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6 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

On June 23rd, 2011, Brian Robb and I stood around a high top bar table in Tommy Doyle’s in Kendall Square.  Before us lay one of the biggest mounds of buffalo chicken wings I had ever endeavor to make disappear.  These 25 cent flappers- one of the few indulgences afforded to the participants of our [...]

18
6 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

There are a number of contextually-appropriate ways to craft this post. One would be to forgo words entirely, and represent Chris Wilcox’s entire season with a series of videos. That would involve one part of this: For every eight parts of this: Note the headline on that second clip. Someone was so amused/enraged by Wilcox’s [...]

12
7 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

Here’s a sweeping general statement involving super specific statistics that may or may not mean anything: In the 1423 minutes Rajon Rondo played this season, the Boston Celtics were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sat (including all contests after he tore his ACL), Boston was better than their opponents by 1.8 [...]

92
8 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

Avery Bradley has been a standout defender for the past couple seasons…in the regular season anyway. Now he has a trophy to prove it. The NBA announced this afternoon that the third-year guard has been elected by coaches around the league to the second-team all-NBA defensive team for the first time in his career. Bradley [...]

13
11 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

The first domino to fall this offseason is Paul Pierce’s contract. Until Danny Ainge figures out what he’s doing there, little else matters. As we wait for this decision, we also must face the rest of the offseason, which means it is also rumor season. With that time of year, comes plenty of information floating [...]

42
11 days ago

Final Grade: Avery Bradley (C+)

In his third year in the league, in which promising players often make brash leaps from benchwarmer to starter, from starter to star, Avery Bradley took a big step back. But his regression might be deceptive. When he returned to the Celtics’ lineup on January the 2nd after two in-season months recovering from offseason shoulder [...]

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Patrick Ewing Continues to Be Awesome

Normally I wouldn’t pay any attention to a media-generated story like an assistant coach guaranteeing victory in a Game 7, but when the assistant coach in question is Patrick Ewing, I can’t resist. As a Celtics fan who grew up in Knicks country (Fairfield County, Conn.) during the Ewing Era, I lived through so many Ewing guarantees that it would take me an entire afternoon to track down all of them. 

Here’s what Ewing said today, courtesy of Jess Camerato: “Even though I’m not playing, I’m guaranteeing a win.”

And Doc’s classic response: “Oh that’s great. We feel great about that. I’ve been on those Knicks teams where he had some predictions.”

ESPN has a video here that includes some Ewing guarantees that didn’t pan out, but neither of my favorites makes the cut.

• In 1997 during the Eastern Conference semi-finals against Miami, Ewing told reporters before Game 7, “See you in Chicago,” meaning the Knicks would advance to the conference finals and play the Bulls. They lost, becoming the sixth team in NBA history at that point to blow a 3-1 series lead. It certainly wasn’t Patrick’s fault; he went for 37-17 in the Game 7 loss.

• Before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers in 2000 (with New York trailing 3-2), Ewing said, “We’re going to win tomorrow and we’re going to come back on Sunday and try to win again.” They lost Game 6, with Pat shooting 6-of-15 for 18 points (and 12 boards). 

I’m sure Ewing correctly guaranteed something during his career, but nothing is popping into my head immediately. Hopefully he’s wrong again. 

 

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