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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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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News Roundup: Kurz to Camp, Green Speaks (and rebounds) and C’s Interested in KMart?

We’re back!

After a short hiatus, we’re firing up the generators here at CH HQ and getting ready for the 2012-13 season. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be looking at the questions surrounding the C’s, making some predictions and having a look around the entire league to suss out Boston’s competition for the 2013 NBA Title.

We’ve had a few tricklings of news the last few days. Per Sam Amick at SI, the Celtics have invited forward Rob Kurz to camp on a non-guaranteed deal. Kurz, 27, played four years at Notre Dame before spending the last five years bouncing around the planet, with notable stops in Spain, Germany, France and Golden State. Most recently, he played with the Sacramento Kings’ summer league team. Kurz may just be training camp fodder and a sign of Boston’s relative lack of depth at the forward spot but he can also shoot the three-ball (39.5% in 2008-09 with the Warriors).

Kenyon Martin remains unemployed and previous reports have suggested the Celtics may have interest in the rough and tumble veteran, particularly if he’s willing to sign for the minimum. Martin played 22 games for the Clippers last season after wintering in China during the lockout. At that price, he’s low risk but also of diminishing returns with his 35th birthday looming in December and a  9.93 PER from his time in L.A. Consider him potential big man insurance and a tough-minded guy in the locker room. It’s probably too much to hope for anything more.

Speaking of which, everyone is hoping for more from Jeff Green, including Jeff Green. Favored CelticsHub linkee Chris Forsberg caught up with him earlier today in Dorchester and got this tip on the expected evolutions in his game:

“Just probably being more assertive, more aggressive in certain situations,” Green said of changes he’d like to make in his approach. “That’s about it. My game pretty much speaks for itself — a guy who can play multiple positions… attack in different situations. My game is what it is; I just have to improve on different things. Just show it out there on the court.”

That includes a renewed focus on rebounding, one of the weaker aspects of his all-around game.

“[Rebound is about] being aggressive towards the ball,” said Green. “It’s a hard thing, but you just have to go out there and want to do it.”

There’s been a lot of criticism of the deal Danny Ainge lavished on Green this summer and with a series of marginal years on his resume, Green seems aware of the need to prove doubters wrong. Is he just an overpaid bench tweener or a guy who is finally healthy enough and comfortable enough to produce in line with a $36M contract.

Only a couple more weeks before we’ll start to find out.

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