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5 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 [...]

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6 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
7 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 [...]

92
7 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
11 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
11 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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The C’s Play Tonight, But Seriously What Just Happened? Open Thread

Boston at Denver
Pepsi Center
10:30 pm EST
TNT

Offensive Efficiency:

Boston: 105.1 points/100 possessions (13th)
Denver: 109.7 points/100 possessions (1st)*

Defensive Efficiency:

Boston: 97.5 points allowed/100 possessions (2nd)
Denver: 107.2 points allowed/100 possessions (23rd)*

*Irrelevant

View from opposing bench: Roundball Mining Company

Needless to say, we’re going to scrap the regular format for tonight’s preview. The Nuggets are a completely new team and you can basically throw all their stats from this season out the window. Tonight marks the true beginning of the post-Melo era for Denver, as the 4 newly acquired former-New Yorkers get set to make their debut.

But enough about the Knuggets. We have enough on our hands already…

WHAT TO LOOK FOR TONIGHT?

Body language. I’m sure the Celtic players are devastated by this. Particularly Rajon Rondo, who was very close with Kendrick Perkins. I really just wouldn’t want to be in that locker room today…just a sad place to be. Perkins was supposed to be out tonight anyway, but I wonder what kind of effect today’s events will have on their play against the Nuggets. Fortunately, this is a veteran team and they will stay focused on the task at hand. Kevin Garnett won’t allow them to lose that mental concentration. Even with only 9 players dressed tonight, I really expect the Celtics’ to come out motivated and determined. I just don’t know if they can survive with KG, BBD and Chris Johnson up front. Speaking of which…

DOES BIG BABY HAVE IT IN HIM?

Even for a BBD critic like myself, I can’t ignore the fact that a tiny part of the Perkins trade probably had to do with Davis’ superb play this season. As confused as I am by the trade, Danny Ainge obviously knows that he has a year-and-a-half window left with the Big 3. And he wouldn’t have made this deal if he didn’t have confidence in Perkins’ replacement(s). Perhaps Troy Murphy is already packing his bags for Boston. But ultimately, BBD is going to be the guy that Doc Rivers wants on offense at the end of a close game. Davis has proven he deserves to be on the offensive side of the ball in these situations. Now the question is, does he have what it takes to be a strong enough defensive player to help the Celtics close out games?

SOMETHING ON THE NUGGETS:

I honestly feel a little sorry for Raymond Felton. I think he got the worst of the whole Melo deal. In the midst of a career year (17 -9), living in New York, dishing out assists to Amare left and right. Things were finally coming together for him. It’s not often that you see an NBA player battle for 5 years before finally blossoming into a border-line All-Star in his sixth season. And Felton most certainly elevated his game to a new level this season. But who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe his inflated numbers are a direct by-product of the D’Antoni Effect and the fact that Amar’e played out of his mind for the first 3 months of the season. On this Nuggets team though, he suddenly becomes “the guy”, or at least “the co-guy.” And my hunch is that he keeps it up. Starting with tonight.

However, I think Danilo Gallinari completely folds under the pressure tonight. Just think Celtics fans, it could be worse. The future of your franchise could rest in that guy’s hands.

Prediction: Nuggets 101, Celtics 94. Just get me to the post-game news conference so I can get some answers.

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