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13 hours ago

Jason Terry’s 2012-13 Final Grade

  Acquiring any player, whether it’s via trade, free agency, or the draft, comes with an air of uncertainty. The NBA has no guaranteed covenant and all sales are final, no matter how talented, proven, or productive the player may have been in year’s past. But these memories—especially recent ones—often clouds the judgment of a [...]

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9 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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10 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
11 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 [...]

94
11 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 [...]

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15 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 [...]

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Ainge: Jermaine O’Neal Could Return Next Week

After setting the record straight on Lawrence Frank earlier today, Danny Ainge may a somewhat surprising revelation to The Boston Herald earlier today, by indicating Jermaine O’Neal is inching close a return, perhaps as early as next week.

“It could be next week, which is about what we hoped for – the end of the month,” said Ainge. “He looks good. I watched him go through his workouts.”

The most encouraging news, according to Ainge, is that O’Neal has been able to work out for approximately three weeks without swelling. In addition to working out with a trainer, the center has been playing 1-ob-1 basketball.

“That’s always the challenge,” said Ainge. “He’s been working out for that long without swelling, which is a big consideration.”

O’Neal also lost approximately 12 pounds during his rehabilitation.

Ainge said that O’Neal may join the team when it begins a road trip this weekend with back-to-back games in Indiana and Minnesota, though it’s unlikely he would play in either game.

But the trip continues with games in San Antonio (March 31) and Atlanta (April 1) – possible targets for an O’Neal return. He would also get some practice time, considering that there is a two-day gap between the games in Indiana and San Antonio.

Ainge watched O’Neal in Chicago earlier today, where the center has spent the majority of his time rehabbing over the past month. Startling news for what has been a huge bust signing thus far. As last year showed, all (if not most) will be forgiven if Jermaine can be a useful commodity come playoff time. This latest news from Ainge firsthand proves that he will at least have a shot in that department before the season finishes up.

In the meantime ask yourself this: would you have ever dreamed Jermaine would be back before Shaq?

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