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RETRIEVING CONTENT...PLEASE WAIT
Celtics Embarrassed by the Lakers 122-96
Saturday, February 24, 2007
by FLCeltsFan 10:34 AM
February 24, 2007
The Celtics were dominated by the Lakers in this one and the only reason we didn't lose by 40 was that Kobe sat on the bench the entire 4th quarter because the game was already decided by the end of the 3rd quarter. There wasn't much to be enthused about in this game but I will try to pick some highlights. One of the lowlights was the play of our Captain. While the Lakers' star was scoring 38 points, dishing out 9 assists and grabbing 5 steals, the Celtics' star was racking up 5 turnovers and a technical foul after turning the ball over on 3 consecutive plays. He finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists but his bad plays stood out much more than the good he did.
On the positive side, Al continued his solid play with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Scal played fairly well with 10 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes (but Powe played better). Green came off the bench and showed some fire with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and only 1 turnover. And the best positive of the night was that Doc finally put Powe in for some real minutes. Powe finished with 7 points, all on free throws, 4 rebounds, and 1 block in 15 minutes of play. The Herald had this to say: One bright spot for the C’s was Leon Powe, who had seven points (all from the line) and four rebounds in 15 minutes. Expect to see more of him.
“I thought Leon was fanstastic,” Rivers said. “I’m going to play Leon a lot more because the one thing Leon does every night is he instigates. He’s physical and I’m going to put him on the floor. I could care less about the other stuff he doesn’t do.” But then again, Doc said something like that the last time Powe got minutes and impressed and then he didn't play him again for months, so we shall see. This kid does good things and deserves a shot.
The point guard situation was a bit shaky last night. West started and played decently, filling up the stat line with 12 points (5-13 shooting), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. But neither Rondo nor Telfair could get much going behind him. Telfair played 17 minutes and shot 1-7 for 3 points with 3 assists and 3 turnovers. Rondo shot 0-6 with 3 rebounds, 2 stteals and 2 turnovers in just 15 minutes. Rondo is still clearly playing better than Telfair, but Doc has been giving more minutes to Telfair lately.
We play the Jazz tonight and our luck is still the same. Boozer and Williams both came back from injuries last night and played well. Tonight would have been tough even without them but now it will be very hard to win. I just hope they are competitive. I hate to see them giving up like they did last night.
[Box Score]
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[Play by Play]
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Wally Sent Home
Friday, February 23, 2007
by FLCeltsFan 3:49 PM
February 23, 2007
The Boston Globe is reporting that Wally was sent home to Boston today to have his ankle examined by Dr. Brian McKeon. He was reportedly seen by a doctor in LA yesterday or today and I guess they didn't like what they found. The article goes on to say that after this team officials will meet and determine the best course of action with Wally for the rest of the season. It kind of sounds like they may shut him down since every time he gets on the floor he seems to sprain his ankle. Hmmm... I wonder if the next report is that Wally's ankles are bone on bone.
source: Boston Globe
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Remembering DJ
by FLCeltsFan 10:08 AM
February 23, 2007
Today, all over the web and airwaves there are tributes to DJ. I have been considering writing a tribute going through his life and career, but there are lots of those out there. I feel that my best tribute to DJ was written before he died in this post on Loy's Place where I voiced my indignation over the absolute travesty of DJ's being left out of the Hall of Fame. I still think that when all is said and done, one of the saddest things in all of this is that he wasn't recognized by the Hall of Fame for his career. He certainly deserved it!!
I watched DJ all through the 80's and he was one of my favorite players. He was always so clutch and when the game was on the line, there was none better, including Larry Bird. But playing on a team with Larry, Kevin and Robert, he never got the accolades that were due him. One play has always stood out in my mind as characterizing DJ's career. It was the play in the 1987 playoffs where Bird stole the ball and passed it underneath to DJ for the layup. Most people are familiar with the clip with Johnny Most's call but click here to see the TBS broadcast of the call. What has always impressed me most about this play wasn't the steal or even DJ's presence of mind to cut to the basket for the pass and layup. I was watching the game on TBS and something else in that play caught my attention on that day and has always remained as characterizing DJ and the way he played the game. Watch DJ after the layup. There was 1 second left on the clock and DJ didn't turn to celebrate with his teammates. He turned immediately to cover the inbound pass. Now that is a professional! That is the mindset I hope the current Celtics can eventually develop. I get choked up just thinking about it. How many players in this league would have thought defense after a play like that and immediately turned to cover the inbound pass with 1 second on the clock?
That was a testament to DJ's greatness. Not the layup, not the many steals or clutch plays down the stretch of games, but the presence of mind to turn to cover that inbounds pass after the game winning shot he had just made. After his career, DJ wanted to coach and he was very happy coaching the Toros. His team was on a winning streak and he loved coaching and teaching. I have always hoped that DJ could coach the Celtics as he would have been great for the job. All of us in the Celtics Nation who watched DJ play and loved him are poorer today because of his passing and the fact that we will never get the chance to watch him coach our beloved Celtics to another title. The world is poorer today as a great player and great man has left us.
Some Tribute Links:
Respect for DJ will stand forever
Colleagues and Friends react to DJ's death
DJ was always Mr. Clutch
Remembering DJ - A photo tribute
A Video Tribute to DJ's career
Remembering DJ
An Appreciation of DJ
Thinking of #3
DJ should have made Springfield while alive
DJ always rose to the occasion
Farewell to a true Celtics great
DJ signs off too soon
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Former Celtics Great Dennis Johnson Passes Away
Thursday, February 22, 2007
by FLCeltsFan 4:09 PM
February 22, 2007
Former Celtics great Dennis Johnson passed away today at the age of 52. Early reports say that his death was due to a heart attack. He was currently the coach of the Celtics D-League affiliate. Our condolences go out to DJ's family and to the Celtics family who knew and loved him.
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Positives and Negatives from the Loss to the Suns
by FLCeltsFan 10:00 AM
February 22, 2007
The prevailing feeling before last night's game was that the Celtics would get blown out. After all, the Suns have the second best record in the league. They are a veteran team with several all stars including the MVP from the past 2 years. They had a 17 game win streak not too long ago and so it wasn't out of line to expect them to blow out a team who just came off an 18 game losing streak. But the Celtics played them tough and stayed with the Suns right until the end.
As always, Al Jefferson was a bright spot with another double double going for 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He struggled somewhat defending Amare Stoudamire, but then, so does Tim Duncan. Al is a beast on the blocks and has taken that step from potential to talent. Al is now 6th in the league in rebounding, averaging 10.9 per game. That is ahead of Tim Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace, Shawn Marion, Zach Randolph, Amare Stoudemire, and others that Celtics fans have lusted after, often wishing to trade Al to bring them in. Al is still young and has a lot of growing to do, but he is a hard worker and his game is growing in leaps and bounds.
We also saw solid performances from Ryan Gomes with 21 points and 7 rebounds. He is a solid player who may never make the All Star game but he also won't hurt the team while he is on the floor. West also played well with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists, shooting 3-5 from beyond the arc. Pierce seems to be back with 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, in spite of the announcers the past two nights talking about how out of shape he looks.
Gerald Green's play fits in both the positive and negative categories. In the second quarter, Green played very well, shooting 3-5 and grabbing 4 rebounds. He didn't get into foul trouble, didn't take bad shots, didn't turn the ball over and played decent defense. So, he played a lot right? Doc didn't play him again until a little past the 4 minute mark in the 4th. We wouldn't want Gerald to gain too much confidence, now would we? When a player is playing well, he should be awarded with more playing time. That is, unless he is playing for Doc Rivers.
Along those same lines, Doc insists on starting Scal at center. Our starting center is averaging 1.8 rebounds per game. It isn't that Scal has been playing poorly, because he hasn't. But he isn't a starting center. Starting centers should defend the paint and rebound. But Scal does neither. Last night, Scal played 25 minutes and had 2 rebounds. On the other hand, Perk played 5 minutes and had 2 rebounds. Powe would have had 10 rebounds in 25 minutes, I am pretty sure. Why Doc insists on starting Scal at center, I will never know, unless it is his way of assuring that we don't play too well. Kind of like giving the other team a head start. Scal is a good back up coming off the bench, but not a starting center. And Rondo, who is a spark plug and should be starting at PG, played only 10 minutes last night while Bassy played over 20.
I really got depressed the other day when reading that Doc is looking forward to training camp next season. We so desperately need a new coach. Last night the Phoenix announcers were discussing Doc's odd substitutions. This from SI.com:
The Celtics are playing hard. There are no looks of defeat on the bench, and rarely does a hustle play not go Boston's direction. They simply do not have the talent to compete with the majority of the league for four quarters. That they have been sloppy at times is attributable to their youth, but it is also a result of coach Doc Rivers' failures as a tactician. League and team sources suggest Rivers is a notch below other coaches in the X's and O's department. Surely Danny has to know this as well. This team will never get to the next level with Doc as their coach, no matter who the team drafts or who they trade for. Danny can keep Doc in place the rest of the season. The players want to win and are playing to win, but keeping Doc is the best way of assuring that they don't.
[Box Score]
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[Play by play]
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Trading Deadline is Upon Us... Will He, or Won't He?
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
by FLCeltsFan 7:59 PM
February 21, 2007
The trade deadline is set for 2:00 PM Thursday and so far trade winds have been very quiet around Boston. We have heard a few rumors, mostly having to do with Gasol, but there are more rumors that are saying that Danny will stand pat and play out the season. If he does, it will be the first season since he took over that he hasn't made a trade at the deadline.
Standing pat has some benefits. For one thing, it almost guarantees that we stay in the hunt for the first pick of the draft. It also give us a chance to see for certain which players are keepers and which can be used as trade chips and so avoid the same mistake we made with Chauncey Billups. Also, Danny's trade record hasn't been near as good as his draft record. Danny's trades seem to have a way of bringing in over-paid players who spend more time on the injured list than they do on the floor.
But in spite of the assurance in the Boston papers that we aren't involved in trade talks, some rumors still are popping up. Marty Burns on SI.com had this to say:
• The Nuggets and Celtics appear to be two of the more active teams, but neither looks to have the assets to pull off a major deal. George Karl has said he would like to add a point guard, and there were reports of a deal with the Mavs that would send Anthony Johnson to Denver for Eduardo Najera. The Celtics are said to be seeking any kind of big-man help. Getting a big man may be futile without getting a new coach as Doc doesn't seem to know what to do with bigs anyway. There are a lot of big names out there in trade rumors and I imagine that Danny is making phone calls and offers on many of them. We will soon see whether Trader Danny can pass a trade deadline without some kind of deal. Somehow, I doubt it.
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A Depressing Thought
by FLCeltsFan 2:42 PM
February 21, 2007
As I was looking over today's news articles, I was struck by a depressing thought. Here is a quote from today's Herald.
Rivers also is on board with the trip. “I think it’s a great idea,” he said. “I love it for two reasons. First, we get some extra time to practice, and, secondly, it’s a great educational opportunity for a lot of our guys. And it’s good bonding. We’re away from everybody, and we can do things together. This is Doc talking about how he is looking foward to training camp in Rome and London. Thinking that Danny was just keeping Doc for this year so that we could get a hight lottery pick since the season is already shot has been giving me hope.
I like Doc, but Doc is not a good coach. He is a nice guy and a good substitute father for the young players on this team, but he leaves a lot to be desired as a coach. His recent starting lineup is a case in point. With Perk and Powe on the bench, he starts Scal at center or power forward. You just have to get more out of the starting center than 2 or 3 rebounds a game. He leaves lineups that are ineffective in way too long and he doesn't know how to use bigs in the lane for defense. His system keeps them too far out from the basket. He also doesn't know how to coach fast break basketball and has been systematically tearing down the confidence of our young point guards who are built for the fast break.
I have been thinking that Doc will be gone after this season and then we can see what these kids can really do. But reading this article where Doc is talking about his plans for next season's training camp, I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can only hope that Danny isn't planning on Doc being the coach for training camp next season.
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Al's Hook Shot
by FLCeltsFan 11:45 AM
February 21, 2007
David Thorpe of Scouts, Inc has this to say about Big Al's hook shot on ESPN.com:
RIGHT HOOK: Al Jefferson may own the most accurate jump hook in the league right now. A bit undersized, he over-rotates on it, which makes it vulnerable, but his patience and timing give him the small window of space that he needs to release it cleanly .
He has improved steadily this season and is now averaging a double double and he is 7th in the league in rebounding. And he is only going to continue to get better. In the midst of a lot of negativism, it is nice to be able to report something very positive.
source: ESPN.com
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Deja Vu: Celtics Lose Wally to Ankle Sprain, Lose by 3 to Kings
by FLCeltsFan 9:52 AM
February 21, 2007
Celtics staged a late comeback, finally playing some defense, in the 4th quarter but came up short, losing to Kings 104-101. They also lost Wally in the first quarter to yet another ankle sprain. It is doubtful he will play tonight and possibly not again on the west coast trip. The Celtics shot 50% from the field, but couldn't hit their free throws hitting only 17-31 for the night. They also turned the ball over 19 times.
Doc once again started the lineup of West, Pierce, Gomes, Al and Scal. If Doc is trying to throw games, this is the best way to do it. Starting Scal at the 4 or 5 is ridiculous. You have to get more than 3 points and 3 rebounds in 22 minutes from your starting Center. You just have to. I don't want to hear about his intangibles. Bring his intangibles off the bench for 10 minutes and give the other 10 to Powe who would actually defend in the paint and pull down rebounds. Perk played 15 minutes and had 5 rebounds and a block along with 5 points playing on 1 foot. I just don't get Doc's fascination with Scal other than the fact that he doesn't play in the paint and bombs away from beyond the arc.
Al once again produced a double double scoring 15 points to go with 15 rebounds. He seems to improve game by game. Gomes had an off game shooting,hitting only 3-7 shots for 10 points but played well otherwise pulling down 7 rebounds to go with 3 assists and 2 steals before fouling out.
West started at the point and as usual, with West at the point we fell behind and it wasn't until Doc brought Rondo in that we started to chip away and get back into the game. West scored 23 points on 9-16 shooting to go with 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal. Doc needs to let Rondo start and move West to the shooting guard position. Rondo scored 6 points to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals, but the box score doesn't begin to show Rondo's contributions. His defense and energy bring new life to the team that otherwise appears to be listless and a step slow. Telfair played 18 minutes and scored 9 points along with dishing out 3 assists. He wasn't spectacular but did play solidly. If Doc wants to win games he should start Rondo and bring in Telfair as back up and keep West at the 2 where he excels instead of trying to force him into being a PG.
Pierce had 26 points with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block but also lead the team with 5 turnovers. The team struggled to find offense when he was out of the game, though. The Kings announcers continually discussed how heavy Pierce looks and that he is at least 10-15 pounds above his ideal playing weight. Green had a rough game following his Slam Dunk championship in that he scored 4 points but racked up 5 fouls in just 7 minutes of play.
We started out flat and didn't play defense until the last 8 minutes or so. Doc needs to change the starting lineup because this lineup digs a hole every game and we spend the rest of game trying to dig out. Rondo needs to start. Scal needs to come off the bench and play about 10-15 minutes per game. Doc is killing this team with his rotations and poor coaching decisions. I just don't understand why he continues to start Scal and ignores Powe. It just doesn't make sense. And it gets even worse tonight as we face a very good Phoenix Suns team. Doc's favorite starting lineup will not only dig a hole but be completely buried by Nash, Stoudamire and company.
[Box Score]
[Recap]
[Play by Play]
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Allan Ray Sent to D-League
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
by FLCeltsFan 2:18 PM
February 20, 2007
Real GM has a press release that the Celtics have sent Allen Ray to their D-League affiliate team, the Austin Toros.
The Boston Celtics announced today that they have assigned rookie guard Allan Ray to their NBA Development League affiliate Austin Toros. Ray is the team’s first assignment to the NBA Development League this season and the 19th NBA player to be assigned to the Development League.
The Boston Celtics announced today that they have assigned rookie guard Allan Ray to their NBA Development League affiliate Austin Toros. Ray is the team’s first assignment to the NBA Development League this season and the 19th NBA player to be assigned to the Development League.
source:RealGM
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On to the Rest of the Season
Monday, February 19, 2007
by FLCeltsFan 9:04 AM
February 19, 2007
Now that the All Star game is in the books, it is time to look forward to the rest of the season. Celtics fans are divided into 2 camps: Tank for the first pick and play hard and win all we can. Both sides have their good points but I think the Celtics are going to choose the latter, which may cost us a few ping pong balls in the chase for Oden or Durant, but in my opinion it is the better course.
First, there is some question as to whether Oden or Durant will come out this season. I heard an interview with Oden over the weekend and he was saying that because of the injury to his wrist he hasn't reached the top of his game this season and he doesn't want to leave college until he is sure he will be an impact player in the NBA. Durant's father is saying he may stay in school. Granted, both will probably come out but it may be the competition between the two that keeps at least one of them in school until he will be the consensus first pick.
Second, the lottery is such a fickle thing. We tanked one year when we had 2 lottery picks and ended up with the 3rd and 6th picks even though we had the most pingpong balls in the hopper. Only 3 teams with the worst record have won the lotter since 1991. Sure it would appear that we would be due but I imagine the other teams with the worst record every year thought the same thing. The fact is that we could get the 3rd pick with the worst record or the first pick with the best record in the lottery. There are no guarantees.
There are benefits to trying to win and actually winning. We have so many young players who are improving and are starting to show actual basketball talent rather than just potential. They learn to win by winning. They will never, as a team, learn to win and develop a winning attitude by losing games. The more we win, the more confidence these young players will play and the better they will get.
This is a deep draft and we are likely to get a very good player even if we don't pick first or second. It may not be an impact player like Oden or Durant, but then again, it may be. Gilbert Arenas was picked 31st, Paul Pierce was picked 10th, Dwayne Wade was picked 5th. Michael Jordan was picked 3rd. Chauncey Billups was a 3rd pick of the Celtics and if they had kept him, things may be different today. If Oden and/or Durant do stay in school, most of the other players at the top are on a fairly even footing.
We aren't going to play ourselves out of the lottery and even with fewer ping pong balls we still have a chance at the top pick. Since 1991, four teams with the 3rd worst record have won the lottery and Orlando even won it with the 11th worst record. Losing every game from now to the end of the season won't guarantee us the first or even the second pick. But losing every game would guarantee that the confidence of every one of these young players would be at an all time low and may never recover.
So now we move on to the rest of the season. I don't see any of our players giving less than 100% any night that they are healthy and even then some of them give their all when they are playing in pain. Of course, our best chance to keep losing is that Doc will be our coach until the end of the season. No matter what happens between now and season end, I have high hopes for next season. Gerald Green will have renewed confidence after winning the dunk contest. Al is only going to get better. Perk's foot will heal and he will finally show what he is capable of. Rondo is going to be a top PG. Tony is going to come back and pick up where he left off. Gomes and West are going to be solid players. And we will get a very good player in the draft, even if it isn't Oden or Durant. And most of all, hopefully we will have a new coach who feels that defense is important and knows how to coach a running team.
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