Not All Lost in New York

Posted on December 26, 2011 by jtulz07

The best Christmas for any basketball fan yesterday was the return of the NBA. The only thing that could have made it better for Boston was watching the C’s come out of New York with a win. Unfortunately, we all know how that played out. Losing to the Knicks, especially with their all-star elf Spike Lee jumping up and down courtside, is always tough to swallow. But not all was lost in New York for the Celts. I think it’s safe to thank Danny Ainge for holding on to Rondo, even if he didn’t mean to. Throughout the short preseason, we could see improvement in Rondo’s shot and overall play, but yesterday he made a statement. His stats were amazing, with 31 points and 13 assists, while almost single handedly bringing the Celtics back into the game, but his aggressive manner and matured nature of play is what shone through the loss. With an aging team, Rondo is the key to the Celts this season. If he can continue to play like a first team all-star, the Celts are going to be alright this season. Not to mention having guys like Brandon Bass slip on a green and white uniform and make a statement of his own. He ended the day with 20 points and 11 rebounds, letting everyone know which team got the better deal in Orlando trade. Bass coming off the bench is going to prove to be a great addition to the Celtics squad, both offensively and defensively. Bring Pierce back and throw Mickael Pietrus into the mix, I think the C’s are going to be just fine.

Weekend Recap

Posted on December 26, 2011 by jtulz07

Contrary to popular belief, Christmas weekend was good in the Boston sports world. Sure it was tough seeing the C’s lose yesterday but you have to look at the bigger picture. We’ll start out Friday with the Bruins absolutely annihilating the Panthers at home 8-0. Brad Marchand capped the day off with his first career hat trick en route to stretching the B’s win streak to 6 games. At this point I think it’s safe to say the best team in Boston resides on the ice. How can you argue with a team that has won 20 of its last 23 games and gone from zero to hero in a span of two months? Then we can look at our AFC East champion Patriots. People forget that they’re one win away from clinching top seed in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. It’s a bit sketchy watching them go down 17-0 to Miami at halftime, but they always find a way to win down the stretch. One more win against a struggling Buffalo team and the road to the Superbowl for the AFC goes through Foxboro. Christmas Day was a bit unsettling as we watched the Celts fall to the Knicks 106-104, as it always hurts to lose to New York in any sport. But not all was lost in this game. The C’s proved they could play ball. With Pierce out and Pietrus awaiting a physical, it was good to see a few Celtics step up. The loss was tough to handle, but more can be taken away from the game. I still feel good, if not better, about the C’s as they continue their season this week. Ideally it could have been better, but again it’s hard for Boston sports fans to complain today. Happy Monday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Posted on December 25, 2011 by jtulz07

Go Celts!

Jersey’s Newest Problem (as if they didn’t have enough)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by christoph131

Just when you think things may be turning around for the New Jersey Nets, one of their best players goes down. Brook Lopez is now sidelined with a broken foot, and will be out until at least February, probably even longer. This could be deadly to the Nets, who seemed to be the front runner in acquiring Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. Unless the Magic actually do hold out until after the all-star game that they are hosting to avoid an awkward return of a certain all-star, shortly after they have traded him. Lopez was the centerpiece of this trade, and hopefully they can still make it work, so he doesn’t go to that yellow and purple team in Los Angeles.

As much as I would hate a Deron Williams-Dwight Howard duo in the Atlantic Division with the Celtics, I would rather see them win it than see the Lakers tie Boston’s record of 17 championships, and I hate Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, and dislike greatly Kobe Bryant (hate is a strong word for a player of his caliber… reminds me of rapist version of Derek Jeter).

Celtics Look Ahead

Posted on December 22, 2011 by jtulz07

Well the Celt’s preseason has come and gone in a blink of an eye, as it should considering they only mustered up two games. It was great to see them win at the garden last night, but the game served a higher purpose. With 13 guaranteed contracts and the likelihood they’ll only carry 14 players out of camp, the C’s only have one roster spot open for the likes of Greg Stiemsma, Gilbert Brown, Jamal Sampson, and Michael Sweetney. In my opinion, and based on how much he played and how he performed, Stiemsma’s going to be the man left standing. He put in 7 points off the bench last night, but ran the floor and showed how he could be a defensive presence for the Celts. None of the others really stood out in either preseason game, besides Sweetney for obvious reasons. It was like Danny called Vince Wilfork to come play. In the six minutes he played, the crowd erupted at the garden each time he merely touched the ball. When he scored his first and only bucket, on a failed dunk attempt, the garden lit up like it was Game 7 vs. the Lakers, circa 2008. I kind of felt bad for the guy but such is life.

With the season opener only three days away, many question how strong the Celtics will be. There’s been a lot of doubt in everyone’s mind as to how they’ll perform. It may not be as promising as past years, but I have faith. My pick for this year is E’Twaun Moore. Mark my word, this kid’s going to do big things. His quickness, vision, shooting, and ability to play to the people around him are going to come in handy this year, especially with the veteran presence the Celts have. I think we’re going to see good things come out of Moore this year. I’m excited to see him and the rest of the team in action come Christmas. Should be a good game.

Current NBA Salary Structure Not Up To Par

Posted on December 21, 2011 by davecouture

The way the NBA’s salary structure works today has already lead to star free agents teaming up with each other to form their super-teams. The way I look at it is the NBA is to blame for it. The NBA needed to change this in the new collective bargaining agreement and they did not. I’m sure the players association would have been for what I am about to propose.

I am all for a salary cap, but the league should not be telling teams how to spend their allotment of cap space. There are max contracts allowed in the NBA. When LeBron James was a free agent last summer notice most of the talk was not about money, it was all about where LeBron wanted to play. A team like the Cavaliers did not have a realistic opportunity to sign LBJ. They couldn’t offer more money than any other team. The only reason LeBron would have stayed in Cleveland would have been because he was faithful to his hometown fans. We all know how important that was to him. Why would LeBron rather play for a team that can’t offer a supporting cast over a team like the Heat that had Bosh and D-Wade when money isn’t even a factor? He won’t. No one will.

The NBA players have essentially realized that they can dictate where they want to play and it continues to put their present teams in dreadful situations. Chris Paul didn’t want to go to Boston during recent trade rumors, but what if the Celtics were able to offer CP3 a $30 million per year deal? I’m not saying I would want to do that as a Celtics fan, but I’m sure the extra millions would have made him reconsider. I’m sure the Cavs would have offered LBJ anything he wanted to stay in Cleveland. Losing out on the LeBron sweepstakes ruined their franchise for the near future. Yes, as a free agent the players could still choose where they wanted to play, but assembling super-teams would come at a cost to the players. If the Cav’s were to have offered LBJ $30 million per year, and the Heat only had the cap space for $20 million, it may have changed the situation. Instead we are going to continue to have 5-8 teams in the league with a legitimate title shot, while leaving the remaining teams completely hopeless.

All Is Well In Boston

Posted on December 19, 2011 by jtulz07

It’s been great writing these weekend recaps lately. Of course it helps being a Boston sports fan, but Monday always seems a little brighter when there isn’t much to complain about in the sports realm.

The Bruins absolutely embarrassed the Flyers on Saturday, capping off a two game road trip with a 6-0 stomping in Philly. They now sit tied with the Flyers in points atop the Eastern Conference. Tim Thomas was once again a rock in net, recording his 30^th career shutout. The B’s take the ice at home tonight against the struggling Canadiens team as they look to expand their new winning streak to 5 games and pull ahead to sole possession of the conference lead.

Order was restored in Denver this Sunday, and “Tebow Time” was put on standby. As expected, the Pats took down Tebow and the Broncos, putting an end to all the miracle boy chat (at least for the next week). Oh how about Timmy boy running for his life towards the end of the 4^th quarter? I mean how do you let yourself get sacked for a 29 yard loss? Brady would never allow that. Speaking of the legend, Tom threw for 2 TDs and rushed one in himself, capping off the score with a “Gronk-esque” type spike. With the win, the Pats claimed the AFC East title for the 9^th time in 11 seasons with Brady at the helm.

For the first time in 7 months we got to watch the Celtics squad take the court. First things first…it was an ugly game, but basketball is back so I’ll take it! Doc played everyone, giving the starters some late game rest and the newcomers a chance to show what they got. After giving up a commanding lead in the 4^th quarter, the C’s were able to hold off a late game push by the Raptors to seal off a 76-75 win in Toronto. The Raptors come to Boston Wednesday night for both teams’ final preseason game before the regular season tips off Christmas Day.

With another passing weekend, again Boston sports fans cannot complain. Our two division leaders have continued to advance, one moving ahead in their conference and the other clinching a division title. Our lost boys in green are back in action, looking to make one more run at the Larry O’Brien trophy. Once again, all is well in Beantown. Happy Monday!

Let the Games Begin

Posted on December 16, 2011 by jtulz07

And basketball season is upon us. I know it’s not the start of the regular season or even an actual game, but the C’s will be on the parquet tonight at the Garden for an intrasquad scrimmage in front of roughly 5,000 fans, BSB staff included. I hope they win…no nothing? Anyways, I figured I’d send you into the weekend and the NBA season with a classic video from C’s locker room last year. Go Celts!

NBA Movement in a Nutshell

Posted on December 14, 2011 by jtulz07

Can anyone keep up with the NBA? Don’t get me wrong, I love basketball and the Celtics but the coverage on the NBA over the past 3 months has been outrageous. Don’t even get me started with the lockout. I’ll spare you the frustration and move to recent news. Everything has been pending, rumors, and a whole lot of he said, she said. It gets to the point we (the fans) get left with nothing concrete to let us fall asleep at night. But today, ESPN decided to help us out. They released a Player Movement Tracker this morning that puts each team’s trades, acquisitions, drafts, etc. into an order we can all understand. Take a look at it here: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/transactions-11-12/2011-12-nba-player-movement-tracker. Sleep well NBA fans!

Pre-Free Agents

Posted on December 13, 2011 by christoph131

The NBA is basically revolving around Chris Paul and Dwight Howard right now and where they will end up, either before the season (12 days away) or during the season. Neither the Hornets or the Magic are willing to lose their stars after this season without getting something in return. Negotiations have re-opened between the Clippers of Los Angeles and the Hornets, to send Chris Paul to LA. The Clips have also won a waiver bid on Chauncey Billups. Although Billups has gone on record to say that he will not report to any training camp of a team that is not in direct contention for a championship this season, so we will see how that goes.

The Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard may be able to stay together if they can show that they want to make the Magic a legitimate championship contender by signing more stars around him, such as Billups. Might be kinda tough to get him away from the Clippers because they are looking to become the new number one team in LA with their young team. They think that they can overcome the old age of Kobe, Gasol, and Fisher, and constantly injured Andrew Bynum (now that they lost Lamar Kardashian). Even without Chris Paul, they are young and Mo Williams, Gordon, and Blake Griffin could spend a lot of years there. But can they compete for a title? Could they even win their division?

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