Red and Mattes jump into The 300s Podcast studio to discuss all the swirling Celtics rumors that are out there. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the NBA Offseason is the best show on TV.
– Kemba Walker signing a max deal with the Celtics?
– Kyrie Irving is a PILL
– Al Horford is likely gone
– Are the Celtics’ young guys getting off too easy for their role in the drama around the team last season?
– Recapping the Celtics draft night and what it means for the 2019-20 roster
Papa Giorgio rightfully brought to my attention that The 300s didn’t have any swag for our miserable fans in New York. I’ve always kind of rooted for the Mets solely because Yankees fans hate them too so the enemy of my enemy is my friend I guess. Where my Mets fans at??
Get the custom Circus design on t-shirts, tank tops, stickers, iPhone cases and whatever else your heart desires. Hell, we put it on shower curtains just in case you really want to bathe in it. Buy The 300s Circus gear now!
Tom Brady is a nice guy by all accounts, psychotically competitive, but a really nice guy. Its almost hard to believe because you just expect these all-time great athletes to just be dickheads whether its Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. So without even meaning to do so Tom Brady just dunked on Peyton Manning here.
Despite the bitter rivalries that the Patriots have had over the years with the Colts and the Broncos, despite all the heartache each guy has delivered to the other’s team, despite all that they’re still friends! Tom Brady probably genuinely meant this as a kind gesture too. Except when I see that picture all I can think of is how Tom Brady just came off his 6th Super Bowl championship and is about to begin the hunt for No. 7 while Peyton Manning is making mildly amusing car insurance commercials for a living.
For a guy that was once crowned the greatest of all time in Peyton Manning this has got to sting. To watch your greatest rival not only pass you, but to stomp on your throat, rip that title right out of your hands, and then continue to tack on MVPs and Super Bowl victories well into his 40s.
Tom Brady: even when he’s trying to be nice he’s smoking people.
ESPN – Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 center from UCF, will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Boston Celtics, a source told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Fall was not selected Thursday night during the NBA draft.
Fall averaged 10.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and shot 74 percent from the field over his four-year collegiate career. During his senior season, he posted marks of 11.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and hit 74.8 percent of his attempts.
Fall has attracted attention because of his size and because he held his own against Zion Williamson in UCF’s one-point loss to Duke in the NCAA tournament.
Exhibit 10 contracts, introduced in the NBA’s most recent collective bargaining agreement, are one-year deals paying the minimum salary. They also can be used for two-way contracts.
So technically the Celtics signed Tacko Fall to some phony bologna deal called an Exhibit 10 contract, which I have never even heard before this week.
“[Its] a one-year, non-guaranteed deal that allows teams to carry up to 20 players on their roster before the start of the regular season. If a player is waived before the season begins, he is then eligible for a $50,000 bonus if he joins the team’s G-League affiliate.” – Boston.com
What that means is Tacko will be given a shot to play for the C’s Summer League team in Vegas and then Danny will assess if he’s worth a flyer. Unless he absolutely savages people in the summer league I would not expect to see Tacko in a uniform that has anything other than a red lobster on the front next season.
If the name Tacko Fall sounds familiar to you, and like me you aren’t a giant college basketball guy, its most likely because he made you cry watching SportsCenter over your morning cereal.
So while I would not expect much from Tacko just yet, its hard to not be intrigued by a 7’6″ center. Especially since everyone and their mother has been bitching about the Celtics’ lack of a “rim protector” for my entire adult life. No doubt, we will keep you guys updated on how he does in the summer league this season.
Boston.com – “We want a ballpark that really looks like Worcester, tastes like Worcester, smells like Worcester — a ballpark that is really representative of its home town,” Rea, the executive vice president of real estate development and business affairs for the Pawtucket Red Sox, recently told Boston.com in an interview.
Over the last month, PawSox officials have begun to reveal what that exactly could mean.
Rea says they’re currently “knee deep” in the planning efforts for the future home of the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate, who will begin playing in Worcester in 2021. The team announced the move last August, along with plans to build a 10,000-seat stadium in Worcester’s Canal District as part of a development project that includes restaurants, apartments, and a hotel overlooking the ballpark…
…has partnered with Worcester-based craft brewer Wormtown Brewery and beverage distributor Atlas to curate a locally inspired beer menu.
“We want people to be able to have Coors and Miller and Bud, but also have the local flare that I think the Worcester and Central Mass. area is becoming known for,” Rea said.
Welcome to Worcester. Dollar Twenty Five.
Larry Lucchino is most famous for three things: 1.) Designing the beautiful Camden Yards ballpark in Baltimore 2.) Leading the revival and renovations of the modern day Fenway Park and 3.) Running Theo Epstein out of town over a pissing contest. Obviously No. 3 is not ideal, but No. 1 and No. 2 are great legacies, which is why I have faith in Larry building something awesome in Worcester.
At first glance Polar Park seems like just another licensing rights sell out that means nothing. Whether intentional or not, it actually works really well because (at least for the Pawtucket Red Sox) the Triple-A team’s mascot currently is…
Yup, a polar bear. Or “Osos Polares de Pawtucket” if you happened to grab the fire flames hispanic themed hat like myself.
Larry’s even brought in the same architects to design the new park that have been leading the Fenway renovations for the last two decades.
It sounds like they’re being pretty creative with the entrances too, which is great not only for designing a unique experience but also helps with the bottle neck problem so many parks have.
Similar to Fenway, team officials are planning to have entrances all around Polar Park, so that fans can enter from different angles and the “full circumference of the venue is busy and activated,” Rea said. The park will also be built into a hill. So while fans entering the home-plate side on Madison Street would come in on street level, those coming from the direction of Worcester’s lively Green Street restaurant and bar scene would actually walk down into the stadium from center and right field (think Baltimore’s Camden Yards with a Jersey Street-type scene above the outfield seats).
I can’t tell you how many times theres been a massive line at Fenway right when you cross over the bridge to only just bomb down around to the Ted Williams statue and just double back to save a few minutes.
“I think there will be some unique outfield geometry and architecture,” he said. “We’re still putting those final pieces in place. But I think there will be some unique Fenway-esque architecture, if not identical dimensions and identical height walls. But some things will certainly have that sort of feel to it — not just some generic, perfectly symmetrical outfield.”
Fenway-esque architecture? Hell if I know what that means. I would think as the Triple-A team you would want players to get used to the same dimensions that the parent club is using in their home ballpark so that would make sense, but who knows.
Anddd its gonna be pricey!
According to the Worcester Business Journal, it will be the fourth-most expensive minor league park ever built when adjusted for inflation.
“We want a ballpark that has Fenway charm, but with the modern amenities that you expect from a 21st century ballpark,” Rea said.
The “flexible seating and social areas” are a great idea because sometimes you just want to grab a sausage and a couple beers and shoot the shit with your buds.
Around 7,200 to 7,500 of the park’s 10,000-person capacity will be traditional, fixed ballpark seats, Steinberg said at a fan preview night in Pawtucket last month. The rest will be flexible seating and social areas catering toward younger fans and families. Rea thinks such gathering spaces will be key for attracting students from the 13 colleges in the Worcester area, who have reportedly complained about not having anywhere to mingle with each other.
I’ve done this at plenty of Sox games when I stumble onto $10 tickets and its a blowout. The roof deck down the first base line is one of my favorite spots in Fenway. It also reminds me of the open local brewery and picnic table areas I raved about in our Portland SeaDogs ballpark review.
We’ll be heading back to Portland in August for another SeaDogs game and I’ll probably hit Pawtucket again for the seasons over. Needless to say I am a huge fan of minor league ballparks, whether its Pawtucket or Portland or the NH Fisher Cats or even some Brockton Rox games back in the day. Still need to make it to the Hartford Yard Goats who apparently have a sick brand new stadium downtown, but I will 100% be checking out the Worcester stadium once the PawSox move their in 2021.
Until then, please please just don’t ruin the team name with some gimmicky mascot. As Frank Lucas once said, “thats a brand name.”
As per usual the NBA Draft was the can’t miss fashion show of the year. I mean even Maria Taylor was just straight up flaunting her neon Yeezys right in my face while interviewing each player.
Maria Taylor is most definitely wearing the Frozen Yellow’s. We can’t win, fam.
Bol Bol, who I was PINING for the Celtics to draft, had arguably the best outfit of the night with his suit that will undoubtedly turn another NBA athlete into Venom sooner than later.
Ja Morant just looked like a guy straight out of the 90s and more specifically a fit you’d expect to see on the cover of someone’s Death Row Records debut album.
Assuming this isn’t a religious thing because if it is then forget what I’m about to say, but this is just a preposterous outfit for a guy who just became a millionaire. Legit looks like a Matrix set costume.
While the ESPN analysts were not as kind, with one of them saying he looked like he was wearing drapes, I audibly gasped when I saw Tyler Herro’s suit.
A lot of loud outfits on draft night that you really have to be a rapper or an athlete, or at the very least a very wealthy Silicon Valley bro, to pull off.
Scenes from the Green Room: Kentucky trio PJ Washington, Keldon Johnson and Tyler Herro pic.twitter.com/S3QURpcDuE
So to be honest I have been dreading this day for months because I work less than a mile from the Encore Boston Casino. It looms over me from the parking lot of my 9-5 like the Eye of Sauron. The traffic in this city is murder-suicide inducing enough as is so adding another several thousand people to the mix on these one road towns seems like a great way for me to wind up on the news. But dread it, run from it, destiny still arrives all the same.
Just a few minutes away from the grand opening of Encore Boston Harbor casino – look at those crowds! 50,000 people expected today. Would you wait in this line? #7NEWSpic.twitter.com/R22UjhNWQ5
As of 11 a.m. there are 4,000 people still waiting to get into the Encore Boston Harbor. @wbz Still waiting on the official number of people who came in before 11.
You have to be absolutely outside of your mind to wait in a line with thousands of people just for the opportunity to give your money to a casino. I am all for doing some gambling and blowing a few sheckles in Vegas, but thats passive money spent with a buzz. Waiting in line for god knows how long in EVERETT is a pre-meditated way to spend a Sunday.
Meet the man who waited 17 hours for the grand opening of the Encore Boston Harbor https://t.co/H94y466kvj
I know this will simply be a matter of supply and demand and demand is never higher than the day of the grand opening, but people hoping to get a stack of high society on the cheap can think again. The hotel rooms in the Encore hotel are STARTING at $675 a night and quickly ramp up to four figures. The table minimums are going to shock the average joe looking to play some blackjack too.
Biggest issue I’m hearing from people walking out to Encore is the price point. One woman says $50 minimum bet is too much. She says it prices out the everyday person @NBC10Boston
— Perry Russom NBC10 Boston (@PerryNBCBoston) June 23, 2019
Now with all that being said, from everything I’ve heard the place is insanely nice and you immediately forget you’re anywhere near Boston. All the reviews from people that got early access were glowing.
Initial thoughts on @EncoreResortBH
– An incredibly impressive facility, top to bottom. 5 star all the way. You’d have to be a boring prude to think otherwise.
– It needs a sports book.
– People seem genuinely pumped to be working there.
– They’re not kidding, DON’T DRIVE THERE
Thats really the main reason I want to go. Just pretend like I’m in an episode of Miami Vice, ferrying across the water to do some undercover gambling and bust a druglord on his way out of the high rollers room. CUE THE MUSIC!
I am all for players celebrating, jumping around, bat flipping, even flipping the bird to opponents if they feel the need. If you want to act like Kenny Powers on the mound then I encourage you to do just that. Take Max Muncy for example, who did not appreciate Madison Bumgarner telling him to “don’t watch the ball” after Muncy took him yard a couple weeks ago.
Madison Bumgarner: “Don’t watch the ball, you run.”
Max Muncy: “If you don’t want me to watch the ball, you can get it out of the ocean.” 😯
I love it. Baseball needs more of this stuff. Which brings us to Marcus Stroman, who I personally love. The guy gets under everyone’s skin, is a bonafide stud major league pitcher at 5’8″, and oh he can spit bars too.
Marcus Stroman likes to get fired up, yell on the mound, and generally make wild hand gestures like an Italian girlfriend, but Dennis Eckersley was NOT a fan of Stroman’s celebrations on the mound on Sunday.
That’s not Dennis Eckersley calling Stroman’s celebrations “tired,” is it?
“He was aggressive and animated on the mound, and he was known for his intimidating stare and pumping his fist after a strikeout. “https://t.co/Cu6cA6k49A
Does he sound like he’s trying to go Super Saiyan on the mound while up 5 runs in the 6th inning? Yes he does, but whatever. If I’m a player I just quietly bide my time until Stroman’s next start comes around and I hit one of his hanging curves onto Landsdowne.
And I love Eck, he’s one of my favorite people in America. I vehemently defended him in the David Price debacle, hell we even made YUCK t-shirts in his honor. However, Marcus Stroman clapped back on Twitter with the perfect response and unfortunately I think Eck has to just take the L and move on here.
We are entering a youth movement. The sooner you accept that the sooner you can go back to watching Celtics games without smashing the TV. Now tonight is the NBA Draft and the Celtics have three first round picks, 14, 20, and 22. AKA trash picks. Picking that late in the NBA Draft gets you bench players and home run swings on high ceiling guys with massive red flags. Enter Bol Bol. This has been the only guy I’ve wanted the Celtics to draft all year long (assuming they didn’t backdoor their way into another top 5 pick, which they didn’t). Son of the NBA shot blocking legend Manute Bol, Bol Bol is one of the few college basketball players that I’ve somewhat followed this season because the dude just fascinates me. He is 7’2″, runs like a deer, oh and did I mention he DRAINS threes?
Now it seems like the Celtics drafting Bol Bol is a legitimate possibility tonight. Granted he is 7’2″ coming off a foot surgery, but hey scared money don’t make no money.
Either way, just about everyone has the big man sliding to the 14-25 range in the first round, so if they want him the Celtics will likely have ample opportunity to grab him.
The Ringer had a great piece on just how dangerous the big man could be in the league:
“At 19, he already possesses an offensive arsenal that should make him a gamebreaker in the modern NBA…his shot is the skill which makes him an NBA player. He hit on 52 percent of his 25 attempts at Oregon and 48.9 percent on 45 attempts on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player of his height as fast or dexterous.And that’s scary. Momentum is mass times velocity, and Bol generates an awful lot of momentum on his skinny legs.”
He would have been a Top 5 pick if not for the injury or if he were able to go straight from high school to the draft, which cannot return to NBA rules soon enough. However the injury derailed his one and only college season and hurt his draft stock. Bol played in just 9 games at Oregon averaging 21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 56.1 field goal %, and an eye popping 52.0% on 3 pointers.
While a foot injury to a 7 footer scares the shit out of me, this is EXACTLY why Danny Ainge has all these picks. In the absence of an Anthony Davis mega deal, you have three first rounders so you can take a flyer on a guy like Bol. While he could flame out and never make an impact in the league, he could also drink some more milk, solidify his bones and become one of the best players in the NBA. The last time Danny passed on an unproven, high ceiling player was in 2013 when he passed on Giannis Antetokounmpo in favor of Kelly Fucking Olynyk. While Olynyk has become a decent role player in the NBA, Giannis is arguably the best player in the league right now. This isn’t the NFL where you can build quality depth through the draft with mid round picks. No, the 14th pick in the NBA draft gets you bench players and home run swings. There are very few elite NBA players that come this late in the draft without some major red flags around them.
Barring a massive draft night trade (which allegedly is a possibility), the Celtics are staring a youth movement right in the face. Bring me Bol Bol and lets swing for the fences, Danny.
THIS is telling. This is 1,000% about Kyrie Irving and if you don’t agree you are lying to yourself. I love Jaylen Brown, I think he has a lot of untapped potential which we’ve seen in spurts the past 2+ seasons, but he has yet to put it all together. Obviously he’s a very intelligent guy as the youngest elected VP of the NBA Players Association, and entering his fourth year in the league its time for Brown to show why he was a No. 3 overall pick. As for the ice cold IG headline, I think we all know that Jaylen Brown fucking hates Kyrie’s guts. From his midseason interviews clapping back at Kyrie for throwing “the young guys” under the bus:
For context. Jaylen wasn’t even asked about Kyrie comments. He wanted to talk about it.
Q: How do you stop being uptight?
A: “We can’t make comments. We can’t point fingers. We just gotta empower each other. If we don’t everybody’s going to go into their own little shell.”
Jaylen Brown: “We’ve got to be more accountable as a group. It’s not one guy’s fault. It’s not young guys, old guys’ fault. It’s everybody. We all have to be accountable to turn this thing around.”
To his post-game comments after getting knocked out of the playoffs by Milwaukee:
“I tried to do the best I could with the cards I was dealt. I tried to be mature about the process and handle it the best I could.” #Celtics#CelticsTwitter
And lets not forget Brad Stevens’ comments after that Milwaukee series too.
“I always reference Jayson and Jaylen, I can’t imagine handling what they have to handle at 20 and 22. I cant fathom it. I would have cracked a long, long time ago.”
So hopefully this is addition by subtraction when Kyrie walks, but I gotta admit I do not feel great about this team if when Al Horford signs somewhere else too. That last sentence is something that sports radio has mocked for the past three years because yes Al Horford is not objectively worth $30 Million a year, but he is was still an integral piece of this team’s success.
The 300s 