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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 [...]

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 [...]

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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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Going 5-on-5: Is Rondo’s Injury The End of an Era in Celtics Basketball?

The fine folks over at ESPN.com asked Brendan Jackson and myself to join up with other parts of the TrueHoop Network to tackle a variety of questions on the C’s and their future after the season-ending injury to Rajon Rondo. Some good questions and takes in here from everyone, and as you can see I went against the grain on a few of them, so curious to hear people’s feedback on that as well as on the national take on a few writers from afar. A sampling of the answers:

1. Fact or Fiction: This is the end of an era in Celtics basketball.

Danny Chau, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fact. They’re a team loosely held together by the erratic genius of Rajon Rondo. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce have been evading twilight for years, and won’t be able to will themselves out of this impossible situation. A lot can happen in the year it’s expected to take to recover from an ACL tear, but whatever happens likely won’t be what we’ve grown accustomed to in Boston.

Brendan Jackson, Celtics Hub: Fact. It’s highly unlikely that the Celtics can compete for a championship without Rondo. That gives Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett little incentive to keep the band together. It’s hard to imagine either starting over with a new club at this point in their careers, so the possibility of either retiring at the end of the season shouldn’t be dismissed.

Danny Nowell, Portland Roundball Soc.: Fiction. Yes, this is a setback, but the team was mediocre before the Rondo injury. The era was already dwindling to a close after the Ray Allen trade and this season’s lacking effort, so it’s hard to call this a definitive turning point.

Brian Robb, Celtics Hub: Fiction. While Rajon Rondo is the most talented player on the Celtics right now, this era in Celtics basketball is predicated on tough defense, Garnett and Pierce much more so than Rondo. As long as this team plays defense like they did Sunday against the Heat with KG on the floor, this era isn’t over officially.

Justin Verrier, ESPN.com: Fiction, but only because, to me, this era ends when each member of the Big Three is no longer in Boston. Rondo has been the driving force of these Celtics for some time, but he was only a supporting player when the franchise changed course and reassumed its position among the NBA’s elite. Besides, he’s not going anywhere, especially now that he’s damaged goods.

To check out the full post, head on over to ESPN.com for additional thoughts on whether the team should trade KG, Rondo and whether Boston will make the postseason with their current roster.

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