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The Ticker
8 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

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 [...]

19
8 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

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 [...]

12
9 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

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 [...]

93
10 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

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 [...]

13
13 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

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 [...]

42
13 days ago

Final Grade: Avery Bradley (C+)

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 [...]

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Walker Taking Baby Steps

The biggest semi-Celtics related news this morning involves Antonie Walker inching closer to a training camp invite.  While this is pretty much the epitome of “non-news” considering there is no way Walker makes a team for anything more than a ten day contract at some point during the season, it is still compelling.

Walker’s fall from grace (from $100 million dollars to nothing) is hardly unheard of (just ask MC Hammer) but his attempted comeback seems unprecedented.  The knock on Walker throughout his entire career has been his inability to stay in shape, which happens to be the Achilles heel to most former All Stars (that and gruesome injury and “offcourt issues”) .  Similarly, most people that fall this far out of the limelight and their former tax bracket tend to keep a low profile for fear of public ignominy (just ask MC Hammer).  This makes the latest news on Walker all the more puzzling.  Not only is he trying to get back into the league, but this rumor is actually gaining steam.  Per Marc Stein:

“So it certainly made some sense when word reached Stein Line HQ on Sunday night that Toine is expected to arrive in Charlotte this week to stay with Bobcats center Nazr Mohammed, his buddy and fellow Kentucky Wildcat, and join in daily pickup games at the Bobcats’ facility leading up to the start of camp on Sept. 28.

Emphasis on some.

Despite Walker’s Charlotte connections, one source close to the situation says that the three-time former All-Star has no assurances from the Bobcats that he’ll be extended an official opportunity to stay for camp and attempt to make their team, no matter how far he goes back with Bobcats boss Michael Jordan. It is not yet known whether Walker can score that invite with a successful tryout in Charlotte, after a recent Twitter posting from John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal hinting at that possibility.”

While it is not yet known whether Walker can score an inivite to training, what is also equally unknown is whether or not Walker can still score the basketball in an NBA game.  Call me a cynic, but there is no way Walker makes the Bobcats or any other NBA team out of training camp.  It’s still a little baffling that Darius Miles has received interest from any team.  Even more baffling is that Antoine Walker and Darius Miles making NBA comebacks are more prevalent than Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury.

The most important aspect of Stein’s report you have to understand is that THE REGULAR SEASON CAN NOT COME ANY SOONER!  Oh man the dig days of the offseason are so tough.

Who do you think would make the best addition to an NBA roster: Anotine Walker, Darius Miles, or Allen Iverson?  Assuming “none” is not an acceptable answer.

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