Archive for the ‘Offseason’ Category

My Girlfriend’s Family: 0-2 in Celtic Encounters

October 19th, 2009

 

Picture 5

KG: "Pass the spicy tuna roll, bro!"

Loyal readers of this blog may remember that my girlfriend missed her chance to chat with Dino Radja because she was checking out a lavender sale when he walked by on the Croatian island of Hvar. A missed opportunity, but no biggie—Dino’s retired now, and the appropriateness of approaching a player or celebrity in public is always questionable. (Actually, is it even questionable? Isn’t the right thing to do to just leave them alone and let them enjoy themselves? I think that’s probably true, so please keep that in mind as I proceed with a tongue-in-cheek lament about Saturday night’s events). 

Well, my girlfriend’s sister lives in Toronto, where the Celtics played a pre-season game Sunday. On Saturday night at about 9 p.m., I received the following text message from her: “I am in the same restaurant as Kevin Garnett.” The restaurant was Spice Route, an upscale Asian bistro with couches, pillows, statues of Buddha and the usual stuff you find at upscale Asian bistros. 

I replied back asking her if it would be possible to talk to him or take his picture, even though I understand how uncomfortable it can be to sidle up and greet a superstar athlete when they are enjoying a nice evening out. I’m a reporter at my “real job,” so I have uncomfortable conversations all the time, but those conversations usually take place in a clearly understood reporter-source context. This is much different, and I didn’t expect her to do it. 

But about an hour later, another text message arrived:

“Paul Pierce just walked in.” » More: My Girlfriend’s Family: 0-2 in Celtic Encounters

Rondo Rounded Out

October 6th, 2009

rondoshootsRajon Rondo putting on 15 pounds of muscle this offseason is perhaps the most interesting tidbit fans found out during media day. Since I don’t have a social life, yesterday I compiled a list of all point guards of similar size (6′3″ or under) and compared Rondo’s weight from last season and this seaon to see how he stacked up. By doing this I did find out some interesting things:

1) Juan Dixon is tiny (6′3″, 164 lbs.)
2) Size doesn’t necesarilly equal wins as the Kings don’t have a player under 6″3′
3) There are a lot of players in the NBA 6′3″ and under.

I didn’t really focus on position because in a league where we predominantly think size does matter, it surprisingly doesn’t for shooting guards- or even combo guards. The following guys, while some may try to call them point guards, for all intents and purposes, are shooting guards- and they are short: Juan “Scrawny” Dixon, Mo Williams, Eddie House, Daniel Gibson, Jason Terry, Ben Gordon, Stephan Curry, Luther Head, Jack McClinton, Sean Singletary, and Quincy Douby.

Then there are the combo guards: Ronald Murray, Delonte West, Monta Ellis, Allen Iverson, Keyon Dooling, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, and Jerryd Bayless.

And finally the guards who are neither, they’re just guards, sort of: Charlie Bell, Kevin Ollie, and Willie Green.

The rest of this list is comprised of 64 players that I deem true point guards. I have thusly broken down this list into two over-simplified categories: quick and bulkie. Those that fall in the “bulkie group” follow in the Gary Payton model of posting up the smaller players and are really suited for half court offenses. The point guards in the “quick group,” as you might imagine, try to beat their man off the dribble and are perfect for the dribble drive offense made popular by  John Calipari and your favorite NBA team. This leads us into the discussion of why Rondo would want to add bulk if the offense is more suited for dribble drive. My thoughts after the jump: » More: Rondo Rounded Out

Remember “We Not Me”? An Illinois Man Says it Was His Idea

October 5th, 2009

Remember this shirt? 

Picture 40That slogan on the back, “We Not Me,” was the perfect mantra for a team of veterans who came together for a goal larger than themselves. 

Now an Illinois man is claiming Adidas swiped the idea from him, according to mediabistro. The story: W. Brand Bobosky, a do-gooder from Naperville, Ill., began using the phrase “We Not Me” around 1999 to promote various fundraisers in Naperville, where he was once president of both the local Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. (And if you can’t trust the Rotary Club, who can you trust?). He started putting the phrase on keychains and pins, and in 2004 he hired attorneys at a Chicago intellectual property law firm to register for trademark and copyright protections on the phrase, according to a press release (via mediabistro). Bobosky “started small but envisioned infinite growth for the catchy phrase.”

Bobosky even created a Web site to promote the phrase. 

Flash forward to late 2007 and early 2008, when Adidas rolled out its “Basketball is a Brotherhood” campaign featuring KG, Chauncey Billups, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas and others. The campaign featured the “We Not Me” phrase without permission from Bobosky, according to his lawsuit. Bobosky saw the ads and contacted Adidas about a possible licensing agreement, but the company either or ignored him or turned him down, the suit says. 

The slogan’s popularity jumped when the C’s won the title and Adidas marketed the above shirt. (Though the lawsuit incorrectly states that Kevin Garnett was named the MVP of the Finals. We all know it was Paul Pierce. They need to let basketball fans proofread these things). 

The suit names the Celtics and Garnett as individual defendants, though it’s unclear why, since every count seeking damages names Adidas and not the team or KG. (The ad agency that came up with the campaign is also not named, according to mediabistro). 

I reached out to Stephen Drinnon, the Texas-based lawyer handling the case for Bobosky, to ask why the C’s and KG are named, but he hasn’t gotten back to me as of now. (It should also be noted that Bobosky found some way to file the case in the Eastern District of Texas, long known as one of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions in the U.S. for intellectual property infringement cases). 

I’ll let you know more when I get info. Suffice it to say I don’t think this lawsuit is exactly going to bankrupt the Celtics.

Early Celtics Mini Preview

October 1st, 2009

paul_pierce_with_trophy-67031Our friend Jeff Clark over at CelticsBlog has organized a pretty cool feature with blogs on NBA teams all around the web joined together to provide mini previews on each of their squads. The Celtics team previews start today, so Celtics Hub answered some questions about this year’s team and will be comparing and contrasting our answers with other Celtics blogs later today. Celtics Hub will also have a more in-depth preview on the team later this month. For now, let’s get to the questions:

Team Name: Boston Celtics
Last Year’s Record: 62-20
Key Losses: Leon Powe
Key Additions: Marquis Daniels, Rasheed Wallace, the loss of Mikki Moore

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?

Danny Ainge really made a concerted effort this offseason to provide the revamp the C’s bench with considerable talent and depth. Last season, the C’s were exposed for lacking in these departments with the combination of the injury bug hitting the team hard along with the failed experiments of Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore.

This offseason, the team went after some big names to cover these deficiencies with great success. It starts in the frontcourt with the addition of big man Rasheed Wallace who will help spread the floor offensively as well as provide stellar defense down low.

Shelden Williams was also brought in, and while he won’t add much offensively, he will provide an interior presence with his great rebounding and shot blocking abilities. The acquisition of Wallace combined with the re-signing of Glen Davis gives the team personnel up front as deep and talented as anyone in the league.

The signing of Marquis Daniels was also another crucial move in this team’s offseason. Daniels took a major pay cut to come to Boston, following the allure of winning much like Wallace did. Daniels provides much needed depth at the SG/SF spot which will allow the team to reduce the minutes of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

Daniels also provides the versatility to play the point, giving the 2nd unit an extra weapon with dribble drive skills that will mesh well with a bench full of capable shooters (Eddie House, Glen Davis, Rasheed Wallace) » More: Early Celtics Mini Preview

Danny Ainge: Team could still bring in another guard

September 30th, 2009

CELTICS PRESS CONFERENCEWith the start of training camp yesterday, the Celtics roster would appear to be settled for the time being. Not necessarily so, according to Danny Ainge after being questioned by Celtics Hub Monday afternoon. Lots amid the endless glut of throwaway quotes one would expect at media day, I asked Danny about the guard situation and got an interesting response. 

Celtics Hub: Any chance you guys might be bringing in another guard to training camp?

Danny Ainge: There is always that chance yeah, there is always that chance we bring in someone else but this is what we are going to camp with right now today and we will see what happens.

Sounds like someone is waiting on a call back or two from a veteran point. Another reporter proceeded to begin to ask Danny another question at this point, however after a few seconds, Danny felt the need to further clarify himself to the guard inquiry and turned back to me to finishing responding to the question:

Ainge: I don’t feel like we need to bring anyone else in, if that’s what your asking. Could we? Sure, but I don’t think we have a need for it.

Interesting statements by Danny here, as the door was definitely left ajar by him, perhaps a bit too much to his liking when he first answered my question.

He clearly did not want to make a statement that was an indictment on his current PG backup options of Eddie House, Marquis Daniels, and potentially Lester Hudson, as shown with his secondary response. However, the way he responded to the question initially makes me feel like the team is potentially waiting on a couple guards to make up their mind after giving them what likely would be non-guaranteed contract invite to camp. An understandable offer given the amount of money the team has committed for this season as is. 

There are certainly some candidates out there whose names have been thrown around here many a time (Tyronn Lue, Bobby Jackson, Carlos Arroyo) just to name a few. However, the longer the week goes, my guess the less likelihood we see another Celtics in uniform, since you would expect Doc to want to see them have some significant run with the team if they were to have any shot of making it. 

Curious to see what take on this is though.