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12 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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4 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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Nate Robinson: Boorish Clown or Righteously Angry?

You decide (via the NY Daily News, who put the story of my beloved Sandra Bullock’s cheating husband on the front page this morning. I told you, Sandra! If it weren’t for the restraining order, you’d realize that what we both has been right in front of us all along!):

Nate Robinson rose from his seat on the Celtics bench, looked at Mike D’Antoni and began clapping.

Lil’ Him wasn’t honoring his former coach Wednesday night as much as he was taunting him. With Boston building a 27-point third-quarter lead over the Knicks, Robinson twice made it a point to show that he was enjoying D’Antoni’s misery.

First of all, I hate the nickname Lil’ Him or L’il Him or, really, Lil’ anything. Second, I’m not totally anti-Nate here. In general, it drives me crazy when fringe NBA players carry on about meaningless accomplishments, and scoring 8 points in a blowout win against a horrible team fits the definition of “meaningless.”

But Mike D’Antoni, a fantastic coach and a nice guy, has for two years now yanked players in and out of his rotation on what sometimes seems to be his personal whim. He banished Stephon Marbury only to ask him to play—and perhaps even start—when injuries decimated New York’s back court in November 2008. Marbury said no. He benched Nate Robinson for 14 games, then gave him playing time again, then talked about starting him and then benched him again. Now he’s on the Celtics. Chris Duhon went from starting and playing 30 minutes a game to being out of the rotation to being back in the rotation whenever D’Antoni tires of watching Sergio Rodriguez play “defense.”

This is not all on D’Antoni. Marbury’s a loon and had become a $20 million no-defense distraction. Robinson acted the buffoon, drew attention to himself at the expense of the team and played recklessly at times. Duhon, I’m sorry to say, stinks.

Still: It’s not hard to understand why Robinson would hold a grudge against D’Antoni.

Was this really the appropriate circumstance in which to express that grudge?

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