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Back like the Bruins baby

Random thoughts while John Lackey recovers from Phil Hughes syndrome (aka sucking)

- Its not often I agree with Michael Felger, but in this instance, he is absolutely correct - all Bruins fans have NO right to complain at this point in the proceedings. Yes, Claude is not good. Yes, Seguin should have played. Yes, Timmy lets in soft goals. And yes, THEY'RE IN THE CONFERENCE FINALS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE '92. If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at Glen Wesley.

- 5 in a row. 3 from the Empire. Coming from 6 back to win in the 9th against Baltimore. Anyone else remember 2-10? Me neither.

- It was fun while it lasted Kevin, Ray, Paul and Rondo. I would like to thank you for the championship. I can't be alone in feeling, however, that we were somehow cheated. Losing a Finals in 7 games, losing a conference semis up 3-2 against Orlando, and getting blown out by Miami is not satisfying whatsoever, and anyone who says differently is lying. 5 year grace period my ass.

- Tom Brady is having about as much success in "his" lawsuit against the NFL as he did against the Jets defense in January. It is in his name, after all.

- Top 5 Google results for Tom Brady (and then a space): Tom Brady Gisele, Tom Brady Baby, Tom Brady Pictures, Tom Brady Pregnant, Tom Brady News. People know he plays football too, right? Right?

- I miss Jack Edwards, and I HATE Versus.

- MAKE THAT BOOTY BOUNCE!

- I'm really, really, very glad Claude got the invitation to Tyler Seguin's coming out party in time.

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7as64hbWEY&feature=related

Bruins in 6

No Stogie..

That was excruciating to watch.. double digit lead in the 3rd.. poop night from Kobe.. Sheed playing ballsy with injuries.. starters playing crazy minutes..

and we let it slip away..

Ray sucked.. Kevin couldn't rebound.. Pierce couldn't get to the hole enough.. all when it mattered..

Thanks for the memories Big 3.. most fun I have had watching basketball in my whole life.. but I think the window is closing.. quickly..

NBA draft is in 6 days at least.
And the Sox are two back in the east..

Here's Hoping We Prove The Immortal Bill Russell Right..

Celtics Lakers Rematch Preview

This one should be a doozey...

The stage is set, the storylines are ample, the legacies are all at stake, and the fans are ready.. Bring on the Finals baby.. I think the only thing I can attempt to preview are the individual matchups because the styles are so different in terms of the general gameplay, and the teams have taken such vastly different paths to get to where they are. They have each knocked off some mega stars of the game, Wade, LeBron, Howard vs. Durant, D-Will, and Nash, which would bring one to argue that the Celts had the much more difficult road to the Finals, but now that we are here it doesn't really matter.. 7 games.. first to 4.. let's get into it..

Rondo vs. Fisher
Rondo is obviously faster and a much more compelling playmaker, but Fisher has a little more beef on him and will probably make some key shots at some point just to piss me off.. Still, what is sad with this matchup is I wouldn't even be surprised with 24-9-7 from Rondo for the series even if he is slightly less than 100%..
Advantage: CELTS

Allen vs. Kobe
Kobe is a joke, he's gonna get his 30 points, he's gonna have his black Mamba moments where he hits daggers at the end or in crunch time.. it's a given.. every Celts fan knows this. BUT.. and this is a big but, this is the first series this year where he may actually have to guard someone legitimate. If he takes Rondo, he has to deal with his pesky speed and leave Ray with a much shorter Fisher on him.. If he takes Ray, he will go on the Ray Allen Marathon Basketball Program and run about 12 miles through screen every single game.. Either way I like it for the Celts.. but still, its Kobe..
Advantage: LA

Pierce vs. Artest
This matchup will decide the series as far as I'm concerned.. Artest is what he is.. Tough defender, horrible shooter, crazy human being.. This is still the same dude who melee'd a crowd and pulled Pierce's pants down because he thought it was a good idea.. Pierce needs to let Artest get in his foul trouble, make his bonehead mistakes, and get his open looks on the P&R.. We need you Paul, if ever there was a time to lock in your legacy, this series is it.. go PP
Advantage: CELTS

KG vs. Pau
This will be one of the most scrutinized matchups just because everyone has to question Pau's toughness/physicality, while KG will always be compared to former versions of himself. It's bound to happen. I still say KG can take Pau defensively, even though Pau is a good mid-range shooter and FT shooter.. The rebounding between these two will be most interesting to watch and will probably be huge in the grand scheme.
WASH

Bynum vs. Perk
These guys are gonna bang bodies in the middle. They will both get in foul trouble.. Perk is a little more mobile, Bynum is a little taller.. I don't think this matchup will decide the series in any capacity. I see both of them topping out around 8 or 10 points a game, and contributing much more with their rebounds and inside presence for slashers. Also, Perk, don't get T'd up.. please
WASH

Bench Depth
People keep saying how deep the Lakers are, but I personally see the bench as the largest potential advantage for the Celts in a tight game against these guys, provided 3 balls aren't getting launched all over the place. But you gotta think Sheed, Baby, TA, newly rejuvenated Nate, and Finley is much better than Vujacic, Farmar, Odom, and Walton.. Right? We even have Shelden and Marquis hanging out waiting for some minutes and they have both proven to be perfectly fine in spots.. I think this could swing the series our way entirely if TA is 100% to guard Kobe, and if Nate can be the spark we know he can be.. Sheed and Baby just need to control Pau, Bynum, and Odom when they are in there..
Advantage: CELTS

Doc vs. Phil isn't worth talking about.. Both of them know their teams cold, they both have rotations, they both know when to call time outs.. I know Phil is up 10-1 in the titles, but this late in the season, they both clearly know what they are doing out there..


I hope the Celts can steal one in LA to open this thing up.. Boston crowd is gonna be RAUCOUS games 3-5.. cannot wait..

BEAT LA.

Chapter 12 - The More Things Change...

...the more they stay the same (even Farmar, absolutely one of the six best players in this series...)

10 random thoughts on the eve of the 12th edition of the Greatest Story Ever Told:

1. Rondo and Fisher
Rondo, on the verge of becoming THE point guard in the NBA. Fisher, on the verge of 36 and playing in his 14th season and 3rd straight at 100+ games. Pretty simple for the Celts - exploit this and often. Even if Kobe leaves Ray for Rondo, Ray > Fisher. By a lot.
Advantage - Rondo

2. Ray and Kobe
Ray is on the verge of his second title in three seasons and has probably been the most unselfish of the group. He's changed his game, takes it to the cup, plays D and, most importantly hits money threes. Closing in on 22,000 career points and Reggie Miller in the three's department, he's also closing in on being one of the greatest (if not the greatest) three-point shooter in NBA
history. But can his elevator reach the 12th floor?
Kobe (courtesy of our friends at basketball-reference.com): 4 rings, 6 Finals, 1 MVP, 12 All-Star Games, 3 ASG MVP's. That's good. 1 raped woman, 1 $4 million dollar ring. Hey, Jerry West never beat the Celtics either. Kobe is clearly the better guard here, but as long as the Celtics can keep him out of the paint and bother him enough to yell at Sasha, they've done their job. I can live with 30-9-7 and 4 L's.
Advantage - Kobe

3. The Captain and Ron Roberto (anyone else catch the play on the alcohol, how one is better than the other? No...?)
The Lakers have the ball at the end of Game 1, 5 seconds left, down 1. Inbound to Kobe, immediately gets doubled by Pierce. Passes to Fisher. Covered by Rondo, he swings it to a wide-open Artest for 3. The crowd gasps. Brick. Game over. 1-0 Celts.
(end scene - although I know he's going to be a nuisance and bother the bejesus out of Pierce, I still think he sucks. And is certifiable.)

Pierce - This is, in all likelihood, the last hurrah for Pierce and his Celtic career (unless the unthinkable happens again next year). Drafted 10th in '98, he played his entire career with a chip on his shoulder and stuck through the good ('01 and '02, sadly) and the bad (Pitino, Vin Baker and Ricky Davis, Tankapalooza), all in a Celtic uniform. Then '08 happens. 41 on LeBron and The Dive and the free throw that "Red was looking down" on. Detroit in 6 on the road. The Wheelchair. The Comeback. The Blowout. The righteousness. Here's hoping Paul gets his second ring and his rightful place among the Celtic greats.
Advantage - Pierce

4. KG and Gasol
Pau, you still look like a llama. You are soft. You are ugly. You are annoying and you flop and you whine incessantly. Yet...you have excellent low-post skills (a bizarro Dwight, if you will). You can rebound (granted, against Boozer and Amare). Kobe doesn't yell at you quite so often. He's at least a 18-10 every night, and if he goes off...the Celts could be in trouble. But KG is still KG (sort-of), who will most likely be good for the same 18-10 and a couple of gorilla yells a game. If this were '08, it'd be one-sided. Now...?
Advantage - Wash

5. Perk and Bynum
Perk is injured. Bynum is injured. Perk is ugly. Bynum is soft. Perk draws technicals. Bynum draws the ire of the Zen Master. Perk gets mad. Bynum gives up.
Advantage - Perk

6. The Benches
Odom is essentially the Lakers' 5th starter, another big with a huge wingspan who can run the floor, clean the glass and plays solid basketball (when he's not sugar-starved). The rest of the Laker bench is like Boondock 2 - forgettable (Shannon Brown had a -21 in the WCF). Sheed, Baby and Tony are solid, if unspectacular (provided they're all healthy), although Sheed can refund anyone who saw a game in the regular season whenever he feels like it. Another decided Celtic advantage.
Advantage - Celtics

7. The Coaches
Doc has done a brilliant job all through the end of the regular season into the postseason by limiting starters' minutes, rotating the same bench guys and calling timeouts in all the right places. He's believed in his team. He's got them playing outstanding defense. And he's four wins away from joining Francona and Belichick as Boston coaches with multiple titles. But he's still no Zen Master.
Slight Advantage - Lakers

8. The Crowds
Lakers fans are celebrities and rich fags. Boston fans can tell you the score when you ask and know how to spell the word "beer." BEAT LA and NO MEANS NO > (crickets)
Advantage - Celtics

9. The Series
7 games, no doubt. Both teams are more than familiar with each other, know what to expect and what matchups to exploit. Here's hoping the Celtics starting five goes to 8-0.
Celtics in 7.

10.

Not.. Done.. Yet..

What a game..

After two games which can only be described as "stinkers" or "evidence for federal court hearings against NBA officials" or "reasons to get lasik surgery", the Celts finally came out and threw down a statement game and took care of bidnesssss...

Paul Pierce was firing on each and every cylinder all game long, Rondo was aggressive in the time he was able to play while nursing a bruised hip.. and KryptoNate was a flat out firecracker for the Celts as he boosted the second unit with 3's and PEST-like defense.

One odd moment was KG's karate-chop-a-thon in the first which made little to no sense at the time to me.. BUT it got me thinking that maybe we have a little bit of the 2008 psychopath mental patient Kevin back, and that man flat out scares people and gets in their heads.. If he can keep up the attitude minus the dumb fouls.. look out world..

Doc controlled the pace for the second half with crucial timeout calls every time Orlando showed signs of life with transition 3's or Dwight Howard's signature move.. the wide open power dunk.. Couldn't have played much better against a very talented team, but end of the day, Celtics were a more cohesive unit, played better team defense, and showed why Rondo, Sugar, The Captain, KG, and Perk have never lost a playoff series.. Boom.

Looking forward immensely to this next game in Phoenix, I think the Suns still have an outside shot in this series barring any Artest-related miracles. Amare has to go bananas against the Lakers soft bigs and Nash has to absolutely torch Fisher, but we shall see..

Special shout-out to all those who have served or who are serving currently in our armed forces, I am grateful and proud of what you do every day. Freedom ain't Free. Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!!

Let's go play some cornhole and eat hot dogs.

BEAT LA! BEAT LA!

D.O.T.D.

Sorry Shelden, you're a turtle dude..

Bright side for you, you might get some playing tonight if everyone else is fucked (Hopin Baby gets cleared to play)... I expect you to foul Dwight Howard 6 times in approximately 8 minutes of playing time if you crawl in there tonight.

Last Night.

The Three Stooges

I'd like to preface this by saying that, no, the Celtics did not deserve to win last night's game. Too many good looks from beyond the arc by the Magic (when the home team goes 13-25 from 3, you don't really stand a chance), too many defensive lapses by the Celtics, poor games from KG, Ray and (to a lesser extent) Pierce. With that said...

NO ONE PAYS TO GO TO A BASKETBALL GAME TO SEE THE REFEREES.

Joey Crawford, Tom Washington and Eddie Rush should have to turn in their whistles and zebra stripes for prison garb, because what they did to the Celtics last night was criminal. The techinical foul situation flew out of control, starting with the dubious double technicals given to Gortat and Perkins because Perk's elbow inadvertently struck Gortat while helping his own teammate up. Because Gortat slaps the ball away, apparently Perk gets T'd up there.

Now, I'd be willingly to live with the first techincal if that's the last one. Unfortunately, Eddie Rush made the executive decision that a) defense cannot be played on Dwight Howard, as Perk gets whistled for the foul trying to play defense. Let me repeat that - Kendrick Perkins got called for a foul playing straight-up man defense. Then, because the call was so obviously bad, Perk throws his hands up in disbelief, walks away from the situation...AND GETS T'D UP AGAIN. Its the fucking playoffs, God forbid anyone show any emotion in the heat of battle with a chance at the NBA Finals on the line.

From the moment Perkins left, the Celtics were left without their best defender for Dwight Howard and vulnerable. With Sheed and Baby left to defend Orlando's behemoth in the middle, Orlando's offense was free to play its style - dump it down to Dwight, watch the defense collapse and kick it out for threes. The Celtics offense was stagnant at best, only Rondo, Pierce and Sheed seemed able to accomplish anything, and whenever the Celtics were able to go on a mini run to close the gap to 6, the Magic came back and quieted the Celtics quick, most notably when Jameer Nelson (apparently playing with a horseshoe lodged in his anus) threw up a prayer of a 3 when the shot clock was expiring...and swished it.

Having said all that, the Celts are still up 3-2. They still have one more chance at home to close this out. Bad Dwight Howard and Vince Carter are lurking somewhere with one more massive stinkbomb each still lodged in their system. But the Perkins/Baby/Sheed situation looms large, particularly if neither of Perkins' technicals are rescinded by the No Balls Association. Ray and KG need to play much better in Game 6, especially Garnett. He has yet to have his impact felt in this series on both ends of the floor, and for the Celtics to advance we need to see more of the Cleveland-series KG.

We'll see you in Boston Friday night Orlando. Please leave your horseshoes and your hometown referees in Florida. Now if you'll excuse me, I heard a knock at the door. Stern sent his goons to put the kaibosh on this blog...can't let anyone know last night game's was a fraud...