Tag: Celtics

Jayson Tatum Has Officially Made His First NBA All-Star Team

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Boston.com – Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will join teammate Kemba Walker in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game next month in Chicago.

“I am extremely blessed and grateful,” Tatum said in a statement released by the team. “Third year to make the All-Star team it is a surreal feeling. I’m just very excited and it is a dream come true.” Tatum will be one of seven reserves representing the Eastern Conference, joining Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler also of the Heat, Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers.

I have been sky high on Jayson Tatum for a long time, which is not exactly a hot take for a No. 3 overall pick, but I do expect big things for the young man. If you were able to take a look at the most frequently used words on my twitter account, “Tatum” has to be up there.

For the last two and a half years I’ve been predicting that one day Tatum will be First Team All-NBA so being named to the All-Star team in year 3 is a great first step.

Some people are saying that Jaylen Brown should have made the team over Tatum as he has a better FG% and 3 point %. Although Tatum has a higher efficiency rating and is averaging more points, rebounds, and assists per game than Brown. So both were deserving, but I think Tatum should get the nod.

Tatum is the youngest All-Star the C’s have had since Antoine Walker and while he might not have a signature dance move (yet), Tatum has the potential to be the best homegrown player since Paul Pierce.

Now on to my favorite Tatum content on the internet.

Paul Pierce Smoked Kyrie Irving While Discussing Celtics Leadership

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Boston.com – Jackie MacMullan and Paul Pierce discussed the Celtics’ new leadership: After losing on opening night, the Celtics have embarked on an eight-game winning streak. The team appears to have a different “vibe” this season in comparison to the underachievement of last season.

During an episode of ESPN’s “The Jump” on Tuesday, former Celtic Paul Pierce and longtime NBA reporter Jackie MacMullan touched on the difference in the team’s leadership. Specifically, the departure of Kyrie Irving and the arrival of Kemba Walker.

“They got better leadership in there,” Pierce said. “Let’s just call it how it is.”

After ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols — the show’s host — offered a clarification that the leadership was simply “different,” Pierce jumped back in.

“It’s better,” reiterated Pierce. “Kemba, he’s known throughout the league as being a great leader. I mean, he played on losing teams, he stayed positive. He went out and played hard every night, and that can be infectious. That can be the difference between losing and winning and chemistry. That’s what he’s brought to the Celtics.”

If anyone knows the behind the scenes story of the Celtics, its Paul Pierce. The guy is a C’s legend, he’s tight with ownership, he’s someone the young players look up to, and is a media personality so he knows all the broadcasters. The man has an “in” in just about every area stories and rumors would pop up about his former team.

That exchange between Pierce and Rachel Nichols legit made me laugh out loud because Nichols is trying to smooth things over and say no no its not better its just different. To which Pierce channels his inner Stanley in response.

I don’t think its a personal thing because there has never been any story I can recall about Pierce and Kyrie not getting along. Its not like Shaq taking shots at a young Dwight Howard back in the day. This seems to be Pierce the Celtic or Pierce the fan genuinely psyched about how much better this team looks this year. Its quite literally the definition of addition by subtraction. Of course Hayward was playing great before his injury, but Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were playing more freely, the ball was moving all over the court, and the team just seemed more relaxed. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a mercurial boss who was your best friend one day and a powder keg waiting to explode the next day, but that grinds on you. No wonder the team chemistry was shit last year, no one knew what version of their team leader they were getting, not to mention when they might get chewed out on national TV for missing a shot.

I liked Kyrie when he first got here, and while I don’t necessarily hate him now, I don’t really want him on my team. Over time it became clear that he was basically the best player on your high school team or better yet your college intramural teams. Just a guy that is a complete dickhead to teammates because they aren’t doing exactly what he wants.

Needless to say the Kemba Walker experience is off to a flawless start though.

The Gamblers Guide to Betting on the Celtics and the Atlantic Division This Year

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So we’re two weeks into the 2019-20 NBA season and the Celtics are a solid 4-1 with wins over the Knicks (twice), the Raptors, and an incredible comeback win over the Bucks. Their only loss came on opening night to the Sixers, made worse by the sight of Al Horford in a Philly jersey. The Celtics look like they’ll be a pretty good team made better possibly with addition by subtraction. Kemba Walker looks like a match made in heaven as a guy who can drop 30 a night, yet is more than happy to pass up a last shot to blossoming superstars like Jayson Tatum.

What made that Tatum game winner even better was that it was the exact same play that the Celtics ran in Orlando last year leading to Kyrie throwing a fit on the court for not getting the ball. Oh and Kyrie continues to be an absolute PILL in New Jersey, memorialized by Jackie MacMullan’s great piece last week. Enjoy the ride, Nets fans.

Now for the most important part: the gambling.  Its a little early to overreact one way or the other and the Celtics’ unlikely come from behind double digit win over the Bucks probably skews things a little bit. But pick your spots with this C’s team and you could make some decent cash as they continue to surprise people.

  • Philadelphia 76ers
    • ESPN Projected Finish: 57-27, 2nd in the East
    • Key Storylines: Addition of Al Horford, Finally Getting Over the Hump, Overcoming Lack of Depth
    • 5-0 Against the Spread

The Sixers took their biggest weakness last year, a lack of bench depth, and doubled down on it. They lost Jimmy Butler and JJ Reddick, but picked up big man Al Horford to pair with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. The Sixers have arguably the best starting 5 in the league, but the end of the bench is pretty barren yet again. With that being said they are 5-0 and the current No. 1 seed in the East so while they don’t have much margin for error, they are one of the most talented squads in the league.

  • Boston Celtics
    • ESPN Projected Finish: 48-34, 3rd in the East
    • Key Storylines: Loss of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford, Addition of Kemba Walker, Addition by Subtraction, Jayson Tatum the All-Star
    • 3-2 ATS

If the Celtics are going to go anywhere this year its going to largely be due to Jayson Tatum. Sure Kemba Walker is the latest max free agent in town and Jaylen Brown just got PAID, but this team needs Tatum to become an elite wing player this season if they want to do some damage. I’ve been predicting big things for Tatum despite a less than stellar second season. So far this season he looks excellent averaging 22 PPG while shooting 40% from the field, an impressive 48% from three and an abysmal 75% from the line. Along with Pascal Siakam, Tatum was voted by ESPN as the most likely player to make their first All-Star team in the East, both earning 68.2% of the votes. With Tatum and likely Kemba making the All-Star team, an improved Brown, a finally looking like a basketball player again Gordon Hayward, and All-World defense from Marcus Smart, this team could be in business. As we seem to say every year since KG and Perk left town, the Celtics will need someone to step up as a rim protector/rebounder/big man presence. Whether thats Enes Kanter, Daniel Theis or Robert Williams evolving into the role, the C’s will need someone to step up if they want to compete with the Sixers.

  • Brooklyn Nets
    • ESPN Projected Finish: 45-37, 5th in the East
    • Key Storylines: Addition of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, Kyrie Still a Pill
    • 2-4 ATS

This will be a much safer bet next season when Kevin Durant returns to the court, assuming he’s healthy, but in the meantime they will be a fun team to watch. Despite all his bizarre antics and issues with the media, Kyrie Irving remains one of the most electric one on one players in the league. While thats not necessarily the best path to winning a title, it definitely will steal the Nets some games they have no business winning.

  • Toronto Raptors
    • ESPN Projected Finish: 45-37, 6th in the East
    • Key Storylines: Defending Champs, Loss of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, Growth of Pascal Siakam
    • 4-2 ATS

Man what a roller coaster ride 2019 has been for Drizzy Drake’s favorite squad. Sorry let me clarify, I meant Drake’s hometown team the Raptors not his other favorite squad the Golden State Warriors. Winning their first title behind a Herculean effort from Kawhi Leonard solidifying his spot as the best player in the NBA…to Kawhi walking away and now defending their title with Pascal Siakam and not much else. Siakam was voted by ESPN as the co-favorite to earn their first time All-Star bid in the East. Its hard to be mad as the defending champs, but they went from the favorites (especially with a rapidly imploding Warriors team) to a team that will be scrapping for a bottom half seed in the East this year.

  • New York Knicks
    • ESPN Projected Finish: 26-56, 13th in the East
    • Key Storylines: ….lottery picks and 2020 Free Agency?
    • 1-6 ATS

If you bet real, actual, American dollars on the New York Knicks then you are on your own. Sure Marcus Morris is great to watch when he’s on, but you are banking on the latest iteration of James Dolan’s madness here. Maybe if you get them in a parlay, but other than that I cannot advise gambling on this dumpster fire.

So to wrap it up, who has the best shot at winning the division? Lets not get ahead of ourselves and ask who’s going to take down LeBron and the Lakers or Kawhi and the Clippers in the Finals quite yet. As of late October, the Sixers had become -200 favorites to win the Atlantic, improving from -160 on opening night. The Celtics remained the second-favorite, but were well back at +420, only a shade ahead of the new-look Raptors at +490 with all odds via Sports Betting Dime. Expect those odds to be a little closer together when they’re updated next. Boston’s impressive 116-105 win over the 60-win Bucks made a statement that Brad Stevens’ team is going to be a tough out this year.

I LOVE the Celtics at +420 to win the division. Sure that means catching the Sixers and winning 50+ games, who ESPN has them finishing 9 games behind, but those are odds to bet on. The Sixers at -160 is almost even money and forget it if Embiid misses time with the annual injury or load management concerns. The Raptors feel pretty unlikely to leapfrog both Boston and Philly so I’m not sold on them, and I think this season is a holding pattern for Brooklyn and yet another rebuilding year for the Knicks. So slap down some cash on the Celtics and enjoy the ride.

Did Enes Kanter Just Leak the New Celtics Jerseys?

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It sure looks like he did. Kanter just put this up on his IG Story, which The Athletic’s Emily McCarthy is speculating could be the Celtics’ new City Edition jersey.

The City Edition jerseys are basically a shameless cash grab by Nike and the NBA, which I’m okay with because I’m a self proclaimed jersey guy. But only when they’re good. These jerseys would seem to hit the right note with the Gaelic lettering, but I can’t say I understand the teal coloring? Unless thats a deep cut Irish reference (Saint Patrick’s blue?) that I’m missing, it actually looks more like a Charlotte Hornets jersey, at least from the back. Welp, either way looks like Kanter should just put Whistleblower on the back of his jersey for this leak. Appreciate the early look!

PS – I’m still holding out hope Nike brings back the NBA Christmas Edition jerseys that the league used to do. Nike did away with it when they took over the jersey contract, most likely so they could roll out the City Edition jerseys. But give me a new Christmas Kemba jersey and you can charge my credit card today.

Whats the Most Random Sports Shirt/Jersey You Own?

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I think to classify as a “random” shirt or jersey it has to be a guy that was elite for a short period of time, a cult hero in no way due to their actual athletic prowess ( I was *this* close to buying a Gabe Kapler Yomiuri Giants jersey in 2005), a player that was only on a team for a hot minute (I’ve seen two John Lynch Patriots jerseys in Allston over the years), or a jersey that is so obscure that it should not realistically belong to you.

I am an unabashed jersey guy so I have a closet full of obscure pieces beyond just the Boston teams. The Priest Holmes jersey I bought in a Connecticut Marshalls in 2007, Byron Dafoe, Antoine Walker (shirt and jersey), Tim Tebow Patriots shirt, Sergei Samsonov shirt, banana yellow Marcus Mariota Oregon jersey, JR Redmond Patriots jersey, Pedro Mets shirt, a literal blank Athletics jersey, the list goes on and on.

Ya know, now that I think about it, this $12 purchase at the downtown Minneapolis Marshalls may have to take the cake.

So I pose the question, whats the most random sports shirt or jersey you own?

Al Horford Says Celtics Weren’t “Going to Be Able to Coexist” With Kyrie Irving

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Boston Herald – As far as on the court, it’s certain Horford wasn’t interested in playing another hand from the same deck. I asked him if his decision would have been different if Irving had remained.

“I’m not sure that has anything to do with it for me,” Horford said. “I just think that if Kyrie would have stayed, I don’t know if it would have worked. There would have had to be some major changes as far as players, because it was just clear that the group that we had just wasn’t going to be able to coexist.”

And what about if he’d known Kemba Walker was coming. Horford paused.

“I don’t want to get caught up in the past,” he said, “but, yeah, that would have been totally different.”

Longtime Celtics writer Steve Bulpett caught up with old friend Al Horford and the big man had some interesting quotes on the dumpster fire that was the Celtics last year.

Horford reaffirmed what everyone has been saying for the past 6 months; this team just could not gel. Whether you want to blame that on Kyrie being a piss poor leader or on the young guys feeling themselves a bit too much is up to you, but the issue was real.

Kyrie is the guy that openly and bizarrely announced to the media that the Celtics needed a “15 year veteran” to help the team win. Maybe a Sam Cassell or Kendrick Perkins type at the end of the bench could have helped play the role of mentor/player-coach, but this group shouldn’t have needed that.

Lets just kill the Kemba/Horford talk right now too because of the way the NBA cap works in all its mysterious ways, it would have bene just about impossible for the Celtics to fit Kemba and Horford on the team. The only reason they were able to sign Kemba was *because* Kyrie and Horford left, not in spite of it. When one guy leaves it doesn’t automatically open up that salary space under the cap. Infuriating, yet true. The cap is not crap in this league.

The Celtic’s early playoff exit and subsequent gutting is all the more frustrating because of just how talented this team truly was last season.

“I just feel like we had so much talent, just a lot of talent, and we all wanted to do great things. There were just too many of us almost. I just feel like we had so much that it was very, very difficult to essentially keep everybody feeling good and focused on where we wanted to get to. And I do believe that that just kept getting in our way.”

You had 3 All-Stars in Kyrie/Horford/Hayward, a defensive POY candidate in Smart, a couple of future All-Stars in Tatum and Brown and a ton of excellent role players. Except Hayward was coming back from his injury and the ONLY way for him to get right was to play, which obviously took minutes away from Tatum and Brown. Sprinkle in the fact that Kyrie seemingly preferred to play with veterans because the young guys just didn’t “get it” or have the winning experience (despite Kyrie having a grand total of one title). Then you had guys like Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris in contract years playing hero ball trying to get paid. Plus you still had former first round picks like Robert Williams and Guerschon Yabusele trying to carve out roles. To top it all off was Brad Stevens who couldn’t get the team to buy in and Danny Ainge who refused to make any changes to the roster. Thats a recipe for a disaster in hindsight.

Appearing on Anna Horford’s podcast (yes, Al’s sister) Cedric Maxwell actually blames the Celtics more than Kyrie.

“I think the Celtics, for the most part, babied Kyrie too much,” Maxwell said. “When you baby a player for so many times and you’re kissing his ass the whole time, I think, for the most part he has no recourse.”

I mean, he’s not wrong, but still Kyrie is a grown ass man. This isn’t like blaming the parents for spoiling a 5 year old kid. Kyrie is a 27-year-old Duke graduate participant with eight seasons in the league.

Goddamnit what a waste of an opportunity. The Warriors were on their last legs, Giannis was a one man show, the Sixers weren’t deep enough, LeBron was broken down and in the West, and the C’s just could not get their shit together to make a run. Kawhi Leonard won the title almost singlehandedly in Toronto and I firmly believe a cohesive Celtics squad could have taken the Raptors. Unfortunately that team never figured it out and here we are.

The Celtics aren’t a favorite, a top 5 or even a top 10 pick to win it all in most polls this year because of the talent that left town. The C’s acted swiftly and made the best of a bad situation by bringing another elite talent in Kemba Walker to town, but now Boston goes back to being a plucky underdog rather than a pre-season juggernaut. Maybe thats for the best.

I’m Not a Tall Person, But What the Bruins Have Done to the Seats is Criminal

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This is criminal. Unless you are planning to sit up in The 300s with myself and the mutants over at Table 9, you and your knees are in for a rude awakening.  Apparently as part of the new TD Garden renovations the Bruins and Celtics have eliminated the antiquated idea of “leg space.” I am a card carrying member of the 5’8″ Brigade and even I was getting anxiety just seeing the above picture.

As you probably are aware, TD Garden removed all of the old yellow seats in the Loge section and replaced them with these new black seats.

Oh they also somehow added 500 more seats. How?

Well they clearly weren’t blowing out any walls so they had to stuff those seats somewhere. Well it looks like they shoehorned them into the Loge section so all you rich people are getting shafted. Personally, I never sit down with the fancy folk in Loge so this probably won’t affect me all that much, but its still a pretty blatant money grab that the Bruins and Celtics should frankly be above, but hey honors in the dollar kid.

Tacko Fall: Hooper, Swimmer

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Boston.com – Alongside the children taking swim lessons at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club Wednesday afternoon was none other than 7-foot-7 Celtics center Tacko Fall.

Nearly twice the size of his comrades, if not taller, Fall fully participated in the session, practicing introductory exercises like kicking and pushing off the wall. A round of “Marco Polo” capped the 30-minute lesson.

There are many people who walk this earth who are good at something. There are even some that are great. There are a small few though, who are truly excellent, transcending 99% of the population in that one activity or area of interest.

For most of those that have found that one thing they are truly extraordinary at, that’s it. They stick to it, continue to get even better, and beat the drum of their remarkable skills over and over and over again.

Why? Well for one why the hell not? You have found something you can do better than almost anyone. Even if it doesn’t bring you money and fame, which it almost certainly does, especially in this day and age of internet sponsorships, etc., it brings you an overwhelming amount of personal satisfaction for sure. You feel fulfilled.

But the other reason that lurks in the dark recesses of someone like that’s mind is simply this: the fear of starting over in something new. Being a beginner. Having to start from the bottom, among the 99%, and figure a whole different lane as if you’re just another average human. Case in point John Wayne Parr. The greatest non-Thai Nak Muay in the history of Muay Thai. Absolute savage. But as MMA made it’s way into the mainstream and Muay Thai continued to toil in relative obscurity, JWP was not among the many top shelf fighters (from not just Muay Thai, but many other single-discipline martial arts) to make the leap. Why? Well, many speculate that for someone as skilled standing up as he is, he didn’t want to start over. He simply didn’t want to put on a white belt and learn how to defend himself on the ground from scratch. He had too much pride, and I don’t question him for it. He earned it.

On the other side of that equation we have Tacko Fall, shot blocking and rim running extraordinaire. Unheralded athlete of the century. Possible All NBA center with a little greasing of some gears. He has made it to the pinnacle of professional basketball with one of its most storied franchises and took quite the road to get there. So does he rest on his laurels, work hard in the off-season to just perfect his basketball skills, and go hunting in Faneuil Hall for undergrads fresh off a Pumpkin Spice Latte high? Nope, he seeks greatness in another field.

Tacko has taken to the water. Already elite at standing on dry ground and participating in modern athletics, he is now zeroed in on becoming just as good aquatically. With that wingspan I can only imagine he’ll be treading water for 2 hours straight come November. Backstroke? Well one wave of the arm and he’ll be at the other end of the pool. Marco Polo as this article alludes to? Please. Only sub in the nominal phrase with “SWITCH!” and little Billy will be tagged out quicker than he can splash the lifeguard. Games set match Fall.

I look forward to seeing what becomes of this endeavor. Will he take his talents to the professional level? Will he save a heart surgeon’s trophy wife from a great white in Chatham? Who knows. The sky, or should I say the seabed, is the limit.

-Joey B

Team USA Better Assemble the Next Dream Team After This Disaster at the FIBA World Cup

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ESPN – The U.S. will leave the World Cup with its worst finish in a major international tournament, assured of finishing no better than seventh after falling to Serbia 94-89 in a consolation playoff game Thursday night.

The previous worst finish for a U.S. men’s team in 45 tournament appearances was sixth at the 2002 world championships. The Americans — the top-ranked team in the world — will be either seventh or eighth in China, depending on the outcome of their consolation finale Saturday.

Just a couple of days after getting bounced by France in the FIBA World Cup (Team USA’s first loss in 13 years, snapping a 58 game winning streak), they were officially embarrassed today, losing to Serbia in the consolation game. So no gold medal, no bronze medal, now not even a 5th place finish for the most disappointing Team USA in my lifetime.

I understand its just FIBA, I really shouldn’t care. Maybe I care more because half the team is made up of Celtics and it reflects poorly on my hometown team’s chances this season. Sure. Or maybe its just embarrassing for the US to send a team of kids and scrubs to represent the country before getting their teeth kicked in. This ain’t the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team.

This team was in trouble from the second that Turkey game ended last week and we all knew it.

I also get that its become more and more popular for NBA stars today to obsess over their bodies and to manage their workload. The NBA season is long and LeBron can’t lead Team USA every single year, but where was James Harden or Anthony Davis? Steph Curry? Kawhi Leonard? Russell Westbrook? Kyrie Irving? Paul George? Klay Thompson?

Even guys like Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Damian Lillard could’ve carried this team to gold. So its a tough spot to be in because the US is expected to win gold every single year, but we invented the damn game and have more than 90% of the best players in the world. I don’t think being the best is asking all that much.

USA Basketball better look at this as more than just a down year; its am embarrassment to the sport. I have enough embarrassment to go around from the US Mens Soccer Team, but at least they’re just not very good. The basketball team can and should dominate. So bring me the next Dream Team. Bring me an outrageous collection of talent and just run other teams out of the gym. Its time for the USA to re-establish its dominance on the hardwood.

Jayson Tatum Just Got Injured at the FIBA World Cup

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So Team USA narrowly avoided disaster and escaped with a first round W over Turkey, but it took some pretty fortuitous bounces, going to overtime, oh and the Celtics best young player getting hurt for that to happen.

Its too early to tell whether its a serious injury or not, but Tatum needing help to get off the court is not a good sign. Hopefully its just a tweaked ankle and he’ll be fine in a couple of days, but until then we panic.