Category: Celtics

John Karalis of Reds Army Joins The 300s Podcast to Talk Celtics

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We had a huge guest this week as the co-founder of Reds Army, John Karalis, joined The 300s Podcast to discuss everything Boston Celtics, his entrepreneurial background, the state of digital media in 2018, and we even break down some of the best craft beers to enjoy during a game.

You’ve seen and heard John on FOX 5, 98.5 the Sports Hub, Boston.com, as well as the Locked On Celtics podcast. As one of the hardest working guys covering the NBA today, you can find John on twitter @RedsArmy_John as well as http://www.thesportsdaily.com/reds-army/ and his latest endeavor with Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/JohnKaralis

Subscribe, rate, and review The 300s Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify!

Hey at Least the Celtics Start Training Camp Tomorrow!

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Welp. That was a rough one for the Pats on Sunday night.

Perhaps we’ll take the time to review the game. Perhaps we’ll simply try to move on and repress the memory entirely.

Or maybe we can change gears altogether and focus on the Boston sports team with arguably the best chance to win a title within the next calendar year. I’m talking, of course, about our Boys in Green.

The Celtics are set to open training camp on Tuesday, September 25, which is something that probably snuck up on many fans considering the team was still playing meaningful ball less than four months ago.

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Fortunately, there aren’t many questions for this team heading into 2018 besides maybe how Brad will dish out enough minutes to the team’s loaded group of deserving players and keep everyone happy at the same time. It’s really not a bad “problem” to have – as long as egos and personal aspirations don’t get in the way, of course.

And Brad will need to figure things out quickly, as the first preseason game is actually this upcoming Friday night against the Charlotte Hornets. The first regular season contest doesn’t follow too far behind either, with the Celtics set to tip the year off against the Sixers at home on October 16.

Since many of us – myself included – are still in Sox and Pats mode at the moment, here’s a quick little Celtics primer to whet your appetite before the team gets back after it tomorrow in Brighton:

Is Everyone Healthy?

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YES. It seems like everyone is pretty much ready to go without reservation.

Considering the Celtics were without not only two of the best players on their roster, but also two of the very best players in the league, in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward for most of last season (at least in Hayward’s case), this is fantastic news.

Daniel Theis, a solid but very unappreciated bench piece last season, is also expected to be ready to go after suffering a season-ending knee injury in March.

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I don’t think I really need to go into how good Kyrie and Hayward are or what their presence could do for team that was mere minutes away from going to the NBA Finals last season. Just think: We’re adding two top-20 players to a squad that just months ago almost (and probably should have) defeated LeBron before he reached the Finals, which is something that hasn’t happened in EIGHT years.

If that doesn’t getting the juice flowing for ya, then I don’t know what will.

And if there’s still any doubt in your mind about how Hayward will readjust after almost a full-year layoff, here’s what a usually pretty tight-lipped Brad Stevens had to say just last week (h/t Boston Herald):

“He’s been really diligent all the way through his rehab. I watched him go through the steps of working out to one-on-one to 2-on-2 to 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 in some of the open gyms the guys are having. Like anything, there’s always going to be a period of adjustment. From my eye and anybody else who has watched, he looks like he looked before.”

For a guy who usually like to play things close to the vest and temper expectations whenever possible, he doesn’t seem to be mincing words whatsoever when it comes to his confidence in Gordon this season.

Theis will also only add to an already loaded bench, and as far as we know the rest of the roster looks to be in tip-top shape as well.

This team is ready to rock n’ roll.

What Will Robert Williams’s Role Be?

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Besides the potential overall minutes distribution challenge, the biggest question in terms of their role on the team this year is with rookie Robert Williams, to whom we at The 300s affectionately refer as “Bob.”

Bob has had a bit of a rough start to his Celtics career after being taken with the 27th pick in this past June’s NBA draft. From missing conference calls to missing entire friggin’ flights across the country, the soon-to-be 21-year-old saw a rather embarrassing string of events cloud the excitement Celtics Nation initially had after grabbing such a freakish talent at the end of the first round.

There shouldn’t be any doubt about his talent, however. Not only does he possess great size at 6’10”, but he can also move like a wing player and has the ability to jump through the roof. While it may take a while for his scoring prowess to develop in the NBA, he can be the athletic, rim-runner/protector that the Celtics have lacked for quite some time. Sure, guys like Aaron Baynes and Al Horford were very effective defenders in the post last season, but Williams has Defensive-Player-of-the-Year-level potential. He could be an answer to the Draymond Greens and Clint Capelas of the world that the Celtics had no answer for previously.

Especially with an already overloaded roster, we may need to be patient with Bob, but the eventual payoff could be worth the wait.

Who’s Gonna Be THE Guy Behind Kyrie?

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I think by now everyone gets the point that the Celtics have a pretty sick roster. And while this technically could change by season’s end, I don’t think there are many out there who would argue that Kyrie isn’t still the team’s crown jewel. Horford also knows his role, as does Baynes and the rest of the reserves.

But when it comes to definitive roles for the Celtics’ insanely good trio of wing players – Hayward, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown – things get a bit murkier.

Of the three, Hayward has the best resume, and until Tatum truly takes off into superstardom (which he ABSOLUTELY will) Hayward has to be considered the leader of the pack and the one who should be expected to get the most minutes right away.

And no disrespect to Brown, who simply annihilated everyone’s expectations last season, but I’m unsure if he’s quite on the same level as Hayward and where I expect Tatum to be to start the year.

But if I’m being entirely honest, I think Tatum has the ability to be the top dog in the group by season’s end, if not much sooner. Red pointed out last week the fact that ESPN already has him ranked as a top-25 player in the league, and if you’ve followed us at all over the past year you know that neither of us are even remotely shy when it comes to expressing our love for Tatum.

I think some may still be sleeping on him due to the fact he’s not even legally allowed to drink a beer yet, but the guy is ridiculously skilled and already plays with the confidence of a 10-year veteran. If given enough minutes, he will be an All-Star this season, and nobody should be surprised if he ends up being the Celtics’ No. 2 guy this year.

Again, no disrespect to Hayward or Brown, but Tatum is going to be the face of the franchise going forward – whether Kyrie stays here or not.

So there you have it! The first official piece of the 2018 Celtics season. Stay tuned to The 300s throughout the entire season for all your Celtics news and more. Let’s goooooo!!!

ESPN Ranks Jayson Tatum as the 23rd Best Player in the NBA and I Feel Some Sort of Way

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So the Celtics have been getting a lot of love on ESPN’s Top 100 Players ranking they’ve been slowly releasing over the past couple of weeks with 6 (and counting) players cracking the list. But, what has me all jazzed up is the hype around my boy Jayson Tatum. After an excellent rookie season, Tatum looks ready to take the next leap into superstardom and ESPN seems to agree.

A quick explanation of how ESPN ranks these players:

“NBArank is a prediction for the coming season. Dozens of panelists from across ESPN, The Undefeated and FiveThirtyEight — TV analysts, reporters, editors, producers and researchers — voted to forecast which players would be best in 2018-19, taking into account both the quality and the quantity of their contributions.”

Before we get to Tatum, lets take a look at the full breakdown of every Celtics players that made the list. (ESPN has yet to release the Top 20 players yet so obviously Kyrie Irving is in there somewhere.)

  • Terry Rozier – No. 82
    • Rozier went from fans complaining Danny Ainge wouldn’t throw him into trades for rentals like Serge Ibaka to a lethal scorer off the bench that even spawned an iconic nickname in Scary Terry.
  • Marcus Smart – No. 55
    • Smart is the ultimate enigma as a player that is an average to awful shooter who doesn’t put up big scoring numbers, but is a defensive savant and is the energy guy to end all energy guys. It’s tough to rate a player that makes all the little plays, but the Celtics sorely missed him when he was out last year.
  • Gordon Hayward – No. 40
    • This is a 20 spot drop for Hayward, which seems like a bit much, but thats almost entirely due to uncertainty after missing all of last season. How will Hayward mesh with the Celtics was an interesting question last year and that was before the emergence of Tatum and Jaylen Brown. A good problem to have indeed.
  • Jaylen Brown – No. 37
    • A HUGE jump for Jaylen as he wasn’t even on the list last year. With a career best 39.5% from 3-pt range, 18 PPG in the playoffs, all while becoming an elite defender, Brown will be a huge factor for the C’s this season. He just may need to adjust to less playing time with the explosion of Tatum and the return of Hayward.
  • Al Horford – No. 34
    • Say it louder for the people in the back, ESPN. “Average” Al is the 34th best player in the league according to this survey. Horford may thrive this year as he’ll be asked less than he already is to be a leading scorer, which should allow him to facilitate until the cows come home.
  • Jayson Tatum – N0. 24
    • Obviously last year was Tatum’s rookie season so he wasn’t on this list before because he was still playing at DUKE. To go from playing for Coach K to being ranked the 24th best player in the NBA at the age of 20 is unreal. This truly has me feeling some kind of way. As I said over and over again last year, Jayson Tatum is a future 1st Team All-NBA player and he only got better as the season went along.

Here’s what ESPN had to say about Tatum as we gear up for his sophomore season.

“Tatum evolved from role-playing starter into playoff closer, calmly averaging 18.5 PPG in 19 postseason games, looking like a longtime star in the process. With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward back, it will be interesting to see if Tatum is asked to take a backseat.

Given Brad Stevens’ willingness to put his five best players on the floor regardless of position, I wouldn’t expect Tatum’s minutes to decline. He can play some small-ball 4 and has proved he can remain efficient without volume. With that said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get fewer opportunities given Boston’s multitude of weapons”

Now before we all crown the Celtics champions lets remember it’s still September so anything can happen. Guys can take a step back, players can shatter their ankles, or another Super Team could rise out of the ground, but this Celtics team looks special. Not only are they chock full of talent, but they are so, so flexible that its scary. Just about every guy in their starting 5 can switch onto almost any position on defense. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum could probably stand next to each other and cover the entire width of the basketball court. Or just give them the ball and get out of the way as we saw in the playoffs last year. Horford is the ultimate facilitator and we haven’t even seen this team play with Gordon Hayward yet.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe is even more hyped about this team‘s potential than I am:

“This quintet is the most exciting group since Golden State stumbled into the Death Lineup: Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford.”

Them fighting words. The Death Lineup is essentially the most efficient lineup in NBA history by most metrics. The Death Lineup is just lethal from any position as it features a starting 5 of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green. So to be compared to that?

Still not enough Celtics love for you? Alright lets pump their tires even more with these excerpts. Anddd go!

Brian Windhorst: “I’m bullish on Jayson Tatum’s future. (I know, join the club.) I think he has an outside shot to be a top-10 player next season.. I think the guy is an absolute stud in the making…I think he’s still ranked too low. I see him and the Celtics as having huge seasons.”

Kevin Pelton: “Tatum is nearly [a top 20 player] at age 20, making him a safe bet to reach the top 10.

Not to mention Tatum has been studying and practicing with some guy named Kobe Bryant so that may help him improve even further. Kobe has embraced the mentor role much better than I thought he would in retirement and thats a game changer for Tatum who has essentially modeled his entire game around the Hall of Famer.

Just a quick reminder that the Celtics are back on the court and playing organized basketball once again in just seven days. Then the regular season, and the sky high expectations that go along with it, kicks off October 16th at home as the 76ers come to town.

 

Ray Allen Tries to Make Good With Boston Celtics Nation Before Hall of Fame Speech, And We Should Let Him

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Ray Allen

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Ray Allen said his five seasons with the Boston Celtics were the “most important time in my life,” even as the fractured relationship with members of the 2007-08 title team hovers over his impending induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Allen made headlines earlier this week by suggesting that he didn’t expect any members of that 2008 team to congratulate him on his induction and confirmed during an appearance on ESPN’s “The Jump” Thursday that he hadn’t heard from most of his former teammates this week.

But Allen wants Boston fans to remember what the Celtics accomplished during that Big Three era and not the bitterness that has lingered since he defected to the rival Miami Heat in 2012.

“People look at how I left, but I look at how I lived while I was [in Boston],” Allen said Thursday in a news conference after members of this year’s induction class received their Hall of Fame jackets on the eve of induction.

“That to me is the most important time in my life because I had never won. And I was able to win. And that’s probably the most important thing that I want people to remember, is the time that we spent together.”

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been pretty torn regarding the whole situation.

(For those who don’t know the story or why Ray’s even saying stuff like this in the first place, here’s an excellent summary of the entire saga from SB Nation to get you up to speed.)

Look, I still want to love Ray so bad. From the time I first started watching the game back in the early 2000s until just about four years ago, there was NOBODY who could shoot the rock like him. That flawless, textbook form, sweet stroke, and ice-cold confidence made him one of the all-time greats, and there’s absolutely no way the Celtics put up that last banner in 2008 without him. (Also, I cannot count how many games of NBA Jam he’s single-handedly won me in my lifetime, and for that I will be forever in his debt.)

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But this situation is U-G-L-Y, and to be honest it’s hard to try and defend a guy who’s basically been ostracized by pretty much every single one of his former teammates with whom he almost won two titles.

And it’s not even like he’s just being slightly criticized; he is legitimately being shunned and dragged through the mud by basically anyone and everyone who played with him in Boston.

Just take a look at this quote from Kevin Garnett from media day during training camp in 2012, only just a few months after Ray left and signed with the Heat (h/t ESPN Boston):

“I don’t have Ray’s number any more. I’m not trying to communicate. I’m just being honest with everybody in here… It’s just what it is.”

Damn. That escalated pretty quickly. And sadly, it hasn’t gotten any better since.

(K.G. later went on to say that same day that he understood if Ray was really making what he believed to be the best decision for his family and that “I wish Ray the best.” But the tone of his voice and the first part of the quote tells the true story.)

Ray ended up playing a huge role in Miami for two seasons before hanging ’em up after the 2013-14 season, which only further added to his already outstanding legacy. No but really, though, LeBron James should be thanking him for that second ring. Not only did Ray average a solid 10.3 points per game over those two seasons, but most importantly of all if Ray doesn’t hit that three with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, San Antonio would’ve won the series and LeBron would be 2-7 right now on the game’s ultimate stage.

On the flip side, things didn’t go so well after Ray’s departure for some of the Celts’ other key players during that great 2007-2012 run.

K.G. and Paul Pierce were both traded to Brooklyn the very next offseason, after a season in which the Celtics were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the New York Knicks in six games (aka the very same year Ray won the title with Miami). WOOF. Pierce went on to have a decent year for Brooklyn in 2014, and a mediocre one in Washington after that, before fading out entirely with the Clippers. K.G. dropped off even more quickly than Pierce, as he was traded as a novelty from Brooklyn back to his roots in Minnesota in 2015 before ultimately retiring after the 2015-16 campaign.

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Yeah, sure, this ultimately ended up being one of the greatest and most important trades in Celtics history. But it definitely hurt to see at the time.

No disrespect to K.G. or Pierce, two of my all-time heroes and absolute legends in their own right, but you can’t tell me there isn’t maybe just a smidge of jealousy adding fuel to the fire here.

Glen “Big Baby” Davis, fresh off his BIG3 championship title, is also no longer in the league. And Kendrick Perkins was just waived by the Cavaliers this past July after serving as nothing more than an extra body/intimidating sideline presence for the Cleveland LeBrons last season.

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Seriously, who’s messing with that face? NO ONE.

Rajon Rondo is still kicking around. In fact, he had quite the resurgence with New Orleans last year and is set to team up with…LEBRON JAMES in Los Angeles this upcoming season. SERIOUSLY??!! Talk about hypocrisy.

To be fair, though, if you really listen to what the guys were saying about Ray, it’s about much more than the fact he simply chose to go to Miami in 2012. They all mention that it was “the way” in which he left that truly mattered, as it seems as though he just bounced without a care after what was a pretty historic epoch in basketball history. K.G., Pierce, and the guys were hurt that Ray could so easily leave them in the dust, and that I can definitely understand.

There’s also this quote from Pierce in 2015 (h/t ESPN Boston):

“It was a weird relationship. We were all good friends on the court, but Ray always did his own thing. That’s just the way Ray was. Even when we were playing together, we’d be having a team dinner and Ray wouldn’t show up. We’d go to his charity events but Ray wouldn’t show up to somebody else’s.”

Not cool, Ray.

It definitely seems as though Ray could be a bit arrogant and selfish at times, and he’s got nobody but himself to blame there. But if we’re being fair, he also felt pushed out by Avery Bradley at the end of his career with the C’s, when K.G. and Pierce were still being treated like kings. So he might not be looking at his time in Boston, especially toward the end, with the same pair of rose-colored glasses as everybody else.

(And as far as his personal drama with Rondo goes: puhhh-lease. Rondo barely gets along with himself, let alone his teammates, and he lost any credibility he had with me in this situation the second he chose to sign with the Lakers this summer. Again: hypocrite.)

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Finally, the last point I’ll make is the fact that it’s tough to blame Ray for choosing to leave when he did. That offseason, K.G. was coming off two straight injury-marred seasons, Pierce was only getting older himself, and the best piece of young talent they had on the roster was trying to take his job. The writing was on the wall. Also, he had the chance to go play with a 28-year-old LeBron James and a still-in-his-prime Dwyane Wade. Which would you rather? (Also, how is what he did any different than what pretty much every superstar in the NBA has been trying to do for the past couple seasons?)

While I understand some of the reason why things went south with Ray, I really can’t believe how bad things have become. Hopefully, once K.G. and Pierce are inducted into the Hall within the next year or two the three can reunite with their swanky new jackets and let bygones be bygones.

Even if they don’t, I’m choosing to look at Ray’s time here in a positive light, and I’ll never forget that amazing 2008 season or the many fabled shots he hit throughout his career, time and time again. There is absolutely no doubt he deserves a spot in Springfield, no matter how you feel about him.

So, congratulations, Ray! You’ll always be one of the Green’s all-time greats in my book. Thanks for all the memories.

(What are your thoughts on the Ray Allen situation? Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook, or @the300sboston on Twitter )

But Seriously, Have People Been Paying Attention to Kyrie Irving’s Shoe Game?

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I have become fascinated with sneaker culture over the past couple of years, mainly with the supply and demand of hot new releases. It started with Yeezys. Despite the fact that the majority of Kanye’s clothing line is essentially Derelicte; a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique.

Despite that, Yeezy sneakers are actually fire flames. At least the Yeezy Boosts…some of the other Yeezy sneakers look like they came out of the Steph Curry “Dad has to mow the Lawn 7’s” batch.

Kanye releases his sneakers a few times a year with enough to supply to nearly outfit a small high school. AKA not many. So its damn near impossible to get the shoes unless you buy on the secondary market for an exorbitant mark up, which I refuse to do. Defeats the purpose. It’s basically become a game. Find all the retailers that are going to have any Yeezys, what online outlets will have them, what contests you can enter, and then when Saturday morning arrives, open up 2 laptops, 2 iPhones, and a tablet and enter the online waiting room. I have yet to actually get past that goddamn waiting room to, ya know, buy a pair. But hey thats half the fun, battling the bots and other sneaker nerds to try and score some rare sneakers.

*whispers* I’ll see you September 21st

ANYWAYS, back to the blog about Kyrie and the hot, hot, heat he’s been wearing recently.

An injured man does not walk around with custom Lucky Charms sneakers. No this is the move of a man so cocky, so confident, he is just counting the days until the season starts so he can resume his reign as commander of the only NBA team that can legitimately claim “I got next.”

Only an asshole would sell shoes based on a children’s cereal out of the standard orange box by the way. Nay, you need something a little more elaborate than that.

The man legitimately released a “Cereal Pack” of sneakers with other kinds of breakfast snacks like Cinnamon Toast Crunch as the inspiration.

Hell, if you wanna go really meta, Kyrie even dropped his own Kix kicks.

Gotta have your Wheaties too, kids.

This is actually a sequel to some of the Celtics specific sneakers Kyrie was rocking last season.

So keep doing your thing Kyrie, and if you’re feeling generous The 300s is not against accepting donations in the form of shoes, because as the wise Deion Sanders once said:

NBA Considers Three Rule Changes for 2018-19, and It’s All About the Offense, Baby

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Bleacher Report – The NBA is reportedly exploring potential rule changes involving the shot clock and foul calls that would trigger a replay review.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA competition committee is recommending resetting the shot clock to 14 seconds after offensive rebounds and expanding the definition of what constitutes a “hostile act” for the purpose of replay review. 

Wojnarowski added the NBA board of governors is likely to pass the rule changes at their meetings on Sept. 20-21 before going to the teams for approval. The measures will need two-thirds of the owners to approve in order to pass. 

Unlike the NFL, which has faced a lot of backlash for many of the rule changes they’ve implemented lately, what the NBA is trying to do here makes a lot of sense.

It’s pretty clear that the changes are being proposed in an effort to increase pace of play and promote more scoring chances for both teams on the floor each night.

First and foremost, decreasing the shot clock from 24 to 14 seconds after an offensive rebound should actually increase the amount of total shot attempts per game. Some may think that less time on the clock means less opportunity to take a shot, but in reality it’ll force teams to hoist it up more quickly, ultimately causing for more changes in possession and more opportunity for both sides to score the ball.

It’ll also force some of the old-school teams (i.e. San Antonio, Memphis) to get away from the traditional half-court style of play that seems to be becoming more and more extinct with each passing year. The NBA has been embracing the run-and-gun, fast-paced style of play for quite some time now, and teams that don’t start getting with the program are soon going to be left in the dust. Teams now need players at pretty much every position who can get out and run in transition (a la Golden State, Philadelphia, New Orleans, the Lakers), and who also display the ability to quickly adapt to abrupt changes in play. This rule change would only enhance the advantage those teams currently have.

tom cruise maverick GIF by Top 100 Movie Quotes of All Time

The rule is already in place in both the G League and the WNBA, and the NBA did actually experiment with the rule already in this year’s Summer League. Apparently the league was pleased with the results.

The expansion of what constitutes a clear-path foul will also only further aid transitional offense. No longer will the defender need to be between the offensive player and the basket to be in violation, as now the rule will penalize defenses from stopping the fast-break altogether. Per Wojnarowski:

Under the changes to the clear-path rule, a clear path to the basket would be in play in these three instances:

• “A personal foul is committed on any offensive player during his team’s transition scoring opportunity.”

• “When the foul occurs, the ball is ahead of the tip of the circle in the backcourt, no defensive player is ahead of the offensive player with the scoring opportunity and that offensive player is in control of the ball or a pass to him has been released.”

• “The defensive foul deprives the offensive team of a transition scoring opportunity.”

Finally, the league also wants to expand what constitutes a “hostile act” to now explicitly include interactions with referees and fans, instead of only concerning the players on the court. (I guess, even after all these years, the “Malice at the Palace” still weighs heavy on the mind of some NBA execs.)

My reaction to the news basically amounts to this:

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Do I think it’s going to significantly increase the score of each game? I mean, I guess we might actually see the average total score in a typical game go up a few notches. But does it really matter? Teams are already putting up ungodly offensive numbers every night, and I don’t think the Steph Currys or James Hardens of the world need more opportunity for extra buckets.

But if the goal is to promote pace of play and a more exciting product that keeps fans on the edge of their seats all game rather than being bogged down by sometimes painfully dull half-court, turtle-paced offenses then I guess that’s fine. (This ain’t Saturday morning pickup ball at the Y, people.)

We’ll likely have the official word on all three proposed changes by early October at the latest. For now, stay tuned.

In An Attempt To Actually Be On Time, Celtics Rookie Robert Williams Buys Apartment Next to Practice Facility

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Yahoo – Robert Williams’ NBA career did not get off to the best start. The day after he was selected by the Celtics with the 27th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Williams did not wake up on time for his conference call with the Celtics’ beat reporters.

After that, he missed a flight and was was absent for his first practice with the Celtics’ Summer League team. For a player with lottery-level talent who fell due to reported concerns with his maturity, he certainly confirmed those concerns early.

Now it seems he has taken a step in the right direction. During the rookie photoshoot Sunday, Williams said he bought an apartment right next to the Celtics’ brand new practice facility.

Welcome to Brighton, Bob! Can’t wait to get steaks with ya at the Stockyard, go on Dunkin’ runs down the street, maybe shop for some fresh New Balances, and if you’re interested my softball team plays across the street and could use a power hitting first baseman.

This is a smart move, whether it was self imposed or not who knows. Perhaps Danny Ainge gave him an ultimatum; either move to Brighton or move to Portland, ME and play for the Red Claws. You’re choice, Bob. Either way it’s a great idea as Williams will now be 100 yards from everything he needs, whether its getting in some extra shots, treatment, film etc. It has the fingerprints of the Bruins all over it too as they famously had top rookies move in with veterans right by the Garden rather than live on their own in booze fueled bachelor pads.

Jaylen Brown Predicts the Celtics Will “No Question” Make the NBA Finals

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Yahoo – Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown says there is “no question” that his team will be the Eastern Conference representatives in the NBA Finals next season. Brown made his feelings known on CJ McCollum’s “Pull Up” podcast, when asked about Boston’s championship chances.

“Oh, we’re getting to the Finals. No question about it,” Brown said.

The Celtics are the odds-on favorite in the East to reach their first finals since 2010 now that LeBron James has headed out west to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cockyyyyy. I normally wouldn’t love a dude from my team going into his third year proclaiming we’re going to the Finals. But this guy is Jaylen Brown and Jaylen Brown sounds pretty pissed that his toughest competition just skipped town.

“I hate how everybody is like, ‘Oh, LeBron’s gone in the East,'” Brown said. “I know he did have a strong hold on the East for the last seven years, but he barely got us out of there this year. And our mindset was like, ‘Man, he’s not beating us again.'”

Thats the sound of a guy who wants to destroy the competition not just survive the war of attrition that is the NBA playoffs. Thats a young guy brimming with confidence in not only his team but his own game, which only continues to improve. From his rookie to his sophomore season Brown improved his FG %, 3 Point %, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, and Blocks per game all while more than doubling his Points per Game from 6.6 and 14.5.

He probably won’t see the same 30 minutes per game he saw last year with Gordon Hayward out for the whole year, but that was a blessing in disguise for the Celtics. Brown was able to play a ton of minutes and develop his game, not to mention get some quality playoff experience, more than he ever would have been able to had Hayward played all year. So in theory his game should be a lot more efficient while now possessing the ability to put up 15-20 points on any given night when given the opportunity.

TLDR; Oct. 16th can’t come soon enough.

Do People Realize Former Celtics Big Man Jared Sullinger is DOMINATING in China?

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So I saw an article the other day about how former Celtics first round pick Jared Sullinger is playing overseas in the hopes of making an NBA comeback. We all remember Sullinger as the guy who was always a little too large, especially for a dude with foot and back issues. Basically the definition of unfulfilled potential, and he readily admits it in the article.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the former C’s big man is absolutely DOMINATING over in China for the Shenzhen Leopards. I feel like this is something people need to be made aware of. Last year Sullinger AVERAGED 30.1 points per game. That is absurd. He is basically as effective in China as Michael Jordan was over the course of his career in the NBA. Not to mention Sullinger is also grabbing 16.6 boards per game.

The guy seems to have finally found his place in the basketball world, albeit backing down former NBA scrubs and Chinese guys he probably towers over, but still good to see. Sullinger went off in a few games specifically too, dropping 41, 46, and 55 in three individual games.

Whats more absurd is that Sullinger’s 30 PPG was only good for ninth in the league. The Chinese Basketball Association is like some wet dream envisioned by Mike “Seven Seconds or Less” D’Antoni with absolutely zero defense allowed.

Now China obviously isn’t the NBA, but it is where a lot of former NBA players go to rebuild their value, collect a paycheck, or in the case of Stephon Marbury build a fanatical following and a Chinese shoe empire.

I mean, as we’ve written about previously, even Jimmer Fredette is dominating over in China. The Beast from BYU averaged 36.9 points per game in the CBA last year, second in the league. Jimmer, like Starbury, is also building a Chinese shoe empire.

If nothing else, China represents an opportunity to watch read about on Twitter how former big name flameouts in the NBA are finding their way to success overseas.

I’ve now spent the better part of my afternoon scrolling through Chinese Basketball Association stats just to find gems like this: former No. 6 overall pick Yi Jianlian, better known as “The Chairman” as coined by Bill Simmons way back in the day, is even putting up 27 points a game. Soo I can feel your enthusiasm for Sullinger’s stats waning the longer you read this blog…Well, former Celtic Brandon Bass averages 21 points per game…..Tyler Hansborough averages 20.8…..even Starbury is putting up 14.9 at 41 years old…

OK so maybe the Nets want to rethink about bringing Jared Sullinger back stateside…

PS – Apparently the Yi Jianlian Chairman thing might have never actually happened? Whoops. Good thing he was in fact terrible and averaged less than 8 PPG in his NBA career, otherwise the guy might have a bone to pick with Bill Simmons.