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11 hours ago

Greg Stiemsma’s Contract To Become Fully Guaranteed

The C’s gave their 26-year-old rookie a vote of confidence before Tuesday’s game. By not waiving the seven-footer, Stiemsma’s contract will become fully guaranteed on Friday, allowing the shot blocker to breath a little bit and perhaps unpack some boxes for good in Beantown. Here’s Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston with some reaction from Stiemsma and [...]

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1 day ago

5 Questions With Kemba Walker

I had a chance to talk with Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker prior to the Celtics game against Charlotte on Tuesday night.  Here is what the UConn star, who is averaging 12.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game had to say. 1. How much communication have you had with Michael Jordan this year? Walker: [...]

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2 days ago

I Am Awesome!

Yes. This is a “pat myself on the back” post because a) I’m a jackass and b) I predicted something correctly. Back on January 8th, I predicted that the next ten games will tell us everything we need to know about this Celtics’ team. If they struggled, it was time to blow it up. If [...]

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2 days ago

Pierce Wins Eastern Conference Player Of Week

One day before he’s scheduled to pass Larry Bird for second on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list, Paul Pierce won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. Pierce averaged 22 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds in four Boston wins, playing point forward in Rajon Rondo’s absence. Pierce is only 9 points behind Bird [...]

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3 days ago

Garnett’s Wondrous 3-point Rant

Via ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg, who knows a great, playful rant when he hears one, here’s Kevin Garnett discussing his not-so-newfound aptitude for three-point shooting after the C’s took down the Grizzlies. “When I walk around the streets, y’all stop acting like y’all shocked that I can shoot 3’s. Everybody in Boston, everybody in the [...]

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3 days ago

5 Questions With O.J. Mayo

I talked with Memphis guard O.J. Mayo prior to the Celtics-Grizzlies, Super Bowl Sunday game at the Garden.  Here is what the 4th year man out of USC, who is averaging 12.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2 assists per game had to say. 1. You started every game your first two years in the league, [...]

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A Reason to be Thankful: It’s not 1997

At halftime* last night, I flipped over to watch the last few minutes of the Wizards-Bobcats game to find the Wizards’ crew talking about how Washington hadn’t yet beaten a team in its own division (the Southeast); they were 0-14 (or something like that) before rallying to beat the Bobcats, 95-93. (If a “rally” can include two straight turnovers on inbounds passes in the last 1:30).

The network broadcasting the game put up a graphic showing the worst divisional records in NBA history. No team has ever gone through a full season without a division win. Three or four have managed just one, and none had a worse record than the 1996-97 Celtics’ 1-23 showing in what was then a seven-team Atlantic Division. (The other one-win teams were 1-15, reflecting the less division-heavy schedule teams play now). If you’re reading this site, I probably don’t have to remind you this was the M.L. Carr-coached team that inarguably tanked in an effort to get Tim Duncan.

That one win? It came against Philly in the 81st game of the season. Here’s the box score from the epic 119-113 conquest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy crap, that was a terrible team. Fun fact: Brett Szabo, Nate Driggers and Steve Hamer never played a game in the NBA again after the ’97 season, according to their Basketball Reference pages.

So, yeah. Last night’s loss was tough but it was nice to get a random reminder of the 1997 season, when I was in college in New Hampshire openly cheering for the team to lose and then talking myself into Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer. “It’s not Duncan, but Ron Mercer should score 18 a game right away in the NBA with that mid-range jumper.” Yup.

 

*Is it possible it wasn’t halftime given that both were East Coast games? Maybe. Let’s just say I flipped over during some break in the C’s game.

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