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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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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Early Christmas Gift! Pavlovic Likely To Start vs. Knicks

Yes, Pavlovic did play for the Hornets last year.

Happy Holidays to all you CelticsHubbers out there. With the regular season opener approaching, Doc Rivers has reached into his stocking early with the news that Sasha Pavlovic will likely get the start at small forward on Christmas, with Paul Pierce still looking doubtful with a heel injury. (ESPNBoston:)

“Most likely,” Rivers said Friday when asked whether Pavlovic will start in lieu of Pierce. “We’ve [run him with the starters] this week so he can get a feel. We could change our mind on that one, but I would say most likely.”

Previously, Rivers had discussed the possibility of giving Marquis Daniels the Sunday start if Pierce can’t go, but on Friday he expressed a desire to keep Daniels with the team’s second unit.

“I would love to keep the second unit intact, as much as I can,” Rivers said. “I think they feel each other, and I think Marquis really helps, especially if we go with a 5-man second unit. I don’t know if we’ll do it or not, but it just really helps the team.”

All joking aside, I really like this move by Doc. As we all saw Wednesday night, the second unit offense is in dire need of some offense. Taking Marquis Daniels off that unit only compounds that matter further, since he is more capable of putting up some quick post and cutting points than Sasha at this point in his career.

To the same point, Pavlovic’s deficiencies are better hidden with Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O’Neal having his back, as opposed to Bass and Wilcox. That’s something that is desperately needed against the likes of Carmelo Anthony.

All in all, this will likely be a one-game experiment with Mickael Pietrus likely on the way and ready to suit up early next week and Pierce hopefully on the mend. For now, Doc cuts his losses and does a better job of maintaining balance between both units.

A full preview of tomorrow’s tilt on the way later today, as well as the latest on Pietrus.

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