At halftime another dance team came out (only this one was urban and actually talented..the people in attendance said stuff like "Oh that's what those other kids were TRYING to do!"). The 3rd quarter came and went with very little fanfare besides the introduction of the Thunder Stick by Lucky and the Celtics Cheerleaders who passed them out to sections 14-19...much to the dismay of the older basketball purist gentlemen (think Bob Ryan, but with half the wit). The fans didn't bang them together low but high...BLOCKING THE VIEW OF MANY FANS IN ATTENDANCE! The Magic hit only 6 of the next 10 free throws...then they started hitting them all. The Turks got LOUDER AND LOUDER...the beer fueled frat boys got MADDER AND MADDER! Enter the fourth quarter. The Celtics are going down, Ricky Davis and Paul Pierce are doing the brunt of the scoring. Shots are rimming out, no offensive boards, RAEF IS ICE COLD!! The Human Barometer was at 32ยบ and dropping. Jameer Nelson and Steve Francis hit clutch shot after clutch shot while the C's couldn't put together a run. Despite getting the Magic to their 3rd team foul at 9:22 they didn't get them into the penalty until there were 3 minutes left in the game. Bad call after bad call killed the C's, THAT WAS A GOALTEND!!! On that last drive by Dickau HE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE FLOATER! Apparently, teenage girls LOVE Dan Dickau..they also depend on me to explain to them the rules of basketball. I explained what the deal was with the Turkish constituency, and how I knew what the ref was calling (hand signals are a clue!) BEFORE it was announced. Stacey Augmon got some burn, Orien Greene played less than a minute before the half. Ryan Gomes got no burn at all. Scalabrine hit more threes than Raef AND had a nicer dunk than him, too....SIGN OF THE IMPENDING APOCALYPSE!!!!! To make matters worse, after that missed goaltending call, HEDO TURKOGLU SEALED THE GAME...MUCH TO THE DELIGHT OF THE TURKS IN MY SECTION...AND MUCH TO THE DISMAY OF EVERYONE ELSE IN MY SECTION! ANOTHER LOSS! DAMMIT!!! Lucky gets more love at the Garden than Hugh Hefner in Hooters! Trade rumors were floating all over last night. I just watched the replay and bad memories just came flooding back. The Sixers show up tomorrow...don't know if I wanna go again so soon. One.
Quite a game tonight, huh? Kendrick Perkins had a career game with 12 points 19 rebounds 4 assists and 2 blocks in a much needed win against the 76ers. The starting five were assisted by an excellent overall game from the bench (for a change). Delonte West had a yeoman performance as well, doing every necessary for the C's to win. The Celtics outrebounded the Sixers by 19. There was everything that you come to expect from a Celtics game: Scoring, threes, dunks, steals and a lot of rebounds! The Celtics may have seen the birth of an era and the end of another. Paul Pierce put up 32 points and 11 rebounds. Ricky Davis had 25 points and 5 rebounds. It's looking like Mark Blount might be on the way out. Tony Allen claims he'll be back on Friday and play in the Chicago game. Marcus Banks hasn't been cleared to return to practice yet and no time table has been implemented for his return as of yet. I have been screaming for the Celtics to start Kendrick Perkins at center for a while now. He and Al Jefferson together are a formidable duo in the paint. The Boston Celtics are 6-8 on the season with their next two contests being vs. Chicago and New York. Once again, great game, Perk! One.
I hope the C's win this one...I hope Tony Allen plays and if he does play and hope he plays well and contributes. I'd like to see Kendrick Perkins have another great game tonight. If Raef can knock down the open looks he'll get and the C's can cause turnovers and push the tempo I think they'll have a chance...that's better than no chance in hell. The Bulls have a lot a weapons and they can turn in on in the 4th quarter...I'm just gonna sit back and watch this one....Mmm. ANOTHER close loss. This one to the team with the highest scoring bench in the NBA. Another game where the Bulls turn it on in the 4th quarter. Another game where Tyson Chandler dominates at the end. Perk does zero the game after his career best...DOC SHOULDN'T HAVE GOT THROWN OUT! ANOTHER TOUGH LOSS. ANOTHER CLOSE LOSS.One.
The Celtics beat the Knicks in a 102-99 barnburner where Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis held off Stephon Marbury and Chaaning Frye's furious fourth quarter flurries. The other big story was that Kendrick Perkins had 6 points and 7 rebounds in 16 minutes before he fouled out...this kid can get a double double in 20 minutes or under...that is amazing! If he could get his fouls controlled he could be a serious force when combined with Al Jefferson. His confidence has grown exponentially since he's been starting. Off Topic: Did you see the jerseys the Bulls wore in their loss to Dallas last night? They should have BURNED THEM IMMEADIATELY! I understand that the Chicago Stags wore uni's like that back in the days but those were serious eyesores. I had nightmares about 'em so I'm sure Ben Gordon had trouble watching the game tapes! The Celtics start a tough stretch on the road versus Houston tonight. Hopefully, TA is closer to coming back and contributing....the Celtics will need all of the help they can get to weather this time. I hope thet can get through the Texas trip somewhere NEAR .500! How can you be 7-9 on December 6th and be tied for first in the Atlantic Division? No wonder sportswriters call it the Atlantis Division of the Leastern Conference. One.
Oh, man! That game was uglier than the baby Tori Spelling would have with Clint Howard! I was underwhelmed with the Celtics total effort, moreso because the first three games that I felt were winnable an the whole trip! Raef is officially in a slump, people. He couldn't hit water if he fell outta damn boat right now! The biggest stories outta Boston this morning are: 1. The Red Sox are wheeling and dealing: Manny, Clement, Boomer can all be gone soon. Aw well, luckily I stopped buying jerseys after the Wilkins #12 debacle of 1994-95. I was an instant throwback if you get my meaning... 2. The Patriots are on the comeback trail! Matt Light will be ready to go soon and they have a light schedule for the rest of the season. 3. The Celtics lost 91-73 last night, but they play the Hornets in Oklahoma City tonight so they have a chance to redeem themselves. Chris Paul and J.R. Smith have been playing well lately. David West has finally become the player many thought he had the potential to be when he was at Xavier. 4. The XBox 360 has serious bugs! I'm a Sony/Mac man myself so hearing that a Microsoft product has bugs or deficiencies due to being rushed out to beat the competition is a HUGE shock to me! LOL. I bet the PS3 will run smoothly, though. (Jab) 5. Apparently, the imDb.com messagebords are buzzing about Ellen Pompeo, the Everett, MA native from the show Grey's Anatomy (which I've never seen) who recently appeared on Punk'D about her behavior while being set up by her fiancee. Many people were appalled at how she acted..however, all of the users from the New England/Boston area backed her all the way! Go down there and read for yourself. If you missed the episode, MTV will air it ad naseum..the only reason I saw it is because it turned from the C's game with 3 minutes left on the clock. I'll be back with more later. One.
That was an interesting game tonight. This was the first game that I saw the bench have a serious impact..I almost thought I was watching a tape of last year! Mark Blount and Al Jefferson had excellent performances. I even got to see Ryan Gomes contribute. Doc clearly does not trust Dan Dickau due to him being a defensive liability...Orien Greene got the backup minutes to combat the backcourt tandem of Chris Paul and Speedy Claxton. Brian Scalabrine racked up a DNP-CD...THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING 'BOUT!!! Antoine Walker needs to get out of Miami RIGHT NOW. His erratic play is clearly due to his lack of playing time and a piecemeal team in Miami...I do not enjoy watching them play without Shaq (although Zo is playing tremendously in the middle this season). He is 1 for his last 17 and he went SCORELESS his last game. That scares me. When I look at that Miami roster on paper they looked stacked...in person they look WACK. They don't play together AT ALL..they lacked cohesiveness and overall toughness. They clearly don't trust each other out there. It's painful to watch. The Celtics don't have that problem. Once they have more weapons at their disposal they MIGHT be able to go on a run. David West and Chris Paul looked like excellent young player with bright futures. J.R. Smith just couldn't get it going. I'm happy that Brandon Bass made it to the L. On another note, I like to extend condolescences out to Quentin Richardson of the New York Knicks and his family. It's been reported that his brother Lee was killed in a shooting. May he rest in eternal peace. One.
Great win on the road tonight. Blount and Jefferson really made a difference off the bench, and it was nice to see a bit of Gomes. By the way, I heard Scal was sick, so that's why he didn't play.
I missed the Greg Oden game yesterday...I wanted to see him and Mike Conley Jr. play but I was watching War Of The Worlds on DVD and I feel asleep on it 30 minutes in...I slept right through his game! If Daniel Gibson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay, and Julian Wright play past age 19, I'll be in shock. Considering that both O.J. Mayo and Billy Walker will both be 19 years old by their senior years, the NBA age limit is NADA. All you have to do is spend a 5th year in prep school or 1 year in college...Do you think that one year in school will make that player think twice about the NBA? MAYBE...if they have a bad year or get injured, but why would you wish that on someone? Greg Oden WANTS to go to school to get an education...he MAY stay four years like Tim Duncan. Vernon Goodridge, Magnum Rolle, Brandan Wright and other kids in that class will go for one or two years, tops. Ohio State will have a contending program in a couple of years, though. The Celtics played San Antonio and lost for the 17th time in a damned row! My brother and are watching Comedians Of Comedy on Comedy Central hoping it will help ease the pain..(thank God for Patton Oswalt!). I don't know why I just hate the Spurs so much..they remind me of the NBA version of Duke University...no one with cornrows, excessive facial hair and an attitude of any kind. Some say they're the NBA version of the New England Patriots...not me..the Patriots are INFINITELY cooler than the Spurs (outside of Van Exel and Finley). I HATE the Spurs! Tomorrow night, the Mavericks...YAY! (SARCASM INFERRED). One.
Another loss in Dallas. The Celtics are 3-24 in Dallas in the last 8 years (the Duncan era). While the Spurs are 17-0 against the Celtics since 1997, they always seem to LOSE THE NEXT GAME AFTER PLAYING THE CELTICS! Paul Pierce is having an amazing season, I didn't think that he could play a season better than last year's as far as having an all around season. Ricky Davis has stepped his game up even more from last season! Low points: No Banks & Allen. The addition (!) of Scalabrine and Dickau hurts the team defensively and Raef is an a slump when we need him most (The Human Barometer). Scalabrine has the speed and athleticism of a jungle cat...a DEAD jungle cat, but a jungle cat nonetheless..he always has to hustle, as opposed to Sam Dalembert, Stromile Swift or other players that can just get it done. Brian Cardinal and Matt Bonner make this guy look like they're Tom Chambers and Jack Sikma, respectively! This going to be a tough season to watch we don't get help/reinforcements/a trade soon. Is it just me or does DeSagana Diop look like he actually knows what he's doing now? He was overweight and overwhelmed when he first came into the league. I saw him in the game last night and he looked sculpted, focused and determined...I couldn't believe he was the same guy! His defensive awareness is 25x better than it was when he rode the pine in Cleveland! One.
Hmmm..Stan Van Gundy leaves the Miami job and Pat Riley steps in and coaches once Shaq comes back. I'm no psychcic but I SAW THIS COMING!! Is anyone really surprised this happened? I'm only surprised it happened this morning. I still don't like this teams rotation and a lot of the personnel just doesn't gel together...I don't like the 10th-12th men on this squad at all. Ron Artest wants out of the Indiana Pacers organization after they stuck by him for years of questionable behavior. He says he wants to go the Knicks...I see that guy ENOUGH in a season as it is! I hope this doesn't go down...he dissed Coach Carlisle so it's a good chance he's gone. Daniel Gibson is a dynamic PG at Texas. Glen Davis at LSU isn't going to stay much longer. BC lost a close one in Maryland...I was mad BC lost, but Mike Jones (Who?) is there and he way be Boston's only hope at having a former prep star go pro in the next couple of years. The C's aren't on TV until the 14th when they play the aforementioned Pacers. Congratulations to Reggie Bush...the obvious choice for the Heisman Trophy. I'll be back later and I'll bring my scimitar wit with me. One.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GrnDynsty:</div><div class="quote_post">Greg Oden WANTS to go to school to get an education...he MAY stay four years like Tim Duncan. Vernon Goodridge, Magnum Rolle, Brandan Wright and other kids in that class will go for one or two years, tops. </div> Oden said for a while he wanted to go to college but when the reports came out that there was definetly gonna be an age limit there were reports of his mom and himself being upset over the rule....
Really? I didn't hear that one. I heard that Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. were trying to help recruit more kids at Nike Camp and the World Basketball Festival to go to Ohio State with them and make them contenders for a national title like the Fab Five..they wanted to convince Reebok/Adidas superstars O.J. Mayo and Billy Walker to play ONE YEAR with them at Ohio State...they'll both be 19 senior year...NO DICE! Here's a list of college players that almost definitely be applying for early entry to the NBA Draft soon: Darius Washington 6'2 175 Memphis Daniel Gibson 6'2 180 Texas Shannon Brown 6'3 200 Michigan State Curtis Stinson 6'3 195 Iowa State Malik Hairston 6'6 205 Oregon Tasmin Mitchell 6'8 220 LSU Julian Wright 6'8 210 Kansas Leon Powe 6'8 240 California Rudy Gay 6'9 215 UConn Shawne Williams 6'9 215 Memphis D.J. White 6'9 230 Indiana Juan Diego Palacios 6'9 230 Louisville Vernon Goodridge 6'9 230 Mississippi State Paul Milsap 6'9 240 Louisiana Tech LaMarcus Aldridge 6'10 220 Texas Josh Boone 6'10 230 UConn David Padgett 6'10 240 Louisville Paul Davis 6'10 250 Michigan State Glen Davis 6'10 300 LSU Joakim Noah 6'11 230 Florida Josh McRoberts 6'11 240 Duke Anyone else that belongs on this list will step up at some point this season (Nick Fazekas at Nevada is improved, but STILL not ready for the pro style game). Most of the other candidates are playing behind seniors and will have next season and this summer to shine. Most elite guards/perimeter players and center prospects have already declared from high school, leaving tweeners and swingmen to go to school and build a resume before any NBA exec will consider using a pick on them. One. One.
Well, the good news is that supposedly Banks and Allen should both be back in the Celtics rotation in 10-14 days or less. The bad news is that they can possibly be between 5-10 games below .500 by then! One.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Really? I didn't hear that one.</div> There was an entire thread about it back in June here.
What a surprise! Shaq scores 30 with Riley at the helm and Miami wins! This seaon gets more and more interesting as the days go by. With Banks and T.A. back in practice things might be looking up for the C's since the Pacers are sitting Ron Ron in light of recent developments...and to think, he and Larry Legend were on the cover of Sport's Illustrated's Basketball Season Preview Issue together...two months sure does change a lot. The Cavs are struggling mightily, the Hawks are on a roll and no one in the Atlantic Division can stay above .500 for longer than 3 days...what's this world coming to? One.
The Celtics won last night 85-71 in a pretty ugly game in the Garden. The Pacers were without True Warrior and Mel Mel the Abuser (Rucker nicknames for Ron Artest and Jamal Tinsley). Fouls were in abundance and the Pacers were clearly out of sync (as were the Celtics). Mark Blount had a great game and Al Jefferson and Orien Greene contributed greatly off of the bench. Raef was replaced by Mark Blount in the starting lineup once again. Kendrick Perkins had only 2 points but 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in short minutes. He is an excellent rebounder, shotblocker, enforcer and he doesn't get enough credit for his passing ability. Add Banks and Allen to this rotation (and keep Dickau and Scalabrine ON THE BENCH with DNP-CD's) and we may have something. One.
Response To Postpoint's "In Defense Of Paul" I saw a thread on here called "In Defense Of Paul" by postpoint. I immeadiately thought "Why would Paul Pierce need defending since he's played the best basketball of his entire career the last two seasons?" I then posted this response that I feel that other people that CONSIDER themselves to be Celtic fans should read: Uhh...speak for yourself. He's better than YOU thought he was. I KNEW he had the tools to be a great all around player AND a leader since his junior year in high school at Inglewood High. It was cemented in his college career at Kansas. He was shown the way to lead by his teammates, ESPECIALLY Antoine Walker and Eric Williams. Many people who wore his jerseys and claimed to love him last year started calling in to talk radio stations and calling him a bum and punk and saying he should be traded immeadiately. If your so-called "fans" that loved you yesterday are calling for your head tomorrow wouldn't you be moody? Especially if it was happening while you were having your best season as a pro? Also take into account that all of the heat was once on Antoine Walker, the Boston media and fans punching bag, the same man who DEFERRED to a younger and less experienced Paul Pierce whom the media painted as a golden boy in contrast to Walker. Walker took the knocks and the criticism. He carried the team on his back for years before Paul and instead of feeding into everyone on the outside playing Paul and Toine AGAINST EACH OTHER, Walker instead embraced him and took him under his wing. Paul has witness all of these things ocurring with other athletes on other teams in Boston...being beloved, then hated, then run out of town. Why would you think he wouldn't notice? The former owners made bad draft pick after bad draft pick and ran all of his best friends and closest teammates out of town (Tony Battie, Eric Williams, Kenny Anderson, and Antoine Walker) and made bad trade after bad trade, leaving Paul out to dry to carry the burden all by myself with no help in 2003-4. After all that had transpired HOW WOULD YOU EXPECT PAUL TO FEEL AND BEHAVE? I'll never forget seeing that infamous Boston magazine article about the "moody" Paul Pierce...they never cover the Celtics (or any other brown person for that matter) in Boston magazine. The one article about the Celtics that DO run is about how much of a malcontent he is? Meanwhile, Tom Brady was on the cover of about 10 different publications...add to the fact that after this summer was up, the Celtics organization actively made Ricky Davis (also formerly labeled as a malconent by the media) the face of the organization! The TRUTH is that Paul Pierce is a much better man than me to deal with all of this hypocracy and bite his tounge and NOT tell the Boston fairweather fans, media, and ownership all to go to hell. His TRUE FANS KNEW WHAT HE WAS CAPABLE OF ALREADY, get a late pass, kid. One. __________________
I'm not really sure if you understood. We all know what Pierce is capable of, we've seen him do it. The title of the thread was "In defense of Paul Pierce". Defense against all of the criticism that has been heaped on him in the past two years. I understand that knee jerk reaction, as it is what tends to characterize responses within forums. Grn, you in fact supported my argument, while perceiving that you were attacking it. Admittedly, I've done this before. I'll clarify. I'm not going to say how I feel or felt about Paul Pierce, no axe to grind here, (empties hands). What I am saying is that he is playing much better than I have seen him play in a long time. The percentages are better, the flow is better, it's a lot more fun to watch. He is essentially scoring like he was when he was younger. He seems to be playing fewer minutes, but I think Doc just has a crowded rotation. There is some argument for this being Pierce's best season ever. Granted, we are only a quarter of the way through this season, but this team is very young, very talented, and very bad (but that's another story). As for turning this into a racial issue, that is your prerogative, I couldn't care less. Go argue with Rush Limbaugh and the NAACP about Donovan McNabb. I love basketball. I will not be defending the boston media, they're vampires. Dan Shaughnessy works for the boston media, and don't get me started on Shira Springer. Oy vey. As for Antoine deferring to Paul Pierce, it's time to correct a few misconceptions: Antoine Walker is not half the player Pierce is, he never was, never will be. Walker deferred because he knew who was better: Pierce. What we all owe Walker for is being a lightning rod for the media, had he not been, Pierce might not be half the player he is today. He would have regressed into himself then left. I loved Antoine as much as anybody, and I cheered when he came back. His dagger threes, his sense of timing and his inside game were all great to watch, but those are mostly gone now. He's a tweener with bad wheels and too much swagger. As for Paul Pierce being angry. I don't blame him, nor did I mention his perceived or actual anger. I have always believed that he comported himself with relative dignity for the situations that he was in. The most demonstrable exception being that intentional foul by Jamal Tinsley in the playoffs last year against Indiana. But that team chirped way too much, and things seem a little more restrained this year. Also, everyone knew Pierce had the TOOLS (pun intended) to be a great player. That's why he's been called a great player for years. It doesn't take a self-anointed TRUE FAN to see that. I'm saying he's better than what those TOOLS would even seem to merit. So please read and understand before getting venomous about things; Or at least look for a clarification.
I'm currently dealing with the flu AND a toothache...adding Ambesol to pennicilin while coughing up phlegm all day sucks the wit and sarcasm right out of you...once I get back on the mend I'll post some more. One.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GrnDynsty:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm currently dealing with the flu AND a toothache...adding Ambesol to pennicilin while coughing up phlegm all day sucks the wit and sarcasm right out of you...once I get back on the mend I'll post some more. One.</div> Boy, you sound right awful. You need a day off. And don't bother about that Bulls game, we all know it was garbage. Get back to us for the Jazz game though, that should be a laugher (one way or the other). Crappy games like that lend themselves readily to some brightening sarcasm. Get well.
