Incase you haven’t noticed the Celtics are terrible. They weren’t very good to begin with but they had the potential to be a playoff team and now most of the Celtics fans I know are more concerned with whether or not Kevin Durant and Greg Oden will go to the draft and what pick the Celtics will end up with in the lottery.
I had the err…pleasure of taking a C’s game on Friday and it turned out to be pretty much exactly what I was expecting. A 100-89 loss to the LA Clippers, the Celtics hung tough for most of the game but fell apart in the fourth quarter…huh weird.
February was a late date for my first C’s game of the season but regardless I was excited to see them, granted I was fully expecting a loss but seeing Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston play sounded cool and it’s always fun to see a game even if your team is miserable.
Things got off to a rough start when Boston announced their starting small forward, Brian Scalabrine…woof. However there were a few positives amid the suffering. Rajon Rondo played 42+ minutes and scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, that’s 63-percent, who says he can’t shoot.
Okay so that is sugar coating the loss since Elton Brand lit up the Green and it was the Celtics 14th loss in a row, a franchise record (and I was there!). There is more to attending a game then just the final score so I enjoyed myself and noticed a couple things I’d been missing out on since I started rooting for them to lose.
For starters the biggest problem is the Pierce injury, obviously. Since he went down it’s been rough and at this point it’s almost so bad that he might as well just stay out until he is absolutely 100 percent healthy even if it’s the rest of the season.
The other big problems, Bassy Telfair is playing awful, Wally is still hurting so he can’t play big minutes and that leaves guys like Ryan Gomes and Rondo playing 40 minutes a game. Both are solid players but they are role players. Gomes would be great off the bench but he’s not the kind of player that can log 40 minutes a night.
D-West is the same way he’s a good role player to complement Pierce but he’s not going to carry the load. There are a couple of positives that I’ve noticed and the biggest one is Big Al. He’s been playing well and he continues to develop into the player everyone though he would be the last two years.
Unfortunately watching the Celtics falter over the final 12 minutes from the balcony of the Fleet TD Banknorth Boston Garden Center or whatever it’s called now showed one thing very clearly. Things are not going to be getting better anytime soon. The kids will be better for being thrust into this position but the management needs to do something.
Assuming the Celtics get one of the top two picks and they get Oden or Durant. Okay so they have another young guy that has the potential to be a star. The C’s need to give Pierce some help. They went out and got Wally but a ton of the guys on the team are younger than me or right around my age. The Celtics really need to make a move as much as I like the kids but they might have to take a chance they need to find an impact player, whether it’s Oden or Durant or they make a move.
I think I’d rather see them get the number one or two pick and that’s probably what they’ll be hoping for two. Unfortunately what will probably end up happening is that they’ll end up with the worst record, they’ll have the most balls in the lottery but they will end up with the fifth or sixth pick. I feel bad for Pierce, as a fan I’d love to see him on another winning team before he is done in Boston.
On a weird side note, there were a lot of people there. I mean a lot of people. I figured it would be pretty empty and we’d be able to move down at half time. We tried and failed thanks to Joey bobbling Jon’s attempt to pull him down into a seat when we got asked to move.
There were plenty of open seats but for the most part the place was pretty packed, I’m not sure how they do it, especially in Boston but despite the 14-game losing streak people are still going. Like I said there’s more to going to a game then the final score.
For me going to the games is almost a surreal experience, Friday night’s game I had a good time with some friends, we went to half-time pizza got some 32oz beers went into the game cracked jokes and genuinely had a great time. But anytime I go to a game, as dorky and lame as it sounds, I always take a minute or two to just look around the stadium and take it all in. No place feels the same as Fenway but I love the way going to a game of any kind can make you feel like a kid again.
There will definitely be more of that theme coming up as the Red Sox start playing. As crummy and decrepit as Fenway Park might be, I love the place and I can’t get enough of it.
Final thoughts on the Celtics; I hope Rondo develops into a solid point guard, Friday’s game gave me hope! The best Celtics news of the year…G-Money, Gerald Green has been added to the dunk contest. That is going to be great he has a great shot at being the first Celtic to win since Dee Brown in 1991.
I thought my friends and I were the only ones that called him G-Money but the Celtics webpage had the headline “G-Money gets Vegas nod” for the story of him being added to the dunk contest. God do I hope that nickname sticks.
I had the err…pleasure of taking a C’s game on Friday and it turned out to be pretty much exactly what I was expecting. A 100-89 loss to the LA Clippers, the Celtics hung tough for most of the game but fell apart in the fourth quarter…huh weird.
February was a late date for my first C’s game of the season but regardless I was excited to see them, granted I was fully expecting a loss but seeing Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston play sounded cool and it’s always fun to see a game even if your team is miserable.
Things got off to a rough start when Boston announced their starting small forward, Brian Scalabrine…woof. However there were a few positives amid the suffering. Rajon Rondo played 42+ minutes and scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, that’s 63-percent, who says he can’t shoot.
Okay so that is sugar coating the loss since Elton Brand lit up the Green and it was the Celtics 14th loss in a row, a franchise record (and I was there!). There is more to attending a game then just the final score so I enjoyed myself and noticed a couple things I’d been missing out on since I started rooting for them to lose.
For starters the biggest problem is the Pierce injury, obviously. Since he went down it’s been rough and at this point it’s almost so bad that he might as well just stay out until he is absolutely 100 percent healthy even if it’s the rest of the season.
The other big problems, Bassy Telfair is playing awful, Wally is still hurting so he can’t play big minutes and that leaves guys like Ryan Gomes and Rondo playing 40 minutes a game. Both are solid players but they are role players. Gomes would be great off the bench but he’s not the kind of player that can log 40 minutes a night.
D-West is the same way he’s a good role player to complement Pierce but he’s not going to carry the load. There are a couple of positives that I’ve noticed and the biggest one is Big Al. He’s been playing well and he continues to develop into the player everyone though he would be the last two years.
Unfortunately watching the Celtics falter over the final 12 minutes from the balcony of the Fleet TD Banknorth Boston Garden Center or whatever it’s called now showed one thing very clearly. Things are not going to be getting better anytime soon. The kids will be better for being thrust into this position but the management needs to do something.
Assuming the Celtics get one of the top two picks and they get Oden or Durant. Okay so they have another young guy that has the potential to be a star. The C’s need to give Pierce some help. They went out and got Wally but a ton of the guys on the team are younger than me or right around my age. The Celtics really need to make a move as much as I like the kids but they might have to take a chance they need to find an impact player, whether it’s Oden or Durant or they make a move.
I think I’d rather see them get the number one or two pick and that’s probably what they’ll be hoping for two. Unfortunately what will probably end up happening is that they’ll end up with the worst record, they’ll have the most balls in the lottery but they will end up with the fifth or sixth pick. I feel bad for Pierce, as a fan I’d love to see him on another winning team before he is done in Boston.
On a weird side note, there were a lot of people there. I mean a lot of people. I figured it would be pretty empty and we’d be able to move down at half time. We tried and failed thanks to Joey bobbling Jon’s attempt to pull him down into a seat when we got asked to move.
There were plenty of open seats but for the most part the place was pretty packed, I’m not sure how they do it, especially in Boston but despite the 14-game losing streak people are still going. Like I said there’s more to going to a game then the final score.
For me going to the games is almost a surreal experience, Friday night’s game I had a good time with some friends, we went to half-time pizza got some 32oz beers went into the game cracked jokes and genuinely had a great time. But anytime I go to a game, as dorky and lame as it sounds, I always take a minute or two to just look around the stadium and take it all in. No place feels the same as Fenway but I love the way going to a game of any kind can make you feel like a kid again.
There will definitely be more of that theme coming up as the Red Sox start playing. As crummy and decrepit as Fenway Park might be, I love the place and I can’t get enough of it.
Final thoughts on the Celtics; I hope Rondo develops into a solid point guard, Friday’s game gave me hope! The best Celtics news of the year…G-Money, Gerald Green has been added to the dunk contest. That is going to be great he has a great shot at being the first Celtic to win since Dee Brown in 1991.
I thought my friends and I were the only ones that called him G-Money but the Celtics webpage had the headline “G-Money gets Vegas nod” for the story of him being added to the dunk contest. God do I hope that nickname sticks.
No comments:
Post a Comment