The_Mighty_Q

2010 is here

2010-01-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

So I guess it is time for my Celtics decade recap.

This past decade was certainly eventful. 10 years ago I would have been writing about Pitino's curse, oh wait, I littered the internet expounding on the shortcomings of Rick Pitino.

Fortunately, Rick Pitino resigned in Miami on Jan. 3, 2001 right smack dab in the middle of my divorce. Speculation is that he went on to have a good time with Tiger Wood's hiram.

The team had horrible talent surrounding Pierce and Walker and had a cheapskate (I mean very Shreeeewwwwwwdddd Businessman) owner. Still Jim O'Brien got the best out of his team and earned a playoff run to the 2002 ECF and got within 6 games of winning the NBA title.

The team was thankfully sold to Wyc Grousebeck and Steve Paglicia who hired Danny Ainge to turn this franchise back into a winner. I have already chronicaled the turnaround and now the Celtics are back in the running for championships (as it should be).

The team has a nice mixture of veterans and a very good young PG and C to build a future team around. I am optimistic that Glen Davis can be the future PF succeeding Garnett and Wallace.

We will have to keep restocking our roster through the draft, free agent signings, and trades. Danny has a proven track record in all three rostering tools.

Doc Rivers is a proven NBA coach. You need talent to win in this league. The rest of the NBA is getting a lot better with very few weak sisters (New Jersey and Minnesota come to mind immediately with Philadelphia, Detriot, Golden State, and Washington on the decline). There may be no teams that can win 60 games this year due to moving closer to parity. Even the "mighty" Los Angeles Lakers is finding tough sledding on the road.

Look at tonights results: Orlando lost in Chicago
Memphis walloped Phoenix in Phoenix
Charlotte beat Miami in Miami
Oklahoma had their win streak snapped in Milwaukee (just like the Celtics on Saturday night trips into Milwaukee)

There is an awful lot of basketball to be played and I think the Celtics will regroup, get healthy, and get on a roll. Minutes from the veterans are getting reduced and we are getting useful stints out of Glen Davis, Tony Allen, Rasheed Wallace, Eddie House, Lester Hudson, and even JR Giddens. I still think that a trade is coming in February for the Celtics. But if parity continues to hold, there may not be that many sellers for Danny to take advantage of.

So I will be doing a lot of statistical data collection to see which teams are competing and which teams are rebuilding. January is moving month in the NBA. The Celtics are trying to hang on until they get healthy.

Ron

2009 will be remembered for

2009-06-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

Kevin Garnetts knee injury, nothing more, nothing less. In witnessing the playoffs, don't you think Chicago goes down in 5 games, Orlando in five, and Cleveland gets beat again by Boston.

Our pride would not let us lose to the Lakers, I just know it. So our 2nd significant knee injury (the other to Brady) and the opportunity to win two championships was lost.

I think the Bruins anf the Red Sox suffered injuries that kept them from performing at their peak. But fear not, the Celtics are still the favorites to come back and win in 2010 provided that Rondo and Ray Allen are not traded. Free Agency will be the key to Celtics success in 09-10.

I'll come back and run through the possibilities as I have time to post up.

Stephon Marbury

2009-03-06T21:13:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that I was nervous about bringing Stephon Marbury in here because of his checkered past and history of being on losing teams.

I was wrong.

However, I remain concerned about his ability to defend and getting his timing down to help the Celtics. He is making the effort to play team ball and work on the defensive end and that is all I can ask for.

Welcome to Boston, Stephon.

We finally won our championship!!!

2008-06-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

The first since internet blogging media era was developed.

A lot of hard work went into making this 2008 Celtics Championship possible. 8 years ago at the hieght of the Pitino dark ages, this was not thought to be possible. The owner, Paul "Thanksdad" Ga$ton was in it to make money for himself and to screw the loyal Celtics fans. He would not exceed the salary cap let alone (god forbid) pay a luxery tax. But he was not a shrewd businessman because he paid out some god awful contracts to god awful players recruited by god awful management. Honestly, go back and reread chapter two of Larry Bird's "On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love" on his experience with Ga$ton and More Losses Carr.

First Ga$ton had to sell the team. He sold it to a dedicated Celtics fan with a lot of money (or more possibly access to a lot of money). His name was Wyc Grousebeck. His managing partner Steve Paglicia knew Danny Ainge and hired him as basketball GM. He made Red Auerbach president again (that was taken away by Pitino). A good first step, but the Celtics lacked the talent needed to become a championship contender. Plus they had no cap room and an albatross of a contract with Vin Baker. Antione Walker was the ringleader of this outfit but he really was nothing special. He was a rah rah competitor type. Danny traded him off to Dallas a draft pick, Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills (expiring contract). Danny traded Eric Williams and Milt Palacio for Ricky Davis and drove Jim O'Brien to resign. Mark Blount had a career 40 games to lead the 36-46 juggernaut Celtics into the 8th seed and 4 game ass-kicking by Indiana. John Carroll's NBA coaching career was over.

Enter Doc Rivers. Ainge was a brilliant drafter - Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Kendrick Perkins, Tony Allen, Delonte West, Ryan Gomes, Leon Powe, to go along with RD, Blount, and Pierce. Ainge traded Mihm and one other to the Lakers for Gary Payton (last year of contract). Walker, somehow came back to Boston, after not fitting in with Dallas and Atlanta (gee I wonder why). We were all set to make a run at the finals, right? Wrong, our nemesis Indiana won again with a game 7 waxing on our HC.

In 2006, the Celtics couldn't get anything going with Blount, RD, Pierce, West, and Jefferson (out of shape and injured much of the season). RD, Blount, Justin Reed got traded to Minnesota for Wally Baby. That didn't help in the standings but Doc's sanity was saved.

Things had to get better in 2007, Right????? Well the Celtics lost 350 man games to injury and the season was completely lost. The Celtics were playing for lottery balls and the right to draft Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. Surely in 2007 we would have one of the first two picks right????
Well the draft lottery was on May 22, 2007 which was my ex-wifes 50th birthday and she grew up in Portland. My three daughters were born in Seattle. So I knew the Celtics were going to get shafted and get the worst possible pick at 5 and have to draft the Chinese Nowitzki (Chinese Jerome Moiso???). Paul Pierce would get traded and lead his new team to championship, CORRECT?????

And, then Delonte, Wally, and #5 went to Seattle for Ray Allen and BBD on draft night. And a month later on our 5th anniversary get away, the Celtics traded Al J, GG, Gomes, Theo Ratliffe's contract, and god knows every draft pick until 2015 to Minnesota for Kevin Garnett.

Now I felt like I was at least back in the game. Posey, House, PJ Brown, Sam Cassall, and Pollard walked through that door. Rondo and Perkins became vital starters. Tony Allen, BBD, and Powe all played important roles. The Celtics went from a very poor 24 win team to the Route 66 team with the number one seed.

The playoffs proved to be difficult endeavor with a bad matchup in the 1st round against Atlanta who managed to hold HC three times but were not competive in Boston. Cleveland, though, gave Boston a fantastic match where Paul Pierce had the defining moment of his career in Game 7 that brought back memories of that Bird - Dominique show down 20 years earlier. As Boston led by one point in the final minute, there was a jump ball between Perkins and Z. Z had the tip and tapped it toward James when Pierce knocked it away and promptly dove after that ball and clutched in a crowd of Cleveland white shirts. There was The Moment of Truth! I thought this game could have decided the 2008 and I was right. Detriot, was a solid team all year and the past six really if you think about it. But between Ray Allen, KG, and Pierce, Boston wore them down and closed out with a major 4th Qtr beat down in Mo-town.......

Then it was on to the Los Angelos Lakers and that CBS song of spring of 20 years ago kept running through my head bringing back those famous Bird and Magic matchups. It was our obligation to deny Phil Jackson is 10th title as HC and preserve Red Auerbach's legacy. I felt the Lakers were not as strong defensively as what we already had faced. After that Game 2 scare, the Game 3 loss, and starting out in that 45-21 hole in Game 4 (during which there was a tornado warning in my area and reports of a brief touchdown five miles from home), I felt Red Auerbach get very angry as the rain, hail, and wind fell. Well, the Celtics came back to win 96-91 in the Tornadic Comeback Classic and I got to my luck TV set at Larry Bud's Tavern. Finally four nights later, I did my old 1980's ritual of eating a Super Bird at Denny's, hitting a large bucket of golf balls at the driving range, and then going up to Larry Buds for the clincher. I think I had the Victory Cigar in my mouth with four minutes left in the game.

So after twenty two years, which in my case is almost 1/2 a lifetime ago, the Celtics fans finally get their championship they long deserve. Congratulations to us for all the poor decisions, poor luck, and poor refereeing that was seemingly directed by David Stern to screw the Celtics. And the Curse of Len Bias got tamed after only 22 years.

KG is not clutch?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!

2008-05-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Bill Simmons wrote for ESPN:

"It also wasn't a surprise. Garnett's crunch-time woes have been the dirty little secret of this storybook Celtics season. Sure, he saved the franchise and made the C's relevant again. He's also the reason they might not win the 2008 championship. Put simply, Garnett shrinks from pressure more times than he comes through. The NBA is a simple league to figure out: In a playoff series, the best player prevails unless his supporting cast is significantly inferior to the other team's. So when Boston's best player can't dominate close games against a quality opponent … um, that's a problem."

Well, lets explore that topic further. On Sunday, it was a moment of Truth. Paul Pierce was the man for Boston standing up to Lebron James, who has chance to be the greatest basketball player in NBA history. That was Pierce's biggest victory of his career (much bigger than that game 5 victory against Philadelphia in 2002 when he went off for 49 that night). So it was Pierce who stood out. My guess is that Garnett on Sunday deferred to Pierce and just support him on defense, rebounding, and passing. Garnett scored enough to keep the defenses honest.

Tonight, in Game 1 of the ECF, Garnett was the leading scorer and Sheed could do nothing about it. And in the 4th qtr, it was Garnett to Perkins and Garnett to Rondo for two critical Boston baskets to hold off Detriot. So Garnett is more effective as a FACILITATOR for the Celtics because he trusts his teammates. I think Simmons did not do his homework on Garnett in the playoffs and based his conclusions on a couple of poor performances in Atlanta and Cleveland.

If we want to question anybody here, it must be Ray Allen who really is in poor form right now.

No excuses for this!!!!

2008-04-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Celtics have gone south on us again by poor shooting and lack of athletism. The Celtics are having a lot of trouble matching the Hawks energy level on the road and they are not making shots, not finishing at the rim and not getting much in the way of coaching adjustments in stopping Joe Johnson or Josh Childress.

A lot must change or this series will be lost and then ........ well I do not want to go there, period.

Can the Celtics respond to the Hawks apparent superior athleticism and confidence? Even if the Celtics win Game 5 Wednesday, this series will be far from over. I'm sure that Garnett and Ray Allen did not sign up with Boston to lose the 1st round of the playoffs.

I think Coach Doc is a fine coach (a radical change in opinion for those of you who know me and bother to read my diary) but he must be feeling a bit snake bit when it comes to playoff basketball.

I hope Perkins doesn't get a suspension for stepping on the court during the Za Za - KG altercation. That would force Baby and PJ to play more.

In fairness, the Celtics played better but had trouble making shots for two critical stretches and once again Atlanta made their shots. The 4th quarter was awful for Boston. A ten point lead turned into another horrible set back. Celtics simply lacked good plays on both ends of the court and this does not bode well for future series. Again, I have to wonder what is going on here and what is holding the Celtics back from breaking through on the road. Are they mentally soft? I don't believe so because they won three straight games in Texas. I think Doc is having trouble with adjustments or it is something worse - the Celtics are not in good health and nobody bothered to the media.

I'm confused and worried now.

What was that?????

2008-04-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

OK, I have been hearing that the Celtics have been a bit sloppy the past month and perhaps tonight it caught up with them. Atlanta flat out kicked our ass tonight and that is really all that needs to be said here.

As I said on CSL postgame tonight, the Celtics were not much good in any phase of the game. They did not guard the perimeter, they did not hustle back on defense, they did not share the ball on offense (at least not as well as Atlanta), they shot the ball very poorly, they played passively, were smaller and slower than the Hawks.

Doc was very upset with the Celtics tonight and for good reason. More importantly, he must make some adjustments..... and perhaps plan to use Posey, House, Powe and BBD as the 4 backups. Heck I would use Tony Allen over Sam Cassell for defensive pressure.

The Celtics appeared to never get untracked in the 2nd half. Perhaps the delay due to the clocks threw them off for the night. I had hoped for a 4 game finish to save energy for the later rounds. But this cluster foul-up of a game might be the bad game the Celtics needed to get them going again and play at the Texas road trip level again.

Congratulations to Atlanta, and it sucks to be you Monday and Wednesday. Bye Bye and thanks for letting me vent tonight JB, Jughead, and Duke.

Games One and Two vs Atlanta

2008-04-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Boston has taken care of business at the TD Banknorth so far. They are clearly superior to the Atlanta Hawks at every position. Atlanta tries to hang in there by being physical helping to disrupt the Celtics. That foul in the 1st qtr by Josh Smith on Paul Pierce was BUSH LEAGUE. That should have been an F1 foul. The Celtics continued to punish the Hawks at both ends of the court in all phases of the game.

Tonight, Bibby was wirebrushed hard by the Celtics fans and deservedly so. He is being thoroughly outplayed by 2nd year sensation Rajon Rondo who is a rapidly rising star in this league. Atlanta was better off with Acie Law IV running the point. Perhaps Coach Woodson should consider starting Acie Law IV in Games 3 and 4.

The Hawks have athletic forwards - Josh Smith and Al Horford and a nice SG in Joe Johnson in their SL. They have Zaza Pachulia coming off the bench who can be effective. Perhaps they can give the Celtics trouble in Atlanta but I sincerely doubt they will win a game and make it back to Boston for a game Five. Atlanta pretty much brought everything they had to the table to try to win the game and snatch HCA from the Celtics. The NBA playoffs tell you what kind of team you have. Boston is clearly better in talent, experience, desire, and in poise than Atlanta. Atlanta is a nice team for the future but they should consider trading Mike Bibby this offseason.

The Celtics are doing a great job at hustling and giving up few easy baskets or even uncontested jump shots. Basically, this was a low stress game from the middle of the third quarter and on. I don't even think the lead was ever below 15 in the final frame. After Saturday's game, I will probably talk about the same thing as tonight. I notice there is less to talk about when the Celtics meet expectations and play well in accomplishing their goals. This is the playoffs and that means one game at a time and this blog will cover each game until a 17th Championship is won.

Exhibition Season II is here

2008-04-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

The Celtics have gotten to the 60 win plateau for the first time since 1986, I believe. Everytime they get to 60 wins, they win the championship with the exception of 1973 when Havlicek seperated his shoulder against the Knicks. I don't see this team losing either of the 1st two rounds. In fact, I see them going 4-0, 4-0 against the likes of Atlanta and Philly/Cleveland/Washington. Detriot in the third round is when the playoffs get interesting for Boston but I think the Celtics are a better team than Detriot. That leaves the finals with the Western Conference survivor. And Boston has beaten everyone at least once rather badly so they would have the psychological advantage in a potential NBA finals.

The next two weeks of the NBA season will be spent getting confidence going with Sam Cassell and PJ Brown and Doc Rivers will establish a nine man rotation. Tony Allen will be getting more PT to see if he has anything to offer. He was a gifted athlete but his knee injuries have caused him to lose confidence on drives to the basket. He can get after it on the defensive end pretty good and makes some good passes off his drives. He makes too many dumb turnovers.

My best guess is the Celtics will lose against Charlotte and Milwaukee and win the last five games to get to 65 wins and HCA throughout the 2008 playoffs. Doc Rivers will then get his 1st playoff series win (and his 2nd, 3rd, and hopefully 4th) this year.

I guess Doc Rivers has shut this critic up for a long while.

Celtics send a message to Phoenix tonight

2008-03-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

By administering a twenty point second half beatdown, the Celtics took to Phoenix all over the court by making all the hustle plays that were not made in those 4th qtrs of the last two games.

The Celtics must continue this high level of energy and I think they will be successful at bringing home the long awaited 17th title. I would like nothing better than to do it in Phoenix, the city that denied the Patriots their undefeated season. If I can't be in the Phoenix arena, then I would like to be at the Vine Tavern, drinking a Sammy's and smoking a Red Auerbach victory cigar afterward to bring joy to the Patriots fans who were so cruelly denied a 4th Super Bowl.

That and winning it for the Sonics fans who unfortunately are going to lose their team to Oklahoma City. Might as well root for a fellow green team and for Ray Allen as well. I certainly have a lot to be thankful to Seattle for.

I also want to win this as a big FU to David Stern who has systematically screwed the Celtics time and again since the 1980's. We know what these friggin New York lawyers are all about. We know the lottery is fixed. Well David Stern, Ole Red will get his revenge on or about Father's Day, 2008. Puff Puff Puff to you David Stern.

I hope we stick it to Phoenix, but doing it in front of Jack Nicholson, who can't handle the truth would be a hoot. Or go into San ANtonio and reverse the curse of Tim Duncan.

What about that work by KG against Amare tonight!!!!! Wasn't that special???? If you missed it, watch SC three times. ANd buy the victory CD at the end of the season.

How about that hustle by Powe and BBD, making Shaq look old and slow. And hats off to Perkins for standing strong and taking advantage of his opportunities.

Datoni loses his composure when things don't go his way, and he looked thoroughly lost trying to make adjustments to the Celtics on slaughts early in the 4th.

For Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire is the face of the franchise along with Steve Nash and their pick and roll type games broke down the Celtics for a while in the 2nd qtr to a 62% FG by halftime yet the game was tied 57-57. Then came the 60-40 beatdown so this little slump of back to back lousy 4th quarters ended quickly.

Oh and the Lepracahn has sliced Texas into 6 pieces this year. He just had too many barbecue ribs and black beans while feasting on Texas and forgot to save room for some Cajun Shrimp and rice plus a Philly Cheesesteak.

The magic number to clinch the best record is down to 7. April competition figures to offer little resistance to the Celtics.

The 50 win milestone has been reached

2008-03-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

This has not happened since 1992 or Larry Bird's last season as a player. As I remembered, the Celtics had Bird, Parish, McHale, Reggie Lewis, and Dee Brown with Pinckney, and others coming off the bench. A nice team but they lost to Cleveland in Seven that year. A series of very poor drafts after the death of Len Bias would doom the Celtics to irrelevency for a long time.

Now with KG, PP, RA, RR, KP, JP, EH, TA, LP, BBD, PJ, and ET this team looks like a #1 NBA seed. I would say they have a chance to run the table after the Texas trip in two weeks and finish with about 67 wins. They dispatched a Philly team who had been playing well (They did beat Phoenix rather badly there - something we failed to accomplish) with relative ease. Perkins has shored up the middle and emerged as a solid force in the paint. The Celtics will continue their winning streak against Seattle and I expect them to win out until that upcoming 5 game road trip. Every night is a new star stepping up and contributing. That is what the great teams feature and the Celtics certainly have it going this year.

The Celtics are going to the finals this year, I believe and they have an excellent chance to win the 17th Championship.

And look what Shawn Marion turned down and he ended up traded to a team with Blount and RD on it. BWAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAH!

Celtics defend Homecourt Tonight

2008-03-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

They passed the test with flying colors. Celtics managed to outplay the Pistons in all phases of the game.

Here was my key to the Celtics victory. They were able to work the ball inside better than the Pistons as this link will attest to: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/shotchart?gameId=280305002 Notice how the Celtics had far more assists, FG, and a far higher FG% than the Pistons. The game was played at the Pistons tempo and the Celtics still won this handily.

Garnett scored 31 and punished his matchup (Rasheed Wallace or Antonio McDyess) regularly.
Perkins garnered 20 boards with many of them in contested and had 10 points from well executed pick and rolls plus inside passing. Perkins benefitted but also worked for inside position. Rondo won his matchup against Billups in a huge growth game. He also abused Hamilton by blowing by him and got the dunk and flagrant on Maxiel.

Detriot made two runs mostly with Rajon Rondo, Perk, and KG on the bench.

Speaking of benches - Baby came in with a nice outing of 7 points, 4 rebs, an assist and a steal. Boston's bench outscored the Pistons bench 15-5.

Billups was 14 of 15 from the FT line after 3 qtrs and got no FTA in the decisive 4th qtr. He threw down Rondo on an offensive possestion.

The crowd sounded really energetic tonight - something that I expect will grow as time wears on.

Celtics have a tougher remaining schedule due to their Texas road trip. Detriot has games against Cleveland which may be problematic.

Boston has clinched a playoff spot in the 1st week of March. I would venture to say that has not happened since the 1980's this early in the season. I think Boston's magic number to clinch the Atlantic is 8. I suspect this will happen on the Texas trip.

The Celtics are developing into one of the better defensive teams out there.

Big day today - March 5, 2008 - Lunchtime Update

2008-03-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Celtics vs Pistons - at TD Banknorth Garden - Boston, MA.

This one is for the old schoolers who remember those legendary battles with Bill Laimbeer (I called him f---face), Rodman, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.

This renewal of the rivalry has compelling matchups as well:

KG vs the Sheed
Baby/Powe/PJ Brown vs Jason Maxiel (nice fantasy find for me)
Teyshawn vs PP
Rip vs Ray
Billups vs Rondo

Both have deep benches and neither coach is afraid to use them.

Both games this year have been close and the road team has been 2-0.

Winner of this game has a psychological advantage heading toward a potential ECF showdown.

This is a significant milepost on the Celtic Championship Trail of 2008.

Today - we embark on an adventure not taken since 1987

2008-03-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Boston Celtics as of this writing are 45 and 12 and about to add Sam Cassell as the veteran PG. This is probably the only question mark the Celtics had going forth. Cassell has had championship experience with Olajowan and the Rockets. He always seemed to make the right play out there and made all the critical shots and never got rattled. Young Rondo is playing well, but his 1st foray into the playoffs will expose his lack of experience particulary against Chauncey Billups. I think getting Cassell will help that matchup problem.

The Celtics have a big game coming up Wednesday against the Pistons. I think this is the final matchup against our closest EC rival and likely opponent in the ECF. A win here gives the C's a 4 game cushion and the Season series victory as well as a slight psychological advantage going forward. This could be Cassells debut.

PJ Brown was added to shore up rebounding and defense. It is a nice addition but I don't think it will have much effect unless Powe, Davis, or Perkins are injured. If anything, it will make Pollard expendable. I wish we could trade Scalabrine with somebody after this season but he onlyhas two more years on his contract and he is relatively cheap insurance.

The Celtics have had a couple of rough stretches - In January against the Wizz and Charlotte and those 3 west coast games coming out of the All-star break. The team has limited their losing streaks and have been competitive in all but two losses (home loss to Charlotte and that brutal loss to Phoenix). Both times, they bounced back with five game winning streaks.

Anyways, tonight I will summarize the road to be taken to bring home #17 this June. The Celtics will be best served by clinching home court throughout the playoffs. I don't see anybody from the West threatening Detriot or Boston for best overall record this year if only because they will be knocking each other off trying to get into the field. They will all converge with 48 to 55 victories. Boston only has one more really tough stretch with the 4 games in Texas and New Orleans. Detriot has to play in Cleveland twice and has two more against Toronto plus two home games against San Antonio and Phoenix. I think Boston will finish at 64 wins while Detriot wins 62 times.

Expected seedings: 1. Boston 2. Detriot 3. Orlando 4. Cleveland 5. Washington 6. Toronto 7. Atlanta 8. Philadelphia ; I like Washington to finish strong with Gilbert Arenas coming back and Atlanta and Philadelphia to keep coming. I expect New Jersey to fade away. Indiana has O'Brien as HC, nuff said. Chicago, Milwaukee, and Charlotte are good enough to play spoilers but are longshots to make the playoffs. The other two teams simply stink and most be blown up. I'll bet Marion must really be kicking himself for refusing to go to Boston last summer. Look at him now.

OK here are the hypothetical playoff matchups for round 1 - Boston vs Philadelphia; Detriot vs Atlanta; Orlando vs Toronto; Cleveland vs Washington. I expect Boston and Detriot to advance quickly. The other two series will be toss-ups. I'll say that Orlando and Washington advance. Now the 2nd round gets interesting - Boston has had trouble with Gilbert Arenas and Washington a real physical team. Detriot vs Orlando will depend on how the Sheed vs Howard matchup goes. This will be a low scoring ugly series. Still I think Boston and Detriot come out and set up the series that decides the NBA championship. The Western Conference is so evenly matched that their playoffs are starting now and that will kill the survivor. Dallas took the Lakers to OT and 10th place Portland broke LA's winning streak.

This is pure speculation on my behalf as there is lots of basketball to be played and thinks change daily in the NBA. One thing is for certain. The best team will win the NBA championship because they have to survive a challenging 82 game schedule and win 4 best of seven series. The NBA rewards success whereas other leagues I won't mention here punish success and games get exposed for bad bounces and the fact that one loss eliminates you can come down to ONE LUCKY PLAY. In consideration of the luck factor in football, a Celtics championship in 2007 would very much reduce the disappointment of the Super Bowl XLII result of the Patriots.

So this is the introductory article of the 2008 Campaign for a 17th Celtics championship. Tomorrow we do roster analysis including the newest member Sam Cassell.

It's over and it is time to move onto the Celtics

2008-02-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

Last night hurt me more than anything. I'm sure it hurt many of you Celtics fans whose 1st team is likely to be the New England Patriots. We all hurt when a Boston team loses especially to a New York team. But congratulations to the Giants and Tom Coughlin for pulling off an outstanding victory - one I'm sure that the sports historians will talk about two centuries from now if the American sporting tradition is still around. I can sit here and blame fukda media but I am not going to do that.

The Celtics had some rough spots but I have noticed that they are able to compete effectively without Kevin Garnett in the line-up. They are 2-1 with one of the wins against a fine Dallas team. Orlando came up with a buzzer beater from All-star snub Hedo Terkoglu (The roster number of 12 means there will be at least three snubs). Maybe Doc should invite Hedo and rest Garnett. The defense is strong and the increased use of Leon Powe has given Boston a rebounding presence. The Celtics are getting by at the point guard as Rondo is an emerging star in this league. Time is certainly on his side.

So my advice to you hungover Patriot fans wating for spring training to start is to watch the Celtics for a few weeks and see why they have the best record in the NBA. Maybe keep watching them and enjoy a playoff campaign where a true champion emerges because the winner is required to win a best 4 out of 7 series against 4 quality opponents. The nature of the NFL is that some games are decided by lucky plays and the Giants last night got three lucky plays and benefitted from one bad Belichick coaching decision by benching Gostkowski on a potential 50 yard FG attempt to give the Patriots a 10-3 lead in the 3rd.

OK enough football talk, it doesn't matter and I'm moving onto the Boston Celtics.

Q

Celtics at the New Year

2007-12-31T21:43:00.000-08:00

Never in my wildest dreams that the Celtics would be 26 and 3 at the New Year leading the NBA in the standings. Yet the naysayers argued that the Celtics had a soft schedule. Well the first WC road trip yielded 4 wins in 5 nights. In your face Naysayers. As Moss would say, it was satisfying shutting you naysayers up.

The 4 wins were against Sacremento (a good solid 35 win team in the tougher conference and Boston had not won their during Pierce's tenure), Seattle (young and enthusiastic plus Wally and West were motivated), Utah (They don't give up many in their Salt Palace), and of course the Fakers (What was that Tackle by Lamar Odom on Ray Allen for).

I went to the game in Seattle and it was a good game by the Celtics. I think this Durant kid will be special. West and Sczerbiak were huge in the 2nd qtr. West whacked Garnett from behind. Man I miss that kid but he had to go to make room for Ray Allen (which led to the Garnett deal). The Celtics pulled away slowly as Seattle made Boston work for this win. Pierce had an outstanding game and this is much his best season.

Beating the Fakers was special because the Celtics denied Phil Jackson his 939th coaching win to surpass Red Auerbach. No coach shall ever get their 939th win against the Celtics. It is one of the ten commandments of the NBA. And we finally have the upper hand in the rivalry and are much closer to winning the next championship.

So what does 26 and 3 mean at this juncture? We are on pace for a 50 game improvement in the standings from last year. The 17th NBA championship is a good possibility, too.

Now add in the Sixteen consecutive Patriot victories and that makes Boston 42-3 for the two non baseball local sports entries. The Celtics play Yao Ming and T-Mouth Wednesday and at Detriot, Saturday.

So the Triple Crown watch is on for 2008.

Accident Investigation

2007-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

12:00
Start of the 3rd Quarter Boston played very well in the 1st half and
11:38 earned a 7 point lead over a tough opponent.
Chauncey Billups misses 13-foot jumper
45-52

11:37

45-52
Kendrick Perkins defensive rebound
11:33

45-52
Ray Allen misses 5-foot jumper
11:33

45-52
Kevin Garnett offensive rebound
11:17

45-52
Paul Pierce misses 25-foot three point jumper Three point shooting betrayed us tonight.
11:15
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
45-52

11:03
Rasheed Wallace bad pass (Rajon Rondo steals) Rajon Rondo has played well lately.
45-52

10:52

45-54
Kevin Garnett makes 19-foot jumper (Paul Pierce assists)
10:27
Tayshaun Prince misses 3-foot jumper
45-54

10:26

45-54
Ray Allen defensive rebound
10:10

45-54
Ray Allen misses layup
10:08
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
45-54

10:03
Paul Pierce blocks Chauncey Billups's layup
45-54

10:02
Antonio McDyess offensive rebound
45-54

10:00
Antonio McDyess makes slam dunk Hustle by Dice.
47-54

9:37

47-54
Paul Pierce misses 18-foot jumper
9:37

47-54
Kendrick Perkins offensive rebound
9:23

47-54
Kevin Garnett bad pass
9:04
Tayshaun Prince lost ball (Kevin Garnett steals)
47-54

9:00

47-54
Kevin Garnett traveling
8:51
Rasheed Wallace offensive foul (Ray Allen draws the foul)
47-54

8:51
Rasheed Wallace turnover
47-54

8:27

47-54
Kevin Garnett misses 21-foot jumper Kept missing chances to open up double-digit leads.
8:26

47-54
Boston defensive rebound
8:12

47-54
Kendrick Perkins shooting foul (Antonio McDyess draws the foul)
8:12
Antonio McDyess makes free throw 1 of 2
48-54

8:12
Antonio McDyess misses free throw 2 of 2
48-54

8:12

48-54
Kevin Garnett defensive rebound
7:54

48-56
Kendrick Perkins makes layup (Rajon Rondo assists)
7:35
Rasheed Wallace makes 25-foot three point jumper (Chauncey Billups assists)
51-56

7:22

51-56
Paul Pierce bad pass (Antonio McDyess steals)
7:20

51-56
Kevin Garnett jump ball
7:03
Chauncey Billups bad pass
51-56

6:48

51-56
Ray Allen misses 23-foot three point jumper
6:47
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
51-56

6:41
Chauncey Billups makes 26-foot three pointer
54-56 Billups was the star of the game.

6:41
Boston full timeout
6:24

54-56
Rajon Rondo lost ball (Chauncey Billups steals)
6:24

54-56
Rajon Rondo personal foul (Chauncey Billups draws the foul)
6:07
Antonio McDyess bad pass (Rajon Rondo steals)
54-56

6:00

54-56
Paul Pierce misses 25-foot three point jumper
5:58 Paul Pierce struggled in the 2nd half
Antonio McDyess defensive rebound
54-56

5:33
Chauncey Billups misses 19-foot jumper
54-56

5:33
Tayshaun Prince offensive rebound
54-56 (our rebounding broke down too)

5:31
Tayshaun Prince misses tip shot
54-56

5:30

54-56
Kevin Garnett defensive rebound
5:07

54-56
Kendrick Perkins misses two point shot (Should Garnett looked for his shot?)
5:05
Antonio McDyess defensive rebound
54-56

4:54
Antonio McDyess misses 18-foot jumper
54-56

4:54

54-56
Kevin Garnett defensive rebound
4:31

54-58
Kevin Garnett makes 11-foot two point shot
4:05
Richard Hamilton makes driving layup
56-58

3:43

56-60
Kevin Garnett makes 17-foot jumper (Rajon Rondo assists)
3:20

56-60
Rajon Rondo shooting foul (Chauncey Billups draws the foul) [HORRIBLE CALL]
3:20
Chauncey Billups makes free throw 1 of 3
57-60

3:20
Chauncey Billups makes free throw 2 of 3
58-60

3:20
Chauncey Billups makes free throw 3 of 3
59-60

3:04
Rasheed Wallace personal foul (Kevin Garnett draws the foul)
59-60

2:53
Detroit full timeout
2:48

59-60
Kevin Garnett misses 19-foot jumper
2:47
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
59-60

2:30
Rasheed Wallace lost ball (Kevin Garnett steals)
59-60

2:11

59-62
Paul Pierce makes driving layup
2:11
Rasheed Wallace shooting foul (Paul Pierce draws the foul)
59-62

2:11
Jason Maxiell enters the game for Rasheed Wallace
59-62

2:11

59-62
Paul Pierce misses free throw 1 of 1
2:11
Antonio McDyess defensive rebound
59-62

2:10
Antonio McDyess lost ball (Rajon Rondo steals)
59-62

2:08
Antonio McDyess shooting foul (Kevin Garnett draws the foul)
59-62

2:08

59-62
Kevin Garnett misses free throw 1 of 2
2:08

59-62
Boston offensive rebound
2:08

59-63
Kevin Garnett makes free throw 2 of 2
1:53
Richard Hamilton bad pass (Paul Pierce steals)
59-63

1:47

59-63
Paul Pierce misses layup
1:47
Antonio McDyess defensive rebound
59-63

1:35

59-63
Rajon Rondo personal foul (Chauncey Billups draws the foul)
1:35

59-63 [1st Doc Rivers substitute]
Eddie House enters the game for Rajon Rondo
1:35

59-63
Glen Davis enters the game for Kevin Garnett
1:35
Lindsey Hunter enters the game for Chauncey Billups
59-63

1:25
Tayshaun Prince makes 19-foot jumper
61-63

1:01

61-63
Paul Pierce traveling
0:46
Tayshaun Prince misses 21-foot jumper
61-63

0:44

61-63
Glen Davis defensive rebound
0:43

61-63
Jumpball: Antonio McDyess vs. Glen Davis (Ray Allen gains possession)
0:35
Antonio McDyess shooting foul (Ray Allen draws the foul)
61-63

0:35

61-64
Ray Allen makes free throw 1 of 2
0:35

61-65
Ray Allen makes free throw 2 of 2
0:21
Richard Hamilton misses 16-foot jumper
61-65

0:20

61-65
Glen Davis defensive rebound
0:03

61-65
Eddie House misses 19-foot jumper
0:02

61-65
Kendrick Perkins offensive rebound
0:00

61-65
Kendrick Perkins misses layup
0:00

61-65
Boston offensive rebound
0:00
End of the 3rd Quarter
1 2 3 4 All
4th Quarter Summary
TIME
DETROIT
SCORE
BOSTON
12:00
Start of the 4th Quarter
11:38

61-67
Paul Pierce makes 16-foot two point shot
11:15
Lindsey Hunter makes 16-foot jumper
63-67

11:02
Jason Maxiell shooting foul (Kendrick Perkins draws the foul)
63-67

11:02

63-67
Kendrick Perkins misses free throw 1 of 2
11:02

63-67
Boston offensive rebound
11:02

63-67
Kendrick Perkins misses free throw 2 of 2
11:02
Antonio McDyess defensive rebound
63-67

10:44
Antonio McDyess makes 17-foot jumper (Richard Hamilton assists)
65-67

10:30

65-67 [This is where the PG issues started]
Eddie House lost ball (Lindsey Hunter steals)
10:26

65-67 [Did KG get enough rest? Did DOc panic?]
Kevin Garnett enters the game for Kendrick Perkins
10:17
Tayshaun Prince misses 8-foot jumper
65-67

10:15

65-67
Kevin Garnett defensive rebound
10:00

65-67
Eddie House misses 25-foot three point jumper
9:59

65-67
Boston defensive rebound
9:59

65-67
Eddie House loose ball foul (Antonio McDyess draws the foul)
9:41
Lindsey Hunter makes 26-foot three point jumper
68-67

9:26

68-67
James Posey lost ball (Lindsey Hunter steals) [No PG in the game]
9:22
Richard Hamilton makes dunk (Antonio McDyess assists)
70-67

9:22
Boston full timeout
9:22
Arron Afflalo enters the game for Richard Hamilton
70-67

9:22
Chauncey Billups enters the game for Lindsey Hunter [We are in serious trouble now]
70-67

9:22

70-67
Rajon Rondo enters the game for Eddie House
9:14
Jason Maxiell shooting foul (Kevin Garnett draws the foul)
70-67

9:14

70-68
Kevin Garnett makes free throw 1 of 2
9:14

70-69
Kevin Garnett makes free throw 2 of 2
8:56
Chauncey Billups makes two point shot
72-69

8:37

72-71
Paul Pierce makes 19-foot two point shot
8:15
Chauncey Billups misses 21-foot jumper
72-71

8:15
Detroit offensive rebound
72-71

8:15

72-71
Kevin Garnett loose ball foul (Jason Maxiell draws the foul)
8:15
Rasheed Wallace enters the game for Antonio McDyess
72-71

8:00
Chauncey Billups misses 25-foot three point jumper
72-71

7:58
Rasheed Wallace offensive rebound [OUCH]
72-71

7:54
Rasheed Wallace misses 13-foot jumper
72-71

7:52
Arron Afflalo offensive rebound [This cannot happen]
72-71

7:39
Rasheed Wallace traveling
72-71

7:39

72-71
Kendrick Perkins enters the game for Glen Davis
7:26

72-71
Paul Pierce misses 19-foot jumper
7:24

72-71
Paul Pierce offensive rebound
7:11

72-71
Rajon Rondo bad pass
6:54

72-71
Rajon Rondo shooting foul (Chauncey Billups draws the foul)
6:54

72-71
Ray Allen enters the game for James Posey
6:54
Chauncey Billups makes free throw 1 of 2
73-71

6:54

73-71
James Posey enters the game for Rajon Rondo [NOT A GOOD THING]
6:54
Chauncey Billups makes free throw 2 of 2
74-71

6:41

74-71
Kevin Garnett offensive foul (Arron Afflalo draws the foul) [Possible losing moment]
6:41

74-71
Kevin Garnett turnover
6:20
Jason Maxiell makes layup
76-71

6:01

76-71
Paul Pierce misses 26-foot three point jumper
6:01
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
76-71

5:58
Chauncey Billups makes layup (Rasheed Wallace assists)
78-71

5:56
Boston 20 Sec. timeout
5:56

78-71
Official timeout
5:56

78-71
Rajon Rondo enters the game for Kendrick Perkins [Who will grab the key rebound?]
5:43

78-73
Ray Allen makes driving dunk
5:22
Tayshaun Prince misses 5-foot jumper
78-73

5:22
Jason Maxiell offensive rebound
78-73

5:20

78-73
James Posey shooting foul (Jason Maxiell draws the foul) [Who is matching up with Jason Maxial?]
5:20
Jason Maxiell makes free throw 1 of 2
79-73

5:20
Richard Hamilton enters the game for Arron Afflalo
79-73

5:20
Jason Maxiell misses free throw 2 of 2
79-73

5:20

79-73
Kevin Garnett defensive rebound
5:13
Richard Hamilton personal foul (Ray Allen draws the foul)
79-73

5:13
Antonio McDyess enters the game for Jason Maxiell
79-73

5:03
Rasheed Wallace shooting foul (Kevin Garnett draws the foul)
79-73

5:03

79-74
Kevin Garnett makes free throw 1 of 2
5:03

79-75
Kevin Garnett makes free throw 2 of 2
4:48
Chauncey Billups makes 11-foot two point shot
81-75

4:28

81-78
Ray Allen makes 23-foot three point jumper
4:07
Tayshaun Prince misses 24-foot three point jumper
81-78

4:07
Detroit offensive rebound
81-78

4:07

81-78
James Posey personal foul (Antonio McDyess draws the foul)
4:07
Antonio McDyess makes free throw 1 of 2
82-78

4:07
Antonio McDyess makes free throw 2 of 2
83-78

3:54
Antonio McDyess personal foul (Kevin Garnett draws the foul)
83-78

3:54

83-78
Kendrick Perkins enters the game for James Posey [Good sub - Doc]
3:54

83-79
Kevin Garnett makes free throw 1 of 2
3:54

83-79
Kevin Garnett misses free throw 2 of 2
3:54
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
83-79

3:33
Chauncey Billups makes 23-foot jumper
85-79

3:13

85-79
Paul Pierce traveling
2:53
Chauncey Billups misses 26-foot three point jumper
85-79

2:51

85-79
Ray Allen defensive rebound
2:44

85-79
Rajon Rondo misses 9-foot jumper
2:44

85-79
Kevin Garnett offensive rebound
2:43

85-79
Kevin Garnett misses tip shot
2:42
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
85-79

2:17
Antonio McDyess misses jumper
85-79

2:16

85-79
Paul Pierce defensive rebound
2:05

85-79
Rasheed Wallace blocks Kendrick Perkins's layup [KG should have shot it - instead of passing to KP]
2:03
Richard Hamilton defensive rebound
85-79

1:49
Antonio McDyess misses 19-foot jumper
85-79

1:47

85-79
Ray Allen defensive rebound
1:42
Boston 20 Sec. timeout
1:42
Detroit full timeout
1:42

85-79
Eddie House enters the game for Rajon Rondo
1:37

85-79
Paul Pierce misses layup
1:37
Chauncey Billups defensive rebound
85-79

1:19
Kendrick Perkins blocks Tayshaun Prince's 3-foot jumper
85-79

1:15

85-79
Kendrick Perkins defensive rebound
1:05

85-79
Ray Allen misses 24-foot three point jumper
1:02

85-79
Kevin Garnett offensive rebound
1:00

85-82
Eddie House makes 24-foot three point jumper (Ray Allen assists)
0:38
Chauncey Billups misses 19-foot jumper
85-82

0:37

85-82
Kendrick Perkins defensive rebound
0:18

85-85
Ray Allen makes 25-foot three point jumper
0:18
Detroit 20 Sec. timeout
0:18

85-85
Tony Allen enters the game for Eddie House
0:05
Chauncey Billups lost ball (Tony Allen steals)
85-85

0:05
Boston full timeout
0:05

85-85
Eddie House enters the game for Tony Allen
0:05
Lindsey Hunter enters the game for Antonio McDyess
85-85

0:05

85-85
James Posey enters the game for Kendrick Perkins
0:02

85-85
Paul Pierce misses jumper
0:01
Rasheed Wallace defensive rebound
85-85

0:01
Detroit 20 Sec. timeout
0:01
Antonio McDyess enters the game for Lindsey Hunter
85-85

0:01

85-85
Tony Allen enters the game for Eddie House
0:01

85-85
Kendrick Perkins enters the game for James Posey
0:00

85-85
Tony Allen shooting foul (Chauncey Billups draws the foul)
0:00 [Absolute shame considering that Tony Allen never had a chance to contribute]
Chauncey Billups makes free throw 1 of 2
86-85

0:00
Chauncey Billups makes free throw 2 of 2
87-85

[Basically- the Celtics did not execute the fundamentals - Poor PG play, poor defensive rebounding, and poor decision making on offense in the 2nd half killed this teams chances to win in the 2nd half. We lost an opportunity to open up a double digit advantage early in the third quarter and Detroit siezed the initiative and rode it to victory]

The Celtics are better than anyone thought

2007-12-11T18:55:00.001-08:00

17 and 2 at this point - tops in the NBA at this point in the season. The naysayers say that they have not played anybody. What do they mean by that? The NBA changes and some teams improve and others decline. True, we have not had any Western road swings but who says the West is a stronger conference this year. Hasn't Orlando done well out West? Detriot? I'm a bit skeptical of the overall strength in the WC. Dallas and Phoenix are in decline. Minnesota is horrible but they compete most nights (reminds you of a local NBA team last year, huh?).

The Celtics lead the league in Point Differential and in FG% and FGA%. It is not rocket science why they have the best record in the NBA. I had them pegged at 14 and 6. They will be at least 3 and probably 4 games better than that. The Celtics won games in Charlotte, Chicago, Miami, and an extra game against Toronto that I predicted were losses. The Celtics lost in OT in Cleveland after Ray Allen missed to FT to give Boston a lead with seconds left in Regulation. The Celtics lost by two in Orlando but had some looks at a potential game winning 3 in the closing minute.

Why are the Celtics so much better? Simple answer - Better talent. They finally traded for Superstars! That does not happen often. They were able to acquire key role players through free agency like Posey. Perkins and Rondo are maturing. Pierce is relaxing, finally. Doc Rivers has some coaching ability and better assistents. Ainge is a resident genious GM (while finally he got some breaks with McHale and the Seattle GM). One of the most important factors is the patience of the ownership group and their visible support at the games. That was definitely missing with the prior ownership who traded FOR Vin Baker.

Finally, the City of Boston is the hub of the Sports World - featuring FIVE Championships this decade already (We expect the Patriots to add to the total and quite possibly the Red Sox, also). The energy of the Boston fans is tremendous based on my personal observations in S Florida at Dolphin Stadium. There are also plenty of Boston sport shirts, coats, and hats worn at every airport hub. So I suspect this energy will carry over to NBA arenas as the Celtics fans come out of the woodwork and give the Celtics support on the road.

Future posts will get into detailed discussions about matchups, statistics, game tape analysis, coaching decision 2nd guessing, the blogger notes, CSL....... I should focus my thoughts more on this website....

Ron (Q)

At 7-0

2007-11-15T05:57:00.000-08:00

This has not happened in a long time. The Boston Celtics having the best record in the NBA and ranked Number ONE in the power polls. On a night where Poor Energy seemed a legitimate excuse for losing to the revenge minded New Jersey Nets, the Celtics took a tight, sloppy game and simply handed it to New Jersey in the 2nd half with the Allen brothers, Posey, Baby, and Scalabrine out on the dance floor. Forcing TO after TO, and blocking anything NJ brought into the lane, the Celtics knocked out the Nets decisively with KG and PP getting their due rest.

And in listening to a glowing Bill Walton, who still exhibits that Boston Celtics Pride, the Celtics are playing magnificent basketball with that exquisite passing. I know, if you are not a Celtics fan and a certified Boston sports hater, you are probably blowing chow reading this. I say too bad because I am eating this up after 20 years of suffering that I am sure has trimmed some years off the back end of my career as a Boston sports fan beginning with the 1967 World Series and accelerated by the sports call of one Johnny Most.

Bird, McHale, and Parish can walk through the door and remember how good winning Celtics basketball once was and can be. Although for Bird and especially for McHale, it is career limiting for them at this point. Maybe Ainge can hire them as senior consultants.

A guy I feel bad for is Antione Walker who is hopelessly pidgeonholed in Minnesota as the elder statesman. He will continue to go out and compete because he plays for the love of the game. His skills are limited but last night he played within himself and contributed to Minnesota's 1st victory of the season. On a team that figures to be horrible with a marginal coach, any Minnesota win is a blessing because most of their key components are Boston Celtics alumni. We'll see how the Gomes, Walker, and Jefferson lineup fare in the WC.

The Stephon Marbury - Isiah Thomas affair in New York is a disgrace. The Knicks would benefit more than any other team with an NFL style hard cap with no guarentee contracts. They claim to have the best 12th man in the league. It is too bad that positions 1 through 5 are overpaid pukes, though. New York, will have to burn off three or four of those horrible contracts and stockpile young talent. Getting rid of Steve Francis for Zachary Randolph was a good move for them but he can't be a team leader.

Charlotte is breaking out into a decent team these days with Jason Richardson, Meka Okafor, and Ray Felton.

I am impressed with the Atlanta Hawks who had an outstanding draft of Acie Law and Al Horford to go with Joe Johnson, Josh CHildress, and Zaza Pachulia. They will move up the EC ladder quickly. Heck they beat Dallas and Phoenix already and gave us a tough game for three quarters in Boston.

Miami has plummeted quickly and Riley has no clue what to do except hope Dewayne Wade can single handedly right this shipwreck. Shaquille O'Neal is less and less of a factor as the years go by. Alonzo Mourning, an amazing story, is finally slowing down. Mark Blount and RD are there to show up, play, get beat, and then go party in Miami Beach after the game. Riley looks horrible and this losing is obviously getting to him. The Miami sports scene is clearly a mess right now.

Detriot won a tough game by making all the plays down the stretch against Golden State. They are still highly competitive. I am looking foward to a matchup with them to see how the Celtics stack up with the best EC franchise over the past five seasons.

Indiana is falling quickly after a good opening 5 games. They don't have a lot of talent but they will nail any team that is flat.

Chicago is off to another terrible start but that seems to be in their DNA. Perhaps they are waiting to ambush Boston in the Windy City on a December night and call it the start of the NBA season. Honestly, I think Scott Skiles is a great coach and you would think they would get off to a better start than that.

Well I better go to work before I am fired. Talk to you soon.

Circle This Date

2007-11-04T07:40:00.000-08:00

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695224569,00.html

He who talk bad about my Celtics shall pay. He says it is nothing personal. But my favorite team has not won the championship in 22 years. Well, deseretnews troll, I am taking this personal and have targeted Saturday, December 29, 2007 to take my frustrations out on the Utah Jazz. Nothing personal. I am going for that crown that Bill Walton has predicted we would get.

Now onto todays game:

I feel the Celtics have a tough matchup with the Toronto Raptors this afternoon. The sad thing is that Bostonians will not pay much attention to this game due to Super Bowl 41 and a half.

The preseason contest at Rome, Italy was an indicator that both teams will be playoff teams this year as the intensity level was already at mid-season. As FLCeltfan has already pointed out, the key matchups are Rondo-TJ Ford, Garnett-Bosh, and add in Bargani-Perkins as well as the benches and coaching and this has the makings of a good early season test for the Celtics.

Key will be defending the perimeter so the Celtics should take an outside inside approach to everyone except TJ Ford. TJ will beat with his penetration (Same could be said about Rondo, though). The Boston Celtics may not win this game.

Sunday, November 4, 2007 11:00 CST

Good opening win

2007-11-03T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Celtics were tight in the opening quarter but laid the foundation for a blowout W by playing tough defense and working on Goose Egg Arenas. Then with Pierce leading the way in the 2nd quarter, the Celtics established a double digit lead and steadily extended it. The ball moved on offense while Washington was consistently stifled. About the only matchup the Celtics lost was Brendon Haywood on Kendrick Perkins.

Rondo continues to impress me more and more as the traditional PG. He made a nice open look J in the 3rd qtr.

Things got sloppy in the 2nd half once the Celtics got a 25 point lead. Pierce dribbling into double teams. Tony Allen driving and getting stripped. KG came in and stabilized things a lot and prevented a potential Washington comeback.

Just listening to JB, Duke, and Jughead post game review. I thank all of them and they will get significant recognition sometime this year.

Also, Bill Walton pontificated on ESPN about how this night was magical in Boston and how the 22 year drought was finally over.

The 2008 journey has just begun.

First 20 games

2007-11-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

I, like Jeff over at Celticsblog tend to view the 1st 20 games of a season critical to which direction the teams will go. Injuries do play a key role. Last year I expected the Celtics to start well because they had a lot of bottom feeders at home. It all went wrong the 1st night against Oklahoma and they struggled to find wins even before the injuries hit. Last years team was a complete bust.

This offseason came the remarkable remake in Boston. All those young assets and draft picks were turned into Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. House and Posey quickly walked through that door. The rest of the east got stronger top to bottom while quite frankly, the west got weaker overall. So it will be a balanced battle in the East but Boston should quickly establish themselves as a contender.

Nov 2 vs Washington 8:00 pm ESPN, CSN (Must win opening night)
Nov 4 at Toronto 2:30 pm (tough battle but the C's prevail)
Nov 7 vs Denver 7:30 pm (Control the pace - limit TO's - W)
Nov 9 vs Atlanta 7:30 pm (Young team - Must Win)
Nov 10 at New Jersey 7:30 pm NBA, YES (Send message - W)
Nov 13 at Indiana 7:00 pm FSIN (This could bite us - Should be a W but)
Nov 14 vs New Jersey 7:30 pm YES (I'm sick of Joisee - Beat em again)
Nov 16 vs Miami 7:30 pm SUN (Perkins breaks Blounts nose - W)
Nov 18 at Orlando 6:00 pm NBA (This maybe a designated game)
Nov 21 vs Golden State 7:30 pm FSBA (Whoa Nellie gives us a tough time but keep the pace slow and get a W)
Nov 23 vs LA Lakers 7:30 pm KCAL (Must W - Lakers will stink this year)
Nov 24 at Charlotte 7:00 pm (Historically not a friendly place to us - L)
Nov 27 at Cleveland 7:00 pm NBA, FSOH (Another toughie - L)
Nov 29 vs New York 8:00 pm TNT, MSG (Must blow these bastards out)
Nov 30 at Miami 8:00 pm (Depends on D Wade)
Dec 2 vs Cleveland 12:30 pm FSOH (Home Win)
Dec 5 at Philadelphia 7:00 pm CSNP (Road Win)
Dec 7 vs Toronto 7:30 pm (Home Win)
Dec 8 at Chicago 8:30 pm WGN (Show down goes to the Bulls
Dec 12 vs Sacramento 7:30 pm KXTV (Must Win)

I peg us to get to 14 wins and 6 losses - good for a 2 or 3 game lead in the Atlantic Division. There will be Fire Doc chants on the message board. If it is 12-8 and we are a close second, I will still be fine. 10-10 or worse is troubling because I see this as an easier part of the schedule.

My first looksee of the 2007-2008 season

2007-10-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday, ESPN showed the Cavaliers at Celtics in the preseason tune-up finale for both teams.

THe Celtics dominated a good Cavalier team and gives me the confidence that the Celtics will be successful this season and challenge for the Eastern Conference Crown. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett will lead this team back to relevancy, respect, and finally CONTENTION!

Rondo looks like he may emerge as a the best PG since the COOZ himself. He was the most impressive player of the 2nd half with those passes to Perkins and others. Perkins will be the unsung hero with the rebounding and defense. Posey, House, and Tony Allen will be the primary bench contributors.

Doc Rivers will show he can coach with talented players doing the work.

I am an active poster when things don't go so good. I guess I have had a lot to post over the past few years. I am delighted to say that the negativity has moved on to other places like Lakerland and Heatville.

THis is the Q and I plan on critiquing the Celtics as I have done in the past few years.

My Atlantic Division Preview

2007-10-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Final Standings Predicition

1. Boston Celtics
2. New Jersey Nets
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Philadelphia 76ers
5. New York Sexual Harrasors

Boston obviously is the most improved team in the NBA with their acquisitions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Add to that a motivated and rested Paul Pierce, and you have the makings of an exciting team that will compete for the EC championship if not a World Championship in 2008. Also, don't sleep on James Posey who will be useful for locking down on the Lebron James, Dirk Nowitzkis, and Kobe Bryants of this world. Rondo and Perkins will both be improved support players of this team. Tony Allen and Leon Powe along with Old Dogs Scalabrine and Pollard will be significant contributors from time to time. The media is giving a lot of respect to the Celtics these days. That hasn't happened in years. The City is a Triple Crown threat. That ought to make Noo Yuk Red in the face. (Boston 57-25)

New Jersey Nets - They resigned Vince Carter and continued to add depth through the draft. I put them in 2nd place but they will finish well behind Boston. Kidd is an oldtimer, RJ was injured much of last year as well as Kristic. The Nets are solid in the EC but certainly not a contender.
(New Jersey 48-34)

Toronto - They did little in the off-season to build off last years success. Their disappointing result against New Jersey in the playoffs leads me to believe they have peaked. I know Chris Bosh is classy but I think Toronto is battling for a playoff spot this year.
(Toronto 43-39)

Philadelphia - They came together after the Iverson trade last year but it is tough to improve in this league without a major impact player. They are basically flat-lining which makes me sad because I miss those Celtics - 76er classics of 25 years ago. Andre Igadoula(spelling is wrong) is a nice player but they will win less than they lose
(Philadelphia 35-47)

New York - This sexual harassment affair going on New York is a real stain on them and the NBA. It couldn't happen to a nicer team. Credit them for dumping Stevie Franchisewrecker for Zachary Randolph (Good bargain PF fantasy pick BTW). It is too bad James Dolan can't wake up and fire Isiah and ship out the most overated PG in NBA history in Starbury.
(New York 18-64 and 5th pick in next years lottery).

Red Sox vs the Y-----s

2007-09-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

Once again, it is 4 hours and 18 minutes to 1st pitch.

The Y-----s have been the best team in all of baseball since July 4, 2007. They are even doing it the right way by hanging on to their young talent. The Red Sox went out and spent 100 million on Dice K and the last three outings has been more like Dice-Sucky. Makes me want to trade Dice-Sucky to Minnehaha for Johan Santana this off-season. Meanwhile, lets ship out Manny Ballgame and sign A-rod this off-season.

Oh BTW, I think Clay Bucholtz and Joba Chamberlain meeting up in a future start of a Red Sox - Y-----s game would make for an all-time classic. I hope we get to see it happen soon.

BTW, The Red Sox need win this series and lock down 1st place in their division. Let us hope Dice K shows up and not Dice Sucky.

Belichick-Gate

2007-09-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

Another thought on my vacationing mind is the illegal videotaping affair from Bill Belichick and his 1/2 million dollar fine plus the loss of a draft pick. OK, all the great leaders and minds of the game push the limit on the rules. Look at Red Auerbach angling for every advantage. He would have the heat and hot water turned off to the visitors locker room to create distractions. Of course he was great at wirebrushing the referees.

In my mind, all NFL teams do what they can to give their team an advantage and considering Mangini called out the illegal Patriot cameraman, this is something he knew for a long time the Patriots were doing. Of course, now the Patriots are even more pissed and are ready to take it out on the NFL. And Belichick's news conference this morning showed that Bill was done, made his statement, and he has moved on to preparing for the Chargers. He is a jerk to the media, but you know what, he is focused on making the Patriots win every game they play. And their opponents have taken the approach that playing the Patriots is like playing in the Super Bowl. Yes it will be that intense this fall.

Bill Belichick is the 21st century version of Red Auerbach. Deal with it.

The blessings of good luck for the Celtics

2007-09-14T11:19:00.001-07:00

Beaverton, OR written on 9/14/07 -

I am out here on the left coast visiting my very busy daughters. I got off the airplane and checked into the hotel yesterday only to learn that Greg Oden will miss the entire season due to microfracture surgury to strengthen his left knee.

You know, sometimes you get down on the Celtics luck as we all did on May 22, 2007 and then this happens to the Trailblazers. Instead of taking a nap, I listened to two hours of coverage on all the Portland stations digesting the details of microfracture surgery to strengthen cartilidge in his knee. Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix was shut down a year and he came back strong as an example. Other athletes have not been as lucky.

Then all the history of big man problems Portland has had (including Bill Walton) was brought out.

So how does this affect the Celtics. We could have been easily set on this path where we go, Oh No!! We lost our big man. Though I think Ainge would have taken Durant and traded Pierce for possibly Chauncey Billups. So the Celtics chose to trade for KG and RA and this looking infinitely smarter. In fairness to Portland, I think they will still field a decent young team that finishes tenth in the WC and they will get to add more young talent and have Raef LaFrentz' expiring contract as a chip next summer. Should they choose, they could go after Kobe Bryant to add to LeMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden and whatnot.

Everybody out here is talking about the Greg Oden injury but in Boston I guess I would take my chances with a veteran team and look to cash in within a few years.

The importance of picking up James Posey

2007-09-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

Danny Ainge spent the rest of his midlevel exception on getting James Posey, a hardnosed defender of the three and four positions. He platooned with Antione Walker in Miami as they had their memorable comeback against the Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals. Instrumental in that comeback was James Posey's defensive work on Dirk Nowitzki which allowed Miami to comeback in Game 3 and subsequently take the next three games and Miami's 1st championship since Josh Beckett shut down the Y-----s.

The Celtics will use Posey as a backup to all three stars and probably with them in 4th quarters to win games. Posey is capable of defending three positions not unlike Scottie Pippen back in the 90's. He also will step up and knock in big shots and grab big rebounds. In summary, Posey made the Celtics from certain division winners to a favorite to win the East next year. Given the right matchup in the 2008 finals, the Celtics are capable of completing the most remarkable turnaround in NBA history going from the 2nd worst record to NBA champions.

All teams need strong role players like James Posey to win.

If I had to pick another team to win the East, it would probably be Chicago as Joakim Noah is Chicago's hardnosed role player and he is a BIG!!!!!!!

Debate with Spurs realgm author

2007-08-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

[i]Everybody wants to be the Spurs. Even with the remodeling of franchises such as Houston, Boston, New York and others, it’s been two months through the offseason and this much is true: San Antonio is still the team to beat. At this time last year, clubs such as Dallas or Phoenix were said to be the league’s best; the two teams that would ultimately lay claim to the NBA title. But what’s been realized is that staying pat is often times the best thing to do. With job security dwindling at an all-time rate, clubs are pushing full throttle to try and steal the crown. The problem is that the moves are made out of desperation, not from actual need. Take Boston, for example. The acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen undoubtedly make it better. For the next two years, three max. But will the Celtics truly threaten the Spurs, or even the Suns or Mavs? What about the Bulls or Pistons? The answer is no. Boston had a plethora of young talent in its stables. What the Celtics needed was time to grow and nourish that talent; young studs such as forward Al Jefferson and wing Gerald Green. Given adequate time, the Celtics could have been an Eastern Conference force in two years, and would probably have made the postseason next year. Here’s a little secret that Danny Ainge doesn’t realize: the team’s problem was not its youth or lack of veteran leadership. Its problem was coach Doc Rivers, who in all his years as coach has yet to understand the concept of a rotation and continues to blunder late-game situations. Celtic mainstay Paul Pierce may have been upset and threatened to trade had Ainge not pursued the aforementioned All-Stars, but, hey, trading Pierce would have been in the team’s best interest as well. Imagine the quality young pieces that could have prospered alongside Jefferson and Green, as well as Ryan Gomes and guard Sebastian Telfair; all of whom deserved a chance to see what they could do in due time in a conference that is still considerably weak. Instead, what Ainge ultimately bought Boston way maybe one or two 50-win seasons, and a few trips to the Conference semis. Because at this point, the Celts are still in the rearview mirror of the Heat, Pistons, Bulls and Cavs. ...... Everybody wants to be the Spurs but nobody’s figured out how. [/i]

So we are not as good as the Bulls or Pistons. Come-on guy, we have three of the top ten EC players. I agree that Doc Rivers is a question mark. You have been reading our blogs on how we should trade Pierce and commit to the youth movement. The fact is that our ideas of accumulating trading pieces and waiting for the right opportunity to trade for superstars is going to be debated against being patient with the youth movement (Chicago post Jordan era). Chicago kept niether Tyson Chandler or Ed Curry - both hi lottery picks. It looks like they got better with Joakim Noah and admittedly, I'm on record in the blogs as stating my wish to trade down to get Noah. Ainge was put in a terrible spot - take the 5th pick Jeff Green and put Pierce along with other young talent on the auction block. This route would have cost Danny Ainge his job along with Doc Rivers. And our core would have looked something like: Perkins, Jefferson, Jeff Green, Delonte West, and Rondo with Tony Allen, Ryan Gomes, Powe, and whoever we got in the Pierce deal coming off the bench. And that lineup may only get you 30 wins next year and a chance at OJ Mayo. Besides, all those rookie deals expire at the same time and Ainge has that worst dilemma an NBA GM has: who to extend and who to let go. Case in point - I think Orlando made a major GM blunder in letting Darko Milicic go and signing Rashard Lewis to a ghastly 110 million dollar contract. KG extended at a bargain 61 million for Boston. Of our youth, we believe that Al Jefferson will become a major star, eventually. Gerald Green needs to mature, I think he is still two seasons away. West and Gomes are solid rotation guys. Telfair will never amount to anything in this league. Ratliffe and Sczczerbiak were supposed to be veteran fill-ins but were in the infirmery and never produced anything with us. The fact that Danny was able to turn all these quote, assets into Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett is a miracle that will not duplicated in the NBA for a long time. And our window of opportunity is 4 years with Truth, Ticket, and Shuttlesworth. I look forward to coming to San Antonio and taking the trophy away from you next June. If that proves to be the last NBA title Boston wins in my lifetime, it was worth the trade.

Ups and Downs

2007-08-18T17:49:00.001-07:00

Being a fan of the Red Sox, CELTICS, and Patriots has its ups and downs. For example: The Celtics won 15 championships in my 1st 27 years of existance and could do no wrong in trades, draft picks, and FA signings (thank you Red Auerbach). Then after the 1986 championship until this summer, the Celtics could do nothing right and when they did, bad luck would repeated kick the leprecahn's behind. And then, Danny Ainge has engineered two outstanding trades to find veteran running mates Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and suddenly the Celtics became relevant for the 1st time since Larry Bird retired. Now there is talk of Reggie Miller making a comeback and he would help the cause.

With the Red Sox, I had to wait all my life for the eleven days of October 2004 to happen. Seemed like on October 16, 2004, I was almost thrown in jail for getting into it with Y-----s Fans (19-8 loss to go down 0-3). And then one game at time, one inning, one pitch at a time, the Red Sox sustained a once in a ten lifetime comeback against their arch rivals. That game five 6 hour classic was the best baseball game ever played anywhere. And then Curt Schilling's legend of the bloody suck for game six. Funny thing was some media news hack in Wichita was trying to interview about the rumored sale of the airplane plant. My response: What rumor! Let's talk Red Sox trying to pull off one the great feats in team sports. Saw my Red Sox cap and said, "Hey good luck with that, I hope they can do it". Anyway, we (Me and Mrs Q) went to a bar and started cheering for the Red Sox. The bar owner claimed to have wagered 800 bucks on the Yankees and his attitude showed it. I ticked him off with git me anothah Sammy's Beeah. Then A-fraud knocked out the ball from Bronson Arroyo's glove with his purse as Derek Cheatah gaily rose his right hand scoring the apparent 2nd Y----- run. It was correctly called back due to A-fraud interference. As the game ended, the bar owner told me to move back to Boston. I payed the bill and definitely stiffed him. So it was game seven on my 2nd anniversary with the 2nd wife (The 1st one witnessed me throwing the game 6 VHS tape in the apartment pool promptly after the ball went though Buckner's legs). The Red Sox rarely get 2nd chances against the Y-----s. So for my 2nd anniversary, I bought two pairs of Red Socks and met up with my wife at the Fox and Hound sports bar. I said, "Happy Anniversary and put these on and whatever happens, happens." Johnny Damon hit his grannie and I swear the bar erupted in front. This guy next to me was wearing an OU hat high fiving me and I joked, "See the Boomer Sooner running around the field, woops stopped to poop on Derek Jetah's shoes. " Man he was laughing his ass off the rest of the night. We were heckling the Y----- fans the rest of the night leaving in disgust. One week later, with a Boston fan in town on business, the Red Sox finished their sweep of the Cardinals and won the 1st World Series since my Grandmother was born. Man, I don't think that bar has ever seen a sports celebration like that one.

So in tonight's game, the Red Sox fall behind 5-0 and Schilling struggling and then Papi hits his grannie and the Red Sox hung up a 6 spot and now the Red Sox lead 6-5 and try to hold on keep Five Games in front of the Y-----s. Just bench Gag-ME and we will be fine. Gag-ME has three BS and as a result there is a race in the AL east. We need another bat instead of Gag-ME.

Now I am a fan of the Patriots and they had there ups and downs until Brady went to work for Belichick and now, they are the most successful HC -star playah combo Boston has seen since Auerbach and Bill Russell. There are lots of stories to tell there.

Finally, can the Celtics restore their winning tradition? My guess is they can despite their coach. This is a players league and there is strong anecdotal evidence from the blogs and messageboards that Ticket, Truth, and Jesus Shuttlesworth are seen everywhere together getting ready and recruiting their buddies to come to Boston. I have never seen any NBA team in my 40 years go from worst to first like the Celtics have an opportunity to do. There are those nagging doubts that Jeff correctly mentions - Injuries (take Duncan, Parker, and Gnobli off the Spurs and they go to the lottery), Coaching (Doc Rivers has never won a playoff series), Chemistry (Completely new team can bring new problems), and Intangibles (The Celtics have had only three winning seasons since Bird retired). The Celtics are due for a completely healthy year for a change. This has not happened since 2002. Good health = 50 to 60 wins and at least an ECF appearance in 2008. Doc Rivers has paid his dues with horribly inexperienced teams and the injuries the last two years. Good players make a coach look good. He has ideas and good assistants. He could surprise us all this year. For chemistry, I am not concerned because frankly, the team has had no signs of dissension since Blonut was traded (Minnesota would do well to trade this turd or buy him out).

Manny comes back from a 4 K night and hits a key 2 run gapper to give Boston an 8-5 lead over the LAAs. That Sweet Caroline music inspires, I swear.

Getting back to Celtics intangibles - The fan base is good and will be rewarded. The owners are committed to winning as opposed to taking profits. Red Auerbach looks down on all of us from the rafters of Boston Garden (naturally the old one). Auerbach must have disciplined Len Bias and now will start him.

Red Sox scored again and lead 9-5 over the Angels.

Parish and Clifford Ray work on Perkins to make him a good NBA center.

WP gives Boston a 10-5 lead. No save situation for Papelbon - :( for my fantasy team.

The Celtics have Mike and Tommy to entertain me. The blogs keep me informed. Thank you Elrod, CSL, Jessica, Shirley, and Jeff. I'll try to call in tomorrow to CSL just to keep in touch.

The Red Sox win. THA Y-----s remain 5GB. And that's the way it is, Saturday, August 18, 2007.

How to make Chicken Salad out of Chicken Poop - NBA Style

2007-08-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

Antione Walker was traded for Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch, and a draft pick (Delonte West).
Chris Mills was traded for another draft pick (Tony Allen).
Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams were traded for RD and Chris Mihm.
RD, Blount and Banks were traded for Szcerbiak.
Raef LaFrentz, Dickau, and the #7 pick was traded for Ratliffe and Telfair.
We tanked and lost out on Oden and Durant.
We traded the #5 pick, Szerbiak, and Delonte West for Ray Allen.
We traded Telfair, Ratliffe, Jefferson, Gomes, Green, and two 1st round picks for Kevin Garnett.
So in conclusion, we traded our entire 2003 2nd round playoff team except Pierce plus all our 1st round draft picks except Perkins, Tony Allen, and Rajon Rondo for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. That is astounding!
I guess the moral of the story is that if you compost weeds (junky players like Blount, RD, and Walker) and seeds (Gomes, West, Jefferson, Green, and draft picks) long enough, you get rich, productive soil with a high yield of food. Let's feast off of Ainge's 4 and a half years of hard work. Red Auerbach is looking down proudly puffing on that 'gar!

A Laker fans viewpoint

2007-08-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

and all the more reason to smirk.

5 Responses to “Celtics were only major player for KG”
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1 keep24
Aug 5th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
KG to Boston is a perfect fit. A soft player for a soft city.BTW: No team in the East will win a title for the next six or seven years.
It was never about a ring – just the almighty DOLLAR.
If ( and that’s a big IF) he ever got a ring, he’ll probably put it on Ebay and cash it in.

My rebuttal:
I did not realize that Boston is a soft city. The fans are absolutely championship driven and take no shame in burning corporate bridges in other cities to get there. Only one WCF team has won since your new pathetic Faker team and that is San Antonio Spurs (3 out of the last five I believe). For the record, KG extended at a reasonable rate of 18 million per allowing Boston to go after role playing wets looking for glory. And finally, he can be remembered for helping to restore the most beautiful tradition in sports: BOSTON CELTICS PRIDE!!!!

2 Sopi
Aug 5th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
….er….whats the point of posting this article?
kg is gone
move on guys
stop posting anything about kg
no one cares about kg now

My Rebuttal:

To rub it in your face!!!!!

3 Fred A.
Aug 6th, 2007 at 12:02 am
I am a LAKERS FAN!!!!! I do not want to hear about retarded KG and the wack a** Celtics. I hate KG and I hate Boston.I love this web site and all but you can’t put up KG stuff cause he is gone. I am sorry to offend anybody.But we need to start a “Get JO Movement”.A ‘Kobe-JO Duo’ would be great and it would be great to build around in present and in the future (reiterated).

My rebuttal:
It must really suck to be a Laker fan these days. And worse, Larry Bird isn't going to hand Jermaine O'Neal.

4 billyboy
Aug 6th, 2007 at 12:07 am
yeah, we don’t give a f*ck about KG

My rebuttal:
I wonder why?

5 BEC
Aug 6th, 2007 at 1:23 am
Seriously, what made you guys (gg staff) post this? I think I speak for every Lakers fan here by saying we WANT LAKERS NEWS.

My rebuttal:
The Lakers stink and there is nothing you can do about it. Your turn to play the lottery game. My turn to go to the NBA finals. See you, wouldn't want to be you.

One member of the media likes this trade!

2007-08-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

In Boston, the Red Sox are in first place, the Patriots are one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl, and now Beantown is celebrating the addition of Kevin Garnett.
Talk about stars of stars, Garnett is going to look good in that Celtic green. Now Boston has three superstars in the lineup with Garnett joining Paul Pierce and recent addition Ray Allen. The message is loud and clear to the Celtics fans -- we are all about today!
It is all about winning now, not about building for the long-term future. The Celtics need to win immediately after posting three winning seasons over the last 14 years. Who would have thought that Garnett would end up in Boston, especially after he previously said he did not want to go there?
He changed his mind, and there is an option year remaining. Garnett will cost major, major dollars, but he is a multi-talented star. There are very few players who can consistently average 20 points and 10 rebounds a game in the NBA. He is at the peak of his game at age 31.
Minnesota fared well in this deal, starting with big forward Al Jefferson. In the backcourt, the addition of Sebastian Telfair could be a positive; while he has been a disappointment so far, he still has potential. High riser Gerald Green, veteran big man Theo Ratliff and solid forward Ryan Gomes are part of the package, as well as draft choices.
Two teams are going in different directions. Minnesota was struggling in recent years with Garnett, so it made sense to make a change, adding young talent. Then remember Randy Foye, Corey Brewer, Ricky Davis and Rashad McCants are already on the Timberwolves so the future is brighter.
Boston suddenly has gone from the have-nots to the haves in a hurry. Remember that Cleveland made the NBA finals out of the Eastern Conference with one true superstar in LeBron James, and a bunch of solid complementary players. The Celtics have a trio of supers, a trifecta that should challenge. They will play with one basketball, so will they share it? They have one goal in mind -- winning.
Red Auerbach made this franchise one of the best in all of pro sports. I wonder what he would think of this deal? My guess is he would light up a cigar and smile!

One two three:

B

C

P

BAHBY!!!!!!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<:::::::::::::::::::>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~

The Refutation of SI debunking the trade for Garnett

2007-08-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

No worries SI is never correct.

Allright, I congratulate Kevin Garnett for leaving the garbage dump that is the Minnesota Timberwolves. He has the chance, and I state the CHANCE, to win an NBA title along with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. On paper, it seems like the Celtics won this trade. But truth be told, the Timberwolves easily won this trade. The Celtics lost out. 8 reasons why:

Point by point, I refute every argument presented here:

1. Boston loses all of its depth: Who's gonna make up the Boston bench next season? They cut Allen Ray(but got Ray Allen) and lost 5 other players. The first guys that will likely come off the bench are 2nd round rookies Gabe Pruitt and Glen Davis. Ouch.

Newsflash: Eddie House was signed to backfill for Allan Ray. The scoring production does not let up when one of the big three hit the bench. Leon Powe is a productive role player who will find minutes next year ala Maxile of Detriot - just you watch! Tony Allen (unrelated to Ray Allen) is an impact player and his recovery is thought to be going well. Also, FA are looking to go to Boston with a chance to play with KG, PP, and RA. Last time I checked, none of the rest of the East picked up two proven All-stars.

2. Boston is old, very very old: Pierce is knocking on 30. Garnett is 31, Allen 32. All 3 have played heavy minutes in their careers. Injuries are bound to mount, and Boston has very few reserves to fill voids. Also, 5 years from now who's gonna be scoring points for the Celts?

Last year the Celtics were young. Very Young. The NBA consistently eats its young. That has happened to Boston time and again. Boston crossed the line to experience warriors hungry for glory like Detriot did in 2004. That worked very well for Detriot. It should work for Boston this time. We'll see what you will be writing in June 2008. Remember, experience and hunger win in the NBA. That has been true ever since I started following the NBA in 1969. About injuries, they do not have age discrimination. Boston has suddenly found shopping for FA easier after the KG deal. Funny how that works. And for all I know, I could be dead in five years. Live for today. Life is too short.

3. That team from the Motor City is still the class of the East: Forget what has happened the past two playoffs for the Pistons. They got a lot better through the draft by adding Rodney Stuckey and Aaron Afflalo. They have hungry young players like Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell. Detroit still has their starting five back. Detroit is still the team to beat out east.

My Gawd!!! Take your head out of Bill Laimbeer's Ass.

4. The "C" word: Chemistry. These are 3 unselfish players, but they have never played together before. We know how AI and Chris Webber worked. Or AI and Carmelo.

KG makes his teammates better. Too bad that he had to play with idiots like Mark Blount and Ricky Davis in his last 9 months of his Minnesota career.

5. The T-Wolves are dreaming big: Randy Foye is gonna be a star. So is Corey Brewer. They will be joined by Al Jefferson and 2 future 1st round picks. I can see a future starting lineup of Foye at SG, Brewer at SF, Jefferson at PF, and an excellent PG and C to come along in the draft. 6. The T-Wolves dispose of KG's huge contract: Nuff said here.

Can they dump off Blount and RD for Kobe Bryant? Is Jefferson for real? What about Gerald Green? McHale has Ainges trading chips.

7. Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins: 5 players are on the court at once. Boston has 3. Perkins is helpless. Rondo is too erratic.

For crying out loud - this deserves the same comment as the Detriot is class of the East. I agree we need backup help at Center and PG. Perkins and Rondo will fill their roles.

8. Boston is gonna have to beat a western team in the finals anyways: Good luck KG.

Boston only has to beat one WCF team. Their potential finals opponent has to beat three WCF teams. The ECF team has walked away with two of the last four champoinships. San Antonio has won the other two teams with their three superstars - Ginobli, Parker, and Duncan. You either have to draft superstars or trade for them. Boston was forced to trade for them. Lay off their case SI!

Let the good times roll!!!!!!

2007-08-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

ALLRIGHT - WE SNAGGED THE BIG TICKET!!!!!!

Now we have the 1st legitimate contending team since the Boston Garden closed. The jungle will be rocking and rolling with excitement. I just hope Tommy does not run out of Tommy Points. Screw this building a team with young kids and watching them grow up. Look, there are only two ways to build a championship caliber team.

1) Draft superstars.
2) Trade for superstars.

We correctly chose method two rather than gamble on Gerald Green and AL Jefferson becoming superstars. I don't have time to read through all the messageboard literature advocating method one. Danny, Doc, Pierce, and the Q don't have time for that. I call this glories last shot. The Celtics fans have had to suffer through decades of the post Big Three Depression. Now you got three stars united and desperate for a Championship. And what better place to do it than in Boston - A CITY of CHAMPIONS.

With the Red Sox and Patriots gearing up for title runs, Boston can bring home the 1st team triple crown in American Sports History. That is thought to be impossible but then again, I thought it was impossible for me to make my home in Kansas at one time.

So in looking over the roster and payroll (http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/boston.htm), our needs are a veteran big man and a veteran PG. We have both exception slots and we must fill a twelth spot (assuming both Glen Davis and Gabe Pruitt sign). My vet big man candidate is Dukimbe Mutombo and my vet PG is Pargo (played backup PG to Chris Paul of the Hornets).
As a bonus, KG is the longest contracted player on the Celtics with his 3 year extension. Thank you, Kevin for giving KG to Boston and denying the Lakers Kobe Bryant (HEHEHEHEE!!!!).

July 19, 2007

2007-07-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the blogging commisioner for restoring my blog.

OK I missed the summer leagues in which Leon Powe was allegedly our MVP. I have been around long enough to understand that the summer league is all about showcasing talent and getting rookies acclimated to the NBA game. I also can't stand the very poor quality of play.

This is basically my slow season where I check out Jeff of Celticsblog, Shirley's news links, and the hoopshype rumor page.

I have been avoiding the messageboards lately because frankly, they rob me of energy and creative ideas on how to fix the Celtics woes.

The Celtics need three things to go right for them this year:

1. Stay healthy - I cannot stress enough how losing over 300 man games to injury depressed the 06-07 abortion of a campaign. I think we were actually a .500 club and good enough to be competitive in the 1st round of the EC playoffs. Now we have two proven All-stars (Jesus Shuttlesworth and Paul Pierce) and a future all-star (Al Jefferson). Plus we have possible future stars in Rondo and Gerald Green. Plus all we have lost in the youth movement so far is Justin Reed and Delonte West (good player but probably not an Allstar). My main concern is the Center position. Can Ratliffe give us something this year?

2. Coaching - Doc has to start Rondo (or Vet PG pickup) RA, PP, Big Al and Perk and stick to a solid rotation with Gomes, Ratliffe, Powe, Tony Allen, Telfair, and Gerald Green. Doc must emphasize defense and rebounding or he is not an NBA caliber coach.

3. Front Office - Danny has to find the right trade to get a veteran PG and big man. His coupons are Ratliffe, Gomes, Telfair and (Gerald Green or Tony Allen). This should probably wait until February of 2008 trading deadline where the right deal could make a 2002 style run to the EC finals and hopefully beyond. Winning a championship in 2008 is way too optimistic. Danny will have to extend Al Jefferson - I think that is a no brainer. Of course Danny has a very nasty habit of blind siding us with surprises.

I feel optimistic the Celtics will improve this upcoming season and there is some support from the media for Danny's blockbuster draft day trade. Wally Szerbiak is not walking through that door, Raef LaFrentz is not walking through that door, Vin Baker is walking through another door and it slams shut behind him.

Sitting on the fence over the trade rumors

2007-06-17T08:16:00.001-07:00

A lot of NBA trades are happening already. A lot more are rumored.

The Celtics have been mentioned in trade rumors for Marion (Ratliffe, #5, and Delonte West). From my perspective, it is one of those dead-ended deals in that we make a 2002 style run to the EC finals and perhaps make an appearence in the 2008 finals only to lose to the Spurs. Nice job, Danny and Doc but do who do keep for the future. I think you are setting up for long term failure if you do not retain Marion or Wyc pays the luxery tax. I still say, the Celtics haven't really solved their PG, C, and coaching problems.

Another rumor is Pierce and #5 to Seattle for Ray Allen and #2 (Kevin Durant). Not bad, in fact, I can only hope this comes to fruition. The CBA trade laws drive this. I also believe that Paul Pierce will not be around for the next Celtics championship. He has been a good green soldier but he is the lone connection to the Pitino era and I think he has picked up bad habits from Walker, O'Brien, and Pitino. Seattle should not go for this trade idea.

Read on a site, that the Celtics are projected to be the worst team in the league next year. "The hard luck Celtics missed out on Durant and Oden and Danny Ainge has his work cutout for him." To me, that statement is pure nonsense. All that is needed is good health and Danny to do his job June 28, 2007. The Celtics may not make the playoffs in 2008, but they will certainly improve on their 24 win total. If they don't, somebody may be writing my obituary because I cannot stand much more of this bleeping losing.

The Celticsblog, Celticsgreen, and Celticsstufflive are my three messageboard/blog sites of choice. Many kudos to JB, Jughead, and the Duke for their wonderful Sunday night show. Maybe when I get back to Boston for a visit, they can invite me on the show. The pizza and beer is on me. I'd call in more often, but I really don't have that much to suggest.

Speaking of the trade rumors, we have a lot of big names on the market. KG, Kobe, Marion, Jermaine O'Neal. Seems to me a lot of big names come on the market in strong draft years. A lot of disgruntled veterans are out there. Is our own Paul Pierce one of them? We haven't heard boo from Mr Pierce. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Steve Bullpett is Boston's leading scribe when it comes to the Celtics. Sorry Globe, your quartet of Springer, May, Ryan, and MacMullin live well in the past. Shaugnessy is now writing about the Curse of Len Bias. That was an outstanding interview last Sunday night on the Celticsstufflive show.

The NBA finals were not as horrible as everyone is making them out to be. San Antonio is really good. Cleveland does have work to do. I like Gibson, Varejavo, Gooden, Ilasgaskus. I think they need to get rid of Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall.

Keep your chin up. Things will finally turn around for the Celtics in 2008.

Ron

Did you hear Rick Pitino talking?

2007-06-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-donovan060407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Billy Donovan was coach for the Magic for what, maybe 36 hours. I think his mentor Rick Pitino stepped in and said:

"Billy, WTF ARE YOU DOING? "

"Billy, I have seen the NBA and how cruel and unforgiving the NBA is."

"Billy, the NBA spits out their young. You cannot implement your college system at the pro level. It works for two weeks and then the scouts figure you out. "

"Billy, you have to learn to adjust to new things to keep your strategy effective"

"Billy, you cannot micromanage people like you did Florida."

"Billy, you have to deal with ten game losing streaks once in a while."

"Billy, please take my advice and Dickie V's and stay in school. Do not ever venture into the forbidding world of the NBA where you have no control or job security."

"Please, Billy, son, don't jump to the NBA, trust me Billy!".

Love, Rick Pitino......

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That Damned Rick Pitino, he set up another roadblock for the Celtics by talking Billy Donovan out of coaching the Magic and ruining the career of Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson.

Important side note: I hear the Bulls and Warriors are interested in Yi Jinlain. It becomes imperative for Danny to listen to the Bulls and Warriors offers. Also Danny is shopping Paul Pierce, probably because he realizes he is the last link to Pitino and all links must be broken. This will be one interesting summer in the NBA.

Thirty One Years Ago Tonight

2007-06-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

June 4, 1976 - Game 5 of the NBA Finals - Phoenix at Boston.

The Celtics won the greatest playoff game ever in triple OT 128-126. I had a seat in the west end balcony as I bought a playoff strip for 84 dollars! I had already been to 8 games and the Celtics won them all in the old Boston Garden.

The Celtics won the first two games at home and Phoenix came back and won their two at home. So this was a huge Game 5 showdown. Boston seemed to have things well in hand but Phoenix made a last minute comeback to force OT. The Celtics had problems closing out the game on the foul line and Phoenix hit clutch shots to force a second OT. Once again Havlicek and Cowens staked Boston to an 8 point 2nd OT lead but Phoenix stole a 1 point lead with 5 seconds left. I rushed down from my balcony seat to witness the last shot close up at the end. The ball came in to Havlicek on the left side and he took an off balance jump shot he seemed to line drive off the backboard and through the hoop for a one point Celtic victory. I raced onto the parquet thinking the Celtics had won. But Richie Powers gave Phoenix a time out and a technical foul shot to the Celtics with 1 second put back on the clock. Jo Jo White made his technical FT to give Boston a 116-114 lead. Gar Heard hit his shot heard round the world to force a 3rd OT.

John Havlicek fouled out early in the 3rd OT and Glen McDonald came off the bench to hit three big buckets to give Boston a six point lead with a minute left. Phoenix came back with 2 baskets to close to 124 - 122 but Jo Jo White hit four FT's to preserve an incredible victory. And two days later, Boston won their 12th Championship 87-80 in Phoenix.

The game ended at 12:19am, thanks to those 9pm starts so I missed the last train home and my father had to drive in from the suburbs to get me.

The Q always remembers.

Trade Possibility with Seattle

2007-06-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here is my idea:

To Seattle: Paul Pierce, Sebastian Telfair, Tony Allen, #5, 2 future #1's

To Boston: Ray Allen, Luke Ridnour, #2

Seattle has survivability issues going on - like they are going to leave the city in 2008. Stern won't stop it either. He does not like the Seattle politics that will not pay it's dues to the NBA hype machine that the commish has created. Does Durant want to go play in Seattle and be overshadowed by Oden? For christ sakes Seattle is operating without a General Manager. From Boston's perspective - Pierce's run is effectively over. Ainge has screwed Pierce to no end - wasting his prime years by putting a very poor team and a very poor coach around him. Ainge needs to find a punching bag to trade with and Seattle is a top punching bag.

Red Sox -Yankees Just another day at the office

2007-06-03T10:35:00.001-07:00

It kills a whole afternoon watching these teams do baseball battle. There are your run of the mill baseball games and then there is the Red Sox - Yankees. These two teams really try to squash each other like bugs.

Every weakness gets exposed. For the Yankees, it is their bullpen, starting pitching, and defense that is their achilles heel. For the Red Sox - it probably is a case of matchups. Wakefield and Schilling have had trouble with the powerful Yankees lineup. I think Wakefield has lost two games to the Yankees Scott Wang. Schilling got lit up a bit with the gopher ball.

That defense in the bottom of the seventh inning was truly tragicomical. Arod's mental defensive lapses are funnier to watch than his physical errors. How can you not cover 3rd base on a hit to the OF with a runner at 1st? Inexcusable.

My Celtics History in a Nutshell.

2007-06-02T11:45:00.001-07:00

Green Koolaid is the spiritual tonic prescribed by FLCeltFan who does an outstanding job on Loy's Place, and www.celticsgreen.proboards18.com . But you already knew that if you found this place to begin with.

Now I believe that Red Auerbach is our father and he looks down on us to make sure we show our

Boston

Celtics

Pride

After our time has passed, we live our eternal life in the Boston Garden and watch our games play out. If we are good, we can play for our father our coach.

Our lives began when we fell out of the Rafters in Boston Garden and into the Circle of Life.

We grew up when the Reverend Johnny Most was preaching the Celtics were good and the referees, Lakers, Knicks, Pistons, and 76ers were evil. Bill Laimbeer is the living satan. Too bad he could not stay in Boston and been a Good Old Boy.

Things were great for Boston Celtics winning 16 out of 30 championships including Eight Straight to open my life!!!!! I thought the Celtics were supposed to win every year. That is simply the way it was. Bill Russell retired but Cowens and Silas walked through the door. Havlicek played forever. Don Nelson was a good hand. Jo Jo White was the best shooting guard in the league. Tommy Heinsohn was the best coach because he argued with the referees and still does on a nightly basis with Mike Gorman (THAT's A TERRIBLE CALL). Once Cowens, Havlicek and Jo Jo White retired, in came Cedric Maxwell, Bird, Parish, McHale, DJ, Ainge and for couple of years Bill Walton. In 1986, the Celtics were the best team ever and had Seattle's pick for Gerald Henderson (Why can't we get trades like that anymore). We got the #2 pick and drafted Len Bias (My thoughts are Bias was better than this Durant kid coming into the league) and we had our 6' 9" answer to Micheal Jordan. That was until somebody slipped some white sugar into one of his Red Auerbach's cigars and dropped dead on the spot. OH MY GOD!!!!! My thought was that this was 1918 and we just sold George Herman Ruth to the Yankees. I just got married and this thing happened right on my honeymoon. Things have not been the same since. Our Celtic luck changed. Red Auerbach could no longer hoodwink the rest of the NBA into stupid one sided deals favoring the Celtics. Bird, McHale and Parish got old and injured. The Celtics could only get as far as a seven point halftime lead in Game 6 in the LA Forum of the 1987 finals. And in 24 minutes, the Celtics Dynasty ended. 1988, the Pistons kicked our ass in the ECF. 1989, Bird lost a year. 1990, the Knicks of all teams took us out in the 1st round. 1991, Dee Brown and Reggie Lewis helped us back into Detriot but we lost in OT in the 2nd round. Finally in 1992, which was obviously Bird's last season, we lost to Cleveland in Seven Games and the Micheal Jordan era began. In 1993, Reggie Lewis died of a heart attack. Dr Gilbert Mudge was wrong and I wonder if he is still practicing.

The Ga$ton - ML Carr era began. Larry Bird and Dave Gavitt were out. Without any real talent coming into the league during the Mid Nineties (1st round picks of legendary busts Pervis Elison and Micheal Olowakando are a testament to that), the Celtics had no shot at competing. ML Carr began his legendary three year tanking program to get a 40% chance at Tim Duncan in the 1997 draft. Heck at #1 and #3 it could have been Billups and Duncan. Trade Walker for Dale Davis, draft Pierce or Marion, etc.

Larry Bird gave Ga$ton two choices: Rick Pitino or Larry Brown to replace ML Carr. Against Larry Bird's recommendation, Ga$ton chose Rick Pitino. As the 1997 lottery dealt us #3 and #6, we got Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan. Chauncey Billups proved to be a good draft choice but the Pistons benefitted with their 3rd championship under Billups' watch. Pitino traded Billups for Kenny Anderson, traded a pick to Cleveland for Vitaly Potapenko and gave him a 30 million dollar contract. Antione Walker became Fatione, the chubby chucker PF. We lucked into Paul Pierce at Number 9. But the Celtics became terrible due to Pitino's poor trades, drafting (Jerome Moiso) and his micromanaging by yelling at the players. The fans meanwhile became irate and Pitino turned on them by calling them the Fellowship of the Miserable headed by the three giants of the Boston media: Ryan, Shaugnessy, and Peter May.

Enter the ESPN message board which started a whole new era of connecting with fellow Celtics fans (as well as the Red Sox, Patriots, Nebraska Cornhuskers) and of course the trolling. I remember that 1st post in 1999 titled "Time to go back to the Old School"

"Fire Rick Pitinoto. Hire Larry Bird as GM and Dennis Johnson and Robert Parish as coach. Trade Antione Walker for Tim Duncan, trade Mercer and Anderson to Dallas for Steve Nash and Micheal Finley. Tear down the Fleetcenter and bring back Boston Garden and save the game of basketball."

And I had a lot of fun - too much fun perhaps - with the Celtics fans on the messageboard. Any of you remember those Mercer for Fortson trade talks that went on forever and finally it happened. Admittedly neither player has done a lick in this league. And we talked Rick Pitino out of trading Walker for Dale Davis. An ESPN employee who posted under the name of "Remember Tony C" actually gave me a tour of the ESPN facility in my last visit to New England.

I know Rick Pitino was a loser on his interview with ESPN stating he took the job with the premise that he was going to coach Tim Duncan and would not have done so if had known the lottery results. But Paul Ga$ton gave him a 50 million dollar contract and the keys to the team. He incurred the wrath of Auerbach by taking the team president title along with coach and GM. He stated that he wanted to build the team around Paul Pierce (a PHD in his eyes Poor, Hungary, and Driven). Well, I knew that Walker left Pitino after 2 years in Kentucky and he was going to tank on Pitino until he was traded or Pitino quit. The messageboard posters kept the optomism the Celtics would come around. However the team went into a tailspin in December 2000 and finally Pitino resigned after the Celtics lost their 10th straight in Miami in January 2001. I personally was going through a bitter divorce and the kids and Mommy relocated to Portland, OR and I stayed behind in Wichita, KS. Things were really bad for me. The messageboards were my only source of enjoyment. All of the Boston sports teams stunk. The curses of Len Bias, Babe Ruth, and the Raiders were simply wreaking havoc (I have extinguished 2 of the 3 curses but the Len Bias one is extremely problematic.) on my life. I turned to dog racing trying to supplement my income by collecting on Quiniela Box bets and hence my internet name. I have shortened it to "Q" since.

So Pitino resigned and for the 1st in his life admitted defeat. That loser went on to coach archrival Louisville and I have become a Kentucky Wildcat fan ever since. I lived in the Louisville for 1 year way back in 1983 and that was my college team. I liked Denny Crum. An interesting thing happened that year. My friend at work ran into Larry Bird at the Louisville's Standiford Airport and over a beer my friend was telling Larry about me. At the end of the conversation, Larry signed on a piece of paper, "Hey Ron, see you in Wonderland, best wishes, Larry Bird." Man I got so many stories about what Bird did for the Celtics and for me that I will go over as time permits under the QuinielaBox remembers series.

In 2002, I met and dated my 2nd partner. The Patriots with rookie Tom Brady (or maybe it was his 1st year playing full time) led the Patriots to their 1st Super Bowl victory - A terrific moment in sports history. The Celtics experienced a revival under Jim O'Brien with a scrappy group of veterans and Walker and Pierce. The boys were hooting it up in the messageboard room. We were finally going to the NBA finals for the 1st time since 1986 after coming from 30 points down in the 4th quarter to beat New Jersey and play the Lakers just like the good old days. Uh, Not so Fast. We did not have the talent to build off this. I got married again in summer. The Patriots and now the Red Sox were on top of their games. The Celtics traded FOR Vin Baker in a deal that saved Ga$ton 3 million dollars but absolutely hamstrung the team for years. This deal directly led to the 2006 - 2007 valley noted as tanking for Durant and Oden.

Ga$ton sold the Celtics to Wyc Grousebeck and Steve Paculia (SP??) and Danny Ainge was hired to GM the Celtics. The 1st thing Danny did was basically ship Antione Walker (with Delk) out to Dallas for Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills expiring contract, Jiri Welsch and draft picks. After extending Jim O'Brien as coach, Danny trades Tony Battie and Eric Williams to Cleveland for Ricky Davis (RD) and Chris Mihm (last year in a contract). Jim O'Brien immediately resigned and John "Deadman Walking" Carroll took over a dysfunctional group. Raef LaFrentz was shut down with a knee problem early in the year setting a pattern of Danny Ainge trading for cripples. Deadman Walking got Mark "Poor Energy" Blount to have a career 2nd half of the 2004 season to get the Celtics into the playoffs with a fraudelent 36-46 record. The Celtics were promptly dismissed that year. In 2005, Ainge traded for Walker but hired Glenn "Doc" Rivers as coach. The Celtics easily won the Atlantic Division but were crushed in Game 7 by Indiana as Doc Rivers was horribly outcoached by Rick Carlisle and has yet to win his 1st playoff series.

Walker was traded away to Miami for pure flotsam in a sign and trade. Gary Payton walked. Danny Ainge kept drafting high schoolers and trading for cripples like Wally Sczczerbiak and Theo Ratliffe. Finally in 2007, the perfect tanking storm hit. Auerbach died. DJ died. The Celtics got off to a horrible start and had the worst home record in the NBA. Pierce, Sczerbiak, and Tony Allen were injured. The Celtics went on an 18 game losing streak. Bill Simmons began a public campaign to lose games for more lotto balls. www.celticsstufflive.com and www.celticsblog.com became major places to vent fan frustrations. I look forward to those Sunday night webcast shows with JB, Jughead, and Duke and matching wits with those people in the pit.

Black Tuesday hit as the Celtics got pidgeonholed with the 5th pick. The sky fell in on the Celtics. But Seattle and Portland got number one and two thereby putting the Lakers in a bad spot to make the playoffs and prompt a trade demand from Kobe Bryant. So Auerbach compromised with God and sent the 1st two picks of the 2007 NBA draft as far away as he could. If it had been Indiana and Charlotte, the Celtics only entry into the NBA playoffs would be to win the Atlantic Division and then be one and done.

QuinielaBox_opens_his-Blog

2007-06-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

To discuss anything in the sports world. I grew up in Boston and therefore follow all the Boston Sports teams. I have done so for 40 years since the 1967 World Series when the Red Sox lost to St Louis in seven games.

I also like to follow College Football and College Basketball in the Big 12.

So all items are open for discussion. Please comment