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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The Boston Celtics played the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night. Seriously. The Bobcats got played on Saturday night to the tune of 92-to- 63. No Celtic starter logged more than 31 minutes which gives them ample time to rest up before Wednesday night’s showdown with the surging Knicks. Earlier today, Rich Keefe got you caught up on how well the Knicks are playing this season. Before we get to those Knickerbockers, let’s dwell for a bit on the hilarity that ensued on Saturday night.
I, unfortunately, was not able to adequately watch this contest live for I was attending the inaugural Christmas On The Cape Annual Holiday Blowout- or as it was so dubbed after a few Eggnogs. Despite feeling very festive, I was level headed enough to witness the unbalanced point differential. However, I did not get to really appreciate just how truly lopsided this game was until I threw on my DVR for a little pre-Pats game entertainment.
After rewatching this stink fest with a critical eye, I was still unable to glean anything of season-reflecting significance. After coming to grips with this reality, I decided to present you with a few scattered thoughts that you won’t read about elsewhere (okay, so maybe you will. I haven’t checked) in lieu of any real substance.
Picture of the Night:
Most lopsided positional matchup in the league?
That’s right folks. This was Saturday’s backup point guard matchup du jour. On the right, standing 4’11″ 5’9″ tall and weighing in at a stocky 180 pounds, your very own Nate Robinson! And his opponent, towering over all others at a height of 6’7″, Shaun Livingston! Has there been a more lopsided height differential this season? Oh right, the Bobcats have played the Bucks twice this season.
The best part of the this picture is the fact that Nate Robinson is standing up straight and Shaun Livingston is bent over at the waist. I don’t care who has more talent, that has to be an imposing figure for Nate Robinson to play against. Scarily enough, these guys are in the same MMA weight class. Any promoter want to pony up the dough to get these two in the octagon? I’ll offer you free advertising space on CelticsHub.com.
If you’re new to the NBA and do not know who Shaun Livingston is, he is the former fourth overall pick and point guard-of-the-future for the Los Angeles Clippers. Why did the Clippers sign Baron Davis and draft two point guards in the last few years? Cause this happened (I warn all of those who at in the least bit squeamish to not click on that link and just continue to not know who Shaun Livingston is)
Now that presumably no one has fainted, we’ll move on. After all, that was three years ago and after long road to recovery, Livingston is back in the league. Simply amazing. Not to mention that he’s playing pretty well this season. On Saturday, the funniest matchup of the night played out to a push. Both Livingston and Robinson had six points, committed two turnovers, and posed for pictures with Manute and Muggsy (too soon?).
Play of the Night (Offense and Defense)
The Bobcats are a prime example of a team that makes good teams play down to their level- at least offensively. Exhibit A: the afore-posted video. Kevin Garnett is dribbling around the court like a mad man. Or more like the guy in a pickup game who is so oppressively bad that you’ll solidify your spot in hell if you play defense (think Philip Seymour Hoffman). Once KG stops dribbling aimlessly with his head down, he passes the ball to Rajon Rondo, who passes the ball to Paul Pierce, who passes the ball to Ray Allen. All of those previously mentioned players proceed to dribble way too much and Allen eventually takes an off-balance jumper in the lane.
After Allen’s brick bounces off the back rim, the Bobcats are off in running. Luckily for the Celtics, they remembered to bring their defense to Charlotte and Glen Davis picked up his league leading 1,234,567th charge of the season on the Bobcats next possession. Admittedly, Davis is probably still sliding in when the contact from Gerald Wallace is absorbed. Still, you have to give everyone an A for effort in this clip– because that’s what you give youth basketball participants and that’s about the skill level encapsulated in this clip.
Side Note:
When the Bobcats went small, Gerald Wallace played the power forward and was defended by Glen Davis. How Wallace failed to go off is mind-boggling but the matchup did provide even more comic relief than the Robinson vs. Livingston one. There was a ton of contact between these two but none of it seemed malicious. Sometimes you get a feel for players offcourt personalities from their oncourt play and this has been the cause for my unreasonable affinity for Gerald Wallace. I can’t explain it, but Wallace just seems like a good dude.
Danny Ainge’s Pat-Yourself-On-The-Back/Bullet Dodging Moment of the Night:
I am sure most people are going to point to the trade that never was that would have sent Glen Davis to Charlotte for D.J. Augustin. Usually, when you can swap a former second rounder for a former first it’s a good thing. With the Celtics big man injury woes and the emergence of Glen Davis as Sixth Man of the Year material, this non-deal is an easy candidate. However, I’m going to point to a more relevant instance. A more relevant and infinitely scarier prospect. For a time this offseason, there was a battle for third string free agent center. The decision? Shaquille O’Neal or Kwame Brown.
Like I said, scary. The funniest part of the whole thing is that at the time Brown wanted more from the Celtics than the veteran minimum. What? Brown should be paying the Washington Wizards back for conning them into thinking he knew what a basketball was, not demanding more money. Brown is a Player’s Association nightmare. When the CBA meetings are underway next year and the concept of guaranteed contracts is brought up, the owners should just repeat “Kwame Brown” over and over again until the PA says “uncle.”
Shaq’s numbers obviously blow Brown’s out of the water. In the “Hayesian” analysis of +/- (O’Neal +143, Brown -26), it’s pretty clear that Brown would be on the wrong side of the salvation line should he have been signed. To put it another way, Kwame Brown’s numbers are on par with Semih Erden, the Celtics fourth string/rookie/injured center. (Basketball-Reference.com and 82-Games.com)
Most Interesting Stat of the Night
Saturday was the third time this season where Glen Davis scored 16 points and 7 rebounds. This repetitive box score entry might not have much to do with anything in the NBA (besides solid contribution from a bench player), but it may have a far greater significance in pop culture. When the Lost writers sober up and realize that they haven’t actually explained anything, they can take this stat line and draw even more irrelevant conclusions. Just a few more games of Baby putting up these numbers and he’ll be well on his way to being Hurley’s next roommate in the asylum.
The Ticker
