nba musings

Here is what the muse™ is noodling on right now:

Sadly, I have to agree with Ron Artest
* Apparently somewhere, sometime in the not-so-distant past, Doc Rivers said that the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics starting five. I heard that and was surprised that Doc would go there. I suppose technically he’s right, but the statement is neither here nor there and certainly doesn’t diminish the Lakers’ accomplishments. Anyway, Ron Artest took umbrage and spouted off about Doc on his Twitter feed. Sadly, I have to agree with him. Damn you Doc, don’t put me in this position!

Rondo’s convenient ‘family problems’
* Here is the order of events: Rondo gets a DNP-CD, Rondo remarks that he’ll probably be the final Team USA cut, Rondo withdraws from Team USA because of ‘family problems’. Fishy timing. But oh well, selfishly I’m glad he got cut/quit because this way he’ll be more rested for the upcoming season. Though technically speaking if they do what they did last year, they’ll rest all season anyway. Bah dump dump *cymbols* thank you, I’ll be here all week, don’t forget to tip the waitstaff…

OH MY GAWD, THAT’S A FOUL!!!!
* Happy birthday, Tommy Heinsohn! Damn it, I miss Tommy. Could the off-season end already, please? I’m bored and reduced to watching dogcrap TV like Dark Blue on TNT. *shiver* It’s not right. [Update: A little Twitter birdy informs that it is also Stan Van Gundy's birthday today too. Someone giftwrap that man a three-quarter sleeve black crewneck, stat!]

I’m sure it was just a little ‘love squeeze’
* So, a couple days ago I read that the Nuggets are trying to move J.R. Smith. Blasphemy! Then the next day, I heard that he kinda, sorta, might have… choked someone a little. Oopsy. Tsk tsk. Oh J.R., people already question my integrity for loving you so much. Why you gotta go Sprewell some dude? Behave! Sigh.

Looks like Jesus, acts like…
* The Tigers placed Johnny Traitorface Damon on waivers and the Red Sox claimed him, so for a day or so my local radio was bloated with “Johnny’s coming back, baby!” talk. I didn’t think it would actually happen, but it was amusing to think about. He blocked the potential shenanigans with his no-trade clause claiming that he just loves Detroit like a long lost play cousin. Yeah, riiiiight.

Woooooow
* Damn, why did I wait so long to watch the Glen Davis “Dougie” video? It’s ah-may-ZING-ly hypnotizing. *holding up a lighter, swaying side to side*

I can’t seem to work up the energy to post my “afterthoughts” after games anymore, so I’m going to attempt to blog during the game — hence the assinine new heading, ”duringthoughts.”

1st quarter thoughts:

• I had no idea that Mikki Moore had landed with Golden State. When I realized it before the game, I immediately liked our chances better. I almost tweeted that I was going to “pencil in the win” and then came to my senses when it occurred to me that such a statement would be a huge jinx.
• Mikki got 2 fouls within the first 3 minutes of the game and then tried to wave off his substitute. Oh Mikki…
• The starters looked slow. Disturbingly slow.
• The bench came in and brought the spark. Then, lost the spark.
• Shelden is officially Tommy’s new Leon. He was waxing poetically about Shelden’s rebounding prowess.

2nd quarter thoughts:

• We struggle against teams we shouldn’t struggle against. Me no likey.
• The Celtics defense looks weak, sloppy and uninspired. Teams should not be scoring on them at will — but they are. Where is the accountability?
• Who are these aliens and what did they do with my Celtics?
• Whoa, KG hit a shot from the opposite end of the court…  but it didn’t count. Amazing, crazy shot. Damn shame that it was after the buzzer.

BOS 49, GSW 48 – Half-time break thoughts:

• Celtics Hub posted a blog entry recently about spoiled self-pitying Boston sports fans. At first, I was like, “Haha, yeah you are sooo right. Boston fans are spoiled!” About a half second later, I remembered that I am that Boston sports fan. I really am. I just expect my teams to win and I’m always going to expect that. At this point in time — November 2009 — the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics are all capable of winning against any team they play against. So yes, I do expect them to win every time they hit the mound/field/court. When they don’t, I’m surprised. Entitled, party of one. (I only mention it because this entire post is going to illustrate this point nicely, so I want to just assure you that I’m entirely self-aware.)
• Rex Ryan is a boob. (I know that has nothing to do with the Celtics, but he just appeared on my TV.)

3rd quarter thoughts:

• Cs look a little better coming out for the break, but it’s still a 1 point game.
• KG flies into Corey Maggette, knocking him to the ground. Tommy Heinsohn exclaims: “That will teach you to upfake!”
• 3rd foul on Mikki Moore. God bless you, Mikki.
• Ray had a nice fast break which made me exclaim, “Yeahhhhh Ray!” until it was promptly blocked by the aforementioned Maggette.
• Finally a nice sequence. Perk blocks a shot which turns into a jump ball which the Cs win… Finally some momentum with this 12 point lead?
• Rondo sucks at free throw shooting. No, really. He missed two free throws, caught the miss on the second one and then during an attempt to pass the ball, bounced it off someone’s face. There are no words.
• Sheed knocked the ball away from Randolph, ref called a foul and Sheed skipped up the court complaining about it. Looked like he was playing hopscotch. Somehow he avoided a tech call. Phew.
• Rondo just hit a 3-pointer. This has and will always be something like seeing a cat walk on it’s hind legs and order a biscuit and a latte. Amazing and improbable.

4th quarter thoughts:

• BOS 80, GSW 68 – 13 point lead going into the 4th
• Mike Gorman stat: 10 missed free throws so far for the Celtics
• Shel just “ran over” Raja Bell going back to the Cs end of the floor. Heinsohn wants Bell’s home address so he can send him an Emmy.
• BOS 86, GSW 70 – Sheed hit a big 3, stretching the lead to 16. Time out, Warriors.
• Sheed and Eddie House spent some time jacking up three-pointers like the ball was a hot potato.
• Sheed rolled around on the floor w/a GSW player, grabbing for a loose ball… Doing so earned him an exuberant tommy point from you-know-who.
• Eddie House hit two big 3-pointers in a row and was immediately forgiven for all those earlier unsuccessful attempts.
• Mikki Moore forces KG into a 24-second violation.
• Ray and Pierce drive to the bucket and convert on two consecutive trips down the court. More of that, please.
• Pierce hits a 3 with less than 3 minutes to play in the 4th.
• KG hits a circus bank shot with a little over 2 minutes to play in the 4th.
• BOS 105, GSW 86 – Doc unloads the bench. Perk only starter still in the game.
• Tommy yells for Gino. Can’t top that.
• Final score: BOS 109, GSW 95

(Yeah, my “thoughts” turned into play-by-play somewhere along the way there. Maybe this will be my first and last “duringthoughts” of the season. I’ll stick to Twitter during games from here on out thank-you-very-much.)

Tommy’s finally getting some “tommy points” of recognition for himself. Congratulations Tommy!

From ESPN:

Tommy Heinsohn, who coached the Boston Celtics to two NBA titles after his Hall of Fame playing career, will be honored with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. [...]

“I’m honored by this recognition,” Heinsohn said in a statement. “Chuck Daly was a man and a coach who everyone had great respect for, and to be recognized in his memory is very special. I humbly accept this honor on behalf of all those who coach and have coached in the NBA.” [...]

“Like Chuck, Tommy Heinsohn has shown a lifetime devotion to improving NBA basketball for all who play, coach and watch the sport,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who is president of the NBA Coaches Association, said in a statement.

“His dedication, drive and vision unified NBA coaches and helped ensure their welfare for decades to come. Tommy helped pave the way for future coaches to make meaningful contributions to the game beyond the locker room and sidelines. All NBA coaches owe Tommy a debt of gratitude for his work and his example.”

Read full article…

Celtics  @ Milwaukee   77-86

The Celtics tend to suck it up Sundays at 1pm. They seem to really need to stay on their schedule and the games that step out of that really don’t work for them. Doesn’t seem to matter if it’s home or away. Our offense looked awful. Actually it’s looked pretty awful to me since so many of our guys went down and we’ve had to try and incorporate so many new people (buy-outs and rookies) into the system. I have to believe that Doc knows what he’s doing and regardless of how many games we lose leading up to the playoffs, it’ll all be worth it. Doesn’t mean I want to watch it though since I’m really spoiled and pretty much always expect them to win. Lol. All I know is that I miss KG like a long lost play cousin. I think he’s had enough rest by now… Come back KG!!! (…and bring Scal, TA, and Big Baby with you)

Amusing tidbit: When they showed the green Lakers t-shirt and said that the Lakers are upset by the St. Patty’s day line and Tommy Heinsohn said, “I’m tired of the Lakers talking. Who cares if they’re upset?”

Celtics v. Memphis   102-92

This was the Leon Powe Show in every sense of the word. It’s the second great game he’s had this season and I love love love it. Thank goodness for him too, because Ray and Paul were way off. More Ray than Paul, but they both looked tired. Leon was doing all the scrappy Leon-ish things that won us the game. Rebounding, taking charges, making buckets in impossible spaces… Sigh. I could watch him all day.

Amusing tidbit: During the pre-game show, when they were talking about the Orlando Magic making the playoffs, Donny Marshall said, “I have some friends who still play on the Magic and they tell me that SVG treats them like college players and screams at them on every play. They’re starting to tune him out.”

Celtics  @ Miami   99-107

It’s funny how I much I love Dwyane Wade until the Celtics have to play him. Then I think he’s a gigantic pain in the ass who gets too many star calls. Kind of like Chris Paul.

Celtics v. Magic 79-86

I was cooking up a stir-fry during the pre-game live show on Comcast and when I heard that Rondo was out, I almost chopped my finger off with the Ginsu. Actually, I was ok until they said Marbury was starting. Wha wha what? Marbury is starting? Why? The guy has only played a handful of minutes here and there (with mixed results) and now he’s going to start? Then I watched the game and it was pretty awful. It reminded me of what happens when guys who don’t play together much, suddenly have to play together. No rhythm whatsoever. The fact that they came back from a bazillion point deficit to make it a 3-point game at the end of the fourth, was amazing. It highlights the problem the Magic have actually and why they won’t make it to the Eastern conference finals. They don’t finish teams off when they have the chance. Not good teams anyway.

Celtics v. Cavs 105-94

Awesome game. Paul Pierce put the team on his back, but everyone played an important part in the win. It was great to see such a fantastic all-around game from Leon Powe. Reminded me of how well he played last year against the Lakers in the finals. It was also a nice win because I had some Cavs fan talking trash to me about how Lebron was going to come all up in my house and wipe the floor with my boys. Not this time, my friend.

I couldn’t believe the officiating in that game though. I was proud of the C’s for gritting it out and not letting the horrible calls rattle them. I swear that I’m not one to get upset about every single call (like Tommy Heinsohn). If it’s a good call and goes against my team, I’m fine with it and realize some calls are objective, but… there is such a thing as replay and the replay bore out that a bunch of those calls sucked pondwater. The game had a playoff game feel to it. I watched it on my local homer channel insted of ESPN because I somehow really need to hear Tommy wax philosophically about Leon’s knack for taking charges. It’s a sacrifice actually because I have ESPN-HD, but not ComcastNE-HD, so the picture quality isn’t as good.

I know post-game that a lot of Cavs fans were pissed about the Big Baby foul on Raggedy Andy and I’m sure I’d feel the same way if the situation were reversed. I think it’s a bit of a knee jerk reaction though to call him a dirty player. He hasn’t been in the league long enough for that. Dirty players build their reps, like the love of my life, James Posey and my arch nemesis, Bruce Bowen.

Celtics @ Nets 115-111

I can’t really remember one single interesting thing about this game other than that I was annoyed that it was so close.

Celtics @ Mavs 99-92

It’s awesome to see Leon playing well. Awesome for the team and awesome for me because I love watching him play. Paul friggin Pierce. What more can you say? When he’s on, he’s on. Classic. Rondo was no chump himself with that triple-dub. That being said, I hated watching this game. It was one of those grind-it-out games that I hate.

Celtics @ Hornets 89-77

One of the worst officiated games I’ve ever seen. Ever. NBA refs should really be held to some sort of standard because this was ridiculous. Also, Chris Paul gets more calls than a fking switchboard operator. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Paul Pierce got a lot of calls too so I’m not complaining in terms of this game. I just think the whole ‘superstar calls’ thing is bogus. The refs should call it correctly regardless of whether it’s Lebron James or Gabe Pruitt. I know that’s never going to happen, but I’m putting it out there to get it on the record. Yes, I hate NBA refs as much as Tommy Heinsohn. There, I said it.

Celtics v. Spurs 99-105

Roger Mason, Jr. Who the hell do you think you are? Those dagger three bombs that rip out the hearts of other team’s fans are just mean. Cut. it. out.

Celtics v. Wizards 108-83

I finally got League Pass. I called Comcast to get it on the tube and was informed that they don’t offer it in my area. I freaked out at first. I moved about a 1/2 hour outside the city, but didn’t think it was so far away that I wouldn’t get LP. What the hell? So instead, I decided to order LP-Broadband and get an HD monitor. That ended up working like a charm. I had forgotten how spectacular LP really is. I didn’t order it last year, but had it the year before that. I love the archives feature, getting to hear other team’s local announcers and getting to see the pre-game brouhaha in other arenas. So before I watched the Celtics on the tube (Boston & NY games are blackout games on my LP-B), I watched the archived Magic/Bulls game from the day before. It was a blowout, but I still have reservations about putting the Magic in the upper echelons of the East. They beat the Heat last night by 10, but I’m not sure that’s saying that much.

The Celtics beat the Wizards easily, but Tommy Heinsohn said something during the game that got my attention. He said the C’s are lacking the chemistry they used to have. I’ve been thinking that lately myself, but since I’m not actually around the team, it was just a guess. Tommy spends time with the team and if he says it, I believe him. I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope it’s temporary. Win or lose, I always admired the Celtics for their ‘togetherness’ come rain or shine. Maybe they need a sports psychologist to get them holding hands around the campfire singing kumbaya again.

Courtside cameo: Matt Cassel
On the jumbotron: Gino!

Celtics v. Knicks 124-105

Run ‘n Gun is quasi comical to watch. Run down the court, jack up a 3-point shot. Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I’m not saying it’s a bad game plan for the Knicks – because it’s certainly helped them win more games – but it’s still amusing to watch sometimes. Q-Rich can play. I don’t like him, but he can play. He seemed to get the better of Paul Pierce last night. Not that it mattered. Nate Robinson is fun to watch. He had an impressive put-back last night. There was a missed shot and then little tiny Nate came flying out of nowhere for the jam (over my boyfriend. tsk tsk.) Rondo had a big game. Again. What a juggernaut. He scored a career high 26 points. Tommy Heinsohn had me ROTFL at one point because he got so pissed off about some physical play from the Knicks, that he actually put out a bounty on Nate Robinson! (First he said someone should lay out one of their “little guys” to send a message and then he said, “One of our guys should really deck Nate Robinson on the next play in retaliation [for shoving Rondo out of bounds to prevent a layup].”) Lol. Tommy’s hardcore, yo. In other news, Big Baby got in a car accident on the way to the Garden yesterday. Poor guy. Get well soon BB!

Celtics v. Bulls 126-108

The Bulls are a hot mess. They have some extremely talented players, but epitomize the mantra that it takes teamwork to win. They still don’t play together. Derrick Rose is impressive, but he’s still a rookie. I think in a year or two, they’re going to be a Hornets-esque team. Which means they’ll be good and a sexy pick, but still missing something that would get them over the hump.

Random musings

People seem surprised that the Pistons are struggling so much. Why is this surprising? I’m not a hater, but has Iverson ever made any team better? Also, if there’s any position that you can’t just “swap out,” it’s point guard, is it not? I’m not an expert on the Pistons, but they were always a team I liked and had a lot of respect for. I hated this trade when it happened and I still hate it.

Reports out today that Manny expects to be offered a 3-year deal from the Yankees. Manny expects? How does that work exactly?

Yesterday’s Patriots game was fun. What the hell was up with letting Leinart get a touchdown though? Come on now. Shutouts are so much more satisfying. The Jets lost (YES!) but the smelly Dolphins won (BOO!) so we still might not make the playoffs. Either way though, I’m happy with this season. It could’ve been better, but it really could’ve been so much worse. When Tom Brady went down in game one, I really thought we were toast. Who knew Matt Cassel was such a stud? I’ve been a USC football fan for years and even I barely had a line on this guy.

I miss Gino. The Celtics have been winning, but there’s been a decided lack of Gino on the jumbotron, at least from the home television vantage point. I want Gino!

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!

Celtics v. Knicks 110-101

Technically this isn’t an afterthought because I’m watching the game right now, but what-ev. I feel the need to relay that after a successful bucket by Leon Powe, Tommy Heinsohn just declared, “That’s money in the bank right there!!” YES! SCORE! I knew the nickname would catch on… I just knew it. *winkys* I also must say that I just watched, with my own two eyes, Glen “Big Baby” Davis nailing two long jumpers in a row. Go bench go! Oh and the most interesting factoid of all regarding this game? Brian Scalabrine started the game in KG’s absence. Like whoa. Apparently Doc wanted to keep the bench intact. Good call from Doc apparently because the bench is tearing it up.

Post-game update: Scal nailed a sweet 3-pointer near the end of the game which was named, “Play of the Game” and Perk was named, “Player of the Game.” Scal was also given the post-game Tommy Award from Tommy Heinsohn. It appears that tonight could best be coined “Brian Scalabrine Night”… Now how often can you say that? Way to go, Scal.

Celtics @ Bucks 102-97

As previously stated, I’m not enamored with watching the Bucks. I’m not sure what I was smoking in an earlier blog post when I said I missed the game because they were playing in Milwaukee and I hate the playing floor — because that was a home game for the Celtics. However, this game was actually played on the Bucks floor, so of course I didn’t watch it. Turns out it was an exciting game that went into overtime and featured a scuffle that ultimately got KG suspended. Ballicky brickhouse monkeyballs, why do I always miss the good stuff? I guess that will teach me to boycott certain games over ugly playing surfaces.

Celtics v. Denver 85-94

Billups seemed to have his way with the Celtics all night. I think he’s exactly what the Nuggets needed because he – oh I don’t know – plays defense.