Dropping tomorrow is a very special episode of #The300sPodcast with a huge guest! We talk all things Celtics, digital media, and we even dive into the delicious world of craft beer. Episode drops tomorrow AM so keep your eyes peeled for #The300sPodcast on iTunes, Facebook, and YouTube.
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.)
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.
Mattes touched on the decision by Nike to put it all on the line yesterday and make Colin Kaepernick the face of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. If you have access to the internet you saw the full spectrum of responses across the country. There were people applauding Nike’s brazen effort to directly go against their biggest partners in the NFL by dropping this campaign without even a whisper of a heads up. There were people legitimately burning their swoosh apparel and cutting the Nike logo off their clothes, so much so that there are already fundraising campaigns encouraging people to donate to charity rather than burning perfectly good clothing. Then of course there was everyone in between.
Hate Colin Kaepernick or love him. Call him a traitor or a true Patriot. Either way, this commercial accomplishes exactly what Nike does best. It pushes the boundaries, it boils down a whole bunch of noise into one message in a two minute and five second commercial. It’s bound to be polarizing, which is exactly what Nike wants and probably what this issue needs.
Take the venom out of the discussion and try to understand or at least empathize with why everyone believes what they believe. On every side. It’s silly that it may have taken a company that makes shoes for people to actually have that conversation.
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.
👀🍀
🎥: tmarkgotkickss pic.twitter.com/D9HPVb69Qt— SoleCollector.com (@SoleCollector) August 25, 2018
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.
Big Game. Big Stage. Big Luck. ☘️
The Nike Kyrie 3 “Luck” Player Edition drops exclusively tomorrow (11/17) ONLY at #HouseofHoops Harlem (NY) and Washington St (Boston). @KyrieIrving pic.twitter.com/6Phg1eVeuh
— Foot Locker (@footlocker) November 16, 2017
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:
A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on my experience at the BIG3 Basketball Tournament, when the still infantile league made its way to TD Garden for a one-night showing on August 3, and the overall verdict was a “thumbs up.”
(Seriously, though, if you’re a long-time NBA fan be sure to click the link above for some highlights and a nice trip down memory lane.)
As I said in the article, it was an entertaining night of basketball for a cheap price, and there were some pretty impressive performances across the board – including ones from former Celtics like Nate Robinson and Glen “Big Baby” Davis.
On Friday night, Big Baby’s season ended on an even more impressive note, as his team Power won the league championship by beating 3’s Company 51-43.
Former Clippers and Warriors star Corey Maggette led the way for Power, as he scored 27 of the team’s 51 points on the night to go along with six rebounds. (I’m actually not surprised at all. I was SUPER bummed when Maggette sat out the night in Boston on August 3, because he was honestly one of the players I was most excited about seeing. I guess he sure as hell made up for it in this one, though.)
Real talk: Maggette was nasty in his prime.
Big Baby was the only other player on the team to score in double-digits on the night, finishing with 10 points, one board, one block, and one steal.
Andre Emmett, whom I selected as one of my “All-Mattes BIG3 Super Squad” starters a month ago, made my pick look completely justified by putting up 24 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists, and it was his string of buckets toward the end of the game which finally made it a close contest. That is, until “Cat” Mobley iced away the game for Power, nailing one of his signature silky-smooth, fade-away jumpers for the win.
Other former NBA players like Quentin Richardson, Drew Gooden, Dahntay Jones, and Jason Maxiell played in the game as well.
Will this be the first thing mentioned around the water cooler on Monday? Probably not. Does anyone else you’ll hear from today even know the BIG3 championship took place on Friday night? Again, doubt it.
But then again, maybe they do…
Per Deadline.com, the BIG3 championship finished with some pretty decent ratings on Friday night. FS1 has already been carrying the action all season long, and it will most likely expand even more upon its coverage in 2019. While it still certainly has a long way to go, perhaps with more and more former NBA stars signing on (COME ON, KOBE! PLEASEEEEEE) we could see the league’s popularity increase significantly in due time.
Also particularly noteworthy is the fact that Nancy Lieberman, who currently serves as the head coach for Power, became the first woman ever to win a title in a men’s professional basketball league. This is after she already became just the second woman ever to become an NBA head coach when she joined the Sacramento Kings – for whom she still serves an assistant – back in 2015. Hats off to her and her continued ascension up the ranks.
For those looking to join in on the fun, you’ll have to wait until next year when the BIG3 tips off for its third season early next summer. In the meantime, be sure to keep checking in with The 300s for all basketball-related news, BIG3 and NBA included.
The ’90s just showed up in @jaytatum0‘s backyard. And they brought a fresh pair of kicks with them. #DiscoverYourAir pic.twitter.com/Tn7S7OkTrQ
— Foot Locker (@footlocker) August 22, 2018
First off, this commercial is a cold reminder that the Celtics’ future First Team All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum was born in NINETEEN NINETY EIGHT! Thats 1998 for those of you that never got through hooked on phonics.
Around the time I graduated from college I started realizing that the professional athletes I was rooting for were quickly becoming younger than me, I had crossed that final frontier. Which is also probably a legit reason for why I LOVE aging veterans, especially 41-year-old quarterbacks playing at an MVP level.
Well now Tatum, a guy that I have like 9 years on, is a slap in the face to the memory of my youth. This kid missed Dunkaroos, Beanie Babies, Nintendo 64,Tamagotchis, dial-up internet, Pokemon. The man missed POKEMON. My brain can’t even comprehend that level of FOMO.
So this commercial is another slam dunk for Foot Locker as they continue to be the most underrated shoe brand in America. Nike is sexy, Adidas has Yeezys, but Foot Locker always entertains the hell out of me.
Roll the highlights!
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.
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:
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.
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.
Robert Williams said he just got a place right next to the Celtics new practice facility. “Two-minute walk, said Williams who laughed and added, “Can’t be late!”
— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) August 12, 2018
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.
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.
14-year-old Mattes was in his glory on Friday night, as I decided to head on over to the TD Garden to finally check out the BIG3 Basketball Tournament.
Red and I have been very intrigued by the BIG3 ever since its inception last year. The league – created by Ice Cube (yes, that Ice Cube) and executive Jeff Kwatinetz (I have no idea who he is either) – is comprised of mostly retired NBA players and features a 3-on-3, half-court style of play. The first team to 50 points wins the game, and while there is technically no game clock each game typically lasts around an hour (which is aided by a 14-second shot clock).
Players are also able to take their chances on a four-point shot at any time, which only adds to the nostalgia for those who grew up playing NBA Jam like myself, Red, and Big Z:
There are plenty of other unique rules as well, all of which I’mma let Ice lay out for you really quick:
(With those pretty punitive rules surrounding techs, I think it’s pretty safe to say we won’t be seeing guys like DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard, or Draymond Green playing much post-retirement basketball.)
The schedule runs for 10 weeks, with the league traveling to different cities throughout the country each time (save for a stop in Toronto last week), providing long-time NBA fans everywhere with a little taste of nostalgia and old-school flavor.
Seriously, though, a short list of some of the guys playing this season reads like an early 2000’s NBA all-star game roster: Ron Artest; Mike Bibby; Chauncy Billups; Carlos Boozer; Baron Davis; Ricky Davis; Al Harrington; Stephen Jackson; Rashard Lewis; Corey Maggette; Kenyon Martin; Cuttino Mobley; Jermaine O’Neal; and Amar’e Stoudemire.
(Side note: Yes, you read that correctly; “Metta World Peace” is no more, as the now 38-year-old Artest has apparently decided to go back to the name his mama gave him at birth. Also, to make things even better he has been reunited with former partner-in-crime Stephen Jackson, as they both play for the Killer 3’s, leading fans throughout the Garden to be on full alert for any…ummm…unexpected interactions with the crowd. However, everyone behaved themselves, fans and players included.)
The rosters were also replete with former Celtics players, including such fan favorites as Marcus Banks, Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Nate Robinson, and, above all, the legend himself: the one, the only, the White Mamba…Brian David Scalabrine.
Unfortunately, Billups, B-Dave, Lewis (last season’s BIG3 MVP), and K-Mart all sat out on Friday night, but there was still plenty of fun basketball in store.
Rather than providing a recap of each of the four games (which can instead be found here), I’m going to give you some of my most noteworthy observations from the night:
Mixed Night for Former Celtics Stars
The first game of the night featured the guy I was obviously most excited to see, Scalabrine, but it wasn’t necessarily the most noteworthy performance for the big fella. Scal finished with two points and two boards in a closely contested game, which his Ballhogs ended up losing by six.
Game 2, which was probably the most entertaining of the four, featured the Lilliputian wonder Nate Robinson, and boy did he show out. It actually wasn’t surprising to me, as Nate was laser-focused during the pre-game warmup, working on his jumper right when the doors opened up at 6 p.m. until pretty much right before the first game tipped. I was expecting big things from the little guy, and he didn’t disappoint.
Nate started the game oozing with energy and flying around the court on his way to 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Not only do his stats look great on paper, but he also dropped eight points, including a clutch four-pointer, and had a key steal during the team’s furious comeback in the game’s final minutes against Artest and Jackson’s Killer 3’s.
I see you, Nate. And so didn’t everyone else in attendance at the Garden on Friday night.
And of course, we can’t forget about Big Baby, who also had a great game for his team, Power, finishing second on the team in scoring with 15 points.
The lovable goofball was also responsible for hitting the game-ending shot, after which he treated the crowd with a gyrating, wiggle-filled dance that would make even Antoine Walker proud.
So while it may not have been the best night for the White Mamba, at least Shrek and Donkey had a nice night in front of their former home crowd – and I loved every minute of it.
Reggie Evans Can Still BALL
The unquestioned MVP of the night was Reggie Evans, even in a losing effort. He finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, as he looked like an absolute force out there for the 3 Headed Monsters.
It shouldn’t be too surprising, as Evans was playing in the league as recently as 2015, and the Celtics were even considering bringing him out of retirement for a little extra help on the glass toward the end of the 2016 season. He also leads the BIG3 this season in both rebounds and blocks, and while he never posted huge numbers in the NBA the guy did play for 13 seasons and served as a great reserve big man who never got the credit he truly deserved.
Big Success in the NBA Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Big Success in the BIG3
After three hours of play, I admittedly was starting to fade a bit until I heard the starting lineup for the Ghost Ballers, who were playing in the final game of the night: Mike Bibby, Carlos Boozer, and Ricky Davis.
Holy shit! You could do some absolute DAMAGE with a lineup featuring those three in NBA Live 2004! But all three came out shockingly flat, falling behind 8-0 in a flash and eventually losing the game by almost 20 points.
To be fair, both Davis (15 points) and Boozer (15 points, 13 rebounds) eventually woke up, but with a complete goose egg from Bibby and Marcus Banks, the team simply had no chance.
(I also wanted to give some shine to Andre Emmett, who played a total of eight career NBA games back in 2004-2005 before spending the rest of his pro career in either the D-League or overseas. He is having a bit of resurgence in the BIG3. I’ll be honest in saying that while I do remember the name, I can’t say I remember much of him as a player, but he looked great for 3’s Company in their win against the Ghost Ballers, finishing with 21 points, seven boards, three assists, and two steals. The guy also leads the BIG3 in field goals made this season. Hats off to him.)
After watching all eight teams, here is the official “All-Mattes BIG3 Super Squad”:
Overall, I’d say the night was pretty fun. Sure, while there was definitely some mediocre play at times (again, these are retired former players), it was an enjoyable night of basketball for the reasonable price of $15 a ticket.
While it’s probably going to be some time before the league makes its way to Boston again, you can check out all the action on the tube every Friday night on FS1. And just so you know, there are about three weeks left in the season, with the next scheduled stop on the tour being Atlanta.
The 300s 