Celtics Still Injured

Posted on December 21, 2011 by christoph131

Just 10 months after a spine injury where he was taken off in a stretcher, presumably finished for his career, Marquis Daniels has come back stronger than ever. I know that I felt bad when we let him go last season because we were fighting hard for a championship. At least we made things right and got him back, and now he is better than he was before his surgery. Marquis might have the chance to start on Christmas Day against the Knicks, assuming Pierce is still hurt. He is a great spot up defender and could probably do a better job than anyone (including Pierce) at guarding their best player, I think his name is Carmelo or something…

However, Doc Rivers said that he likes the way the second unit plays together so he may even throw Sasha (remember that utterly useless guy from last season??) into the starting role just to keep his second team together for when our senior citizens get tired. The Knicks are undoubtedly going to be a lot stronger of a team than last year. Do you think we can beat them right off the bat? I believe so since they are a new team and have had limited practice, while the core of our team has been together since 2007.

Best Players in College

Posted on December 19, 2011 by christoph131

Just over a month in and there have already been a few different #1 teams in the country. There have also been many players who have stepped up, or fell off the radar. I thought it would be fun to vote on who has been the best player in the NCAA ( I only did ranked teams players). If you are unsure, do not just vote for North Carolina players because I’m pretty sure thats what everyone in the coaches poll does…

Weekend College Round Up

Posted on December 19, 2011 by christoph131

Previously unbeaten Xavier lost their first game Sunday against Oral Roberts… Wait, What? Oh yeah, 3 of their best players are suspended because of their brawl against Cincinnati last week (in case you somehow missed it) so they lost against a team with “Oral” in their name… Since these 3 didn’t play, I don’t see Xavier dropping far below their previous rank of #9, just as Ohio State remained near the top even though they lost a game last week when they didn’t have Sullinger, who got hurt again on Saturday. In my opinion he is the most dominant player in college right now, when he is healthy that is. I hope they drop below UConn who should climb a little bit higher with another win on Sunday.

On Saturday night, Syracuse almost felt the curse of the #1 but somehow held on against North Carolina State, which would have been a huge upset once again. #19 Illinois lost but I wouldn’t be surprised if they stay in the top 25 since it is their first loss, even though they have not played anyone that tough. #21 Alabama and #25 Vanderbilt both lost, which will most likely move both of them out of the top 25 come Monday morning. Every other team that played and should have won, did win. Unfortunately, that includes the Tar Heels.

Free Agency

Posted on December 14, 2011 by christoph131

Free agency drama continues. It looks like the Lakers might be back in the hunt for Chris Paul, because the Hornets (owned by the league) are asking for 4 players and a pick from the Clippers, and they do not think it is worth it. They have a young team built for the future and wanted to keep most of that intact, rather than having just two players (Paul, Griffin). Most likely, he will not end up with the Lakers because the Hornets want a younger team, one that only the Clippers can help them out with. However, if the Clippers give away rising star Eric Gordon and a first round pick (from the Timberwolves so most likely a top 10 pick), it will be near impossible to resign Chris Paul after the season. They need someone else to attract him other than high-flying Blake Griffin.

Ever since Dwight Howard said he would only play for the Magic, Lakers, Mavericks, or Nets, many trade rumors have settled down. Until yesterday, when the Nets started to push heavily to get the big man to the Dirty Jerz.

On a quieter note, the Denver Nuggets re-signed Nene, the #1 free agent of this lockout-shortened season (Remember, Paul and Howard aren’t free agents yet).

Pre-Free Agents

Posted on December 13, 2011 by christoph131

The NBA is basically revolving around Chris Paul and Dwight Howard right now and where they will end up, either before the season (12 days away) or during the season. Neither the Hornets or the Magic are willing to lose their stars after this season without getting something in return. Negotiations have re-opened between the Clippers of Los Angeles and the Hornets, to send Chris Paul to LA. The Clips have also won a waiver bid on Chauncey Billups. Although Billups has gone on record to say that he will not report to any training camp of a team that is not in direct contention for a championship this season, so we will see how that goes.

The Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard may be able to stay together if they can show that they want to make the Magic a legitimate championship contender by signing more stars around him, such as Billups. Might be kinda tough to get him away from the Clippers because they are looking to become the new number one team in LA with their young team. They think that they can overcome the old age of Kobe, Gasol, and Fisher, and constantly injured Andrew Bynum (now that they lost Lamar Kardashian). Even without Chris Paul, they are young and Mo Williams, Gordon, and Blake Griffin could spend a lot of years there. But can they compete for a title? Could they even win their division?

College Round Up

Posted on December 12, 2011 by christoph131

It was a weekend full of upsets in college basketball. And it wasn’t just me feeling upset that Duke and North Carolina both won. #1 Kentucky was upset by unranked, but undefeated Indiana at the buzzer. Probably the most exciting game of the year so far in my opinion. #2 Ohio State was also upset by #13 Kansas. It should be mentioned, however, that the Buckeyes were playing without the best player (in my opinion) in the league due to back spasms. I think they will still be ranked near the top once he is back and well.

Usually, I wouldn’t comment on a team like Xavier that no one cares about, including myself, but if you watch the news at all, you should know what happened. A bench clearing brawl, including everyone that could reach an opposing player, ended a blow out by #8 Xavier of Cincinnati before the game was even over. The only thing that was missing was Ron Artest running into the stands and punching fans in the face. I am willing to bet that Artest (or as he now likes to be called Metta World Peace??) is laughing like hell remembering his ‘glory’ days with the Pacers.

Your take on the Paul situation?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by christoph131

With all the trade rumors going around the NBA prior to the shortened season beginning, I thought it would be fun to get your guys take on who will be the best team in the league come June. It looks like the Heat are signing Shane Battier who will most likely be the biggest role player in the league this year.

All of these scenarios are based upon the rumors that are going around. For example, the only way the Lakers will most likely get Paul is if Howard goes there too to create their own big 3, and that the Celtics will only get him by giving up Rondo, Green, and 2 first round picks. Any other teams that you think have a legitimate shot, post in the comment section.

Life Lesson from Orlando’s CEO

Posted on December 7, 2011 by christoph131

Orlando Magic CEO Bob Vander Weide has decided to “resign” after 20 years with the team. I put the word resign in quotations because he probably would have been asked to leave anyways. He drunk dialed Dwight Howard over the weekend to try to convince him to stay with his team, just like an 18 year old guy trying to get some on a Friday night (or any guy for that matter). If a belligerent, 50 year old man calling you up at 2 in the morning to talk about his feelings doesn’t get you to stay, I don’t know what will. Oh wait yes I do, get him a better team around him. Vince Carter, Hedo Turkoglu, and Gay-Gay Reddick are not going to win you championships. In fact, it’s not even going to make you the best team in Florida. There is probably a 7% chance of him staying in Orlando, and that’s only if he breaks an ankle and no one wants him anymore. They will never make it out of the East with the Heat, Celts, and Knicks still around (assuming Carmelo has stopped sucking, and the Celtics sign more than the 6 players we have right now). So moral of the story, don’t drunk dial other dudes, it never turns out for the better.

New NHL Layout (worth reading)

Posted on December 6, 2011 by christoph131

The NHL is changing their ways completely over the next few years, turning two conferences into 4. There will be two conferences with 7 teams and two with 8 teams. The Bruins consist of themselves, Canadiens, Panthers, Lightning, Leafs, Sabres, and Senators. Each of these teams we will play 3 times at home, and 3 times away. For every other team, we will play them once at home, and once away. This can be both good and bad:

Good:

Every team gets to play everyone at least once with home ice advantage.
There will be less traveling for west coast teams (which doesn’t really matter for us at all)
Games played in different time zones will be earlier so we won’t have to be up till 1 AM watching us smoke the Canucks and the Sedin sisters again this season
Only have to play the Caps and Penguins twice

Bad:

We will only see the Flyers twice, and that is usually one of the best games to watch during the regular season
It will be confusing as hell once playoff time comes..

Playoffs will consist of 4 teams from each conference going to the tourney (yes math geniuses, that’s 16 teams) Each conference will play within itself to find a winner. After that winner is found, the final 4 teams will be determined by total points. So there is no rhyme or reason telling us which conference we will play until right before it happens. We could play Vancouver in the semi’s now and play a team right in our back yard like the Islanders or Devils (if they both didn’t suck) in the finals.

It’s all still being voted on but it passed through the league and looks to be the final layout so get used to it. But until then, Go B’s!

Sandusky Update (Does anyone care?)

Posted on December 6, 2011 by christoph131

I know it is getting old but there’s not much going on yet today. It turns out that all 8 people who accused former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky are going to testify. So much for his theory about it being a hoax. Unless all 8 people came up with the same idea and same exact story this guy is pretty screwed. If he really thinks what he did is okay then he should go to hell anyways. Now that they will be under oath his lawyer will have his shot at poking holes in their stories. Be prepared for this to be the only thing on ESPN during that trial, so you may want to get your sports news here (@BostonSB) because I will be staying away from that one. Hopefully there is a good game or something on that day that will be more interesting than listening to an old man talk about his “precious moments” with little boys. Come to think of it, WNBA games seem more interesting, and that’s saying a lot.