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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Home/Lazy weekend post/ Sorta Small Saturday Notebook: Red’s Platform, House and the 3-Point Contest, Jamal Crawford Should Still Die of Gonorrhea and Rot in Hell
Sorta Small Saturday Notebook: Red’s Platform, House and the 3-Point Contest, Jamal Crawford Should Still Die of Gonorrhea and Rot in Hell
• A bunch of news about injuries today, but nothing really new, except for perhaps Doc Rivers conceding in the Globe that Paul Pierce is not quite 100 percent yet after having fluid drained from his knee:Â
“Paul’s just not right, yet,’’ Rivers said. “He’s better. But he’s your closer and when your closer’s not right you’re looking for scoring.’’
Before the start of this week, I think there was genuine reason to be concerned that maybe the knee wasn’t recovering as well as they would have liked. The fact that KG is back working out and they’re targeted a return date is a positive sign. Now, if that return date starts sliding and we don’t see KG until February, sound the alarm.
On Doc possibly overplaying the starters, even in blowouts:
I’ll agree that the Celtics seem to be a bit cautious this season, even with a big lead. Rajon Rondo stayed out there on the court when New Jersey made an initial charge in the third quarter Wednesday. Probably wasn’t necessary, but I’m sure no coach wants to see a 30-point lead whittled away.
On whether he thinks TA has secured a spot on the rotation even after Daniels returns:
I do, particularly because of his defense.
More from Chris, after the jump….
On the possibility of assistant coach Tyronn Lue becoming the C’s back-up point guard:
I still think this team would benefit from a backup point guard. And I remain convinced it’s Tyronn Lue (eventually).
Editor’s Note: I remain dubious of the Lue possibility.
On the lack of minutes lately for Shelden:Â
If I had to guess, the honeymoon is over. You know how every player sort of gets a burst of energy when they first get traded or sign with another team. I think he’s still valuable at the end of the bench, but as his minutes diminished, so did any confidence he had built early in the season.Â
Ed. note: I totally agree, and to clear up some confusion, there are no restrictions to the C’s dealing Shelden and his near-$900K expiring deal.Â
• Red’s Army has the video of Doc and Pierce at the dedication of what will now be called Red Auerbach Concourse at North Station.Â
• CelticsBlog has two videos—one shot indoors, one shot outdoors—in which Eddie House promotes himself for entry into the three-point shootout during All-Star weekend. Not helping Eddie’s cause: The fact that his three-point percentage this season (37.1) would be his lowest over a full season since ’03. Hopefully Eddie catches fire again, as he did around this time last season.
• CB’s Greg Payne, helping to hold down the fort while Jeff Clark is on vacation, tells us all that patience is the right attitude with which to approach the team’s current struggles (4-6 over the last 10 games). I think we’re all with Greg on this one.Â
• Finally, the reason for the last part of the this post’s title: Jamal Crawford, who has signed a pact with Satan himself, made another monster shot last night for Atlanta—a buzzer-beater to beat Phoenix:
Stop it, Jamal. Just stop. Crawford has been the king of false clutchness over the last decade in the NBA, building up a highlight reel of clutch shots simply because he hogged all of them during his time with the Knicks. He actually shot terribly in clutch situations. Really, there is evidence and everything.Â
Now Crawford is playing more 4th-quarter minutes (about 11 per game) than any player in the entire NBA and making big shots on a regular basis.Â
This will not last. This cannot last. Jamal Crawford will hurt Atlanta in an important game by hogging the ball and taking contested 20-footers. Right?Â
And just to explain: The joke in the headline (which I used last week as well) is a reference to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and not an expression of real, actual hatred toward Jamal Crawford. He actually seems like a sweet guy who is unusually reflective in his interviews. I wish him the best of luck. Just not against Boston.
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