With the emergence of Jeremy Lin, the Knicks have been on a seven game winning streak. Now it looks like their getting some more help. All signs point to J.R. Smith signing with the New York Knicks over the Clippers and other teams in contention. The Knicks can offer him the most money 2.5 million dollar mid-level exception pro-rated from February 10th. As of last week it was looking like Jeremy Lin was going to be the cut to make way for Smith but we all know now that isn’t happening. All signs point to Mike Bibby as being the cut for the Knicks. If he signs then the question goes to where does J.R. fit with the Knicks. Is he their starting shooting guard or does he come off the bench as a 6th man. He would be replacing Landry Fields in the starting lineup. This presents a challenge for all teams in the NBA east as the Knicks now have a top five guys as good as any. People know about J.R. Smith’s ability to shoot and score, but when motivated he is one of the premier defenders in the NBA. The only question is whether or not they can find enough shots for this many shooters. Look for Lin’s points per game to take a major dip but assists to rise to 10-15 area. Time will tell if this is a good fit, I always thought he should have gone to the Clippers.
The Celts losing streak reaches two games as they fall to the Chicago Bulls 89-80. The Celtics season long problems came back to haunt them as they were out-rebounded by the Bulls 52-37 and gave up 16 offensive rebounds. They were held to just 12 fast break points as opposed to the 33 they put up against the Bulls just this past week. After being down 16 at one point in the early 3rd quarter, the Celtics fought and clawed their way back with a 22-7 run to take a 61-60 lead. The big surprise of the game was Mike James, who the Bulls just signed to a 10-day contract. He came off the bench in the 4th quarter as the Celtics were making their comeback and completely changed the game for the Bulls. He scored 8 points and had 4 assists in his 17 minutes and had the best +/- of any player on the court. His defense on Rondo was far superior to the play of John Lucas and will likely get minutes in the following games.
Rondo had another effective night with his 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists, but he found the ball in his hand too late in the shot clock a few too many times and was forced to take shots that are not part of his game. A lot of credit is due to the Chicago defense. Kevin Garnett had an efficient double-double as he scored 18 points on 7-13 shooting with 10 rebounds. Ray Allen shot 3-8 from 3, all of them coming during the Celtics third quarter run. The Bulls were led by Deng and Boozer with 23 points each.
Extra Notes:
Noah had 16 rebounds, 8 of them offensive; Kyle Korver missed all 5 of his 3’s; During their run, the Celtics went mostly to a 2-3 zone, something Doc doesn’t like to pull out very often, it was also the cause for their downfall as Mike James picked them apart in the 4th; Derrick Rose missed his fourth straight game with a bad back.
Avery Bradley Alert:
Avery didn’t give us much to talk about last night, playing four minutes and missing his only shot. In a low scoring game against a team like the Bulls I would like to see some defense out there. Hurts to see Keyon Dooling out there for 9 minutes when Bradley’s losing the burn.
The Celtics (15-13) look to take on the Chicago Bulls (24-7) in a rematch of last Sunday where the Celtics came on top 95-91. The Celtics are coming off of a surprising loss to the Detroit Pistons last night while the Bulls are coming off of an easy win over the Sacramento Kings. The Bulls are likely to be without both Richard Hamilton and Derrick Rose. Rose has missed the last four games with a back injury. With Derrick Rose out, C.J. Watson, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng have all taken over bigger scoring roles. The Bulls are 6-2 this season when Derrick Rose does not play. For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Mickael Pietrus, and Jermaine O’Neal are all day-to-day, while Brandon Bass is out until after the All-Star break with swelling in his knee. Both Pietrus and O’Neal played last night. Kevin Garnett sat out last night with a hip flexor, although Doc did say that he looked great in the morning shootaround. The Celtics are 4-5 on the road this season while the Bulls are 10-1 at home. If the Celtics are to win, expect Rondo to have another big night. He had 35 and 32 points in the last two games while pushing the pace for the Celtics to create somewhat of a new identity for the team.
Tune in at 8:00 tonight on TNT to watch the Celts take on the Bulls.
The Celtics lost for the third time in four games against the Detroit Pistons Wednesday 98-88. Ben Gordon was the difference as he came off the bench for 22 points, including a 4-6 effort from 3 in the fourth quarter to put away the Celtics. Kevin Garnett sat out the game with a sore left hip, Chris Wilcox started in his place. The Celtics were outscored 25-16 in the fourth quarter as the Pistons pulled away by going on a 14-4 run to start the fourth quarter on the backing of 3 quick Gordon 3’s. Rondo finished the night with 35 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals, but was held without a basket and only put up one shot during the 14-4 run.
Chris Wilcox shot 8-12 from the field and had 17-9 in his spot-start for KG. Jermaine O’Neal in his first game back from the injured shoulder had 1 point, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Jujuan Johnson had 10 points in 25 minutes but seems to be a step outside his comfort range. Ray only had 8 free throws in the first quarter and one basket in the second, he finished with 10 points. Rodney Stuckey, Greg Monroe and Ben Gordon scored 69 out of the Pistons 98 points.
Extra Notes
Doc said that Kevin Garnett looked “great” in the morning shootaround; Bill Russell was in the stands for the game; Rondo and Wilcox had two more alley-oops last night; the Celtics play the Pistons again at Detroit this Sunday; from ESPN.com, the Celtics have held their last 26 opponents under 100 points. Other than Ben Gordon, the Pistons scored 7 points from their bench.
Avery Bradley Alert
Avery played nine minutes last night and was largely ineffective from the floor. He left Gordon wide open for a 3 and was immediately pulled in the fourth. Hopefully he’ll have a bounce back game against the Bulls.
The Celtics play the Bulls tonight at 8:00 PM in Chicago. Look for a preview later on today.
The biggest move that will happen before the March 15th trade deadline, barring any unforeseen major deal, will be the signing of J.R. Smith. Since his team has been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Smith will be an NBA free agent on February 16th. J.R. Smith has averaged 12.5 points per game over the course of his career as he has developed into a top 6th man in the league. Smith has been a member of the Denver Nuggets for the past few years, and when it looked like the NBA season would be cancelled Smith went over to China to play for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Chinese contracts have non-opt out clauses, so Smith was forced to play out the remainder of the season before he could return to the NBA.
Smith’s highlights from China are extremely impressive. He put up some ridiculous numbers in a few games (although against some less than stellar opponents, but nonetheless impressive). Playing against former Celtics draft pick Lester Hudson, Smith came off the bench to score 60 points while shooting 14-18 from 3. Just a few days later Smith would score 41 points as his team sneaked out a 122-120 win.
Most Likely Destinations
New York Knicks
Current SG’s: Landry Fields, Iman Shumpert
Ability to offer: Mid-Level Exception, pro-rated on Feb 10th
Analysis: The Knicks are in the lead mostly because they can offer him the most money. Instead of any of the other competing teams, the mid-level exception from the Knicks has been pro-rated since February 10th, not the start of the season. But the question that follows anyone who ever plays Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire is will there be enough shots? If they found a way to share the ball a starting lineup of Jeremy Lin, J.R. Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler would look as good as any other in the NBA. But there were enough problems for the Knicks finding shots for everyone before the emergence of Lin. It might not be in Smith’s or the Knicks best interest to agree on an offer here. While the Knicks are one of the top choices with huge potential, I think it would be too big of a risk for Smith to take.
Los Angeles Clippers
Current SG’s Randy Foye, Caron Butler
Ability to Offer: Veteran Minimum Contract, pro-rated from beginning of season
In my mind, this move makes the most sense. Smith can slide right in to the starting shooting guard role, which fits with his desire for a bigger role. Smith would be the perfect complement to space the floor for high-flyers Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan. He has a tight relationship with Chris Paul from their time on the Hornets and has played with Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin (Nuggets). The Clippers have only one other true shooting guard right now. If J.R. came to the Clippers he would make them immediate title contenders. If the Clippers do strike out with Smith, they are presumed to use one of their trade exemptions to find a shooting guard to fill their problem.
Just for Fun
Boston Celtics
Current SG’s Ray Allen, Sasha Pavlovic, Marquis Daniels
Ability to Offer: Veteran Minimum Contract, pro-rated from beginning of season
This is obviously a long shot, probably fantasy for me, but would be a great fit for the Celtics. They cannot offer him a starting role or a warm weather climate. But they can offer him a chance at a championship and a future starting role with the Celts young players such as Rondo, Jujuan Johnson, Avery Bradley, and Jeff Green. This would allow the Celtics to stay competitive past the years of the Big 3. He would provide a scoring punch off the bench, a unit which does not have a dynamic scorer. He would be able to ease the legs of Pierce and Allen so they could save themselves for the playoffs. With a bench of Avery Bradley, Smith, Pietrus, Johnson, and Wilcox, the Celtics bench all of a sudden becomes a strength and not a weakness. The best part about this move would be that Sasha Pavlovic would probably not see the court in important minutes ever again.
Surprise Teams
The Pacers and the Timberwolves are also said to be interested, according to Marc Stein from ESPN. The Pacers have the most cap room in the NBA, which would allow them to sign him to an even bigger contract than the Knicks. The Timberwolves have been the surprise of the NBA this season with new players such as Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, and of course their All-Star Kevin Love. The Lakers are the final team that is interested in J.R. Smith. I do not consider themselves as much of a contender but they could prove me wrong. While they are trying to make moves, getting a player to back up Kobe Bryant who needs the ball in his hands most of the time does not make the most sense to me. They are also working out Gilbert Arenas, who has been described as “slimmed down” and “explosive” by Dave McMenamin.
Celtics come up with a big win over the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls as they win 95-91. Rajon Rondo led the way for the Celtics as he had 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists. His constant pace pushed the Celtics to 33 fast break points as he controlled the flow of the game. Rondo played with an attitude that hasn’t been seen for the last few games as he really took it at the Bulls. I couldn’t tell if either he had been ripped into by Doc after the last game or if he was really offended that Rose wasn’t playing. It almost seemed as to Rondo that playing against the likes of C.J. Watson and John Lucas was insulting to him and he was punishing the Bulls for it.
Celtics continued their 3-point shooting woes as they went 3-13 from the field, but hit two huge threes in the fourth quarter to keep the Bulls at bay. Maybe not in the best interests of the Bulls, but with Rose out Watson and Lucas shot the ball 32 times. After Luol Deng had 21 points and 16 rebounds in the first game he was held to 10 points and 5 rebounds.
The Celtics will look to make it 2 in a row as they take on the Pistons on Wednesday at 7:30.
Extra Notes: Derrick Rose missed his second straight game with a sore back; Brandon Bass is going to be out until all-star break with a sore knee; Stiemsma played only five minutes but had a major impact as his block led to a Rondo And-1,but he was shafted on the high five with Rondo; Keyon Dooling played after missing the last 9 games; Rondo tried to turn the Celtics into the east coast version of lob city last night by throwing alley-oops to both Jujuan Johnson and Chris Wilcox.
Avery Bradley Alert: Bradley played eight minutes, great defense on C.J. Watson who kept forcing up bad shots during the time Bradley was in. Bradley shot 2-4 from the field for 4 points, had 1 block, and two rebounds.
The Celtics look to rebound from their two game losing streak this past week when they take on the Chicago Bulls today. Derrick Rose has been limited the past three games by a sore back, even missing the past game against the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bulls are currently on a 5 game winning streak and have won 7 out of their last 10. The Celtics have also won 7 out of their last 10 but are currently cooling off as they have lost the last two to the Lakers and Raptors.
Even if Rose does not play the Celtics will have to work to control Luol Deng who went for 21 and 16 in the first game against the Celtics. The Celtics lost the first matchup against the Bulls 88-79 as Rose took over the fourth quarter and showed why he was the reigning MVP. The Celtics are going to need more from Pierce, Allen, and Rondo who had only 23 points on Friday night against the Raptors.
Just whatever you do, do not tell the world that Derrick Rose loves the Notebook.
The Celtics losing streak runs to two games as they found themselves in a 26-14 hole after the first quarter and could never recover. Tommy Heinsohn said during the game that this was the most mad he has ever seen Doc Rivers at his players. After the game Doc said, “I was really frustrated with our execution. We couldn’t even run a play out of a timeout. That’s just frustrating.” Doc later ended up adding “The way we played the last two games, we need to be in a gym running.”
For the second straight game the Celtics gave up double digit rebounds to the other team. They also had 17 turnovers which set the tone for the game as the Raptors got out into the break and had numerous dunks on the Celtics. Rondo had a poor shooting night only hitting 2 out of 10 shots. Avery Bradley played 7 minutes after missing the Lakers game with a sore Right shoulder, the Celtics were + 7 while he was in the game.
The Celtics are off until Wednesday when they play the Pistons at Home.
Extra notes: Kevin Garnett made the same amount of shots as the previous night, with fourteen less attempts; Pietrus was the only Celtic to make a 3; Rondo was the only Celtic to play 40 minutes on back to back nights; Both E’Twaun Moore and Greg Stiemsma did not play (Coaches Decision) and Jermaine O’Neal sat out with a sore left shoulder.
Tough loss for our guys last night as they had two chances to win the game, one at the end of regulation and one at the end of overtime. Comes down to the Celtics age-old question, is it OK to live and die by Pierce isolation as the clock winds down. It’s tough to keep giving it to Pierce on isolations if he is not healthy enough to get to his spot at the top of the key. Sooner or later the ball is going to end up in Rondo’s hand with him running maybe a pick and roll with Garnett or Bass and finding the open man. The stagnant offense is tough to look at end of games, especially since Doc is known as one of the games premier last second play coaches. Ray Allen again played great defense on Kobe, even though Kobe put up 27 points, Ray made him work for each bucket and the ones he had in the fourth didn’t come easy. The big Achilles of the Celtics all year has been giving up offensive rebounds to opposing teams. Last night the Celtics gave up 15 offensive rebounds with 7 to Bynum and 4 to Gasol, including two huge tip ins with 9 seconds left in regulation and then the game winning basket in overtime by Bynum. In the end it comes down to boxing out your man, something that’s taught from when you first start playing basketball. Gasol shouldn’t be able to snake his way in through four Celtics and get that tip.
Celtics shot just 6-19 from 3 and only 39.2% from the field. Allen led the team in scoring with 22 points as he was 9-22 from the field. Pierce had another great night as he had 18-9-7 with a big three in OT to put the Celts up with two minutes left in OT. The Lakers shot 1-15 from three and only 39.6% from the field. Derek Fisher was extremely ineffective as he went 0-7 with 1 rebound and 2 assists. Avery Bradley did not see the court in a game where I was interested in how he would be able to guard Kobe.
Celtics will look to bounce back today against the Raptors as the second part of their back to back.
Extra notes: Shout out to Paul Pierce as he was named to the All Star team. On this day last year Ray Allen became the NBA all team leading three point shooter passing Reggie Miller. Rondo, Pierce, and Allen all played over 40 minutes. Greg Stiemsma, Jujuan Johnson, and Avery Bradley all received DNP’s.
Peyton Manning has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in over a decade. As a Patriots fan, he would absolutely terrify me whenever the Colts had the ball. Tom Brady would sustain his drives and grind down the clock so that Peyton would have to sit on the sidelines. Has Brady ever had to do that for another quarterback? Think quarterbacks tore up the Patriots defense this year? If Manning was healthy the Colts would have picked the holes in the Patriots defense all game. The way that the Colts are treating this situation is inexcusable. It is the anti-Brett Favre situation. The owner is creating all the controversy where the player just wants to get back to playing. The Patriots are the only other team who have a quarterback right now who means as much to the franchise as the Colts. While the Patriots have not always been the most loyal to players (Lawyer Milloy anyone?), they would NEVER let Tom Brady play a down for another team.
Peyton Manning’s an 11 time Pro-Bowler, has been named the NFL MVP 4 times, and the AFC Player of the Year 6 times. He is the fastest player ever to reach 50,000 yards passing and 4000 completions. He is the Colts all-time leader in Career wins, Passing Touchdowns, Pass Attempts, Pass completions and Passing Yards. He holds or shares 40 NFL regular season records and 11 playoff records. In 2010, which was just two seasons ago, he had his most passing yards of his career and led the league in completions. He is the Indianapolis Colts.
The funny part of the whole situation is that Peyton has stated that he wants to play for the Colts. It’s where he wants to finish his career. But Jim Irsay just does not seem to want him. When Peyton was cleared by his doctors and announced himself healthy, Irsay tweeted “Peyton has not passed our physical nor has he been cleared to play for the Indianapolis Colts.” There is just a lot of bad karma with this move. This player has been the face of your team for the past thirteen seasons. He goes through three neck surgeries and the owner basically throws him to the curb. It reminds me of when the 49ers were dealing with the Joe Montana/Steve Young debate. While everyone knew that Steve Young had a great future ahead of him. Montana was not done yet. In his final two years he led the Kansas City Chiefs to the playoffs twice, one AFC championship game, and beat the 49ers in their only game. Manning is arguably healthier than Montana at the same stage in his career and has the potential to have about five good years left.
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the Colt’s doctors decided that Peyton will never play another down in the NFL. But it doesn’t give the team an excuse to alienate the player that has been the team for the past 12 seasons. Even though he is owed 28 million if he stays on after March 8th, remember he was the guy just last year. He took much less money than he deserved just so the Colts could sign free agents around him.
What do you guys think? Leave some comments. Also look for an article for potential destinations for Peyton Manning later on this week.
With the emergence of Jeremy Lin, the Knicks have been on a seven game winning streak. Now it looks like their getting some more help. All signs point to J.R. Smith signing with the New York Knicks over the Clippers and other teams in contention. The Knicks can offer him the most money 2.5 million dollar mid-level exception pro-rated from February 10th. As of last week it was looking like Jeremy Lin was going to be the cut to make way for Smith but we all know now that isn’t happening. All signs point to Mike Bibby as being the cut for the Knicks. If he signs then the question goes to where does J.R. fit with the Knicks. Is he their starting shooting guard or does he come off the bench as a 6th man. He would be replacing Landry Fields in the starting lineup. This presents a challenge for all teams in the NBA east as the Knicks now have a top five guys as good as any. People know about J.R. Smith’s ability to shoot and score, but when motivated he is one of the premier defenders in the NBA. The only question is whether or not they can find enough shots for this many shooters. Look for Lin’s points per game to take a major dip but assists to rise to 10-15 area. Time will tell if this is a good fit, I always thought he should have gone to the Clippers.
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