Thoughts from the annual most boring week in the world of sports…

Swept Under the Rug Story of the Week: Donaghy’s Fave Five

How is Tim Donaghy’s cell phone relationship with fellow ref Scott Foster not a bigger story? Why is the link already lost in the archives of almost every relevant Web site? Is there something more going on? Has David Stern gained control of the media? Are we entering some Fight Club reality where Stern has brain washed all of society to work as one in the name of preserving the league?

I know we have to presume that Foster is innocent until something is proven, but goddamn, Scott!

Here are the facts from the Fox News article (I know, the words "facts" and "Fox News" have no business being together) on the latest findings:

"The records show Donaghy placed 134 calls to referee Scott Foster — more than the 126 calls Donaghy made to his bookie — between October 2006 and April 2007, the period during which he has confessed to either betting on games or passing on game information to gamblers. The majority of the phone calls lasted no more than two minutes and occurred prior to and after games Donaghy officiated and on which he admits wagering.

With the exception of 150 calls Donaghy placed to Thomas Martino, to whom he says he provided "picks" to win games and who was the middleman between the disgraced referee and a bookie named James Battista, the ex-ref phoned no one more than he called Foster. During this period, the most calls Donaghy made to any other referee were 13."

Back to me: Since day one, David Stern has called this guy a "rogue, isolated criminal." But now, records show that during the very time this "rogue, isolated criminal" was allegedly fixing the NBA, he was also calling another ref before and after all the games like he was his fifth grade girlfriend. And no one’s making a big deal? The NBA can just say, "We’ve investigated this and Scott Foster wasn’t involved," and we all just sit back and say, "Oh, well, OK. Forget it then"?

Like I said, we can’t assume anything. And maybe time will prove me a complete asshole for writing this item. But if Donaghy’s assertions that there were other refs (maybe Foster) involved are correct, then it crushes the NBA. Especially in light of Stern’s 100% promise that Donaghy was a lone rebel and that there was absolutely no chance there were any other issues. If Foster is found guilty, David Stern becomes Roger Clemens. Again, there are a lot of “ifs” in here, but I at least wanted someone to be talking about it.

Note: I don’t normally read Fox News, they just happen to be the ones who broke the story and it came up first on the google search I had to do because the STORY WAS ALREADY ARCHIVED ON THE OTHER SITES!

Loser of the Week: Alex Rodriguez

Yeah, it was fun reading about how no one showed up to A-Rod little All Star Game bash, but more important than that, think about this for second:

Imagine if someone told you today that five years from now Peyton Manning would be one of your favorite QBs in the league, Tony Romo would be NFL Public Enemy #1 and Tom Brady would not only be playing for the Raiders but you also wouldn’t give a crap about anything he was doing.

Not buying it, right?

OK, now let’s imagine we’re back in the summer of ’99; fully immersed in the debate over who’s the best shortstop in the majors.

In Boston, we have Nomar, his popularity is hovering right around Brady’s current level. He’s making a run at .400 every year and we’re all pretty much convinced he’ll finish his career as the greatest hitter who ever lived.

In New York, there’s Derek Jeter. We hate Jeter. He’s already won two World Series, broken our heart every chance he’s had and can makes us cringe with even the stupidest little smirk.

Lastly, there’s A-Rod: An up-and-coming megastar who also happens to be one of the more likable guys in the league.

So you’re walking around one day in 1999, listening to No Scrubs on your Discman and some ghost from the future (for fun let’s pretend it looks like Paul Giamatti but talks like Dikembe Mutombo) appears in front of you:

"Riiich… Riiiiiiiiich!! In 2008, all three of these great shortstops will still be active, but it’s not as you thiiiiiiiink. You will have more respect for Derek Jeter than almost any other player in the league. A-Rod will be the most hated man in the majors. And even though Nomar still plays, you won’t care about him at all. In fact, you won’t even what position he’s playing this year.”

I would have never believed it. Of course, in this scenario, Dikembe Giamatti was talking specifically to me. Maybe there are Bostonians out there who hate Jeter just as much as they did in 1999 or have followed Nomar’s career more closely since he went out west. But you have to admit that the public image of these guys has transformed more over the last 10 years than you ever could have imagined.

In conclusion, A-Rod is a loser.

Note: I used five years for the NFL analogy because football players have shorter life spans.

Note 2: My personal favorite memory of the shortstop debate of the late 90s came during the Home Run Derby of either the 1998 or 2000 All-Star Game. A-Rod was in the booth and when asked his opinion, said something like this:

“Well, the way I look at it. I’m the youngest, Derek’s the richest and Nomar’s the best.”

I remember thinking that was the coolest thing in the world. I would have died for Nomar back then. that one sentence might have made my summer. Then again, I was (am?) a huge loser.

WTF of the Week: Greg Norman is in the lead after two rounds at the British Open

The Shark! If Norman somehow managed to pull this one out, it would be one of the best stories of the year. They’d have to re-tape the ESPYs. Could anything compare to the sport’s premiere choke artist rising from the dead at 53-years-old and taking a major? It would be like The Rookie, Hoosiers, Tin Cup, and the priest’s final round from Caddy Shack all combined into one.

It was always really easy to root for the Shark. Not only did you want him to finally get over the hump, but he just seemed like a real chill. likable guy. I always got the impression that he’d be a great drinking buddy. Even after he choked away the 1996 Masters, I imagine he went back to the hotel bar, got wasted and finished off the night singing Midnight Train on karaoke. So for that reason (and all the other obvious ones), Let’s go, Shark!

Note: I didn’t know that it was the 1996 Masters off the top of my head. I don’t want to give off the impression that I know more about golf than I do.

Winner of the Week: James Posey

When I heard about Posey’s new contract in New Orleans, I wanted to give him a standing ovation (you know, one of those slow, “Sir, you have outdone yourself!” claps that the villains give after the hero figures out how they pulled off the heist). The man wanted four years. I didn’t think anyone in their right mind would give it to him (at the price he was asking). But he got it. He parlayed two months of stellar playoff hoops into a guaranteed $25M from now until 2012. You can’t help but be happy for the guy.

Now let me say this: I love Posey. I wore a Posey t-shirt for almost every game this season. But there is no way in hell I would have been OK with the Celtics giving him a 4 year/$25M deal. It would have been a mistake.

With the PGA Tour taking up a bulk of the cap for the next few years, flexibility is the key. Ainge needs to be able to mix and match. He’s got to find a bunch of parts that maker a better whole and under that philosophy, you can’t ever overpay for a role player. Four years, at that price just didn’t make sense. Not if we’re trying to build a consistent winner. Sure they could have brought Posey back and mortgaged the future in an effort to win it next year, or the year after that, but I’m not down with that. I’ve lived through enough years of the Celtics being a joke. I’m not satisfied with four years of success followed by a trip back to the basement because our cap is all messed up. It’s time to Belichick this team. Everything we do, we do for the purpose of sustaining our dominance. It’s got to be a business. You don’t act on emotion. You don’t break from what you know is right, regardless of how it might be perceived by the fans, or the players.

What makes me feel best about everything I just wrote is that I know Danny Ainge is on the same page. During his one-on-one with Gary Tanguay the other day, Ainge admitted that they didn’t even want to give Posey a third year, never mind a fourth. He knows what’s in front of him. Rajon Rondo’s contract. Perk’s contract. An even more impressive crop of free agents. Danny’s not building a three year wonder. He’s trying to build a dynasty.

Link of the Week:

For a report on Hideo Nomo’s high profile retirement from Major League Baseball, we go to Wicked Weekly’s newest correspondent… this kid. He tells it how it is. He kicks asses and takes names later. Kid, the stage is yours.

Note: During the first half of the 2001 baseball season, I had to follow the Red Sox from Europe—where I was studying for the semester. It was a frustrating yet pretty cool experience, and definitely took the level of my Red Sox obsession up a couple notches. I say this because my No. 1 memory from that time period was Nomo’s no-hitter. I was at an Internet Cafe in Amsterdam, and once I read the back of the packaging to make sure "random Asian pitchers throwing no hitters" wasn’t one of the side effects of the mushrooms, I celebrated like the Sox just won the World Series. I rattled off like 15 different emails to friends at home asking for a better break down of the events. So even if Nomo was a huge bust in Boston, at least he us that.

Prediction for Next Week of the Week: Sox drop four of their next six games.

Kind of interesting that the Red Sox will start the second half of the season in almost identical fashion to the Celtics.

Back in February, the Celtics traveled out West for five games after the break. They started out losing three straight (their first and only three game losing streak of the season) before salvaging the trip with two straight wins against the Clippers and Trailblazers.

The Sox kick off the stretch run with six at the Angels and Mariners. I say they lose four of them.

See You Next Week

Rich Levine is a contributor to Wicked Good Sports with his “Wicked Weekly” column and podcast, “The Dino Radja Experience”. Rich is also a columnist for The Improper Bostonian.

Thoughts while counting down the hours until the 2008 MLB All-Star Game!!!!…

Conversation of the Week:

(Ring…Ring…)

RL: Hey, this is Rich.

MR: (Singing) Rollin’ down the street smokin endo, sippin’ on gin and juice! Ahhhhh!! Bahahahaha!!!

RL: Huh? Manny? What the eff are you doing?

MR: It’s the sixth inning, mang! I’’m on my phone!

RL: That doesn’t answer my question. And why are singing Gin and Juice?

MR: I keep my phone here now!

RL: You don’t see why there’d maybe a problem with you talking on it during a game?

MR: Waitta second. I thought Javy Lopez retired. And since when does he pitch? Isn’t he a catcher?

RL: Dude, the game’s back. Get on the field.

MR: K! We still on for the X Files movie on Friday?

RL: Yup.

MR: Pinky swear?

RL: I’ll talk to you later

(Sarcastic) Logical Move of the Week:

You wonder why some organizations hit rock bottom and build themselves back up, while others remain entrenched in the asbestos filled basement of their respective league. Earlier this week, Elton Brand signed with Philly for 5 years and $80M. Sure, he’s coming off major surgery, but this isn’t 1985 when a torn ACL could derail a guy’s career. It’ll probably take Brand a year to get back to full form, but once he’s healthy, the Sixers will have four year’s worth of one of the top five power forwards in the league. Brand’s averaged 20 and 10 (not to mention more than two blocks) for his career. He’s 29, and unless injuries become an issue, will be giving the Celtics headaches until 2013.

Continue reading…

Thoughts from a week that brought us the birth of a baseball dynasty—or at least a team that will challenge in the AL East for the next month or so before sputtering out and finishing the season 10 games behind the Red Sox and Yankees…

"One Positive Thing About Baseball" of the Week: DVR Made Easy

So let’s say you’re watching a Celtics game, and you realize you forgot something at the store, or maybe you have to go pick up your dinner, switch your laundry, take the dog for a walk. You pause the TV, leave the house and try and get back as soon as possible, and when you do, you’ve got your work cut out for you. You’ve missed about 20 minutes of time, which in basketball means multiple possessions, a lot of hoops and potentially a huge swing in momentum. You have the conversation with yourself:

OK, should I try and catch up?… No, it’s cool, I’ll just fast-forward through commercials… but what if someone calls or texts you from the TV future and spoils a big play that you’d rather see live?… OK, I just won’t answer my phone… that’s stupid, what if you fast forward through foul shots as well. That’ll make up some time… all right, that sounds good… but wait, I kind of like the stats they show during foul shots…

You know how it goes. It’s a mess and brings far too much stress than you need when you’re already watching a stressful game. Anyway, with baseball—and especially the Red Sox this season—you go to the store, and 20 minutes later you’ve missed like six pitches. There’s so much painful downtime, you hardly need to pause it at all.

Note: And yeah, I’m desperately trying to find ways to be positive about the Celtics not playing another meaningful game for four months.

Continue reading…

Thoughts while uncomfortably waiting for Darrell Arthur to be drafted…

Three Random Draft Observations of the Week

*Worst comment of the entire night (paraphrased here):

"Hey, guys, did you hear that Doc Rivers Gatorade shirt went up on EBay this week and someone bought it for $50,000? I mean that’s great, but get a life!" –Stuart Scott

Stu, you are soooo right. I’ve always considered rapists, pick pockets, ambulance chasers and people who donate 50K to benefit children’s charities to be society’s biggest bottom feeders.

*Eric Gordon looks like a combination of Jay Williams and Steve Erkel if said Jay Williams/Steve Erkel combo constantly looked constipated.

*When you hate someone for as long as I’ve hated Stephen A. Smith, you surrender all hope that you’ll ever enjoy his presence on any given broadcast. But as weird and wrong as this feels to say, I enjoyed Stephen A. Smith last night.

He asks real questions, sugar coats nothing, and for some reason, players are comfortable enough with him to actually answer. Those post-pick interviews could have easily been as cookie cutter as a third grade report card, but SAS kept it pretty legit. From asking DJ Augustine about Raymond Felton, Gallinari about getting booed and Russell Westbrook about the knocks on his ability to run the point, I thought he did a surprisingly decent job.

And on that note…

The Three Best (hilarious) SAS interviews of the night:

1. Joe Alexander: Only because his awkward intensity sounded exactly like Joe from Family Guy.

2. Brooke Lopez: Only because his clothes and grace were reminiscent of the giant from Big Fish while his voice was Mr. Larson from Happy Gilmore.

3. Darrell Arthur: Only because at one point SAS said this sentence on national TV: "Darrell, now we goin’ to Doris, who’s down there wit yo mama!"

Note 1: When Brook and Robin Lopez’s were choosing a college, do you think they took into consideration the fact that Stanford had already sent a pair of identical twin seven-footers—Jason and Jarron Collins—to the league? It can’t just be a coincidence that the NBA’s only two sets of freak twins of the last 20 (or more) years went to the same school, right? Maybe Stanford has scientists engineering these dudes the same way the Chinese government created Yao.

Note on a Note: Here’s something weird about Jason and Jarron Collins. Not only are they identical twins, but over the course of their seven year careers they’ve averaged an almost identical 4.4 and 4.3 points per game. Granted, Jason’s played about 100 more games and made two appearances in the Finals but still, for their numbers to be so similar is kind of eerie.

Note to the Third: I usually like quirky athletes—I enjoyed watching Ricky Williams give interviews with his helmet on, love Jesper Parnevik’s pants and used to laugh at Jonathan Silverman’s character in Little Big League—but the Lopez brothers are the exception to the rule. There’s something about them that I absolutely hate and I can’t imagine how awful it must have been for the other Stanford guys to put up with Brook and Robin over the last two years. I think the fact that they won’t be together anymore is the best possible scenario for any team that has to put up with their weird BS, but I still don’t foresee them becoming anything more than gigantic—literally and figuratively—and freaky pains in the ass.

Check out this story for confirmation

I’d love to see Brook plop himself down next to Vince Carter on the team plain and strike up a conversation about the time Peter Pan saved the Lost Boys.

Segue.

"Random List of the Week"

I was relatively indifferent on the Yi for Richard Jefferson trade. First, there’s not a team in the league I care less about than the Bucks, and second, in the last year the Nets have become more irrelevant than the latest hard copy edition of Encyclopedia Britannica.

Anyway, here’s the one thought I had: I’m happy Vince Carter is getting what he deserves again—the leading role on a garbage, going no where team.

It’s funny to say this now, because Vince was one of the most entertaining and likable guys in the league when he first started. He was on everybody’s short list of favorite players. Now he’s a disgrace.

Continue reading…

It’s all been said at this point. The Celtics won. We all laughed. We all cried. We are the Champions. And to bridge the gap between the most memorable Celtics season of the last 20 years and the start of the 2008-09 repeat campaign, here’s one question (and answer) to think about for every player who help bring home Banner 17.

What will Kevin Garnett do with his life now?

Is there anyway KG can remain as intense and focused next season when the very thing he was so focused on (for so long) is now neatly wrapped around his finger? I say no. That’s not to say his effort will be compromised in 2009, I just don’t see how he can be as obsessed. It’s human nature. It’s the Zelda Corollary.

Remember when you first got Zelda? Not that we had anything beter to do with our lives back in the late 80s, but the day you got Zelda, Zelda became your life. And you wouldn’t rest until Gannon was hunched over in a bloody heap on your black and white VHF/UHF TV. You spent months living and breathing that effing game; it’s all you thought about. And then—months later–when you finally beat it, it was like, "Um… so what do I do now?" You played again, and you still got excitement for going through and winning it all, but it was never the same. Not without curiosity over what it would be like to scale the mountain; or the taunting from your friends who had already sealed the deal. You kept beating Zelda but you could never recreated the drive and intensity of doing it the first time.

Is there a chance that KG is immune to the Zelda Corollary? Sure, the guy is barely human. But even if he does fall victim a little bit, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. At the very least, KG might start to enjoy himself a little more out there. That doesn’t mean he’ll become complacent, but now that the 500-pound monkey is off his back, he can get back to playing like he did when he first came into the league. Before all anyone ever talked about was that he hadn’t won a title.

How much can Ray take?

Ray Allen’s the kind of dude who bluffs you into folding a pair of 10s when all he’s got is 2-3 off-suited. Think about all he went through this year: There was the added pressure and expectations of teaming up with KG and the Truth; there were the sore ankles; there was the ongoing attempted murder trial with his mom and step dad in South Carolina; there was the unconditional worst shooting slump of his career during the most important postseason of his career; there was his son’s mysterious illness that resulted in a trip to the emergency room after Game 5 of the Finals. And those are only the things that we know about. But through it all, Ray was a rock. His face never changed; his game never pressed; his leadership never lacked. There are about five or six guys on the 2008 Celtics who you could say this about—which is likely one of the reasons they won the title—but Allen is a pro’s pro.

Is there anyone more deserving that the Truth?

We’ve now had six World Championships in Boston since 2002, and I’m having trouble coming up with one guy on any of those teams more deserving—from a Boston fan’s perspective—than Paul Pierce. Maybe Bruce Armstrong would be in the conversation had he not retired a year early or Drew Bledsoe had he started all season in 2001 or Nomar had he not been traded, but in reality, no one on any of the title teams went through more up and downs with the city of Boston than Pierce. And the way he won the title (literally putting the team on his back for extended periods of the playoffs and taking home the Finals MVP) was just icing. It’s going to be weird no longer having to defend Paul Pierce’s worth to people outside Boston, but I couldn’t be happier that the case is closed. Paul’s a champ and no one can take that away.

He’s really only 22?

Rajon Rondo is the same age as the Olsen Twins. For some reason this comparison always gets me. Not only because he’s so fricking young, but because I can remember watching Full House back on TGIF when I was growing up, and can’t imagine my reaction if someone had said to me then, "Hey the next time the Celtics win a title, their starting point guard will have been born the same year as that annoying baby." But weird and awkward analogies aside, I couldn’t be more excited for the Rajon Rondo era. Him and Jacoby Ellsbury are the next generation of Boston megastars.

Has Perk finally found his niche?

This is coming from the guy who crapped on Perk more than anyone else I know: Perk is a certified NBA center. I had my doubts. We all had our doubts. But over the last two months, all that was erased. I’m not saying he comes into next season the next Robert Parish. But I do believe that he’s sorted a lot out in his head. I think he has a better understanding of what he can do, what he can’t do and, most importantly, what he has the potential to do in this league. On top of that, you can’t teach the kind of toughness he showed in these playoffs.

How will Posey be remembered?

I wrote in my magazine column this week that James Posey is like the Internet. Life was OK before it arrived, but now that we got a taste, there’s not way to live without it. But let’s say the worst happens and Posey takes a big money, longer term deal with the Lakers or the Cavs or any of the other contenders that will be throwing big bucks at him over the next couple of months. What will Posey’s legacy be in the landscape of local sports? Will he be Keith Foulke? David Patten? It’s hard to take an unbiased stance on it right now; it’s way too fresh. But I know for sure that even though Posey will forever be overshadowed by the PGA Tour when people look back on the 2008 title, I’ll always remember him as one of the more enjoyable and likable Celtics of my lifetime.

What’s Leon ’s Ceiling?

It’s easy to get carried away with Leon Powe’s potential because he’s such a likable player/person. But if we’re being real, what’s the best-case scenario for Powe? On our podcast this week, Nick projected a poor man’s Charles Oakley, but then again Nick would have Leon ’s child if it were biologically possible. How about Antonio Davis? I’d take that

Has Eddie earned a contract?

What’s more improbable: the Celtics going worse to first, or the prospect of Eddie House actually playing on the same two years in a row? Um, yeah, still probably the Celtics, but you’ve got to think—or maybe just hope—that the team doesn’t forget all that Eddie can do, Eddie doesn’t forget all he can’t do and a deal will be worked out to bring House (and hell, give his little kid a ball boy contract if it sweetens the deal) back to Boston. Is finding another back up point guard still a priority? Without a doubt. They still need a guy who can bring the ball up when Rondo’s on the bench. But on a championship team, there’s room for a backup PG and an Eddie House. His intangibles are off the charts, and after watching the way he gracefully handled be screwed over by Doc in the Playoffs and then seamlessly adjusted back into the lineup when his number was called, you know he can handle anything. He’s a guy you need on a title team.

Really, Glen?

I’m not ready to talk about Big Baby yet. How can you do justice to his post-title transformation from lovable, goofball to borderline mental patient in one paragraph? Let this photo fill the void until the time is right.

Can we start giving Sam a little credit?

It’s impossible to get worked up Sam Cassell now that the Celtics won—even though it appeared at times like the Alien was doing his best to make sure Banner No. 17 never got raised. But now that it’s in the books, maybe we can start to appreciate all that Sam brought to the team off the court—when he wasn’t forcing fade away jumpers over 7-footers.

My favorite Cassell story came from the Atlanta series. During a timeout in Game 2—and from my seats about 12 rows back behind the Celtics bench—I saw Cassell hovering over one of his teammates and absolutely taking him to task for something that he’d done on a previous possession. I couldn’t make out who the other guy was, but he was nodding his head and looked completely entranced by what Cassell had to see—like the kid from Rookie of the Year (but in American Pie) when Casey Affleck introduces him to the secret book. I assumed that it was Rondo, maybe Perk or Leon Powe, but when the mystery teammate stood up, it was Paul Pierce. That image always stuck with me. There was no one too good or too big to learn from Sam I Am, and that, at the very least, had a marginal effect on the Celtics ability to bring home the title.

Will we ever hear from PJ Brown again?

PJ Brown came into our lives out of nowhere. And I have a feeling he might disappear just as quickly. Cassell is going to be around the NBA for the rest of his life, and guys that leave the team this offseason—whether its Posey, Allen or House—will move on with other teams and come back to Boston a few times a year. But other than the ring ceremony on opening night, we might never see PJ Brown again. Nice knowing you, PJ. Thanks for everything.

Is it time for Tony to move on?

When the season started, the Globe’s Marc Spears did a story—albeit a slightly humorous one—about the Tony Allen becoming part of Boston ’s Big Four. All Tony really became was Black Jack Haley, but he couldn’t have had more fun doing it. I’m guessing Allen moves elsewhere next season, but I definitely have faith in his game. If he can stay healthy, and ends up on a crappy team like the Bucks or the T-Wolves, I bet he could average 15 points a game. And let’s never forget that reverse alley-oop he threw done in garbage time of Game 6. At the time I didn’t think I could get any happier but watching this work of art go down took me to an entirely different level. Whenever Tony Allen is catching reverse alley-oop from Eddie House, you know the game is over, and this time it signified the official start of the Celtics NBA title celebration.

So we really have to keep paying Scal?

Now that it’s official that Brian Scalabrine is far more Celtic team mascot than NBA player (no offense, Scal. I still love you, it’s just the truth) can we remember for a second how mind-blowing his contract is? Scal is on the books for the next two season for an average of $3,310,345 a year. James Posey’s player option for next season was supposed to be $3,462,480. Need any more explanation for why Big Game James is opting out?

What did we expect from Scot Pollard?

The funniest thing about the way Pollard’s season played out is that if you had asked me back in October how I thought he would do, I’m almost positive I would have said,

"Yeah, he’ll be OK for a little, but will probably end up getting hurt and hosting his own show on Comcast or something."

Scot Pollard was exactly what we thought he was!! Woah, sorry. But really, he’s everything we expected, which in my book is awesome. I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of having a laid-back, fun-loving, unselfish guy like Pollard around the team—regardless of how much he plays.

So that’s a wrap. Terrific season. Unbelievable memories. And even though I’m not sure it can get any better going forward, it’s sure going to be fun.

See You Next Week

Rich Levine is a contributor to Wicked Good Sports with his “Wicked Weekly” column and podcast, “The Dino Radja Experience”. Rich is also a columnist for The Improper Bostonian.

Thoughts from a week that brought us one of the greatest games in Boston sports history—and a game that will be the sole focus of this column

“Defining Moment” of the Week

Ray Allen’s “give me the ball and get out of the way, there is no effing chance a guy named Sasha is stopping me” move on Sasha Vujacic at the end of Game 4 was the definition of what we’ve been looking for from the PGA Tour these entire playoffs.

The game was on the line, and Ray assumed total responsibility. He put the team on his back and said, “this is my game, and I’m finishing it right now.” If the Celtics end up winning the championship, this shot will not only be looked back on as the defining moment of the series, but potentially the defining moment of Ray Allen’s Hall of Fame (maybe) career.

There was nothing getting in the way of his will to score that hoop—not the fatigue, not the refs and certainly not Vujacic. And the way in which he finished it off was vintage Ray. It was everything I’ve grown to love about his game since last November, when I realized that he was far more than just a glorified spot up shooter.

Note: In Pierce’s interview with Michelle Tafoya after the game, he was talking about Ray’s basket and alluded to KG setting a big screen. Maybe Paul forgot which play he was talking about…

Note 2: I was talking to my buddy Jay after the game and he brought up an interesting debate:

Jordan’s down-the-lane-mid-air-hand-switching-lay-up

vs.

Ray’s baseline-double-pump-reverse-but-there’s-one-catch-I’m-not-even-going-to-look-at-the-hoop-
when-I-shoot-lay-up

Should Ray’s move be considered in the same category as Jordan’s?

At first I blew it off as crazy. Jordan’s was in a class of it’s own. But I take it back now.

As I see it, the Jordan move has three things going for it:

1. It’s Jordan—it’s probably the most memorable moment (or second to the last shot in Utah) of the most memorable career in NBA history.

2. The camera angle is absolutely perfect.

3. It signified a huge moment for the league, with Michael officially taking the torch from Magic and the Bulls officially ending the Lakers Dynasty (although HIV would have a pretty strong effect on that too.)

But if we’re being real—and take out the Jordan factor for a second—I think Allen’s reverse gets the nod.

First and foremost, because of its place within the context of the greatest comeback in Finals history, and second, because it was probably the most athletic, creative and down right filthy move of the entire season. I not only watched it in ABC’s super slo-mo, but I actually slo moed the slo mo and watched it frame by frame five times. I’m still not sure how he pulled it off.

So I’m going to say that Ray’s is better and should probably garner as much attention, but sadly, it won’t.

“Random Stat” of the Week: During this post season, the Celtics are 1-4 when Ray Allen scores 20 or more points, 4-1 and when he drops fewer than 10 points and 7-0 when he finishes anywhere between 16 and 19.

I’ve got to confess that I have absolutely no idea what to make of these numbers, and if the Celtics can win one more game I’ll never think about them again. I just found it slightly strange and interesting, and wanted to share the wealth.

Your Weekly Reminder of the Irrelevance of Traditional Media: Rondo’s Blog

This photo cracks me up. You’ve got all your beat guys, all your columnists and all your TV reporters crowding Rondo like a pack of bugs at a light bulb. They’re all passive-aggressively leaning in—maybe shoving each other a little—in an attempt to get closer and find the perfect time to ask an unoriginal, robotic question (How’s your ankle? How would you say your ankle is? If you were to describe to me the status of your ankle, how would you describe it?).

They have their recorders extended out with their off hands, while the dominant hand scribbles down every thing Rondo has to say. All so they can go back to their laptops and write the same story as everyone else, using the exact same bland, clichéd quotes that Rondo gave because there’s nothing in the world he wants to be do less than speak with the media about his ankle.

So now the interview’s over, and everyone runs off to be the one who posts the same story first (“Rondo says, ‘It’s not that bad!!!! I will play!!!!’”), but there’s one problem: While all these guys are editing their words and videos, Rondo heads up to his hotel room and posts this:

If you were watching the game you know that I injured my ankle in the third quarter. It happened on a fast break and I rolled it. I think I may have stepped on someone’s foot, but I still haven’t seen the play. It’s a different feeling than I’ve ever had. I’ve injured my ankle before but this one is unlike the others. The pain is on the inside of my foot. All the other ankle sprains have been on the outside. I will be getting a lot of treatment tonight, tomorrow, Thursday to try to get it ready to go for game 4. I did try to go again in the fourth quarter, but I really couldn’t make any hard cuts. No one is 100% at this point, but I was probably 50%. Coach made the right decision taking me out because I didn’t have my quickness. E House did a great job filling in. When his name was called he was ready to play and that’s big for us.

There’s no question this one is disappointing. We feel like we had a chance to really put them away and go up 3-0. Paul never had a chance to get in a rhythm because of foul trouble and we just struggled on offense. Even though we played very bad we still had a chance in the end. We just didn’t get the stops down the stretch when we needed it. They were very aggressive tonight similar to the way we were in game 2. But in the end we still had a chance but let it get away.

Heading back to the hotel and will keep working on my ankle. Lots of ice and I’ll keep it elevated. I’ll have more later. Until then I’ll holla.

There it is. All you’d ever want or need to know about Rondo’s ankle and status for Game 4, and it’s even in Rondo’s words. Rondo’s real human words!

It’s a sad fact of the Internet age—well, not for us, but for fossils like Buzz Bissinger and Dan Shaugnessy—but that 200-word blog post is more interesting (from a fan perspective) than anything any journalist could come up with, given the access they have to players in this day and age. And it’s only going to move farther in that direction.

Note: Given what we saw with Rondo last night, are we at the point where we can stop assuming that coaches and players will ever be forthright about the severity of an injury?

In between Games 1 and 2, there was endless speculation—and for good reason—over Paul Pierce’s knee.

People saw him limping around everywhere like Leapin’ Larry from Seinfeld; we heard that he would "try and play" but the general consensus was that even if he did, it wouldn’t be the same Paul Pierce. This turned out to be ridiculous, because—and I’m not saying that Pierce isn’t playing through a bunch a pain—despite the injury, the Truth has hardly been slowed by his knee.

Then there’s Rondo between Games 3 and 4. Everyone thought he would play, and play a lot—actually, respect to Marc Spears, who’s the only guy I saw who speculate that the injury was more serious. Even Rondo was on camera before the game saying that he felt like 88% and would be ready to go.

He clearly wasn’t.

For the most part, Rondo did a decent job of disguising the injury, but there were two plays where it was painfully (for us and I’m sure for him) obvious that he shouldn’t be on the court.

1. In the first quarter, when he had the ball on the break but was going so slow, I think Sam Cassell would have outran him—that is if Sam wasn’t on the sideline devising a plan to sabotage the game from the bench.

2. Late in the third (or early in the fourth) when he was streaking with the ball again and had only a standing-under-the-basket Lamar Odom in between him and a hoop. A healthy Rondo goes at Odom and tries to bring the rim down, but on this night No. 9 slowed down, took two frightened dribble towards the goal and then looped around to reset the offense.

So yeah, maybe we shouldn’t believe everything these guys say. It only makes it more confusing and we never get the whole story.

Déjà vu of the Week: Super XLII vs. the first half of Game 4

Before the first half of last’s night game, the last time I’d felt so awful watching a sporting event was in Arizona at Super Bowl XLI (the fact that I even mentioned that game in print is a huge step for me in the road to recovery).

From KG’s foul trouble and Rondo’s stiffness to Perk assuming the role of point guard and Odom assuming the role of God, it hurt all over. It was one of those horrible moments in sports fandom where everything spins wildly out of control and you know your team is absolutely screwed. Farmar’s bank three at the end of the second was the poison icing on the cake. When guy’s start pulling shots like that out of their asses, your team never wins; you chalk it up as “one of those games”… that is, until last night.

That comeback defied the rules and logic of just about every NBA game I’ve ever seen. We’re all better sports fans for having been a part of it.

“Most Uncomfortable Quote” of the Week: "Ah yes, momentum is a strange girl. We’re hoping she’ll come back towards our side of the ship…"

– Phil Jackson to Michelle Tafoya at the end of the third quarter

Everyone talks about the effects that this championship series will have on the legacies of the different players involved—mainly Kobe and the PGA Tour. But how about Phil Jackson? Could this guy be mailing in the Finals any harder?

Not only has his team seemed completely unprepared and unfocused during this series, but there’s no way that even he can believe the crap that comes out of his mouth anymore!

Momentum is a strange girl? Really, Phil?

The Zen Master sounds more and more like a porn director than a basketball coach with every passing year. Is he really the greatest coaches of our lifetime? The rings say yes, but anyone who’s watched this series has to question that title a little.

“One More Reason to Love James Posey” of the Week

There were about 15 different times during this game where I felt the need to declare to no one in particular that I loved James Posey, but the number one moment came on a Lakers’ possession down the stretch.

Odom had the ball in the post and was trying to bang it down low against Big Game James. He took two hard dribbles toward the hoop, but as he went for a third and looked to initiate contact with Posey, No. 41 wasn’t there. He’d pulled the oldest trick in the book—the old Charles Barkley step away. Odom was caught completely off guard (and off balance) and frantically fired the ball off the backboard. The C’s grabbed the rebound and headed down to ram the stake a little farther into Kobe and the Zen Master’s collective ass (which Kobe then proceeded to rape).

Plays like that are the reason everyone speculated back in October that the James Posey signing might be the one that eventually put the Celtics over the top.

“Most Ridiculous, Unforgivable, Makes-Me-Want-To-Tear-My-Eyes-Out-TV-Trend” of the Week: Lotto Time!!

Now that TNT doesn’t have any broadcast rights and can’t murder us with House of Payne and Bill Engvall commercials—I’ve never rooted harder against two shows in my life, by the way—ABC is doing their best to keep America pissed off.

Where do they get off flashing the winning lottery numbers over the score overlay during crunch time for every single game? Can’t they wait 15 minutes? Are the kind of people who by lottery tickets every night even up at 11:30 on a weeknight?

“Prediction for Next Week” of the Week: Celtics in 6! Ray Allen MVP!

OK, that’s it for now. The Celtics are one win away from an NBA championship and I’m headed to LA tomorrow morning. I’m sitting in the front row of the balcony, so if you see a guy in a James Posey jersey get thrown to his death at some point during Game 5, please wave to me on the way down.

See You Next Week and Ubuntu!

Rich Levine is a contributor to Wicked Good Sports with his “Wicked Weekly” column and podcast, “The Dino Radja Experience”. Rich is also a columnist for The Improper Bostonian.

Thoughts from a week that taught us not to never, ever mess with Coco Crisp…

The "Almost Most Heartbreaking Moment of the Year" Moment of the Week: Down goes the Truth

Towards the end of the pre-game intros last night, just before they called Paul Pierce’s name, I felt an overwhelming sense of happiness for the Truth. In the five quick seconds that he was standing at the base of the awkwardly placed, massive golden trophy, I thought about all that he had been through in Boston: how he’d been so close to being traded 10 different times; how he was so close to being stabbed to death in 2000; how even though he didn’t know it, he’d been a pretty huge part of my life for the last 10 years.

Anyway, at that very moment, Paul looked, prouder, happier and more satisfied than I’d ever seen him, and I imagined all that must have been going through his own head, as he prepared to take the floor in the NBA Finals after 10 years relative ups and bottomless downs..

An hour later, and I watched as Pierce was carried into the lockerroom with the a look on his face that you’d expect from a guy who’d just had his leg bitten off by a shark.

I wasn’t even assuming the worse anymore. I’d already convinced myself that he was done for the season. It was a fact.

The biggest game of the last 21 years was still going on in front of me, so it was hard to focus too much on Paul, but for the next couple minutes I felt worse than I have in a long while. Not so much for myself or the Celtics, but for the Truth. No one on the team deserved to be on the floor more than he did, and the thought of Pierce watching the rest of the Finals with crutches resting across his lap made me want to throw up.

Clearly, it wasn’t that bad, and Paul’s return brought the Garden to a decibel level I hadn’t heard all year—which is saying something—and his eventual back-to-back threes all but put the game away for Boston. Good stuff, Paul.

As for those who are trying label Pierce as a drama queen, here’s what I think: The injury was legit; the pain was real. And while the fact that he was carried off the floor was slightly (OK, more than slightly) ridiculous when you consider he only missed about two minutes of action, that wasn’t Paul’s call. He thought he heard a pop (or maybe he did hear a pop), and when that happens, the trainers can’t eff around. There’s no way they’re going to let you walk off on your own. If it weren’t for the trainers, I say Paul tries to hobble into the locker room on his own accord. No one wants to be carried out like in the NBA Finals.

Note: Maybe,the Celtics should bring Reggie Miller or Larry Johnson in to help Paul with the art of drawing the four-point play. He got called for the offensive foul against the Pistons, in what was probably the worst call in NBA history, and then earned the whistle when he tried it again last night. But the truth—no pun intended—is, he traveled on both moves. That should have been the call against Detroit, and it should have been the call last night—although they never would have called it that way because the league had to make up for Bennett Salvatore’s brain fart. Now that the score is settled, they’ll start calling it right, and if Pierce doesn’t change his style, I guarantee that next time it’s going to be a travel.

Note 2: The thought of Reggie Miller helping Paul Pierce triggered a weird memory: Remember when Reggie Miller almost became Paul Pierce’s teammate? From everything we heard, Cheryl Miller’s brother was pretty close to signing with the C’s last off-season, and with everything that’s happened since then I really can’t imagine what the Celtics season would have been like with Reggie on the squad.

Two Random American League Thoughts of the Week

1. Every year around this time—or at least as of late—we’re ready to write the Yankees off. We say they aren’t the same team, that they have too many injuries, that outside of Jeter they’re a team of overpaid chokers, etc. And every year we’re proved wrong, as the Yanks come on strong and streak into the playoffs.

This year, that isn’t happening. This time, the Yankees are done. But not for any of the reasons you think. It’s all because of this guy:

Edwar Ramirez

Are you kidding me, Edwar Ramirez represents everything there is to love about the new Yankees (at least from a Red Sox perspective). He is absurd. Not only does he look like a combination of Arthur the Aardvark, Steve (not Stephan) Erkel and a young Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. The dude is 6-3, 150 pounds. That’s skinnier than Tayshaun Prince.

You never would’ve seen such a ridiculous looking human being pitch during the Yankee dynasty. Torre wouldn’t have had it. And if he did, Paul O’Neiil would have thrown Ramirez through a window and demanded he replace his goofy rec specs with a set of contacts.

Yes, so this is why the Yankees are done.

Note: That, and they have no starting pitching.

Note 2: and no chemistry

Note 3: and because I think they are stinky.

2. Are the White Sox seriously in first place?

One of the drawbacks to not reading the newspaper anymore is that I never think to look at standings. It’s probably the single worst part of the Internet era. I NEVER think to look at the standings. I know where the Red Sox stand, I know where the Celtics stand and I obviously know where the Patriots are (Hmmm, you know, I think they might be in first place), but ask me who’s in second place in the NL West and I literally have no clue.

With that long, drawn out intro, I get to my point: How are the White Sox in first place!?!?

Has there ever been more drama surrounding a team in the first two months of the season? Every time I’m at espn.com there’s a link to some new Ozzie Guillen tirade, or a story about Orlando Cabrera complaining about errors or AJ Pierzynski cold-cocking an old lady for cutting him off on his way to the stadium. Because of this, I just assumed they were in the cellar. Apparently not. They’re two games up in the Central, and unless the Indians turn things around (which means Fausto Carmona and Victor Martinez getting healthy and CC Sabathia breaking out of what might be the worst post-Cy Young slump in league history), the Sox could run away with it—I’m assuming the Twins will fade as well. First place is a weird spot for a team that’s spent the entire season whining and shooting sniper rifles at each other.

Note: Same goes for the Mets and Willie Randolph. Everyone needs to chill out. You’re still going to win the division.

Question of the Week: Anyone watch the Stanley Cup?

I saw the last 10 minutes of the first overtime in Game 5, but other than that, I pretty much forgot it was on.

Note: I have a friend who almost watched the deciding game but then realized he’d already set his Tivo to record both Top Chef and Real World, so he couldn’t watch a third show. Not sure if that counts.

Winner of the Week: Coco Crisp

It seems immature to grant a player winner of the week for his ability to dodge a punch from a wimpy pitcher, but god damn if Coco’s move wasn’t the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

The Sox can’t trade him now. Ever. You don’t get rid of a guy who’s cool enough to pull a move like that. That combo on Jamie Shields told me more about Coco Crisp than anything else I’ve seen in two-plus years. He’s a guy I want on the Red Sox.

Losers of the Week: The rest of the Red Sox.

OK, this doesn’t include Sean Casey. You’ve got to love what you saw from the Mayor in the moments after Coco’s beaning—although I guess you can’t be surprised. There’s a reason that anyone who’s ever played with the guy considers him the greatest teammate in the world.

But seriously, where was everyone else?

As I see it, there were only two Sox besides Coco and the Mayor who got there in time to make a difference. The first was Ellsbury, who looked absolutely terrified approaching the pile (to the point where I’m pretty sure he was tip toeing by the time he reached the eye of the storm). I’m not saying he shoudn’t be scared of getting punched by Johnny Gomes—I’d be scared of of being punched by Johnny Most—but when you’re in the Bigs, you’ve got to go in a little harder than Jacoby did.

The second guy was Julio Lugo, who’s intensity could not have been more contrived. Lugo never thought about going in. He was like that drunk dude at a bar who talks a lot of crap and then grabs his friends and yells, "Hold me back!!" These guys never have any intention of really fighting, and neither did Julio.

Every once in a while he’d fake like he was going to try and get away, but he could have if he wanted to. He was just happy to watch from the outside as Coco got gang beaten.

Not that I needed another reason to think Lugo was a bad fit in Boston, but his actions last night told me a lot about the kind of teammate is.

But still, at least he was there! What took everyone else so long?

At one point, Johnny Gomes, Dioner Navarro, Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford and Jamie Shields were delivering alternating rabbit punches to Coco’s brain and there wasn’t one other Sox player in the mix. That’s an absolute disgrace. I don’t want to be that guy (I hate that guy) but I don’t think that would have happened back in ‘03 or ‘04—and no, not just because Coco wasn’t on the team yet.

And now Manny and Youk are going to start fighting in the dugout? Really? It’s not that I don’t think they have reason to dislike each other—let’s just say that Fenway isn’t the only park they’ve both homered in—but to have a mess like that play out in the dugout, in front of the fans and for the rest of league to see, isn’t the sign of a championship team.

Link of the Week:

This video is called Top 10 Baseball Fights, but for some reason there are only five. Either way, the ones they show are pretty solid. And could you ever really dislike a video that brings you a clip of Chan Ho Park giving Tim Belcher a flying karate kick?

Note: I never noticed George Bell’s pansy move at the very end of the Mo Vaughn fight. When Bell kicked his spikes up, he was 100% trying to use them as weapons, and he could have done some serious damage. Forget about potentially cleating someone in the eye (which was a definite possibility), but even if those spikes had nailed Vaughn in the arm it would have been a mess. Mo would have bled gravy all over the mound.

"Prediction For Next Week" of the Week: At this time next week, the NBA Finals will be tied 2-2.

See You Next Week

Rich Levine is a contributor to Wicked Good Sports with his “Wicked Weekly” column and podcast, “The Dino Radja Experience”. Rich is also a columnist for The Improper Bostonian.

Thoughts on a week that brought us within one win of the promise land…

Look-A-Like of the Week: It feels very strange to do a look-a-like bit with Sam Cassell and have the other subject be a human, but the resemblance between Sammy and Russell Simmons (at least in these two photos) is pretty uncanny. Good for Sam. I think he needs this. In fact, if I were Cassell I’d start carrying around this picture of Simmons in my wallet. So next time someone tries to call him ugly, he can just whip it out (the picture… I’m talking about the PICTURE!) and be like, “Oh, so I guess that means you think RUSSELL SIMMONS is ugly too!”

That’ll show them.

Note: I saw Sam Cassell out at a bar after Game 5, and I have to admit: I was amazed at how normal he looked. He appears kind of trollish running around in a basketball uniform with a bunch of 6-9 dudes, but when he’s in public, and in human clothes, he’s a pretty big guy, and most of his typically grotesque features aren’t as pronounced.

Winner of the Week: Kendrick Perkins

I’ve always been hard on Perk. People would talk about how young he was, but I was already impatient. I never saw enough to be convinced he’d become a legit NBA center. Most of that was because he has too many bad habits—his knack for bringing the ball to his knees every time he touched it being the chief concern. I was OK with his skills still being unpolished, but most of his problems were mental. He wasn’t bringing the ball to the floor because he wasn’t good enough, he was doing it because he didn’t have a good head for the game. It was common sense, and on the court, Perk just didn’t have any.

I wrote the last part of that paragraph in the past tense, as if all these problems have disappeared because he had one 18 and 16 game. He still has a lot of work to do, but these playoffs—and especially the Pistons series—have convinced me that there is most definitely a place for Kendrick Perkins in the Celtics’ future. If you don’t know me, you don’t realize how huge that last statement is. It’s like a break through in therapy, and it feels good.

Loser of the Week: The Red Sox

This isn’t only because the Sox have lost five of their last six games. That’s pretty awful in and of itself. What’s worse is that I’m having a very hard time caring.

I don’t know what it is about baseball season this year, but I haven’t got the fever yet, and part of me wonders if—for the most die-hard and obsessive Boston fans—the Sox haven’t jumped the shark a little bit since winning their second World Series in four years.

I know this is sacrilege, but can any of you admit to being as obsessed about the Red Sox in 2008 as you were in 2002 or even 2005? If so, maybe you’re a better fan than I am. I’m just struggling to get into it. This isn’t saying that I don’t still love the Sox, I obviously do, there’s just no way in hell I have the attention span to take three to four hours on a spring or early summer night to watch an entire game. Why? Glad you asked.

For one, the games don’t really matter. OK, maybe that’s a little bit of an overstatement. If the Sox end up missing the playoffs by one game, you can always say, “Hey remember that 1-0 loss to the Mariners back in May? Remember how you said it was insignificant? Well, you’re an idiot.” Fine, I am, but we all know that baseball season doesn’t mean anything until at least August. If the Sox drop 17 straight games, then that’s a story, but as long as they are in contention, I can’t get myself to worked up until September is in sight.

Two, the games have been SO painfully long. This has been written about already by anyone and everyone who covers baseball—to the point where the only thing more boring than watching a long baseball game is reading a column about the fact that baseball games are too long—so I won’t rehash it here, but as of now, watching an entire Sox game is like sitting through the director’s cut of Dances With Wolves. Not that I’ve ever done that, but I assume it’s mighty tedious.

Three, there’s the Celtics and Patriots. It had been so long since there was ever anything else to worry about in the spring/summer. The C’s were irrelevant—2001 and 2002 were fun but we they were never going to beat the Lakers—and even as the Patriots were becoming a dynasty they hadn’t yet reached the point when they were year round news. This year changed everything. Not only are the Celtics still playing, but they have a legit opportunity to win the whole thing, and the Patriots might get more coverage in the offseason than they do when they’re playing. It’s only natural to back of the Sox a little bit.

For these reasons—as well as their recent slump—the Sox are the losers of the week.

Surprise of the Week: I can’t even get started on what TNT (We Know Drama!!) and TBS (Very Funny!!) do with the ad campaigns for their various shows. I know its kind of funny to talk about how often they play commercials for the Closer, Saving Grace, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and the Bill Engvall Show, but in reality it’s the most painful and torturous TV- related cruelty since season one of Michael Rappaport’s The War at Home. It’s so unnecessary and I can’t imagine that more people are watching Tyler Perry and Bill Engvall because the shows are jammed down their throats. If anything I’d guess they are losing viewers. Driving them away with persistence. They want you to like them so badly, and as a result, fall victim to one of the sad facts of life: When you try really hard to make someone like you, they invariably end up disliking you. That’s what’s happened with me and these shows.

Can they really not find anyone to buy ad space during the NBA Playoffs? Is it really worth it to waste all that air time on publicizing stupid shows that most people won’t watch anyways?

Or how about the commercials where they combine Bill Engvall clips with one-liners from Family Guy? “Hey, I’ve got an idea! If we put clips of a funny show next to ones from an unfunny show, maybe people will forget what they’re laughing at and watch our crappy show!!”

Not falling for it.

See. I didn’t want to get started but there’s years of pent up anger going on here. But that brings me to the surprise of the week… I finally laughed at one of the awful commercials! It’s the one where Engvall and Nancy Travis are folding laundry and he makes the comment about his daughter’s thong. Not bad, Mr. Engvall. I’ll have to update my laugh tally.

Times laughed: 1

Times wanting to punch myself in the face: 501

Note: I was a huge Nancy Travis fan back in the day. She was always one of my sleeper crushes. I was a little young to appreciate her in Three Men and a Baby, but once So I Married an Ax Murderer came around, I was in love… with Anthony LaPaglia… but I liked Nancy Travis too.

Random Interjection of the Week: I’m watching Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals right now and even if they don’t end up wrapping it up tonight (Update: They did), I’m officially scared of the Lakers. I know it’s incredibly presumptuous to think about potential Finals opponents at this time. But I’m just saying, IF the Celtics win, I’m scared of the Lakers and here are four “definitely too early, but not jinxing anything because I’m just trying to make conversation” predictions for a potential Lakers series:

Player I’ll Respect the Most: Kobe Bryant
Non-Superstar Who I’ll Fear the Most: Derek Fisher
Player I’ll Enjoy Watching the Most: Lamar Odom
Player I’ll Hate the Most: Sasha Vujacic

Link of the Week:

This one’s a little old, but well worth it if you haven’t seen it.

This might come off as a little weird, but I think I’m pretty close to classifying Rasheed Wallace as a genius. Geniuses come in many different shapes, and there’s something about the guy that makes me think that he’s working on an entirely different and advanced plane. He’s like a mad scientist. I’m completely fascinated.

Note: This video is almost ruined by the cheesy graphics and god awful pool analogies, but Sheed makes up for it.

“Prediction For Next Week” of the Week: Celtics in 7!

See You Next Friday

Rich Levine is a contributor to Wicked Good Sports with his “Wicked Weekly” column and podcast, “The Dino Radja Experience”. Rich is also a columnist for The Improper Bostonian.

Thoughts while waiting for Rodney Stuckey to miss a jump shot…

Accident Waiting To Happen of the Week: Eddie House’s son.

We talked about this a little bit on this week’s podcast, but has anyone seen Eddie House’s son on the sidelines during the last couple Celtics’ home games? The kid is all over the place! He slaps all the starters five during the pre-game introductions, he’s up jumping around with Tony Allen on the bench after a big dunk, hell, he’s basically in the huddle during time outs. I love that the kid is getting to enjoy that kind of access to the team and bond a little with his Dad, but the whole scene is bad news for at least two reasons:

1. There’s no way Eddie can completely concentrate on the game when his son is bouncing around—like Mike Myers in the old SNL skit where he’s tethered to the jungle gym—the entire time. Now its one thing if this were the Atlanta series and Eddie never saw the floor, but now that he’s our back up point guard, a guy who’s going to be relied on to deliver 10-12 solid minutes every game, I don’t want his kid on the bench. He can pretend it doesn’t take away from his focus but that’s impossible. If I were an NBA player, I’d be distracted by any little kid playing around by the bench; if it was my son, I’d instinctively have an eye on him all game. How do you just shut that off?

2. The kid is fearless. He sees his pops doing something, like say, giving KG a running chest bump, and feels like he can do the same. During the aforementioned pre-game intros he sticks himself out there with all the other players. Do you really think KG is going to differentiate between Sam Cassell and Jaelen House’s hand when the lights are off and he’s more pumped than Lattimer after finding out he made starting defense? Nick mentioned this in the podcast, but this has a Dusty Baker’s son situation written all over it. Maybe the Celtics should sign JT Snow to take up Scot Pollard’s spot on the bench until the playoffs are over.

Loser of the Week: JD Drew

Here’s what I wrote on April 11, while declaring Drew my Winner of the Week

"OK, it’s early. Anytime David Ortiz is hitting .083, Kevin Youkilis leads the league in triples and Josh Beckett’s got an ERA in the .900s, you can’t jump to any conclusions on a player’s performance. That being said, I really want to with Drew. He looks more focused and comfortable than he did at any point last year. And it’s not just that he’s getting hits; it’s the way he’s doing it. He’s raking the ball to right and driving outside pitches to left center. After a year and change, it’s nice to take a break from Drew bashing and be able to appreciate what $14M a year gets you these days.

(Note: As much as I’m trying to stay optimistic about JD, here’s a quick reality check: At this time last year, he was hitting .393.)"

That last sentence is the key.

About a month after I wrote that, and we’re back the same old grumpy, unlikable, walking-trip-to-the-disabled-list that we’ve all grown to hate. In fact, JD hit a home run on the day that column was posted and hasn’t gone deep since.*

On a related note, Theo Epstein’s reign in Boston continues to play out on a remarkable level. He’s Even Steven—like Jerry in that one Seinfeld episode.

In 2003, he went all out and tried to break the bank on Jose Contreras, but lost him to the Yankees. It was a big loss for Theo, but one that turned out OK when Contreras spent his first couple seasons in the States homesick and would have been a bust.

That same season, he whiffed on higher profile moves like Jeremy Giambi, Ramiro Mendoza and BK Kim, but was bailed out by the unexpected emergence of David Ortiz, Bill Mueller and Kevin Millar—guys who obviously proved valuable in the 2004 title run.

Before the 2006 season, he traded a guy who might become the most defining shortstop of the next 15 years in Hanley Ramirez but who can argue with what Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell have done? If they both retired today, it would still have to be considered a good trade based on their contributions in last years playoffs.

Then last year, Epstein’s two biggest free agent acquisitions—Julio Lugo and Drew—were complete busts, yet he still won another World Series.

Obviously there are many more Epstein transactions that I could investigate here, but you can’t disagree with that fact that Theo has been very fortunate in the sense that not one of his major screw ups over the past five seasons has ever really come back to bite him in the ass And you can’t disagree with the fact that JD Drew is the Loser of the Week.

*Note: Literally, as I was typing this section, Drew hit a grand slam against Kansas City, but I refuse to change my stance. I’m glad that he finally stepped up, but call me when it’s not on a Thursday afternoon against the Royals.

Note2: While reading about Theo just now I came across this little blurb on his Wikipedia page about his involvement in the Mitchell Report. I’d never heard it before and found the whole thing kind of interesting.

"In December 2007, Epstein was mentioned in the Mitchell Report regarding a November 2006 email exchange he had with Red Sox scout Marc DelPiano on the possible acquisition of then free agent closer Eric Gagné. In the email, Epstein asks DelPiano: "Have you done any digging on Gagne? I know the Dodgers think he was a steroid guy. Maybe so. What do you hear on his medical?". DelPiano replied that "steroids IS the issue" with Gagné, questioned his "poise and commitment" and expressed questions about his durability "without steroid help".[5] Despite the reservations expressed by Delpiano, Epstein traded pitcher Kason Gabbard and minor league outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre to the Texas Rangers for Gagné on July 31, 2007."

Winner of the Week: Paul Pierce

This doesn’t specifically have to do with Paul’s legendary performance in Game 7, but more with what that performance did for Paul and the Celtics moving forward. Up until that game, he’d had his share of decent outings—he’d also had his share of disgraces, like the four point night in Game 1 against Cleveland. But since blowing up early last Sunday, Pierce has returned to that guy you’ve loved watching so much for the past 10 years. He’s regained that edge; that killer instinct.

The 41-point explosion wasn’t only key in that it saved the Celtics season. It also catapulted Pierce out of the disgusting coma he’d been playing in and made it so he can better carry the offense from here on out.

Even though the Celtics lost last night, you have to feel more confident than you would in any other series, and that’s mostly because of Paul’s reemergence as a stone cold scorer. It’s not just that he’s scoring—which he is, averaging almost 30 a game over the last three—it’s how he’s scoring. Pull-up jumpers with guys in his face, shifty left handed lay-ups, turn round jumpers in the post. That’s the Paul we’re used to. He’s the guy who makes you feel like—as long as he’s in the game—the Celtics will win any fourth quarter battle.

Link of the Week:

As an early Father’s Day present here’s a highlight video of one of Shawn Kemps 37 sons that’s been making the rounds (I think it was originally up at www.athletesmakingbabies.blogspot.com and then went to Deadspin, but I digress). I don’t know much about this kid or the video, but here are some knee jerk comments.

I’m guessing that all the highlights where he’s wearing No. 44 are from junior year and the No. 42 one are from senior year. He looks far stronger and more explosive when wearing No. 42. It can’t all be a coincidence, right?

Also, I’m pretty pissed he’s not wearing No. 40. Maybe there was an upper classman who had No. 40 when Junior came up through the ranks and he didn’t want to give it up to the youngster. If so, that’s BS. I’m all for being loyal to a number but it should be a rule that if you play on the same team with a dude who’s dad played in the NBA (especially if said dude’s dad is Shawn Kemp), you give him his father’s jersey number. Done and done.

Lastly, if you’re interested, I’ve dubbed the dunks at the 2:26 and 3:00 marks as the two highlights where Junior looks most like his dad. That’s not including the deleted scene where the kid’s in the locker room after the game having unprotected sex with seven different cheerleaders at the same time.

Prediction of the Week: Celtics take one in Detroit.

I felt pretty good about the Celtics winning one in Detroit even if they’d won the first two at home, but now that Detroit has one important win under its belt, there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll have a let down at some point and allow the C’s to win back home court. The Pistons—especially their two stars Rip Hamilton and Chauncy Billups—are two of the more smug, arrogant bastards in the league today. They have this our-shit-don’t-stink aura about them that has killed them every year since they won they’re ONLY title, and I don’t think this season is any different. You guys don’t think you have to show up for every game in the Eastern Conference Finals? You really think you’re THAT good? Nah, you aren’t.

See You Next Friday

Rich Levine is a contributor to Wicked Good Sports with his "Wicked Weekly" column and podcast, "The Dino Radja Experience". Rich is also a columnist for The Improper Bostonian.

Thoughts while wondering how many hours a day Sam Cassell has his back wrapped in an ace bandage…

Random List of the Week

NBA players who’ve impressed me (on different levels) during the playoffs:

PG: Chris Paul, New Orleans - The superstar who’s entered completely unchartered territory in terms of potential. If someone told me today that Paul will retire with five championship rings, I couldn’t argue.

SG: Rodney Stuckey - The unpolished rookie who’s coming into his own in just enough time to be ready to potentially torture the Celtics in the conference finals. I hate that I’m automatically going to have to hate him because he’s on the Pistons. Seems like a dude I’d enjoy rooting for. Pretty much the same way I feel about Al Horford in this Hawks series.

SF: Devin Brown, Cleveland - The random role player who’s I’ve inexplicably liked all year. Not sure what it is about Brown but I’ve always enjoyed his game. Although part of it might be because half the time he’s on the court I mistake him for Lebron.

PF: Luis Scola - The foreign-born player who I enjoy watching which says a lot because I’ve grown to dislike watching many foreign born players. The Spurs gave Scola away because he didn’t fit in with their philosophy, and thought little enough of him to have no problem dealing him within the conference.

C: Chris Bosh, Toronto - The budding superstar who is ready to claim superstar status. The Raptors might have gotten owned by the Magic, but it wasn’t because of Bosh. Even in defeat, his 39-point, 15-rebound performance is Game 4 was one of the best I’ve seen all season.

(Note: What do you think the record would be of an NBA team that trotted out this starting five? In the Eastern Conference, I think they’d be a four or five seed.)

(Note 2: I don’t really hate all foreign players. I love Dirk, Nocioni, Calderon, Kirilenko, etc., but my hatred for Manu sometimes takes over and I end up making ridiculous generalizations. Sorry for that.)

Loser of the Week: Doc Rivers

I’m not going to try and not be too reactionary here.

They say you can only pass judgment on the info you have at hand, and here’s what we have on Doc so far this year:

Off the court, he’s been ideal. He was integral in the development of a team chemistry which most pundits felt would be the Celtics biggest down fall but ended up being one of their greatest strengths. But when we’re talking about actual in-game coaching, (adjustments, rotation, etc), there was never anything that impressive. Then again, it didn’t have to be. There wasn’t a night over all 82 games when the Celtics weren’t the most talented team on the court, and in the regular season that counts for a lot.

But here’s what got me: When people talk of Bill Belichick’s greatness, they always bring up his record when playing a team for the second time in a season. (No, sorry. First they make any unfunny cheating joke, and then they bring that up). Before the last Super Bowl, it was a given that if you played Patriots earlier in the year, you had no shot of winning the second time around. Belichick had/has the unique ability to critique his own game plan, realize what didn’t work, figure out what, in turn, will work, and make the adjustments.

In 2007-08, Doc Rivers was the anti-Belichick.

Of the Celtics 16 losses, seven came at the hands of three teams (Washington, Orlando and Cleveland). Another came against Charlotte, which didn’t beat the Celtics earlier, but had a game won before Ray Allen’s ridiculous three. Five more losses came to Toronto, Utah, Golden State, Denver and Philadelphia. In each case, the Celtics had played and defeated the team at an earlier date.

That leaves only three games/losses - Detroit, at Phoenix and at New Orleans - where the Celtics played a team once, lost, and then rebounded at a later point to avenge it.

A similar scenario arose on Monday night, The Celtics were coming off a tough loss the Hawks on Saturday. They were up 10 points in the fourth, and had a chance to essentially slam the door on the series. They couldn’t do it, and that was in large part due to Rivers’ inability to manage his roster and adjust to what Atlanta was doing-even if it was something as simple as "Hey, let’s give the ball to Joe Johnson and let him go one of five every time."

I’m no longer worried about this series (even if they lose tonight, there’s no way the Hawks win a game in Boston) and I still like them to at the very least reach the conference finals. But judging by the information at hand, I don’t know how Celtics fans can be confident in Doc’s ability to win a close game in the playoffs or really even overcome any serious adversity in a big playoff series. Yeah, I know, it’s the players who ultimately win or lose these games, but its the coach’s job to put his players in the best position to win, and you can’t be sure Doc will do that.

(Note: Speaking of coaches, is Michael Jordan really going to sabotage another NBA team? He was a mess in Washington, and hiring Larry Brown brings him yet another step closer to doing the same in Charlotte. I realize that in large part, Brown helps the Bobcats sell tickets, and you know they need that, but after last year, the Cats look like they’re are on the verge of building something decent. They need a coach who will help them along the way, be stern but also sympathetic to the inevitable growing pains a young guy faces in the league and also someone they can relate and feel comfortable talking to. Larry Brown is none of those things. He’s a stubborn old school guy who will be there for two years and then quit to take more money somewhere else. And when he does, the Bobcats will be no better than they are now.)

(Note 2: Looking back on Jordan’s time in Washington, there’s one glaringly hilarious string of transactions. It’s right before the 2002 season and at this point Jordan’s back playing and "technically" no longer running the team, but it’s fair to say that he’s still the guy making most of the decisions. It’s also fair to that the Wizards probably should have been looking to the future. They had drafted Kwame Brown a year before (and he was still supposed to be great), had another promising big man in Brendan Haywood and a 23-year old Rip Hamilton, who’d just cracked the 20-ppg barrier for the first time in his career.

Coming off a 35-47 year, things weren’t great, but they were looking up. Here’s what the Wizards did in the month leading up to the 2002 season:

September 10, 2002: Signed free agent forward Bryon Russell (32 years old), who had been with the Utah Jazz, to a two-year contract.

September 12, 2002: Traded guards Richard Hamilton (23) and Hubert Davis and forward Bobby Simmons to the Detroit Pistons for guard Jerry Stackhouse (28 and a ball hog) and forwards Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda.

September 17, 2002: Named Patrick Ewing assistant coach - this is just funny because Ewing (as anyone who watched the Ahmad Rashad Show last year can attest to) is an absolute moron.

October 12, 2002: Signed forward Charles Oakley (39).

Good Stuff, MJ.

In the Wizards defense, they did get a little younger earlier that summer they signed Larry "I play to enjoy myself, some people take this the wrong way, but winning a championship is not what I base everything on" Hughes. Um, yeah.

Winner of the Week: Jon Lester

Here’s what I love about Lester. He just goes out and pitches. You don’t have to coddle him like Buchholz (even though he’s only about six months older and not even two years removed from cancer) or worry about his confidence like Dice-K (even though Lester has a far less impressive body of work from which to draw confidence from). When his spot in the rotation comes up, you don’t worry about anything. You know he’s going to give a solid effort. There won’t be much flair, but there also won’t be any unnecessary drama.

While his numbers aren’t terrific (or even close for that matter), Lester’s been a stable presence this season on a staff which has been about as a reliable as the old "It’s ok. I won’t get pregnant. I know my own cycle REALLY well" method of birth control.

And his performance last Tuesday night proves that even though he isn’t as high-maintenance as the other prospects, he still has the potential to be just as effective.

Commercial Success of the Week: NBA and Iron Man.

Last week, I admitted to secretly disliking the NBA half face commercials even though it’s the type of thing I typically love. This week, the reversed happened with the NBA on TNT/Iron Man cross promotion. I hate when the league does this. They take an institution as great and storied as the NBA Playoffs and sell it out for some Hollywood crap (although, I’m starting to think Iron Man might be awesome). Anyway, I wanted to hate this commercial, and I did the first couple times, but now I can’t get enough. Unfortunately, it’s no where to be found online (if you know where it is, please throw it in up in the comment section), but here are the two scenes that got me:

1. "They say the best weapon is the one you only need to fire once" - as Dirk drains a three.

2. "Yeah, I can fly" - as Kobe rocks a 360 in traffic.

(Note: I also strongly want to dislike another of the commercials TNT’s running into the ground - the new Dockers San Francisco ad - but I can’t do it. The song is terrific; especially the beginning.

(Note 2: If you want the whole song, it’s called California Soul by Marlena Shaw.

Although personally, I think Dockers made a good choice stopping when they did. The tune definitely goes down hill from there. If this song were Christian Laettner’s career, Dockers cut the music right after his senior year in college.)

Link of the Week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26K6HU6Cz_E

Just because I feel bad about talking so much trash about His Airness.

"Prediction for Next Week" of the Week: Celtics in seven!

See You Next Friday

Rich Levine is a sports columnist from the Improper Bostonian. You can also check out Rich’s Podcast "The Dino Radja Experience", on ComcastSportsNet.com.