He Got Game

I Need another 20

Its funny how quickly a fan’s tune can change, mine changed a matter of hours. Yesterday I was talking about how anti-climatic the NBA draft was going to be for the Celtics, no matter what there wasn’t anything the C’s could do that would instantly make fans feel better – like getting Durant or Oden would have.

I guess deep down I was hoping the Celtics would pick Corey Brewer, assuming he was available (which he was) but I would have been alright with a player like Jeff Green too. Either guy would have helped the team but nothing was going to make them an instant contender.

Well after all the trade talks one finally went down that sent Delonte West, Wally and the fifth pick (Jeff Green) to Seattle for Jesus Shuttlesworth (a.k.a. Ray Allen). I might be the only Celtics fan who is ok with moving on from D-West and as much as I like Wally he sucked in Boston and it’s good to see his contract numbers go. With that said my reaction to the trade was simply confusion.

I don’t see how adding Ray Allen immediately helps the Celtics. Now I’ve heard that the Celtics brought him in as a way to try and entice Kevin Garnett to come to Boston (my sources are Joey Hegarty, The Herald and WEEI on that one). If you have Pierce, Shuttlesworth and Garnett then the Celtics are an instant contender. Plus the rumored deal would send out Al Jefferson (remember I said rumored), Theo Ratliff’s contract and Bassy Telfair to Minnesota. I’d be pretty happy with that since getting Ratliff and Wally off the books frees up some money to go after another point guard, which the Celtics need. Of course if that deal does turn out to be rumor then I am still very confused about the Celtics draft day.

It’s one thing to make a move for a proven scorer and veteran player like Ray Allen. Even if it seems like Danny Ainge was trying to appease Paul Pierce. It’s quite another to proceed the rest of the way like Boston did. Now I’m not Steven A. Smith or Danny Ainge or any other “expert” or GM but Corey Brewer was available, he can play D and has the ability to score at times, to me he would have been a safe pick at five, but I digress.

The trade gave Boston a second, second round pick. At 32 and 35 the Celtics surely had some solid players available and I’m willing to give Gabe Pruitt and Glen “Big Baby” Davis their shot, what do we have to lose at this point? I can’t help but feel like Pruitt wasn’t the right pick to make. Personally I was hoping for Tauren Green, he’s a point guard with a decent shot that can run the floor, he was the point on two national championship teams, and he looked like a good fit to play behind Rajon Rondo. Don’t get me wrong I’ve been saying Rondo was a great pick from day one but he’s not going to play 48 minutes every night. The Celtics need a back up point guard not another three point shooting two-guard - And no Bassy isn’t going to cut it, I don’t like to just rip on people but he was awful last year.

In my opinion Danny Ainge is rapidly running out of chances to fix this mess that the C’s have become. They definitely over achieved when they went to the Eastern Conference Finals but they were better then 24 wins that’s for sure. Of course all of this could change if the Garnett rumors were to come true that would buy Danny some extra lives. Especially since they’d instantly be a contender, even with a poor coach. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, I’m pulling for Gabe Pruitt, Big Baby and Jesus to prove me wrong…after all he got game.

Danny Can You Hear Me?

The fifth pick, seriously? Good joke NBA but really where are the Celtics picking in the draft next month? Oh you weren’t kidding, they are actually picking fifth. How did this happen? Wasn’t fifth the worst case scenario?

In the back of my head I was nervous that the worst could definitely happen. That’s the cynical Bostonian in me, but I was more excited than I was nauseous. I was fully prepared and ready to go into talk people (a.k.a. my two green bleeding friends Joey & Joey) off any ledges they may have been near if the C’s didn’t get one of the top two picks last night. Then it happened for real, and I lost it. Things are not going to be okay.

The number one and two picks in this year’s NBA Draft are franchise changing players and realistically those two players, Oden and Durant, were the only thing that should be able to save Danny Ainge’s career and life. I, like many others, including the Boston media have been blinded by a likeable coach who says all the right things and a group of talented youngsters that are supposed to be full of tremendous upside potential. How in the name of Red Auerbach is 24-58 an acceptable record in this town? How could a coach with a career record of 273-312 and one winning season in three years get resigned to a new deal? How has no one requested, wait requested, fuck that, demanded Danny Angie’s head on a stake yet?

Danny took over a team that went to the conference finals in 2001-02, blew the team up getting rid of pretty much every player with the exception of Pierce and for a short time Antoine Walker and has since run the team into the ground. What other executive can get away with this. I feel like every baseball writer during the 1998 season they all felt like something was up but never spoke up now the whole steroid thing has become a shit show. Well that’s what has happened to the once proud Celtics.

The ultimate demise of the Celtics can’t completely be blamed on Ainge, some blame falls on Rick Pitino and just general bad luck. Lenny Bias and Reggie Lewis aren’t Danny’s fault but he hasn’t exactly done a bang up job either. Blowing up the 2001-02 Celtics didn’t seem like a horrible idea at the time. The team was full of likeable players that got the job done but they had probably gone about as far as they were going to go with guys like Walter McCarty and Erik Williams.

I’ve heard people say they were good in 2001-02, you’re wrong they weren’t. The Celtics, and the Nets for that matter, overachieved. As far as good teams go the 2001-02 Celtics weren’t a good team. They were a group of role players that complimented Pierce and Walker and they were certainly fun to watch but they overachieved and they probably weren’t going to get much better. So when Danny took over the team we as fans were pretty optimistic, even if he did get rid of Jim O’Brien and Antoine.

At first you had to agree with Angie’s moves, by bringing him in the new ownership forced douche bag former GM Chris Wallace to a different role. Yes, the Chris Wallace that brought in Vin Baker. With the situation that the Celtics were in blowing up the team was something we were convinced was necessary. However six years later it hasn’t really shown much promise.

Danny has drafted “well”, at least that what we’ve been told. Actually we’ve been badgered with the fact that Al Jefferson and Gerald Green are the next NBA superstars. Unfortunately it seems like Celtics fans are the only ones that have bought into that line of thinking. Maybe now that we are picking fifth in the Draft we’ll start to wake up. Jefferson is a solid player he could definitely be the next great Boston star, but what’s the next move for this team?

We were willing to give Danny a pass if they got one of the top two picks, but they didn’t, so what happens now? Are we willing to wait on these young kids and see if they can turn things around? One thing is clear and that is the fact that the current path the Celtics are on is not working and needs some kind of change. The Celtics and their fans were dealt a devastating blow by losing the lottery. The Celtics also lost a chance to buy themselves some time by resigning Doc Rivers. The C’s could have dumped Rivers and hung some blame on him, that most likely would have bought Danny another year to make some moves and try to get this team back to at least the playoffs.

Now I don’t think just making the playoffs is going to be enough. Fans need to see some results. We’ve waited for Danny’s plan to come to fruition and now it might be time to make some moves and either try to bring in veteran help or move Paul Pierce. Either way Danny Ainge has run out of time.

What has happened to the fans that ran Rick Pitino out of town on a rail? Are we this complacent? Imagine if Theo Epstien had run the Red Sox into the ground, there would be riots. And maybe that is part of the issue. The Celtics have dropped so far off the casual fan radar that Danny Ainge can get away with turning the team into the NBA’s second worse.

The Celtics storied history is exactly that a storied history. They don’t have the pink hat wearing casual fans that the Red Sox or Patriots have. The team that turned Boston into a basketball city has gone by the wayside with fans and it’s not going to get any better. I’m 22. I was too young to remember when the Celtics were a dominant team but the Patriots and Red Sox have been contenders for the majority of my sports fan-formative years. I’m still a big C’s fan but I think people like me that are around my age have forgotten about them because they’ve been so irrelevant lately.

The NBA needs the Celtics to be competitive again because the league is losing out on one of its most prominent basketball cities. The Celtics need to be competitive again because they are rapidly losing ground to the other teams in the region. Before you know it the Celtics and Bruins will be all but forgotten tenants in the FleetCenter/TD Banknorth Garden or whatever the hell it is called now.

It’s time for a change. Danny has had his chance and hasn’t delivered. It’s a desperate time for the Boston Celtics and as likeable this group of players may be something drastic needs to happen. Do you need to blow the team up again? Maybe, or maybe not, regardless I think there are going to be a few of our favorite lovable losing youngsters on different teams at the start of next season.

Busted Brackets

Well it’s a good thing that I didn’t take the time to post anything about the NCAA tournament before I left New England for Spring Break. Let’s just say my brackets aren’t doing so hot. I think the only 8-9 game I picked right was Michigan State and my best bracket has Memphis in the final four. What was I thinking, honestly, first they have to get by Texas A&M then they potentially have to beat Ohio State or Tennessee then Georgetown or UNC there is no way they don’t blow it…it’s just really not going well.

‘Bustday’, as defined by urbandictionary.com; “The day you realize your NCAA bracket is busted, and you're probably not going to win the pool unless somehow, a double digit team wins the title.” – That’s me minus the double digit’s winning the title, I’m not an artard (or /r/-tard if you want to get picky with the spelling).

I’ve said it before and will say it again I don’t follow college basketball that closely, I dabble but I don’t follow it closely or claim to have any idea what I’m talking about. I followed Texas this year but that’s because I hope the Celtics get Kevin Durant. When NCAA tournament rolls around everyone becomes an expert, thanks to a wonderful creation known as the office pool. Which has now been extended to just tournament pools because I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t participate in some form of NCAA Pool, legal or illegal, money or no money. Facebook even has NCAA Pools now yes this might be the end of the world.

I’m not an expert, I don’t claim to be and my brackets as evidence when it comes to college basketball I am a dumbass. With that said I’ve made a decision. I’m abandoning my brackets I might check them after games out of curiosity but I’m not going to watch games and root for a team because I picked them, that totally takes all the fun out of the tournament.

Here’s an example of what I am getting at. Duke-VCU, I don’t like Duke, no real reason I just never have, but since I figured they would get by VCU (even though I knew they shouldn’t have been seeded as high as they were) I picked the Blue Devils to lose in the second round. I was in Daytona Beach for Spring Break for the Duke-VCU game and I didn’t get to fully enjoy the collapse of Duke and savor the VCU upset because I was thinking about how it would F my bracket.

After the Duke-VCU game decided to dump my brackets, that decision was confirmed later that night while taking to a cheerleader from Purdue, I had Purdue losing to Arizona but changed my tune pretty quickly, so I’m dumping my brackets and just watching the games, allowing my support to be swayed by which ever team captivates me.

Tonight should be an interesting night, Memphis-Texas A&M should be a good one, I’m always going to root for John Calipari, c’mon like you didn’t have a Marcus Camby U-Mass jersey, but after watching Acie Law IV (the best big game shot taker and maker in the country) I have to take the Aggies. I wouldn’t mind either team moving on thought.

The other game I’ll be keeping an eye on tonight, Kansas-Southern Illinois, this game I actually had, not that it was really a tough pick, it should be another good one to watch. SIU has a great defense and Kansas might be the best team in the country. After watching those Kansas-Texas games I think they have a great chance to win a national championship.

In abandoning my brackets I’ve pretty much surrendered to Reynolds who challenged me to a facebook bracket duel. My bracket on facebook is probably the worst one I filled out, yet some how I have the second most points out of all my friends who filled out brackets, makes no sense but whatever. Either way I’ve got Reynolds pretty much dead to rights, what does that prove you ask? That despite my limited knowledge of College Hoops and my miserable failure in Bracketology, drugs are still bad mmkaay. Pot smoking, ski bums don’t hold a candle to bored kids that work in offices and spend all day reading about sports. The internet doesn’t surf itself my friend, that’s what I’m here for.

I missed a lot of stuff being gone for a week but here are a couple of thoughts as you continue to watch your NCAA bracket spiral further into oblivion.

- Danny Ainge got fined 30 grand for “excessive contact with Kevin Durant” (Jordan also got fined for comments) if you are Durant why wouldn’t you come out? GM’s are taking fines for sitting next to your mom, the greatest player ever said you’re going to be great and Kobe pretty much guaranteed you that you’d get a huge shoe deal from Nike.

-The NCAA age limit has worked wonders as a PR tool for Durant, he wouldn’t be nearly this well know or talked about had he come to the NBA from high school but after playing a year in college he’s essentially marketed himself into one of the top two picks if he comes out. This is just more proof that David Stern is a genius…can you put a price on the buzz that the age restriction has put on the NBA with guys like Durant and Oden becoming guaranteed top two picks?

- There is only one word to describe Manny Ramirez. Unpredictable, that’s it the guy is off his rocker.

- Dice-K looked strong in his outing yesterday. It’s always a good sign when players from the other team are going into the club house between innings to look at the DVDs of their at-bats to try and figure out what exactly a pitcher is throwing.

- It looks like the Sox are going to announce Papelbon as the closer after their game today. I liked the idea of Paps starting but he was lights out last year and moving him the closer makes the team better immediately with out losing anything. Even taking him out of the rotation the Red Sox have a couple of avenues to explore with the fifth starter, whether that’s Pinero, Tavarez, Snyder or hopefully later in the season Lester.

Alright that was more like a full time out…more on March Madness and Papelbon later.

For your reading pleasure: Bradford on Baseball & 38pitches - they are more enteraining and insightful then I am.

20 Second Time Out

Welcome to my 20 Second Time Out...from now on anytime I write any NBA or basketball related column it will be filed under a 20 Second Time Out...Michael Holley is giving them out so I'm taking them.

Gerald Green’s win of the dunk contest was awesome. Anytime you have three props for one dunk and that dunk pays homage to the Dee Brown ‘Reebok pumps, cover your eyes dunk’ you should automatically win, especially when you jump over Nate Robinson.

I’m not sure how Nate Robinson was in the finals, his dunks were cool but Dwight Howard’s sticker dunk was awesome it should have been Howard vs. G-Money in the finals that would have been a great final. Also why was the NBA against bringing in a 12 foot hoop, that would have weeded out Robinson, who as I said before, eats, but it would have been a great show between Green and Howard.

Gerald’s first two dunks were awesome, his two dunks in the finals were also excellent but the fact that he didn’t miss once almost made it less exciting. Then again when you think about it, it just shows how much better he was then everyone else. Boy it’s a sad day when the most encouraging thing about the Celtics is the fact that one of there players won the dunk contest…woof.

The NBA needs to bring HORSE into the All-Star Saturday that would be incredibly entertaining to watch; more so than watching some guy I’ve never heard of win the three-point shootout or watching Lebron and Kobe half-ass the skill competition.