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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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9 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
10 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 [...]

13
14 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
14 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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Jeff Green Opens Up About His Heart Surgery & Recovery

In a terrific interview from our friends at CelticsBlog, Josh Zavadil goes one-on-one with the C’s small forward about his offseason, role for next season, and perhaps of most interest, the process he went through during and after his heart surgery. Here is an excerpt on that from the fantastic piece:

“I didn’t think anything was going to happen. I thought it was going to be over in a matter of ten minutes and then I’d be getting ready for practice,” Green said.

“I thought everything was going to be fine. I never had any symptoms of shortness of breath or fatigue. Boston has some of the best doctors in the heart region. They see things fast and first.”

The hours that followed Jeff’s diagnosis were arguably the toughest. As with any major setback…

“The first couple hours were just full of disappointment and feeling like I had let people down. With the lockout ending and finally being ready to play, I just felt like I let a lot of people down,” said Green as he dwelled on the immediate moments after hearing the news from team doctors.

Basketball was done. Green was out for an entire year, and he had to prepare for a year of rehabilitation and recovery in order to return to the court in 2012. He had surgery in January, and the weeks and months that followed would be harder than receiving the news of his ailment.

“The surgery itself was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life. I had to start from, basically, double scratch. Walking was an issue — just being able to have the stamina was a problem. Everything just kind of shuts down. The nervous system breaks down, and it’s kinda like a jump-start. You have to get it going, and it was just difficult.

“You take for granted all of the little things — whether it’s just an easy crunch or ab exercise, or moving to the left or moving to the right. I couldn’t lay on my stomach for the first two-and-a-half months. I couldn’t lay on my side. The first couple of weeks I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t do a lot of things, but it helps you appreciate the little things.”

Very candid stuff from Jeff and terrific work by Josh. Be sure to check out the complete interview by clicking HERE:

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