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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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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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Introducing: Luke Harangody (Wait, Huh?)

The Celtics almost had Solomon Alabi, once thought likely to go somewhere around #20, slide all the way to their second-round pick at #52. But the Mavs (picking  for the Raptors, apparently) took Alabi two spots in front of Boston.

So the C’s took….Luke Harangody, a player I assume most of you know a lot about, since I know a lot about him and I barely follow college basketball. If you don’t, here’s the quick and dirty: A power forward who put up huge numbers (22 points, 9 boards) at Notre Dame but (according to most folks) lacks the athleticism, size and quickness necessary to succeed in the NBA. Harangody is listed at 6’8” but measured just 6’6” without shoes and has an underwhelming 6’10” wing-span, according to the DraftExpress.

Some other blurbs:

DraftExpress:

Though Harangody has made some changes to his game, his biggest weakness from an NBA perspective remains his lack of athleticism. The hard working forward certainly took the draft process seriously last summer, shedding some weight and improving his mobility to a degree in the process, but the strides he made still leave him severely lacking compared to the average NBA power forward. Extremely strong, but very undersized at just 6-6 without shoes, and without a great wingspan (6-10) to compensate for that, Harangody may not have the type of physical tools that would allow him to translate his production to a much smaller role at the next level. While that certainly limits his NBA upside, it may not exclude him from having the opportunity to make an impact as a role player.

ESPN U:
NBA scouts do watch players play. When they saw Harangody play, they saw a burly, undersized forward who relied on an unorthodox jump shot and a coterie of herky-jerky low-post moves to create his offense. They saw a guy who rebounded like a maniac, but who also siphoned a huge portion of his team’s possessions, not always efficiently. They also saw a guy whose team inarguably played better without him in 2009-10, and whose return came just in time for the once-resurgent Irish to lifelessly fall to Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Heh. On the one hand, rebounding is the one stat that translates predictably from college to the pros and Harangody grabbed rebounds in college. On the other hand, Harangody seems like an inferior version of Glen Davis, doesn’t he?

The Celtics unquestionably need big guys, and Harangody is a big guy. He’s probably not the big guy they were hoping to get as a few notable names kept slipping during the 2nd round, but he’s the one they got.

And remember: Someone picked at #52 has about a 5 percent chance of being anything but a total non-entity in the NBA, according to ESPN’s analysis of draft history. So there’s a good chance that Harangody, with no guaranteed deal, will never play a minute of real NBA action for the Boston Celtics.

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