nba musings

1. Sans the Big Three, the Celtics beat the Wizards tonight 115-107 and finished out the regular season with a record of 62-20.
2. The Cavs lost in OT to Philly, so the Celtics will meet up with the Bulls in the 1st round. (Someone hide the t-shirt gun from Benny.)
3. Eddie House surpassed Danny Ainge’s 3-point shooting record at .444.
4. Tonight was Fan Appreciation Night at the Garden and before the game, Paul Pierce took the mic and thanked the fans for their support.
5. The game also marked the 100th consecutive sellout at the TD Banknorth Garden dating back to October 17, 2007. Celtics President, Rich Gotham: “The 100 consecutive game sellout milestone is a reflection of our loyal fan base, and we are grateful for their continued support as we head into the playoffs in pursuit of Banner 18.”
6. In July, the owners of the TD Banknorth Garden (home to Celtics & Bruins) will be changing the name of the venue to “TD Garden”. (Damn it. I only recently stopped referring to it as the Fleet Center.)

Related news:

• CelticsBlog: It’s the Bulls
• Red’s Army: And the 7th Seed Goes To…
• Celtics 17: Ray Allen to Set Free Throw Record.. Yes You Heard Me
• Boston.com: Garden to change name… again
• Celtics.com: Boston Celtics Thank Fans for Support During the 2008-2009 Season
• Celtics on Twitter: WED 15 APR 22:53 The players are at their lockers all watching Philly/Cavs to find out who they’ll play in the first round.

I’m serious. We’re mean. We’ll decapitate and disembowel a mutha.

> ‘Shocked’ Beckett will appeal suspension
Sox pitcher Josh Beckett has been suspended for six games and fined by MLB, which determined he intentionally threw a pitch near the head of the Angels’ Bobby Abreu on Sunday. (Excerpt from boston.com)

> Ray Allen suspended tonight
Celtics guard Ray Allen has been suspended one game without pay for elbowing Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao in the groin, it was announced today. (Excerpt from boston.com)

> Donny Marshall on Celtics Pregame Live: “I really think Ray should’ve got him a little bit harder if you’re going to get suspended. I’ll have to talk to Ray about that later. You’ve got to make it really count.”

More Celtics news in the blogosphere:

• CelticsBlog: KG Will Be Ready, I Think, Maybe
• Red’s Army: Ray Allen Suspended Tonight
• Celtics 17: Allen Suspended… Just For a Game Though
• CSNNE Celtics Blog: A Useful Refresher Course on P.J. Brown

Ladies and germs, we finally have an Eastern conference rivalry worth talking about. Shocking really. I thought the Celtics biggest Eastern conference rival was going to be the Pistons. Au contraire, mofraire! Lebron and his merry band of jesters have stepped to the plate and not a moment too soon. Lots of bad blood in the atmosphere between the Celtics and the Cavs and their fans. I love it. I was never comfortable with those warm fuzzy feelings I had for the Cavs only days ago. Now, I have permission to hate them a little and it’s fantastic. It really agrees with me.

I either spoke, thought or wrote each of the following things today:

1. Lebron James can suck it!
2. Al Jefferson shall henceforth be regarded as my favorite ex-Celtic. Delonte West is dead to me. Dead to me, I say!
3. Why does every technical foul between the Cavs and Cs involve Anderson Ver-ay-jee-ow (more annoying last name to spell than Sasha Vujacic)? If he can’t take a love tap to the nuts, screw him!
4. Rick (pause) BLEEPING (pause) Astley? Really?
5. Good luck not getting swept by the Lakers in the finals, bitches.

Ah, that felt good.

Disclaimer:

1. I don’t mind Lebron. Or his crab dribbleness.
2. I still love Delonte.
3. I’d go apeshit too if someone nailed me in the nuts too. Well, if I had nuts.
4. Gino > Astley. Some things I just can’t back down on.
5. If KG is 100%, we’ll be playing the Lakers in the finals. So, I totally didn’t mean #5 and I take it back.

Like Ray Allen, I’m not going to forget this one any time soon. I’d like to remind the Cavs & their fans of a little game played in April in Orlando (116-87). So before you think you’re invincible, remember that the Lakers & their fans thought the same thing last year going into the playoffs. How’d that work out? I’m not saying the Celtics are going to win the championship. I’m just saying that blowing a team out in the regular season is really not indicative of how things are going to go in the playoffs. If it were, I guess that would mean the Cavs will be losing to the Magic, right? Speaking of which, let’s forget all this nonsense and start the freakin playoffs! It’s put up or shut up time…

Celtics @ Cavs 76-107

The Celtics got their asses kicked. Facts are facts. I’m surprised they didn’t put up more of a fight, but I was a little worried when Orlando handed them the 2nd seed before this game was even played. I expected they would probably lose to the Cavs on their home court, just not by 31 points. I feel like they decided weeks ago that the rest of this season didn’t matter and have been playing like that. I think they think they can get KG back and then “flip a switch” for the playoffs like the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs have done in the past. I have never liked the flip switching gamble, but I guess if it works, I’ll be a true believer.

Celtics v. Heat 105-98

Saw this one in person from literally the worst seats in the building. I went to the game with my mom and our seats ended up being in the last row. Literally the last row up in the rafters, can’t go any higher, last row. I got vertigo. My mom ended up sitting next to a beam and was so freaked out about going past the beam that I had to coax her past it for a full two minutes. Then I sat down and looked down and almost lost it myself. It was like watching a basketball game from a helicopter. I will literally pay a million dollars next season to get tickets that are not in the balcony. We eventually got acclimated and enjoyed the game on the Jumbotron (LOL), but then we had to contend with two drunk girls and a mother and son blocking our views by jumping up and down during time outs hoping to get on the stupid jumbotron and waving foam fingers in our faces. I yelled “sit the fu(|< down!” a couple of times, but they were oblivious. The game itself was a little so-so. I was happy for the win, but it just didn’t seem like they were 100% into it. It feels like they’re already thinking playoffs. Ah well, a win is a win and it’s always a blast being around an entire arena full of Celtics fans. My favorite people in the world.

Oh! I almost forgot. I got to see little Daylon Trotman dacing during one of the timeouts. So adorable. There was another kid dancing with him though. I don’t approve. I think Daylon should get the aisle all to himself.

Celtics v. Nets 106-104

I miss Gino. And KG. We used to kill teams like this at home and then party like it’s 1999 with Gino on the jumbotron. I miss that!

Is there really anything better than opening day at Fenway? How about those Red Sox, huh? Looking damn good right out of the gate. Especially the assassin on the mound, Josh Beckett.

Beckett’s fastball, from the first inning to the seventh, hummed in the mid-90s, topping out at 96 miles per hour, a velocity he reached on his first pitch. He sprinkled in the changeup that he honed during spring training and buckled Rays batters with his curveball.

Of all the ways to measure Beckett’s dominance, the best might be this: He did not allow a hit from the windup. Against the 18 batters he faced with no one on base, Beckett struck out nine and walked two. (Excerpt from: Beckett comeback gets off to a great start, 4/8/09 Boston Globe)

Oh and by the way.

Josh Beckett > C.C. Sabathia

I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Mostly because these games are old, nobody cares anymore, I’m juggling two games on League Pass, my computer hates to multitask, and I have a particularly bitchy episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians to prep for.

Celtics v. Hawks 104-92

Ahem. STILL not a rivalry. So let’s stop the crazy talk. The Bobcats are more of a rivalry for christsake.

Celtics v. Bobcats 111-109

Double overtime? Jesus. Shuttlesworth, to be exact. FTW!

Celtics v. Thunder 103-84

I can’t look at them anymore and not think of them as the adorable “baby Thunder” thanks to Hornets Hype. I’m sure someday, they’ll come into their own and start kicking the collective asses of good teams and I won’t think they’re so cute then. They’re probably eagerly awaiting that day. Until then, though… aren’t they precious?!

More NBA musings

• I found myself cheering for the Spurs today over the Cavs. It had nothing to do with the Celtics, I’m just slowing getting tired of Lebron and the way he’s called by the refs. Also, lately I’ve been finding myself loving Tim Duncan. Who am I? I’m scared. Hold me.
• Allen Iverson went from being the star (Philly), to the co-star (Denver), to the non-star starter (Detroit), to the non-star bench player (Detroit). Can it really be that shocking that he’s spazzing out? I think not.
• RIP Phoenix Suns. I hope this isn’t Grant Hill’s last season. He is still a great contributor and I love watching him play.

TGIF mother truckers! In honor of the most anticipated day of the week, here are some videos for your entertainment pleasure…

Humor >> Sir Charles and the Big Aristotle by The Global Sports Fraternity

NBA > Ray Allen Game Winner vs Bobcats 4-1-2009 by NewEnglandSportsDude

Haha, it figures. When I first posted about the Maine NBA D-League team that was going to be accepting fan votes to help name them, the one name that jumped out at me as being clearly ridiculous was “Red Claws.” Of course, that’s the name that ends up winning. I laughed out loud this morning going through Dunkin Donuts when they announced it live on the Big Jab. I immediately pulled over and posted it on Twitter. I think I’m a little too Twitter obsessed these days because I’m pretty sure nobody was waiting on pins and needles for this update. Lol. I have to say that the name is growing on me because of the homage to Red Auerbach. I’m now toying with whether or not I want to buy season tickets. They’re making some big improvements to the Expo and it’s less than 5 minutes from my office. If the Claws end up being affiliated with the Celtics as expected, it would be pretty cool to get to see some of the new draft picks play.

Here’s the press release FMI…

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s new NBA Development League team has a name: the Maine Red Claws.

The name, true to the state’s lobster tradition, was announced Thursday by team president and general manager Jon Jennings on The Big Jab sports radio station. The Red Claws plan to unveil their logo in the near future.

Red Claws chairman Bill Ryan Jr. says nearly 3,000 fans submitted votes and selected Red Claws. Names that didn’t get the nod: Maine Beacons, Maine Crushers, Maine Destroyers, Maine Swarm and Maine Traps.

Portland was awarded a franchise last month and most likely will be affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The NBA D-League serves as a feeder to the NBA.

Shortly after Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) joined Twitter and gained a gaggle of followers, I noticed that people were also starting to follow/@ reply/re-tweet accounts purporting to belong to Stephon Marbury (@starburymarbury) and Leon Powe. I’m always skeptical about new NBA players appearing on Twitter and like to get some kind of confirmation before I get excited about it and start following them. I was semi-convinced that the Marbury account was legit when I saw that he registered his Twitter account in the wefollow.com directory under the tags #nba, #entrepreneur and #celebrity. Something about that just rang true to me. A faker probably wouldn’t have bothered to register, but if they did, I think they would’ve picked something more like #nba, #celtics and #basketball. No offense to him, but I feel like only Steph himself would choose #celebrity.

From the get-go though, the @LeonPowe account didn’t smell right. I asked a few people and nobody knew and then Marbury responded to an @ reply that he’d ask him personally at shoot-around. Before I had a chance to ask him again today about it, I saw this article from WEEI.com. It definitely leaves no doubt as to the legitimacy of the account.

Excerpt from: WEEI.com > To Tweet or Not to Tweet by Jessica Camerato

For every player who has a legitimate account, there are even more whose identity is falsified. Take Leon Powe: According to Twitter, he has more than 300 followers who he keeps updated on his knee injury and even the weather. But as it turns out, Powe didn’t even know what Twitter was, let alone manage a profile.

“I don’t even mess with the computers like that. If I did, it would be cool, but nobody has come to me and talked to me about anything like that,” he said, adding, “I think being an athlete, it could be a positive but sometimes it could be a negative, too. Being an athlete, you’re always out there and people are always going to find stories and find what you did eight years ago. So it’s basically the same thing.”

Powe is in favor of using Twitter for a good cause, such as giving away tickets as Pierce does. But it feels invasive to him when people know the miniscule details of his daily life.

“That’s weird to me,” he said. “I don’t do that. I don’t do that. I think that’s weird, but that’s just me. I wouldn’t do it like that. But some players probably like doing that stuff. It’s based on what you like.”

So you can follow @LeonPowe if you want, maybe he/she is a great person… but just keep in mind that it isn’t the real Leon Powe. The real Leon Powe thinks it’s weird.