Around the NBA

- The players' association is upset with the emphasis on technical fouls and the new ball. I was of the opinion that over time these issues would blow over. Now I'm not so sure.

- "He looks like he's in very good shape and able to play longer stretches. He wasn't able to as much last year." - Scott Skiles on Tyson Chandler. I'm not sure that justifies the Bulls' off-season move (ESPN Insider).

- I know it’s all over the web but Nate Robinson’s ill-fated razzle dazzle and subsequent quote, "I'm just spontaneous. That's Nate Robinson. Spontaneous Nate Robinson. It comes out in the spur of the moment” were pure gold.

- The Pistons (8 straight wins) and Mavericks (11 straight wins) are rolling.

- There may be an epic Mark Cuban/David Stern altercation looming.

C's/Raptors - 12/1/06

- The Toronto Raptors are 6-10. However, they have lost on the road to the Kings, Warriors, Lakers, Nuggets, Jazz and Mavericks. They also fell to the Spurs at home. Contrast that with the Celtics who have only played two western conference teams (Jazz and Blazers) and have not traveled west of Milwaukee. In fact outside of two losses to the Hawks, the Raptors have good reason to feel optimistic. They have survived a tough part of their schedule and are still contending in their albeit weak division.

While the Air Canada Centre did not appear to be full last night, it was loud.

Much like Tommy Heinsohn and Mike Gorman I like Chris Bosh a lot. Although I wonder how far he can take a team as the franchise player. Does he have a higher ceiling than Kevin Garnett?

I’m hoping that Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak are healthy. But you have to admit that it would be fascinating to see the team play without them. Most likely ugly, but fascinating nevertheless.

The Raptors have a very interesting collection of players. Towards the end of the game they dominated the Celtics on one defensive possession. While I often laugh when coaches and broadcasters marvel about a team’s “length”, it definitely helped stifle a possible C’s comeback. Szczerbiak in particular struggled to get his shot off last night.

From the Raptors’ website: “The Raptors continued their winning ways at Air Canada Centre Friday as they handled the Boston Celtics 106-102. Chris Bosh led the way with 25 and 11.” I think a team needs to win by at least 15 if they are going to “handle” an opponent. Of course I’m just bitter.

I really need to sit down and look at each possession that Brian Scalabrine plays. I’m pretty sure he’s not as bad as he is made out to be. However, there are expectations when you give a guy 3 million dollars a year. Doc speaks highly of Scalabrine, "Scal was phenomenal. Scal was the only guy on our team that could guard Chris Bosh. That's a joke. Chris Bosh is a great player, so I'm not taking anything away from him. I'm just saying someone else on our team besides the smallest big on our team should be able to guard him. I didn't want to take him off the floor." Are Boston fans being unfair?

I’d love to know how many of these jerseys the Celtics are moving a day.

The Swirsk

Chuck Swirsky, of Toronto Raptors fame (see last post), has his own blog. It’s called “Chuck Checks In – The Swirsk’s Official Weblog.” That’s right he refers to himself as the Swirsk. For example: “NFL picks to click... Rex Grossman has got to deliver against the Vikings and the Swirsk says ‘Book IT.’ Bears by 14.” He’s like a less famous Chris Berman.* I hope Gerald Green pulls a Tracy McGrady tonight.

*At Celtics Bandwagon it is not good to be compared to Chris Berman.

Gerald Green vs. the Raptors

As you may know one of Gerald’s fingers is shorter than the other nine due to a childhood injury. While this does not appear to hurt his game, which is somewhat amazing, the shorter ring finger is important for one reason: it is the source of one of the most secretive feuds in all of sports – Gerald Green vs. the Toronto Raptors.

It all started in the waning moments of a C’s/Raptors game in the spring of 2006, Green’s rookie year. In fact it was Wednesday March 22nd at the TD Banknorth Garden. The C’s were cruising to a 110-96 victory when Tony Allen and Green decided to add insult to defeat. Predictably Tommy raved about Gerald’s “terrific athletic ability.” However, not everyone was impressed. In fact Toronto Raptors’ announcer Chuck Swirsky was appalled. And to the untrained eye this was just more boorish behavior by a NBA player or another righteous middle aged white guy overreacting, depending upon your viewpoint. To the untrained eye. Watch the Swirsky tirade clip again. This time pay attention to Pape Sow in the lower left hand corner (pictured left) after the Raptors called a timeout. Notice how he throws the shocker as a mock gesture at Gerald. If a guy shows up a team the best response is a hard foul or an equally humiliating basketball play. I think Sow crossed the line. Regardless Swirsky did not see Sow’s display and probably would not have understood it if he had. However, as Chuck’s partner seemingly tried to ease the tension he uttered some fateful words, “Well the Raptors play ‘em again in a few weeks so we’ll see…”

Play they did on Tuesday April 4th. And this was the night Gerald officially won me over. It’s one thing to throw down a highlight reel windmill at the end of a victory. It’s another thing to do it with a vengeful, vindictive purpose. He thought about if for two weeks and then delivered. Did Tommy mock Swirsky for good measure? Is there any doubt?

“I wonder if Chuck got upset there.” - Tommy Heinsohn

2 final points:

1. If Gerald had blown that dunk the C’s could have conceivably lost or at least gone to overtime.

2. This is one of the great examples of how 2 announcers can react differently to the exact same play, depending upon their allegiances. Thank you YouTube.

Carlos Boozer has played well

If you're watching the Lakers/Jazz game on TNT later tonight, take some time to reflect on all the idiots who were critical of Carlos Boozer. There's just no room on the Celtics for a guy who averages 21.9 points and 12.8 rebounds per game while shooting a high percentage (.569) from the field.

Take a number

Paul Forrester of SI.com joins the horde of journalists lining up against Doc Rivers:

1. Doc Rivers' revolving door
It's not just that players such as Kendrick Perkins play 29 minutes one night and 13 a few later. It isn't just that promising rookie Leon Powe sits for the first game of the season, plays in the next four and sits again in two of the next three. It's that someone like Brian Scalabrine plays more often than a promising sophomore such as Gerald Green. The poster boy for brain-typing as a player evaluation tool, Scalabrine, who is supposed to have the same brain type as Michael Jordan, is averaging 1.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.27 blocks a game -- and he's 6-9. Scalabrine isn't a culprit as much as a symptom of Rivers' inability to define roles. And when a big part of your job as a coach is to develop a roster littered with inexperienced talent, uncertainty doesn't help breed confidence -- or wins.

Who knew?

I had no idea that Florence Griffith-Joyner was responsible for one of the Indiana Pacers' jerseys.

Yeah what he said.

It's never good to be the focus of the ESPN's Daily Dime after a loss. But in this case it is terrrible.

C's/Nets - 11/29/06

The Boston Celtics are a young, inconsistent team. Forget about the back-to-back losses to the Bobcats and the Knicks. Tonight was the greatest example of how far this team has to go. The Nets were reeling from an abysmal west coast road trip and six straight losses heading into the second game of a back-to-back. Meanwhile the Celtics were rested after a few days of practice, which Doc stresses. Of course the Nets looked sluggish in the first 24 minutes but only trailed by three at the half. So what happened? Jason Kidd caught fire in the third, Vince Carter decided to play the second half and Richard Jefferson made some big shots down the stretch. Yes it’s the NBA and everybody makes a run but the C’s need to learn how to put a team away. I hate the fact that with 9:32 to go in the game and the Celtics leading by 10, I started wondering how they would blow the lead. Overall it was a difficult loss to take especially the way Pierce and Szczerbiak blew the last two possessions.

Celtics Notes

Sebastian Telfair – He’s growing up as a professional basketball player right in front of our eyes. He’s got a quick first step and finishes well. And now he’s starting to drive and dish. There’s something to be said for giving a guy consistent minutes and letting him develop as a player. Perhaps there is something else at play here as well. In his book A Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football Dr. Z discusses his attempt to play football at Stanford. As an east coast guy he never fit in and ended up at Columbia. Maybe a similar thing happened to Bassey and he never felt quite right in Portland. Whatever the reason he is quietly coming into his own in his third season as a pro. As much as I love Rajon Rondo, Telfair is the right man for this team. Also if you know people interested in football that know absolutely nothing about it, give them Dr. Z’s book. You know like Merril Hoge

Al Jefferson – Talk about growing up in front of our eyes. Please stay healthy.

Brian Scalabrine – I was so floored by his 2 three pointers that I had to call someone else to discuss the surreal nature the game was beginning to take on. And then he started a Nets fast break with a turnover. I never should have made that phone call. He crashed back down to earth within seconds. But here’s the thing I don’t understand. Mike Gorman commented on how Scalabrine really wanted to perform against his original team. This is not like Telfair matching up against the Portland Trailblazers after they shipped him out of town and questioned his decision-making and shooting abilities. I’m pretty sure Scalabrine wasn’t expecting a 5 year, 15 million dollar offer from the Celtics. He can’t be holding a grudge against the Nets for not losing their minds. Once a guy is nicknamed “Veal” he probably loses any vindictive streak.

Tony Allen – He’s not bringing anything to the table right now and is caught in a catch 22 of sorts. He probably needs more than eleven minutes to get comfortable and show something. But Doc would be out of his mind to give Allen more than eleven minutes until he shows something. Tonight he missed one shot and had two fouls. That’s it. Allen is starting to separate himself from the Celtics youth. In a bad way.

Nets Notes

- Gorman and Heinsohn loved Hassan Adams. I was most impressed by his basket at the 3-minute mark in the fourth quarter. Yes he was wide open but the Garden was rocking and the C’s had the momentum.

- Given the state of the Eastern Conference and the fact that Carter, Kidd and Jefferson still play for the Nets, they are almost good by default. And it’s a difficult team to judge as Jefferson is not quite full strength and Josh Boone and Eddie House are still working their way back. However, they don’t appear to be the fast break force they used to be. While they do it in spurts they are more of a half court team.

Quote of the Night

“You know some coaches make issues on ridiculous stuff and this is one of them.” – Tommy Heinsohn on headband gate.

Default

If Homer Simpson has taught me anything it's that "default" is one of the greatest words in the English language. So I was not offended by the backhanded compliment to the Celtics in ESPN's Daily Dime,

"CONGRATULATIONS! The Celtics are now all alone in first place in the Atlantic Division, and hold the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, thanks to their spectacular 5-8 record. You go, Green."

Injuries and such

Peter May has a solid update on Celtics' injuries. Michael Olowokandi and Theo Ratliff are still out. Meanwhile Kendrick Perkins will be playing but not practicing as in an attempt to take some stress off of his feet.

Other points of interest:

- The Celtics blame their woes against the Bobcats and Knicks on unproductive practices that were a result of low numbers because of injuries. By that logic we should not expect much from Perk on Wednesday.

- Pierce sprained his wrist against the Bucks but is taping it and playing.

- Pierce dismisses the notion that the Knicks/Bucks games were a legitimate back-to-back scenario, "How physically tired could we be when we didn't even play Friday? We played, but how hard did we go?" In case you were wondering Friday they played the Knicks.

- Along with the Nets and the Sixers the Celtics do lead the division.

100% Reason to remember the name

Does anyone else have Fort Minor's Remember the Name stuck in his head? Damn you TNT.

“10% luck, 20% skill…"

Outrage

How dare the Power Rankings disrespect the Atlantic Division leading Boston Celtics. All kidding aside the C's are better than Grizzlies at least. And the New Jersey Nets, the Atlantic Division co-leaders, are 6 spots higher despite 5 consecutive losses. On the bright side, Danny Ainge stole Brian Scalabrine from the Nets. As a side note Ainge is 47. Isn’t it time he started going by “Dan”?

You'll get 20 seconds and like it!

Rajon Rondo played 20 seconds against the Bucks. It’s tempting to get angry that Brian Scalabrine got 12 minutes. But they don’t play the same position. By all accounts Sebastian Telfair is playing well and the former Lincoln High standout poses more of an offensive threat. Furthermore, the coaching staff wants to get Delonte West minutes and that’s not a bad idea. It’s a numbers game and Rondo will have to wait his turn.

Tecmo Super Bowl

If for some reason you are reading my blog at 2:11 P.M. eastern time I strongly urge you to check out Mike Vick's QB Eagles impression over on Fox. He's only 4-12 passing but has run for 127 yards.

Vegas, Baby! Vegas!

It will be February 18, 2007 before you know it. That means we need to mobilize and send Paul Pierce to Las Vegas.

Other players that need to go to Vegas:

1. Gilbert Arenas - It will hurt his feelings if he doesn't make it.
2. Ron Artest - This is more for the chaos that could ensue.
3. Carmelo Anthony - Crunch time assassin.
4. Lamar Odom - I think he'd have fun

- I realize you can't vote for Anthony, Artest and Odom. I listed them all because most NBA coaches read this blog.

Players I don't want to see in Vegas:

1. Shaq - Hurt
2. Pau Gasol - Hurt. I don't care if Danny Ainge loves him
3. Ben Wallace - Pulled a Mark Blount (scroll down to March 1st) the other night. Hopefully you did not have to click on the link to know that being compared to Mark Blount is a bad thing.

As a side note I'm watching the Falcons/Saints game right now. Mike Vick might rush for 1000 yards...in this game.

Ainge: Doc is ok

Danny Ainge checked in from his scouting tour to say Doc’s job is not in jeopardy. Ainge argued that he and the players must take responsibility for poor play (see Knicks game).

If this last week is any indication, it is going to be a crazy season.

C's/Bucks - 11/25/06

The circus move Pierce made with just under a minute left in the third quarter gave the C’s their first lead of the second half and was ridiculous. It gets bonus points for prompting Tommy to say, “He’s got blood in his eye” in reference to Pierce. And yes he was speaking metaphorically although it is not a phrase I’ve heard in the past.

Things I wrote, “When the C’s become a jump shooting team they do not have success.” How did the C’s gun themselves back into the game? They were firing from the outside. Although in my defense, Pierce and Gomes did take it to the rim.

This was a huge win given the circumstances surrounding the game. From an earlier post:

“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.”

More importantly the C’s were down by 16 and it looked bleak. On top of that the Bobcats and the Knicks defeats left fans wondering about the team’s character. So it was great to see the C's respond to an adverse situation.

Tommy was all over Pierce's effort on both ends of the court tonight. Michael Redd did end up with 24 points but Pierce and others made him work.

Al Jefferson did some good things tonight. I loved the blocked shot and he ended up with 10 points and 6 rebounds as well. At one point though Al held the ball in the post for several seconds, refused to pass out of a double team and then threw it out of bounds. Much like the Celtics as a whole, Jefferson has a ways to go.

I’m still terrified by what some of the league’s dominant big men (Yao, Duncan, etc.) will do to the Celtics.

It’s nice to see another team’s coach get booed. I like how Doc downplayed the win by stressing the fact that the Bucks were missing two starters (Bobby Simmons and Charlie Villanueva).

I was thinking that Gerald Green always seems to be cheering on the bench or meeting the players as they come off the court during subsitutions and timeouts. Mike Gorman brought up the same point midway through the fourth quarter. Maybe Gerald is just happy to be out of the D League. It doesn’t matter. I actually brought him up for another reason. Prior to the first Celtics/Raptors game of the year (December 1st) I will publish my favorite post ever.

I quoted myself twice in this post. I'm such a tool.

Trash talk?

"Is there any way we can reward the weaker teams by allowing them to pick up the best available free agents each week and make it impossible for the stronger teams to help themselves team in any way? Oh, wait, that's already in place. Forget it." - Bill Simmons commenting on his fantasy league and his displeasure with some of the rules.

I can't decide if this is funny or bitchy.

Thanks for the link Gilbert.

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.