Just 10 months after a spine injury where he was taken off in a stretcher, presumably finished for his career, Marquis Daniels has come back stronger than ever. I know that I felt bad when we let him go last season because we were fighting hard for a championship. At least we made things right and got him back, and now he is better than he was before his surgery. Marquis might have the chance to start on Christmas Day against the Knicks, assuming Pierce is still hurt. He is a great spot up defender and could probably do a better job than anyone (including Pierce) at guarding their best player, I think his name is Carmelo or something…
However, Doc Rivers said that he likes the way the second unit plays together so he may even throw Sasha (remember that utterly useless guy from last season??) into the starting role just to keep his second team together for when our senior citizens get tired. The Knicks are undoubtedly going to be a lot stronger of a team than last year. Do you think we can beat them right off the bat? I believe so since they are a new team and have had limited practice, while the core of our team has been together since 2007.
If you didn’t catch it on Twitter this morning, I was lucky enough to be at the Waltham practice facility today for Celtics Media Day. For the most part, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Players come out sporting their team’s gear and are introduced to a number of media outlets. But after seeing and hearing all the Celtics players today, I feel pretty good about going into the season. All the big names were amped up to be back on the court, especially KG. They displayed a collected, confident presence about the team and an eager mindset to get the new guys settled in. The rookies were excited to start their careers on such a historic team, alongside several future hall of famers. Even Jeff Green was feeling good about things, as he was spotted taking shots prior to the event’s start. His message was simple: Don’t listen to the rumors. Keyon Dooling, a new face to the organization, expressed his excitement of becoming a Celtic, despite the 5 other teams he has been a part of. He even laughed off the incident he had with Ray while he was still on the Sonics. Overall a very friendly, funny guy. With some lingering doubt heading into the season prior to media day, spirits were high in Waltham today. I left the facility feeling much better than I have in the past few days. The boys are back in green and eager to put banner 18 up into the rafters. Good news all around for Boston Celtics fans!
ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported earlier today that the Celtics are still in the running for Hornets point guard Chris Paul. Reportedly the Celtics have offered Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, and two future first-round picks.
First off, I am all for the Celtics making a run at Paul but this trade makes absolutely no sense to me unless one thing comes from it; and that is if they are able to get Dwight Howard to join up with Paul here in Boston. I am content with trading away Rondo for Paul, and even including one or two draft picks.
Yes, Paul is better than Rondo, not by a landslide, but he is better. How can you also throw Jeff Green into the deal along with two first-round picks though? Let’s reverse back to last season. The Celtics gave up Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to land Jeff Green, so they must have some faith in him. I was one of the few who were not very upset when that deal went down. Jeff Green is a quality player who has averaged just less than 16 PPG as a starter in the NBA. Then you are also going to throw in two first-round picks? I think the Hornets would be stupid not to take the offer, but that’s not the argument here.
Lets just say that trade does happen. How do the Celtics get Dwight Howard? Does anyone actually think Orlando would deal Howard to the Celtics in exchange for what is left on this roster? Obviously they wont trade Pierce. So what is left? You have no draft picks to trade, and no young talent without Green. Orlando doesn’t want Allen or Garnett. They would much rather ship him to L.A. for a Bynum/Gasol combination. Not only do they get more value for Howard, they also keep him out of the conference. So assuming they can’t land Howard this is what their future will look like in three years or so. Chris Paul. That’s it. Allen, Pierce and Garnett are all on their way out and the Celtics would have no picks to draft a quality player, and no Jeff Green to help build around Paul.
The fact that they are willing to trade Rajon Rondo and his underpaid $11 million a year contract, along with the only other player on the team with some upside, and include two first round picks just to have a somewhat minor upgrade from Rondo to Paul just doesn’t make any sense to me. Not to mention they will have to sign Paul to a deal paying him almost double of what Rondo makes.
Some people will try to say if we get Paul, Howard will follow here next season when he is a free agent. The only issue is that Howard won’t be a free agent. If he won’t resign in Orlando they will trade him. There is no way they take the chance Cleveland took and just let their star player walk away and get nothing in return.
It’s a few years old, but with the Celts season quickly approaching, I figured it’d be a good flashback. Check below the video for lyrics and props to @CelticsFans for the tip.
My Celtics baby. #17 yo we got another banner. Gonna put it in the rafters. LL-Lakers got the molliwhop. I say the LL-Lakers got the molliwhop. I say the LL-Lakers got the molliwhop. I say the LL-Lakers got the molliwhop. [Chorus] Kobe Bryant sucks, Boston tears it up, We the champions there ain’t no stopping us see now we #1. Kobe really sucks, Celtics tear it up, we the champions there ain’t no stopping us see now we #1. [Verse 1] Ok the Celtics we the champs right now. We got the Big 3 beat LA to the ground. Ray-Ray, P, KG getting down. Best record in the league but the haters still doubt. Perk doing work. Rondo so thur. House in your mouth. Posey that’s murder. Three’s raining down like unh-unh, Pierce driving through the lane like dunk-dunk. [Hook] Mr. MVP I say the LL-Lakers got the molliwhop, I say the LL-Lakers got the molliwhop. I say the LL-Lakers got the molliwhop. I say the LL-Lakers got the molliwhop. [Chorus] Kobe Bryant sucks. Boston tears it up. We the champions there ain’t no stopping us see now we #1. Kobe really sucks, Celtics tear it up, we the champions there ain’t no stopping us see now we #1. [Verse 2] What you gon’ do when the Celtics get hot and they’re dropping them, we hittin’ every shot. Ohhh the Lakers try to stop us. They got rocked. Kobe said the team that he with can’t win. Kobe want a trade ’cause the Lakers ain’t ****. Got a couple players but you still ain’t ****. (Pau Gasol?) Kobe crying, crying like a little *****.
Just like everyone else, I’m sick and tired of all the lockout nonsense. I’ve officially hopped off the “hopeful” band wagon and moved onto the hopeless one. With the reality of not having NBA games this winter, you have to wonder if it’s the end of the road for the Big Three. It kills me to even touch on this subject, but both KG and Ray Allen aren’t signed on for the 2012-13 season. That has to set off an alarm for Celts fans. We’ve become the “small-window” team when it comes to competing for Banner #18, and that window is closing. It hurts to see the potential end to something that has been so great for the city of Boston. I guess now all you can do is keep your fingers crossed.
Just 10 months after a spine injury where he was taken off in a stretcher, presumably finished for his career, Marquis Daniels has come back stronger than ever. I know that I felt bad when we let him go last season because we were fighting hard for a championship. At least we made things right and got him back, and now he is better than he was before his surgery. Marquis might have the chance to start on Christmas Day against the Knicks, assuming Pierce is still hurt. He is a great spot up defender and could probably do a better job than anyone (including Pierce) at guarding their best player, I think his name is Carmelo or something…
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