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3 hours 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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24 hours 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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1 day 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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2 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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2 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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4 days ago

5 Questions With Landry Fields

I talked with New York starting guard Landry Fields prior to the Celtics-Knicks game at the TD Garden.  Here is what the 2nd year man out of Stanford, who is averaging 10 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists had to say. 1.  I’m sure you guys are frustrated with your record to this point of [...]

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Another Reason to Watch Rondo: Can Jameer Nelson Defend PGs?

One of the major themes of this season has been the notion that the Orlando Magic struggle to contain opposing point guards. Ben Q. Rock of the outstanding Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post (formerly Third Quarter Collapse) investigates this trend and finds two things (which should be accepted with all the caveats Mr. Rock lists in his post):

1) Opposing point guards who can create their own shot have played better against Orlando than distributor types, and high-scoring games from opposing PGs have contributed to several of Orlando’s nine losses.

2) Opposing point guards have scored significantly more points (18.1 per game versus 13.6) in games started by Jameer Nelson versus games started by Jason Williams. They have also shot a higher percentage from the field in games Nelson has started. 

If you’re interested, you should really go read the whole post. Lots of good stuff there.

This is a troubling pattern for the Magic, though it’s really too early to classify it as a pattern set in stone. Let’s wait for Nelson to get back to full health and Orlando to get into its mid/late-season schedule. 

But let’s also watch and hope that Rondo continues to build an independent offensive game.

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