as they miss Garnett when he’s forced to sit, the Celtics will likely miss Paul Pierce even more. You might think I’m wrong, but hear me out: When Garnett goes down, the Celtics can plug four-time All-Star Rasheed Wallace into the lineup. With Pierce down, the Celtics will now likely play long-time scapegoat Tony Allen as starter. (I know Tony is playing very solid basketball of late, but…) With TA in the starting five and Marquis Daniels already on the injured list, the Celtics quality bench is suddenly incredibly thin.

By osmosis, Pierce’s injury will affect just about everyone on the entire team, and here’s how…

Rajon Rondo - At first glance, it might not seem like Rondo will be affected too much by Pierce’s absence; after all, Pierce is a small forward and his sitting won’t affect Rondo’s minutes one bit. But Rondo tends to base his game on his surrounding players; With the Big Three completely healthy and spry, he likes to take a backseat role and direct the offense with pinpoint passing. In last season’s playoffs, without KG, Rondo - by necessity - became more of a scorer. With Pierce in street clothes rather than his uniform, look for Rondo to shoulder more of the scoring load.

Ray Allen - Depending on how Doc decides to divvy out Pierce’s minutes, Ray could be the starter most drastically affected by Pierce’s absence. Simply put, his minutes could skyrocket. If Doc doesn’t give one -- or more -- of the young guys a chance, Ray could be forced to log a ton of minutes. Doc almost always likes to put either Ray or Paul out there with the second unit and now, with Paul recovering from his infection, the burden falls solely to Ray’s shoulders… unless Doc makes the smart decision of keeping Allen’s minutes lower and giving the young guys a shot.

Kendrick Perkins, Shelden Williams - I’m trying to decide how Perkins and Williams will be affected by Pierce’s time off and, well, it’s just not coming to me. Maybe Perk will scowl a little more than usual?

Kevin Garnett - Just like Rondo, KG will have to shoulder a heavier load. Will he be able to on that bum knee of his?

Brian Scalabrine - For the first time this season, Scal will be more than a towel-waver. There’s been talk about Scal possibly starting at small forward, but I’m here to tell you that is NOT a good idea. Can you imagine Scal trying to guard Vince Carter tomorrow? Or even Mickael Pietrus, or Matt Barnes? Because I can’t, and I would never want to.

Tony Allen - Allen stands to gain the most from Pierce’s infection; he’s the player who will probably step into the starting rotation, and he’s the one who will see the biggest boost in minutes. In previous years, the hearing Tony Allen will be relied on heavily would have made me cry for hours. Now, I’m still going to cry… just not for quite so long. Allen has played well recently, and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt… until, that is, he goes on a turnover rampage at the worst possible time.

J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker, Lester Hudson - One of the young guys will likely see some significant time. Maybe all of them will. At the very least, they should finally get a chance to take their warmup jerseys off.

Eddie House - With Pierce’s injury, Eddie will see an increased role. Now, instead of standing in the corner and shooting threes for 16 minutes a game, he’ll stand in the corner and shoot threes for about 20 minutes a game.

Doc Rivers - Doc's the guy I'm most worried about; I'm pretty sure his neck is going to be sore after two weeks without Pierce. Why his neck? From constantly glancing to his side, looking for a viable option to put in the game. Guess what, Doc? There won't be any.

It's crazy how one simple little knee infection affects so many people.

A new, cheaper 'Option' to purchase Celtics tickets

2009-12-23T22:52:00.001-05:00

If you’re like me, you get really pissy about StubHub’s ticket prices. I went to an Orlando Magic game a couple years ago, before the Magic were even contenders, and it cost over $1,000 for my family of six to go to a game… and we were in the absolute top row in the entire building.

With that said, Celtics Town is proud and happy to announce our partnership with OptionIt, an innovative ticket company based on cutting prices and increasing ticket flexibility.

Just look at these prices you’d pay for two balcony-level tickets to the C’s January 31 game against the Lakers:

StubHub: $338 OptionIt: $296

Doesn’t it seem like an easy choice? But OptionIt isn’t just about cutting ticket prices; it provides even more benefits than that. Here’s an overview of OptionIt:

How it works
With most ticket places (take StubHub, for example), you buy an overpriced ticket and, if you don’t want to go to the game or for some unforeseen reason can’t make it to the game, you’re screwed. OptionIt, however, provides a unique opportunity to buy an “Option” to go to a game before you have the ticket. Basically, an “Option” is the right to buy a ticket; the ticket is yours as long as you want to buy it… but if you don’t want it, you don’t have to buy it. You have the opportunity to either exercise your “Option” and buy a face value ticket (no markups like StubHub), or sell the “Option” and maybe even make a profit off of it.

Why is it better than other ticket places?
There are many reasons OptionIt is a better choice than other ticket places. Here are but a few:

Flexibility - Sometimes, you might buy tickets to a game thinking you’re going to go, but something comes up later on and you can’t. With OptionIt, that doesn’t matter. If you can’t go to a game, you can simply sell your “Option,” and you’re never committed to paying the ticket price.

Convenience - Want to buy an “Option” for face-value tickets to Game Two of the NBA Finals? Seriously, just click here; it’s that easy. With OptionIt, you can buy an “Option” to tickets before they even become available to the general public. Later, you can decide if you want to go to the game and buy the tickets for face value, or if you want to sell your “Option.”

Price - As I said before, OptionIt is more cost-friendly than ticket vendors. The prices are lower, and more manageable. Plus, by giving you the choice to buy an “Option” now and waiting until later to buy the ticket, you can make two separate, smaller payments rather than paying one lump sum.

Reliability - As a partner of the Boston Celtics, OptionIt is a secure place to secure tickets. They’re kind of like the Larry Bird of ticket places… They will come through every time you need them.

So go visit OptionIt, and buy an Option for a ticket (or two, or three, or four).

And remember: There are still Options available for the Celtics-Lakers game on January 31.

KG a game-time decision for Orlando Magic game

2009-12-23T18:04:00.002-05:00

Via Marc Spears, Yahoo! Sports:

Ainge seemed more optimistic about Kevin Garnett. Garnett didn’t play against the Pacers because of a right thigh bruise, but is a game-time decision for the Celtics’ Christmas Day meeting with the Orlando Magic. Ainge said Garnett, whose 2008-09 season was cut short by a knee injury, was upset about not being cleared to play against Indiana and is itching to return.

This whole strategic rest thing keeps on looking more and more like last year's debacle. The whole "Will he play? Won't he play?" saga is eerily similar to last year's playoffs, when it first seemed he'd be back any day... Then they pushed it back a few days, then - before you knew it - KG had missed the entire playoffs and was scheduled for significant off-season surgery.

I hope history isn't repeating itself, and KG is actually as close to returning as the Celtics say.

Only time will tell.

Who will take over for Paul Pierce?

2009-12-23T17:36:00.000-05:00

Paul Pierce is down for a couple weeks: In his stead, who will step up and becomes the Celtics starting small forward? I would write an article about Doc Rivers' dilemma, but I couldn't put it any better than Rich Levine does here:

Actually, I'll still probably write an article about it. But still.

Paul Pierce has 'medical procedure' on knee, out for up to two weeks

2009-12-23T15:47:00.002-05:00

The injury floodgates have opened.

Via CSNNE:

Paul Pierce will miss the Celtics' upcoming four-game road trip, and may be sidelined for as many as two weeks, because of a knee problem that required a medical procedure on Wednesday.

Team owner Wyc Grousbeck said Pierce began feeling discomfort in the knee after Tuesday night's victory over Indiana. He described the problem as an infection that required drainage, but said he wouldn't describe the procedure as surgery.

Uh-oh. More to come later.

A sign that Garnett WAS feeling pretty good

2009-12-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Depending on who you ask, Kevin Garnett either sat out last night's game to heal a bruised thigh or for "strategic rest." As would be expected after the Celtics completely hid the extent of Garnett's injury last season, Celtics nation is freaking out about Garnett missing the game, and the vagueness of the reason for his absence. (Strategic rest? You can do better than that, Danny Ainge. That sounds more like a power nap than a reason to miss an NBA game.)

How can we trust that Garnett is okay, when they tried to tell us he was okay last season... and then he missed the rest of the season?

We can't. And speculation will continue until Garnett comes back and shows his health.

In the meantime, here's a sign that Garnett was actually feeling pretty well (at least before his latest setback)...

According to Hoop Data, Garnett's shot was blocked six times in this season's first eight games. Since, he hasn't been blocked once.

Now, that could be merely a coincidence, but I doubt it. Garnett was working himself back into shape, getting off the floor more quickly, and moving more swiftly. He was making progress towards regaining his athleticism, and that's easily evident by the fact that he is no longer getting his shots blocked.

For awhile, he was laboring to get off the floor, and opponents were able to send his shots right back to where they came from. But those days were gone, and Garnett had started to turn the corner.

But now a setback (strategic rest, bruise, whatever it may be) has us wondering what the hell happened to KG. It has us wondering if he'll play against the Magic. It has us wondering if the Celtics recalled Bill Walker from the D-League as KG insurance. It has us wondering what the hell strategic rest is.

Most of all, though, his setback has us wondering whether it's just a small hitch in his recovery (the recovery we thought was going so very well), or if it's a sign of bad health that will continue for the rest of the season.

(Thanks go out to Tom Haberstroh, who pointed out this stat on his Twitter account. If you don't follow him, you should... he works for Hoop Data, used to be a researcher for ESPN, and Tweets some very interesting statistics.)

Ray Allen wants to break Reggie Miller's three-point record

2009-12-23T14:19:00.002-05:00

Ray Allen was mired in an almost season-long slump. He was uncharacteristically cold, missing open looks he never, ever misses. So what did he do?

He kept shooting. What else would such a great shooter do? Ray's got a terrific chance of catching Reggie Miller's record for the most career three-pointers in NBA history (2,560 threes), and he hasn't made all those threes by losing confidence in himself or being gunshy.

Now, Allen is shooting 44.6% from threes in the month of December. His jumper is rounding into form, and the threes are once again falling.

And that record? The NBA record for most three-pointers in a career?

Ray would like to break it.

Via the Indy Star:

Allen said he wants to break Miller's record because he doesn't want to have any regrets when he retires.

"Once you retire, you can't do anything because your stats are cemented," Allen said. "It's not like 'Mr. 3000.' You can't come back and get up one more 3. That's what it's all about, trying to do everything I can to stay in great shape and prepare for every shot that may come my way. I think records are really about longevity."

Bill Walker recalled from D-League

2009-12-23T13:52:00.000-05:00

Via the Celtics Twitter account:

Bill Walker has been recalled from the Maine Red Claws. Averaged 17.4 ppg and 6.4 rpg over nine games in the D-League.

The Morning (-ish) Walkthrough: I've been hit by a train

2009-12-23T12:32:00.001-05:00

Sorry the links are late today; I went to a Christmas party with an open bar and now I feel like I've been hit by Kermit Washington. Anyways, enjoy... I'm badly in need of a little more "strategic rest."

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe - "It was a shocking 57-42 mess at the half, and you couldn’t blame it all on KG’s absence. 'No, no, no, no, no,' Rivers insisted. 'We did that all to ourselves. All I told them at the half was that the defense was awful, the effort was awful. There was no defensive energy. It was just like last year [when Garnett was out]. We had the ability to score. We just couldn’t stop them.' The Pacers were knocking down shots with regularity, many of them open jumpers created in what the NBA likes to refer to as 'early offense' opportunities. The Celtics were lazy. They weren’t getting back on defense, even when they scored. It was that simple. 'It was a walk-it-up game for us, and they were running it down our throats,' Rivers pointed out."

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald - 'It’s just like last year,' Rivers said. 'It’s no different in some ways. When Kevin went out last year, we had the ability to score. We just couldn’t stop people from scoring. And I actually turned to (assistant coach Tom Thibodeau) in the first half and said, ‘Here we go,’ when they started scoring. He’s just such a verbal leader, and honestly, him and (Kendrick Perkins) have such a connection defensively where they cover up for each other and everyone else. And when you take him off the floor you disrupt that.' To be fair, the Celtics would have a difficult time, too, overcoming the loss of Pierce, Allen, Perkins or Rajon Rondo . But they looked particularly sloppy last night, shooting just 38 percent from the floor against a team missing its best player, Danny Granger. 'A lot changes,' Pierce said of a world without Garnett. 'You’re talking about a guy who we play our offense through and our leader on defense. I thought it took a second for us to adjust. What we said at halftime, we said we weren’t talking on defense and usually Kevin leads us in that category as far as talking and being in the spots, having everybody in their spots.'"

Jeff Clark, CelticsBlog - "Now all indications are that Garnett was just pulled from last night's game for "strategic rest." All indications are that the issue is a thigh bruise and not directly related to his knee. Everything sounds on the up and up. I'm 99.9% sure that is all there is to the story. However, there's that thin cloud of doubt that creeps in and will always creep in from now on. And the Celtics know it. There's a reason why Danny Ainge addressed the CSN crew last night instead of just Doc. They know they need to be very careful in how they handle situations like this from now on because they know we didn't appreciate them going "Belichickian" on us last year."

Zach Lowe, Celtics Hub - "Kevin: Not OK! Not OK!! Listen, I get the pro athlete’s code. You come to work, you do your best, you don’t complain about injuries unless they are so bad that you’re actively hurting the team by playing. There’s a machismo to it. We saw this in the tunnel in Utah last season after KG first suffered his injury. He wanted to play, and he was ready to do so despite the pain. But it was just too much. The time for machismo is over. KG is proven his toughness to everyone, dozens of times over. If you’re hurting, tell the freaking team."

Red's Army - "Doc called this one in the pregame. He knew the team was going to come out like it did. And as a coach, you can only do so much. What are you going to do... dig into your bag and find your best Knute Rockne speech for a late December game against the Pacers?"

Celtics wake up from slumber in 2nd half, defeat Pacers 103-94

2009-12-22T21:40:00.004-05:00

The Boston Celtics hit the snooze button throughout the first half, but woke up sometime in the middle of the third quarter and won a physical, intense contest over the visiting Indiana Pacers, 103-94.

In my preview of the game, I wrote about why I was nervous for tonight's game, and that was before I knew Kevin Garnett was sitting out with a knee injury. Well, in the first half, Kevin Garnett's enthusiasm and energy was sorely lacking as the Celtics- except for Rajon Rondo, who was everywhere, tipping balls and leading the charge- again came out flat at home.

In the second half, Boston brought the Thibadeau defense, energized by 5 steals from Paul Pierce and 6 from Rajon Rondo. Offensively, Ray Allen had a big game, attacking the basket aggressively on his way to 23 points and 7 rebounds.

Pierce shot horribly for most of the game, missing his first 9 shots, but made key plays late in the 4th quarter to secure the win. Pierce finished the game with 21 points, 12 of them in the pivotal 4th quarter.

Shockingly, NBA-journeyman Earl Watson led the Pacers to a 15-point half time lead with 17 first half points. Without Danny Granger, however, Indiana lacked a go-to-guy and couldn't make the important baskets down the stretch.

Once again the Boston Celtics had trouble defending the hybrid power-forward who can space the floor; in this case, Troy Murphy, who finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds.

The Celtics finished their home stand, moving their record to 22-5, best in the Eastern Conference. Kendrick Perkins added 19 points and 8 rebounds, and provided impressive interior defense in the second half, along with Rasheed Wallace.

Up next?

A delicious Christmas day showdown with the Orlando Magic, complete with holiday food and drink. I'm salivating already. Not sure if it's the thought of revenge against the Magic or the thought of dill dip, kielbasa, and a pint of cold beer. Either way, I'm excited like a kid on Christmas Eve.

KG to miss tonight's game

2009-12-22T19:30:00.001-05:00

Uh-oh. This is something we've all been fearing, all year long... Kevin Garnett will miss tonight's game.

Via Chris Forsberg's Twitter account:

No KG for the Celtics tonight, according to those outside the building, Ainge said on Comcast TV that it's "strategic rest."

Rasheed Wallace will start in KG's place.

"Strategic rest" sounds more to me like "KG's hurting." If it was really only strategic rest, don't you think we would have known about it after the last game, rather than a few minutes before tonight's tip-off?

Remember last season, when KG was out for a few games at first, then it was a few more, then suddenly he was out for the whole season?

I hope this isn't the beginning of a horrendous deja vu.

Update (via Mike Petraglia's Twitter account):

Kevin Garnett will miss tonight's game with a right thigh bruise. He is not dressing.

Right thigh bruise doesn't sound too bad, but you never know.

Pacers shoot for the moon against Celtics

2009-12-22T18:21:00.000-05:00

Why am I worried about a home game against a 9-17 team sitting in last place in the Central Division? Because tonight's game has the feeling of a trap game to me, and the Indiana Pacers seem to truly enjoy playing the Celtics.

So, why am I worried about the Indiana Pacers being a trap game? Here's the list :

Pacers were the only team to beat the Celtics when they were on the road season
Pacers seem to have the Celtics number
Celtics looking ahead to the Orlando Magic on Christmas Day
Home Game- Celtics have lacked energy all year while playing at TD Bank Garden
Pacers ability to push the tempo with Ford, Rush, Dunleavy & Murphy
A Spread the floor 4, in this case, Troy Murphy, gives the Celtics trouble, KG struggles to guard all year
Indiana Pacers are 10th in the NBA in rebounding, compared to the Boston Celtics, who sit at 27th

Despite all my concern, I'm still predicting a Celtics win. Why? Well, mainly because I'm a total homer and have a vested interest in the Celtics. But here are the basketball reasons:

No Danny Granger: Without Granger, the Pacers lose their best player and the only player who can keep both Pierce and Allen honest on the defensive end
Pacers only average 19.4 asts/game, 20th in the NBA, and almost 7 below our C's. To beat the Celtics defense, you have to be able to move the ball, especially without your best player.
We're still the goddamn Boston Celtics, and our record is 21-5.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were teammates in high school

2009-12-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

Via Pierce's blog on Boston.com:

Kevin and I actually played together when we were in high school.

He played on my traveling team. I even got to bring him to my home in Inglewood! My AAU coach found Kev and talked him into coming and playing with us. Kevin had heard about me, but he hadn't seen me play at the time.

[...]

He came out and stayed with me and my moms. He was with me and he was talking about moving schools and I was trying to get him to come out to Inglewood that next year, because he was moving to South Carolina.

Then when we first established our relationship and it's funny, after that he just jumped ship.

I had no idea they played together before being on the Celtics. I'm really loving this Pierce blog.

If you have any sense of humor, you'll love this video... unless you're from Detroit

2009-12-22T15:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I came across an absolutely hysterical YouTube clip of Johnny Most verbally destroying the the Detroit Pistons. People think Tommy Heinsohn is a homer (and he most definitely is), but after watching this clip I don't think anyone could say he's more of a homer than Most. Homer or not (Doh!), just listen to Most and enjoy:

Now, Most's comments are hysterical but, really, the only reason I posted this was so I could call someone "Cornbread" in a post. And here it is: Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell just isn't as good a radio voice as Johnny Most. Plus, there was that whole thing when Cornbread claimed Dirk Nowitzki was better than Larry Bird, and I just can't seem to forgive him for being so sacreligious.

We miss you, Johnny!

Glen Davis working hard to stay thin(-ish)

2009-12-22T07:50:00.000-05:00

The holidays are a time for family, a time for friends, and a time for relaxing. But, most of all, the holidays are a time for eating.

I've only been home for the holidays for a single day, and already I've gained 15 pounds. (Note: I think this is an exaggeration but, judging from the size of my gut, it may not be.) When Christmas comes around, it'll be even worse; then, I'll stuff my face with all the hor'deuvres my aunts and uncles have made. I'll sit in front of the t.v. and not stop eating for the entire day.

But, no matter how out of shape I get, and everyone else gets, over Christmas, Glen Davis is determined not to.

Via Jessica Camerato, WEEI:

Davis has hired a personal chef to cook nutritional meals this season. He is not limited to a daily caloric intake and keeps the pounds off by following a dedicated workout routine during his rehab. Davis explained to WEEI.com how he has adapted his diet to stay thin without being on the court. (And yes, he can sneak a cookie too.)

A Disciplined Diet: “I’ll eat an egg white omelette topped with a piece of French toast, carbs, protein [for breakfast]. Then I’ll lift, work out, do a lot of cardio. I have proportional meals so now I cut my lunch into half and then I eat it three hours later. I eat the other half three hours later, and I eat dinner, and I work out.”

Maybe next time Davis gets in a fight, he could use the rules of his diet. He should just punch his friend a little at first, then save the rest of the punch for three hours later. I bet if he did that, he never would have broken his thumb.

The Morning Walkthrough: Paul Pierce, more efficient basketball player and more efficient person

2009-12-22T03:56:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald - "'I agree with a lot of what [Doc Rivers] said {about playing with instincts],” Pierce said. “Just go out there and continue to play with my instincts. When I do that I’m a better player.' That’s the new Pierce. Rivers can’t recall the player he first met. 'Oh no, I don’t even know who that is,' Rivers said. 'The one here is amazing, an amazing player. He’s older, he’s more mature, he’s solid - just a solid player. His percentages, everything is better. He’s just a more efficient basketball player. And he’s a more efficient person. I just think you grow up. Early on, I think, he was trying to establish himself, and now he’s just trying to establish his legacy. That’s different. I thought he actually bought in going into the second year. In the middle of that second year it clicked. The problem was that he didn’t have a lot of help around him, and that made it a difficult sell. I remember him even saying, ‘This is good.’ But we needed to take the next step because his frustration level was very high,' Rivers continued. 'So when Kevin and Ray (Allen) came in, it made how he had changed really stand forward.'"

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald - "But six games into [Tony] Allen’s return from ankle surgery, Rivers rarely has felt better about the oft-injured guard’s focus. 'It’s really been every game minus the Chicago game,' Rivers said. 'He’s been terrific. He’s getting into the flow of the offense and taking what they give him, making simple plays, and I think this is his best stretch of simple defense - not the gamble defense - since I’ve had him. (He has) better focus now, accepts his role. He realizes he’s not going to be a 30-point-a-night scorer like every other young guy believes. He just has to stay in that spot. It happened to (Kendrick Perkins) when he was younger. You have a 25-point game and you think, You know what? I am an offensive player, even if those 25 points came off a great pick and roll or another pass.'"

Frank Dell'Apa, Boston Globe - "Tony Allen’s 24 1/2-minute stint against Minnesota was his longest since last season. He had 15 points and no turnovers in his most impressive performance since suffering a thumb injury Feb. 11. Allen missed 22 games because of the thumb injury, then underwent offseason ankle surgery. Allen said he is planning to play against Indiana tonight. 'I didn’t think it was going to take this long,' Allen said of his recovery. 'But I’ll fight through it, I ain’t looking back. [My confidence] was definitely affected last year. I would say, if you look before that injury, I was getting money, I was doing the things that I was supposed to be doing. I think I had 11 [points] against San Antonio, we lost that game, but I did some good things. The next day, in practice, I hurt my thumb and I was out 6-8 weeks. Just look at my track sheet, when I’m out there playing big minutes, I produce. When I’m injured it’s kind of hard for Doc to say I’m going to put this guy out there and he just missed 20-some games, his conditioning is not there, the injury is still lingering. I just have to show Doc I’m healthy and I’m a force out there.'"

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE - "For a guy who has had a number of run-ins with the NBA and its rules, Rasheed Wallace is sure getting a lot of love from the league lately. After the NBA decided to impose no additional fines or suspension following his outburst ( and ejection) from Friday's loss to Philadelphia, CSNNE.com has learned that one of Wallace's technical fouls has been rescinded. The one in question came on Nov. 29 at Miami."

Zach Lowe, Celtics Hub - "Nate Robinson made a tremendous hustle play, sprinting the length of the court and pinning Rondo’s lay-in attempt on the glass. Nate turned toward the crowd, celebrating. A nice moment for Nate, only the ball was still in play right behind him. With Nate distracted, Marquis Daniels picked the ball up and laid it in. And that, to me, summed up Nate Robinson’s NBA career: Tons of talent, little understanding of what it means to be a successful NBA player on a successful NBA team. And so I reacted with a combination of anger and nausea when ESPN’s Chris Sheridan reported earlier today that Robinson, who has requested a trade and has veto power over any deal, would accept a trade to Boston. Of course, this doesn’t mean Boston would accept Nate Robinson. But they have the sort of cheap, expiring contracts (such as Tony Allen’s $2.5M expiring deal or the combination of J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker) that could work on the other side of a deal for Robinson. Were that anger and out-of-hand rejection really warranted? I decided to check the numbers and see. What I found surprised me a bit."

Jessica Camerato, WEEI - "Pierce grew up in California as a Lakers fan. No one, however, in purple and gold could top what he learned at home. '[It was] definitely mom. She was always there when I needed something. Not as an athlete but period. I get it from her… I definitely [carry part of her on the court]. Of course she [knows it]. I just got my never-quit attitude from her. My mom didn’t grow up in the best situations, raising three boys by herself, maintaining three jobs just to put food on the table. She didn’t look at adversity as something that would bring her down. She always tried to find a way.'"

Shawn McGrath, North Station Sports - "Ultimately, what matters here is that there’s a line between calling a guy for foul-worthy behavior and going looking for an excuse. [Referee Bill] Kennedy basically as much as said to ‘Sheed, 'go ahead, make my day,' and Wallace did. The prophecy is fulfilled, amor fati, and Rasheed’s Kenobi has now completed NBA Vader’s circle (or vice versa). In an ideal world, Kennedy would have looked the other way on Sheed’s second technical, as his actions (trash talking in the huddle) didn’t have an impact on the game. But in the same ideal world, Sheed wouldn’t have said anything worth Kennedy’s attention to begin with. As fans, we need to accept that Rasheed Wallace and the NBA officials are inextricably linked in an antagonistic relationship with no benefit to either party, and that’s not changing. We can only hope that the next time it costs the Celtics, it’s not enough to sway the momentum of a game, as it was Friday night."

Me, Celtics Town - "But Tony [Allen] is playing well. He's inspiring confidence and, for the first time in a long time, I don't mind it when he's in the game. Am I completely sold on him, yet? No, not at all. He's like the girlfriend who always cheats on you, then goes on her best behavior for a couple weeks. You really like the new her, but you can't trust that she's going to stay faithful to you... you just can't. Really, no matter how long she stays loyal, you'll never completely trust her. You'll always fear a relapse. So that's where I am with Tony Allen right now. I love his recent play and I can't believe the quality of his recent minutes, but I will always, always fear a relapse. My brain is telling me that Tony Allen is still Tony Allen, still likely to make a mistake at the worst possible time. But my heart? It's saying Tony might have finally turned the corner."

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Has Tony Allen finally turned the corner?

2009-12-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

What were you like when you were younger?

If you're an adult now, chances are you were probably a whole lot different. You probably did a whole bunch of things you regret, made a whole shit-load of mistakes, and look back at the young person you used to be and shake your head at some of your decisions. (Me? I've done many a stupid thing in life. One of my mistakes? Egging a house. It wasn't the fact that I egged a house that was so stupid; every kid does that once or twice. It's the fact that I got caught. I actually think I'm the only person in the history of the world to ever get caught egging a house. How in the world can you posibly get caught egging a house, you ask? By accidentally leaving your cell phone at the scene of the egging. Damn my small, slippery pockets.)

But everyone grows up, right? You learn from the mistakes of your younger days and grow into an adult. To put it simply, you mature. You go through experiences and they change you, mend you and make you a different person. It's inevitable.

Inevitable, that is, unless it was Tony Allen on a basketball court. Nope, he never changed. He kept making the same mistakes over and over again. He'd throw a dumb turnover, one that most people would learn from, but then he'd do it again the next game. He would drive into traffic continously, making reckless drives into the teeth of the defense that resulted in a charge... then he'd do it again the next game. He would foul a three-point shooter at the worst possible time and then, you guessed it, do it again the next game. Tony never seemed to harness his talent, always following whatever good stretches he had by making plays that would make you scratch your head and wonder what in the world was going through his head. He'd make the same mistakes over and over, and over and over, and over and over. I think he's the only player I've ever wanted to strangle - actually strangle - just because I watched him play basketball.

But is it possible that all that nonsense is merely the old Tony Allen? That the new Tony Allen has finally gone through the inevitable process known as maturation?

Before the season, I wouldn't have thought it possible that TA could mature. If you told me he was going to, it would have been like telling me the Celtics would go 10-72 for the season: I'd look at you, shake my head, maybe laugh a little, then turn and walk away, making sure to remember never to trust another thing that comes out of your mouth as long as I live.

But doesn't he seem to be coming around? As unlikely as it was before the season, Allen is playing like he's finally matured. He's providing solid and consistent minutes off the bench, so much so that I'm starting to let down my guard when he comes into the game. (By letting my guard down, I mean I no longer firmly grasp the sides of my chair so neither of my hands are free when he makes another signature dumb play. Why do I hold the side of the chair so tightly? If I had a free hand, I would probably use it to throw my remote control through the television set, and I don't really feel like paying for a new t.v.) He's letting the game come to him, rather than trying to force his imprint upon it and, for the first time in a long, long time, TA has put together a string of good performances.

He's played so well that when I heard that Nate Robinson wants to become a Celtic, I immediately thought, "I'd like him on the team, he can score and he could help, but I hope the C's don't have to give up Tony Allen to get him." If you'd asked me before the season if I'd ever say that I wanted the Celtics to keep Tony Allen, I would have told you maybe... if I became addicted to heroine and cocaine, and then was hypnotized while on a week-long drug binge. Other than that, I would have thought the answer would be absolutely not.

But Tony is playing well. He's inspiring confidence and, for the first time in a long time, I don't mind it when he's in the game.

Am I completely sold on him, yet? No, not at all. He's like the girlfriend who always cheats on you, then goes on her best behavior for a couple weeks. You really like the new her, but you can't trust that she's going to stay faithful to you... you just can't. Really, no matter how long she stays loyal, you'll never completely trust her. You'll always fear a relapse.

So that's where I am with Tony Allen right now. I love his recent play and I can't believe the quality of his recent minutes, but I will always, always fear a relapse.

My brain is telling me that Tony Allen is still Tony Allen, still likely to make a mistake at the worst possible time.

But my heart? It's saying Tony might have finally turned the corner.

Paul Pierce sets Celtics three-point record in lopsided win

2009-12-21T22:21:00.001-05:00

Paul Pierce made only two of his eight shots…

From inside the three-point arc, that is.

Behind the line, Pierce was a perfect six for six, tying a Celtics record held by Danny Ainge and Walter McCarty for most made three-pointers without a miss. (I wonder how many times Tommy Heinsohn said, “I looove Wallltttahhhh” during that game… Thirty? Forty? Could my estimate even be low?)

Pierce was but one shining light in a game full of Celtics studs. Rajon Rondo returned to form after a game of careless ball-handling against Philly, Kendrick Perkins continued his stellar play, and Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were both solid. Even Tony Allen came off the bench and played some great minutes. (Side note: Is it going to get to a point where I’m going to have to stop qualifying it whenever Tony Allen plays well? Will I ever stop writing “even” before Tony’s name when I discuss something he did positively? I hate to say it -- actually, as someone with the C’s best interests at heart, I love to say it -- but he’s getting nearer to that point every game. Tony Allen is playing good basketball. And I didn’t even qualify that statement with another one like, “…but I know, as every Celtics fan knows, that he’s due for a huge implosion sometime soon.” For the first time in years, Tony Allen is building our faith in his game. I’m almost starting to enjoy this. Don’t let me down, Tone.)

If you wondered how the Celtics were going to respond to their first loss in a long while, a humbling one to the lowly Sixers, you needed to watch only the opening stanza to get your answer: With fire.

By the end of the first quarter, the only question left to answer was whether Rasheed Wallace would get at least one technical foul. (The answer, if only for tonight… no.)

(Another side note: Rasheed showed no remorse for getting kicked out of Friday night’s game: “If [the referees are] standing right near our huddle trying to stick their ear or nose in there, then yeah, they’re going to hear some stuff. That’s exactly what it was. When have you ever seen somebody - a ref - standing over there that close to our bench during a timeout? You already know what it is. I ain’t tripping.”

Sheed also said simply getting thrown out of a game isn’t going to change him. “I’ll still play my game. I’ll still be me. I ain’t changing my game for nobody. I ain’t changing nothing for nobody.”

In other news, my girlfriend overheard a conversation between me and my buddies, during which I said some very demeaning things about her. I told her if she’s trying to listen to the boys, she’s “going to hear some stuff. That’s exactly what it was. When have you ever seen somebody - a girlfriend - standing over there that close to the boys during guy talk?” Now, she knows what it is, and that I ain’t tripping. I’ll still be me, whether she likes it or not. I ain’t changing nothing for nobody.

In other, other news, I was subsequently dumped.)

Back to the game: Even when the T-Wolves cut the lead to 12 points in the fourth quarter, the game was never in doubt. All Doc Rivers had to do was call a couple starters back into the game and, voila, the lead once again ballooned. No big deal, crisis averted.

The first half was a symphony of beautiful basketball. The C’s were getting stops, pushing the ball in transition, and hitting shots. They were moving the basketball, being aggressive, and everybody was playing well.

The second half was a letdown, but it’s only human nature to take your foot off the gas a little bit after being ahead by 25 points at halftime. I’m not going to get worried because they let a big lead be cut to 12; I’ve got better things to worry about, like the bag of popcorn I burned tonight. Burnt popcorn tastes terrible.

But winning basketball games by 18 points doesn’t. That tastes good. I don’t care if it’s against the Minnesota Timberwolves or an 11-and-under girls AAU team, winning a game by that much is for the better. So I’ll let other people complain about a lackadaisical second half; I’ll just relish in the beauty of the first.

I’ll wait to complain until something worse happens…

Like if Paul Pierce ever misses a three-pointer.

*****

Did I miss anything? As always, yes…

If you didn’t see Tony Allen’s unbelievable dunk off Eddie House’s spectacular pass, then you don’t have cable T.V., a computer, or a life. And you need to click here.

I love Shelden Williams and hate him all at the same time. I love him because he hustles his ass off every second, including three big-boy offensive rebounds today. I hate him because he can’t do anything but hustle; Shelden is severely limited on a basketball court.

Al Jefferson can flat-out score. I would say I wish he were still on the Celtics, but then there’s that whole ‘NBA championship’ thing.

You know that saying, “I’m going to defend you so tight that I’ll know what flavor gum you’re chewing”? Well, let’s just say Jonny Flynn definitely doesn’t know what type of gum Rondo chomps on.

The second-nicest play from last night's game

2009-12-21T20:14:00.000-05:00

Lost in all the joy of Tony Allen's poster of Corey Brewer was another gorgeous play that had me jumping out of my seat in a fit of excitement.

That left-handed pass? You've got to be kidding me, Rajon. There's only a couple other guys in the NBA that could have made that pass with the off hand, and I can only think of one: Steve Nash. (Maybe Chris Paul, but I don't see him throwing left-handed dimes too often.)

So buy the poster of TA's dunk over Brewer and remember that play forever, but don't forget his involvement in the night's second-best play.

Are Celtics bus trips like this?

2009-12-21T19:46:00.000-05:00

Sing us a song, you're a Brazilian man/ Sing us a song, tonight/ We're all in the mood for a melody, and you've got us feeling alright/

Now Amare of the Suns is a friend of mine/ Because he always dunks on t.v./ He's quick off the floor and to slam on your head/ And him singing is something to see

I could go on and on with my Piano Man remix, but I think I'll stop there. Anyways, watch the Phoenix Suns' latest music video:

Maybe it's just me, but I can't exactly picture Kendrick Perkins belting out tunes. Maybe Scal is the Celtics' lead singer.

Anyways, while watching the Suns' video, I realized this: Louis Amundson is a dead ringer for Jay from Jay and Silent Bob...

(h/t Ball Don't Lie)

Tony Allen: The Celtics should have given up on me

2009-12-21T17:53:00.001-05:00

It's not often an NBA player says his team should have gotten rid of him. Actually, I can't recall ever having heard an NBA player say anything like that. But Tony Allen went on the record today, telling ESPNBoston's Chris Forsberg the Celtics had every reason to cut him loose:

Allen talked extensively about rebuilding his confidence after all his injury troubles. Asked about the Celtics not giving up on him despite numerous chances to do such, an emphatic Allen responded, "They coulda, shoulda, woulda -- but they didn't."

Up until, oh, about a week ago, I too was on the "Get Tony Allen the hell out of Boston" bandwagon (sorry, newcomers - standing room only). But Allen's recent play has started to change my mind; Allen has (shockingly) been solid and consistent.

It's looking more and more like a good thing the Celtics never got rid of Tony Allen.

But he was right...

They coulda, shoulda, woulda.

Throwing some dimes: Krypto-Nate wants to be a Celtic

2009-12-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

Chris Sheridan reports Nate Robinson has one destination in mind as he demands a trade... Boston:

Robinson does want out, and a source close to the Robinson camp tells ESPN.com there's one place the former slam-dunk champion would truly like to land if a trade can be worked out: Boston.

If that can't happen, Robinson wants a buyout, believing he will be able to sign with one of the top contending teams in the league, including the Lakers, Cleveland and Orlando -- the thinking being that he can provide the instant offensive boost for any of those teams that he once provided for the Knicks.

Sunday night's 98-94 victory against Charlotte marked the ninth consecutive DNP-CD for Robinson, whose tension-filled relationship with D'Antoni has reached a tipping point. The Knicks have gone 6-3 since D'Antoni removed Robinson from the rotation -- a point D'Antoni repeatedly used in his own defense in addressing the matter prior to the game -- and Robinson's camp has made the decision to go public with its displeasure, formally requesting a trade while letting the media know it was doing so.

But a couple of problems exist in regard to Robinson's demanding a trade:

• Robinson has the right to veto any trade (because he would be forfeiting his Larry Bird rights by accepting a trade), and as unhappy as he is, at the end of the day he'd rather sulk at the end of the bench in New York than battle Wayne Ellington for spot minutes in Minnesota. One source close to the Knicks said the list of teams that Robinson would accept a trade to could be described as "slim and/or none."

I wouldn't mind Nate if the Celtics didn't have to give up much to get him. He's super-athletic, he can score, and by the looks of it he wants to win (or at least be traded to a very cushy situation).

But, it'd be very tough to pair Eddie House in the backcourt with Nate; they wouldn't be able to guard a soul. Also, Nate must be some type of behavioral problem for such a talented player to go through such a long string of DNP's. So if the Celtics give up next to nothing for Nate, I'm all for it. But if they have to give up Marquis Daniels, as Sheridan later hypothesizes, my answer would be, "No. Absolutely not."

Red's Army is up for best individual blog in the NBA. Vote for them.
Red's Army is also trying to give away tickets. It's your last chance... try to win them.
Zach Lowe takes a look at just how prevalent film sessions are in Boston:

Is it possible that group film study, NFL style, is not as big a part of NBA culture as some of us (myself included) think it is? It must vary from coach to coach, right?

Whatever the case, my favorite tidbit from the Globe’s rightfully sunny recap of the C’s-Wolves beat down is this:
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he also told Pierce, who scored only nine points in Friday night’s loss to the Sixers, to get back to his instincts instead of trying to figure out ways to get everyone involved. The team watched film after the loss — a rarity during the regular season — and Rivers put together a sequence of all the uncontested shots.

“There were a lot of them,” Rivers said. “It was good for them to see.”

It’s unclear from the context if Rivers was showing uncontested shots that Pierce passed up or uncontested shots the C’s defense yielded to Philly. Either way, the line that caught my eye was “a rarity during the regular season.”

Wanna throw your own dime, and get someone's article recognized? Email me at jayking@celticstown.com or follow me on Twitter.

The Morning Walkthrough: Kendrick Perkins is a thief... in a good way

2009-12-21T04:21:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "Watching Perkins roll out an arsenal of moves far more lethal than what he had when Jefferson was around these parts, Jefferson might have been moved to ask, 'Who are you and what have you done with the Perk I knew?' But Al has been paying attention. 'We were just talking about that last night, how well he’s been playing and how his confidence has gone up on the offensive end,' Jefferson said. 'The way he keeps playing, I think he has a chance to make the All-Star Game. I actually do see him a lot because (the Celtics) always play on a day we don’t play and I watch them every chance I get. To me, he had a quiet night, compared to the games I have seen him play.' And some of the Celtic’s moves may seem a bit familiar. 'I stole a lot of stuff from him,' said Perkins, who made 7-of-10 shots while Jefferson was hitting 9-of-18. 'The pump fake I do? That’s from him.'"

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald - "'Actually I kind of surprised myself. I wanted to lay it up, but I saw him running so hard, so I just had to finish,' Allen said. 'I was pretty happy after that. It actually motivated me throughout the game.' It’s the type of play the Celtics have come to expect from Allen, who missed the first 20 games of the season while recovering from offseason surgery on his right ankle. 'Tony was phenomenal,' coach Doc Rivers said. 'He’s been terrific. He’s just doing the things we need him to do. This is the best stretch that we’ve had him, as far as with this group of guys, where he’s playing his role.'"

Frank Dell'Apa, Boston Globe - "Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 15 assists in the Celtics’ 122-104 victory over Minnesota last night. But Rondo was regretting one of those assists after being informed that Paul Pierce had a chance to break a team record for 3-pointers without a miss. 'I had no idea, I didn’t know he shot 6 for 6 until I saw him do an interview,' Rondo said. 'You know, I looked him off on one, too. The skip pass to Ray [Allen], Paul said he was open, too. He made sure he told me that right after.' Pierce became the first Celtic to convert six 3-pointers without a miss in a home game. He tied a team record for threes without a miss in any game established by Danny Ainge at Utah Jan. 4, 1988, and Walter McCarty at Toronto Nov. 2, 1999."

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "'Well, first of all I didn’t think [House] was athletic enough to get to the ball," said Rivers. "So the fact that he got to the ball, I was shocked. And then he made a play once he got to the ball -- it was pretty spectacular. It was great. I was happy because it was a great defensive play.' Allen, who registered season-highs with 15 points (5-of-8 shooting) and 24 minutes, couldn't believe how the play unfolded, either. 'That was random -- a transition play, Eddie got a tip on the ball, defensively, chased it down to me and I was just running the lane for the fast break and we got the bucket,' explained Allen, who said he initially didn't intend to go for the jam. 'Actually, I kind of surprised myself. I wanted to lay it up and I saw [Brewer] running so hard, so I just finished, had to finish.'"

Frank Dell'Apa, Boston Globe - "'I told him he needs to get back to just playing on his instincts,’ coach Doc Rivers said of Pierce. 'I thought he was trying to get everybody involved, which you want him to do, too. But I think our three really instinctive players are Kevin [Garnett], [Rajon] Rondo, and Paul. You always have to remind them, just be an instinctive player, you have great instincts. Those three guys, you just want them to play. And their instincts do everything for them.’"

Jimmy Toscano, CelticsBlog - "'He's been huge man,' Pierce said of Allen, 'just his energy and what he's been able to bring especially with Marquis [Daniels] out because he's a guy who can come in and slash, score, and also what he's best known for is his defense. He comes in right away and he gets a steal and a fast break layup to start the game off when he gets in the game. Kendrick Perkins was matched up with his old friend Al Jefferson tonight. Perkins finished the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jefferson recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds. 'Perk [Kendrick Perkins] is getting better and better every game,' said the Timberwolves' Al Jefferson. 'If he keeps playing the way he's playing, he's going to get a big contract. He's a great defensive player, always has been... Plus his offensive game is getting better.'"

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Tony Allen and Eddie House combine for play of the year

2009-12-20T19:20:00.002-05:00

No words need to be spoken. Just watch in silence, until you start screaming like a little girl because you're so excited...

Celtics-Timberwolves game preview: Al Jefferson 'has the patience of a grandmother knitting on her porch'

2009-12-20T16:34:00.005-05:00

When Al Jefferson was in Boston, he was the future. I watched him, saw his baby-soft hands, and looked forward to the time when Big Al would grow into his massive potential. I looked at his footwork and saw shades of Kevin McHale, looked at his soft touch down low and knew that one day, Al Jefferson would be one of the top low-post scorers in the NBA. I watched his potential and couldn't wait to see Al team with Paul Pierce to be one of the league's best inside-outside tandems.

Fortunately for the Celtics, that day never came. Jefferson was packaged in the Kevin Garnett trade and sent to Minnesota, where he (no surprise) blossomed into one of the best interior threats in basketball. While the Celtics were busy winning the 2008 NBA title, Jefferson came into his own with the Timberwolves. But the rest of the team has yet to catch up to Big Al.

Still, Jefferson remains unfazed by his team's lack of wins (5-22 record) and lack of top-notch talent, and sees hope for the future.

Via the Boston Globe:

“I do see hope,’’ he said. “The thing I have been through in Minnesota is, when I first got here with Randy Wittman and Kevin McHale, it was a rebuilding stage. Now two years later, we got David Kahn, we got Kurt Rambis, so it’s now Stage 1, the rebuilding stage. Luckily, I’m still young and I am able to go through that. But the difference is now that I have David Kahn, who is committed to making us a playoff team.

“They said three years max that we could be a playoff team. One year is almost gone, so next year, maybe this offseason we can add some pieces, do whatever we are going to do. And I can see it. I am really happy about what’s been going on here.’’

Happy? With a 5-22 record and a roster that could probably use even a few of the players on Boston's D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws? Only a loyal man, could be happy with what's going on in Minnesota. But Jefferson, who, as the Globe's Gary Washburn wrote, "has the patience of a grandmother knitting on her porch," seems to realize that nothing comes easy in life, that the best things are worth working towards:

“It’s not going to come easy; you have to work for everything,’’ he said. “There’s going to be times like this. I was in Boston and I was going through the same thing in Boston. We were rebuilding. I got traded for one of the best players [in the NBA], put myself in a position here, got blessed with a nice contract. So this is what it’s all about. It’s about working your way to the top. It’s not about people giving you stuff, making it easier for you."

I'd prefer to see Jefferson posting double-doubles for a championship contender (and I'm sure he would too), but a player who is in such a bad situation, yet does not complain, must be highly-respected. Losing so many games must be frustrating, no? Playing on a perennial bottom-feeder must eat at Jefferson, make him hate playing for Minnesota... right? Not so, according to Jefferson:

“At the end of the day, you could be playing with the worst team in the league but it’s still the best job in the world. It’s still the best job to be on the worst team. It’s a blessing. So I don’t feel that way. If I got waived or got cut then I would feel bad. I am in this league and I rather be playing for the worst team than not playing at all.’’

But wouldn't Jefferson rather be playing for Boston, contending for championships every year? Yes, but he's willing to wait for his own shot at it, a shot he still thinks will come:

"Boston will always be home to me. It’s like a homecoming. It’s always good to come back and see the guys I came in here with. To see the goals they have reached and I know my day is coming to be where they have been. That’s what I hope."

*****

Things to watch for in tonight's game:

Minny's inside tandem - A couple days after over-the-hill Elton Brand and inexperienced Marreese Speights had their way down low with Boston's front line, Al Jefferson and Kevin Love come to town. They will both be all over the glass, and both are talented and relentless scorers. Fortunately for the Celtics, Love's return means Oleksiy Pecherov won't be playing tonight. Why is it fortunate that a bum won't be playing? He murdered the Celtics the last time the two teams met. For one night, at least, it looked like Pecherov was actually worthy of being an NBA player.
Ray Allen and Paul Pierce's field day? - Allen and Pierce might as well take the night off defensively; it doesn't take an All-Defense Team-caliber defender to guard Corey Brewer or Damien Wilkins. On the other end, Brewer and Wilkins aren't horrible defenders, but Boston's wings should have a whole lot of energy saved up for their offense.
Boston's turnover struggles - After a few games with precise ball-handling, the Celtics' old nemesis - turnovers - reared its ugly head in full-force against Philadelphia. The C's not only made turnovers; they made careless, bone-headed mistakes that resulted in a one-point loss. If the C's don't take care of the ball tonight, this is another game that could be a lot closer than they plan for.

*****

Game notes:

Lester Hudson is back on the Celtics' roster, after a brief stint in the D-League. Hudson played well for most of his time with the Maine Red Claws, but had a dud in his final game (7 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds).
Boston looks to get back on track at home, after the Friday-night loss to Philly dropped their home record to 8-4 for the season. (They are 12-1 on the road.)
Paul Pierce is in a bit of a slump: After scoring in double figures in each of the first 17 games, he's scored in single figures in three of the last eight games.

Red Claws Suffer First Home Loss

2009-12-20T11:06:00.010-05:00

Last night the Maine Red Claws continued the weekend trend and snapped a winning streak with a disappointing home loss. They followed the lead of the Celtics' home loss to Philly Friday night in the TD Garden, which ended an eleven-game winning streak for Boston. Saturday it was the Red Claws' turn, as their 113-105 loss ended a seven-game winning streak, dropping them to 7-2 and ending their brief possession of the best record in the D-League. Another sellout crowd in the Portland Expo watched the Claws come out in the first half and let the Fort Wayne Mad Ants walk all over them. The visitors seemed to sink every basket early on, working together in a way they clearly hadn't during their Friday night OT loss to Springfield. By halftime the Red Claws were trailing 62-55.

The third quarter was better, and by the start of the fourth the Red Claws had a narrow lead. The third quarter was the Claws' best in the game by far, and they really began to sync as a team. It was looking as though they might not only pull it out, but pull well ahead of the Mad Ants - just as in the second quarter of the Celtics-6ers game it looked like Boston might put Philly away. As in that game, it was not to be. Fort Wayne readjusted and came out strong in the fourth quarter, erasing Maine's gains.

One of the problems for the Red Claws was a lack of scoring balance. The Mad Ants had five players in double digits and two others close behind with 8-9 points. Led by F Ron Howard with 30 points, the Ants had a fairly balanced, very effective offense last night. When the Claws started to readjust and pull ahead, they did too, dampening several attempted rallies.

Maine, meanwhile, had four players in double digits, and two of those were far closer to 10 than 20. G Billy Thomas and F Darnell Lazare had 11 and 12 points, respectively. Lester Hudson's anemic performance didn't help any (7 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists). Indeed, if this game was the only factor, Hudson would be staying in Maine and Walker would be headed back to Boston.

Bill Walker and Alexis Ajinca were both outstanding last night. Walker had 33 points, leading the team and keeping them in the game all night. Ajinca neared a double-double with 23 points and 9 rebounds, making good adjustments to read the plays. It was his best performance in Maine so far, and is indicative of steady improvement since the beginning of the season. Hopefully it's a trend that will continue for him, and hopefully they won't again have to carry the team on their back. Combined, they had half the points last night.

The team as a whole failed at the defensive end of the court last night. Much of the Claws' success can be attributed to defensive prowess, which is even more uncommon in the D-League than it is in the NBA. The Claws have won three games scoring less than 100, and two of those were less than 90. They're one of the best defensive teams in the D-League right now, but after last night they know that defense has to be there on every play in every quarter.

The Red Claws have had a few disappointing efforts even in their seven-game winning streak, but Fort Wayne's stellar shooting was too much for them to overcome. Clearly they were eager for the win and the Red Claws just weren't ready for another rally.

NOTES: Celtics GM Danny Ainge attended the game...Lester Hudson is expected to return to Boston for the 6PM tilt against the Minnesota Timberwolves...this was the team's third straight sellout...the next game is Saturday, Dec. 26, vs Bakersfield at home, 1PM.

The Morning Walkthrough: Doc Rivers, Zen master?

2009-12-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "The Celts weren’t pleased all around in the wake of the loss to Philadelphia, but the bickering with the refs made it look even worse. 'He who angers you owns you,' proclaimed coach Doc Rivers after yesterday’s practice. 'I’m trying that. If you don’t get angry, you can keep functioning. He who angers you owns you. I actually texted that to a couple of guys last night. I’m just hoping that becomes our team’s mantra right now. Let’s breathe. Zen II. I was joking by saying it, and I got a funny reaction from it. But there is some truth to it, as well.' Addressing questionable calls, Rivers said, 'It’s not done on purpose, and we’ve just got to be able to play through it, and at times we don’t. We spent way too much time looking for the officials to bail us out instead of doing our jobs.'"

Frank Dell'Apa, Boston Globe - Wallace has a league-leading 10 technicals, six short of an automatic suspension. 'I think he’s has what - nine, 10?' Pierce said. 'And 16 you get suspended. So we’ll tell him to slow it down a little bit until the end of the season.' Pierce has been able to keep conflicts with officials in perspective. 'At this point in my career, you’ve got to understand it’s part of the game,' Pierce said. 'Referees aren’t perfect. They’re going to have good days, bad days, just like us as players. The thing is to just play mentally through it and not let it frustrate us. I think it is easier said than done. It takes a strong mind. I’ve been one that’s . . . never really got the benefit of a lot of calls, so I’m used to it. I’m numb to it.' After the game, coach Doc Rivers revived a team catchphrase, sending a text message to 'a couple guys,' though he would not confirm Wallace was one of them."

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - "In fact, Allen is hoping Woods’ transgressions will be the basis of some important conversations. 'It’s a great opportunity for parents or teachers or whoever to teach young people that, you know, even though Tiger’s made a lot of money and he’s arguably been the best golfer in history, he’s still human,' Allen said. 'He still makes mistakes. Striving for perfection is one thing, but along the way you’re going to stumble. Along the way you’re going to hit roadblocks, and when you do you just have to pick yourself up and go at it again.' As for Woods taking leave of his marriage vows, Allen said, 'People want to say that’s just athletes, but it’s men and women all over. There are men and women who are unfaithful. I mind my own business.'"

Greg Payne, CelticsBlog - "When Pierce or Antoine Walker got hot early on, their point totals were automatically embedded in our minds. The same can also be said for Kendrick Perkins, Al Jefferson and even (gulp) Mark Blount when they put together a colossal rebounding night (or in Blount's case, that ONE colossal rebounding night). I think in a way, with the majority of this decade's teams not achieving a whole bunch, stats were an outlet for us. If the Celtics lost but Pierce scored 40 or Perk grabbed 20 boards, we could at least brag about that. But now, ever since Rajon Rondo helped guide the Celtics to the championship two seasons ago, we've been able to add assists to the list of personal statistics that captivate us night in and night out."

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "The Celtics watched film of their 98-97 loss to the Phialdelphia 76ers and coach Doc Rivers opined that the team, 'had so much slippage, offensively and defensively, it's amazing we were actually in the game.' The coaching staff pointed out all of those errors in a lengthy film session, then ran the players through a fairly strenuous 65-minute session that included a hefty amount of 5-on-5 work. 'You'd rather not get in the habit of practicing after a loss,' said Rivers. 'I don't think our guys like having these type of practices and film sessions.'"

Red Claws vs. Mad Ants Preview

2009-12-19T13:34:00.012-05:00

Maine Red Claws (7-1) vs. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (3-5)

7:30PM, Portland Expo, Portland, Maine

Tonight, in their third home game, the Maine Red Claws face off against the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Mad Ants. The Ants are associated with the Pacers (9-15), Pistons (11-15), and Bucks (11-13). In their last game, Fort Wayne fell to the Springfield Armor (1-7) 112-107 in OT, giving Springfield their first win of the season.

Not surprisingly, the Mad Ants have yet to see any NBA assignees. The Red Claws, of course, have three: Lester Hudson and Bill Walker from the Celtics plus Alexis Ajinka from the Charlotte Bobcats. Ajinka had an impressive performance in the last Claws game Thursday night, and Hudson has been tearing it up during his short sojourn to the D-League. Hudson is expected to return to the Celtics tomorrow for the 6PM Milwaukee Bucks game, but he'll no doubt end up in Maine again later this season. For now, though, this could be Hudson's only home game in a Claws uniform.

Without any NBA assignees, the Ants' leaders are F Ron Howard and F Rob Kurz, with C Jared Reiner putting up some number as well. Reiner and Kurz have NBA experience. Kurz was with LA's Other Team last year, and Reiner has had a number of NBA contracts but hasn't played in many actual games. In last night's game it was Kurz and G Kyle McAlerney leading the way.

The Red Claws shouldn't take Fort Wayne lightly. The question for the Mad Ants will be whether they'll be tired or hungry after their OT loss the night before.

Kendrick Perkins used to be... an altar boy?

2009-12-19T07:20:00.000-05:00

By far and away my favorite part of last night's game was when Kendrick Perkins smiled. He actually smiled, and I almost fell off my chair in surprise when he did. It came after Tony Allen did his little Indian rain dance after his fast break dunk, and Perk found the excessive celebration so funny he actually smiled.

That smile answered a couple of questions for me: 1) Does Perk know how to smile? (Answer: Against all odds, yes.) and 2) Does Perk even have teeth? (Answer: He actually does.)

But if it weren't for that smile, another Perk moment would have been my favorite moment of the game: In the third quarter, Comcast Sports New England played a feature in which Perk talked about... being an altar boy?

Perk was an altar boy (yes, THAT kind of altar boy) all the way through his senior year of high school.

Can you imagine Perk walking down your church aisle, wearing his formal robes, or sheets, or whatever that get-up is that altar boys wear? Just picture him scowling as he carries the cross through church, or throwing elbows as he prepares the wine for communion. Or maybe setting a moving screen for the priest on their way out of the church.

If Perk hadn't smiled last night, his revelation that he was an altar boy in high school would have been the most shocking moment of my young life. As it is, it'll have to settle for second-most surprising Perk story of the night...

It isn't often that he smiles.

Philly knows it dodged a Paul Pierce-sized bullet

2009-12-19T06:59:00.000-05:00

How many times have you seen this happen?...

Paul Pierce isolates near the top of the key with time winding down. He takes one step, one dribble, towards the basket. He makes contact with a defender, and then his next step is away from the hoop, away from the defender, as he makes space to launch a shot that inevitably finds the bottom of the hoop.

Only this time, it didn't fall, and as Pierce's jumper missed its mark the Celtics' 11-game winning streak crumbled. But Philadelphia knows Pierce doesn't always miss that shot, especially with the game clock winding down.

Via the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"Truthfully?" said Sixers guard Willie Green of Pierce's last shot. "My heart sank a little bit. And I just froze. I don't know if there was, what, a couple of seconds left? But it felt like a minute. Thank God he missed it."

"Pierce?" said Sixers coach Eddie Jordan was asked about that last shot. "I even thought Ray Allen's shot was going to go: fallaway, probably bank shot. . . . That's [Pierce's] pet move, and that's his comfortable spot on the floor, right off the elbow. So he got where he wanted to go. But we had a break."

Whether or not Pierce's miss was a break for Philly, they deserved to win the game. On a night when it first looked like the Celtics would open up a huge lead and never turn back, Philly scrapped, clawed and fought its way back into the lead, outworking the Celtics every step of the way.

So while the last miss might have been a break for the 76ers, they earned it. For the most part, for last night at least, Philadelphia made their own breaks.

The Morning Walkthrough: Swagger isn't always a good thing

2009-12-19T06:41:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe - "The Celtics went up as many as 15 in the first half. Kendrick Perkins nearly had a double-double in the first quarter. Tony Allen seemed like he was everywhere at once. But once the lead got comfortable, so did the Celtics. 'You almost hate to go up [big],' said Ray Allen, “because your human nature has you settling and getting comfortable.' There’s a swagger that comes with a winning streak. And having done so and then come out and run up a large lead, Celtics coach Doc Rivers, said his team had a false sense of it. 'We played with this swagger - the losing swagger,' Rivers said. 'It’s one thing to have the winning swagger and you go out and you feel great about your team, and you go out and play. And then there’s another thing when you just show up and you think the other team’s going to lay over and fall because you’re the Celtics.'"

Ron Borges, Boston Herald - "To lose to the Sixers took maximum disinterest by the Celtics and a bit of a hostile whistle by the referees, although the latter were far from co-conspirators in the Celtics demise. When you blow a 15-point lead to a team that is 6-19, well, you’re doing it to yourself. Last night, the Celtics got what they deserved, which was coal in their Nikes a week before Christmas. 'We’re our own worst enemy,' growled a disgusted Paul Pierce before returning to the locker room and pasting up a 'No Media Loitering Here' sign around his locker. Too bad he didn’t have a 'No Sixers Loitering In the Paint' sign up when Elton Brand put back a miss by Marreese Speights a foot from the basket with 7.7 seconds to play for the game-winner, because no one in green and white did anything to prevent it."

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "Elton Brand's putback with 7.7 seconds remaining lifted the 76ers to a stunning 98-97 triumph over the Celtics, ending Boston's 11-game winning streak Friday at the TD Garden. 'We were like, 'Aww, here we go again,'' said Brand, who came off the bench to score a game-high 23 points. 'We’ve been here in the Cleveland game, the Detroit game... Charlotte with two minutes left. You know we’re much better than our record indicates. We should have closed out some of these games. We closed out a game with a team winning 11 in a row, the best in the league, it bodes well for our confidence.' Echoed 76ers coach Eddie Jordan: 'We made some great plays down the end, big plays. And for a long time, we’ve lost these types of games. We just kept saying we couldn’t get a break and we came to the conclusion that we have to make our breaks. We said that before and we made some breaks tonight.'"

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald - "The Celtics might as well be spending their Friday night home games in their actual homes - out in the suburbs, next to a warm, drowsy fire. It’s a nice prescription for sleep, if not winning basketball. The Celtics, caught in this increasingly bizarre spell all season, fell to 2-4 in Friday home games with last night’s 98-97 loss to Philadelphia."

Frank Dell'Apa, Boston Globe - "Asked if he was disappointed in the ejection, Rivers replied: 'Yeah, I am. I’m disappointed when anybody gets thrown out of a game. You know, whether he’s right or wrong doesn’t matter - you’ve got to control yourself to stay in the game. But he didn’t. And I didn’t - I wasn’t going to try to stand there and talk him out of it. He’s a grown man. And, you know, at some point, it’s him - he understands his value to this team, and his teammates understand his value to the team, and I think, at some point, that’ll get to him. Listen, I can [talk to Wallace]. And I will a little bit. But, I’m not going to have a summit, I can tell you that. It’s too early. He’s been doing it a long time. He’s an expert at it. But we knew that when we got him, and I still love him. I think he’s great, he’s been great for our team, but he’s going to have some of these days.'"

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "'I sliced it at the top, got the hand off and I was just trying to get some space to get a shot,' said Pierce. 'I thought I got a good look at the rim, it felt good coming off my hands, but sometimes the ball bounces off that way, you know? Tough one to swallow.' The Celtics, who led by 15 in the third quarter, know it shouldn't have come down to a final possession. 'I think our energy sucked all night,' said Celtics forward Kevin Garnett. 'I think we could have done a better job of having energy out there. Philly's a team that's going to scrap for 48 minutes and we didn't put them away when we were supposed to.'"

Sixers snap C's win streak at 11

2009-12-18T23:52:00.003-05:00

The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Boston Celtics tonight 98-97 to snap the Celtics 11-game win streak.

Elton Brand sunk a bucket in the lane with 7.7 seconds to go, and a Paul Pierce turnaround jumpshot bounced out at the buzzer, after he looked off an open Eddie House for 3, which secured the win for Philadelphia.

Philadelphia ran the Celtics ragged and ran the halfcourt offense through Elton Brand to steal a win at the TD Garden and shock the Celtics. Brand led the Sixers with 23 points and 8 rebounds, getting some major help from Andre Igoudala (18 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) and newborn Celtic killer, Wille Green (16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists).

For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Rajon Rondo (13 points, 10 assists) once again led the way, but an off-shooting night for both Pierce and Allen combined with 17 turnovers contributed to the Celtics demise.

Momentum seemed to swing in the Sixers favor when Rasheed Wallace was ejected late in the 2nd Quarter for going ballistic on referee Bill Kennedy. Rasheed was arguing a dubious moving screen call that normally goes uncalled, except, of course, for Kendrick Perkins, who leads the world in moving screen calls over the past three seasons. (Note: "Statistics" provided to you free by world-renowned statistician Tom King at Celtics Town.)

Celtics-76ers preview: How will Iverson react to not starting tonight?

2009-12-18T17:55:00.001-05:00

I would say "Home, sweet home," but, well, the Celtics seem to be better away from the confines of the Boston Gah-den. Philly will be without Allen Iverson tonight (who I wish would play), and his spot in the starting lineup will likely be taken by Willie Green. The same Willie Green who somehow, miraculously and unexpectedly, torched the Celts in the two teams' last meeting.

Here are three things to look out for during tonight's game:

Allen Iverson's reaction to not starting - I know he's hurt and all, and not even cleared to play but, well, it's Allen Iverson we're talking about. We're not talking about practice, we're talking about a game... and Allen Iverson likes to start games on the floor, not on the bench. Can't you just see a postgame explosion from Iverson, ripping into a bewildered Eddie Jordan for not starting him while Jordan thinks to himself, But you weren't even healthy enough to play...?
Celtics big men - Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace will be going against a thin, injury-riddled front line lacking much punch. The Celtics should look inside early and often tonight.
Philly's athleticism - Philly doesn't have much going for them so far this season, but one thing they do have is athleticism. With wings like Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young, Philly can get up and down the court in a hurry, and could cause problems for Boston... that is, if Boston plays like they're in a coma. If Boston exerts even minimal effort in this one, they'll win. They're just far more talented than Philly. Period.

Throwing some dimes: Breaking down the C's offense

2009-12-18T17:18:00.001-05:00

Zach Lowe of CelticsHub does a fantastic job breaking down a couple Boston Celtics plays. Whenever Zach does his breakdowns, be sure to check them out; they're insightful, thorough, and at the end of the post you'll be more knowledgeable about basketball than you were before it.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston writes that, despite an 11-game winning streak, the Celtics are still flawed:

While Boston's 2009-10 campaign isn't quite as glossy as last season's 27-2 start, which featured a 19-game winning streak, there are still plenty of similarities between the campaigns.

Chief among the differences, however, is the fact that Celtics coach Doc Rivers likes the brand of basketball his team is playing, which suggests it can avoid the sort of 2-9 tailspin the 2008-09 squad endured starting with a holiday loss to the Lakers.

But despite all the good vibes around this season's team, given its current 11-game winning streak (one that's almost certain to grow with three games at TD Garden against teams with a combined 19 wins over the next five days), there's reason for Boston to tread carefully as it approaches a Christmas visit to Orlando.

Earlier this week we provided a list of 10 reasons the Celtics haven't lost since falling to the Magic on Nov. 20. It's time to examine what needs to be tightened up to ensure they remain at the front of the pack.

CelticsBlog wonders: Does KG now stand for Klutch Guy?

Fast forward to this season and, in particular, the Knicks games at MSG on November 22nd. With the game in the balance in the fourth quarter, exactly the time where Garnett's reputation would have us believe that he would be a shrinking violet, Garnett was 1-for-10 and, at that stage, was shooting 47.6% on the season. Suddenly, with the pressure on and the Celtics trailing by six, he knocked down a jumper to cut the lead to four. A couple of minutes later, he knocked down a pair of free throws to put Boston up by one. With the scores tied and 1:07 to go, he made another jumper to give Boston the lead. Finally, in overtime, his buzzer beater from the top of the key gave the Celtics a 107-105 win.

But that's just one game, right? Not necessarily. Since that game a pattern is starting to form:

Scott Souza writes at Celtics Stuff Live about Kendrick Perkins' old tendency to put the ball on the floor before finishing his layups:

“I think I used to try to gather myself to dunk all the time,” said Perkins in what could have been a testimonial from One Pounding Dribblers Anonymous. “I used to take that power dribble to dunk. Now I’m taking the easy layup, the quick two, and that’s been helping me a lot.”

Perkins said the change in habits wasn’t as much difficult as it was a case of focus. A lot of prodding from coaches, fans and media eventually hammered the point home.

“Also, a lot of reps with the medicine ball,” he said. “But it was (C’s assistant coach) Cliff (Ray), pretty much everybody. It’s a big difference. (The extra dribble) gives a guy a chance to strip the ball and even foul me a lot more. I’ll take the quick two any day.”

Lately, it’s helped him to essentially not miss.

Paul Pierce blogs again, about changes he'd make to the NBA and the world

2009-12-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

When Paul Pierce released his first blog post yesterday, I thought it might be a long time before we saw another one. Boston.com said he would be writing in "occasional installments", and I worried "occasional installments" might mean "hardly ever installments". So you can imagine how excited and surprised I was to see Pierce updated his blog again the day after his first post.

This time, he writes about three things he would change about the NBA, two things he'd change about the world, and one thing he'd change about himself.

Since the world pales in comparison to the NBA, I'll show you one thing he wrote he would change about the NBA:

Raise the rim 3 inches: The athletes today are crazy. You see the way guys are jumping these days. I would raise the rim 3 inches. Then, you have to learn the art of the jump shot. You'll have to know how to play this game a little bit better then. Raising the rim, you'll see increasing play. You'll see increasing fundamentals. I'm telling you.

It makes sense Pierce would want to raise the rim three inches; he plays mostly underneath the rim anyways. One word of caution though, Paul: If it ever is raised three inches, you probably shouldn't try dunking too much. You might end up looking like this guy:

Watch Big Baby play Wii Tennis

2009-12-18T09:19:00.001-05:00

Remember when Big Baby said he'd want to play in the NFL after his NBA career was over? Looks like he may want to give tennis a shot, too:

So watch out, Roger Federer. Move over, Rafael Nadal. Glen Davis is on his way to take the ATP's number one spot...

Once he finishes mastering the Wii junior circuit, that is.

(h/t Chris Forsberg's Twitter account)

Red Claws On A Roll

2009-12-18T07:55:00.004-05:00

No, it isn’t some new delicacy. I’m talking about the Maine Red Claws, who – like your Celtics – are on a seven game winning streak despite some sloppy play and now have the best record in the league. This is helped, of course, by having the most players with NBA experience in the D-League, including Bill Walker and Lester Hudson as well as Alexis Ajinca of the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Red Claws were already a good team before Hudson joined them and they embarked on their two-day road trip to Erie, Pennsylvania to face the 2-3 Erie BayHawks. Despite being associated with the powerhouse Cleveland Cavaliers, the BayHawks seem thoroughly mediocre. Although the Cavs have five players eligible for assignment, none have been sent down yet, and it looks like Erie could use the help.

The Wednesday game was a classic example of a good team winning despite a less-than-stellar performance. This formula should be familiar by now to Celtics fans. With the Red Claws, as with the Celts, this shouldn’t inspire panic but confidence. Truly good teams – especially in basketball – win even on off nights. This is, in many ways, what separates mediocre playoff teams from real contenders, and it was evident in the Claws’ 81-77 win over Erie.

Recently-assigned Celtic Lester Hudson led the way, getting 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in 38 minutes. Walker did well too, notching 16 points in about 27 minutes. Alexis Ajinca’s main contribution was in rebounds – eight – but he also played less in this game than recently. Hudson’s second-half sparks pushed the team to a win despite trailing in the first three quarters. While not as large a comeback as this past Sunday at home, it was impressive nonetheless.

The next night the Claws shook off the cobwebs and rolled to a 96-77 win over Erie. While Hudson (17 points, 9 rebounds) and Ajinca (14 points, 7 rebounds) were impressive, it was Trey Gilder – who was briefly with the Memphis Grizzlies – leading the team with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Both wins showed off the Red Claws depth. No Maine player had more than 40 minutes in either game, unlike the BayHawks, and the NBA assignees didn’t automatically lead the team in points or minutes. Unlike some D-League teams, it’s clear the Claws won’t be depending on their NBA assignees to win games. While Hudson and Walker were certainly helpful Wednesday night, Walker scored vastly less in the second game and they still rolled to a win. On Wednesday, Ajinca scored less, then stepped it up the following night. With this team, it seems like on any given night almost anyone could be the Player of the Game.

Jon Jennings has – from scratch – assembled what is now the best team in the D-League. They have the most NBA talent, the best record, and one of the most experienced coaching staffs around. He’s not only brought pro basketball to the Pine Tree State, he’s brought a very watchable on-the-court product that will serve both Maine basketball fans and the Boston Celtics well.

Wednesday Player of the Game: Lester Hudson; honorable mention to Bill Walker.

Thursday Player of the Game: Trey Gilder and his double-double; honorable mention to Alexis Ajinka.

The Morning Walkthrough: Celtics whole starting five should be in the All-Star game

2009-12-18T07:05:00.002-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald - "There are many quality guards in the Eastern Conference, and now that sentimental favorite Shaquille O’Neal is with Cleveland, the competition for an All-Star spot at center is thick as well. But in the biased view of their teammates and coaches, Rajon Rondo [stats] and Kendrick Perkins [stats] are as worthy of a trip to Arlington, Texas, for the Feb. 14 game as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce [stats] and Ray Allen. 'Our starting five should go,' coach Doc Rivers said after yesterday’s practice. Funny how that sentiment has spread. 'He means so much to this club,' Pierce said of Rondo. 'But our starting five should be in the All-Star Game.'"

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "'Mentally, you have to be confident in that ligament, that thumb,' said Davis. 'What I have to do right now is get strong, mentally, using it. To shoot, or when somebody hits you and you have to stay focused, and make sure you don't hurt it again. When I get over that, that's when I'll probably be 100 percent.' Davis pegged his birthday -- Jan. 1 -- as a potential return date (the Celtics host the Raptors on Jan. 2), but admitted he's taking everything slow at his teammates' urging. 'It's a good sign when Baby got the cast off,' said Celtics captain Paul Pierce. 'For him to come out here and do some stretches with us, he hasn't been able to do that in a while; a couple dummy offensive plays. Slowly, but surely. It's still a long season. We want these guys to be healthy at the right time, and completely healthy.'"

Scott Souza, Courtside View - "Marquis Daniels also watched practice and lent a few thoughts on some things he saw from the sideline. He is expected to miss the next five to seven weeks after surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb. Daniels said he would have kept trying to play through the injury if not for Rivers pulling him off the floor. 'As a basketball player with a competitive nature you want to be out there with these guys competing,' he said. 'But everyone is keeping me up and involved. I was trying to keep going, but (Rivers) pulled me out of practice, telling me he was noticing it a lot more. It was something we decided that needed to be done. … I wasn’t going to (pull myself out). I just want to play and be on the floor. We have a great team right now, so you don’t want to take yourself out of it if you don’t have to. Unfortunately, I had to get this taken care of.'"

Steve Weinman, D-League Digest - "'All of this brings us back to Hudson. His job is to show that he can run a team because that’s what the Celtics may need him to be able to do. Forget for a moment that there is a jump from playing at UT-Martin to playing in the D-League and an even larger jump from UT-Martin to the Association, so how much of his scoring ability will transfer to the next level of basketball remains in question. It doesn’t matter. Not right now, anyway. Hudson, whom at least one scouting report pegged early in his senior year as possessing mediocre ball-handling skills and speed, needs to show that he can help create opportunities for those around him without turning the ball over with abundance. He needs to make smart decisions with the ball in his hands. He needs to use his length (listed at 6-3 and possessing a sizable wingspan) to cause defenses problems offensively and to make his man tentative with the ball at the other end. Given the lack of playing time he is receiving with the Celtics, any chance to get some run is significant for Lester Hudson. But this one is especially important because it will give Hudson further opportunity to focus on turning himself into an NBA-level point guard.'"

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston - "The Celtics enjoyed a couple of days of downtime after polishing off a perfect three-game road trip Monday in Memphis and coach Doc Rivers noted there was some expected rust to shake Thursday. 'Practice was OK, it was typical of taking a couple of days off," said Rivers. 'We were flat early, but I thought we got it going... We had one more drill left, but I blew the whistle and said, 'That's it.' We were going so hard at the end, let's save something for [Friday].' Said captain Paul Pierce: 'It's good to get back out there. It was nice to get some rest after playing so many road games, get the body adjusted back to the time. We came in today, freshened up -- it's not as crisp as we want to be, but as practice went on it got better.'"

Greg Payne, CelticsBlog - "As that season went on, the notion of a championship became more and more realistic and we quickly adjusted to the fact that that squad was really, really good. It was almost as if the 22 years prior to that had never happened. But when we locked ourselves into that mindset that told us a championship was possible, we began to expect certain things, and when they happened, we took them as they came, rather than appreciating them for all they were worth. Even simple things like a Pierce step back jump shot, or an Allen three-pointer in transition were taken for granted because they happened so routinely. But the uniqueness of these players makes every play they make that much more memorable, and we need to recognize that."

Henry Abbott, TrueHoop - "Every which way people slice and dice crunch time numbers -- field goal percentage, plus/minus, you name it -- Bryant is not the NBA's best in crunch time. A glance at last year's crunch time numbers on 82games.com makes clear Bryant shoots more than anyone else in the NBA in crunch time, but is he more skilled at making those shots? That's what we're trying to judge, right? In crunch time field goal percentage, last season Bryant finished 92nd in the League, right behind Michael Beasley. Others ahead of him include Kevin Garnett, both Gasols, Zach Randolph, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Terry, Jameer Nelson, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, Eric Gordon, Brandon Roy, Andre Iguodala, Jason Kidd, Ben Gordon, and Chris Bosh."

Tom Halzack, CelticsBlog - "Thought [the Celtics] were going gently into their assisted living facilities, eh? Tut tut, my skeptical friends. The ‘assisted living’ comes courtesy of one Rajon Rondo, point guard extraordinaire. Rondo plays one gear higher than the rest of his starting unit. 11 game win streak says they are rounding into shape after starting strong, stumbling, then slowly righting the ship. The only major surprise was/is the lack of 48 minute intensity, and rebounding woes. They still look like one of the best teams in the NBA to challenge the Lakers. Back with a vengeance? They are back. Vengeance comes later."

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

I wish Allen Iverson were playing tonight

2009-12-17T22:55:00.001-05:00

I was looking forward to seeing Allen Iverson play. I was excited to see his return to Boston, his first time back as a Philadelphia 76er. I was pumped.

You see, once Iverson steps onto a basketball court, it no longer matters what he did in Memphis. It doesn't matter that he sat on the back of the team bus and screamed for coach Lionel Hollins to hear that he'd played for a dumbass last year (Michael Curry) and was doing it again this year. It doesn't matter that he quit on the Grizzlies after only three games, or that he did the same last season in Detroit. It doesn't matter that he hasn't been able to handle taking a backseat to his teammates, or to take the instructions of his coaches. Once he's on that court, Allen Iverson is simply one of the most breathtaking playmakers to ever grace the hardwood.

Don't get me wrong; Iverson has disgraced the game of basketball. He's taken a sport that is supposed to be based in team play and he's made it all about himself. He's shown disrespect to his coaches, to his teammates, and to the game he loves, the game he's played so well for so long. He's made people re-think his spot in history, to wonder whether he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with all the game's other legends.

But I'll tell you one thing: He does deserve to be a part of those legends. In his prime, Iverson was the single biggest attraction in all of basketball. When AI was playing, you had to tune in… you just had to. He was as explosive a scorer as there was. He was as gritty a player, as exciting a player, as any in the Association. He was capable of carrying a team on his back, of leading them farther than they should have gone, and it seemed as if he was always on the verge of a scoring outburst… even when he wasn’t playing well.

And, more than anything else, that’s why Allen Iverson is still must-see T.V. You never know when he’s going to bring back vintage Allen Iverson, when he’ll start scoring in bunches, attacking the basket, and making you admire his heart with every dart into the lane, every collision with an opponent almost double his weight. No matter what you thought about Iverson – his aversion to practice, disregard for public image, ball-hogging style of play – you couldn’t help but admire the way he played with his emotions on his sleeve, the way he always bounced right back up ready to attack his opponent one more time. You had to admire the way he fought, battled, and never backed down from anybody.

As legends grow older, you keep watching them for that one game they remind you of the player they used to be, that one spurt where you can look at that aging legend and say, “Remember when he used to do that all the time? Man, he was unbelievable in his prime.” You keep watching, even through all the struggles, because you want one last glimpse into the player he used to be.

That’s why I was looking forward to seeing Iverson play. Not because he’s great now; he’s not. Not because he’s a role model or perfect teammate; he’s not.

No, I wanted to see Iverson play to be taken back to a time when he was carrying a team full of Eric Snow’s and Aaron McKie’s to the NBA Finals, a time when Iverson was the most exciting player in the NBA, possibly the most exhilarating athlete in all of sports. I wanted to see him take over a game one more time and make me remember his 50-point scoring binges, his emphatic step over Tyronn Lue, and his killer crossover.

As stars grow older, all you get are glimpses of the players they once were. But when those glimpses come, as unexpected as they may be, they take you back to a time when that star ruled the NBA, when you would be afraid to miss that star’s game because you never knew when he’d do something truly special.

That’s why I wanted to watch Allen Iverson scrap and claw against my Boston Celtics tonight. I know he’s not what he once was, but all I wanted was a reminder – one scoring spurt, one crossover, one scamper into the paint and devastating finish. Even at just six feet tall, Iverson used to be the most-feared player in the NBA, and I wanted him to force me to remember that time.

Alas, he won’t play tonight; arthritis in his left knee won’t allow it. In his place will be Jrue Holiday and Willie Green. They may be better role models than Iverson, they may be better teammates, but neither of those players will ever be legends.

They’ll never remind me of a time when a six-feet tall scorer ruled the NBA.

Should the Celtics address their backup point guard situation?

2009-12-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

A year ago February, the Celtics were so desperate to sign a backup point guard they brought in a certified headcase who hadn't played a basketball game in over a full season. They knew Eddie House couldn't competently fill the role of point guard, and Sam Cassell's role as a player-coach didn't exactly pan out, so the Celtics signed Stephon Marbury off the garbage heap after New York waived him.

So what's the difference this year? Why aren't the C's sifting through that garbage heap one more time? Once again, the Celtics are utilizing Eddie House as their primary point guard. If he was playing in an old man's rec league, House would be fine handling the ball. But in the NBA? Not exactly. So why aren't the C's looking to add another point guard? Why aren't they once again desperately searching for a ball-handler to back up Rajon Rondo?

Here are a few reasons:

Rondo's emergence as a stud
More than anything else, the Celtics aren't so desperate (yet) to find a reliable backup because Rajon Rondo has played so well. He's emerged as perhaps the Celtics most valuable player (yeah, I said it – and it's true) while providing Boston with a nightly, consistent effort. Now that Rondo has proved his value, an elite backup just isn't as pressing an issue.

People forget, but when Marbury was originally signed there was actually some talk he might take Rondo's starting spot. It seems ludicrous now that Rondo is one of the East's top point guards, but at the time Marbury was still seen as a super talent, and Rondo was still finding his way.

Marquis can do it
From day one of the Marquis Daniels signing, both Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers have been convinced that Marquis Daniels can run the PG spot.

Me? I'm still not convinced. Daniels' game seems to be more fit to slashing from the wing and finishing at the hoop. Yes, he's a good passer and yes, he's unselfish, but I prefer Daniels on the wing. Even when Daniels was playing, Eddie House was getting a lot of the reps handling the ball; I know Doc has blamed Daniels' injury with not allowing him to handle the ball, but if he was that hurt all along, what the hell was he doing playing?

The C's seem to like Lester Hudson
Any time a 58th draft pick gets signed to a contract, the team likes him. It's not normal for a draft pick that low to get signed, but then again, Hudson isn't a normal guy.

Everyone seems to rave about Hudson. Rondo credits him with helping him to prepare for games, Doc always has glowing words, and Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have sung his praises too. So why has he played zero meaningful minutes, when the team is badly in need of a point guard, and why was he just sent down to the D-League? Either Hudson has some rough edges to his game the C's want him to iron out, or they aren't as high on him as they show publicly. He DID, though, score 25 points with 7 rebounds and 6 dimes in his D-League debut.

Boston's handy-dandy assistant coach
The ace up the Celtics' sleeve could come from someone who doesn't even suit up for practice, isn't on either the active or inactive roster, and still gets paid by the team. How? He's their assistant coach, Tyronn Lue. Most of you will remember Lue for being disrespectfully stepped over by Allen Iverson, but I personally remember him for a lesser-known event: When he was in college at Nebraska, Lue was in a tight game (I forget against who) with less than a minute to go, and took so much time dribbling the ball up the court he was slapped with a ten-second violation and his team ended up losing. That one hurts even more than getting stepped over, even though being stepped over is probably going to haunt him for longer; how many times in his life do you think he'll have to see the replay of that play? A million? Two million? More?

Anyways, despite the two humiliating skeletons in his closet, ESPNBoston's Chris Forsberg is convinced Lue will be signed as a player later in the season, and says Lue has stayed in tip-top shape and looks good scrimmaging against the guys. Lue wouldn't be a bad option; he's been solid throughout his career, and if he's still in good shape would be able to handle the ball and hit open shots.

Conclusion
It seems like decades ago that Stephon Marbury was last relevant. Strangely, it was only last season... at least to Celtics fans. (And no, I don't count being all over the news this summer as "relevant." Not when the newsworthy things he did were eating vaseline, smoking pot on camera, and getting in a televised car accident.)

You see, Starbury didn't live up to my expectations last season, but he still did a few things to help the Celtics win basketball games. (Note: Can you still call him Starbury if he's not even close to being a star anymore? I say yes... but only because it's merely a combination of his first and last names. In no way does the "Star" part fit him anymore.)

It's strange to say, for a guy who averaged a measly 3.8 points and 3.3 assists, but Marbury was a difference-maker. Sure, he shot only 34.2%, and 24.0% from behind the arc. Yeah, he looked every bit the rusty player who'd missed a full year of basketball before being signed to the Celtics. But Steph's own stats weren't where he helped the Celts. He helped by being a pure point guard off the bench, someone who could penetrate and make plays for his teammates. He helped by drawing defenders, using his speed and quickness to be a threat, and handling the ball against full-court pressure.

Eddie House, the one player most affected by the C's lack of a point guard, played unbelievable basketball when Marbury was around. With Steph in tow, House was able to do what he does best: float around off the ball, find open spots, and release that blindingly-quick jumper that often goes "splash." This season, forced into the unnatural role of being a ballhandler, House has failed to score with the proficiency he did last year.

It's weird, but the Celtics have nobody to step into Marbury's (cheap, poorly-made) shoes as a backup point guard. So far, they've had Daniels and House masquerading as PGs, despite both being better-suited to play other positions.

Will they make a play at bringing in a reliable backup point guard? It's possible, but I'm not going to hold my breath for it. So far, they seem content to hope Daniels can do the job, as Lue possibly lies in waiting if Daniels doesn't work out. I'd rather see them pick up a new PG, but with an 11-game winning streak I don't quite think it's time to complain.

Maybe Marbury would want to come out of retirement?...

Just kidding.

Avery Johnson: Celtics are East's top team

2009-12-17T16:22:00.000-05:00

I would tell you exactly what he said but, well, can YOU stand listening to Avery Johnson's voice for more than 10 seconds at a time? It's like shattering glass, except the glass doesn't stop shattering. Anyways, for those of you who want to tough it out and listen to Avery (and his voice) talk about the C's being the East's best team, here's the video:

(h/t goes out to ESPNBoston's Chris Forsberg)

Paul Pierce, NBA's newest blogger

2009-12-17T15:19:00.002-05:00

Haven't you always wanted a closer glimpse at the Truth? Watching him play for his entire professional career, we've gotten to know Pierce like a brother. We saw him grow up in front of our very eyes, from an immature budding All-Star to a grown man capable of leading his team to an NBA championship. We've seen his struggles, perseverance, and successes.

Now, we'll be able to get even more insight into Pierce's thoughts and feelings than ever before: He's the NBA's newest blogger, and will be writing a blog exclusively for the Boston Globe.

In Pierce's first post, he writes about how Boston went from being a town he despised to a town he calls his own:

I've been in an amazing position to say that I'm going to be linked 100 percent to the Boston Celtics.

To say that I've played with only one franchise, and accomplished what we have, it's almost like a miracle. You don't see that any more. You don't see the same players staying with the same team like that. I'm a true follower of the game and only five guys have played for one team for 10-plus years, especially in the last 10. There's Tim, Kobe, Ilgauskas, Nowitzki, and me.

You're always going to associate Kobe with the Lakers. You're always going to associate Timmy with San Antonio. Those guys won championships for their teams and they've been there their whole career.

You look around the league and see a lot of great players. You have some Hall of Famers that have been on multiple teams and you think at the end of the day, which team do they represent? And I can definitely say I am a Boston Celtic through and through. When people look back at my career they're going to identify me with one team.

Boston is definitely home.

I feel like I'm really going to enjoy Pierce's blogging era. I just hope he doesn't start screaming Hibatchi! after every shot, or calling himself "Agent 34."

Throwing some dimes: Never too early to speculate a Celtics-Lakers final

2009-12-17T14:31:00.001-05:00

NESN's Liam Martin takes a look at who would win a Celtics-Lakers finals:

And yes, finally, it’s far too early in the season to judge two clubs from different conferences. Injuries, for one, can change a team’s trajectory in mere seconds. Ask Kevin Garnett.

But if the C’s (and by “C’s,” I mean KG) stay healthy; and if Sasha Vujacic continues to ride the bench in Los Angeles; and if Ron Artest keeps himself out of trouble; and if Rasheed Wallace doesn’t get booted from the league; and if Andrew Bynum’s knee stays intact for an entire season ... then luck might just fall again in favor of the greatest rivalry in the NBA.

Red's Army is trying to give away some free Celtics tickets. I suggest you head on over and try to get some.
ESPNBoston's Chris Forsberg throws his own dime to ESPN's NBA Award Watch, where Rondo is fourth in the running for Defensive Player of the Year and Pierce is eighth in the running for MVP:

In the latest update of ESPN's NBA Awards Watch, Rajon Rondo climbs to No. 4 on the list of potential Defensive Player of the Year candidates.

Writes Maurice Brooks: "It is easy to peg Rondo as a defender who simply jumps passing lanes, but he shuts down opposing point guards as well as anyone."

Rondo climbed one spot this week, while Paul Pierce sits tight at eighth on the MVP watch. Brook's blurb on Pierce; "He recently went over 19,000 points for his career. You could make a case that Rajon Rondo is Boston's most important player, but PP is the team's most consistent player."

Just go check out this picture. Please.

Wanna throw your own dime, and get someone's article recognized? Email me at jayking@celticstown.com or follow me on Twitter.

The Morning Walkthrough: Steve Bulpett revisits 72 wins

2009-12-17T05:10:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald - Good fortune and good health seemingly are required for a run at 72. 'Pretty much everything has to go right,' Kerr said. 'You can’t have injuries. You have to fight through the doldrums, the dog days. You have to get lucky in a few games. You have to have somebody take over games. We probably had seven or eight games that year where Michael just said, ‘We’re not going to lose.’ 'If the Celtics are going to do it, it’s got to be Pierce or Allen or whoever, but somebody just has to lift them up on their shoulders now and then.'"

Frank Dell'Apa, Boston Globe - "This season has marked the emergence of the two youngest Celtics starters, Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo, according to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. 'The young guys are kind of catching up to the stars on our team,’ Ainge said yesterday. 'They are contributing on a lot more equal basis.' Heading into last night’s games, Perkins (.649) was leading the league and Rondo (.535) was 16th in field goal percentage as the Celtics (20-4) became the first team to reach 20 wins."

Zach Lowe, Celtics Hub - "For a while I was beginning to get worried. Last season, the Celtics offense played remarkably well in the 22 games KG missed due to his knee injury. The C’s scored more than 114 points per 100 possessions in those games, up from about 110 points/100 possessions with KG in the line-up. That is the difference between a once-in-a-decade offense and a top-three or top-five offense in any given season. It’s a big difference. I theorized last June that the trend had to be a weird statistical blip; there’s no way the C’s offense could perform better without Kevin freaking Garnett, right? The C’s scored morein those 22 games primarily because they hit 43.2 percent of their threes without KG, an unsustainable number and significantly better than the (already awesome) 39 percent they hit the rest of the season."

Steve Aschburner, NBA.com - "While the team's Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have gotten, and will continue to get, most of the attention, Rondo has asserted himself into opponents' game-planning more than ever. If the Celtics aren't thought of yet as the Big Four, they at least know that Rondo is right there, next in line. He's way more Ringo Starr than Billy Preston. 'Me? That's really kind of irrelevant right now," Rondo said. "It is what it is. I'm happy with my situation. They can get all the accolades and awards. I just want a ring. Bottom line. That's going to make my summer go a lot easier.'"

Brian Robb, Celtics Hub - "You hear all the time about Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins getting all kinds of defensive accolades. Deservedly so, I might add. However, by one statistical measurement (Defensive Rating) the best defender on the Celtics is none other than……Rasheed Wallace? Sheed actually ranks 2nd in the NBA with 95.9 defensive rating just behind Gerald Wallace of the Bobcats who is rebounding at an astronomical rate. Now, it’s clear that this best defender label does not pass the eye test with Wallace, but it does bring to the forefront how Wallace’s defensive contributions have been going under the radar."

Loscy - "At the very least, anyone could have made the argument that Perk is a co-anchor of our defense: Perk holds down the paint so that KG can make those quicker switches. But the surprise to many of us this season is that Perk has all of the sudden turned into an offensive threat with the addition of so many of his post moves and ability to front defenders with the ball. Now, Perk is not only our defensive stalwart, but turning into a light (dieted version of an) offensive weapon as well. It only makes sense for Perk to be on the floor when it matters. We hired Sheed to be a bench guy that could fill in the front court in case of an injury; we did not bring Sheed on to close out our games. This is Perk’s job… to perform with Rondo, Ray Ray, Pierce, and KG."

Kevin Garnett: Dominant no longer

2009-12-16T22:14:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like finishing up college finals. You spend the week cramming for tests, trying (unsuccessfully) to catch up on work you should have been doing the entire semester, and drinking cup after cup of coffee even if you think it tastes so bad you have to drown it with sugar packets. You exert so much energy that by the time you finish dotting your test's final 'i', you can barely think straight. At the end of the week, you're worn out and just ready to go home for winter beak, crash on your comfortable bed, and catch up on all the sleep you missed while damn near pulling all-nighters every night.

So why am I telling you this? (Other than the fact that if I weren't writing this article I, too, would be passed out on a bed for oh, about 20 straight hours?) Because Kevin Garnett has been cramming for finals for each of the past 14 years, and now going on 15. While most players bring their 'A' game on certain nights and are sure to bring a full effort for big games, Garnett has been bringing maniacal effort every game, every practice for 15 years. Some players treat the playoffs like college finals, but Garnett acts like he's got a final every time he laces up his shoes. He's like that one overachieving girl (I don't know why, but it's always a girl) who is really smart, but still gets straight A's mostly because of her work ethic. She puts more work in during her homework than a normal person ever would even for a test, writes pages and pages of notes during lectures, and pisses everyone off because she's so over-the-top about her desire to be the best student.

Sound familiar? Maybe like a 6'11" power forward who headbutts the basket support before every single game, even exhibition games? Who, at one of his very first practices with the Celtics, screamed at captain and long-time Celtics leader Paul Pierce for dogging it during suicides? Garnett is so intense that he swears he gets so caught up into games (even meaningless regular-season games) that he doesn't remember his in-game behavior. He becomes so wrapped up in the moment, so engaged in battle, that he can crawl on all fours, bark in an opponent's face and not even realize what he's doing. He'll pound his chest, spew four-letter words so incessantly it would make Mike Tyson blush, and block every shot an opponent launches after the whistle.

Just like the overachieving girl everyone loves to hate, though, Kevin Garnett wasn't simply outworking people; he was smart, too. (Or, in Garnett's case, 6'11" with smooth ball-handling skills, unbelievable footwork, a deadly midrange jumper, boundless selflessness and athleticism unfit for a man that tall.) For a few years in Minnesota, Garnett was absolutely dominant, all but unstoppable. My favorite Garnett move is one he used to do all the time: He would go to the post and catch the ball with both feet planted, keeping the option open to move either way. After a head fake one way and a shoulder fake the other, Garnett would finally pivot away from his defender for an unblockable turnaround jumper that seemed to go in far more often than not. In his prime, Garnett was a go-to-guy who was the unquestioned center of his teams' offenses. Even when Garnett wasn't the one taking the shots, the ball ran through him. Dump it into the post to the Big Fella, and good things were bound to happen.

Notice how I said "in his prime." Garnett has been able to fool people into thinking he might still be in his prime; I guess that's what happens when you start shooting 70% from the field every night, seemingly draining every single shot you take. But, as efficient as he has been, Garnett is not the same player as he once was. He just isn't. Just take a look at the stats: Garnett is averaging less rebounds per game than any season but his rookie year. Less assists per game than any season but his rookie year. He's averaging the least amount of steals he ever has, and the least amount of blocks. He's shooting what would be a career-high field goal percentage, but everything about Kevin Garnett's stats, everything about watching him play, screams, "Role player."

It's weird to say, but the Big Ticket really has become a glorified role player. Most of his shots are kick-outs for open jumpers, most of his rebounds boards that happen to bounce somewhere very near to him. Even his defense has suffered; has Garnett ever been beaten off the dribble more times than he has this season?

Whereas Garnett used to be the focal point of an offense, used to carry Minnesota to victories with his talent as much as his sheer will, he simply can't do that anymore. He's still a great player to have on a team, still capable of putting up very good numbers and changing games, still a great leader who can rally the troops and inspire his teammates to play better, but KG is on the decline and I'm sad to say he's reached the end of his time of dominance.

You can fool yourself and think that he's "back" just because he's shooting so well, or he's finished a lot of alley-oops lately, or you think he's just sacrificing his game since he's finally surrounded by All-Stars. Yeah, his stellar supporting cast is part of the reason his stats are down, but there's another reason, a sadder reason, for his decline in production....

One can only take so many finals before he'll inevitably crash.

Pleased To Be Aboard

2009-12-16T21:42:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone!

I'm Jim, and I'm pleased to be joining the Celtics Town crew. A lifelong Maine resident, I live in the state capital and (shocker) work in government. However, I think you'll find what's really important for your reading pleasure is that I have season tickets to not only the Boston Celtics, but the brand-new Maine Red Claws, the Celts' new D-League affiliate. I'll be giving firsthand account of the action from my view courtside as the 6-1 Red Claws continue through their schedule, taking on the rest of the teams in the NBA Development League. I'll give you updates on how the Celtics assignees (right now Bill Walker and Lester Hudson) are doing, including my thoughts on their strengths, weaknesses, and overall potential. I'll also keep you informed about the rest of the team, including whomever the Red Claws may get from the Charlotte Bobcats, their other NBA affiliate team.

I'll also work to familiarize you all with the D-League in general. I understand that some of you out there may not have paid much attention when the Celtics' affiliate was in Utah or wherever - that's OK, I didn't either. Now I am, though, and so you will be too. I'll be doing full recaps after almost every home game, and even get in short recaps of road games, as my schedule allows. Of course, I'll be adding to the general Celtics commentary on the site as well.

Kevin Garnett: C's 'just starting to improve'

2009-12-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

The Celtics are streaking. No, not through the quad and to the gymnasium... in the win column. They've won 11 straight games and 8 on the road.

But Kevin Garnett doesn't think they're anything close to a finished product.

Via Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald:

“Now we’ve got great additions to this team - not good additions, great additions. Rasheed (Wallace), Quis (Marquis Daniels) and our young guys are getting better. We’re just starting to improve. It’s still December.

“We just had to figure it out, and we still do. We can still get a lot better. If you’ve got problems, man, that means you made them. The only people that can fix them are the ones that made them.”

I hope he's right. One thing to improve is first-quarter defense. Lately, it seems like the Celtics have gotten scorched in every first quarter before settling down and getting back to their defensive principles. Fortunately for the Celts, they've also had some monster first quarters themselves and have been playing well enough to win every game they've played for a long time.

But there are certainly things to work on. (*cough* *cough* REBOUNDING! *cough* *cough*)

Rasheed Wallace's role is a-changing

2009-12-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

WEEI's Jessica Camerato has a great piece about how well Rasheed Wallace has fit in with the Boston Celtics. But me, I'm not surprised at all that Rasheed has fit in: He's always been considered by his coaches and teammates as the ultimate team player, even when the media proclaims him a jerk and acts like he's a team cancer.

Since I already figured 'Sheed was fitting in just swell, another part of the piece stood out to me; Kendrick Perkins talks about what 'Sheed thought his role would be:

“The first day I realized it, how he socialized with everybody, his approach,” Perkins said. “He was loud and joking around. He was saying what his role is, ‘My role is to come in, give a few hard fouls, and shoot some 3's.’ That’s what he was saying, so I think he’s the perfect fit for our team.”

Notice how Rasheed didn't say his role was to rebound the basketball, or to provide low-post offense. Nope, he considered his role -- even as a 6'11" center -- to stand on the perimeter and launch threes. (Note: And he didn't even say make them -- how did he know?)

For the first dozen or so games, Rasheed played just like he said he would; he camped out at the three-point line and shot enough times to make Tony Montana jealous. Then, all of a sudden, you could see the lightbulb go off inside his head: Either Rasheed thought to himself, "Man, I'm missing all my threes, I'd better take my ass down low," or Doc Rivers prodded him, "'Sheed you're missing all your threes, you'd better take your ass down low."

Whatever it was, I can remember the first time I saw 'Sheed's full post repertoire on display for the Celtics. Here's what I said, all the way back on November 28, when the Celtics played the Toronto Raptors:

Why, oh why, does Rasheed Wallace not go into the post more often? Especially when he's mired in a seemingly oh-fer-the-season slump, wouldn't you think he would at least try his post game out a little? Well, he did in this game. First post touch: Drop step towards the baseline around Bargnani for an easy bucket. Second post touch (on the very next play), an unblockable fadeaway turning towards his left shoulder for another bucket. Please, Rasheed, don't be allergic to the paint. You are far too talented on the blocks.

Even after that game, I wondered if he only went down low because he was playing the softer-than-marshmallow tandem of Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani. I thought he might immediately migrate back to the land of trifectas once he played a big man who had -- to be appropriate -- heart.

And he has... but only occasionally. Rasheed still likes to chuck jumpers, and I assume he always will, but he's started to sprinkle in his very polished post game with his affinity for the outside shot. He's added another dimension to his game, a dimension he's always had in his back pocket but didn't always display.

Rasheed's role is a-changing. And it's for the better.

Throwing a dime: Rajon Rondo is 'not your typical jock'

2009-12-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

Gary Washburn of the Globe had a very interesting chat yesterday where he answered questions from Celtics fans, throwing out a bunch of interesting tidbits. Here are a few:

First, Washburn talks about Rondo's behavior:

2:10

[Comment From Chuck: ]
We read subtle references to Rondo's off the court persona. Is he a difficult personality? just quiet? are we gonna start saying "It's Rondo being Rondo" soon?
2:13

Gary Washburn:
Rajon Rondo is an interesting dude because he is not your typical jock or player who went to college just to play ball but wouldn't know about the world around him. He is very intelligent, rather moody and quite comical. He is not the "young guy who keeps quite around the old dudes" type of guy. If he has something to say, he will say it. Now perhaps a few years ago, that didn't go over well. But he is picking and choosing his moments better when to say certain things.

It's pretty out of the blue to hear about Rondo being an intellectual. When I heard all types of stories this summer about Rondo being harder to deal with than Elin Nordegren with a golf club in her hand, I never figured he was the next Good Will Hunting.

Washburn makes a lot of great points, but also proves he's new in town:

2:25

[Comment From PennStateDad: ]
The C's appear to be rounding into shape, but Tony Allen is still maddeningly inconsistent. He'll make a great hustle play, then make a real dumb one. It's not just his coming back from injury; he's always done this. Is there any hope he'll improve?
2:26

Gary Washburn:
I know I will hear it from C's fans on this one, but I really like Tony Allen. He is athletic, chases loose balls, is tough and can score. He hit a big shot last night in Memphis and I think with more games, he will really help this team. He is already getting better, but I know he has made some questionable plays in his time here. I am fresh eyes, so I am seeing more positive than negative.

In time, I think Washburn will see the truth about Tony Allen: As good as he looks on certain trips down the court, the only thing he can be trusted for is being as trustworthy on a basketball court as Tiger Woods is away from home. (That makes two zings at the Woods family in one post. A new career high... for now.)

Be sure to read the rest of the chat. It's insightful and offers a lot of insider knowledge you probably wouldn't get elsewhere.

Rasheed Wallace: Not cocky, but Celtics will be playing in June

2009-12-16T06:48:00.000-05:00

Boy, that Rasheed Wallace sure is confident (cocky?). Just when you think he might shut his mouth and just play basketball for a little while, Wallace comes with another "Guaran-Sheed" statement.

Via the Globe:

Asked about the team’s championship prospects, he [Wallace] said, “Our chances are great. We know we’re a good team and we know we’re one of the teams going to be playing in June, that’s how confident we are. It’s not being cocky. There’s a difference between being confident and cocky. We’re just confident, we know what we can do, we know our skills, and we know that our skills can take us to June. I’m real hungry, I’m out the door, my old [rear], and it’s always good to go out on top instead of saying coulda, shoulda, woulda.’’

I love Wallace's confidence, but I'd rather he wait until after (if?) the Celtics beat the Magic on Christmas day before making such a proclamation.

Maybe it's just me, but close road wins against the Grizzlies just don't make me think of June. (Yeah, yeah, okay. You got me. 11-game winning streaks and 8-game road winning streaks might make me think of June just a little.)

The Morning Walkthrough: What if the Celtics missed 220 straight shots?

2009-12-16T06:29:00.000-05:00

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn't mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Jack Jemsek, Celtics Stuff Live - "It is true - the Celtics are shooting so damn well that the Field Goal % differential is a whopping 5.3% and leading the NBA no less. Consider this – the Celtics could shoot 220 shots and miss them all, while maintaining their defensive rating, and still be leading the league in field goal % differential."

Frank Dell'Apa, Boston Globe -"'When we try to outjump teams, if they’re pushing us under the basket, they’ve got a great chance of getting the ball,' said Ray Allen, whose late 3-pointer clinched the victory. 'We just started carving our space. And the guards, we’ve got to do a better job of getting rebounds.'

The Celtics lead the league in field goal percentage, their offense based on tactical efficiency. But the second unit is expected to reenergize things, and that is what it did against the Grizzlies."

Jeff Clark, CelticsBlog - "And all this coming after the offseason that Rondo had is all the more impressive. Between trade rumors, questions about his character, and uncertainty about his contract, he must have been pretty distracted. Yet he remained focused. Maybe all that even sharpened his focus. He seems to have a "I'll show you" mentality that fuels him better than Red Bull ever will. So by all means, let the critics keep the criticisms coming. Harp on his outside shot. Question his attitude. Do your best to tear him down. As for me, I'll sit back and watch him tear you apart. Little by little. Game by game. Assist by assist. Steal by steal. Win by win. Rondo will be an All Star this year and a star for years to come because he's learned how to be consistent."

Greg Payne, CelticsBlog - "Throughout this revitalizing 11-game win streak, the C's have secured some steep performances from a variety of players not belonging to the very exclusive "Big Three" club. Sure, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have been tremendous over this stretch, but so has Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins, and now, joining that list over the past two games, is Rasheed Wallace, whose play in the paint has opened my eyes and introduced a whole new weapon for this Celtics team to utilize."

Zach Lowe, Celtics Hub - "For now, TA is going to play double-figure minutes for this team while Marquis Daniels is hurt. His success would help the second unit, reduce the burden on Ray Allen and Paul Pierce and give the C’s a player who could diversify their offensive arsenal by getting to the foul line. It would also be a nice coda to a career until now defined by bizarre injuries, shady off the court connections, sloppy dribbling and maddening brain cramps. It was in this spirit that I introduced the Official Tony Allen Dos and Donts List after Monday night’s game. Right now, it only has six items."

Me, Celtics Town - "While most players bring their 'A' game on certain nights and are sure to bring a full effort for big games, Garnett has been bringing maniacal effort every game, every practice for 15 years. Some players treat the playoffs like college finals, but Garnett acts like he's got a final every time he laces up his shoes. He's like that one overachieving girl (I don't know why, but it's always a girl) who is really smart, but still gets straight A's mostly because of her work ethic. She puts more work in during her homework than a normal person ever would even for a test, writes pages and pages of notes during lectures, and pisses everyone off because she's so over-the-top about her desire to be the best student. Sound familiar? Maybe like a 6'11" power forward who headbutts the basket support before every single game, even exhibition games? Who, at one of his very first practices with the Celtics, screamed at captain and long-time Celtics leader Paul Pierce for dogging it during suicides?"

More All-Decade love for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett

2009-12-15T16:19:00.002-05:00

Wow, Pierce and Garnett are getting a lot of All-Decade consideration recently.

Earlier today, it was SI. Yesterday (I know, I am late), it was from HoopsHype, which has Garnett listed as the 5th-best player of the decade and Pierce as the 10th-best.

Their blurb about Pierce:

Pierce might have been overlooked on this list if his stupendous performance in the 2008 league championship series hadn’t revealed his remarkable abilities. He literally ran the Lakers’ defense into the ground and exposed Los Angeles during that series. It was the kind of performance that made observers stop and think about Pierce’s great effort on undermanned Boston teams throughout the decade. He had been forced to carry undermanned teams on his back, and when his chance came in the NBA Finals, Pierce took his place among the best. And the Lakers nor any other team in the league could do anything to stop him.

And about Garnett:

Garnett labored for years in frustration with the Minnesota Timberwolves (where he was named league Most Valuable Player) before his 2007 trade to the Boston Celtics. But it was in Boston where Garnett realized his championship possibilities. His size and strength and durability helped define him as a power forward, but nothing framed his persona more than his legendary intensity. His competitiveness drove the teams he played on and established his place as one of the game’s all-time greats. His characteristic weapon was the face-up jumper from the top of the key, but really Garnett could score from any spot of his choosing. And his defense intimidated even the best opponents.

It's nice to see these two guys get so much recognition, but can't Mark Blount at least get an honorable mention vote?

Bill Walton isn't exactly the next Tupac

2009-12-15T14:53:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought what it would be like if you rolled Marv Albert, Eminem, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar into one human being?

Well, Bill Walton came pretty close to answering that question with this "music video" he filmed years ago. Throw it down, big man:

The spectacle of Bill Walton rapping, sadly, isn't even the funniest part of this whole video. It's those damn shorts. Those things would be short on my four-year old little cousin, never mind the "best broadcaster in Western Civilization."

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce named to SI's All-Decade team

2009-12-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have been awarded a spot on Sports Illustrated's All-Decade team. Here's what Ian Thomsen had to say about Garnett:

Though Garnett was the 2004 league MVP with Minnesota, he was criticized for failing to lead the undermanned Wolves to an NBA Finals. Those complaints turned into cheers with his trade to the Celtics in 2007, when Garnett joined with Pierce and Ray Allen to lead Boston to its first championship in 22 years. Garnett will go down as one of the great defenders of his era.

And about Pierce:

After reaching the 2002 conference finals as a 24-year-old go-to scorer, Pierce matured -- with the help of coach Doc Rivers -- to become an all-around playmaker while the Celtics were attempting to rebuild with youth. When those youngsters were traded for Garnett and Allen, Pierce was ready to do everything from scoring to creating to defending LeBron on his way to becoming Finals MVP in 2008.

The complete list of the All-Decade team:

Starters:
PG - Steve Nash
SG - Kobe Bryant
SF - Lebron James
PF - Tim Duncan
C - Shaquille O'Neal

Reserves:
PG - Jason Kidd
SG - Dwyane Wade
SG - Allen Iverson
SF - Carmelo Anthony
PF - Kevin Garnett
PF - Dirk Nowitzki
SF - Paul Pierce

What, you mean no Antoine Walker?

Lester Hudson's D-League stay likely a short one

2009-12-15T08:52:00.000-05:00

Via the Boston Herald:

Doc Rivers still likes the point guard very much, but he’s played just 49 minutes after a DNP last night in the 110-105 win against the Grizzlies.

"He’s on a very good team where it’s very difficult to get minutes, but that hasn’t sidetracked his work,” Rivers said. “We’re going to send him down pretty soon to the NBDL for a week or so to get him some games, because I don’t like our young guys going these long stretches without playing games. And then we’re going to bring him back. I think that will help him.”

I, for one, think Lester could benefit from a prolonged stay in the D-League. If he's not going to play a single meaningful minute in Boston, what's the point of having him toil on the bench when he could be earning valuable experience in the D-League?

Remember, this is a guy who played college at the University of Tennessee-Martin, where he played against some poor competition. So playing against some D-League competition could really be beneficial to him.

Plus, I'd rather see Bill Walker get his chance with the C's. Now there's a player who could really make a role for himself on this team, especially with the Marquis Daniels injury. For some reason, though, the Celtics are happier to give Tony Allen Daniels' leftover minutes.

Oy vay.