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

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 Morning Walkthrough: Losing Paul Pierce

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.

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

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.

Throwing a few more dimes: Ray Allen doesn't want J.R. Giddens to hit the rim

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.

Just read a couple good pieces, so I wanted to let you guys know about them:

• First, from TrueHoop, a story of Ray Allen teasing J.R. Giddens for hitting the rim on a made jump shot:

As Giddens took long-range shooting practice this morning at the United Center in Chicago, Ray Allen sat observing, just inches away on the bench. Giddens isn't not a congenital shooter -- he falls away a bit on his shot -- but this morning, he was doing alright. He hit three consecutive shots in front of Allen from the right side.

But that wasn't sufficient for Allen.

"You touched the rim!" Allen said after Giddens' third make.

Giddens turned around to face Allen. He wasn't despondent, but appeared more like an eager child trying to please a father-coach.

Stories like that are always cool.  It's interesting to get a peek at what goes on behind the scenes, the relationships between players.

• Chris Forsberg from ESPNBoston, asking the question, "Do you want Ray to stay?":

The best general managers in sports have to make tough decisions like this on a regular basis. While now is probably not the opportune time to point it out, the New England Patriots were the NFL's team of the decade in large part because of the shrewd personnel decisions the team made in order to remain a top competitor over the long haul.

Put yourself in Danny Ainge's shoes and suppose the Celtics win another NBA title in June, what should management do? Bring back Allen, committing quality money over what would likely be at least a two-year period? Or recognize that you squeezed two championships out of a three-year window with this new Big 3 and start the turnover process, potentially using the savings to try to lure a quality young player out of a bountiful 2010 free-agent class?

I would love for him to stay, but only at a reasonable price.  From what Ray said about the Allen Iverson saga earlier this season, he understands veteran players have to take a discount and accept a smaller role to continue to play for a contender.  It's a nice attitude, and one I hope brings Ray back to Boston after a sizeable pay cut.

Throwing a couple dimes

I was going to write about these two things, but some of my fellow Celtics bloggers beat me to it.  So instead of beating a dead horse and writing my own commentary, I'll just let you hear their opinions:

CelticsHub's Brendan Jackson, on who should get the brunt of Marquis Daniels' minutes:

While I’m not a psychologist (although I have been known to enjoy a good armchair), I believe his stints in the D-League, the fact that he was a first round pick, the attempts to resurrect his image after his incidents at Kansas and subsequent exodus, and him playing on a team that flat out didn’t need him for two years has really hurt J.R. psyche.


This stretch the C’s will have play without Daniels, however, could be what J.R. needs to become an actual player in the league. There is no chance that J.R. can become a star, starter, or even seventh man off the bench, but could he develop into a guy that plays six minutes a game? I think so.

Just like me and, probably, everyone else who's ever watched Tony Allen play basketball, Jackson doesn't believe TA should get Daniels' minutes.  He thinks they should go to the inexperienced Giddens, a guy who has never seen extended time in his career. 

But who do I think should get those minutes?  Doc Rivers, as a player-coach, of course.  Seriously though, there isn't a viable option off the bench at small forward besides 'Quisy.  My top option to be the recipient of those minutes would probably be Scal, but the thought of Scal having to guard opposing small forwards is already giving me nightmares.  Still, I think he's the best option.  At the very least, he'll play good team defense, hit open shots, and not to anything too destructive to the team.  (TA, I'm looking at you.) 

If not Scal, bring Billy Walker up from the D-League.  He's been far more productive than Giddens to this point in his career.  Plus, he's likely to at least produce a highlight, if nothing else. 

Now, here's CelticsHub quoting Ric Bucher from an NBA Podcast on ESPN:

As for Sheed, I’ve got to tell you. The most startling thing–this is a guy who has always played his way into shape. But I went into the locker room after the game, and he took off his shirt, and I mean, I could not believe what I saw. I mean, he looked like a guy who is on the couch watching games with a bowl of potato chips and a six pack and not a guy who is playing a game. The roll I saw hanging off of his shorts—I’ve never seen it on him before and I can’t tell you the last guy I saw that had a body like that. He’s not Popeye Jones-esque, but it was a very, very bad look.

I've actually been wanting to write about Rasheed's unsightly shape for awhile.  I've never seen him without his shirt on, but he sure seems pretty damn pudgy underneath that jersey of his.  On top of that, he's a touch slow, he's front-rimmed countless jumpers, and he looks fat, damn it! 

Now, I don't care what he looks like if he plays well, but Rasheed would help the C's even more than he already has if he were in shape.  Maybe he'll be able to play himself into shape, maybe not.  But as long as he's canning jumpers, snatching rebounds, and contesting shots come playoff time, I don't care if he looks like Free Willy.

Red Claws Road Recap

The Maine Red Claws, the D-League affiliate of the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats, officially began their inaugural season on the road over the weekend. They played the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Friday night in South Dakota and the Dakota Wizards Saturday night in North Dakota. This sort of short road trip is common for the D-League.

The Claws split the weekend, returning home 1-1 after their jaunt to the Dakotas. They fell to Sioux Falls 112-95 on Friday, but defeated Dakota 107-97 on Saturday. In both games Billy Thomas (the first player signed with the team) and Bill Walker led the team in scoring. Walker had a double-double on Friday with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 assists, but on Saturday had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and no assists in much less playing time. Thomas had 18 points on both nights.

The Friday night game was competitive despite the final score, with the Claws only behind by five at the half. Sioux Falls pulled away in both quarters in the second half, however, and F Reggie Williams, a VMI product, finished the night with 29 points. On Saturday the Claws seemed to have a much more balanced approach, with points spread across more players.

The Claws will now have four days of rest before the Friday night home opener. This is fairly typical for the D-League, where most games (about two-thirds) are played on the weekend to maximize attendance. When the Red Claws play their first home game on Friday I'll be keeping a close eye on Walker to see how integrated he is with the rest of the team after two games. I suspect he'll see a lot of time on Friday after only playing about 13 minutes on Saturday. This will also work well for the team marketing-wise, to have the one assigned Celtic play more during the home opener.

It will also be interesting to see if Charlotte assigns any players to Maine before the home opener. The Bobcats have four players eligible for D-League assignment: Alexis Ajinca, D.J. Augustin, Derrick Brown, and Gerald Henderson. Ajinca and Brown are the likeliest of these to be shipped up to Maine, as Augustin and Henderson seem to be seeing regular playing time off the bench for Charlotte. Plus, Henderson is a favorite of both MJ and local crowds, so the idea of him being sent to Maine is remote.

UPDATE: Alexis Ajinca, the 7-foot French Center/Power Forward was assigned to Portland.

For Boston, J.R. Giddens and Lester Hudson are the other two players eligible for D-League assignment. Neither have seen much playing time so far this season, and as Tony Allen and Glen Davis return from injury they are likely to be pushed from the bench to the D-League.

It will certainly be an interesting season for the Red Claws. While I'll be paying special attention to Giddens, Hudson, & Walker, I'm also looking forward to seeing all the D-League players, including those assigned by Charlotte. Based on the preseason game and the first two regular-season games, it looks like we'll be getting an exciting year in Portland.

J.R. Giddens stating his case

The easiest way to describe J.R. Giddens last year was that he didn't quite "get it." After being a big shot for Kansas and then at New Mexico, everything seemingly came easy for Giddens... in college. Long, strong, and athletic, with an NBA-ready body far before he was drafted into the NBA, Giddens oozed physical talent, but his game was far from refined.

And that lack of polish hurt him when he reached the NBA. Whereas in college he got by on the basis of his physical traits, Giddens could no longer outrun or outmuscle everyone else. He was still athletic, but that no longer set him apart like it used to. Players get to the NBA and they need to develop other parts of their games that weren't there. Giddens was physically dominant in college, but had never developed the basketball IQ it would take to succeed in a league where almost everyone was as tall, strong, and fast as he is.

If he'd been drafted onto a rebuilding team, maybe everything would have been different. With a rebuilding team, projects like Giddens are allowed time to blossom. But on a championship contender? Not so much.

Still, J.R. has shown flashes of brilliance. Not for the Celtics yet, but it's tough to show flashes of brilliance when you only play 8 minutes in your entire rookie season. In summer league play, though, Giddens was perhaps the most impressive Celtic of all. He showed an impressive series of jab-step moves that made him very tough to guard one-on-one. On two separate plays, Giddens jabbed right, drove left and finished with a tomahawk slam at the rim. When he did that, it made you realize why the Celtics used a first-round pick to draft him. The power, explosiveness and agility he displayed with those two moves made me sit back and say, "wow".

Now, Giddens seems like he's finally "gotten it". He knows his only way onto the floor is through his defensive abilities. He knows that he'll never make his way onto the parquet through the basis of his offensive skills because, frankly, he's not as skilled as a lot of other players. But he can rebound the basketball, and when Giddens gets after it he can be a formidable energy guy. He still can't shoot the ball very well (didn't he used to be a deadeye shooter for Kansas???), but when J.R. gets his motor running he can make plays to help his team win games. And in the last two games, Giddens has shown an energy level and a dedication to the little things that just wasn't there last year. Giddens knows what Doc wants, and is trying to give it to him.

I'm not saying Giddens will be on the active roster. Or even that he deserves to be. After all, the Celtics are deep and they are talented. All I'm saying is that he's making his case for being kept in Boston rather than being sent back to the NBDL.

And that's more than he ever did last year.