Tag Archives: boston sports blog

Double Dip: Match Play & Bruins

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Over the weekend, the annual Accenture Match Play Tournament took place in Arizona. Different from stroke play, match play pits two golfers head-to-head in a bracket style tournament, similar to the March Madness tourney (with maybe just a little less excitement). The American and goat of the Ryder Cup two years back, Hunter Mahan edged out rising star Rory McIlroy for arguably his best career victory. Mahan was solid throughout the event, but it was McIlroy who really impressed me. If you don’t already know, this kid is damn good. After falling 3 holes behind Lee Westwood in the semi-final match, McIlroy rallied back to take the next 3 out of 4 holes and square the match. I don’t know if there will ever be another Tiger Woods, but McIlroy is going to be great, if he isn’t already. Look for him to take over the World Number 1 ranking after the tournament this weekend.

Now on to the Bruins…

I don’t know about you but I am excited for the Bruins vs. Senators tonight. Up in Ottawa a couple of nights ago there were a few mix-ups and a lot of unfinished business left on the table. Both Boychuck and Corvo took some heavy shots late in the game from Senators Chris Neil and Kyle Turris respectively. Neil’s shot on Boychuck was clean, but unneccessary. It was a huge hit that if the roles were reversed we would be going crazy. However, since it was our guy Boychuck getting steamrolled I was a little pissed and Zdeno Chara also wasn’t too happy because with 7:00 minutes left in the third he duked it out with Neil. I’m not too sure if that will be the end of that, but look for guys to really “finish” their checks on him tonight. The hit on Corvo was not so clean. Turris received a 2 minute minor for boarding, but the hit to the head left Jack Edwards up in arms so I expect to see some retaliation on Turris tonight by either McQuaid, Thornton, or even Corvo. Regardless, it should be a good, physical game which suits the B’s well. Also look for new additions Brian Rolston (right) and Mike Mottau.

New #5

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Kentucky | Syracuse | Missouri | Kansas | Duke

Even though I did the top 5 march madness predictions last week, there is a new #5 team due to Mizzou losing twice. Today we will look at:

#5 Michigan State

Remaining Opponents: #20 Indiana, #11 Ohio State

Prediction: The Spartans have had a tough schedule all year.  They had back to back losses to start the season.  However, these losses were to UNC and Duke.  No doubt about it, they have a tough line up for the next two weeks. If they can get past both of those teams they will have a good shot at a #1 seed due to their strength of schedule.  Plus, someone could lose in that time frame.

Draymont Green is a 6’7 Senior forward who averages a double-double. He works hard in 32.9 minutes per night to put in 15.6 PPG and 10.3 RPG.  He also helps with 3.6 Assists which is second most on the team.  That is a good amount for a big man.

Keith Appl ing is a Sophomore guard from Detroit who accounts for 11.7 PPG while putting in a team-high 3.8 assists per game.

Branden Dawson is a 6’6 Freshman guard who accounts for 8.7 PPG while grabbing 4.7 boards per contest.  He also shoots a team-high 58% from the field.

Senior Brandon Wood is a 6’2 guard that contributes 8.2 points of his own per game.  He also isn’t too bad at the helpers (2.9 RPG, 2.2 APG).

O Captain! My Captain!: Varitek Set to Retire Thursday

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On July 31st, 1997, the Boston Red Sox received Derek Lowe and first round pick Jason Varitek from the Seattle Mariners for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb. After being traded as a minor league prospect, there was no way Varitek could have imagined playing his entire 15 year major league career with one team. Similar to Tim Wakefield, it was assumed by many that V-Tek would walk away after the season ended last year. News has now broken out that Jason is set to announce his retirement Thursday at Fort Myers.

Throughout his long baseball career, Jason was always a winner. He is one of only two players in the history of baseball to play in the World Championship of the Little League Championship, College World Series National Championship, and the World Series in the MLB (Ed Vosberg is the other for those keeping track). His high school also won the State championship for Florida in 1990 and was ranked as the number one team in the nation by USA Today.

I hope your starting to get the “pitcher” (pun intended, horrible, but a pun nonetheless) because it was felt by many Sox fans that V-Tek knew some of the pitchers better than they did themselves. He was never the best hitting catcher, but not the worst either. Despite this, Jason was the perfect battery mate for every Sox pitcher (with the exception of Timmy and his knuckleball) and perfect teammate. He was crucial to both championship teams in 2004 and 2007 and Captain of the Red Sox from 2006 on. He caught a Major League record four no-hitters, which is a true testament of how well he could call a game behind the plate. I hope Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway were able to learn a lot from Jason Varitek in their short time with him. His endless preparation and knowledge of the game was a huge benefit to the Sox pitchers throughout the last 14 years.

My favorite Varitek memory (along with many other Red Sox fans) came on July 24, 2004. In one of those summer games vs the Yanks at Fenway on Fox, A-Rod got pegged by Bronson Arroyo. Naturally, A-Rod started to bitch back at Arroyo, yelling “F*ck you, F*ck you.” There was no way Tek was having any of that and shoved his glove square into A-Rod’s face and starting a bench clearing brawl. The Sox went on to comeback from a 9-4 deficit and beat the Yanks 11-10 in the 9th by scoring three on the “invincible” Mariano Rivera. The game immediately went down as an all time great. That moment seemed to be the turning point of their championship season. The Sox posted the best record in the bigs from that point on and developed a much-needed swagger against the Yanks and Rivera that proved crucial when they were down 3-0 in the ALCS.

It’s going to be tough in the Sox clubhouse this year with all the crap that unfolded during their September collapse. Not having guys like Wakefield and Varitek won’t help, but as I have said before hopefully guys like Salty and Adrian will step up like they said. As I noted in my catcher positional rankings, I hope that the Red Sox can reward Varitek similar to how the Pats treated Kevin Faulk. The only difference would be since Varitek will be officially retired, his role will be a coaching job within the organization, not the player/mentor role Faulk had this past year. Either way, Timmy and V-Tek will be missed greatly, both in the clubhouse and on the TV screen. They are true heroes of Red Sox Nation and they deserved to be honored for their accomplishments.

Which brings me to this poll question, feel free to put in some comments.

 

Bruins Virtually Stagnet at Deadline

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The Bruins did pretty much nothing at the trade deadline. They acquired former Bruin Brian Rolston and former BC standout defenseman Mike Mottau from the New York Islanders. They also landed defenseman Greg Zanon from the Minnesota Wild. These are all virtually zero-impact moves so it looks like Chiarelli is confident with this team moving forward. Perhaps Horton will be ready for the playoffs.

Patriots Offseason: Defensive Line

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The Patriots defensive line played better than most had expected coming into the season last year and at times was a bright spot for a primarily bad defense. Andre Carter was a great surprise and played exceptional prior to his season ending knee injury. Mark Anderson proved to be a great signing considering once Carter went down he stepped right in and ended the regular season with 10 sacks. Both Carter and Anderson will be free agents this offseason so keeping both seems rather unlikely. If healthy Carter is the more likely signing but as players age injuries like Carter suffered are much harder to bounce back from. Shaun Ellis and Gerard Warren are also free agents and I don’t expect the Pats to hang on to either, as they are both far past their prime. The anchor of the defensive line is obviously big Vince Wilfork and he will certainly maintain that role next year. Kyle Love and Brandon Deadrick have both been great surprises for the Pats, but they are not exactly quality NFL starters. Through the recent years the Patriots been reluctant to use first round picks on defensive lineman, but I expect that pattern to change this year. Of course if the Pats make a move prior to the draft and sign a top-tier free agent to play defensive end then they will more than likely shy away from defensive lineman in the first couple rounds. There are many quality options this offseason so talent certainly won’t be the issue. Some of the possible Patriots options are as follows.

Mario Williams: Obviously this signing would be a huge stretch, and with a young and very talented Texans team Williams might be more willing to stick around. He would certainly help turn this defense around who ranked 31st in yards against last season. Williams would be used as a hybrid D-Line / Outside Linebacker for the Patriots.

Robert Mathis: Mathis is a great pass rusher with Pro-Bowl talent and would be a huge upgrade for the Pats. Mathis is more likely to leave Indy seeing as they are clearly about to begin their rebuilding process and when that occurs the veterans usually are not a part of their plans.

Aaron Smith: Smith might stay put in Pittsburgh but this would certainly be a viable option for the Pats. Belichick loves to stack depth at the defensive line position with veterans so this would certainly be along the lines of a typical Patriots signing. Smith has shown he can get after the QB.

Other possible options:

Raheem Brock

Amobi Okoye

John Abraham

C’s Give Little Help as East Falls

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We all know what’s going to happen when you put 10 of basketball’s best players on the same court at the same time. Last night’s NBA All-Star Game was nothing short of a dunk contest. As the second highest scoring matchup in the history of the All-Star Game, the Celtic’s contribution came in the form of a mere 5 points via Rondo and Pierce. But that’s neither here nor there. What matters is whether or not the C’s have what it takes to turn the season around when they get back to work Tuesday in Cleveland for game 33, marking the exact halfway point of the shortened 66 game schedule.

Also, in case you missed it, here’s a clip of Rondo’s half-court alley-oop to Lebron from last night. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing to watch as a C’s fan but I’ll put it up just because Durant beat LJB out for All-Star MVP and I don’t feel quite as guilty with Rondo creating the play.

 

College Weekend Recap

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On Friday night, Marquette’s coach Buzz Williams decided to bench 3 of his starters due to “undisclosed team violations”.  However, #10 Marquette was able to erase a 15 point, 4th quarter, deficit and came back to beat Big East rival West Virginia, 61-60.  One of the few starters that played for the Golden Eagles was Senior Jae Crowder.  Crowder scored 26 points on 9 for 17 shooting in 40 minutes of play.

On Saturday, #1 Kentucky was able to capture the SEC Conference Title by beating Vanderbilt 83-74. Star forward Anthony Davis was able to connect on 10 of his 11 shots and 8 of his 9 free throws to score a game-high 28 points.  He also had 11 rebounds to reach the double-double platform. He is a one-of-a-kind player who also put in 6 blocks for the Wildcats.

Somehow, #5 Kansas was able to come back from 19 points down against #3 Missouri in overtime.  This was one of the better games this season in my opinion. Possible player of the year, Thomas Robinson, scored yet another double-double with 12 rebounds and 28 points.  Tyshawn Taylor was able to pitch in 24 points of his own on 44 minutes of play.  I think the Jayhawks should be considered as one of the best teams in the country, despite their 5 losses.

#2 Syracuse somehow only beat struggling UConn by 2 points. Kris Joseph nabbed three 3-pointers while scoring 21 points for the Orange. With the victory, Syracuse captured the Big East title.  Despite the loss, the entire Husky starting line-up was able to score in double digits, with the exception of Lowell native Alex Oriakhi. Unfortunately, not one player off the bench was able to score a single point, and that includes Shabazz Napier.

#4 Duke was able to hold off Virginia Tech in yet another Saturday overtime game.  The final score was 70-65. Austin Rivers put in 23 points with the help of 17 free throw attempts. Seth Curry was able to add 19 points of his own for the Blue Devils.

#7 North Carolina was barely able to slip by unranked Virginia in an ACC battle, by only 3 points. Forward Tyler Zeller scored 20 points while fellow Tar Heel John Henson was able to contribute a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. I was really hoping they lost…

On Sunday, #15 Wisconsin handed #9 Ohio State their 6th loss of the season.  Star forward Jared Sullinger only connected on four of his shots, and missed all three free throws.  He finished the game with a mere 8 points and 6 rebounds.

Notable Upsets:
Georgia 76                           #11 Florida 62
Purdue 75                           #13 Michigan 61
St. Johns 61                        #18 Notre Dame 58
TCU 83                                  #21 New Mexico 64
Saint Joseph’s 82             #22 Temple 83
Miami 78                             #16 Florida State 62

AL East Position Matchup: Center Field

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Today, I will cover the AL East’s strongest position, Centerfield. To the surprise of many Sox fans, Jacoby Ellsbury absolutely broke out last year. The big story throughout the year will be how the Red Sox handle his expiring contract. They avoided arbitration with Jacoby this year by signing him to a one year $8.05 million contract (a big raise from his $2.4 million earned in 2011). I understand that the Red Sox didn’t want to reward him MVP money for the long term after his one year sample of his abilities, but I think they should make moves on a contract early in the season. The bad news for the Red Sox is that Jacoby’s agent is Scott Boras and he’ll be sure to try to squeeze every penny out of any organization for his clients.

For previous positional rankings click here: C–1B–2B–3B–SS–LF

Here are the rankings for Centerfielder:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox
2. Curtis Granderson, Yankees
3. B.J. Upton, Rays
4. Adam Jones, Orioles
5. Colby Rasmus, Blue Jays

Throughout all 2011, Jacoby and Granderson were fighting to be the best centerfielder in their division, but also were fighting to be the league MVP at the same time. Long story short, Jacoby got snubbed for the MVP and placed second, while Granderson came in 4th place after his monster season for the Bronx Bombers. 2012 should be no different. As noted earlier, Ellsbury will be in a contract year and out to prove that last year was no fluke. Granderson wants to prove the same thing, considering he finally lived up to the hype that was pegged onto him after his breakout year in 2007 with the Tigers. Similar to the MVP race, Ellsbury inched ahead of Granderson in the rankings. Jacoby really looks like he figured out his power stroke last year and has speed for days. I think his steal numbers will bump back up to the 50’s, but not near the 70 he swiped in 2009. Jacoby’s speed on the basepaths and in the outfield coupled with his consistent batting average make him a good choice to repeat another big year. I’m predicting .305/18 HR/80 RBI’s out of Ells, with 53 SB’s and 115 runs in his contract year. Granderson on the other hand has pretty much established what he is capable of in his six full years in the majors. I see his 41 hrs as a bit of a hiccup last year. Last year, Granderson hit 16 home runs against lefty’s, while he had only hit 20 against them in his entire career. I still see him getting around 30 HR in Yankee stadium, which is built for swings like Grandersons. Despite this, Granderson has a lower average than Ells and doesn’t swipe as many bags. He gets slotted into the second spot due to this.

Next up is Rays outfielder BJ Upton. As his career really begins to shape, it is starting to look like his brother Justin got the better genes. He was an absolute monster for the D-Backs last year in the NL West. BJ has been exposed for his flaws at the plate throughout his career. He has been known for his streaky hitting and when he’s on a hot streak no pitcher wants to face him (like the 2008 playoffs). He’s a very similar player to Jacoby from a statistical standpoint, except for his much lower batting average (.243 BA last year).

Upton’s edge in the field gave him the third ranking over number four, Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles. Jones is a very dangerous hitter and getting better each year, but he has yet to master his control of the strike zone (.280 BA with a .319 OBP last year).

Rounding up the rankings in Colby Rasmus of the Blue Jays. Colby had an off year last year after a promising first two seasons in St. Louis. He had a horrible batting year last year, with drops in BA, OBP, HR’s, RBI’s and SB’s. If he can figure out how to correct his batting woes from last year, he can provide some power in the sneaky good Blue Jays offense.

For previous positional rankings click here: C–1B–2B–3B–SS–LF

All Star Break Grades – Point Guards

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Over the next few days during the All-Star Break I am going to be grading the Celtics players by their positions. Starting with the C’s point guards.

Player

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Blocks

Steals

+/-

PER

Rajon Rondo

14.8

4.9

9.5

0

1.64

+61

18.9

Positives: Without Rajon Rondo, I am not sure where the Celtics would be. He is the heart and the motor that drives the team. His jump shot is continually improving to the point where teams are at least aware of where he is on the floor. When he is looking for his shot, he can easily put up over 25 points, but feels content to let the shots come to him and feed the rest of his players. Defensively he is an animal who comes up with over 1.5 steals per game. May be the best passer in the NBA, with his vision, long arms, and huge hands he has not found a pass he couldn’t make. Rondo made the All-Star team, replacing Joe Johnson, and also made the Skills competition, replacing Steph Curry.

Negatives: Still has a way below-average jump shot. Plays hard, but mood can affect his tenacity. May gamble too much as he gives up more points than he saves from steals, relies on power forwards and centers to slide over to help defend. Struggles at free throw line continue (61.5%). Rondo needs to be a less moody player and learn to control his emotions (aka throwing ball at referee other night).

Grade: B+

Player

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Blocks

Steals

+/-

PER

Avery Bradley

4.3

1.8

1.3

.27

.53

+26

7.8

Avery has a very different role when Rondo is out. I am also going to add the 10 games that he started.

Player

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Blocks

Steals

+/-

Avery Bradley

7.3

3.1

2.6

.2

.9

N/A

Bradley vs Thunder

12

2

5

3

1

+3

Avery is obviously getting more and more comfortable with the minutes he is getting. Obviously he cannot replicate the types of numbers that Rondo provides, but the drop off is not as bad as people might think. The offense goes into a different direction with Rondo out, the ball moves much more fluidly and is touched by everyone on offense

Positives: Bradley has a better jumper than Rondo and defenses are going to learn that they have to respect that. This opens up more of a lane for Pierce and Allen to penetrate and find open shooters. He is one of the premier defenders, if not the premier on ball defender in the NBA.

Negatives: Jump shot is still a little shaky although it has looked great in past few games. Can get a little out of control on offense and commit a few turnovers. He can over pursue when he full court presses leading to more problems for other teammates. Avery needs to find more consistency to get the faith from Doc on a day in day out basis.

Grade: B

Player

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Blocks

Steals

+/-

PER

Keyon Dooling

5.1

.7

1.1

.06

.25

-31

7.2

Positives: Keyon has shown that he is not afraid of taking shots at big times, he has shown that he wants to be a crucial scorer off the bench. He is a plus defender and puts in effort on defense, can defend point guard or shooting guard position.

Negatives: For all that Keyon has wanted to do, I am coming to the conclusion that he is just not that good. He is a combo guard who wants to be a shooting guard. He does not have the handle for a point guard, or the ability to create as a two. He forces up too many three’s to allow the Celtics get into a flow. He has struggled with injuries this season and personally when I see him on the floor I just see it as time being taken away from Rondo, Bradley, or even E’Twaun Moore.

Grade: D

Overall:

Rajon Rondo is clearly one of the premier point guards in the NBA and is the best player on the Celtics this season. All he needs to do is mature a little bit more and get his jump shot to just an adequate level to become one of the best players in the NBA. Avery Bradley has been the surprise of the season for the Celtics, playing great defense and being an adequate backup and spot starter for Rondo. He has shown the Celtics he is a player for the future and is my favorite player on the team. Keyon Dooling has been a major disappointment so far. The bench has been extremely weak for the Celtics this season, and Keyon is a major part of that. The offense is not run well, and he has not seemed to mesh with any of those players on the second unit yet. I expect him to have a better second half, but I have not been impressed with him so far.

Overall Grade: B

March Madness Preview Day 5

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Kentucky | Syracuse | Missouri | Kansas | Duke

#5 Duke

#5 Duke

Remaining Opponents: Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, North Carolina

Prediction: UNC is a toss-up, anyone can win that game. Other than that, they should beat V-Tech (15-13) & will most likely run over Wake Forest (12-15). I would be surprised if they are not a number 1 seed.

Austin Rivers is a freshman who we have all heard of. Son of Doc Rivers. He averages 15 PPG, 3.2 RPG, & 2.1 APG.  Most Blue Devils graduate, but if his dad is okay with it, he may be leaving after this season.  But I don’t see that happening.

Seth Curry is a 6’2 Junior who averages 13.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG, & 2.5 APG. He also shoots 88% from the line. As far as I know, he will most likely be back for his senior year.

Junior Ryan Kelly  is a 6’11 forward who puts in 11.9 PPG and 5.4 rebounds per contest.

Mason Plumlee is a Junior who is 6’10. He contributes nearly a double-double with 11.2 PPG and 9.7 RPG on 56% shooting from the field.

Andre Dawkins is also a Junior, who is a 6’4 guard. He is able to score 9.4 PPG on only 24.1 minutes per night.

Duke is always a tough opponent to play in the tourney.  They have enough veteran leadership with the perfect amount of young stars on their team. They also have strength off the bench and one of the best coaches to ever live.