Tuesday, May 7, 2013

GreenHeadz Regurgitations: As The Celtics Ponder The Future, Who Should Stay And Who Should Go?

The following post is the partial regurgitation of a story so good, we wish we wrote it ourselves! Follow the link at the end to catch the full story where it lives.

(The Following Story Originated On ESPN's "Boston Celtics Report" And Was Written By Chris Forsberg)
 


Take 'em or leave 'em

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Each year after the Celtics' season ends, we play a game of Take 'Em or Leave 'Em to determine which players the team should retain -- and which ones should be sent packing -- for next season.

Below are longer explanations for our decisions (sometimes five words just isn't enough to elaborate in the main piece). For the purpose of this year's exercise, we ran with the idea that the Celtics would bring back veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. While many have expressed a desire for Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to dismantle this roster, we subscribe to the notion that the shred-the-team path won't be particularly easy to do. That's not to say that Boston won't explore trade avenues before -- and during -- the 2013-14 season, it just seems that one of the clearer paths to roster turnover, while still remaining competitive, actually involves keeping the veteran core intact for season seven of a three-year plan.
___________________________________________________________________

You can read the rest of this insightful article by clicking here.

And, when you're done with that, take the "Take Em' Or Leave 'Em" poll either at ESPN.com or by clicking here.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Despite Insane 20-To-Nothing Rally, Celtics Fall Short As Season Concludes


It's not that I didn't know this was a possibility, even a probability. But, I'm just not ready to write about this at all.

There are stories about Paul Pierce having played his last game for Boston, Kevin Garnett maybe retiring...I'm just not ready to put it all into words right now, it sucks too much. How could we have lost like THAT to THIS team? I can't stand it.
"I told them after the game that I couldn't be more proud of a group of guys who went through a ton of adversity all year with all the injuries."

 - Celtics coach Doc Rivers
Me, too. These guys have been through a LOT. No excuses. But, they SHOULD be proud of themselves.

Ah, well...I suppose I can take solace in the fact that they're about to get stomped...if not this round by the Indiana Pacers then DEFINITELY in the next one. Miami owes them some payback.

Look at that...am I really pulling for Miami now? Is that what it's come to?!?!

I really, REALLY don't want to write about this. I think I'm gonna need some time off before I clean out my blogging locker for the season.

Box Score

Tale Of The Tape (Yes, it IS worth it just to see the rally...but if it's too soon...)

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Late To Their Own Funeral: Celtics Never Say Die Attitude Kills Knicks

 
Attention K-Mart shoppers...we are all out of funeral black clothing. Shoppers are advised to put on their regular clothes, shut the f**k up and play ball.
 
Holy Apples!!! I can't even put into words how fantasmic this win by the Green was.

From Kenyon Martin and Co. wearing black to what turned out to be their own funeral; to J.R. (no-shot's-too-far) Smith talking his way into an excremental shooting night to the doomsday pundits all having to give respect to the never-say-die Celtics after doing everything in their journalistic (I say this tongue-in-cheek) powers to help shovel the dirt on Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and the C's WAY prematurely. And even with all of THAT, the Knicks had the nerve to try and smacktalk the C's at the end of the game after getting served by them and thus providing their opponents with even more fuel to want to serve them even harder back in Boston (yeah, I know they say Jordan Crawford started it, but I watched the tape)! As the dearly departed 2-Pacalyptic one would say (even though he was born in the NYC) "Throw up the middle finger."

From Smith's punk-@$$ elbow to Jason Terry's face to his subsequent bullsh*t "I don't even know who I elbowed," to his laughably idiotic "If I played it would have been over" lead-in to a 3 for 14 crapfest of a game and then Martin's chalkboard choke telling his boys to "dress for a funeral" before not only eating his words and his feet, but eating his teammates as well who all followed dimwittedly along and dressed in black.

And...while I'm not buying the idea that's floating around out there that the Knicks "funeral" blunder was a calculated attempt to disrespect the City of Boston and its recent tragedies, I think the Knicks (K-Mart in particular) are a bunch of typically egotistical, self-centered and spoiled athletes who don't think past the tip of their own noses when they say anything not filtered by a publicist. They may not be malicious, but they sure are DUMB. It's almost as if they wanted the Celtics to come out with fire in their eyes. Well, mission accomplished.

The Snickerbockers unintended self-immolation may have been just what the Celtics needed to push them over the edge to play together against a common enemy, but it also speaks to a larger problem for New York moving forward, both in this series and later, if they escape the wrath of the C's.

It is exactly this kind of empty "Big City" hubris that reveals just how not-ready-for-primetime this squad is. I'm not saying that they're going to fold up and hide faster than a New York street vendor during a cop convention and lose to our beloved Celtics (which they very well might, though he odds are with them...for now), but it's clear that all of this self-distraction proves that they've got some serious growing up to do and, under the John Starks stark and unforgiving spotlight of the Playoffs, that learning curve can be VERY steep. Just ask LeBron and his Heat.

I'm sure I don't even have to mention the pyrotechnics and confetti and the "not one championship, not two, not three..." embarrassment that preceded the first season of LeBrash and Friends and we all know how that season ended up. This year? They came into the Playoffs and quickly, quietly and efficiently finished off the Milwaukee Bucks. You have heard nothing from them as they wait for the winner of the Chicago Bulls/Brooklyn Nets series. Not a peep. That's called maturity, something that these Knicks are still searching for. Hopefully they'll have plenty of time to search for it after Sunday.

As for the Celtics? Well...I think I'll just say it in pictures...

Brandon Bass has been a force on both the offensive end...
 
...and the defensive end guarding Carmelo.
 
Kevin Garnett has been nothing short of a revelation,
posting 4 consecutive double-doubles.

Captain Paul Pierce had started this series slowly, but he has come on of late to lead the team as the "point forward" filling in for the injured Rajon Rondo and still providing ample points (and just about everything else).

He does, however, have to begin respecting
the defense of Houseparty 2 Iman Shumpert.
 
Jeff Green has begun to fulfill some of the promise he came to Boston with in the Kendrick Perkins trade with OKC. His heart and recent aggression have been key to the C's attack.
 
 
Bench players like Terrence Williams have proven to
be valuable playoff assets, both on offense...
 
 
...and defense.
 
And there are a whooooole lot of other factors contributing to this team's resurgence, but with any luck...we'll get to those.
 
 
 
THE BUZZ:
 
NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs --
Round 1, Game 6:
Celtics vs. Knicks
Friday, May 3rd, 2013
@ The Boston Garden
Boston, MA
 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Top Ten Things The Celtics Need To Do To Win This Series

 
Hi, Folks.

Initially, I had intended to do this post earlier and get more in-depth, but because we're less than an hour away from tipoff to Game 5, I am just going to throw this off as a true "Top-Ten" list and perhaps flesh everything out when (not "if") the C's win in New York tonight.

So, without Freddy Adu Further Ado...

The Top-Ten Things The Celtics Must Do To Win This Series

10- You can't handle the truth, but The Truth MUST handle the ball -- put the ball back in Paul Pierce's able hands. I know he's had fumbleitis. Don't worry about it. Letting Avery Bradley be the point guard will help nail our coffin shut.

9- Da Do Run Run -- Get out and run. It's that simple. Advance the ball with the pass and everybody take off to the races. You CAN run in the Playoffs. Just ask the Celtics and Lakers of 1986.

8- Pass Me The Damn Ball -- Or should I say, pass each other the damn ball. The way that the Celtics were able to win the games after Rajon Rondo went down for the season was by playing a freestyle passing game that was more improvisational Hippie Ball than set plays. Pass it and you pass on through to the next series. And, if there's no good pass to be made...

7- Hold On! -- Do NOT turn the ball over. If there's nothing there, hold the ball and work short passes side to side. No more crosscourt, no more lackadaisical lobs...guard the ball with your Playoff lives!

6- The New Adventures Of Young Jeff Green -- Paul Pierce is the new Rondo. Jeff Green is the new Paul Pierce. Kevin Garnett? Just be you, big guy. Look, our only hope is with Paul Pierce at the Point-Forward position. He's found ample ways to score from that spot since back in February, so don't sweat it. Green? You do what Paul used to do: attack the basket on cuts and drives and spot up when it's open. You're the new "go-to" player. Get used to it. NOW.

5- You Don't Mess With The Zohan -- And by Zohan, I mean the lineup. Doc...I KNOW you always want to tinker with things in the Playoffs. Don't. The lineup you started last game is the one we had during the season and is also, coincidentally, the best chance we have at winning this thing. Save for injury...LEAVE THEM BE.

4- You Can't Have A Strong Bench If You Don't Play One -- Stop with this nonsense of shortening the Playoff rotations. If a guy can help and he's on the bench...PLAY HIM! If they aren't producing, get 'em outta there. But for Pistol Pete's Sake, let the Courtney Lee's and Terrence Williams' of the world try and stop the J.R. Smith's. They're built for games like these. Remember how you used to like to guarantee that so-and-so "was going to win this game for us?" As the old Lottery saying goes, "you can't win if you don't play."

3- Hip Hop Is Dead. So Is The Halfcourt Offense -- If you're looking for our halfcourt game, the entire thing is sitting on the bench nattily attired in an orange blazer and sweater combo. Rondo is the beginning and end of any thought of a memory of a dream of a halfcourt offense. DO NOT TRY TO RUN ONE...WE DON'T HAVE ONE!

2- Carmelo Rhymes With "Fellow" -- As in, "a singular fellow" meaining one guy. This is how we should play him. DO NOT DOUBLE TEAM MELO!! If you do one thing, Celtics, it is this. He's going to take his shots. If he scores 70, WHOOPEE!! We'll win by 25. Guard him with single coverage and let him have a ball shooting. A) he's going to miss his fair share as we've seen and B) nobody else is involved in the offense. Not J.R., not Houseparty 2 Shumpert, not Discount Double Check Novak, not Thanksgiving Felton...nobody. The Knicks can't win with only Melo taking shots. Need I remind you about that famous "world's best scorer ever in history" who scored 63 all by his lonesome against the '86 Celtics and lost the game and the series? Single coverage. If I am the coach and I see a double team, I'm going to list item #4 and you're hitting the bench, son.

1- Have fun out there. Look, I know when your basketball lives are hanging in the balance, the last thing you want to do is smile and pat each other on the back. But I promise you, a game well played is played with love of the game. Enjoy each other out there...it could be the last time you do it with this group of guys.

That's it, folks. Oh, wait! I forgot one last thing...