Top Five Moments of The Truth

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After his 21 points against the Grizzlies, he finds himself only 9 points behind the Legend for 2nd place on the Celtics all-time leading scorers.  Pierce has been a Celt his entire career, through the dreaded 18 game losing streak of 2006 and leading the Celts to the 2008 championship. It’s only fitting that he’ll hopefully pass the Legend at the Garden on Tuesday before the Boston faithful.

In honor of Paul, here’s his top five moments with the Celtics.

 

5.) Beginning of “The Truth”

Back in 2001, the Celtics played the Lakers and Paul had one of his best games in his short career. He scored 42 points against the eventual NBA champs as Boston lost. Shaquille O’Neal pulled a reporter aside and told him

“Take this down. My name is Shaquille O’Neal, and Paul Pierce is the [expletive] truth. Quote me on that, and don’t take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn’t know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth”

And that was the beginning of The Truth.

4.) First game back from being stabbed

Paul’s life was in danger after he was stabbed 11 times September 25, 2000 in a nightclub. His life was saved by his then teammate Tony Battie.  Luckily, paul was wearing a heavy leather jacket. This stopped the knife from hitting any key internal organs. Not only did the Truth start the first game of the season on October 31st, he played in all 82 games that year and led the team in scoring with 25.3 points per game.

3.) 21 Point 4th Quarter Comeback 2002 Playoffs

After getting ripped to shreds by Antoine Walker before the fourth quarter, which in itself is hilarious. Paul comes out and scores 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and led the Celts to victory over the Nets after being down 26 at one point in the second half and 21 to start the fourth quarter. Pierce was dominant, getting to rim at will on a young Richard Jefferson. This was the biggest comeback in NBA history in the playoffs. This whole fourth quarter comeback is on YouTube and is almost a must watch for any diehard Celtics fan.

2.) Pierce and Lebron Battle in 2008 Playoffs

Hands down one of my favorite games of all time. Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals and it was Paul Pierce and Lebron James just going at it. Bucket after bucket the game went back and forth. Pierce ended up finishing up with 41 points and Lebron ended the game with 45 and the big L. Most underrated part of the game was the big shot that PJ Brown had at the end of the game to put the Celtics up by three. People forget how much Brown provided at the end of the year with the clutch shooting and the great post defense. He would be huge on the team this year.

 

1.) 2008 NBA Championship

In the first game of the series Paul was injured and had to be carried off the court and wheelchaired into the locker room. I remember thinking that we were done. There was no way we could stay with the Lakers if Paul was out. A few minutes later to a roaring crowd, The Truth comes back and hits two straight threes to regain the lead and help take game 1 of the series. Paul was named NBA Finals MVP after they won the series 4-2. He averaged 21.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.5 rebounds. He also played great defense on Kobe throughout the series and kept him under control.

 

Steelers Hire Former Chiefs HC to Become New OC

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20120207-122325.jpgThe Steelers have signed former Chiefs head coach Todd Haley today to become the team’s offensive coordinator. You might also remember Haley because he was the OC for the Arizona Cardinals during their miraculous playoff run in the 07’-08’ season.

Many might look at this as no big deal and if you do you are certainly mistaken. Haley is one of the top offensive minds in the league today, and having him take over an already potent Steelers offense certainly worries me as a Patriots fan. The Steelers rarely make big signings outside of the organization, but I definitely think this move will pay off. In Arizona, Haley worked with the Kurt Warner to Larry Fitz combo. He certainly has a similar combo here talent wise with the deep threat from Roethlisberger to stud receiver Mike Wallace. When this offense is at full health expect big things this year.

Celts Weekend Recap

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20120207-111245.jpgGreat time to start writing about the Celtics on the blog as our guys have won their last four games in a row and seven out of the last eight. The Celts finished off the week with a 98-80 win over the Grizzlies. It was a game that the Celts had no trouble with as the Grizzlies have been hit pretty hard by injuries over the course of the year. While the Grizzlies had been picked to be a surprise contender in the Western Conference, losing big men Darrell Arthur (Achilles-Season ending) and Zack Randolph (Torn MCL – Back Early March) put a major dent into their team and they have struggled to stay around .500. On top of those two, former Celtics defensive stopper Tony Allen missed the game with a sore hip and knee.


The Celts looked great though. Rondo in his second game back was his usual self, while he only had 5 points, he had 14 dimes. Jujuan Johnson looks like he’s going to be stealing most of Stiemsma’s minutes from here on out as he got 22 minutes tonight and responded with an efficient 10 points on 5-8 shooting. Kevin Garnett had another 3-pointer to get his season tally to 3-3, as he posted 24-9. After the game KG was questioned about his ability to shoot the threes, he told people to stop being surprised.

“When I walk around the streets, y’all stop acting shocked I can shoot threes. Everybody in Boston, everybody in the world, everybody in Minnesota, LA, wherever I’m at; Concord, Lexington, Burlington. I can shoot threes, OK? Let that go.”

But the big story of the day is Paul Pierce. The Truth had another great all-around game as he posted 21-6-6. The big turnaround in the Celtics season has been Pierce getting in shape. When he’s playing well getting to the line, hitting his open threes, and keeping the ball moving the Celts look unstoppable. Once he started to get his game legs underneath him the Celts have been on a tear. After his 21 points against the Grizzlies, he finds himself only 9 points behind the Legend for 2nd place on the Celtics all-time leading scorers. Look for another article on the Truth’s greatest five moments as a Celt later on today.

Flaw in an NFL rule? How much did it effect the Patriots?

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Well that was devastating…I’m not going to sit here and tell you a full story on how or why the Patriots lost this game, its over and done with. I’m just as upset as the next guy and I’m sure none of you want to hear any more about it.

Obviously there has been some post game comments by Tom Brady’s wife taking shots at their wide-receivers lack of ability to bring in the big catch, but then again what does she know? Here comes something I’m sure most of you haven’t heard about.

20120207-095859.jpgQuick rewind here: Go back to the Patriots play with 17 seconds left with the ball on their own 44 yard line. Brady lines up and out trots 12 Giants defenders. Was it intentional? Doesn’t really matter anymore and if it was then it’s a smart call by Coughlin and the Giants staff. They run the play; Brady sees the flag and then takes his shot down the field. The pass falls incomplete with 9 seconds to go in the game and the referee makes his call. The Giants get a 5-yard penalty for too many men on the field, and yes that’s the right call. But what about the clock? The clock stayed at 9 seconds remaining. Some of you might be asking what my point is here. So instead of the Patriots getting two, or even three shots at the end zone they end up with one. What is 5-yards at this point in the game? It’s nothing. Anyone in his or her right mind would exchange 8 seconds run off the clock for 5 yards at this point. What prevents a defense from sending 16 guys out there in this situation? It’s a very slim possibility any team completes a big play against 16 defenders. Clearly this is not the reason for the outcome of this game, but I am pretty certain the NFL will be changing this rule.

A Tough Article to Write

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Listen, I hate the Lakers just as much as anyone, but this was an article that deserves to be written. Kobe Bryant, you know, that guy with 5 championship rings, has passed Shaq, you know, that guy with 4, on the all time scoring list. He is now in 5th place all-time. He now only trails Kareem, Karl Malone, Jordan, and Chamberlain. He did this in 80 less games than Shaq. However, he has been able to knock down 1,452 3-pointers in his career. Shaq has 1. He has also hit 2,000 more free throws than 20120207-100804.jpgShaq who is statistically one of the worst shooters of all time from the line.

“He told me when he was 18 years old that he’d go down as the greatest Laker ever, and one of the greatest players of all time. And he wasn’t lying.” – Shaq said

He truly is one of the best players to ever wear the yellow and purple, and will go down as one of the best scorers of all time. 81 points in a game? Unheard of in this day and age. Of course he averages like .2 assists per season but still. Congrats to Kobe and may you never win another championship.

 

College Weekend Review

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Since we are pretending Sunday didn’t happen, I decided to take Monday off as well. Let’s call it a “personal day”.  Scores are a bit late but seeing as everyone was focused on the game that didn’t happen Sunday evening, I figured none of you would care.

Just as predicted, Kentucky & Syracuse both won with ease.  #3 Ohio State beat #20 Wisconsin by 6 points in a tough battle where Sullinger had to drop 24 points and grab 10 boards in order to hold on.  Unfortunately, my other prediction was wrong… barely. #8 Kansas was unable to upset #4 Missouri because they decided to heave up a contested 3 pointer with 3 seconds left rather than kicking it to the wide open 3 man for a clear shot.

Anyways, there was some good in the weekend (on the basketball court, not football field).  #5 Duke was upset by Miami. HA. #10 Michigan State was able to beat #22 Michigan by 10 points in an in-state rivalry game.  If only I could pick my bets as well as I pick these games.

Since it’s a day late, we also know this week’s rankings so here is the top 5.

  1. Kentucky
  2. Syracuse
  3. Ohio State
  4. Missouri
  5. North Carolina*

*Denotes overrated team

A Slight Cure to the Super Bowl Hangover: Beanpot ’12

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While all of New England feels like they got ran over by a bus, four local college hockey teams take the ice today in the first round of the Beanpot. Although nothing will fix the feelings every Patriots fan has, the Beanpot provides classic New England hockey. BU matches up against Harvard in the first game, while BC goes against Northeastern in the second game. BU took down Harvard in an overtime thriller in their only matchup this year, while BC has beaten Northeastern in all three games played this year, all by one goal a piece. I’m expecting more of the same in the Beanpot. I expect some good, close games, but I’m predicting a BC vs BU final here, going with the 1st and 2nd place teams in Hockey East. Although BC is 2nd in the Hockey East this year, they have won the last two Beanpots. Despite this, BU is the hot team heading into the tournament and is my favorite to pull through and win it.

 

Weekend Recap

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Is there really anything to say about this weekend? Yesterday was turning out to be a great day. Celtics won, Bruins won…only one more win left and the day was complete. Then our hearts and dreams were shattered, again. Toughest Monday in a long time. I think 90% of New England is in depression. The other 10% have already jumped off the Zakim bridge. Not a great way to start the week.