Looks like Kevinn Pinkney got arrested himself. In Nevada for DUI.
Pinkney arrested on suspicion of DUI
Former Nevada Wolf Pack basketball player Kevinn Pinkney was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Reno early Thursday morning, according to Reno police.
Pinkney, 23, who played six games for the Boston Celtics on a 10-day contract April 4-13, was spotted at Sutro and Carville weaving in and out of his travel lane at 1:53 a.m. Thursday. He was given field sobriety tests, which he failed and he was booked for DUI, failing to maintain a lane and careless driving, according to the police report. He was released on his own recognizance at 6:45 a.m. Thursday. Pinkney played for Nevada from 2001 to 2005. He was a member of teams that won 85 games, which was a record for a Nevada player until Nick Fazekas and Kyle Shiloh broke that mark this season.
Since FL has been posting some awesome historical content lately and we are obviously not in the Playoffs, I've decided to get into the act by posting Larry's Playoff Top 10! I was perusing a certain video site and marveled at it's vast vaults of video (try saying 3 times fast). Once I snapped to, I selected this volume for your viewing pleasure. Best enjoyed with green beer. Although, if you have green beer this long after St. Pat's...could be algae. Go on! Drink it anyway! Cheers!
If it wasn't for Sebastian Telfair, there wouldn't have been much out there on the Celtics today. CBS Sportsline presents two sides of the Telfair situation. One presents the side of a hard working kid who still deserves a chance. The other tells us not to be fooled by him again. I am kind of between the two. I still believe that Telfair has the potential to be a good player but he has to deal with a lot of issues both on and off the court in order to get there.
Hoopsworld also has a piece on Telfair, giving us different side of him. It discusses him as a proud father and showing us that he never got down on himself or his team in spite of his diminishing playing time. The Columbian discusses the Telfair trade also from the Portland point of view.
Boston was high on Telfair at the time. But by mid-season the Celtics discovered they were on the bad end of a one-sided deal. Telfair played 15 or fewer minutes in 27 games after getting benched in late December and didn’t see action in four.
The public incident draws attention away from the real questions: Why Boston gave up so much last summer for a player it’s now shooing away, and why Telfair — long sold as a kid with the potential for greatness — is seeing his career approach a crisis point.
Ouch!!! We gave up way too much to bring Telfair in. But we did rid ourselves of Raef, another trade mistake of Danny's. Danny's trades have been less than legendary. I trust him to draft, but am very worried about what trade he may come up with next. It seems that so far he has been just swapping mistakes.
Sports Illustrated has an article on Violet Palmer. She has worked her way up to officiating the playoffs and as any good official should, she has barely been noticed. I have to admit that for years, I cringed every time Violet reffed one of our games. She was terrible. But I also have to admit that she has shown improvement and has been doing a good job this season, in spite of Max's request that she return to the kitchen.
The Reno Gazette is reporting that Kevinn Pinkney was stopped for DUI. When he signed that 10 day contract, I felt he played well enough to get an invitation to our Summer League but if Danny is skittish about behavior after the Telfair incident, he may pass on him.
Finally, there is a good story on Celtics.com about West and Powe helping out in the community. If we want players with character, look no farther than than these two.
When they weren't busy planting trees or digging in the dirt, Powe and West certainly enjoyed their time with the students. While at first the students were asking the Celtics for autographs on the back of their t-shirts, the guys turned the tables on the students and had them sign their shirts as well. They were also telling Powe that they could dunk on him and chased West around the garden with a worm they'd dug up.
One student asked West, joking, "How come you're not afraid of Shaq but you're afraid of a worm?"
West took the ribbing in stride, and was happy he got the chance to be a positive influence for inner-city students as part of the event.
"They're at a vulnerable age, at the stage where you can easily be lead in the wrong direction, or pulled along in the right direction. For these students, with this program between Southwest and the Boston Celtics, that's the movement we're trying to get here in Boston, before our youth go wrong. That's what we're trying to do today."
In a basketball game, two factors determine who wins: how many points you score and how many points the other team scores. The game is becoming a wing oriented game with very few dominant centers in the league. In an era when it's easier to score than to defend, a guy who can stop the other team from scoring is more valuable than someone who can put the ball in the basket. This past season, the Celtics proved that they could put up points, but they couldn't stop the other team from scoring.
Offense may get the ooh's and ahh's from the crowd, but defense is what wins games and ultimately, championships. Defensive minded players who aren't afraid to do the dirty work are at a premium in this league. Good defense doesn't always show up on the stat sheet and so a player has to be unselfish if they commit to playing tough in your face defense. Every team needs at least one lock down perimeter defender on the team as well as a good defender in the paint. The Celtics have 2 great perimeter defenders in Rondo and Tony Allen. Perk proved this season that he can be a defensive factor in the paint. Powe is also a good defender in the paint. If we win the lottery and draft Oden, that will give us a very dominant defender in the paint at all times.
But, even with good individual defenders, there has to be good team defense and that has to come from the coach. The Mavericks didn't make it to the top tier of teams until Avery Johnson took over and made them a defensive minded team. Detroit won its championships with defense. San Antonio is known for its defense and won it's championships by concentrating on good team defense. The Heat won last year mostly because of their defense.
The Celtics have good shooters and their offense is developing, but they have not developed defensively since Doc took over as a coach. Defense has been one of our biggest weaknesses. Last season, Doc made the comment that he worked on offense in practice because that was the hardest to get and they would pick up the defense while working on offense because after all, while they were working on the offense, half the team had to play defense. Is it any wonder that the Celtics can't defend the pick and roll? The pick and roll is one of the most basic plays in basketball but yet the Celtics rarely run it and are constantly burned by it.
On the last day of the season, Danny had this to say about the team.
We need to make more of an effort at the defensive end. We need to become a better defensive team. I think the number one element of that is personnel. Doc [Rivers] had a really difficult job with the personnel we had, the inexperience, the lack of size in the backcourt. We’ve had a lot of games where Allan Ray’s been playing small forward. We need to get better defensively, it’s just that simple. Our defense just isn’t good enough.”
I agree with Danny that we need to get better defensively but I disagree that the biggest element is personnel. I think the biggest element is the coaching. Doc puts offense before defense in practice and therefore in games. If we are to become a better defensive team, it has to start with the coach. If Doc comes back, Danny needs to get him a defensive minded assistant coach who can develop the team defense. Most of our players will work on improving their defense in the offseason but until the coach realizes the importance of defense, we won't improve in that area no matter how good individual defense becomes.
I love that movie "The Air Up There" with Kevin Bacon. My favorite line in the movie is where he is teaching the natives to play ball and he tells them that "defense is more important than breathing." If only our coach had this attitude, we would be a much better basketball team.
At one time, the Celtics were a very proud franchise. They were hated by many, but respected by all. How sad it is that the Celtics have become a laughing stock and the butt of jokes all around the league. I came across this article on The Ledger and found it more depressing than funny.
Seven and a half-foot Pole declares for NBA draft Gryzbowski, AKA the Big Gryzbowski, has declared for the upcoming NBA draft despite never having played the game and being incredibly pasty white.
The only NBA general manager who seems to be interested in Gryzbowski is Boston Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge, in Krakow “just to sit by Gryzbowski’s mother for a while and nothing more."
“This guy is a prototypical NBA center—for the Boston Celtics.” Ainge said. “We look forward to drafting him and having him out there on the court with our other athletes, the Kedrick Perkinses and the Brian Scalabrines.”
The Celtics have been a laughing stock recently and that is just so sad for such a proud and storied franchise. Worse than being laughed at, however is the fact that we have become irrelevant. The Celtics' only scheduled national TV appearance this past season was cancelled. We made news only when we were losing 18 in a row. I want the Celtics to be relevant again. I want them on national TV. I want them playing on Christmas and Super Bowl Sunday again. I want them to be in the playoffs and still playing in April and May. And more than anything, I want them to find Celtic Pride again.
Well, it is that time of year. No articles on the Celtics in the Globe or the Herald. Just playoff news, which the Celtics are unfortunately not a part of. Thank goodness for the Blogs who give us something to read and talk about in this lull between the season and the lottery.
Sports Illustrated has a very eye opening piece on the Celtics and the fact that they don't have any pro-player scouts. Now wonder Danny gets the short end of the stick on so many trades but yet drafts very well.
VP Danny Ainge knows how to draft young players, and he's done an exceptional job at it. But the record shows that he doesn't apply the same investigatory work to scouting the more than 400 players in the NBA. The Celtics are vulnerable on trades for existing NBA players because they don't do their homework. While they are exceptional at seeking out the minute details of 19-year-old college sophomores, the Celtics -- unlike most of their rivals -- don't have a pro personnel scout traveling the league and collecting behind-the-scenes information on veterans who may be traded to Boston. Rival teams are fully aware that Boston is vulnerable on trades for NBA talent, but the Celtics have yet to address this weakness in their front office.
Wow! Rival teams know we are vulnerable? Is this why they can unload such great players on us as Raef Lafrentz, Dan Dickau, Chris Mills, Michael Stewart, and Telfair? If we don't get a top 2 pick, is there anyone who isn't afraid of what Danny will do with that 3rd or 4th pick?
If the Celtics want to express accountability in a meaningful way, they should spend less time worrying about a player at the end of the bench and invest more resources to improve their own administration.
Some tough words, but hopefully Danny will see them and take them to heart before making another trade that will set us back even further.
The dismissal of Indiana coach Rick Carlisle has added to the flood of experienced candidates on the market: Rick Adelman, Larry Brown, Sam Mitchell, Jim O'Brien, Stan Van Gundy, Del Harris, Bob Hill, P.J. Carlesimo and Terry Porter have all had winning seasons.
Some good coaches there and I wouldn't mind several of them on the Celtics. But I am resigned to the fact that Doc will be back, unfortunately. But what could help both Doc and the Celtics is to bring in a good assistant who can help him with defense and with logistics in the game. I wonder if Danny can talk Rick Carlisle into coming in as an assistant to Doc. Carlisle admits that his people skills aren't that good. Doc has a ton of people skills but his coaching skills aren't that hot. It seems that they would make a great team and could learn from each other and in the meantime help the Celtics. I know it is very improbable but I can dream.
Celtics Blog has an article that sorts the team into Core Guys, Outer Core - Young Veterans, Veteran Contracts, Slam Dunk Champions (I had to smile at this one), Filling Out the Roster, and Let's Make a Deal. Good analysis from Jeff.
But beyond the numbers, Gomes has done it the same way he did at Providence: By playing the proverbial right way. Never a high flier or an athletic freak, he has been forced to rely on other talents, like a knack for positioning and a high basketball IQ. He has constantly refined his game as his career has progressed; his range on his jumper continues to increase, but he has still not lost the inside toughness that defined his career at PC.
Gomes is a player who should be in the league a long time. Hard worker, good character, old school values, great BB IQ, and doesn't make many mistakes when he is on the court. While he may end up in a trade for a veteran, he would be a great player to keep around.
Boston Metro has suggestions for improving the Celtics.
“We need to make more of an effort at the defensive end. We need to become a better defensive team. I think the number one element of that is personnel. Doc [Rivers] had a really difficult job with the personnel we had, the inexperience, the lack of size in the backcourt. We’ve had a lot of games where Allan Ray’s been playing small forward. We need to get better defensively, it’s just that simple. Our defense just isn’t good enough.”
Danny obviously realizes that one of the team's biggest weaknesses is our defense. I don't believe that the number one element is personnel. The number one element was Doc. He doesn't take defense seriously enough and isn't a defensive minded coach. Any coach who expects a team to pick up defense while they are practicing offense because after all, half the team has to play defense while they are working on the offensive sets isn't going to get much out of a team defensively. Doc's number one priority has always been his offensive system. If Doc would follow Red's number 1 rule and keep it simple and work a little harder on defense, we would have a much better team.
While waiting for the lottery, my thoughts keep going back to the 1986 draft. I was so excited waiting for the draft that year. There were 2 dominant players coming out of college that season, just as there are this season. Brad Daugherty, a 7' center from the University of North Carolina and Len Bias, a 6'8" forward out of Maryland. It was assumed that they would go first and second in the draft to the lucky lottery winners. The Celtics had a chance at a top 2 pick that season, just as they do this season. The Celtics got the second pick that year by way of the trade of Gerald Henderson to the Sonics. After the Cavaliers took Daugherty, Celtics fans all over cheered as the Celtics took Len Bias with the second pick.
Bias was one of the most explosive offensive machines in Atlantic Coast Conference history. Bias was expected to be the link between the Bird era and the future championships that were sure to come. There was a lot of celebrating among the Celtics faithful. I couldn't wait for training camp to see Bias play with the Celtics' recently crowned Champion team. But then 2 days later, it all came crashing down. I was in the car and the news of Bias's death came on the radio. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach and I had to pull over to let the news sink in. I still feel that pain today thinking back on that horrible turn of events.
It is hard to say what kind of NBA player Bias would have been but those who played against him in college and those who would have played with him as a Celtic say he might have evolved into one of the most dynamic NBA stars of his era, maybe in league history. Some even say that Bias could have been the rival that Michael Jordan never really found during his legendary career. Scouting reports compared Bias to Jordan and said that Bias was a better outside shooter and might not handle the ball as well, but he was bigger and tougher.
When Bias died, Jan Volk, the Celtics GM, made the statement that his death would impact the franchise for a long time, 10 years or longer. He was right on because the team still hasn't recovered 21 years later. Of course there was the death of Reggie Lewis and the Pitino years that set us back as well, but it was the death of Bias that set this terrible string of tragedy and bad luck in motion.
Now, 21 years later, there are 2 dominant players coming into the draft and expected to go 1 and 2: Oden, a 7' center who dominates in the paint, and Durant, a 6'9 forward who can do a bit of everything on the court. Both are expected to be franchise players. Will history come full circle and with this draft give the Celtics an era of good fortune again? It would truly be eery if the Celtics get the second pick and draft Durant, and if he would choose the #30, which will soon be available. History would truly come full circle. I know it would give me goose bumps. We are due some good luck after all these years. Only 26 more days until the lottery to find out if we can start a new era or continue in this cycle of futility that started those 21 years ago when the Celtics chose Len Bias with the second pick in the draft.
NBA.com is announcing that Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors has won the Most Improved Player Award.
Ellis received a total of 352 points, including 47 first-place votes, from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The Sacramento Kings’ Kevin Martin finished second with 349 points (44 first-place votes) followed by the Utah Jazz’s Deron Williams with 101 points (13 first-place votes).
It is very sad that Al Jefferson finished only 6th in the voting with a total of 62 votes and only 2 first place votes.
Compare the increases in their stats from the 2005-'06 season to the 2006-'07 season.
Ellis improved slightly more in points per game, but Al improved quite a bit more in rebounds per game. Martin and Williams didn't improve across the board as much as Al did. In my opinion this award, and many others, are a farce. They pick players on popularity or on the success of their team instead of on the merits of the player alone. Al deserved more than just 2 first place votes.
There appears to be 2 camps forming concerning the way the Celtics handled the Telfair situation so far. SouthCoast Today and Taking It To the Rack both support the Celtics actions and feel they were right to cut ties with him right away. On the other hand, Hoopsvibe feels that the Celtics were too quick to judge him. Other Bassy news includes another article suggesting that the Knicks should bring him on board. and the Globe article suggesting that he never really belonged in Boston and some damage control from Danny saying that he is redeemable and not that bad a kid.
Celtics Blog asks the question: "Who is Tony Brown." That is a good question. For one thing, he isn't the defensive minded coach that this team needs if Doc is to stay head coach.
Former Celtics are in the news. First, ESPN reports that Rick Carlisle is out in Indy. I sure would love to see him get the chance to coach the Celtics but don't think it is possible with Danny so much in love with Doc. Second, McHale appears to be staying on as the GM in Minnesota, but with much less power as they are going to try running the team by committee. I wonder if the committe plans to keep or ship out Garnett? And finally, Ricky Davis is back in the news as his personal chef is stabbed with his own kitchen knife outside of Ricky's apartment. Ricky wasn't there, but still his name is in the middle of it.
27 days until the lottery. I am not sure I will make it through all the suspense of wondering if we will get a top 2 pick. We are certainly due some good luck after all the tragedy and terrible luck that we have had over the past 20 years. Will it end now? Whether we win or not, this offseason is going to be one of the most important in recent history.
The Celtics are a proud and storied franchise with a history that reaches back to the early days of the NBA. There have been many players who have come through the franchise, some good and some bad. We have come a long way from the glory days of the 60's, 70's and 80's. The last 20 years have been marked with tragedies and setbacks and years of mediocrity. There is finally hope for the future as we have a team full of talented young players and are in position to get a top pick in the draft. It all goes back to the last time we had a chance at a top pick in the draft.
The 1985-86 Celtics were one of the best teams ever. They lost only one game at home that season... to the Portland Trailblazers. They ended the season with a 67-15 record and waltzed through the playoffs to beat Houston in the finals for their 16th championship. Bird won his 3rd straight MVP. The Celtics were on top of the basketball world. They had won 3 titles in the 80's and had a core group of future Hall of Famers as well as a top pick in the upcoming draft.
Things were going well. The team had just won a championship behind a deep and talented team. They owned the #2 pick in the draft, from the Gerald Henderson trade to the Sonics, and chose Len Bias out of Maryland after the Cavs chose Brad Dougherty with the top pick. Bias was one of the most exciting players to ever come out of college and the future was looking bright. Two days later it would all come tumbling down and Bias would die of a cocaine induced heart attack while celebrating his selection. This was the beginning of the end for this proud franchise. During the year, injuries to key bench players forced KC to play his starters big minutes. By the playoffs, the wear and tear of all those minutes was beginning to show and they didn't have enough left to beat the Lakers and they lost in 6 games. The Eastern conference finals gave us one of the greatest plays in NBA history and a moment that every Celtic fan relives over and over. They were playing Detroit and the Pistons had a one-point lead and possession of the ball with five seconds left in Game 5 at Boston Garden. Bird stole an inbounds pass from Isaiah Thomas and fed it to a cutting Dennis Johnson for a layup and the victory.
In 1987, the Celtics picked another very promising young player from Northeastern by the name of Reggie Lewis. The Celtics were an aging team by this time. Bias, who was to lead the franchise and rejuvenate the veterans was gone and only Ainge was younger than 30.
In the 88-89 season Bird had surgery to remove bone spurs from his feet. New coach Jimmy Rodgers lead the team to only 42 wins and they were swept by Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.
In 1988 the Celtics drafted Brian Shaw but he left the team to play in Italy. Bird returned from his surgery. But age and injuries were catching up to the team. They lost to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. The next year, Michael Smith from Brigham Young was selected with the 13th pick and Dino Radja was chosen with the 40th pick. In 1990, they selected Dee Brown with the 19th pick. Chris Ford took over as coach. Things looked to be back on the right track as they jumped out to a 29 - 5 record. But then Bird developed back problems and they struggled through the second half of the season and they lost to Detroit in the second round of the playoffs.
In 1991, the Celtics chose Rick Fox with the 24th pick. This season was doomed by injuries as Bird, McHale, and Brown all missed a considerable amount of time. They were beaten by Indiana in the second round of the playoffs. Bird only played in 4 playoff games due to his back. There was a silver lining, though, as Reggie Lewis emerged as the leader and there was hope once again that the Celtics would rise behind their new leader once everyone got healthy.
As we all know, it didn't work out that way. From here on the Celtics took a steep decline and things went from bad to worse. As in recent years, the Celtics would be a mediocre team, not good enough to win a title but not bad enough to get a top draft pick. From 1992 - 1994 we would choose 21st, 19th, and 8th in the draft. Some drafts would yield a very good player at the 8th pick, but that year, the Celtics chose Eric Montross who never became a dominant player. Bird and McHale would retire due to their injuries. And once again, tragedy would strike the Celtic family. In Game 1 of the 1993 playoff series against the Hornets, Reggie Lewis collapsed on the court. He was later diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. This condition would bring tragic results in the offseason. On July 27, 1993, while shooting baskets at Brandeis University in Boston, the 27-year-old Lewis collapsed again. He was found by paramedics in complete cardiac arrest and died shortly thereafter.
Robert Parish, the last of the Big Three, left the Celtics to sign with the Hornets. ML Carr was named GM. And the Celtics finished with a 32- 50 record and didn't make the playoffs for the first time since the Celtics drafted Larry Bird. In 1995 the Celtics chose Eric Williams with the 14th pick in the draft. The League refused to give the team any cap relief due to the death of Reggie Lewis and so their hands were tied as far as signing free agents. ML Carr took over as coach. They finished the season at 35 and 47 and made it into the playoffs but couldn't get past Orlando in the first round.
In the 1996 draft, the Celtics chose Antoine Walker out of Kentucky with the 6th pick. In this, the 50th year of the once proud franchise, the team finished with a league worst 15 and 67 record. ML Carr was said to have tanked the season in order to try to land Tim Duncan in the draft. The only bright spot in the season was the play of Eric Williams and Antoine Walker.
ML Carr stepped down as coach after the season and Rick Pitino was signed as the new coach and president. In spite of having the worst record (and having tanked to get it), the Celtics picked 3rd in the draft and chose Chauncey Billups from Colorado. They also chose Ron Mercer out of Kentucky with the 6th pick. In February, Pitino pulled the trigger on a trade that sent Billups and Dee Brown to Toronto for Kenny Anderson and Popeye Jones. We traded away a very promising young player for one who was slowed by age and injury. The Pitino years would set the Celtics back years.
With the 1998 draft it appeared as though our luck might be changing when a very talented Paul Pierce fell to us with the 10th pick. Pitino's draft choices lwere Jerome Moiso in 2000 and Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joe Forte in 2001. Of those, only Joe Johnson became a player and that was after he was traded from Boston. Pitino was replaced by Jim O'Brien for the 00-01 season. Pierce and Walker were playing very well together and it appeared as though we were heading for respectability again.
The franchise posted its first 40 win season in a decade in the 01-02 season. This team had two very important things going for it. They ranked fifth in the league in fewest turnovers per game, less than 14 times per game. In fact, the Celtics finished with the fewest turnovers (1,114) of any Celtics team since 1973-74. The other thing was that this team finished the year first in the NBA in steals per game (9.67). Once again, it seemed that things were finally turning around.
There were new owners for the Celtics with the 02-03 season. Wyc and Irv Grousbeck were among the new owners and were not only owners but also fans. They continued to play tough defense and made it to the Eastern Conference finals but lost to the Nets.
The following year marked the return to the franchise of Danny Ainge as GM. Danny dismantled the existing team and started to rebuild around Paul Pierce, who had become a star in the league. His first draft brought us Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins. In his first year he made two major trades that completely revamped the team. As the 2003-04 Celtics were going through Training Camp and preparing for the upcoming season, Danny made a major move on October 20th. The team acquired center Raef LaFrentz, forward Chris Mills, guard Jiri Welsch and a 2004 First Round draft choice from the Dallas Mavericks, in exchange for Tony Delk and Celtics star Antoine Walker. Two months later, on December 15th, the team acquired veterans Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart (and a Second Round draft choice) from the Cleveland Cavaliers, in exchange for veterans Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams. The trade for Ricky was too much for O'Brien and he resigned halfway through the year leaving assistant coach John Carroll as the interim coach. Danny wasn't through and just before the trading deadline, on February 19th, the Celtics acquired veteran guard Chuck Atkins, Lindsey Hunter, a 2004 First Round draft choice and cash from the Detroit Pistons, in exchange for Mike James and Chris Mills. The Celtics made the playoffs but lost to Indiana in the first round.
Because of the trades the previous year, Danny had 3 first round picks in the 2004 draft and he chose Al Jefferson, Delonte West, and Tony Allen. The following year, Danny picked Gerald Green in the first round and Ryan Gomes in the second round. Last year, Danny added Sebastian Telfair, Rajon Rondo, Allan Ray, and Leon Powe Danny made the choice to build through the draft and gather young and talented players that he could use as trade chips. Only Paul Pierce remains from the team that Danny inherited.
This past season we once again had tragedy strike the team when we lost our beloved patriarch Red Auerbach only 4 days before the season started. Then, we lost DJ in the middle of the season. Along with the tragedy, we had injury after injury hit the team. The silver lining of the injuries was more experience for our young players and once again a chance at a top draft pick.
We have been seeing a lot of parallels between this season and the 1997 where ML Carr tanked the season to get Duncan. True, Doc did some tanking of his own this season to put us in a position to get one of the top 2 picks. But, there are even more parallels to the 1986 season. In 1986, we had a chance at a top pick and the top two picks were considered to be franchise players. The top pick was a dominant center and the second pick was a talented wing player. The '86 team was coming off a high point but it was made up of aging players. The '07 team is coming off a low point and the team was made up of very young players. The '86 is where the curse on this franchise began and 20 years later, we are still trying to break out of the string of bad luck, tragedy and mediocrity that has plagued this once proud franchise.
It is about time our luck turned around. We have paid our penance for all of the success we had in the 60's, 70's and 80's. It would be good for the NBA to have the Celtics rise from the ashes and once again be a relevant franchise. Danny has made some mistakes (Sebastian Telfair comes to mind), but he has also made some good decisions. We are due for some luck and let's hope it starts with the May 22 lottery. And that will go a long way toward bringing banner #17 to the rafters.
Conley Sr. added that the dream scenario would be for Oden to land in Boston where the Bill Russell comparisons are ongoing. The Celtics have the second best chance at the No. 1 picks behind Memphis, which has the most Ping-Pong in the lottery based on their league-worst record.
"We're in the process of laying out [the game plan for Oden]," Conley Sr. said. "He's the next generation of a big man. He's a center who wants to be a center with great athletic ability. Greg is going to be unique.
Note to David Stern... The ideal place for Oden to land for all involved is Boston. He would fit here very nicely on a team that is poised to make a run next season. Boston is a big market and a strong Celtics team would be good for the NBA. Remember back when Boston was on top? Things were very good for the NBA. Please, Mr Stern, make all our dreams come true.
ESPN is reporting that Rick Carlisle is stepping down as the coach of the Pacers. It was announced that the decision was mutual and that Carlisle felt it was time for a different voice there.
Carlisle has a 181-147 record in four seasons in Indiana and a 281-211 overall mark in six seasons with the Pacers and Detroit Pistons. But his victory total has declined each season since the Pacers won 61 games in 2003-04.
Carlisle did a great job there in spite of losing half his team to a brawl, all of the off court antics of their players including Jackson and Artest, and the huge trade this season that shook up the roster.
Carlisle says in the article that he loves coaching. He shouldn't have a problem finding another coaching job. Will Danny change his mind about offering an extension with Carlisle available? Will Doc decide to go back to his family if he can't get an extension? If anything will change Ainge's mind, this may be it. I am not getting too excited, though, since he has been pretty set on bringing Doc back.
Carlisle is a very good coach. I have wondered if the mutual admiration society between Ainge and Doc might faulter if the right coach became available. Would Carlisle be the right coach? Might make for some interesting speculation.
The news today is still buzzing about Telfair's arrest and Allen's acquittal. As Jeff reports over on CelticsBlog, the Celtics have been making too much news for all the wrong reasons. I can only hope that our fortunes are due to change and soon we will be back on the positive track.
The Globe and Herald both report on the Celtics wanting to cut ties with Telfair. According to Telfair's agent, Danny hasn't said they are going to cut him or buy him out. I expect them to try to include him in a trade first since his expiring contract could be the filler needed to make a deal work. Telfair's agent has some strong words about the Celtics decision:
“It’s a cheap shot and my client is very disappointed,” Hayes said. “It seemed to me that they were looking for an opportunity to dump this kid who has worked really hard in his life.
“He’s a hard-working guy,” he said. “He’s got some problems. He’s got some extenuating circumstances, but the bottom line is that he worked hard to get where he is and a lot of people are counting on him. The Celtics are taking advantage of this situation to get rid of him.”
A couple of things caught my attention in the Globe article. First it reports that the Celtics were trying to trade Telfair even before the season ended. So, it is obvious that they weren't happy with him even before this incident and this is the last straw. The second thing in this article that caught my attention is this:
"Why do that [make a public statement about removing the nameplate]? Why not say, 'Give it a little time. We'll see what happened.' They should show more restraint after they told him not to cooperate with police against a group of hoodlums [in the Fabolous case] who have been terrorizing athletes and celebrities across the country."
The Celtics told Telfair not to cooperate with police in the Fabolous shooting? If this is true, it doesn't speak well of the Celtics organization in spite of all their talk of doing the right thing.
There was good news from the Chicago trial of Tony Allen on aggravated battery charges. He has been acquitted of all charges, although he still faces a civil case. There are articles on this in the Globe and Herald as well. Now hopefully Tony can concentrate on his rehab without the distraction of a court case over his head. The acquittal was good news, but the best news comes in the final paragraph of the Globe article:
Ainge said recently that Allen's rehab is on course and that the Celtics expect him back on the court for training camp.
The Knickerblogger has a little piece on whether the Knicks would want Telfair or not. That might be the best place for him as he would be with his cousin Stephon Marbury and Isaiah is known for taking chances on players and he would probably bring in fans because of his celebrity there.
28 days until the Lottery... We are certainly due some good news. Maybe the Tony Allen news is the beginning of better times. Hopefully we will win the lottery (or at least place second) and all the bad things will be just a distant memory. Things have to get better, right?
Every player on the team needs to work on something this season, even the veterans. The very good players always work on something new each off season and of course, our young players are still working on becoming very good players and are still building their skill sets. With this in mind, here is what I would like to see each player work on this off season.
Paul Pierce: Pierce needs to work on getting healthy first. If his elbow needs surgery, he needs to get it done early. If not, he needs to allow it to heal and then he needs to work on strength and conditioning. He came back from his injury over weight and out of shape and he needs to get himself back into the best condition of his career. He could also use some work on free throws.
Wally Szczerbiak: As with Pierce, Wally needs to get healthy first and foremost. Then he also needs to work on strength and conditioning. Finally, Wally could use some work on his defense since that is the biggest weakness of his game.
Brian Scalabrine: Scal came into this past season in better shape than he was in his first season here, but he still needs to lose some weight and work on his conditioning. He needs to also work on his shot. He shot only 40% from the field and for a guy who is supposed to be a scorer, that isn't good.
Theo Ratliff: Theo needs to get healthy. He says he plans to come back and play next season but with all his injuries, it is hard to say how much he will be able to play. Since he missed the entire year, he will have to work on conditioning and getting his timing back. His expiring contract may be used in a trade, or Danny may hang onto it to give us room to sign our young players as their rookie contracts are up.
Michael Olowokandi: I doubt that Kandi will be back, but if he is, he needs to work on conditioning and staying healthy. He will have to work on making the roster and improving his game enough to prove that he belongs.
Delonte West: Delonte needs to work on his right hand. If Doc is going to use him as a PG, he needs to work on running the fast break and learning when to shoot and when to pass. He also could use a little fine tuning on his shot to make it more dependable as he tends to be streaky.
Tony Allen: Work hard on his rehab and come back healthy and ready to get back to where he was. He needs to work on his midrange jumper to go along with his explosive moves to the basket. One of the few players who doesn't need to work on his defense. Tony's aggravated battery case is behind him and won't be a distraction for him but he needs to work on maturing so he doesn't get into more trouble off the court (see Telfair, Sebastian).
Kendrick Perkins: Get healthy and lose the 15 - 20 lbs needed to take some of the pressure off his foot so as to avoid another bout of plantar fasciitis. He also needs to work on his inside moves to the basket on offense. He needs to work on keeping the ball up after rebounds instead of putting it on the floor. A full summer of working with Clifford Ray should be very beneficial to him. I truly expect Perk to come back in great shape and have a break out season.
Gerald Green: Green has the most work to do this offseason of anyone. He needs to work on adding strength to his body. He needs to work on his understanding of the game, his ball handling, his defense, and his footwork. Green has a tremendous upside and great athletic ability, but he is still very raw and has a lot to learn.
Ryan Gomes: Gomes did a good job last season of working on his outside shot so as to be able to play the small forward spot better. He could use more work on his outside jumper and range as well as ball handling to better equip him to play the 3. If he will be playing the 4 once again, he needs to build more muscle.
Al Jefferson: Al needs to work on adding some muscle this off season. He lost the weight last season and got himself into great shape, but could use a little more muscle to be able to battle the bigger 4's on the blocks. He also needs to work on his defense and on passing out of the post. This has improved this season (for which he credits Perk) but he could work on this a bit more to be more consistent with it since he will obviously face double teams from here on out through his career. He also could work on making that mid range jumper automatic.
Rajon Rondo: Shooting, shooting, shooting. Rondo has great defense, good handles, great instincts and the only knock on him seems to be that he needs to improve his shooting. He could also use some improvement on running the team in a half court set. If Rondo comes back with a reliable jumper, the sky is the limit for this kid.
Leon Powe: Leon needs to work on his feel for and understanding of the game. He also needs to work on extending the range on his jumper. Leon proved that he can play and in spite of being undersized, his long arms allowed him to be an effective post player and rebounder but at times looked a bit lost in the offensive sets.
Allan Ray: Basically, Ray's value is in his ability to shoot the ball. He needs to work on developing point guard skills in order to make it in the league as he doesn't have the size to play the 2 guard.
Sebastian Telfair: Telfair won't be back with the Celtics next year. From all reports, he wouldn't have been back anyway, but now the Celtics have a very good excuse for cutting ties with him. Telfair needs to work on learning to run the offense and finding the open man instead of looking for his own offense. He also needs to work on making better decisions off the court so that he can keep playing on the court.
Doc Rivers: Work on bringing in a defensive assistant and a good X and O guy to make him look better since these are his weaknesses as a coach. Otherwise, I expect the team to flounder and Doc will be fired sometime during the season. Another thing Doc could work on is simplifying his system. Red always said keep it simple and Doc has a fairly complicated system for the players to learn.
Danny Ainge: Work on getting Oden or Durant. If that fails, use the pick along with Telfair and Ratliff's expiring contracts to bring in the all star veteran that Pierce has been asking for. Get Al signed to an extension, and otherwise keep this core group together.
To help with the withdrawls that I am experiencing due to the end of the 2nd most disappointing season in Celtics History, I've been looking at a particular future 1st pick's DraftExpress profile and I start to get that ole gamblin' feelin'! Like you just bet the mortgage and let it ride! Balls out!
The Boston Globe is reporting that Tony was cleared of all charges against him from the fight outside the Chicago restaurant 19 months ago.
The Celtics' Tony Allen has been acquitted of all charges stemming from a fight nearly 19 months ago in a Chicago restaurant, according to the Globe's Peter May.
After a short trial in Chicago, Judge James Linn made the determination that the state had not made its case against Allen, who had been indicted on three counts of aggravated battery.
The decision came down around 2:15 p.m. today. Allen was present for the trial, but was not called to testify. The charges stemmed from a fight which turned into a shooting.
This is very good news considering Tony's progress last year on the court. Hopefully with this distraction out of the way, he will be able to concentrate on his rehab and be ready to get back to last season's form this season.
Front and center is a piece on the Globe Celtics Blog that reports that the Celtics are severing ties with Telfair after one year with the club.
"I wanted to let you know that we have removed Sebastian’s nameplate from his locker in Waltham. The facts and circumstances of his case have not been determined but he does not have a Celtics locker and we do not anticipate that he will," Grousbeck wrote in the email.
The Celtics have decided rather quickly to wash their hands of Telfair after his arrest. Either there is more to the story than we have been told, or they had decided to get rid of him after the season anyway and this just gives them a good reason to do so now.
The Celtics are washing their hands of him, but the Globe blog also reports that his off court exploits haven't impacted his marketability in New York. In a Herald article, his attorney insists that Telfair is the victim of circumstance and has been threatened and is a family guy in spite of the bad press:
Yesterday, Telfair’s celebrity attorney, Ed Hayes, refused to say whose gun it was but insisted that his client has been the target of threats made after the Celtics player assisted in the prosecution of four thieves who ripped a $50,000 chain off his neck outside rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ eatery in Manhattan last year.
“Sebastian is not a bad kid at all. He’s not a big fella,” Hayes said. “His life is saturated with people who prey on him. He was stuck up. He’s been threatened. He’s had pressure on him for so long,” Hayes said, adding that the threats came from associates of the thieves that Telfair picked out of a lineup. “He was 100 percent cooperative in that investigation.”
Hayes said that Telfair is “upset” at news that fans have called for him to be tossed from the team.
“He loves the Celtics. He loves Boston. He likes Boston people,” Hayes said. “He wants to play for the Celtics because it is a family-oriented team, and he is a family-oriented guy.”
I feel for the kid and it appears that he won't get a chance to redeem himself in Boston. Maybe Marbury can talk Isaiah into giving him a chance. I truly hope his career isn't over because he does have talent and could help a team if he was in the right situation.
Sports Illustrated has an article that details the needs of all the lottery teams.
What would help this team the most -- beyond being a lot healthier -- is to get a defensive stopper at any position, but getting a lockdown defender at point guard would serve the team best.
If the Celtics draft the best available player -- and it could be one of a group of talented small forwards -- they would be even more potent offensively. That might be enough to send a healthy Celtics team toward the .500 mark and a possible playoff berth next season. But Boston still wouldn't stop anybody.
I have to agree that the Celtics' biggest need is defense. But this has to start with the coach. I have mentioned this over and over but Doc's quote last season that he works on offense in practice because that is the hardest to get and they will pick up defense because after all, while they are working on offense, half the team is working on defense. This says all you need to know about Doc's coaching. He doesn't value defense and we won't get to the next level without good team defense. It appears that Doc is coming back. The only thing that will keep this team from having another poor year is if Danny would bring in a Dick Harter type assistant who can give the team a defensive mindset.
In a Chicago Sports article by Sam Smith, there are two tidbits of information of interest. First is a rumor that whatever team gets Oden may be pushed to get Mike Conley, Jr as well. Conley and Oden went through grade school and high school together and then to the same college. It isn't a far reach for Oden to want his best friend and teammate to be with him in the NBA.
It provides a potentially interesting scenario for a team like the Bulls, who are ninth in the prelottery draft order after Friday's drawing to break ties.
Say Memphis gets Oden. Would that expedite a deal for Gasol to get a top-10 pick and then Conley? Or Boston with Al Jefferson? It could put a team in an enviable position to get a veteran, and having a happy franchise center with a dynamic point guard would figure to be worth it for any team. This figures to be the most interesting draft in many years.
Former Magic assistant Clifford Ray is no fan of the way Orlando has used big men Dwight Howard and Darko Milicic. Ray told the Orlando Sentinel: "Seems like everybody is kissing Dwight's butt over there." Ray added he never has seen a player "misused" like Milicic, a free agent this summer.
Would Ray try to bring Milicic to Boston so he can work his magic with him as he has with Howard and Jefferso? (No, Doc is not the reason for Jefferson's play). Ray is a good judge of big men and what they are capable of and if he likes Darko, maybe Doc and Danny should listen.
I keep hearing it again and again and nearly every time I hear it it makes me madder.
It's honestly making me almost as mad as the pword used to make me. In fact now that I have actually seen a few of our guys fulfill their pword I am beginning to not hate it.
This whole veteran guy. Who the heck is he? What is he going to magically do? Why do we need him? What will he cost? He's a stupid media-created magic panacea of smoke and mirrors is what he is. This isn't the Patriots where Bill Belicheck has a roster of 55 players and can go out and sign like 20 blue collar vets for the league minimum and win a Super Bowl. In fact it wasn't the "vets" that won them anything. It was a rookie named Tom Brady who only was discovered when a vet named Drew Bledsoe had his lung crushed by Mo Lewis of the Jets. It was INTERNAL improvement. Then once we had Brady where did the Pats look to get more help? From rookies in the draft. Wilfork, Ty Warren, Deion Branch, Laurence Maroney, Ben Watson, Asante Samuel, Randal Gay. Did Bill make trades for "vets"? Did he trade our young assets for players that couldn't win anything on other teams? No. The Raiders and Redskins do that. That's why they are bad football teams.
And what do we have? Exact same thing. A team built from the ground up. And now people want to bail cause it took an extra two years longer and some guys got hurt. So I guess if Tom Brady gets hurt, and Bruschi, and Vrabel, and Wilson, and half the team (cause that's exactly what happened to the Celts. They lost half the team) people will want to trade away all our young players for "vets" cause the team couldn't win anything. Two words STU PID.
The other day Bill Simmons wrote like the only article I ever disagreed with. He said it's basically not fair for DA to draft Oden and then start winning and say he was successful. He says that's a lot like being made CEO of a company and being given a budget of 100mill then he loses 50 mill, goes to Vegas, puts the other 50mill on black, wins and gives back the money and says "there. See I told you I'd do well."
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! and you know how much I hate using exclamation points.
It's more like this. You know that famous sauce called Tabasco Sauce? Get a bottle. On the label. It says Avery Island. That's right outside New Orleans. It would be like if you just got made the CEO of Tabasco Sauce Inc. and you invested 100mill in the company in new equipment like (Tony Allen and Perk and GG) and you usually hire new kids out of colleges from New Orleans (like Rondo and Bassy and Clifford Ray) to use this equipment. Then you get hit by Hurricane Katrina (injuries). Suddenly half your equipment suddenly destroyed, and the other half you can't find any college kids to use it very well cause all the colleges in New Orleans were evacuated. Then suddenly your investors say, where's our money? You said we'd have a good year. What are you, and idiot? So THEN he flies to Vegas, puts it all on black (which is what every other CEO is trying to do by the way) and then your investor Bill Simmons says "you can't do that. You're not a good CEO"
What are you, an idiot?
Let's look at Dallas' roster compared to ours. I graded all their first and 2nd string guys on a scale from one to ten 5 being average.
I graded
Dampier 5 Diop 3 Dirk 10 Croshere 3.4 J Howard 9 Devean George 3.5 J Terry 8 Stackhouse 7 D Harris 7 G Buckner 4.5
That adds up to 59
So now I do the Celts when all our players are as healthy as you can expect them to be and I have assumed we get the 5th pick in the draft and get Spencer Hawes. I'm trying to figure kinda a worse case scenario
Perk 5 Hawes 3 Al J 9 Gomes 4 PP 9.5 GG 3.5 TA 6.5 Wally 3.5 Rondo 7.5 West 7
That adds up to 58.5
Ok ok. I have a problem. Maybe I should have done it out of 100. I am not saying for one second we are near the Mavs. But consider this. We lost TA's 6.5 for most of the year. We lost Wally's 3.5 for more than half the year. Perk was about a 3 for most of the year. Hawes was Kandi for most of the year and he is 1.5. We lost PP for a good portion of the year. And for Rondo it took the whole year for him to get to 7.5
My point is this. In a year or two look at our pgs. Is Rondo/West that much worse than Harris/.Buckner? Nope. In fact it's much better already. That's right. If you trade Harris/Buckner for Rondo/West the Mavs get better today and we get worse. So do we need a veteran at the pg position to win a championship? NO
Who would you rather have for the next 6 years? Dirk and Croshere or Al J and Gomes, who will cost less and are still improving? Al J is the more classic big man. Fine fine. I guess it's Dirk, but will Al J keep us from winning a championship? Heck no. Do you think Detroit wouldn't trade Sheed or Webber for him?
PP is a vet. He will be good for a while. Wally is a vet.
Perk and Hawes. Do you think they'd stay a 5 and 3 forever? Do you think Rodno won't improve at least his free throw shooting? He'll also start hitting at least the occasional 3 pointer. He might not ever keep them honest but he will keep them MORE honest than this year. Think GG will stay 3.5 forever?
Look at our 3rd stringers. Ray, Powe, and Scala. They're all pretty decent 14th/15th men, 3rd string kinda guys and that's what they are supposed to be.
I don't think Doc is great but I think as the GGs start beating out the Wally's and as the TAs make it through a full season he will play them.
We don't need a vet. We need to get better. And that's exactly what will happen.
Our average age this year was 22. That's a college team. That's like University of Florida or something even with PP and Scala, and Wally, all of whom were hurt going down the stretch when the geniouses out the were saying we were tanking.
F them
Also what vet will you get? Who will you get for GG? I guarantee you won't get an All-Star. You aren't getting Josh Howard. I don't want to settle for Cutino Mobley, even though Mobley is a vet. You won't even get unproven guys for GG, because they have pword too. You will not get Brandon Roy for GG. Maaayyybbeee you could maaayyybeee get something like a Mike Miller, and since Pau is unhappy you could maaaayyybeee send GG with our pick, but those guys won't want to leave if they can play with Oden or Durant and they cost a LOT of money.
You don't trade for a vet at this point. Ridiculous.
There were only two teams that traded their way into a championship and it was for a once in a million year guy, and the other was a FINAL piece.
Shaq would never have been traded to the Heat if it weren't for the fact that he and Kobe seemed like they were both about to go postal on each other and everyone in the room. Good luck getting a Shaq. I'm sure the Heat will let go Shaq for something that doesn't involve Al J. Yes I still pray for KG. But I'm not banking on him. The other was Sheed to the Pistons. But they didn't trade Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton for him when they had no idea how good they'd be. They traded some random thing for him when they knew exactly how good they were. And both teams had assets to go around their new guys. In the Heat's case Shaq automatically became the MAN, and Sheed didn't.
These options aren't really open to us. Not now. We can try. If we do, we'll fail. If you really want a slam dunk trade, like let's say KG or JON you will have to trade PP. Or Al J, and there is no way on Earth I'd trade Al J for that. JON keeps getting hurt and KG never won anything and makes way too much money, so I'll send them our guy who makes too much and never won anything. That's not so different that when the Heat sent Lamar Odom for Shaq.
That is a vet for a vet. We wouldn't get older. We wouldn't get veteraner. We'd get better. But we're gonna get better anyway. And getting better isn't cheap. If we send away PP and Theo Ratliff and import KG and the biggest salary in the NBA how will we pay Al J? Let alone Rondo and West.
If we sent PP, GG, Perk, West, and Gomes for KG we wouldn't get better. Or maybe we would temporarily, but that's 3 excellent backups (and Perk might show he's way more than that when healthy), an All-star, and GG (who could definitely be a good player some day) for a good player whose best days are behind him, or at least certainly the majority, never mind the fact he barely ever got out of the 1rst round.
We just have to realize our team is 22 and that next year they'll probably hit the playoffs and if not than certainly when they are 24 and then we have like 8 years of playoffs ahead of us.
What are people even worried about? That the Raptors,Knicks, Sixers or Nets will dominate the next decade? Guess what. If they get Oden they might. But if they do get Oden we'll answer them with Al J and Perk the way we did against Bosh and D Howard. And we'll throw Hawes and Powe at them too. And we'll throw Rondo and West against Marcus Williams and whoever, or Andre Miller and whoever. And we'll throw GG at Anthony Parker. And we'll throw PP at Richard Jeff. Cause we're a TEAM made up of more than one whole player. And then our players will actually BE vets. And then teams will want to offer their young guys for our guys. And when that time happens I think we'll say no unless they got desperate and offered a foolish trade which is exactly what some would have us do.
That's why DA was talking about the best trade isn't the one you do and that's why he said I think we have what we need now. And that's why he was right and Simmons was wrong.
Wyc answers questions in an article in this morning's Herald. This quote appears again:
“If you like the way Al Jefferson [stats] has played, then I think you also have to look at who coached him,” Grousbeck said, referring to Rivers. “Doc’s coaching is consistently of a very high effort. He’s out there coaching on every play. I think he also represents our organization very well. He has done a great job of being out there on our behalf.”
This really upsets me. It isn't Doc who is responsible for the improvement in Al Jefferson. Clifford Ray is the one he should be crediting. Ray is the one who is working with Jefferson. Doc is responsible for our big team improvement. Oh, that's right, there hasn't been any. The team has steadily gone down hill since Doc took over. And yes, Doc is out there coaching on every play, and he represents the organization well. He is a good guy, but he isn't a good coach. In my opinion, this whole article is just a lot of spin.
The Green Room presents a post mortem on the season including the most depressing moments from the season. The deaths of Red and DJ, losint Tony Allen the way we did, losing the season opener in a game and season dedicated to Red, all the tanking talk and injuries, and the 18 game losing streak are all definitely downers.
SouthCoast Today has yet another Celtics report card. I think they graded some of our young players little harshly but over all, pretty fair. I think I need to send them some koolaid.
Nothin' But Net has part 1 of their roster analysis. They share their thoughts on Pierce, Jefferson, Wally, West and Gomes.
The news is obviously going to slow down during periods of the off season. Right now, we are in the lull before the lottery. After the lottery there will be more draft talk and then summer league and roster changes but as of right now, not much to discuss other than looking back on the past season which can be depressing. But, maybe we should be happy because we don't need news like Telfair just made. Quiet may be a good thing.
The Celtics' 2006-07 season had a bit of all three: good, bad and ugly.
The Good We saw the emergence of Al Jefferson and Rajon Rondo. Al proved this season that he is one of the better big men in the league. Last season many were ready to give up on him and felt he was soft. When he finally had surgery to have the bone chips removed from his ankle, he came back this season with a lot to prove and for the most part, he proved it. He came back from an emergency appendectomy in just 2 weeks after they estimated 4-6 weeks recovery time. He averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He is also promising that he is just scratching the surface of his talent and will come back even better next season. That is something to be excited about.
Rondo started off slowly, playing behind Telfair and West. When he finally started getting playing time, he quickly moved in front of Telfair and West and was our starting PG down the stretch. The knock on Rondo at the beginning of the season was that he couldn't shoot. But by the end of the season, his shot had improved immensely. Over the final 9 games of the season, Rondo averaged 14.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.44 steals per game while shooting 57% from the field. With his quickness, he was able to get to the basket and draw fouls where he shot almost 80% from the line down the stretch, including clutch free throws to tie the game against Detroit. He is quick, has great hands, plays good defense, and can run the offense better than any PG in recent memory. He finished the year as #9 on the Rookie Rankings.
Gerald Green winning the Slam Dunk contest was definitely a high spot for me. It gave us something to be proud of in a season that offered very little to take pride in. I even got a Gerald Green Slam Dunk Champion tee shirt. I just wish his season had gone better.
The good also includes the fact that we have a chance at the top pick in this season's draft that has not one, but 2 franchise players at the top. If we can land Oden or Durant, all the suffering will have been worth it. If our bad lottery luck continues and we get the 3rd or lower pick, we can trade it to bring in the veteran help that Pierce has been asking for. Either way, this draft has the potential of making us a much better team.
The Bad After giving up the 7th pick in the draft to get him, Telfair sank from starter to 3rd string as the year wore on. His defense was sub par and he also was unable to run the offense efficiently. It was obvious by the end of the year that the Telfair experiment was a bust. In the meantime, Brandon Roy is the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year.
Gerald Green comes with a ton of potential and he seemed to be making strides in the first part of the season. But as the season wore on and down the stretch, he seemed even more lost on the court than he was last season. One thing I noticed is that toward the end of the season, he hesitated on his shot. He is best when shooting off the catch and not taking too much time to think it out. But in his last few games, he seemed to be thinking too much. He would fake and then always dribble in a few steps. He seemed to be losing his confidence and took a step back in his development at the end of the season.
The team was hit by injury after injury starting with training camp and not letting up until the end of the season. West missed significant time with assorted injuries from a bad back to an infected toe. Ratliff played in only 2 games as he sat out with a bulging disc in his back. Wally had one sprained ankle after another until he finally shut it down to have surgery. Pierce went out with s stress reaction in his foot for what was originally to be 2 weeks but ended up missing 24 games with the foot and when he finally came back from that injury, he suffered a recurrence of the elbow injury that caused him to have surgery in the off season. He misses a total of 35 games this season after missing only a handful of games in his previous 8 years in the league.
Perk was over his shoulder surgery and was poised to make a leap this season when he was plagued with plantar fasciitis. He played through pain most of the season and in spite of that, improved quite a bit and should be able to make a leap next season just as Al did this season. Kandi was signed to be able to fill in should there be injuries but while Perk was battling the foot injury and Ratliff was battling the back injury, Kandi tore a muscle in his abdomen and was out as well. Doc joked that he had 21 feet of center on the injured list. Gomes also missed considerable time with a calf injury and then a foot injury. Tony Allen's injury will be addressed in the "ugly."
I can't leave the bad from the season without addressing Doc's coaching. He got a pass from many because of all the injuries, but we still saw many of the same coaching mistakes that he made in the first two years of his tenure. In spite of seeing improvement in several of our young players, the team as a whole did not improve. Doc still uses strange rotations and will take out a unit that is doing well and break up the momentum that they are building. He puts in a small lineup against a bigger opponent when we don't have any rebounders. He still doesn't have a clue on defense and hasn't gotten the team to effectively run a pick and roll. In spite of this, Danny and Wyc are still making noises about signing him to an extension and this is most unfortunate.
The Ugly
Perhaps the worst injury was when Tony Allen crumbled to the floor after missing a dunk after the whistle on a foul. Before the injury, Tony was reaching another level in his play. He was a force on offense and defense and was becoming a leader on the team. He was our best perimeter defender and his energy set the tone for the rest of the team. Then in one sickening moment, his season was over and the air was let out of the team. This may have been the worst point of the season. We can just wait and hope that Tony can get back to where he was before the injury.
As a result of the injuries and to some extent, our inexperience, the team went on am 18 game losing streak. It set a new team record for consecutive losses but stopped just short of the league record. We finished with a 24-58 record, worst in the East and second worst in the league. We won only 12 games at home, a far cry from the 1986 team who lost only 1 home game all season. This streak was truly ugly.
The season started with the death of our beloved patriarch, Red Auerbach only 4 days before the season. The season was dedicated to Red's memory and it is truly ugly that a season this bad was dedicated to a man that great. Mid season, the team lost another great when Dennis Johnson died of a heart attack. There was a pall cast on this season from start to finish.
The games against Milwaukee and Charlotte were very ugly and obvious tank jobs by the coach. The team played hard, but with Doc using Ray down the stretch as the PG along with Telfair at the 2 and not calling a time out to set up the final play with an inexperienced PG leading the team, it was obvious that we didn't want to win those games. Gomes admitted as much in his quotes that caused quite a furor on the blogs across the internet and are reported to have David Stern asking to meet with him. How low this once proud franchise has sunk.
And finally, just when we thought this season was over and we could look toward next season, Telfair hits the news with an arrest for carrying a loaded gun under the seat of his car, driving without a valid driver's license, and going 77 in a 45 mph zone. Telfair is most likely done in Boston and may be done in the league, which is a shame.
"Are You Green!?" (This phrase is trademarked, copyrighted, licensed, rented, and sold, but bought back again at a discount. Slogan. Brand. Motto. Not for human consumption. Public Performance. In other words, mine, Scoop! j/k)
You ever wish you had a cool signature image like other forum kids? Well, I've decided to stop sucking at graphics and really try hard to make cool signatures and avatars. When I talk to myself, I say these are cool. Now, you can be cool too!
Most are 20k and under! But wait! It gets better...no it doesn't. Here's the pics...
I expect the Celtics news to taper off from now until the lottery and then there will be more. There is still some news out there to talk about now, though. The Herald discusses Ainge's upcoming make or break off season. Ainge accepts the blame for the fact that things haven't worked out as he had hoped.
Those who have worked with Ainge here and elsewhere will tell you one of his major assets is he will not let the rantings of fans and media deter him from what he believes is right.
I think it is good that he has stuck with the young talent on this team this far. Hopefully, he should have a very good idea of who is going to be capable of getting to the next level by now and won't make the mistake of trading away another Chauncey Billips, Ben Wallace, or Joe Johnson.
Peter May has a rambling column in the Globe this morning touching on everything from the refs to coaches on the move. He agrees with the assessment that Telfair is on his way out the door and he refutes the fact that injuries is what put the Celtics at the bottom of the league. He also discusses Crawford's suspension and other refs who have been in hot water over the years.
Sports Illustrated brings up the problems of trying to trade a player like Telfair who has courted trouble off the court and has shown marginal talent on the court. I don't believe he will be back with the Celtics, but will he be out of the league completely?
Scott Souza addresses several subjects in his column today. Danny is sticking to his plan, even though it is taking longer than he hoped. Wyc is standing behind both Danny and Doc, even though early on, he seemed to agree with the fans and was ready to see Doc gone.
"Doc will be coaching here next year," Grousbeck said this week. "I am very impressed with the work that he has done and I look forward to talking with him after the season, and with my partners, and seeing if we can work out a long-term deal.
"I think if people like the way Al Jefferson has been playing then you have to look at who coached him the last three years," he added.
Wait a minute here!! Doc is responsible for Jefferson's improvement? Not likely. The finger should be pointed toward Clifford Ray when discussing Big Al's improvement. Doc doesn't have a clue how to develop, let alone use a big man. His ideal big is Raef who stands out on the 3 point line and "stretches the defenses." I am very concerned that Wyc is talking about giving Doc a long term deal. The only way Doc should even come back is if we add a very good defensive assistant and maybe even a good X and O coach to help him. Maybe somehow, Doc will be convinced that he needs to spend more time with his family and will step down and Danny can bring in Rick Carlisle when Larry cans him. Also in this article is the fact that Green, Rondo, Powe and Ray all are planning on playing on the Celtics Summer League team. Ray would have to have his option picked up before June 30 to play, however.
The Enterprise reports that Doc and Danny had a free pass last season due to the youth and injuries but that free pass is now over. Whether Doc gets an extension or not, if he starts off slowly, I expect him to be gone. By then it would be obvious even to Danny that the coach is the problem and not the team. I have seen so many writers say something to the effect that Danny has accumulated a talent laden team but they just can't put it together. We have seen individual improvement in most of our young players, but haven't seen team improvement. This has to be the fault of the coaching. The Sun Sentinel has a good article on the struggles of Ainge, Bird and McHale in their roles as GM. All are on the hot seat and all have big summers ahead of them and will need to make moves to improve their teams. I honestly feel that of the 3, Danny has done the best job. We do have a lot of talent on the team and a lot of options. Now, if only we had a coach who knows what to do with all that talent. Bird has the coach, but not the players. McHale doesn't have much of anything except Garnett. I have a feeling that it is going to be a very interesting and active off season.
To help with the withdrawls that I am experiencing due to the end of the 2nd most disappointing season in Celtics History, I've been looking at a particular future 1st pick's DraftExpress profile and I start to get that ole gamblin' feelin'! Like you just bet the mortgage and let it ride! Balls out!
