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6 hours ago

5 Questions With Josh McRoberts

I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden.  Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]

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8 hours 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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2 days 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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Mid-Day Notebook: Howard’s Game, Celtic History, Obama Picks the Lakers

• Do yourselves a favor and go read this post at Orlando Pinstriped Post about how efficiently Dwight Howard has scored in various roles in Orlando’s offense during this series—i.e. on post-ups, as the roll man on screen/rolls, in transition, etc. The numbers are stark—Howard can’t score in the post, and he has been devastating in the screen/roll and on the offensive glass.

One tidbit of the many you will find in friendly chart format: Howard is 14-of-36 (39 percent) on post-ups. In other words: There is no reason for Boston to double Howard in the post unless a switch has produced a mismatch.

The other question this data raises: What took Orlando so long to move from its four-in/one-out offense to one centered on screen/rolls? Again: The Magic ran 33 screen/rolls combined in the first three games and 43 in Game 4 alone, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Stan Van Gundy is a great coach, and he made the proper adjustments. But he should have made them sooner.

• At Pro Basketball Talk, Matt Moore (who is not fond on your Boston Celtics but is still a nice person and smart, smart NBA writer) suggests that Van Gundy must be open to make further adjustments, even dramatic ones, to keep his team alive. Among Moore’s suggestions: More J.J. Redick (he’s +21 in this series) and less Vince Carter (-23).

• Barack Obama is picking the Los Angeles Lakers to defeat the Boston Celtics in the Finals, thus giving an immediate boost to the legitimacy of the Tea Party movement. (Kidding). Bloomberg reports on Obama’s interview with Marv Albert:

“I’ve got to go with the Lakers again,” Obama said in the interview that will begin airing on NBA TV today. “Boston’s a veteran club, but the Lakers are looking pretty good.”

Obama called Bryant the “the fiercest competitor in the league” and Jackson “the best coach in the NBA right now.” Of Gasol, Obama said “he may be the best big man in the league.”

• A win by Orlando tonight would be a rare, rare thing in NBA history. Of the prior 93 NBA teams who have fallen behind 3-0 in series, only 9 have even forced a Game 6. (None have come back to win, of course).

Also: The Celtics have led a best-of-seven series 11 times in their history, and none have gone beyond Game 5, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

That’s it for now. We’ll have more later.

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