Thanksgiving Break

I thoroughly enjoyed my Thanksgiving break and some time away. Highlights included getting soaked by uncooperative weather at a high school football game, playing an intense game of NBA Live 95 (Chris Corchiani was prominently involved), and making my first late night Domino’s visit in a few years. Unfortunately I was only one of three people to show up for a planned tackle football game. This only reaffirmed the fact that plans made at 2 A.M. often fall apart, particularly when they are supposed to occur before 10 A.M. Speaking of things falling apart. That is exactly what happened to Celtics Bandwagon over the last couple of days. However, I do have some scattered thoughts on the Celtics’ recent uninspired performances.

- Realistically this two game slide was good in the sense that it reminded everyone that the Celtics have a long way to go. They are a painfully young team and it’s still unclear what the core will be as they move forward. Also while I’m not leading the charge against Doc, I would say that the C’s do not appear to be well coached at times.

- I listened to Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell broadcast the Knicks game on WEEI. They made some good points. For example the Celtics were playing the first night of back-to-back games. The second game will be on the road against a Milwaukee team that is coming off two free days. This is not a good scenario and Maxwell stressed the importance of winning the Knicks game. We all know how that ended. Meanwhile, Grande and Maxwell make Tommy Heinsohn look neutral at times. I’ll try to recreate a few of their calls:

- “That crash you heard was Eddy Curry coming back down to the floor.” – Grande moments after the tip off.

- “You ever lose your cell phone?” – Grande
- “Yes.” – Maxwell
- “The worst part of that is losing all of your contacts. It looks to me like Eddy Curry lost his cell phone and trainer Tim Grover’s number. He might have found another number though.” – Grande
- “Patrick Ewing!” – Grande and Maxwell in unison.

- Needless to say Grande and Maxwell were all over Curry, and to a lesser extent Ewing, throughout the game. Grande did point out that Curry leads the Knicks in personal fouls, turnovers and missed free throws. Despite those stats and the mocking from the broadcast team, Curry had his way against the C’s. As a side note how did he get Charles Oakley's number?

- Granted I only listened to the Knicks game, but it seemed like David Lee was absolutely dominant at points.

- Did Isiah Thomas find the C’s kryptonite in the form of zone defense? It does make sense in a way. When the C’s become a jump shooting team they do not have success.

- The most discouraging aspect of the C’s first 12 games has to be whom they’ve played. They are 4-8 without making a western road swing yet and and have only seen 2 Western Conference teams (Jazz and Blazers). Only 5 of the 15 Eastern Conference teams are at .500 or better. Compare that to 10 out west where only the Grizzlies are legitimately terrible. This means 2 things:

1. The Celtics have tougher stretches of games to come.

2. The Atlantic Division (no teams at .500 or better) is so bad that the C’s are only a game back of the division leading Nets and Sixers.

- I refuse to root for a tank job in the hopes of drafting Greg Oden as the Tim Duncan debacle still burns. Anytime you accept losing bad things happen. Speaking of Duncan. I winced when I saw him get rejected by the rim a few nights back. But then last night I saw him dribbling through his legs before banking a wing jumper against Erick Dampier. The next possession Duncan drove strong to the lane for a hook shot over Dirk Nowitzki. What could have been...

Other Random Thoughts

- When it comes time for Tyler Hansbrough to go pro I’m going to remember his struggles against Gonzaga as New Englanders dream about yet another second coming of Larry Bird.

- If I were a Boston College basketball fan I would be worried.

- I tried to listen to the Big Show on WEEI earlier in the week. It was terrible. In the first hour and fifteen minutes they did exact same long, annoying promo twice. They had a huge argument about whether or not Glenn Ordway has purposely Fred Smerlas’ career. Never mind the fact that Smerlas brings nothing to the table. The bigger issue is that the Big Show crew discussed little to no sports. I can live with the fact that they don’t care about Celtics. But how can a collection of self-proclaimed football guys completely ignore Dr. Z’s analysis of Richard Seymour, the Patriots’ best defensive player?

“Let's take a look at all-pro DE/DT Richard Seymour. Against the Colts he stomped on Tarik Glenn's head and got fined for it. Albert Haynesworth did the same thing and got bounced for five games. I watched Seymour when the Pats lost to the Jets. Biggest dog you've ever seen on the field. No effort, no technique, I mean tight ends were steering him around like a VW. OK, maybe he was hurt. You never know with this club. Against the Packers' struggling O-line he was Mr. All-Pro again, hustling, making plays.” – Dr. Z

- You have to love Notre Dame fans. Even though their team was exposed by Michigan and then want on to play a joke schedule, they have been arguing that the Irish deserve a chance to play Ohio State. Now USC is threatening to run Notre Dame right out of the stadium. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.