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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 [...]

16
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
8 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 [...]

9
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Celtics-Jazz Grades

Utah Jazz 93 Final
Recap | Box Score
98 Boston Celtics
Kevin Garnett, PF 30 MIN | 4-10 FG | 3-4 FT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 11 PTS | +9
The young Jazz bigs really went at KG, particularly off the dribble. Defending young perimeter players one-on-one is one of KG’s few defensive weaknesses and he struggled with that tonight. His shot was off again although he managed a few impressive rim runs and again put down a lob from Rajon Rondo. Overall, he seems tired right now and the Brooklyn game won’t do much to help. Expect sub-30 minutes from KG tomorrow night. He’ll be better for it over the long term.
Brandon Bass, PF 32 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | -2
His steadiness is part of his appeal but his limitations are consistent too. Bass got just killed on the boards and in a game where the Celtics gave up a massive batch of offensive rebounds, they needed more from him.
Paul Pierce, SF 29 MIN | 7-17 FG | 6-7 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 23 PTS | -3
The shooting percentage was — again — nothing to blog home about but Pierce generated enough offense to lead the team in scoring.
Rajon Rondo, PG 25 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 10 AST | 6 PTS | -8
A soft focus first half gave way to a sharp third quarter before he turned his ankle and sat the rest of this one out. He is drawing consistent double-team attention on penetration which is opening up the lane for guys like KG and Wilcox to throw down alley-oops.
Jason Terry, SG 22 MIN | 0-1 FG | 3-3 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 3 PTS | -10
A passenger on this particular jet.
Jeff Green, PF 27 MIN | 5-9 FG | 6-7 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 16 PTS | +12
Here’s what I like, besides the steady upward creep in his minutes: after Paul Millsap stymied a number of his first half drives, Green continued attacking, which led to that thunderous throwdown in the fourth quarter and 7 FTAs. Here’s what I love: the technical foul and subsequent imploring of the crowd to bring the noise. Could the snarl and attitude of #5 be rubbing off on him? Let’s hope so.
Jared Sullinger, PF 16 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | +7
Nobody’s talking about his basketball IQ lately.
Chris Wilcox, PF 18 MIN | 3-3 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 7 PTS | -4
Love the production in short minutes because it’s based almost exclusively on hustle and positioning. Particularly excited that he’s still a ways from optimal shape, which means his performance should be on an upswing for awhile yet.
Courtney Lee, SG 18 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | +11
Finding his place, however slowly. Given the way he started, I’ll take 50% from the field with no further fuss.
Leandro Barbosa, SG 23 MIN | 6-8 FG | 3-6 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 16 PTS | +13
A lightning quick score-first backup point who is not tiny (Nate Robinson), erratic (Stephon Marbury), injury prone (Delonte West) or a half-season rental (Sam Cassell), Barbosa has been more feast than famine so far. Where does he fit when Avery Bradley comes back? With any luck, it’ll be a difficult conversation.

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