nba musings

I already explained what I was willing to part with… This is more than Tony Allen and a bag of pretzels
* I hate you more than ever, Danny Ainge!

Source: http://twitter.com/YahooSportsNBA/status/3237438573

If this happens, then I’m happy for Leon. He deserves a job and I’ll be glad that he has one. I will just never get over the Celtics not offering him at least the minimum like the Cavs are apparently willing to do. It was already bad enough that I had to hate the Cavs a little less because of my love for Delonte… Now they’re going to have Leon too? That makes things so complicated. LeBron is easier to hate than ever and don’t even getting me started on that flopper Varejao. It would have been really great to just be able to wish the entire Cavs team would rot in hell. Kinda like the Yankees. Now, two of my favorite players in the league will be playing for my team’s arch rival.

Crap.

Update: I decided to rip off the band-aid and replace the Powe square on my Twitter background to a Perk square. It was painful, but had to be done.

Related links:

• Yahoo! Sports: Cavs close to signing Powe

Sigh. Just stumbled onto this on YouTube and it made me happy …and sad. Please to enjoy.

Source: YouTube/WCVBtv

 Holy emo, I promise I’ll stop talking about Leon… Someday.

ps. I’m calling bullshit on Doc not knowing about the Gino dance.

I’m sick about this. It now occurs to me that my two favorite players in the NBA do not play for the Boston Celtics (James Posey and Leon Powe). I’m shocked by the Celtics decision to not extend Powe a qualifying offer. Powe’s agent said it best:

What does it say when a player like Leon Powe, a great human being, who played through injury and pain for three straight years for the Boston Celtics, including in a playoff game after tearing his ACL, is rewarded by the team saying to him “we only have a short window to win, and you are not a part of our plans because you are now injured.”

It shows you the true state of the NBA.

The Celtics are traditionally a class act. I have great respect for the organization as a whole, but they truly missed it on this one. (Via True Hoop)

The minute Leon went down, I was afraid this was going to happen… I just didn’t think it would. I suppose there is always a chance that Leon could end up back with the Cs, but I’m not getting my hopes up. If this truly is goodbye, then I just want to say thank you to Leon for all the great memories and for being the heart and soul of my favorite team.

You will be missed!

Related news:

• True Hoop: Leon Powe is Unemployed
• Red’s Army: The sad reality about the Leon Powe decision
• FanHouse: Leon Powe Will Prove the Celtics Wrong
• BostonHerald.com: Powe feels Celtics career over
• BostonHerald.com: Leon Powe, Celtics say goodbyes
• NESN.com: Ainge pulling plug on the Powe show?
• NESN.com: Questionable move to let Powe go
• Celtics Hub: Farewell, Leon

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Update #1: This is from the official Celtics site…

Powe’s Progress

As for Leon Powe, who’s an unrestricted free agent, Ainge said that the C’s would be keeping tabs on his progress as he rehabilitates his left knee from the ACL/meniscus injury he suffered in Game 2 against the Bulls. Powe just went home to California to continue his rehab but is no longer under contract with the Celtics.

With a long rehab ahead of Powe, the Celtics aren’t breaking ties with him, but there’s a lot of uncertainty about when he would be ready to contribute again. When that time comes, he’ll be free to sign with any team he wants.

“We know that Leon is not going to be available to play until late in the season, possibly,” Ainge said.

So, I guess there is always the possibility he could be back. I know I’ve been drama queening out on Twitter today and no player is above the team… but if there was ever a player who could be above the team, it’s Leon. Life goes on, though and I guess like everyone else, I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

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Update #2: According to The Boston Herald & NESN.com, Powe thinks he’s done in Boston based on a convo with Danny Ainge.

“They told me, ‘Good luck with another team.’ Doc (Rivers) told me that he wanted me there, and he would do whatever he could to make sure I came back, but Danny came to me yesterday saying that they only have a two-year window, and I would be taking up a roster spot for someone else,” he explained.

But that doesn’t mean he is officially off the C’s radar.

“We love Leon, and would consider having Leon back at any time, once he gets healthy,” Ainge said.

That’s where Powe’s and Ainge’s feelings begin to differ.

“I wasn’t feeling a vibe like that,” he said. “I knew they wouldn’t (offer a qualifying offer), so I just have to move on.”

Sigh.

Not ready to give up? Sign the petition to re-sign Leon Powe — Powe-tition!

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.

I defy you to watch this and not get a little teary.

Source: 23witty, Youtube.com

1. How come I hadn’t heard of the Jabbawockees (or however you spell them) until they danced with Shaq? I’m NOT old! Haha. I just apparently don’t watch enough of that Mario Lopez dancing show on MTV.

2. I found the coolest bobblehead EVER in the history of all mankind’s bobbleheads! A Leon Powe championship bobblehead! Hell to the yesssssssss! (Ok, my excitement is over the top. I admit it. I was just shocked that they actually had a Powe. I can’t even find a freakin Powe t-shirt at my local Olympia for goodness sake. This is BIG.)

3. I’m mildly apathetic about today’s Cassell trade. I would imagine that KG is bummed to lose his little friend. On the other hand, Rondo is probably happy as hell to shed one of his ‘coaches’. Imagine having Doc harping on you in one ear and Cassell chirping in the other. Ugh, I’d be packing Sammy’s bags and driving him to the airport myself.

4. Dear neighbor who has a Yankee logo sticker on the left rear side of his car and a Red Sox logo sticker on the right, that is just wrong.

5. ‘For the love of Ray-J’ really? No. Flav called. He wants his skanks back.

6. Three words. Craig. Sager’s. Suit. Freakin awesome! I have an unhealthy obsession with Craig Sager’s wardrobe. His crazy suits just make me happy. Love them or hate them, they are always interesting. Much like a Shaq or Barkley comment, they add spice to the NBA. May he always entertain us with his wardrobe choices. Amen.

Happy 24th Birthday, Leon Powe!

Leon Powe sign

Celtics v. Magic 107-88

Saw this one in person at the Garden. Thoughts…

• Went to the game w/my mom. She’s a pretty good C’s fan. Not obsessed like me, but watches enough to carry on a decent convo. Her favorite players are Ray Allen and Big Baby.
• She bought the train tickets on her own while I was at work and choose a time that was about 3 hours too early. So we get to N. Station, chill in the Boston Bruins Pro Shop, get some ice cream, and then sit for 2-1/2 hours waiting to be able to hit the escalators.
• Scored two t-shirts (one glittery shamrock, one old school logo) and a black argyle winter hat w/white logo. I wanted to get a couple sweatshirts too, but my mom kept saying that I don’t know what Santa might have for me at xmas time. Apparently she thinks I’m 12. (Who says I can’t have several six or seven Celtics sweatshirts and not just the one that Santa might be bringing? Hmmm?)
• We finally get upstairs and decide to get wine (her) and beer (me). We head to our seats and at first sit in the wrong ones. While making our way to the right ones, my mom teeters into some seats and spills half her wine. Being the sweet daughter that I am, I yell, “You’re CUT OFF Mom, no more wine for you!” Haha. I’m a brat.
• Get to our correct seats and I realize that despite the fact that I paid almost double, my seats are worse than the ones I had two years ago when I went to see the C’s play the Magic. Sigh.

• The game starts and my mom is nice enough to hold one side of the Leon Powe sign. At some point, we realize we can’t hold a sign and clap, so we put it down. Later, Leon Powe has a monster slam (his only 2 points of the game) and we start fumbling around, “Get the sign, get the sign!!” and we hold it up about a minute too late and start waving it around.
• Sam Cassell got ejected and we were like, “What the hell just happened?” I said, “I’ll watch the DVR later and find out.” Later when I watched the DVR, it appeared the commentators were just as clueless as we were.
• There were like 8 technical fouls called in that game. The refs blew monkeychunks. I kept hearing Tommy Heinsohn’s voice in my head saying, “Oh boy! Oh BOY! That was all ball!!!”
• Despite being ahead by only 2 points at the half, I never once worried that the Celtics would lose the game. The Magic looked awful. I know they can be deadly at times, but I watched enough of their games on League Pass to know that they can’t hang.
• Note to people who decide to leave the game with two minutes left. SIT YO ASS DOWN!
• The train ride home was long and smelly. The guys in front of me smelled like liqour and stale cheesepuffs. It was not pleasant.
• I wouldn’t trade any of it though. I had a great time and can’t wait to go back again in April for the Heat game. Whoo!

During the pre-game show last night (before the pre-season Celtics v. Nets game) they interviewed my new favorite Celtic (my old fave being James Posey of course *sigh*), Leon Powe. Man. I love me some Leon Powe! He’s so mature and unselfish. What’s not to love? I’m looking forward to seeing how Leon, Big Baby and Tony Allen all do this year. They should all be seeing more minutes. I watched last night’s game on and off. I just think pre-season games are fairly unwatchable. I love the bench guys, but when they’re all in the game at once there’s just no flow. I’ll be happy when the regular season starts. I might try and snag tix for November when they play the Knicks. It will be interesting to see if the Knicks are vastly improved with a decent coach.