nba musings » nothing but the truth

suck it, chuck!

michelle — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:30:10 +0000

Listen to Barkley dissing my boy, Paul Pierce! Bitch, please.

ps. But, he redeemed himself a little when he said the Celtics are the greatest NBA franchise ever… Better than the Lakers (said that part twice).

celtics afterthoughts – 2009/2010 inaugural edition

michelle — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:28:54 +0000

Celtics 95, Cavs 89

Where to start, where to start… Well, first of all, HELL TO THE YEAH! I’m not gonna lie. I wanted this win bad. Probably more than I should have, in fact. It’s only the first game of the season and I really should pace myself. I think the reason I wanted the Celtics to win this game so badly was because I still had that horrible image in my mind of that game last season with LeBron, Delonte and company clowning around on the bench during a blowout against the Cs in the Q. I was also quite sure if I saw or heard Rick Astley, I was going to throw the remote control so hard through the TV, it was going to land in Timbuktu. I really like my TV, so phew… dodged a bullet on that one.

The game started out rough. The “Celtics look old” and “It’s going to be a long season, Boston” tweets were making me want to cut a bitch. The piss poor defense was giving me Nam flashbacks of the brutal Christmas season stretch last season when they lost all those games out in Cali. And then. And then… and THEN — They crawled back up out of that hole and clawed their way into the game. It started with the bench and then like RIT on a crisp white t-shirt, it seeped its way through the whole team and suddenly the Celtics not only caught up, but had the lead and never looked back.

Make no mistake, LeBron looked phenomenal on the defense end. He was holding a block party and the Celtics were helpless to stop it. Whether it was a speedy gonzalez Rondo layup or a finesse-style (slowish) Ray Allen layup, LeBron was there and having none of it. I’m not a LeBron fan, but it was impossible to watch those plays and not appreciate their beauty. On the offense though, he took too many low percentage shots. When he makes them, he looks great, but he didn’t make enough of them. Yes, I know the box score disagrees with me, but I don’t care. I stand by that statement. I think he takes too many long bombs and doesn’t trust his teammates enough. Bottom line, the Cavs just have a lot of work to do to be a championship-caliber team. Shaq looked like old Shaq in the first quarter, but after that, not so much. I’m not buying the “things would have been different if Delonte had played” excuse either. Maybe, things would have been different if Glen Davis had been there too. So what? Yes, I realize Delonte is their starting 2 guard and BBD is a luxury backup for us, but still… If we can’t blame KG being out for losing Game 7 in the playoffs to Orlando, then Cleveland can’t use this excuse here. It’s weak sauce.

This was a great win and I’m happy about it, but this game left me with plenty of questions about the Celtics and the kind of work they need to do to return to championship form too.

Paul Pierce was his clutch self as always and I love him for that, but who else is going to step up in crunch time?
The slow starts, turnovers and mental errors continue from last season. Have to clean that up.
Rondo needs to play every opposing point guard like he plays Chris Paul. Step it up, kid. Prove you’re worth max money every night and maybe you’ll get it.

ps. Shout out to my boy, Craig Sager. I’ve missed you boo.

will live streaming be the downfall of civilization?

michelle — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:35:24 +0000

…and is there a 12-step program for attention addiction?
* Just when I find myself able to slowly back away from the addictive crack that is Starbury TV, Chad Ocho Cinco has to come along and create a channel on Ustream. Noooooo! I watched a little of “The Ocho Cinco Show” earlier tonight just to see what it was all about. I figured there would be a lot of haterade in the chat room and Chad would be screaming at people to show him their number 1s and refrain from boxing him up UPS-style. It ended up being surprisingly tame, with him brushing most negative comments off and showing off his cigar collection. He did say one startling thing though. He had to leave for dinner and said that when he comes back, he’ll stay up all night and answer questions. Uh oh! I’ve read this script before and it ends with a lot of Drake, crying and petroleum jelly. Not good, not good. Either way folks, just remember… narcissists who crave attention are people too.

Chad shows off his favorite cigars…

You think I didn’t check on Steph? You been eatin’ Vaseline?
* Of course, when I got home from work tonight, I had to check in on my boy Steph on Starbury TV. I watched for a few minutes while he danced frenetically to the now ubiquitous, Diamond Girl, until he started unbuckling his pants and threatened to pull them down. Um yeah, no thank you. I honestly am hoping that some night soon, I’m going to check and that page on Justin.tv will be gone. As “entertaining” as this has been during what might have been a very long and dull off-season, I’d like to see him get some professional help. J.A. Adande wrote a nice piece on the subject that I’ve linked to below.

They tried to put me in a box…

What’s good around the blogosphere:

Off-season? What Off-season?
* Nat from Heels on Hardwood breaks down all the latest “off-season” goings-on: The NBA – Where 365 Days Of Entertainment Happens

Step by Step? Bitch, please
* On his Both Teams Played Hard blog, Jared Wade uncovers an alarming lack of sitcom theme song awareness in Orlando in: Not a Lot of Dave Coulier Fans in Orlando

Hmmm, turtles doing the boinky boink or a tribute post to Paul Pierce? Tough call
* My favorite Red’s Army post to date. A very nice tribute to Paul Pierce and his legacy as a Celtic in: Paul Pierce: The last great Celtic

Speaking of Red’s Army…
* Graham Brunell from Celtics 17 interviewed the guys who run the Red’s Army blog in: Interview With John Karalis and Chuck McKenney Of Red’s Army

What’s good around the mainstream:

Love is love, Daddy!
* In a piece for ESPN, J.A. Adande weighs in on Starbury TV in: Streaming Steph is a sad, sad show

paul pierce’s smack tweet

michelle — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:44:56 +0000

Old news, but it still cracks me up. I’m late reacting to this because I wasn’t actually on Twitter on the 17th to see it. I read about it on the 18th on BDL. I was covertly perusing NBA blogs in my RSS reader at work when this little gem caught my eye. I literally laughed out loud and then had to explain myself to someone passing by. I’m not sure why, but I was actually surprised by how blunt and snarky the message was. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if it had come from Shaq, but I didn’t realize Pierce was so… honest.

ps. I can’t read this without wanting to cross out “rotweiler” and pencil in “rottweiler”.

you’ll pry perk and rondo from my cold dead hands

michelle — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:25:09 +0000

These silly season rumors are giving me fits. It seemed like the very minute game 7 finished and the Celtics went fishing in Dingle, Ireland, people started speculating about who isn’t going to be back next year. Thoughts immediately flashed through my brain. Will they keep Leon or Big Baby? The answer is clear, simple and finite. Leon stays! Baby can go. I’ll miss him, but not as much as I’d miss Leon. This is not Sophie’s Choice for me. The decision is clear. After that, I pondered how quickly they’d tell Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury not to let the door hit them in the ass on the way out. No problem with that. The rookies? Haven’t gotten attached to them. They can go too. However, there were certain players that I just assumed were untouchable. Never for a moment did I think I might have to brace myself for life without Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo or Kendrick Perkins. I think I could almost handle losing Ray. As much as I love him, I probably wouldn’t go into mourning if they felt like they had to trade him. But, the idea of trading either Perk or Rondo is just completely unbelievable to me. Rondo is a star. He has a lot to learn still, but he’s a star. And, what can you say about Kendrick Perkins? He’s the most underrated player on that whole team. Trading Rondo and Perk, in my opinion would be as ridiculous as trading KG and Paul Pierce. I will NOT part with any of them. You hear me, Wyc?!

Here is what I’ll agree to part with:

ps. Keep your grubby little mitts of Scal! I will NOT part with Scal either! Get back! *jabbing the air with a pitchfork*

celtics newsbriefs

michelle — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:03:09 +0000

Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau has been making the interviews rounds for head coaching opportunities with Philly and Sactown. Good luck, Tom!
The Globe’s Marc Spears reports that KG will have surgery on his right knee sometime next week.
Stephon Marbury on his future with the Celtics: “I mean I love it here, I loved playing basketball here. That’s where I am right now… I don’t know what my future holds. I”m just going to wait and see what the future holds.”
Big Baby on his future with the Celtics: “I love Boston. It’s a wonderful place. But if the opportunity is here, it’s here. If it’s somewhere else, it’s somewhere else. I have to go where the opportunity is.”
In April, Leon Powe received that month’s NBA Community Assist award. As the April NBA Community Assist Award recipient, Powe will receive the David Robinson Plaque with the inscription, “Following the standard set by NBA Legend David Robinson who improved the community piece by piece.”
Doc recently revealed that the Celtics starters were even more banged up than we thought. Perk/shoulder, Ray/hamstring, Paul/knee. Thankfully fishing doesn’t require any of those body parts to be fully functional.
Sam Cassell has been hired as an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards. Congrats Sam!

celtics afterthoughts: ah yes, that’s more like it

michelle — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:31:47 +0000

Playoffs Game 2
Celtics v. Magic 112-94

The Good

Eddie House scored a career playoff high of 31 points.
Rajon Rondo earned another triple double (15 pts, 18 assts, 11 rebs) and threw down a pretty nifty slam dunk to boot.
Doc Rivers had high praise for Brian Scalabrine after the game and said that he was surprised Scal was even able to come back this soon. This quote from Scal is one of the reasons I love him: “The funny thing, everyone else has problems with how much playing time I’ve gotten here except me,” said Scalabrine. “Even my mother will say, ’How come you’re not playing more?’ I tell everyone the same thing. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy being a Boston Celtic … I’m happy being a winner.”

The Bad

Paul Pierce was in foul trouble and only played 15 mins. and only scored 3 points. (The upside: Lots of needed rest for the captain!)
Rafer Alston felt an imaginary elbow and decided it would be a good idea to slap Eddie House in the back of the head (he’s suspended for Game 3).

The Ugly

J.J. Redick fouled out and then thought it would be a good idea to go bitch about it to Bennett Salvatore, thus getting himself ejected from the game.

support the truth!

michelle — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:40:43 +0000

I just ordered this t-shirt:

If you want to support The Truth (aka Paul Pierce), check out the official playoff store of paulpierce.net.

celtics afterthoughts: instant classics are exhausting

michelle — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:31:13 +0000

Playoffs Game 5
Celtics v. Bulls 106-104

I don’t know about the Celtics, but this first round is exhausting… for me. I’m so tired. Lol. These close games that end in OT or double OT are killing me slowly with a dull rusty dinner fork. I believe I’ve already stated that I hate close games when it comes to my team. Since I’m mentally and physically exhausted (staying up half the night watching heart attack basketball and then getting up at 6:30am for the day job will do that to a person), I’m going to just post my thoughts in a free form (possibly non-coherent) bullet point list.

Paul looked awful until the end of the game. He was missing in action on offense and defense. The comeback was great and he continues to prove he’s one of the most clutch guys in the game, but I just wish he hadn’t taken so long to get it going.
I think Ray got some of Perk’s calls. Perk got ZERO fouls and Ray Allen fouled out. Something is rotten in Denmark. My theory is that they just gave Perk’s calls to Ray. (Haha.)
Steph. Shoot the ball. Shoot it. It’s what you do. How can you not do it? Do it. Shoot it. Sigh.
After the game, Doc told reporters that Tony Allen’s play during the game was… *drumroll* Phenomenal. No, not a typo. Phenomenal. *shaking head*
I hate to admit it, but our bench is weak sauce. I love them, I really do, but they aren’t stepping up.
Rondo continues to be a fan-freaking-tastic stat machine and thank the good lord allmighty for that.
I’ve wanted to fist fight several website commenters and Twitter tweeters (tweeps? Ugh, Twitter lingo is so stupid) in the last week. Ah yes, the NBA playoffs are here. I’m trying to remind myself that close games with questionable calls (on both sides) bring out the irrational in people (including me). Howeva *nod to Stephen A.*, to the person/people who insist that Rondo PUNCHED Brad Miller… Settle down, Skippy. Was it flagrant? Possibly. Did the Bulls get hosed a little bit by the non-call? Possibly. Did he recklessly lay a hard foul on Brad Miller? Definitely. But, he DID NOT punch him. That’s ridiculous. I don’t care how many camera angles you viewed that play from. There was no punch. I might bleed green, but I’m not unreasonable. If it was a punch, I’d admit it. [I'll concede it was a bitch-slap. ]
Why do NBA fans who don’t root for the Celtics have such a problem with KG yelling profanity and heckling the other team’s players from the bench? Big deal. I can understand the poor bastards that have to listen to it complaining, but I don’t understand viewers at home getting all up in arms about it. I think this is just KG’s way of contributing. He can’t play, so he’s harrassing the other team’s players to try and throw them off their game. Obnoxious yes, but not a felony.

I have a lot more on my mind, but this post is already long enough. I’ll zip it and go back to watching tonight’s MIA/ATL game. This one has been pretty chippy dippy. Players were shoved. Technicals were assessed. Flagrants were erroneously called. Ah yes, good times, good times.

celtics afterthoughts: dear ben gordon

michelle — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:54:07 +0000

Playoffs Game 4

Celtics @ Bulls 118-121 2OT

Dear Ben Gordon,

I realize hitting a game tying 3-pointer is kind of a big deal. I mean clearly that one that you hit was the first one anyone has hit in the playoffs so far… Oh, it wasn’t? Well, certainly then it must be the first one that has been hit in this Celtics-Bulls series, right? No? Oh, well certainly it must at least be the first big important 3-pointer that was hit in that particular game though, right? Oh, it…? Uh…. Wasn’t? Oh. Well, don’t let that make you feel stupid, Ben. Who can blame you, after all? Kobe has the “pull jersey aside & expose nipple” trick, Paul Pierce has perfected the “jersey pop”, KG has the primal “motherf–ker” scream, you needed something to call your own right? Sure, yours is biting a little bit on Sam Cassell’s patented “big balls” dance, but he’s retired, right? Looks like you’re good to go. Maybe next time though, be a little gentler with the goods. It’s not worth straining a hammy over.

Love,

ps. You think you have balls? Your balls are teeny tiny compared to this guy! Jacoby mother freaking Ellsbury! He stole HOME BASE from third! Who does that?

That game was brutal. Just excruciating to watch. Yes yes, I know it was an “instant classic” and certainly better entertainment than watching the Cavs take a big wiz on the Pistons (who were clearly ready to go sip mai tais on some tropical island), but I hated it. The only time I enjoy games like that is when other teams are playing in them. All I want to see for my Celtics is 20-point blowouts, every single night. Unrealistic? Perhaps, but I don’t care. League-wide domination will always be my one and only goal for this team. Poor entertainment quality be damned. I want Gino, Gino and more Gino! Anyway, so I guess we’re all locked at 2-2. My team looks tired. I hope they get some rest and then bring the defense from here on out. Let’s think game 3 and make the rest of the games one-sided, ok boys? Ok, then.