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1 hour ago

5-on-5: Predicting All-Star Reserves

I was a panelist on the 5-on-5 today at ESPN, choosing reserves for the Eastern and Western Conference all-star teams. I took two Celtics, as noted below. Hit the link to read the rest. 1. Which East and West point guards should be chosen as All-Star reserves? Ryan DeGama, CelticsHub: East: Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo [...]

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1 day 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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2 days 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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3 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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3 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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4 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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Pierce Out “Indefinitely”/”Day-to-Day”

Is there  a more misleading word in sports reporting right now than “indefinitely”? When you read the headline that says “Boston’s Paul Pierce Out Indefinitely With Thumb Injury,” your first thought is, “What? Did he break it or something?”

Indefinitely, after all, means that the team has no idea when he will come back. And that’s technically accurate, since the Celtics don’t know exactly when Pierce will be back, according to ESPNBoston.com:

Boston Celtics guard Paul Pierce is out indefinitely with a right thumb injury and did not even come to the TD Garden Tuesday night for a game against the New York Knicks as he also has the flu, according to Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

Of course, he’s still listed as “day-to-day,” because the injury is not serious. All “indefinitely” means in this context is that the C’s will give Pierce as many games off as he needs, according to Doc Rivers:

“Oh yeah, I’m comfortable with any of our guys being out, I’ve gotten used to it,” joked Rivers. “It’s not what you want, but, listen, we went 3-1 [on a recent four-game road trip] without Paul giving us much of anything because of his health. We can win without him…”

I move to eliminate the use of “indefinitely” in the context of a day-to-day injury that keep a player out a day or a week. The word should be used when someone breaks their leg, needs to tend to his family (i.e. Allen Iverson right now) or has some sort of non-athletic medical problem to deal with. 

So: Pierce is day-to-day. Move along.

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