Can the Celtics Win Again?

Posted on October 22, 2012 by christoph131

The Celtics have been my favorite sports team since I can remember. Yes, the B’s, Pat’s, and Sox are obviously right up there, too. But I have always seen the Green and White above all. I love their history, from Red Auerbach and Bill Russell, to the original big 3 (Bird, Parish, Mchale), to the new big 3 and everything in between. That being said, I do not remember the last time that I was this excited for the Celtics season to start. With the Pat’s barely sneaking by, the NHL in a lockout, and the Sox not playing last season (I’m pretending that’s what happened), I cannot wait.

In my opinion, this is the most talented team that we have had since the Bird era. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that we are as deep as the Russell team (Pictured Below) that had 9 future Hall of Famers on their roster in the 1962-63 season. Needless-to-say, they won a championship that season. That was their 5^th in a row, eventually setting the record with 8 in a row. But we are solid. Continue reading →

Tribute to KG Kick’s Off Chase for Banner 18

Posted on October 22, 2012 by jtulz07

With the C’s preseason coming to an end last night, the countdown to Miami is officially on. The intensity of this game will only be that much higher with Benedict Allen on the opposite side of the court. But who defines intensity more than KG, who has expressed his clear anger with the move by breaking off ties with Ray. So here’s to Kevin Garnett and the chase for Banner 18 one week from tomorrow.

Celtics vs. Nets Recap

Posted on October 19, 2012 by christoph131

It was a great night for the C’s as their starters played a good amount of time and beat the revamped Brooklyn Nets with ease, 115-85. Even Nets Coach Avery Johnson said it looked like our starts went out there to send a message. That message was received. First off, we out-rebounded a team, which rarely happens. It also helped that we shout 11-19 from 3-point range.

Paul Pierce led the way with 18 points on 4-4 from behind the arc. He left briefly in the 2^nd quarter after coming down awkwardly on his ankle on a made 3-pointer. He seems to be alright now, thankfully. Newcomer Courtney Lee also chipped in 18 points. Lee only missed 4 shots the whole night, 3 of which were 3-pointers. He also had a game-high 4 steals, which is a big step up from what Ray Allen could do on the defensive end for us last year.

Jason Terry added 15 points on a perfect 5-5 from 3-point land, Rondo put in 14 points of his own while narrowly missing out on a double-double with 9 assists, and Garnett couldn’t miss with 14 points of his own. Even rookies Kris Joseph (11 points, 5 rebounds) and Jared Sullinger (12 points, 6 rebounds) played great for the Celts. Sullinger recorded a team-high +23 while on the floor in 28 minutes of play.

It is great to see a team that is so deep this season. However, Bass went out in the first half with a bruised right knee and did not return. Remember, he was out last season for a bit with right knee inflammation, so we are waiting to hear more on that.

Which newbie do you think has been the brightest beam of light this pre-season?

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

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.

The White Mamba Calls It Quits

Posted on September 12, 2012 by jtulz07

Well it’s official. After 11 illustrious seasons in the NBA, Brian Scalabrine is hanging up his jersey. Despite not being known particularly for his skill on the court, Scal was and will continue to be one of the most beloved players to ever sport a Celtics uniform. It’s hard not to feel bad for the guy a bit when he’s treated less like a player and more like a joke on the court, but he never lost that intense yet humble attitude, which probably contributes to his adornment to the fans. That, you gotta respect. The NBA even put together a Brian Scalabrine highlight reel in his honor. So one last time, SCAL…FOR THREEE!

Continue reading →

Celtics Trade 3 Players and Pick for Courtney Lee

Posted on July 19, 2012 by leibo4

The Celtics are finalizing a trade for Courtney Lee sending Jajuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore, and Sean Williams to the Houston Rockets. E’Twaun and Sean have non-guaranteed contracts so they will most likely be cut. Johnson has stated that he will demand a trade from the Rockets immediately. Not sure how its going to work out for him, word is the Rockets are really high on him. Honestly, by the way that he has played during the summer league, he should be happy that someone is still high on him.

This is a tough blow for Moore who had said just earlier today that he expected to play the season with the Celtics and was having a great summer league. Everyone will remember his game last year where he put up 16 points in only 18 minutes against the Magic.

With this trade the Celtics roster is really starting to take shape. Props to Danny Ainge for the work that he has done this summer. I am not sure any other GM in the game could have done a better job than he did. He has balanced Celtics in a place where they are title contenders, while also building for the future.

Celtics to Sign Terry Using MLE

Posted on July 18, 2012 by leibo4

The Celtics GM Danny Ainge announced yesterday that the Celtics were going to sign Jason Terry using the Mid-Level Exception. The signing of Terry is no surprise as he has already been introduced to the Boston media and has said that the is going to do everything that he can to help the Celtics win banner 18.

“If they need me to wash the uniforms or sweep the floors, whatever role Doc [Rivers] wants me to play, I’m here to do it at 100 percent and I’ll give it my all,” Terry said. “That’s what I’ve done my whole career. Whatever it takes to win, whatever puts us in the best position to win these games and win a championship is what I’ll be doing.”

They had tried to maneuver a sign-and-trade with the Mavericks to save the MLE to potentially use on another player such as the Rockets Courtney Lee. The Celtic’s could not find a third team to facilitate the sign-and-trade and the Mavericks signing of O.J. Mayo basically ended the talks. This means that the Celtics would have to offer the Rockets players and picks to acquire Lee as they can only fill out the rest of their roster with minimum contracts.

Las Vegas Schedule

Posted on July 16, 2012 by leibo4

The Celtics tip off the Las Vegas games tomorrow and finish up this Sunday playing ever day except for Wednesday and Friday. All games will be aired on NBA TV.

Here’s the Schedule

Atlanta vs. Boston 3 PM Monday, July 16th

Chicago vs. Boston 10 PM Tuesday, July 17th

Boston vs. Sacramento 10:30 PM Thursday, July 19th

Milwaukee vs. Boston 10:30 PM Saturday, July 21st

Boston vs. LA (Clippers) 10 PM Sunday, July 22nd

Celtics Summer League: Orlando Review

Posted on July 16, 2012 by leibo4

The Celtics led by coach Ty Lue had a bright start going 4-1 in the Orlando summer league, losing only to Detroit and beating up on the Magic, Pacers, Nets and Thunder respectively.

Player	College	Previous Team	Position	Age	Height
Craig Brackins	Iowa State	Maine Red Claws	PF	24	6-10
Dionte Christmas	Temple	Rethymno (Greece)	SG	25	6-5
Jonathan Gibson	New Mexico St	Trabzonspor (Turkey)	G	24	6-1
Jajuan Johnson	Purdue	Celtics	PF	23	6-10
Kris Joseph	Syracuse		SF	23	6-7
Stephane Lasme	Massachusetts	Obradoiro (Spain)	PF	29	6-8
Fab Melo	Syracuse		C	22	7-0
E’Twaun Moore	Purdue	Celtics	PG	23	6-4
Jamar Smith	Southern Indiana	BK Prostejov (Czech)	SG	25	6-3
Jared Sullinger	Ohio State		PF	20	6-9
Sean Williams	Boston College	Celtics / Mavericks	PF / C	25	6-10
Larry Owens	Oral Roberts	Nets	SF	29	6-7

Suprises in Orlando

Kris Joseph

Showed great length and wingspan (6-11), was flying all over the court. While Joseph had up and down shooting games, he found ways to make his mark by defending and hitting the glass. His shooting will improve, he has good form and is very confident on midrange jumpers, it just doesn’t extend to the three-point line yet.

Dionte Christmas

Got better and better as the week went along, finishing with his best game against the Magic with 21 points, including 19 in the first half where he had a stretch of 11 in a row. The surprise about Christmas was that he showed an all-around game. Known at Temple as a scorer and mainly a shooter, Christmas played tough defense (3 steals) and hit the boards throughout the week.

Jared Sullinger’s Passing Ability

Everyone knew Sully could play. If his back holds up and he adjusts to the size of the NBA everyone believes that he will be a steal. What we didn’t know about was his ability to pass. Faced with constant double teams, Sullinger looked and found the open man and made it easier on the guards as the Celtics looked to run their offense through him more and more throughout the week. He won’t see those double teams in the NBA, but the vision and ability to pass is only another positive to take from the first round pick.

Up and Down

E’Twaun Moore

In the one loss of the week, Moore was clearly outplayed Pistons guard Brandon Knight, seemingly struggling with the quickness. For a guy who is described as cool as extremely calm, Moore was frazzled from the start. The rest of the week Moore shined and showed his ability to run the point. He made good decisions on pick and rolls and had a great assist to turnover ratio. In the final game, he got into a little scoring battle with Christmas as they poured it on against the Magic.

Jujuan Johnson

Johnson showed that he could shoot over most players, but not much else. He hasn’t added much if any weight to his frame from his rookie season and was having a tough time on the blocks going against other players. He rebounded well during the week but was sometimes a little slow on his rotations. I’m holding Johnson to a higher standard because I expected big things from the former Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Fab Melo

Melo truly had an up and down week, shocking everyone in the gym one game with a dribble drive and dish on one play and then throwing an outlet pass to Kris Joseph while he was sitting on the bench. He had some great blocks and showed good defensive ability, but didn’t have much of an idea on how to play defense against the pick and roll. It seems that he is going to need a full year under Doc to understand the complex Boston defense and figure out the rotations.

Boston Sports Blog

Tag Archives: boston celtics