Rajon Rondo

Rondo is one of the most unique players in the league.  His shooting is generally terrible, which allows defenses to back up off him.  This gives him a much better chance at getting good looks and contributes to his extremely high assist count.  However, he is notorious for being inconsistent, some days he just doesn't have it and that is a completely fair and true criticism.  Last night, he had it.  The Celtics needed a win, and they played their hearts out against the mighty Miami Heat to try and capture one.  Unfortunately, this was not successful.  Rondo put up 44 points, 15 assists, 8 rebounds, a bunch of steals and only 3 turnovers.  He played every single minute of this 53 minute overtime game, and he scored all 12 of the Celtics OT points.  Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce fouled out of the game, and Ray Allen, although he hit a big 3, was much more of a role player than he has been in his career.  Rondo was even clearly fouled going for a layup towards the end, which ended up resulting in him not getting back on defense and then an easy dunk by Haslem.  If this call had gone the other way, and in my opinion this is a foul 75% of the time, the result may have been different.  In my opinion, the Celtics lost this game in the 3rd quarter when they allowed Miami to get a lead after being up by 15 in the first half.  C'est la Vie.

Celtics Defeat Atlanta, Move on to Round 2

The Celtics managed to hold off the Atlanta Hawks, rejuvenated by the return of Al Horford, who really put his team on his back.  The Celtics, however, collectively climbed on the back of The Big Ticket, Kevin Garnett who was the absolute star of the game.  His stat line was absurd: 28 points on 53% shooting FG, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 5 blocks, and a single foul.  He was dominant in the game, and played 39 minutes.  Rondo, Pierce, Bradley and Allen all contributed, but I was extremely impressed by Ryan Hollins 18 minute contributions. This guy was not on the team 6 weeks ago!

Although I am not confident that the Celtics would have won in 6 had Horford been 100% for all 3 games, they move on to face the Philadelphia 76ers.  They were greater than +1000 to knock off the number 1 seed Chicago Bulls, but they accomplished it, with some help from a Derrick Rose injury.  This is a favorable matchup for the Celtics, who really dominated the Sixers in the second half of the season.  I think it will be important for Rondo and the rest of the team to be involved, as Kevin Garnett can not will the team to the Finals.  Celtics need to continue attacking the basket, instead of settling for jump shots. Need to stop Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala from scoring, and keep up the strong defense.

Game 1: Saturday @ 8PM  in Boston
Classic Kevin Garnett post game interview below:

Celtics Manage a Win in Game 2 without Rajon Rondo

The Celtics were without Rajon Rondo for Tuesday night's Game 2 of the first round of the NBA playoffs.  Boston fans were tense, with the early exit from Lord Stanley's Playoffs by the defending champ Bruins, and a tense situation in Boston with Bobby Valentine.  Everyone had written off the Celtics from having a chance at victory without their mercurial point guard, and this would have been the case had PAUL PIERCE not gone absolutely bananas.  The Celtics' 4th quarter was insane, with them going on a strong run offensively, and playing lock down defense.  Avery Bradley made all kinds of athletic plays, and KG was doing KG things.  Great for the Celtics to get a win down in Atlanta and even the series up 1-1 heading back to Boston.

Celtics Embarrass the Heat, Continue to Win

I am a huge NBA fan, basketball is awesome, and while I have enjoyed the NCAA College Basketball Tournament, the Celtics are my true passion.  I have been stressfully following this lockout shortened season, and may have even overreacted about the Celtics in February.  However, they have turned it around in a big way, capped off by beating the Miami Heat in Boston Sunday afternoon.  They have been without Ray Allen for the past few weeks, but my boy Avery Bradley has stepped in and really delivered.

The Celtics win was the largest point differential loss that the Heat have faced this year.  Rajon Rondo went absolutely nuts, achieving his 18th triple double, and making the Heat PGs, Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers look like mannequins.  Pierce and Garnett both had great games, with Garnett absolutely shutting down Chris Bosh, and playing physical and angry as usual.  However, I was most impressed with Avery Bradley.  He was able to completely shut down former NBA Finals MVP, Dwyane Wade, blocking him in the dunk below.  This is a pretty impressive achievement for the youngster, who has really come into his own with Ray on the sidelines.

The Celtics have been 10-1 without Ray, which is pretty scary, if he is able to come back soon and keep up his hot shooting from the beginning of the season.  I think Ray should start, but he is a bit of a liability on defense, but his offense makes up for it.  Playing Kevin Garnett at center is a risk that Doc Rivers has taken to try and get more active and allow the offense to not be bogged down by a slow big like the useless Jermaine O'Neal or Shaq.  Greg Stiemsma is still raw, but he is playing with heart!  Pierce is still playing solid, and if he is on, then he is going to draw the best defensive player, leaving the other Celtics open to score baskets.

I am not saying they are going to win the NBA championship this year, but the Celtics are looking great.  My only fear is that they are peaking too soon, theres still 3 weeks until the playoffs start.

Stanley Cup..... Fuck YEAH!

Congrats Vancouver, but FUCK YEAH BOSTON!!!!!

4-0 Shutout Game 7

Conn Smythe Winner: Timmay Thomas

destruction in Vancouver...google it

Beer/NBA Playoffs

Summer is on the horizon here in Boston, although the forecast for this coming week is fairly bleak. I have been fairly depressed since the Celtics could even bring their Eastern Conference Semifinals series to 6 games against the Heat. Rondo, the tough sonnovabitch, played with what can only have been "immense pain." Apparently, if it were during the regular season, he would have been out 5-6 weeks. LBJ & Heat Co. hit a high percentage of low percentage shots, and we could not answer. At least we got Doc for 5 more years ($7mil/yr) which means even after the Big 3 fade into retirement, good players will want to come to Boston. I will post some more of my thoughts about what the C's need to do after the season is over. As far as sports go, I will be watching the Bruins, but probably not posting much, as I have nothing to add to any discussion. Heat/Bulls should be a good series, although if gambling were legal (to quote BS) I would put a bit on the Heat to win the series today, even after last night's unconvincing performance in Chicago. Like I said at the beginning of the playoffs, if Carlos Boozer is your second best player, you aren't winning a championship. Taj Gibson is one of my favorite bench players though.

Picked up a bunch of great beer over the past couple days. Thursday I found a 12 pack of the Sam Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed mixed twelve, down the street, and a lone Narragansett Summer pounder. Friday, M and I were in Providence, so I stopped at Nikki's and picked up a mixed six with some Pretty Things Jack D'or, Pretty Things East India Porter, Newport Storm Summer, SN Torpedo, BBC Lost Sailor, and a Dale's Pale can, hoppy, summery, everyday drinkers. Saturday, M and I were in Boston, and I popped into Bauer Spirits on Newbury St. to see if they had anything interesting, and came upon a bottle of BBC's Saint of Circumstance, which they apparently brewed after receiving the wrong type of hops from their wholesaler. The hops were of English origin, and the IPA was nothing like an American IPA, hops were subdued, lots of malt, I really liked it, but would not buy again, and it will probably never be brewed again, so I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to!

Narragansett Summer is going to be a mainstay for me this summer. 4.2% ABV, so it's pretty damn drinkable. Hopped with Citra hops, and although it is pale, definitely drinks like a hoppy wheat beer, a little brother of Lagunitas Lil' Sumpin Sumpin but available in 16 oz cans #winning.

Had several of the SA Lat 48's and gave a couple away to people who were visiting. I enjoyed the Simcoe and Zeus varieties the most, as they were the hoppiest, but I even enjoyed the Hallertau and EKG varieties, which I was surprised about. Was somewhat pissed that I could have picked these up as singles at Nikki's though, instead of buying the entire 12pk for 16$

Sierra Nevada Torpedo is one of my favorite IPAs, and is super reasonably priced, according to SierraNevadaBill on BA they will be releasing this in 16oz cans along with 12oz cans of the Pale Ale, looking forward to this!

Also St. Bernardus ABT 12 quad for good measure!

In closing, Half Acre Brewing out of Chicago got some great advertising time on the Chi/Mia game last night, some dude was wearing one of their tee's behind the scorer's table! Craft Beer FTW

Rajon Rondo: the Man Made of Rubber

Celtics took Saturday night's game 3 against the Heat at home. The entire core played excellent, Allen was +21 when he was in the game, Pierce scored a bunch, and KG was the mvp, contributing 28 points and nearly 20 boards. Jermaine O'Neal was quietly excellent, I counted at least 4 blocks and a bunch of rebounds, plus his large presence made it difficult for the heat to get to the cup. Shaq was back, and although he was barely making it up and down the court, he is a huge body, and that affects the game. I will take Shaq over Big Baby Glen Davis! D. West hit a key 3, and Jeff Green contributed, and looked like he cared.

The real story of the game though was Rajon Rondo. As Dwayne Wade was falling down, he managed to pull Rondo down with him, and he fell incredibly awkwardly on his left arm. The excruciating fall was replayed gratuitously and burned into our retinas after the 20th time it was shown. He was carried off the court, with a dislocated elbow, and everyone thought the game and the series was over for the Celtics. However, in the 4th, Rondo returned, but his left arm was looking like it weighed 75 lbs. He played through it, purely on adrenaline, scored a bunch of points and contributed for our team. As he was falling, on a steal, he tucked the arm in and rolled over, clearly the thing was injured. He was making one hand passes, and scoring layups, but it was scary. The Heat looked like they didn't want to touch him, which strategically didn't make much sense. You are not going Pau GaSOFT or any other Euro playing like that, fuck yeah America.

Let's see if we can take down Game 4, Go C's!

one more shot of the elbow for the road...

Celtics 0-2

The Celtics have gotten off to a terrible start in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. They lost the first two games to the Heat in Miami and are coming home to play the next 2. I am feeling a lot less confident, but I am certainly not saying that they are drawing dead. The first game on Sunday was awful, the Celtics were down the entire game, and Miami and Wade had their foot on our necks the whole way. Some terrible officiating including the Pierce ejection, and 2 miscalled flagrant fouls (that have since been changed) would have resulted in potentially 7 extra points in Boston's direction.

Game 2 went down last night, and the Celtics looked a lot better, however they were not enough for the Heat. Bosh had a solid game 2, much better than his Sunday performance. KG played bad again, missed a ton of shots, got owned by Wade on a sick crossover move, and got owned again by Lebron at the end of the game going for a layup. Rondo and the bench played pretty well, but lack of significant contributions from the rest of the Big 3 resulted in the L. Lebron seems to have settled into his role as the #2 option for the team, but his amazing skill allows him to take over games at will, which he did in the second half.

Game 3 is going to be insane in Boston, and a win is vital, Shaq being back in the lineup could shake things up. I am looking for a huge game from the entire Celtics roster and hopefully the Heat will struggle like they did during regular season games at the TD Garden. Around the rest of the league, I see no way that the Hawks can actually beat Chicago, but in the West both underdogs are totally live. Memphis is playing some scrappy basketball, and as long as Mike Conley does alright, we could definitely see them knocking off OKC. Lakers should be able to beat Dirk and the Mavs, although Pau and Odom are going to need to get angry to win! Go Bruins!

Game 2: C's v Knicks

The Knicks could have really used Amare Stoudemire in last night's loss to the C's. After it was revealed he would not be returning after halftime, Carmelo really took control of the game. he had 42 points, 26 of them coming in the second half. Bill Walker was an absolute train-wreck on the court. He got called for Technical foul after completely decking Ray Allen under the basket, and was just rowdy in general. Tommy Heinsohn reminded us that he was 0-11 from the floor.

This brings me to my final point. Mike D'Antoni, worst coach in basketball? I think that's pretty plausible, how did he not switch Douglas off Rondo, who had his best game in recent memory. How do you wait until there are .6 seconds left to foul? Why leave Bill Walker on the court when he's going on 0-11 from the field? Draw up some plays rather than let Carmelo just rip 3s? Mike D'Antoni would be gone after this year from any other squad, but I have a feeling with Isaiah having James Dolan's ear, this might not happen.

KG proves why he is the man at the end of the game, bring on Miami!

Ray Allen is the Man!

That was an awesome opening weekend of NBA playoffs. Upsets abound in Orlando, San Antonio, and Los Angeles, as well as close games everywhere else! My Celtics were losing during most of the game, but the clutch play of our big 4 (yes I include Rondo) and great play calling by Doc Rivers was topped off with this game winning shot by Ray Allen. Watch the video.