Are the Celts Better Than 2008?

Posted on September 25, 2012 by christoph131

Although it is impossible to predict the NBA season already, I think it is safe to say that the team that Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers assembled this summer could be the best one that we have seen in at least 4 years, maybe even longer. Sure, we lost the best shooter the game has ever seen and KG and Pierce are that much older, but we brought in the perfect kind of players to fit into our system. Pierce averaged roughly the same PPG last season (19.4) as the year we won it in 2008 (19.6). Garnett’s numbers are significantly different and he is not feared by every player breaking through the lane anymore, but he is still a leader on this veteran team.

In 2008, Leon Powe and James Posey were arguably our best bench players, both averaging about 7.5 PPG. I am willing to bet that Jeff Green, Jason Terry and Courtney Lee will all average above 10, or close to it. And with their amount of energy, experience, and Lee’s outstanding defense, they will be one of the most feared guard groups in the league, especially once Bradley is back.

There is one other major difference between the then-and-now teams, and that is Rajon Rondo. He averaged 10.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 4.2 RPG in the 07-08 Season. Last year, he averaged 11.9 PPG, 11.7 APG, and 4.8 RPG. He has also developed into one of the best point guards in the league and a leader on a team that is mostly older than he.

Chris Wilcox is a solid bench player who was having a great season before getting injured. Jared Sullinger will play right away, and Brandon Bass will pick up right where he left off last season (12.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG). Not to mention Christmas, Joseph, Fab, Collins, and Smith who have all had great summer sessions and are prepared to fight for the last few spots. Plus we signed Darko Milicic who is 7’1. For those of you who don’t know him, he was selected #2 in the 2003 draft behind LeBron but ahead of Melo, Bosh, and Wade. Talk about a great pick up by the Pistons…

Although we have clearly re-fueled our roster, other teams have also gotten better. The Heat are obviously the team to beat, the Lakers had a huge summer trading for Howard and picking up Nash, and the Thunder are one year more experienced. The Spurs are always good and our division just got tougher with the new Brooklyn Nets. For anyone who thinks the Knicks are finally going to be good are mistaken. It should be an interesting season, as long as we can stay healthy for a change.

Replacement Refs Fail Video

Posted on September 25, 2012 by jtulz07

The NFL can’t seriously go another week with these guys. Not to mention I don’t think these refs can bare another week of getting shredded by every single football fan in America. There’s got to be a point where they just quit themselves. I mean it’s just an all around embarrassment. It’s your move Roger.

Post MNF Player Tweets

Posted on September 25, 2012 by leibo4

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Patriots Work Out 6 Players Monday

Posted on September 25, 2012 by leibo4

Reported first by Tom Curran of Comcast Sports Net, the Patriots worked out six players on Monday. All of the players maintain practice squad eligibility.

Name	Position	Previous Team	College	Key Stat
Chandler Fenner	DB	Chiefs	Holy Cross	1^st Team All Patriot League, 158 career tackles
Jerry Franklin	LB	Broncos	Arkansas	4 Year starter, 370 career tackles
Buddy Jackson	DB	Colts	Pittsburgh	4.32 40 Yard Dash
Ricardo Lockette	WR	Seahawks	Fort Valley St	2 Catches, 105 yds., 1 TD
Tyler Nielsen	LB	Vikings	Iowa	Honorable Mention Big Ten
J.K. Schaffer	LB	Bucs	Cincinnati	114 Tackles last year, ST Stud

From what it looks like the Patriots are trying to add speed. Fenner, Franklin, Jackson, and Lockette are all guys whose entire careers have been based on them just being faster than anyone else. Fenner was the former football and track star at Holy Cross and would be a great hometown story. Lockette is the only guy with any real NFL action catching two passes, one for 44 and one for 61 and a score. Nielsen and Schaffer offer both special teams play and run stopping ability.

Most likely none of these players will see the field for the Patriots, but its just a little snapshot into Belicheck’s head for what he feels that the Patriots are missing.

What Just Happened?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by jtulz07

The last time the Pats had a losing record (1-2) entering week 3, the Celtics had not won a world championship in 15 years, the Bruins hadn’t won the Stanley Cup in 29 years, the Red Sox hadn’t won a World Series in 83 years, and the Patriots had never won a Super Bowl. The last time the Pats had a losing record entering week 3, the year was 2001, or better yet, the year that started a decade of Boston sports dominance. The last time the Pats had a losing record entering week 3, they were Super Bowl champions.

Obviously it sucks and Monday’s are just that much worse when the Patriots don’t win, granted we’re not too used to that, but everything will be fine. The Cardinals are a good team (3-0), who we played like garbage against and should have won. The Ravens are also a good team, and we arguably did win that game. I’m not going to even get started on the replacement refs because they were just all around miserable for both teams. Just an utter disgrace out there and an embarrassment to the NFL not just in our game, although especially in our game, but all day across the NFL. Nonetheless, we put ourselves in the position to lose on our own and much of it started in the secondary. McCourty missed not one, but two more opportunities for a pick this week and Kyle Arrington got tripped up by the turf monster on what was sure to be a game ending interception on the Raven’s final drive. Capitalize on just one of these plays and it’s a win. It’s also a win if the opposing team misses the game winning field goal, but I won’t touch on that yet. I’m still confused about that.

PS – On a side note, you gotta be happy for Torrey Smith last night after what he had to endure just hours before the game. You can never wish that kind of misfortune on anyone, so to come out and play the way he did was great. After all, it’s just a game.

Throwback Thursday

Posted on September 20, 2012 by jtulz07

Happy Birthday Red!

1917 – Arnold “Red” Auerbach born September 20, NBA coach/GM (Boston Celtic)

1915 – Boston Braves trounce St Louis Cardinals 20-1

1978 – Red Sox finally beat Yanks in Sept 1978, 7-3

1931 – Red Sox Earl Webb sets record with 65 en route to 67 doubles

1956 – Yanks set record, stranding 20 men on base. Mantle hits a 500′ plus homer but Red Sox win 13-9 in Fenway

Big Day for the Pats

Posted on September 18, 2012 by christoph131

Just a quick overview of a busy Tuesday for the Patriots team that had a bye week on Sunday. ( I refuse to admit that we lost against the Cardinals with Kevin Kolb behind center)

1. Deion Branch has reached an agreement to come back to the Patriots. Most saw this coming from a mile away. And now with Hernandez going down, we needed someone else who was familiar with our system. As a former Super Bowl MVP and one of Tom Brady’s favorite players to be around, this is a big move for the Pats that all fans should love. Branch had 702 yards last season and 5 Touchdowns. New England left his locker exactly the same as when he left, something they failed to do with the hopeful return of Brian Waters.

2. Kellen Winslow reached a deal with the Pats to help immediately in place or Hernandez. Winslow has caught for more than 1100 yards in a season with the Browns, and 4 other 700+ yard seasons with the Bucaneers/Browns.

3. The Pats released WR Greg Salas to make room for Branch on the roster. He played for McDaniels at St. Louis last season and quickly became one of there most reliable players. He has been hurt for a while but the Pats will not rule out bringing him back later in the season to keep him around our system. He is only 24 years old out of Hawaii and had 264 yards in only 6 games last season but he averaged 9.8 yards per catch.
More on this tomorrow!

Lockout Talk

Posted on September 18, 2012 by jtulz07

Well, the NHL lockout is upon us and who knows when it’s going to end. Unlike last year’s NBA lockout, I’m putting all the blame on the owners for this one, but that’s a completely different story. Looking back at that last post about Rondo interning at GQ and seeing the above tweet from Seguin got me thinking. What would I do as a professional athlete if I were locked out of my sport? My first thought was absolutely nothing. Couch, TV, beverage, maybe sprinkle in a few vacations. But that would be too easy. I thought back to last year and did a little research to see what other athletes have done in the past during a lockout. Here are a few notable mentions.

Delonte West – Stock at Regency Furniture

Zoltan Mesko – Intern at Graham and Partners (private equity firm)

Troy Polamalu – Finished Undergrad History degree at USC

Paul Pierce – Played in Vegas’ World Series of Poker Tournament

Kobe Bryant, Chad Ochocinco – Play/Tryout for a professional soccer team

Blake Griffin – Intern for Funny or Die comedy website

Marcus Camby, Hines Ward, Pacman Jones – Get arrested

Chris Cooley – Opened a pottery studio

Kris Humphreys, Tony Romo – Get married (for no matter how long or short)

Ron Artest – Search for world peace and change name

A number of players – Travel overseas to play your sport

Clearly some athletes thought outside the box, intentionally or not. As much as it sucks, unfortunately lockouts happen. So it begs the question. As a professional athlete, what would you do with your time off during a lockout?

Rondo Interns at GQ

Posted on September 18, 2012 by jtulz07

Well it was a tough weekend for the Patriots coming up short to the Cardinals, topped off with the loss of Hernandez. Not that it comes to a surprise or matters to anyone around Boston at this point, but the Red Sox are officially out of the playoffs. And to continue with the enlightening Boston sports news, the NHL is in day 3 of their lockout and no signs of hope are anywhere to be found. With the disappointment of two teams currently in play and one we should be getting geared up for but aren’t, there’s not a whole lot to talk about this week. Or rather, that I want to talk about. We’re moving on with the Pats. The week 2 loss is over and we’re headed for greener pastures. The only thing to look forward to with the Sox is April 2013. And finally I just don’t think I can handle covering another professional sports lockout in under a year. Desperate times call for desperate measures. In an attempt to prematurely get excited for the Celts season and to avoid discussing this difficult week in Boston sports, here’s an irrelevant, slightly outdated video recap of Rondo’s offseason venture as GQ’s bitch, I mean intern.

Disaster in Foxboro

Posted on September 17, 2012 by jtulz07

If you’ve ever thought you had a bad case of the Mondays, today probably takes the cake for worst in quite a while. Say, Monday, February 5, 2012? A flat out miserable game to watch. Only way to put it. I mean after last week I don’t think anyone expected it to be 6-6 at the half along with the Patriots first and only touchdown in the 4^th quarter. Then of course losing Hernandez to an ankle injury for an unsaid amount of time. And to top it off, the following disaster that I tried as long as possible to just not speak of. Brutal. Absolutely brutal.