A Few things I Learned This Week
It’s annoying and elitist to refer to a player as an “All-America.” And yes, Jim Nantz, I’m talking to you. “Ahhh, Tyler Hansbrough, the Tarheel All-America… It’s been a tough first half thus far for the junior All America… Tyler Hansbrough… All-America… Tyler Hansbrough… All-America.” Just say All-American, professor. No one’s impressed by you.
When people talk about Dwight Howard as the eventual greatest big man of the next 15 years, they need to start including Amare Stoudemire in the discussion.
Sam Cassell’s career stats are significantly more impressive than Doc Rivers’. I always assumed they’re numbers were a lot more even, although Doc does have a distinct advantage in the Daisy Duke column.
It is impossible to get that excited about the NFL Draft when there’s a 90% chance your team is trading its first pick. (Add an extra degree of difficulty if it’s been two months since the Super Bowl and the mere thought of your team still give you heart palpations.)
Everyone talks about how thin and inexperienced the Yankees starting rotation is, but until Dice-K starts showing a little life (more on that below), the Red Sox staff isn’t much better
Denny Crum’s toupee is the Mona Lisa of hairpieces. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76-nP2HFmyg[/youtube]
Question of the Week
Here’s what I was asking Monday night during the Celtics/Sixers game: Who’d you rather have playing center for the Celtics right now: Kendrick Perkins or Samuel Dalembert?
KG is the MVP. End of subject. C’mon, have you forgotten 20 something wins so quickly? Do you miss wondering if Gerald was going to come around ? That was just 11 months ago.
They’re about to win 60 something games. Last year people felt sorry for the C’s, now they’re afraid of them. Sure Paul Pierce is having his best year and Ray is an assassin and Rondo’s a talent and Perk and Powe are all one could hope them to be. But without KG they’re fighting for first round home court advantage. KG raised the first time he sat down at the table. He makes everybody around him work harder - get better. That’s what MVP’s do. Kobe, Lebron, CP3 all great players, maybe even better than KG. But more valuable, no way, not even close.
In the Boston Celtics’ last two games; they’ve been outscored 61-36 in the fourth quarter, which is very odd. In addition, over the course of the two mind-boggling contests, they’ve turned the ball over 35 times and had 54 fouls called against them. New Orleans (21) and Philadelphia (16) combined to have the whistle blown against them an intriguing 37 times. Boy, the National Basketball Association does not want to promote defense at all. I guess P.J. Brown-like blocks and breakaway windmill dunks off of a Rondo steal don’t sell tickets.
New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul made a habit out of using Boston players as a cushion for his elaborate uncontrolled skirmishes towards the hoop. But the savvy third-year “veteran” only had five fouls called against him. Can someone please explain?
However, the Celtics had no reason to lose the Crescent City clash. They were ahead by an astonishing 15 points at one time. Unfortunately for the green wearing warriors, the game of football was allowed to seep into the contest by the whistle-blowing maniacs. Who’s counting? But I saw New Orleans “phenom” Bonzi Wells shoulder thrust the Celtics’ big men at least 10 times.
What have we come to when the best basketball team in the league doesn’t get respected by the officials? What have we come to when a future Hall of Famer like Kevin Garnett gets repeatedly hacked and the officials blink with astonishment at his imposing stature and miss the foul? Absolute chaos!
A great week of basketball fell just a quarter short of perfection last nite in New Orleans. For the longest time it looked like the Celtics would sweep a five game road trip for the first time since one of Tommy’s teams did it back in the early 70’s. However a flurry of uncharacteristic turnovers enabled Chris Paul to salvage an otherwise un-MVP like game and stop the road winning streak at 8. But even a defeat cannot change the fact that the Celtics are exactly where they want to be with three weeks or so left in the season. The defense is fierce, the offense is efficient, and the chemistry is as good as it has been at any time this year. Sure it would be better if the playoffs started next week, but let’s just savor the games that are left, enjoy the eye popping development of Rondo, and make plans for a spring and early summer of basketball. Something we haven’t had in a long time.
A few things I learned this week:
• Dale Arnold should stick to hockey.
• Bobby Knight should stick to coaching.
• Dennis and Callahan should stick to holding out of their contract.
• Curt Schilling REALLY liked Doug Mirabelli
• Despite all the fan fare, it’s either the Lakers or Spurs coming out of the West.
• I don’t want to draw the 76ers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
• I should stop using words like "I" and "we" in reference to the Celtics. The only way “I’d” ever draw the 76ers in the first round would be if the organization made the ill-fated decision to scrap the annual team photo in lieu of a Rich Levine original. (Note: If I were commissioned to draw the 76ers team photo, I would 100% add one of those rainbow beanies with the pinwheel on top of Shavlik Randolph’s head. When it comes to art you just have to go with your instincts.)
Random Thought of the Week: How strange is it that Dick Vitale’s never called a Final Four game?
The man is essentially the face (or at least the bald head and mouth) of college basketball, yet he’s never sat on the sport’s greatest stage. It’s like if Marv Albert never called an NBA Finals, or John Madden never called a Super Bowl. You know it kills Dicky V. not to be there, in fact, I’m almost ready to guarantee that at the end of every season he brings home a copy of the National Championship game and records himself doing the color commentary over Billy Packer’s voice. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he also demands that his wife sit and do the play-by-play as Mike Patrick.
Scot Pollard learns how to make gnocchi at the Rustic Kitchen on their live TV show.
Is there any doubt that this year’s Celtics squad can’t win it all? The last two games have arguably been the best back-to-back games since the ‘Big Three’ roamed the fabled parquet. Seriously, one blogger termed it the ‘best 30 hours in the last two decades’ and why not?
Two games… Make that… two BIG games and two resounding wins! After the last 72 hours does anyone NOT have the C’s atop their NBA power rankings? We’re not talking beating up the Sonics and Grizzlies here- we’re talking about the defending World Champion Spurs and the mighty Houston Rockets on back-to-back nights and on the road no less! There was a time in my life when I don’t think the Celts ever beat the Spurs. I mean, I think the streak lasted a decade or something. Tim Duncan had never even felt threatened by us, and now we’ve won three straight against the Riverwalk Ballers. Who knew?
Monday’s twenty-two point come from behind win was the first this season for the Celts facing a deficit of 20 points or higher… and we did it against the Spurs… and on the freakin’ road! As Matt Damon said in ‘Good Will Hunting’- “How do you like them apples?” Then, on the following night in Houston…
Everyone wondered if the Celts could rebound after an emotional come-from-behind road win against the defending champs…
Everyone wondered if they had anything left in the tank to take on a team who had just won twenty-two straight…
The Celtics once again exceeded expectations and beat both the Spurs and Rockets to begin a brutal West coast trip. Here are some assorted thoughts from the last week or so.
De-Fense
As usual, the secret to the Celtics’ success has been defense. Tracy McGrady was impressed. "I’ve never seen defense like that. If they play defense like that night in and night out, then the NBA is in trouble because that defense was at its finest." (Boston Globe)
Most of the credit has gone to Kevin Garnett, but don’t overlook the man with the plan, Assistant Coach Tom Thibodeau. Doc has given him free reign on the defensive side of the ball and the players have all bought in to the system and the team concept. Tom’s contract is up at the end of the year, and we can only hope that he doesn’t get a head coaching position somewhere. I’d like to see him patrolling the sidelines in Boston for quite some time.
March Madness?
I can’t remember a time when I was so tuned out for March Madness. I couldn’t care less how the top prospects do because barring unforeseen circumstances the Celtics will be picking 30th. I just can’t sort through that many prospects so I’ve decided to check back in May or June when the "experts" have things a little more solidified.
In a season full of superlatives last night’s win in San Antonio has to rank amongst the very best. 22 down to the defending champs in their building in a game they needed like oxygen. No Ray Allen and a first five minutes from Rondo that made you want to send him to the D league. You could just hear those guys on the "family of networks" piling on. But then after 11 points in the first quarter the C’s put up 32 in the second. Rondo was back to being Rondo. Tony Parker was suddenly going to have to play at both ends. Udoka and Oberto were suddenly Udoka and Oberto. Duncan was a ten point eight rebound guy and only the brilliant play of Ginobili prevented the Celtics from turning 22 down into 22 up. KG went for 21 and 8. Pierce was 8 for 13 - 22-8-5 a steal and a block. Sam I am went for 17-5 and Rondo went from worst to first finishing with 20-6-6-3st and just 2 to’s. If this was the first NBA game you ever saw- he was the best point guard on the floor. Bigger wins- maybe if I thought about it. But I don’t want to. 1-0 in Texas and a great match up on tap in Houston. Who thought we could have this much fun in the NBA in March.
Welcome to the Wicked Weekly, a new weekly segment (it’ll pop up on Fridays) here on Wicked Good Sports that highlights the winners and losers, top storylines and funniest mess-ups of the last seven days.
First, a real quick bit about me: I’m a five-time Emmy Award winning Dorchester native, who for the last 27 years has served as the voice of the Boston Celtics where… crap, that’s Gorman’s bio. Here’s me:
I’m a lifelong Bostonian.
I’d rank my Boston sports teams like so:
My three favorite Boston athletes of all time are mid-90’s Nomar, present day Tom Brady and 1989 Nick Esasky – I have absolutely no explanation for this last one, but because of Nick I’ve always had a special place in my heart for people with Lyme Disease).
The only three local athletes I’ve ever openly and aggressively booed are Vin Baker, Mark Blount and Reggie Jefferson. And I’d probably still boo today if I saw any of them walking down the street (or in Baker’s case, passed out under a bathroom stall).
I was there to see Jordan drop 63 on the Cs in 1986; Reggie Lewis collapse against the Hornets in 1993; Vinatieri beat the Rams in 2002 and Papi beat the Yankees in 2004. A couple weeks ago I was there to accidentally see Kendrick Perkins naked in the Celtics locker room.
You’ve seen the commercials. By now you should know the drill. CSN is running a promotion poll to decide which Celtics player should be named this year’s 6th Star. (By voting you could win playoff tickets or a $300 gift certificate to Sullivan Tire and Auto Service) I thought it might be fun to break down some of the candidates for the award and discuss it here.
First of all, here are the guidelines we’re given for choosing a deserving winner. "Vote for the player that has exceeded expectations and that best defines Celtics pride." To clarify, "6th Star" should not be confused with "6th Man. " The winner can be a starter (and has been in the past). On the other hand, I think we can eliminate Pierce, Garnett, and Ray Allen, simply because we expected them to be great.
I would assume that the part about "Celtics pride" is to ensure that only players with heart and a great attitude win the award. (Note: Mark Blount won the award in 2004 – before he signed his contract extension and then unofficially retired without telling anyone)
Sam Cassell and PJ Brown haven’t been around long enough to warrant consideration. Scot Pollard, Gabe Pruitt, and even Brian Scalabrine wouldn’t seem to have played enough to be seriously considered either. But that still leaves quite a list of eligible players. Let’s look at each of them.
Eddie House
Scot Pollard joins the guys at WEEI for "The Whiney Awards". Special guest appearances in this week’s Planet Pollard include Glenn Ordway and Mike Adams.
Thats the number of consecutive quarters the Celtics have played with the lead. You have to go back to the third quarter against Atlanta a week ago Sunday to find the last time Boston trailed in a game. That’s how dominating they have been in this recent streak. I know some national services want to rate the C’s third to the Lakers and Spurs - Boston by the way is 3-0 against those two. But right now only the Houston Rockets have any place in the discussion and in case you have forgotten, Boston beat them back in the beginning of January. The best team in the NBA right now wears green.
The Celtics systematic destruction of both Chicago and Memphis shows the team is back to where it was during the first 30 odd games of the season. The defense is suffocating and combined with a return of the ball movement we saw in the opening weeks the offense gets either layups of wide open looks at the hoop. Wish they were headed to Texas right now instead of Philly but the schedule is what the schedule is. This team has taken the "one game at a time" cliche and made it it’s mantra. That combined with the possibilty of the Sixers being a first round match up makes Monday’s game at the least intriguing. Another lengthy win streak here is not beyond the realm of possibility.
The win over the Pistons last nite was important and satisfying on a number of levels. Five games in the loss column plus the tie breaker amounts to a six game lead with 23 to go. Even given the tough trip ahead for Boston to Texas and New Orleans and the easy schedule left for the Pistons, Detroit has little room for error if they are going to catch and pass the C’s. To be in the Garden last nite and hear and feel that crowd certainly makes every Celtic fan feel like they haven’t felt in 20 odd years. But that all said, remember the Piston were just back from a west coast trip. Weather had delayed their arrival at a Boston hotel till after 4 AM Wednesday morning.. Rested they are not going to miss the free throws they missed last night. They also won’t have the heavy legs and careless tendencies they exhibited late in the game. This is not to say the Celtics can’t beat the Pistons. I believe they can. But the double digit leads the C’s held for most of last nite and at the end were fool’s gold. These two teams are a coin flip and it may take a full seven games in May to separate them.
