Look on the Bright Side

Not much good news in the NHL this season, but there is one thing that Bruin’s fans can be happy about. Nathan Horton is now healthy and will play if and when the season starts. He last played on January 22nd after his 2nd concussion in just 7 months. His first concussion came against the Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. He scored 17 goals and had 15 assists last season before getting sidelined in January.

This will be big for the Bruins who struggled to score at the end of last season. Horton is a proven scorer with a 30+ goal season and many 20+ goal seasons. Can’t wait for the black and gold to get started again.

C’s Top Bulls

Although the Celtic’s defense has not been living up to their reputation lately, they still improved to 4-3 on the season with a win over the Bulls, 101-95, so there’s something to be happy about. That’s not the only positive note. Just as most (including myself) predicted, Rondo had a huge game matching up against former Celtic Nate Robinson. He has had a double-double in every game this season and missed the triple double by 1 rebound (20 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds).

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C’s News

The Celtics won against the Bucks on Saturday to improve to .500 after dropping a close one to the 76ers on Friday. Pierce scored 49 points between the two games, as he has been on fire already this season. Playing like the Pierce we have all grown to love, the Celtics continue to look like they are playing better together.

The C’s will play the Rose-less Bulls tonight, who are still a very strong team considering they lost their MVP. They will also play the Jazz, Nets, and Raptors this week. As much as I hate Noah, the guy already got 20 rebounds in a game this season, and no one on our team has come remotely close to that. If we want to win tonight against the Bulls, we will need to get him off of the glass so our bigs can scoop up some second chance buckets. Even better news for the Green, it looks like Rose’s replacement Kirk Hinrich will be sidelined too. Rondo could be a big game changer tonight if that is the case. I know Hinrich can’t compete with him anyways, but a 3rd stringer will be blown out of the water.

Go C’s!

News on the Green

Here are a few things out of the Celtic’s practices this week:

  • Assistant coach Mike Longabardi has been tasked with focusing solely on the defensive side of the ball. Former assistants that also did this were Tom Thibodeau and Lawrence Frank, both went on to be head coaches elsewhere.
  • KG said Sullinger is a lot like Perkins was while he was here. He said he’s not the same kind of defender but is completely unselfish, moves the ball, and has a very high basketball IQ. Garnett went on to say that he loves having the rookie as a teammate already.
  • Their entire practice Tuesday was about defensive strategies. Doc said they went over cutting out the shooters, eliminating baseline drives, and communicating like his old teams were known for.

They are playing the Wizards again tonight at the Garden. I will be rocking the balcony seats so be sure to tune in since the election is over and there’s no other sports to watch.. Go Celts!

Bruins Find the Ice Overseas

With the NHL lockout in effect until further notice, the NHL has cancelled all games for the entire month of November. Negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA have come to a standstill and now all eyes are looking forward to the end of 2012. As game cancellations continue, anything close to a full season looks about as likely as the Mighty Ducks beating Team Iceland.

However, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Lord Stanley Cup, hockey is underway overseas with many of the Bruins roster settling in for what could be a longer lockout than we (and probably the players) imagined. Now is a good time take a look at the best performances thus far by some Bruins bleeding black and gold in the Eurozone; Captain Zdeno Chara, Co-captain Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley , David Krejci, and Tuukka Rask.

Chara has gone back to Prague, Czech Republic where his career started, now suiting up for HC Lev Praha. Lev Praha is in their first season in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and are fortunate to have big Z representing their team in the most prominent league in Eurasia.

Bergeron and Seguin have made the move to the Switzerland to play puck. Bergeron (HC Lugano) and Seguin (EHC Biel) are having tremendous starts to their Swiss campaigns. Seguin is tied for first on his team in points (8-9, 17) and Bergeron is tied for third (7-7, 14) while playing in just a third of his teams games this season. Seguin’s numbers are good enough for 9th overall in the Swiss National league and he has been the best performer among Bruins players overseas, which is a great sign for Bruins fans.

Rich Peverley (JYP) has taken his talents to Finland, posting 1 Goal and 9 assists in 11 games, good for 6th on the team in points (1st place team in the Finnish league).

Krejci, playing in the Czech league for HC Parbudice in the same league as teammates Tuukka Rask and Andrew Ference, is currently on a ten game point streak and hasn’t been held without a point since his debut. Krejci scored against Rask on October 26th but was stuffed by Rask in a shootout later that game.

Finally, in the wake of Tim Thomas’ baffling leave of absence, Tuukka Rask has shown he is more than ready to make Thomas disappear from the conversation. Rask has posted an 8-2 record with a league leading 1.97 GAA and a 92.86 SV% playing for the first place HC Plzen in the Czech league. On October 23rd Rask came up lame in the first period with a groin injury and left the ice. It turned out to be precautionary but was certainly a scare for Bruins fans as Rask missed the last 6 weeks of the 2011-2012 NHL season with a groin injury. He returned to action three days later to earn another victory.

So although the NHL season lies motionless like Eric Lindros for the better half of the 90’s, there is reason to be optimistic and excited about the Bruins when an agreement is reached and the NHL resumes. The Bruins roster is full of young, talented players who have a great opportunity to bring the Cup back to Boston. As more and more NHL players populate Euro rosters, it’s awesome to see Bruins among some of the best performers. As for the few remaining Bruins that are either too mediocre to play in Europe or too old to care (Shawn Thornton) my Tuesday night team could use a ringer and we haven’t had a lockout since Nam.

C’s Squeeking By?

Obviously, we learned last year that no one should count the Celtics out early. They were awful at the beginning of last season and still made it to game 7 against the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. However, we barely beat the Wizards, and lost against the Bucks, two teams that we should beat night in and night out. Pierce is playing incredible, Rondo’s defense has gotten stronger, and KG is always reliable, even after a tough shooting game on Saturday.

The biggest thing to note is the way these new players are mending together. Doc said that he needs to find a way to mix and match the second unit better. He started doing this by putting Jared Sullinger into a starting role, in which he played great. You can tell that he is still young and needs to work, but he has to be ahead of where most rookies are at this point in their careers.

Personally, I am not worried about the C’s this season, and neither should you. We have so much depth and about 7 people that can put up double digits on any given night. Once they get going, they are going to be a tough team to stop.  Next up is the Wizards again on Wednesday at home. Hopefully we have this game won before 28 seconds in the 4th quarter.

Sixth-Man Votes

Jason Terry has been voted as the most likely sixth-man award winner for this NBA season. JET received 11 votes, while Jamal Crawford earned 8. Ray Allen even got 4 of his own. Even Jeff Green was voted for once, even after his rough first game back.

With reigning sixth-man award winner James Harden starting for the Houston Rockets now (scored 37 points and added 12 assists in his debut), the field is wide open. Jason Terry has already won it once before while with the Dallas Mavericks. Leandro Barbosa even won it when he was with the Suns, and if he plays like he did in the first game, he could be a big surprise. But I’ll give my vote to Jason Terry because if he can help get us over the Miami obstacle, he will be seen as one of the key factors since we lost to them the past two seasons.

Tribute to the New Season

Gallery

This gallery contains 10 photos.

Well opening night didn’t exactly go the way we wanted, but hey, it’s only game one. At least Celtic’s basketball is back. So here’s to the NBA season starting on time! Similar Posts You’ll Enjoy

C’s Drop Opening Night

As expected, both Lebron James and Dwayne Wade score in the high 20’s while Lebron recorded his first double-double of the season (26 points, 10 rebounds). One of the most painful things to watch was Ray Allen dropping 19 points on his former team. Ray played 2 more minutes than Lebron in this game, which no one expected would happen.

On the other side, KG struggled for 9 points, but was able to add 12 rebounds. Paul Pierce played amazing in the first half and ended with 23 points while Rondo added 20 points and 12 assists of his own. The biggest surprise was Leandro Barbosa dropping 16 in only 16 minutes while going 3-3 from 3 point range. The newest acquisition already showed that he deserves to be here.

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Final Preseason Rankings

The final preseason power rankings are out, and there have been more than a few big surprises in the past few days.

  • Reigning sixth-man award winner, James Harden, was traded to the Rockets to play alongside Jeremy Lin. The Thunder did not want to give him the max deal that he deserved. They instantly dropped from #3 to #5, before even playing a game.
  • The Lakers dropped one spot from #2 to #3 in light of their 0-8 preseason and an injury to Kobe Bryant. However, they still have Howard, Nash, Bryant, and Gasol together when they are all healthy again, and that looks to be a dangerous team.
  • Spurs jumped up to #2 this week, but this may be short lived since Manu’s back has been bothering him lately, and they are a year older. However, everyone should know better than to count out the Spurs.
  • The Celtics jumped from #6 to #4 after they realized that no one in the East can compete with the Heat but us. It goes without saying, injuries will play a key part in this season, with our team getting older. However, we got younger and quicker over the offseason, and are even more motivated this season after coming within 48 minutes of a championship birth.

Assuming the Heat are #1 on the power rankings, who do you think should be #2?