Tag: Boston Celtics (Page 25 of 39)

      Ray-Ray, Rondo on the block?

      June 5, 2009 /

      6/23 Update: The C’s have reportedly offered Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen to the Detroit Pistons.

      Yes, according to HoopsWorld.

      Off the record, we have several sources telling us that Ray Allen is, indeed, on the block. It’s easy to make the leap, as the Celtics have managed to develop some nice young talent around their Big Three while also managing to win a championship. They might have even repeated had Kevin Garnett been healthy. It’s not a stretch to say the Celtics would part with Allen, who has an ending contract next season, if they could add another top young player to the mix.

      On the record we have an added wrinkle – one that we thought to be highly unlikely until we found it reported with a quote attributed to Celtics GM Danny Ainge. It seems the Celtics are willing to package Rajon Rondo with Allen to make the right deal happen

      “He’s stubborn,” Ainge told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullen. “He doesn’t always take direction well. He’s very bright and knows what he needs to do to be successful. But sometimes he doesn’t understand what the team needs to be successful.”

      Doc Rivers expressed similar sentiments, which he directed at Rondo himself earlier this season.

      “Do you know your teammates hate playing with you? … The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team. You can’t be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it.”

      At the same time, Rondo has guys like Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins saying he’s their leader and they believe in him. And while there is a great deal to be said for patience and seeing if Rondo will improve as much next season as he did in 2008-09, there is certainly a lot of negativity coming from the decision-makers – enough to fuel trade speculation.

      Wow. That’s the first I’ve heard about any problems with Rondo’s attitude.

      It’s shocking to me that Danny Ainge is thinking about breaking up the core that won a championship less than a year ago. It’s not like they had the same group this season and failed to advance. They missed the Conference Finals (and probably the Finals) because Kevin Garnett missed the playoffs with a knee injury. You’d think that Ainge would be focused on getting everyone healthy enough to make another run, not thinking about trading away two of his starters.

      NBA, NBA Finals, News, Rumors & Gossip

      What do the Cavs do now?

      May 31, 2009 /

      This is not how it was supposed to go.

      The Cavs were destined to make the Finals and face the Lakers, with LeBron turning in a fantastic Game 7 performance in front of his loyal fans at the Q to bring the city of Cleveland its first championship since 1964. With a title already under his belt, and a few more on the horizon, he would happily re-up for another four or five seasons. Or at the very worst, the Cavs would lose to the more talented Lakers, leaving fans with the feeling that “one more piece” would be all that is needed to finally bring a title to Cleveland. Under that scenario, there would be no way that LeBron could leave, right? Not when the Cavs were thisclose to a title…

      Just over a year ago, I wrote that “The Cavs have failed LeBron James,” which was posted about three months before GM Danny Ferry pulled the trigger on the trade that brought Mo Williams to Cleveland. That trade, along with LeBron’s renewed focus and an improved work ethic (which was inspired by his seeing first hand how Kobe prepared during the 2008 Olympics), pushed the Cavs to a league-best 66 wins this season. Williams was named as an alternate to the All-Star Game (after grousing about not being voted in by the coaches) and all was well with the world.

      The Cavs received some more good news when Kevin Garnett struggled with injuries down the stretch of the regular season and was eventually shut down for the playoffs. At the time, the Celtics were considered the Cavs’ biggest threat in the East, but KG’s injury might have allowed the Magic, one of four teams that beat the Cavs twice during the year — the Celtics, the Lakers and…um…the Wizards were the other three — to advance to the Conference Finals when they otherwise wouldn’t have survived to face the Cavs. The Magic were a very bad matchup because the Cavs simply didn’t have anyone that could cover Dwight Howard. When they didn’t double-team him, he would make a living on the post, and when they did send another guy, it would free up the Orlando sharpshooters for open jumpers.

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      College Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, NBA Finals, Rumors & Gossip

      Defense, long ball key Magic win

      May 18, 2009 /

      If you didn’t watch Game 7 of the Boston/Orlando series last night, you might look at the score (101-82) and assume that the Magic controlled the whole game. Not so. Orlando held a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but an 8-0 run by the Magic at the start of the period pushed the lead to 13, and they went on to a 35-point quarter and a series victory.

      In the first six games of the series, Orlando’s recipe for a win was pretty simple — defense. In their wins (Game 1, Game 3 and Game 6), the Magic held the Celtics to less than 44% shooting from the field. In their losses (Game 2, Game 4 and Game 5), the Celtics shot better than 44%. In Game 6, the Magic held the C’s to just 39% shooting.

      The other major factor was the the Magic’s accuracy from long range. Early in the series, Orlando had the touch from three-point land, shooting a combined 26 of 64 (41%) in the first three games. In Game 4, Game 5 and Game 6, the Magic shot just 17 of 77 (22%) from deep. In Game 7, the Magic hit a stellar 13 of 21 (62%) of their threes, and it’s tough to beat a team when they are that hot from long range.

      What was the difference? Boston’s perimeter defense is pretty good, but Orlando did an outstanding job of moving the ball crisply and cleanly, and the C’s just couldn’t chase down all of the Magic’s shooters.

      Hedo Turkoglu was the star of the game, posting 25 points, 12 assists and five rebounds, while hitting 4 of 5 from long range. Four other Orlando players — Rashard Lewis (19), Mickael Pietrus (17), Rafer Alston (15) and Dwight Howard (12) — scored in double figures to provide a balanced offensive attack.

      With the loss, the Celtics go home for the summer. They face another offseason where they may lose one or more of their key contributors. Last year, it was James Posey (signed with the Hornets) and P.J. Brown (retirement) who left, while this summer both Glen Davis and Leon Powe are free agents. Boston’s payroll is quite high ($73.7 million), so whether or not these players come back depends on how far over the luxury tax the Celtics’ ownership is willing to go. The luxury tax for next season probably won’t change from its level this year ($71.1 million), so any contract that Davis or Powe signs with the C’s will have to be matched dollar-for-dollar in luxury tax. For example, if they sign Davis to a four-year deal worth $16 million, that contract is going to cost the C’s an additional $4 million per season as long as they are over the luxury tax threshold.

      NBA, NBA Finals, News

      Couch Potato Alert: 5/15

      May 15, 2009 /

      It has been over 30 years, but is this finally the year that we’ll have another Triple Crown winner? Mine That Bird carries the hopes of the entire horse racing community into the Preakness on Saturday, as this sport desperately needs a feel-good story.

      Sunday going to be a special day for all couch potatoes. We have an original six matchup in the NHL Western Conference final and not one but two Game 7’s in the NBA playoffs. Enjoy!

      All times ET…

      NBA Playoffs
      Sun, 3:30 PM: Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC)
      Sun, 8 PM: Orlando Magic @ Boston Celtics (TNT)

      NHL Playoffs
      Sun, 3 PM: Chicago Blackhawks @ Detroit Red Wings (NBC)

      MLB
      Sat, 4:10 PM: New York Mets @ San Francisco Giants (Fox)
      Sun., 1 PM: Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees (TBS)
      Sun., 8 PM: New York Mets @ San Francisco Giants (ESPN)

      Horse Racing
      Sat, 4:30 PM: The Preakness Stakes (NBC)

      Couch Potato Alert, MLB, NBA, NHL, Television

      Celtics’ gamble on Marbury pays off…finally

      May 13, 2009 /

      I missed the start of the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Celtics/Magic series, but apparently there was a Stephon Marbury sighting. Check out this series from the play-by-play log:

      11:22 Stephon Marbury enters the game for Ray Allen
      11:04 Stephon Marbury makes 19-foot jumper (Paul Pierce assists)
      10:26 Stephon Marbury makes 21-foot jumper (Paul Pierce assists)
      8:30 Stephon Marbury makes 24-foot three pointer (Brian Scalabrine assists)
      7:56 Stephon Marbury makes 21-foot two point shot
      7:16 Glen Davis makes 6-foot hook shot (Stephon Marbury assists)
      5:54 Stephon Marbury makes 6-foot two point shot
      5:54 Stephon Marbury makes free throw 1 of 1
      5:26 Stephon Marbury misses layup
      4:54 Rajon Rondo enters the game for Stephon Marbury

      That’s 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting, with an assist to Davis. The Celtics didn’t make up any ground during Marbury’s six-and-a-half minute stint — when he entered and exited the game, the C’s were down by the same margin, 10 — but his hot shooting helped Boston avoid disaster. The Magic built a 14-point lead with 8:48 to play, but Marbury’s play helped whittle it down to eight with just under six minutes remaining.

      Keep in mind that prior to this hot streak, Marbury had played a total of 138 playoff minutes in 11-and-a-half games, shooting 14 of 55 (25%) from the field and scoring just 36 points. So, yes, his 12-point stint in the fourth quarter was shocking, and the Celtics probably wouldn’t have been able to pull out Game 5 without it.

      NBA

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