C's out West

It's been a strange trip over the last few days as I've watched segments of the C's last 2 games in bars across New England. Strangely not everyone in New England likes watching them right now. How did it get to the point that some people want to watch the ending of the Motor City Bowl (Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee!) instead of C’s/Nuggets? My arguments:

1. The C’s are young and exciting, especially Big Al, Gerald Green and out of nowhere Tony Allen.
2. Iverson is playing for a new team against guys that Danny Ainge refused to move for him.
3. Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee?!

So this argument went on at two separate bars and I kind of won. But then the C’s came out and didn’t really play a whole lot of defense. And at times it looked like Doc had preseason type lineups out there. Some other aspects that stood out:

- At one point Brian Scalabrine was guarding Iverson. I’ve gained a better understanding of what Scal can bring to this team. However, this should never ever happen.

- Tony Allen drove to the hoop in the 4th and shoved Iverson in the chest. Tony scored, Iverson yelled and there was no foul. Iverson of course was pissed and finished the C’s off down the stretch. But it got me thinking. If Gerald Green had done that I would have been worried that Iverson or his posse might intimidate the youngster. But not Tony Allen. Just ask MarkTwain Johnson.

- Check Bassy’s locker for a Delonte West voodoo doll.

- I caught Mike Gorman on WEEI and he swears that Big Al and Gerald are legit. He also says that Al’s stats have been meaningful, which is not always the case in the NBA. As Gorman pointed out teams don’t get shut out and someone has to get stats. It’s nice to separate Al’s 16 points and 15 boards from Allen Ray’s 12 points.

- The C’s lost by 11 but I never felt like they were threatening to pull out a W.

- Overall there are reasons to be hopeful but this team has a long way to go.

The Clippers Game:

This time I was a little further north and the C’s were a later start. But the Emerald Bowl (FSU and UCLA) was a bigger draw. Especially with the Seminoles lighting it up at the end. Eventually I settled on watching the C’s alone in a friend’s den. The fact that Boston is a bad team without Paul Pierce was strongly reinforced. Next stop: Golden State. Unfortunately I'm in Canada where they have SportsCentre and a lot of hockey. Things will be back to normal on Monday.