Tag: Celtics

The Process Ends Today

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Well, ladies and gentlemen, today is the today The Process finally ends, and how sweet it is to be the team that does it. The Sixers were always going to have a hard time beating the Celtics once Simmons went down for the year, but there was a glimmer of hope after Game 1 when Hayward got hurt. However, whatever light was left on their season was thoroughly stamped out by the drubbing in Game 2 and the lackluster finish in Game 3.

Just in case you didn’t watch, the Sixers were actually up 94-92 with under two minutes to play. But then they blew it. Embiid forced a terrible pass that was stolen by Smart, then got stuffed by Tatum, who then went on to block Richardson the next time down the court. The C’s finished on a 10-0 run to win 102-94. And that, my friends, is the end of the Philadelphia 76ers as we know them.

Yesterday afternoon, news broke that the Sixers, down 0-3 in the series, actually CANCELLED PRACTICE the day before Game 4. If that’s not throwing in the towel, I don’t know what is.

Image
“Get me TF outta here.” – Joel Embiid, probably.

As much as Embiid seems to fade in the fourth quarter, obviously you can’t blame this on him. As Scal said, Brett Brown should already have sold his house and started looking for a new job, but I don’t think it’s his fault either. The fault lies solely in the hands of Elton Brand.

Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Sixers, Celtics
Even in this picture Embiid looks tired from carrying these stiffs.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that Simmons and Embiid are a great core to build around. Beyond that, you need shooters. How easy is it for the Celtics to double team Embiid and just let mooks like Furkan Korkmaz and Alec Burks chuck bricks. You need real shooters around Embiid. Shake Milton and Josh Richardson are solid bench players, but that’s all they are. The real question is, why pay Tobias Harris more than any other Sixer ever with a $180 million max contract, and then pay Al Horford another $109 mil for 4 years on top of that? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??

Nearly $300 million on Harris and Horford has resulted in a combined 19.6 PPG, 17.3 RPG (fine), 6.7 APG, 1 steal and 1.6 blocks per game. They have hit exactly 0 threes in 13 attempts and have shot 34.9% from the field and 71.4% from the line. To put those numbers in perspective, Joel Embiid is averaging 30 and 13. It’s absolutely mind boggling that Brand thought JJ Redick and Jimmy Butler could be replaced with this kind of production. Sixers fans are crying themselves to sleep thinking about how they drafted Markelle Fultz over Jayson Tatum.

What the Sixers need to do is start by firing Brand and Brett Brown. Some people think Embiid will be traded, or even demand a trade, but I think that would be a bad move. Those two aren’t the problem. They need to get rid of the garbage contracts and add wing players who can shoot and play defense. DeMar Derozan, Marcus Morris, Evan Fournier, Goran Dragic, and Jordan Clarkson would all be good fits, assuming they can afford any of them. But they probably won’t, so us Celtics fans will continue to laugh, flaunt Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and bury them once again.

WTF Gordon! Hayward Out Minimum of 4 Weeks With Ankle Injury

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News broke a couple hours ago that Gordon Hayward is, drum roll please…..injured again. Repots are that he’ll miss a minimum of 4 weeks, which means he’s out through at least a potential second round Raptors matchup. Celtics fans everywhere:

Disappointed Muhammad Sarim Akhtar | Know Your Meme
Again Gordon?!

Here’s how the 300’s reacted:

-Red: “That dude has Triscuits for bones and ligaments.”
-Joe: “I just imagine Ainge saying we’re taking him out back and shooting him. Then Stevens grabbing the shotgun and saying, “no Danny, Gordon’s my dog.”
-Me: “Can his wife time her baby’s birth accordingly so it happens while he’s out?”

Celtics news: Brad Stevens provides update on Gordon Hayward's injury
“Why does my body suck?”

Seriously, how about this guy’s run in green? Dude’s only serious injury in 7 years in Utah was a broken finger, but he only missed a couple games. He was never an iron man, but this is getting ridiculous. In only 3 years, this is his list of injuries causing him to miss more than one game for the C’s:

-broken leg, right ankle sprain, concussion, broken left hand, and now grade 3 right ankle sprain. That’s not to mention the smattering of other bumps and bruises along the way.

In all seriousness, you have to feel for the guy. We all know how hard he’s worked to get back to this point, and he’s been an absolutely vital part of our success all year. He’s a genuinely good person, an unselfish teammate, a humble family man, and I really want to see him succeed. I truly believe he is the X factor in a Celtics championship run, but in order to do that he has to…fucking play. If he can’t…

Whelp, see ya later - How I feel asking for cakeday upvotes after the bombing - quickmeme
Big gulps, huh?

Time to trade him. Our bench is pretty terrible, and unloading him and a couple draft picks for some much needed depth is better than a great player who can’t stay on the floor. A bench comprising the Turkish Shark, Semi, Double Williams and Brad Wanamaker is not one that strikes fear into opponents’ hearts. Kemba and the J’s may be able to will us through the first two rounds, but we’re going to need Gordon if we want to make it past the Bucks.

Jay King on Twitter: "It appears Daniel Theis would like to end the war on Daniel Theis.… "
Just because.

Also worth mentioning, end the War on Theis. He deserves it. Go Green.

We’ve Got Bruins AND Celtics Playoff Games Tonight!

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I won’t lie, living in semi-quarantine for the past 5-6 months has been a mixed bag of misery for all of us so night’s live this take on even more significance than ever before. Two playoff games in one night was alway a luxury, but when you have nothing to watch for months except Netflix and reruns of Bar Rescue then you really appreciate this kind of sports overload. So kudos to Adam Silver for leading the way with the idea of putting an entire league into a bubble.

Boston Bruins (-1.5) vs Carolina Hurricanes
Bruins Lead the Series 2-1
Puck Drop: 8 pm, NESN
Breakdown: After Tuukka left the B’s in a precarious position by opting out of the season…the morning of a playoff game…Jaroslav Halak stepped in and played pretty damn well (minus the ugly goal he gave away trying to play the puck behind the net). So while it was en vogue to bash Tuukka for a number of reasons, many Bruins fans have ironically gotten exactly what they were hoping for: a new goalie. Halak was obviously never supposed to play in the playoffs because he’s the backup, but he’s not your typical backup. Since Tuukka never played well with a heavier workload, he and Halak have basically been splitting time evenly the past 2 seasons. Granted Tuukka was 2nd in the NHL this year in GAA, Halak wasn’t far behind at 7th in the league so we’re still in pretty good hands all things considered.

Boston Celtics (-5.5) vs Philadelphia 76ers
Tip Off: 6:30 pm, ESPN
Breakdown: The Celtics have had a lot of success against the Sixers in recent years, winning the last four playoff series the two have played against one another. Not to mention the C’s have beaten the Sixers in 18 of the last 24 regular season matchups. Now the Sixers are without Ben Simmons who suffered a season ending knee injury. Philly was already a dysfunctional mess before that so while I am always fearful of what a motivated Joel Embiid can do on any given night, I think the C’s win the series in 6 games.

Celtics Lose to Heat, Fall to 1-2 in Bubble

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This was a frustrating game to watch. The Heat, without their best player in All-Star Jimmy Butler and on the second night of a back-to-back, were able to pull off an impressive win over C’s. The Celtics started slow and never found their groove and trailed the entire game. They hung around and made the game close at the end, but this was really a game I thought the Celtics should have won.

The Heat are a competitive team and a tough matchup for whoever they draw in the first round of the playoffs. The Celtics are the only Eastern Conference team with a record over .500 against themI if we someone get matched up against them, I’m still betting on green. That said, the Heat are a very deep team with tons of shooting. Their length and athleticism match up well with the Celtics, who have similar strengths. Duncan Robinson, Goran Dragic, and Jae Crowder are all great role players to have, as we saw last night.

Image may contain: ‎3 people, ‎text that says '‎MiNL GמכTON ANKর ROSCON "WE HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED...WE LET OUR EMOTIONS PLAY TOO MUCH OF A PART TODAY.' " JAYSON TATUM IS DETERMINED BOUNCE BACK NEXT GAME VIA NBC SPORTS CLUTCHPOINTS‎'‎‎
Don’t say “we”. YOU got emotional. Don’t be a Kyrie, take responsibility for your own actions.

However, the reason the Celtics lost this game because they were lazy. They had a little spurt in the third where they closed the lead to one, then let off the gas pedal. They did a bad job of closing out on the perimeter, Tatum was constantly complaining to the refs, and ball movement was stagnant (Kemba led the with 4 of the team’s 15 assists).

Now, I don’t want to get too alarmist here or anything. The Celtics aren’t going to shoot 30% from beyond the arc, Marcus Smart is certainly not going to foul out in 16 minutes and Semi Ojeleye better not be taking 6 shots on a normal night. Bam Adebayo also shouldn’t be shooting 18 FT’s. But here’s a question:

The Robert Williams Time Lord T-Shirts Are Here and They Are Fantastic – The 300s
Where is he?

Where’s Time Lord? Where is he? And why the hell is Grant Williams getting more minutes than him? I understand that Grant is a “high IQ individual” and all that jazz, but he’s also slow, undersized and brings nothing to the table offensively other than a propensity for turnovers and missed 3’s. Time Lord, on the other hand, is an athletic beast who, even if he fouls a lot, could have thrown his weight around with Adebayo. Instead, you have Smart and Tatum combining for 11 fouls while Theis chases around Canadian Big Foot. Then, with mere seconds to go, Time Lord finds the floor only to commit three fouls in his 0 minutes of action.

The rest of the schedule shouldn’t be much of a problem, with the only competitive game left coming up Saturday against Toronto. I really thought the Celtics should have gone 7-1 in the bubble, but if we play like we did last night we’re staring 5-3 in the face.

The Celtics Are Back! Their Jumpshots? Still on the Way

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Okay, so maybe the C’s didn’t get the W we were all hoping for. To be honest, if you had to pick one game the Celtics were likely to lose out of the seeding games, this was clearly the one. Yes the Bucks were without Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton, but it’s not all bad. As a matter of fact, I feel pretty good about the first game back. Here’s why:

The Bucks are a great team. There’s no denying that. On the surface they don’t appear to be much more than Giannis throwing down Stretch Armstrong dunks and Kris Middleton chucking 3’s, but they are. They have great depth, plenty of shooters, they protect the rim (how many times did Tatum get stuffed at the rim? 4? 5?), and they get out fast in transition. But, despite all of that, Kemba’s minute restriction and Jayson Tatum playing the worst game of his professional career, this game was tied with 90 seconds to go. And I’m good with that.

Bearing that in mind, here are my takeaways from the game. I’ll start with the things I liked:

-Mike Breen saying BANG!
-Jaylen being aggressive. I always love to see JB attacking the paint. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but he got to the line 9 times, hitting 7.
-Going off that, the whole team did a good job of getting to the Free Throw line, something Celtics teams of the past have struggled at. Smart shot 8 FT’s, and the team as a whole went 27-34. That may be an off night for James Harden, but it’s good for the green.
-Marcus being Marcus. Whether he’s flopping, knocking down 3’s that make me say “don’t shoot!”, or turning defense into offense, I love it all. If I had to put money on one Celtics player not missing a beat, it would be Marcus Smart. The guy is an animal and I love it.
-Gordon Hayward doing a bit of everything. Gordon got off to a slow start in the first half, but he finished with 17 points, 9 boards and 6 assists. The Celtics are at their best when he contributes in every facet of the game and quietly fills the stat sheet. He did that last night.
-Kemba looked unimpeded in limited minutes. His burst was there, he hit three 3’s, got to the line, and made a few nice passes. Brad has indicated that he will increase his minutes tonight, so I look forward to that.

-Not a Celtic, but Sideshow Rob-in Lopez. Man, I wish this guy was a Celtic. His game is ugly, but he’s entertaining to watch. The way he moves makes me think of some weirdly athletic combination of Sideshow Bob and Jason Segel. He knocks down 3’s with his feet together, hits post moves with arms rotating like helicopter blades, and mean mugs the entire time he’s doing it. Hilarious.

There was a lot not to like as well, with these two plays being the most obvious. Now, I have to agree with the Bucks that the second play was a block. Smart was there before contact, but he was still moving out of the restricted section when Giannis rose into his shot. That’s why it was called a block.

In my opinion, that play never should have happened because he punched Theis in the kidney a minute earlier. Wanamaker had a foul for less contact on a screen earlier in the quarter and he got called, so it’s not hard to believe the refs simply didn’t want to foul out Giannis. A minute after the first no call the block happens, the Bucks go up 3 with 90 seconds left, and that’s the game.

NBA Meme Team on Twitter: "Anybody notice that Mark Jackson says this in just about every post-game interview? http://t.co/y9ASh7Rxb1"

Some other things I didn’t like:

-Mark Jackson.
-Fouling jump shooters. I think this was a product of being rusty because both teams did this early and got better as the game progressed, but please stop.
-Everything about Jayson Tatum’s game. Yikes. He SUCKED. The stat sheet says he went 2-18, but that’s generous considering the first basket should actually have been credited to the Bucks when two players failed to make a rebound and knocked it in themselves. That means Tatum actually shot 1-17 (a solid 5.8%), was a team worst -13 and made one of the dumbest defensive gambles in that unnecessary reach that led to the play above. DO NOT REACH ON GIANNIS WHEN HE’S 5 FEET BEHIND THE ARC!

To reiterate what I said at the start of this post, I’m fine with the way things went. Sometimes you get calls, sometimes you don’t. The Bucks are good and this wasn’t a playoff game, so I’m not worried about it. Tatum and the rest of the team have 7 more games to find their shots, hopefully starting with the Blazers tonight. Until then, go green!

The 2012 Celtics Were THIS Close to Breaking Up the Miami Heat According to LeBron James

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NBCSports – LeBron James joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami promising multiple championships. But the Heat lost in the 2011 NBA Finals then lost three straight to trail the Celtics 3-2 in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals. LeBron was labeled a choker who didn’t deliver in the clutch.

Then, he turned in a performance for the ages – 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a victory in Boston.

How did LeBron summon that level of focus and execution?

LeBron on Instagram Live:

My mentality was, if we lose, Pat Riley may break us all up. And I didn’t want that. It might be the quickest breakup in basketball history. And not only might they break it all up, my legacy is going to take a huge, huge hit if I don’t go out here and perform at an all-time high. Win, lose or draw, I had to be focused. I had to lock in and lead us to victory. Didn’t know if it was going to happen that way, but that was my mindset.

Despite an unprecedented run of dominance in Boston across multiple sports over the past 20 years, it’s the bitter defeats that stick with me most. I vividly remember sitting at my future father-in-law’s house in 2012 watching LeBron James rip my heart out as he went God Mode for 45 and 15 in Game 6. Just an absolutely unbelievable, singlehanded display of dominance. And it knocked out the already exhausted legs of the aging, proud, veteran laden 2012 Celtics. I’ve written about how that Celtics squads was one of my all-time favorite Boston teams many times.

Led by three Hall of Famers in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, but all three were well past their primes. This was a full four years after the Celtics won Banner 17. This wasn’t the 2008 Celtics, this was the Grit and Balls Celtics.

KG was 36, Ray was 36, and Pierce was 34-years-old at this point so this was going to be their last run at a chip and everybody knew it. It’s impressive they even got that far after winning just 39 games in the regular season that year.

People forget the C’s actually went down 0-2 in this series before ripping off 3 straight wins and putting LeBron on the ropes, which was oh so sweet at the time. KG and the Celtics broke LeBron two years before and legitimately bullied him so bad he left Cleveland to team up with his super friends. After the most ridiculous display in pro sports history (AKA the pre-season dynasty predicting rock concert)

LeBron and co. proceeded to get worked by Dirk and the Mavs in the 2011 Finals.

0 for 1.

So if the Heat lost yet again in Year 2, with LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh all on massive contracts, I very easily could have seen Pat Riley saying F this whole operation. Would that have been an overreaction? Yea sure, but this is Pat Riley we’re talking about not Brad Stevens.

To think we were THIS close to imploding that mini-dynasty less than 24 months into its inception like a cheap folding chair. That Game 6 literally gave birth to the LeBron James we know today. It essentially washed away the choker tag as LeBron evolved into the most dominant player in the world that night.

Yes, LeBron swung the sword that decapitated the end of the Celtics’ run and won his first NBA title in the process. But lets not forget the following season, if not for Ray Allen’s dagger 3 in Game 6 of the Finals the Heat lose to the Spurs in 2012.

I remember watching this game at T’s Pub on that crappy projector screen, turning to Big Z and saying “Well Ray just won the Finals for LeBron.” They still had to go to OT just to win Game 6 and then win Game 7 on top of that, but the hardest job was already done by Jesus Shuttlesworth.

The Heat then lost to the Spurs in 2013 too. That would have made the Heat 1/4 in the Finals with the Super Team, which would have made LeBron an ugly 1/5 in his career up to that point. Add that with losing 3 out of 4 to the Warriors in Cleveland and LeBron could easily be 2/9 in the Finals. So a couple of butterfly wing flaps one way or the other and LeBron could have left Miami with just one or even zero championships. Imagine that?

Now I love watching LeBron play, I understand I am witnessing one of the greatest to ever play the game, but goddamn was it fun to root against LeBron with KG and Pierce wanting to bury the guy more than anybody every single night.

Kyrie Irving Elected VP of NBA Players Association. HAHAHA

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Kyrie Irving is now second in command of the NBA Players Association, and his fellow players just put him there. Only in America.

But seriously, Kyrie is the real life version of Michael Scott who says things just to see what happens.

The guy who famously said ridiculous things like “What does government mean to you?” and “Fuck Thanksgiving” is now going to have a hand in shaping the future of the league.

This is a list of ridiculous stuff Kyrie said in 2017 alone. That is who now has his hand on the bag representing every player in the league. Good luck guys. I’m sure negotiations will go well when he tells Adam Silver he’s not woke enough and moves to have all Christmas Day games cancelled.

But seriously, Kyrie is going to say something outrageous in a meeting sooner than later and then blow up when it becomes a news story.

You are a celebrity that gets paid millions of dollars a year so yes people pay attention to what you say. And now Kyrie’s in a position where his words and actions will have a real affect on his NBA peers, which is something he has not shown a willingness to accept in the past.

So we’ll see how this goes because Vice President of the Players Association is far from a symbolic position.

Twitter is already batting a thousand with reactions to the news.

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Kevin Garnett is Officially Getting His Number Retired by the Celtics

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So the Boston Celtics dropped a bomb on everyone last night with a surprise video announcing they would be retiring Kevin Garnett’s No. 5 next season.

With all due respect to Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett will forever be my favorite Celtics player of all-time. Passionate, proud, psychotically competitive, and willing to do anything to win. They do not make them like KG anymore.

After Pierce had his No. 34 retired two years ago it was only a matter of time until KG had his number raised to the rafters. Some may question why the C’s are retiring yet another number (currently at 22 numbers), let alone for a guy who only played six seasons in Boston. Garnett changed the entire culture of the franchise; that’s why.

Without KG the Celtics simply do not win that title in 07-08 and who knows where the franchise winds up. Maybe they continue to suck, maybe Pierce gets shipped out of town, and an entire generation of Boston kids never care about the Celtics. Garnett was that impactful.

Credit: The Ringer

People forget just how bad the Celtics were in 2006 as they went an abysmal 24-58 led by the likes of Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Ryan Gomes, and Wally Szczerbiak. That team also rostered a young Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Perk, Scalabrine, and the immortal Michael Olowokandi. Not exactly shocking they were the worst team in the league not named Memphis.

That 06-07 season was a mere 12 months before the Celtics would become the best team in the league and complete the biggest single season improvement in league history. In 2007-08 the newly constructed Celtics led by KG, Pierce, and Ray Allen came out the box fully assembled and rocketed to 29-3 start as they ultimately went 66-16 en route to beating the Lakers in the Finals.

To put it simply, Garnett made it fun to be a Celtics fan again. He adopted the city and it’s attitude like few before him ever had. At a time when superstars only played in LA, Chicago, Miami and other glamor cities, Garnett lit a fire in Boston with his blue collar, bring your lunchpail to work attitude.

He was an absolute savage on the court too averaging 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, while winning Defensive Player of the Year, making First Team All-NBA and of course bringing home the team’s first championship in 22 years.

All of that in his first season! Garnett made five All-Star teams and was First Team All-Defense three times during his Celtics career. If Pierce was the face of the Boston Celtics, Garnett was the heart.

People loved Garnett because he was the definition of selfless and it rubbed off on everyone else. This was the 2004 MVP who came to Boston after eight straight All-Star appearances in Minnesota while averaging 22-24 points per game. He was fine taking a step back with his own production dipping down to 15.7 points per game in Boston all while being the de facto team leader.

Not to mention he was a Hall of Fame shit talker.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever bring me as much joy as watching KG laughing it up every time Gino Time played at the end of blowouts.

Garnett is also the guy that coined phrases like Grit and Balls, Honey Nut Cheerios, and was always an A+ interview.

Congratulations to Kevin Garnett for a well deserved honor and good luck to everyone at that game because it’s going to get a little dusty watching them raise No. 5 up to the rafters.

Tacko T-Shirts On Sale Now!

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Watching the Celtics game last night I could no longer deny the need for a Tacko t-shirt. Normally Tacko is utilized like a human victory cigar and fans go nuts like the days of Scalabrine. Last night though the Garden erupted in chants for Tacko while the C’s were up a whopping 5 points with 5 minutes still to go. The people simply want more. He is tall, he is nice, he has an elite PER of 24.0, and he now has a shirt on The 300s. Buy your shirt now at The 300s Store in premium grey or classic green!

How Mental Do You Have to Be to Get a Tacko Fall Tattoo?

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Good god. I love Tacko Fall as much as the next guy, but you have got to be outside of your mind to get the man’s face tattooed on your arm. Sure he nearly made the All-Star team, but Tacko is still the last man on the bench while frequenting the I-95 express back to Portland. I guess it’s better than the tattoos guys get predicting a Super Bowl win because those are destined to just be a bad memory of how your favorite team sucks. Even if Tacko Fall never turns into an everyday NBA player, we’ll always have the hype train that was the 2019-20 season. Like having a tattoo of a Tomagatchi, it doesn’t really make sense all these years later, but find me another 30-year-old who wouldn’t get a kick out of it. You can’t. So I think I just talked myself into this Tacko tattoo?