November 01 2013
Congratulations to Celtics Legend Bill
Russell, whose statue was unveiled today
at City Hall Plaza in Boston.
October 31 2013
Congratulations to the BOSTON RED SOX,
the 2013 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
October 30 2013
The Games Begin!
Good luck to the Celtics!!
October 29 2013
Sit! Stay!
Jared
Sullinger was
suspended by the Celtics from the team's
season opener in Toronto after
the domestic violence charges wer
dismissed. Reasons for why he
was suspended despite the case being
dropped range from "making a
statement" to "letting him know his
behavior has an impact on all of
us" to speculation that he was being an
asshole, and if people wanted
to hear from an asshole, they'd fart.
Nobody is making any specific public
statements about what happened
between him and his girlfriend, but if
he DID physically attack her, she needs to
get away from him, and he
needs to learn this is not acceptable
behavior. Whether he learns
it from family/friends, a doctor, or in
jail is irrelevant, as long as
the lesson is learned and never needed
again.
October 27 2013
This weeks games
The
Celtics are about to
embark on one of the busiest starts to an
NBA schedule anyone can
recall in the last few decades.
Wednesday, October 30 7:00pm at the
Toronto Raptors
(radio broadcast on WZLX)
Friday, November 01 7:30pm vs the
Milwaukee Bucks
Celtics
cut Chris Babb
With
the departure of Chris
Babb, the Celtics have brought the roster
down to 14 players, one under
the League maximum. While the
specifics of the starting lineup
are as yet unknown, the current oveall
roster appears to be set--unless
Danny Ainge has been making phone calls
again...
October 26 2013
Goodbye, Bill Sharman
Bill
Sharman, a Celtics
Legend passed away this week, and many
longtime NBA fans mourn his
passing and send hearfelt thoughts and
prayers to his family.
October 25 2013
He won't take his balls with him when he
goes home.
Back
in 2006, the NBA had
that unfortunate fling with the microfiber
basketballs. People
realizedthat, aside from the fact that the
surface of the balls was
making the player's hands bloody, it was
too difficult to have enough
of them made and broken in quickly enough
to make this change during
the regular season, and quite sensibly
went back to the real basketball
we know so well.
But next February 1, King David will
abdicate his throne...that is,
Commissioner Stern will retire after 30
years. The official balls
used by the NBA are signed by the
Commissioner. Given what
happened as mentined above, it was decided
that the new balls, to be
signed by Prince Adam...er, Adam Silver,
Stern's handpicked successor,
will not be made available until August.
So Adam will spend the first seven months
of his tenure--including the Playoffs--using
official
balls signed by Stern.
Ballsy move guys.
Especially
since Stern
announced his retirement over a year ago.
They could have arranged for some local
leagues to break the new balls
in, or added a date, to the signature, or
something. But Stern, as
always, has to make sure he is front and
center, even when stepping
down.
The guy can't even take his balls with him
when he finally goes home.
Adam, the best advice I can offer is to
lose David's phone number and
online addresses the moment the transition
is official.
Now it's time to waive goodbye...
The
Celtics have placed
DeShawn Sims, Damen Bell-Holter, and
Kammron Taylor on the waiver wire
as they bring the roster down to the NBA
required 15 players.
There's a lot of discussion back and forth
about Chris Babb, but no
definitive statement as yet.
Happy Beagle Birthday to Me!
Well,
what's the point of
running your own website if you can't
celebrate a personal milestone
now adn then? I'm enjoying the day,
but still keeping up with the
Good Guys!
October 23 2013
Happy Finals Days are here again!
Today,
the NBA Owners voted
unanimously to end the
idiotic "2-3-2" Finals format that was
foisted upon us in 1985.
Beginning with the 2014 Finals next June,
the format goes back to the
old "2-2-1-1-1" format, with an extra day
off between games 6 and 7.
Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing
the Good Guys take full
advantage of that in this year's
Playoffs. Makes it much nicer
when we Beat L.A.!
Banning the Banners
Recently,
former
Celtics Coach Doc Rivers took some
grief when he hid the Lakers
Banners and retired numbers during
Clipper home games, instead
displaying banners of Clippers
players.
Doc is quite right to do this.
When the Clippers are playing a
home game, it is their home,
NOT
the Laker's home. Clippers
players--and their fans--deserve
to feel
like they are on the Clipper's home
court, not a sublet of the Lakers
residency.
Celtics fans know a little about
this--decades ago, when Delaware North
owned both the Boston Garden and the
Bruins, they use to make the
Celtics take down their growing
collection of banners after each game,
since it emphasized how relatively
bare the Bruin's side of the rafters
was. The foolishness was
eventually resolved, and now, fans of
both teams can see their teams
accomplishments proudly displayed,
easy
to do since the teams play different
sports.
But anyone who thinks this is somehow
an insult to the Lakers need to
take a moment and think of the YEARS
the Clippers spend NOT doing this
sensible thing. If anything, the
Lakers should apologize for not
doing this sooner.
October 20 2013
Who are you, and what do you DO here,
anyway?
I've
updated the Coaching
staff and Players roster as they stand
now. I fully expect, that
having done this, the Celtics will now
announce major changes to one or
both.
October 16 2013
Cleaning up the past is almost as tough
as predicting the future!
The
biggest casualty of a
major problem with this site was the
near-destruction of the
predictions list. Fortunately, I
still had the original e-mails
from all those seasons, so I've
reconstructed--and reformatted--it for
easier reading. The appearance is
still a little off, but the
info is accurate. I'll be
experimenting with a more recent
vintage program to upload stuff--I'm
currently using a program that
faints in a breeze.
October 7, 2013
It's been a rough time, both as a fan
and in real life.
I'm sorry I fell down on a lot of the
updates, but I'm getting back on
track, and this year's schedule has been
updated and I'll be getting
the rest of the updates done later this
week.
December 11, 2012
Channel changes for this week's games!
The networks are at it again,
having decided at the last minute
to put Friday's game against Houston
on ESPN and Saturday's game
against San Antonio on NBAtv.
December 8, 2012
Next week's games, December 9-15 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 8:00pm vs.
Dallas Mavericks (ESPN)
Friday, December 14, 8:00pm @ Houston
Rockets
Saturday, December 15, 8:30pm @ San
Antonio Spurs
December 1,2012
Next week's games, December 2-8 2012
Wednesday, December 05 7:30pm vs.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Friday, December 07 7:00pm @
Philadelphia 76ers (ESPN)
Saturday,
December
08 7:30pm vs. Philadelphia 76ers
November 30 2012
Welcome Back, Kris!
Despite the circumstances, it's
good to see Kris Joseph back
from the D League for tonight's game!
Whose team is it, anyway?
As mentioned below, San Antonio
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich did
something he's done several times over
the last few seasons, sending
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony
Parker, and Danny Green home on a
commercial flight to rest up for
Saturday's game, instead of having
them play last night's nationally
televised game in Miami. In
addition, the Spurs were without
Stephen
Jackson and Kawhi Leonard due to
injuries. So they had nine
players on their fourth game in five
nights against a fully stocked and
rested Miami team. The Heat only
won thanks to a last-minute shot
by Ray Allen.
"King David I" warned there would be
sanctions forthcoming--presumably
egged on by network television
executives who didn't care about the
other 81 regular season games, or the
possibilty of the Playoffs.
Today, the NBA hit the Spurs with a
$250,000.00 fine.
David Stern, trying to sound
righteous, released a statement that
read,
"The
result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this
case. The
Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable
for an
early-season game that was the team's only regular-season
visit to
Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the
media, or
the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances,
I have
concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and
our fans.
"
But King David's decree was WRONG.
David Stern is the NBA
Commissioner. He runs the
NBA.
David Stern does not
own the
San Antonio Spurs, Peter Holt
does.
David Stern is not
the
General Manager of the Spurs, R.C
Buford is.
Most importantly, David Stern is not
the Head Coach of the San Antonio
Spurs.
Gregg Popovich is, and has been since
1996.
He's been named Coach of the
Year. He's taken the Spurs to
the
Playoffs EVERY SEASON except his
first, when he took over midseason
from former Head Coach Bob Hill.
He's gotten the team to the
Finals four times, winning each of
those times. They've been to
the Western Conference five times
beyond that. That means nine
out of the last fifteen seasons,
they've gotten at least as far as the
Western Conference Finals, taking the
NBA Championship just under 50%
of those trips. There's teams
that haven't done that in their
entire existence.
This means that Popovich decides who
plays and when. The only two
people who can overturn that decision
are Peter Holt and R. C.
Buford. Given Popovich's record,
they have wisely shut up and let
him do his thing. I suspect,
despite the steepness of this
idiotic fine, their first thought
might well be, "Screw it, we'll pay
the fine, we're going to make more
with repeated trips to the Playoffs
than the fine will ever cost."
I urge them NOT to pay this or any
other fine, or accept any punishment
whatsoever.
Either the TEAM--meaning the Owners,
GM, and Head Coach--decides who
plays and when, or they don't.
If they don't, then let's everyone
meekly submit to whatever King David,
soon to vacate his throne, orders.
Commissioner Stern, you are
wrong. You once told how Red
Auerbach
used to begin his phone calls with you
by saying, "You idiot, what have
you done NOW?"
Well, you idiot, what HAVE you done
now?
I'll tell you. You've
overstepped your boundaries because
some
bottom line greedy fool complained
about the national TV
broadcast. For someone who is
known to stand your ground even
when rational thinking clearly decrees
otherwise, you've routinely let
the television networks run roughshod
over you and the League.
Gregg Popovich does not give a damn
about the ratings on tv, national
or otherwise. He does not care
if you're offended because his
bench nearly took down the media
darling Miami Heat. He is doing
what he has ALWAYS done, his JOB.
That job is to make the best decisions
to give his team the best chance
of winning another Championship.
He doesn't need your advice or your
help, and he sure as hell doesn't
need your grandstanding and
interference.
So, withdraw the fine, make it clear
that it is NOT the place of the
Commissioner's office to tell Coaches
how, if, or when to utilize their
players, and sit down, shut up, and
enjoy the games.
Your damn 82 game schedule is behind
this. Stop trying to blame
someone else for your mistake.
The season is too long, and there
are too many teams. The mounting
list of serious player injuries
proves this, along with reliable
scientific proof to back it up.
But you want more teams and more
games.
If you want all that, then let the
Coaches decide how to make that
happen without crippling the players
in the process.
Today, you're fining the Spurs.
Next week, you might whimsically
decide that Kevin Garnett needs to
play more, and fine the Celtics if
they don't follow your unique brand of
idiocy.
You are not a Coach, GM or
Owner. You are an Attorney made
Commissioner whose job is to run the
LEAGUE, not the TEAMS.
So DO your job and let the Owners,
GM's and Coaches do THEIRS.
Is it too much?
Last season's abbreviated
schedule included some
back-to-back-to-back games that left
some coaches trying to decide
which of the relatively fewer and more
meaningful games were the most
vital for players who couldn't go
three nights in a row anymore.
We've seen a plethora of injuries to
players the last three seasons,
and this season,in addition to
limiting the minutes of Kevin Garnett,
Boston has made the initial movements
to do the same with Paul Pierce.
For the entire time of his tenure as
coach of the Celtics, Doc Rivers
has made no secret of the fact that he
considers preseason games as no
more than a chance to scrimmage
against another team, playing with
lineups that frequently had nothing to
do with his starters. The C's
are 29-29 in the last eight seasons of
preseason games, but went only
3-5 this year, including a 32 point
preseason loss to Philadelphia.
This in a season where the Celtics had
supposedly recovered from a vast
array of player injuries, several of
which ended careers.
But last night something happened in
Miami that has gathered the
legendary wrath of Commissioner David
Stern. The San Antonio
Spurs, playing their 11th road game in
November, the sixth game of the
current road trip, and the fourth game
in five nights, were tired, and
would have to travel Friday to play
the Memphis Grizzlies on
Saturday. So Coach Gregg
Popovich rolled the dice--as he has
done
three times last season alone--and
sent Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony
Parker, and Danny Green home on a
commercial flight to rest up for
Saturday's game. In addition,
the Spurs were without Stephen
Jackson and Kawhi Leonard due to
injuries.
This left the Spurs with nine players
against the well-rested Miami
Heat. Even playing thin, San Antonio
nearly won, if not for a three
point shot by Ray Allen going in (the
only time that happened last
night) with 22.3 seconds left in the
game, with the Heat ultimately
winning 105-100.
As I mentioned, Popovich has done this
before. In the lockout
season (and referring specifically to
that season), NBA Deputy
Commissioner (and Heir Apparent to
King David I) Adam Silver said, "The
strategic resting of particular
players on particular nights is within
the discretion of the teams. And
Gregg Popovich is probably the
last coach that I could second-guess."
But there are two problems now.
First, is the overwhelmingly
obvious cases of cheating pervasive in
the minds of fans, particularly
the two Badminton teams tossed from
this year's Olympics for trying to
throw matches to get seeding against
lesser teams in the later
rounds. They tried SO hard,
anyone with a functioning brain cell
could see the obvious. There
were other such cases, in and out of
the Olympics.
The second problem is one of "dynamic
pricing", which basically means
you pay more to see good teams come to
town that the crappy ones.
Let's face it, nobody is going to
shell out the same money for the
Wizards as for the Celtics. But
that means, to an extent, you are
paying to see some of the best
players.
When Popovich sent his starting lineup
home, some people felt he was
cheating the customers. He
acknowledged that he was aware of this
but his chief concern was the team
itself, and presumably having an
overall winning season. Keep in
mind that Miami is an Eastern
Conference team, while Memphis is in
the same Division as the
Spurs. Like it or not, the
Memphis game is more important to win
by comparison, to the Spurs.
And we're not talking about tanking
games, which is cheating. The
coaches, more and more, are managing
minutes instead of coaching
games. The end result sometimes
comes down to, do you keep your
main guy in to try to win a close but
relatively less important game,
or have him ready for the next game
with the Division rival?
Because more often of late, you can't
do both.
Popovich has made his position
clear. Doc Rivers hasn't quite
done this, but the logical conclusion
is there, and frankly, that
conclusion is a lot closer than anyone
wants to think.
David Stern may well be upset at this,
but there's frankly nothing in
the rules that says coaches can't do
this, so long as the games stay
competitive. The fact that the
Heat needed a last minute three
point shot by Ray Allen, the NBA
leader in such shots, to win, tells me
the game was more than
competitive. The Heat, on paper,
should
have crushed the undermanned Spurs,
but were nearly beaten. So
Popovich obviously has a deep enough
team to do this, at least once in
a while.
But the main problem is more insidious
and more difficult to
resolve. There are simply too
many teams and too many
games. The NBA bent over happily
to let the woeful New Jersey
Nets be reinvented in Brooklyn, but
the owner is pouring oceans of
money into the team and basically
saying to hell with the salary
cap. Most owners can't do that
anymore, not under the new CBA so
acrimoniously put into place last
year.
The League needs fewer teams and/or
fewer games. Stern has always
been proud of the 82 game regular
season schedule that lets every team
visit every other team at least
once. This is too much anymore,
not with playoffs taking months to
complete, and preseason games that
start a month before the regular
season starts. Teams are even
going to other countries now.
FIBA recently changed it's entire
Olympic qualifying process to
accommodate the overlong NBA season so
that those players could compete.
It's too much. If the League
won't cut teams, then cut
games. Nobody needs to play the
same teams four times every
year. Cut it to two or
three. This would open up the
schedule, and allow players to either
actually practice--or
rest--between games. The League makes
billions of the teams.
Slicing a minute fraction off will
hurt nobody. Fill the open
arena dates with other events so the
vendors don't lose money, and you
even get a better variety of things
happening all across the
country. Everyone wins, and
there will be no need for resting
players during games, since there will
be time in between them.
Otherwise, this will continue to
happen, and if you don't think the
Spurs will happily pay a fine to keep
doing what they're doing, think
again. They'll make more by
winning games and playoff series than
they'll EVER lose to fines.
November 29, 2012
The League gives Rondo a pass.
To my utter amazement--and, I'm
sure, the howls of everyone on
the Brooklyn Nets--Rajon Rondo
received word this afternoon of his
punishment for fighting: a two game
suspension, to be served in this
weekend's games vs. Portland and
Milwaukee. Kevin Garnett was
fined $25,000.00 for "escalating the
altercation".
To say that he was fortunate is
understating it. Nets GM Billy
King has already made it clear he
disagrees with the decision, though
perhaps he was simply opposed to the
$35,000 fine for Gerald
Wallace. But Rondo has to know
he is very lucky not to have been
given a much harsher punishment.
Danny Ainge has already
commented that he thinks it unlikely
that Rondo will appeal. I
agree. Take the relatively light
punishment and be glad it wasn't
a lot more.
For the moment, Rondo has the public
support of Ainge, Coach Doc
Rivers, and his teammates for his
passion, even if they wish it was
better focused on the court. But
Rondo also has the attention of
the League office now, and he has to
step VERY carefully. Another
such transgression will make a major
punishment unavoidable. He
needs to publicly show he's learned
his lesson.
Fighting the wrong fight.
Last night, as the Celtics were
in the process of losing to the
Brooklyn Nets, a fight broke out just
before Halftime. Kevin
Garnett was going up with the ball to
score when Kris Humphries decided
it was a good idea to take KG down in
midair, sending Garnett into the
press row underneath the basket, as
Humphries stood just inbounds,
ignoring what he'd done.
Rajon Rondo, standing a few feet away,
moved forward, and with both
arms extended, pushed Humphries out of
bounds and off the court.
Humphries grabbed Rondo's jersey as he
went back, and both of them
ended up in a tangle, pushing at each
other in the third row.
Gerald Wallace was running toward the
group, only to be thrown aside by
Garnett, who had (fortunately) quickly
recovered from the (in my
opinion flagrant) hard foul.
They grappled as others, including
security guards, tried to separate
them.
It took a less than a minute for order
to be restored, but the damage
was done.
The C's were having a frustrating
night, and let things get to
them. Rondo and Humphries were
automatoically ejected because the
fight went into the stands, even
though no punches were thrown.
Gerald Wallace was ejected because it
was his second Technical foul of
the night. Garnett avoided the
same fate only because he had no
Technical fouls prior to that.
While part of me appreciates that
Rondo stood up for his teammate, he
went too far. Literally.
After the public relations
disaster following the fight between
the Pacers and Pistons a few years
back, the NBA has come down with both
feet on any major physical
altercation that goes into the stands.
The referee Crew Chief at the game,
James Capers, further stated after
the game that, "Rondo initiated
everything that proceeded after the
foul." That means that as far as
the officials are concerned,
Rondo escalated matters when he walked
over and gave Humphries that two
handed shove.
The thing is, they're right.
Rondo DID escalate it, but it's
going to be costly to him and the
team. In addition to his
automatic ejection--which while it
didn't doom the C's chances of
winning the game, certainly hurt the
team signifigantly--he will
definitely be fined, that's a foregone
conclusion, the only question
being how much, and that will be
determined by how long his suspension
will be.
And without question, he will be
suspended. Rondo's occasional
inability to control his temper has
gotten him in trouble before, and
at this stage of his career, the NBA
is likely disinclined to be
softhearted. I think the C's and
Rondo will be lucky if there
isn't a whopper of a suspension, 10
games or more. The League
really doesn't play around with this
sort of thing, not anymore.
If Rondo is made to sit 5 games or
less, he should be grateful and sit
the games out quietly.
But whatever happens, he has to
realize that his actions, while
perhaps
personally appreciated by his
teammates, need to be tempered so they
don't hurt the team. He's the
starting Point Guard, and Leandro
Barbosa is not equipped to take his
place for extended periods.
Therefore, Rondo HAS to be in the
game--in mind as well as body.
He can't afford to let his passions
overrule his common sense.
But now, instead of practicing and
planning for the back to back games
Friday and Saturday, the team has to
make contingency plans for a
prolonged absence for Rondo, which
almost certainly means calling up a
man or two from the "D" League, and
probably means Paul Pierce will
have to help out Barbosa at the
point. Pierce can do it--has
has,
on many occasions, but he's older now,
and Doc Rivers is starting to
limit his minutes as he does for
Garnett. That's
counterproductive if he's having to
cover Rondo's expected absence.
So let's hope the lesson is
well-learned and not too
expensive.
The team needs Rondo, but ONLY if he
can keep his emotions in
check. The next time he wants to
retaliate for something, do it
by winning the game, not getting
thrown out of it. I think his
teammates will appreciate that more.
November 25, 2012
Condolences to Kevin McHale and his
family.
Kevin Mchale's daughter, 23 year
old Alexandra "Sasha" McHale,
died yesterday, having battled Lupus,
and had been recently
hospitalized with a related condition.
We hope that all basketball fans will
join in sending thought, prayers
and condolences to the McHale family.
November 23, 2012
Next week's games - November 25-December
01
Sunday, November 25 6:00pm @ Orlando
Magic
Wednesday, November 28 7:30pm vs.
Brooklyn Nets (NBAtv)
Friday, November 30 7:30pm vs.
Portland Trailblazers
Saturday, December 01 8:30pm @
Milwaukee Bucks
November 21, 2012
Gone Darko
Darko
Milicic
has been granted his request to be
waived by the Celtics, so he
can care for his ill mother. The
fact is, the C's weren't really
playing him anyway, so the roster spot
can now be filled with someone
that can help the C's now, instead of
some nebulous point in the future.
Doc Rivers hasn't yet talked to Danny
Ainge about if or when the spot
will be filled, and not even a wild
guess, much less a formal
announcement, about a potential
replacement has been made.
As for Darko, hopefully, his mother's
illness will soon abate, and
things will be better for him and his
family.
November 17, 2012
Next week's games
Sunday,
November
18 7:30pm @ Detroit Pistons
Wednesday, November 21 7:30pm vs. San
Antonio Spurs
Friday, November 23 7:30pm vs. Oklahoma
City Thunder (NBAtv)
November 10, 2012
Next week's games
Monday, November 12 8:00pm @
Chicago Bulls
Wednesday, November 14 7:30pm vs Utah
Jazz
Thursday, November 15 8:00pm @
Brooklyn Nets (TNT)
Saturday, November 17 12:30pm vs
Toronto Raptors
November 7, 2012
This time for SURE!
As of tonight's game, the
Predictions list is FULLY
closed. For those who complained
about the extension, there were
NO "late" predictions, so the list now
is EXACTLY as it was on Opening
night.
November 4, 2012
This week's games:
Wednesday, November 07 7:30pm vs.
Washington Wizards
Friday, November 09 7:30pm vs.
Philadelphia 76ers
Saturday, November 10 8:30pm @
Milwaukee Bucks
October 30, 2012
As of now, the CBW 2012-13
Predictions list is CLOSED.
The ONLY exception to this is for
people unable to make a prediction
due to the storm. They will have
until 7:30pm Eastern Time
November 7 to make a prediciton and it
must be based on the team
circumstances prior to tonight's game.
A few people have complained about my
doing this. I'm not talking
about extending it for people who
forgot, or didn't bother, but who got
stranded by the extraordinary
conditions. There are people out
there with no electricity, no water, no
communications, no means of
getting out of wherever they are due to
floodwaters, or snowfall
measured in FEET overnight. I'm
giving them a break.
They're fellow fans who might be in a
very tough situation.
I hope everyone is OK, and nobody will
need the extension.
YAY! It's time for the first game
of the season!
YAHOOOOOOOIE!
Yeah,
I've been waiting for
this.
GO CELTICS!
Predictions deadline clarification
After some further thought--and
some input from other
people--I'm clarifying the extended
deadline for predictions. If
you have already made a prediction,
the original deadline of 8:00pm
tonight stands to make any changes.
If you have NOT made a prediction due
to weather-related matters, you
have until November 7 to make it, BUT
the prediction MUST be reasonably
based on the conditions prior to
tonight's game--that is, should, God
forbid, a player or players go down
with serious injury, you cannot
revise your prediction downward.
Likewise, if they wipe the floor
with the Heat, you can't increase your
prediction.
I'm counting on people to be honorable
and do the right thing. We
have a good group of people, and I'm
willing to bet in their favor in
this. In any case, this is
likely to only affect a handful of
people at most.
Thanks to everyone who participates,
we'll have a great time, and
hopefully, a great season as well.
October 29, 2012
CBW Predictions deadline is postponed.
After
reading of the likely extent of damage from Hurricane Sandy,
and
realizing some people like to traditionally wait until the
last minute
to make a prediction, I've decided they shouldn't be
penalized if they
lose power, or are stuck away from their computers due to
the
widespread planetary delays created by the storm.
Therefore, I've pushed back the CBW
Predictions deadline to Wednesday
November 7, at 7:30pm. This is the date of the
Celtics' 4th regular season game vs. the Washington
Wizards. You have until the tip-off of that
game to make
predictions.
I hope all of you remain
safe
before, during, and after the storm.
This
Week's Games
Tuesday, October 30 8:00pm @ Miami Heat
(TNT broadcast)
Friday, November 02 7:30pm vs. Milwaukee
Bucks (Home Opener)
Saturday, November 03 7:00pm @
Washington Wizards
October 26, 2012
Waive Good-bye
Micah
Downs
and Rob Kurz have officially been
released by the Celtics today,
ending a week of absolutely no
speculation whatsoever. Still, we
wish them well.
October 25, 2012
Beagle Day
Today is my birthday, which I'm
proud to share with Snoopy
(October 2), Paul Simon and Paul
Pierce (October 13).
October 21, 2012
Let the games begin!
The Good Guys ended their
preseason with a loss to the
Philadelphia 76ers in Albany, New
York. No, I have no idea why we
had to to go New York to play
Philly. But then, I have no idea
about much of the NBA schedule.
We have a leisurely nine days before
opening night. Time to take
a deep breath and get ready for the
real thing.
October 18, 2012
CBW
Editorial: WADA you taking with your
protein shake?
WADA thinks the NBA should let
them conduct drug testing THEIR
way. Why?
Tonight's game is on TNT!
Tonight's preseason matchup
against the recently transplanted
Brooklyn Nets will be broadcast on
TNT.
October 17, 2012
Leandro Barbosa joins the Celtics.
Today, the Celtics signed Leandro
Barbosa to a one year
contract. I've updated the
roster to include him, but since the
Celtics own site hasn't made an
update, I have no idea what his player
number will be with Boston, though he
wore # 20 with the Pacers last
season.
Are you ready yet?
In a demonstration that someone in the
NBA really has too much free
time on their hands, the League today
instituted a 90 second time limit
for the various pregame rituals
players (and some coaches) undergo
before each game. Apparently
some people feel that taking a few
minutes to shake hands with your
opponents, or your teammates makes the
game run too long, so 90 seconds after
player introductions, if they're
not ready for tip-off, a delay of game
warning will be issued.
Personally, I wonder if they can do
that if the game hasn't even started
yet.
Additionally, if they REALLY want to
speed up the game, let's kill off
the plethora of commercials. The
"TV timeout", especially in
nationally broadcast games, is stupid
and pointless.
October 16, 2012
Roster changed!
I
should have
known. The day I finally get the
roster updated and uploaded, the
Celtics cut Jamar Smith and Dionte
Christmas from the team.
There's no word on whether the Celtics
will immediately name
replacements.
It's been a long, long time.
I've
had kind of a
rough year. On top of other things
happening totally unrelated to
this site, a major problem killed most
of the updates I'd made last
season, along with the backup here on my
computer. Then, circumstances
conspired to keep me from fixing things
a lot sooner. I've been
rebuilding things and started updating
stuff in the last couple of
weeks.
Of immediate importance is the new
schedule and the Predictions list,
which is now open.
As this week progresses, I'll clean up
the roster and some other things.
Thanks to everyone for being patient.
January
1, 2012
HAPPY
NEW YEAR!
The Good Guys rang in the new year with
a decisive win over the
Washington Wizards, whom they will face
again tomorrow night!
Let's make oit two for tweo!
December
28, 2011
CHANNEL
CHANGE
Tonight's game vs. New Orleans is no
longer on NBAtv.
It's on the regular League Pass, same
start time.
Can you network guys PLEASE stop making
these last second changes while
people are trying to adjust to this
wacked out schedule?
December
26, 2011
ROSTERS IN PENCIL
With changes literally taking
place a few days before the start
of the season, I waited until now to
update
the Celtics roster--and they STILL
haven't assigned a number to
the newest guy yet--and he might be
playing tomorrow night!
December
25, 2011
WAAH!
Game
one was a tough
loss. Had the Good Guys played a
little tougher in the first
quarter they would likely have won this,
no matter HOW screwy Joey
Crawford's officiating got.
Predictions
list
closed!
Accompanying the shortest season in over
a decade was the shortest
Predictions list in the sme amount of
time. Thanks to all who did
participate, and to the rest, I hope to
see you next season!
December
19, 2011
THE
2011-2012 PREDICTIONS LIST IS OPEN!
Congratulations to:
Jonathan
Branin, Rick Daley,
Karl Dillinger, Douglas342, Michael Gooen, R Howe,
John Lyell, and
Dwain Williams
the winners of the 2009-10
predictions!
December 14,
2011
NBA
LEAGUE PASS NOW AVAILABLE
While the NBA's own site has no
information beyond that fact as
yet--they say there will be more detail
tomorrow (Thursday, December
15)--by way of various sources, is the
following information:
The normal "Whole NBA" pass will be
$169, with a free preview lasting
through either January 3 or 8, depending
on who you talk to. I'm
told the broadband/phone app thingys
will be added for free. never mind
the cost.
I have no info about whether there will
even BE a half season pass this
year,
There will--supposedly--be a discounted
version on nba.com/roku where
you can stream games from your choice of
five teams for $109. I
know almost nothing about it's viability
or quality. I'd love to
hear from someone who's actually used
this service.
Nothing about this is at all
certain. Enough credible sources
are
giving this info that I think it's
solid.
I went to the website for my own cable
company at 10:11pm Wednesday
night and there's no new information at
all.
Given all this, I urge anyone interested
to please contact their
provider directly tomorrow for more
accurate details. As soon as
I know something more certain, I'll
mention it here.
December
12, 2011
The new
schedule is up
I've also included national
broadcasts in Canada, at least as
regards the Toronto Raptors vs the
Celtics.
Well, we DID say they needed their heads
examined...
The NBA has instituted a new policy
regarding concussions, as reported
by ESPN.com:
"Before the opening of
preseason games,
each player will undergo baseline testing, which aids in
the diagnosis
of potential concussions. Players and coaches will take
part in annual
training and will have to sign acknowledgment forms that
they
understand the importance of reporting symptoms.
"Dr.
Jeffrey Kutcher, an associate professor of neurology at the
University
of Michigan, will serve as director of the NBA's concussion
program. He
is instructing team medical personnel on the tests to
conduct if a
player is suspected of having a concussion. The players must
be
examined in a quiet location free of distractions.
"If
a player is diagnosed with a concussion, he will have to
complete a
series of steps to confirm that he's healthy enough for
competition.
Once he is free of symptoms, the player must make it through
increasing
stages of exertion -- from a stationary bike, to jogging, to
agility
work, to non-contact team drills -- while ensuring the
symptoms don't
return after each one. Then the neurologist hired to lead
the NBA's
concussion program needs to be consulted before the player
is cleared.
The
process will likely take at least several days, if not
weeks."
After
what
happened to Brian Scalabrine, I'm glad
the NBA is at last
formalizing this for all teams, instead
of each team dealing with this
differently--or not at all.
Moreover after some of the horror
stories we've heard from the NFL, this
sounds like a REALLY good idea.
November
14,2011
The
answer is NO.
The Players Association has rejected the
Owner's list of demands
disguised as a contract offer, and has
begun the process of disbanding
the Union as a prelude to beginning
antitrust lawsuits
against
the NBA.
While
I personally
want to see Basketball games resume,
I've never believed in "peace at
any cost", be it here or anywhere.
For those of you who, like me, hold the
Owners responsible for this
situation, I give you the Telephone
Number for NBA Headquarters:
212 407-8000
Please let all your family and
friends know, so they can call,
as I already have, to let them know just
how badly they screwed up.
And a side note to the Hardline Owners
like Michael Jordan...I hope
they kick your collective asses in
court.
November
7,
2011
The Celtics
Beagle Lockout Tour
December
26
Update--since the League came sonewhat
to it's senses, the tour was
cut short.
November
4, 2011
A
Conversation with Mom
Two years ago last Christmas, my mom was diagnosed
with Cancer.
At the time, they gave her a few weeks to
live. But they didn't
know her very well. She was the one who
taught me to be a Celtics
fan.
She'd turn on the radio and we'd listen to Johnny
Most while she
explained all the rules of the game to me.
She told me who the
players were, and most importantly, that Lakers
were a Bad Thing.
She talked Dad into putting up a hoop and
backboard, even though we
lived in a neighborhood where Baseball was
unquestionably the most
popular sport, with Hockey a close second. I
was the only kid on
my block who really cared about the Celtics.
Mom was always
willing to talk about the games.
As years went on, and the excitement of the early
1980's gave way to
the thoroughly depressing years with Rick Pitino,
who told us who
wasn't walking through that door--as mom and I
wished Pitino WOULD go
though it and not let it slam him in the ass on
the way out--to the
slow, faltering attempt to rebuild, we would call
each other and
inevitably talk about the Celtics.
When Bob Cousy--her favorite player--was doing a
book signing near her,
I let her know so she could get a copy and have
him sign it. A
week later, the book I thought she had at home
arrived in the
mail--autographed to both of
us.
Then came the turnaround season and a roaring run
to the Championship,
which mom and I celebrated together by phone as
each game was
played. When the Celtics destroyed the
Despised Lakers, we
celebrated from the center court with Garnett and
Bill Russell, and
laughed at Brian Scalabrine's impromptu press
conference. We
watched the parade, me on the internet, Mom in
person.
Then, Mom got the diagnosis, in the midst of other
medical problems,
which made a dire situiation even tougher.
When she called with
the news, I tried not to make it any harder on
her. Other friends
and relatives had been through this, we both knew
what lay ahead.
We knew that some people used music or comedy to
get through it.
But the answer was as clear as a Bob Cousy free
throw.
By mutual agreement, beyond a basic "how are you
doing" we didn't talk
about her illness unless she had specific news.
Our calls were about
our team, how they were doing, and what we wished
they did more
of. She was the kind of person who agreed
wholeheartedly with 99%
of everything Tom Heinsohn said during a broadcast
and was known to
throw things at the tv if the C's didn't play well
enough.
But finally, this past season, she was too sick to
stay home, and moved
into a hospice. The calls were less
frequent, as she was less
able to have long conversations about
anything. Last May, as the
Celtics were making one last Playoff run, her
season came to an end.
I know that she'd be as annoyed as I am about the
lockout. She'd
be grousing that they should stop talking the
business of Basketball
and get back to playing the actual game of
Basketball. She would
grumble that if Red were still around, he'd knock
some sense into both
sides, and wonder why they didn't just let Tommy
Heinsohn decide the
best way for all sides to go. I know that
because that's what
happened during the last lockout.
Anyway, people say that when someone dies, that
it's occasionally a
good thing to write them a letter. Well, we
knew how we felt
about each other, and we got to say our
good-byes. So what else
to write about?
What else?
Mom, the Celtics are very vocal on both sides of
the Lockout. Wyc
is a relative moderate among owners, and Pierce
and Garnett have been
shaking things up on the player's side. God
knows why they put a
$&&^^%*%*^# Laker in charge of the
players, the fools.
King David Stern the First is throwing new
tantrums each week as his
legacy becomes one of cancelled games. Billy
Hunter still thinks
this is a personal grudge match in revenge for the
last lockout, and
Delonte West is working at Home Depot.
Doc and Danny will have a LOT of work ahead of
them trying to bring the
team together again--whenever that happens.
I'm still hoping
there'll be an NBA season this year, but some
doomsayers are already
wondering how many of NEXT season's games will be
cancelled.
The good news is, I saved a bunch of money not
having to get the NBA
League Pass yet. In the meantime, I'm
watching old games on tape,
and a few more on DVD, and enjoying the Good Old
Days.
I figure you're with Red, waiting once more for
Bill Russell, so you
can put together a team to win Championships in
Heaven. I'll let
you know when the season gets started and who ends
up on the team when
the dust settles. Meanwhile, have fun, have
chocolate. And don't
play HORSE with Red. He cheats.
November
1, 2011
An
open letter to ALL
participants on the NBA Contract
Negotiations
Locked Away
This is an open letter to both
Players and Owners. I hope
someone reads
this to both sides during a meeting, as a reminder of
what’s REALLY at
stake here.
Today is November 1, 2011.
For the fans, this is the day
the lockout became all too real. After
hearing
and reading about missed deadlines, lines in the sand,
lines of
credit, and lines about how sorry everyone supposedly is,
I decided to
write a few lines of my own.
When the Owners decided to
shut
down the NBA, you didn’t lock out the Players.
You locked out the FANS.
When the Players stormed out
of
a potential deal, you also walked out on the FANS.
After all, in the end, it’s
not
the Owners who pay the Players, it’s us.
WE
pay for you to play. Moreover,
it’s
not the TV networks, etc that generate so-called
“Basketball-Related Income”, WE
generate
that, when we subscribe to the League Pass, or buy tickets
to games, or
purchase various things at the stores.
WE make it possible for Owners
to make money, and for Players to make a living playing
Basketball. Believe me, we
fans would love to have a deal
like you guys have. WE live
on a lot less
income, with no leverage to increase it by ANY decently
measurable
amount, much less numbers like you’ve been arguing about.
You can’t decide on a split
between 50-53%?
Fine. Give
it
back to us. Return some of
the cost of
season tickets to those who paid up faithfully, and
institute a serious
price cut for the League Pass for the rest of us. Remember
guys, the NFL GAVE their League pass to fans in return for
their
foolishness. I doubt you guys
will be so
generous, since you’ve all been clinging to every dollar
like you have
no idea hot to pay for your next trip to the grocery
store.
I’m a second generation
Celtics
fan. Around the world, there are more like me, as well as
fans of other
teams. WE really don’t CARE
who started it.
WE want it STOPPED.
Stop behaving like three year
olds throwing a temper tantrum open the doors and play the
game. Because we’re rapidly
getting tired of being
locked out and are discovering equally fulfilling things
to do with our
time, and our money.
And
time, as you keep saying without truly realizing, is
running out.
October 24, 2010
Wheeze, pant, cough...
OK, I'm
having to rebuild things that
I thought had been successfully updated some
time ago. And that's
going to take some time, since I ALSO have
to do the latest updates for
the new season.
I need a minion, damnit.
December
05
2009
The Celtics were luckier than they knew
three years ago.
As we enjoy
the current success of the
Celtics, I want to take you back for a
moment to three years ago.
It's late June, and the Celtics, after a
horrible season lowlighted by
Paul Pierce suffering a serious injury that
saw an extended losing
streak unfold, fans had been looking forward
to the idea of perhaps
getting some payback from the Tim Duncan
lottery blowup by having a
choice between Greg Oden and Kevin Durant,
had just learned that the
Celtics would be drafting 5th in a two man
dream draft.
Danny Ainge took that pick, and (against my
specific opinion at the
time, not that he ever read that) traded the
draft rights to Jeff
Green--along with players Wally Szczerbiak
and Delonte West--to get Ray
Allen and Glen Davis.
This trade was followed in short order by
the trade that brought Kevin
Garnett to the Celtics, and one year later,
Banner 17 came home.
Greg Oden, meantime, went to the Portland
Trailblazers, who had netted
a top pick for the second year running.
But Greg's rookie season was a
disaster. Microfracture surgery on
his right knee sidelined him the whole
season. His next season
was slightly better, as he only missed 20
games with two different
injuries, one to his foot, and the other a
bone chip in his left knee.
This year, his third season is now likely
ended after he fractured his
left patella during a game against the
Houston Rockets.
Back in 2007, along with oodles of other
Celtics fans, I thought the
Good Guys had been very unlucky not to get
the chance to draft Oden.
Tonight, as we seem to be having another
outstanding season despite our
share of injuries, I think maybe we were
luckier than we knew.
And that's the view from the doghouse.
November 08, 2009
Net Gain
After a
dismal loss to the Phoenix
Suns, the Good Guys returned to their
winning ways, beating a New
Jersey Nets team that was barely able to
field the League Minimum eight
players between injury and illness. A
combination of
fatigue--eight games in 12 days--and some
really sloppy play kept the
Nets in the game until the 4th quarter, when
the C's were able to pull
just far enough away for the defense to keep
the Nets scoreless for the
final three minutes of the game.
October 24, 2009
Starting again...
A new
season is upon us, and with it,
hopefully a fresh start for the CBW.
The new Predictions list is
opened and updated as of today.
The 2009-10 schedule is up, and for the
first time, includes Canadian
television broadcasts.
There'll be more changes and upgrades as we
go. They would have
been done already, but somebody hacked into
this site and some cleaning
up needed to be done.
I'll get more done this weekend, after
taking some time to celebrate my
birthday tomorrow.
Arnold
Jacob "Red"
Auerbach
Basketball
Legend
September 20,
1917 - October
28, 2006
"And
the
day
will
come when,
Stooped
with
Age
and
Steeped with
Life,
I
must bring my
days to an
end.
Let
me
not
weep
over times of
sadness,
Nor
curse
the
battles
lost,
Nor
mourn
the
tasks
unfinished.
Rather,
let
me
dance
joyful in
happiness,
Roar
my
celebration
in
Victory,
Revel
in
the
work
well done.
Should
you
ask,
"Would
you do this
again?"
Let
me
not
vacillate,
picking and
choosing
portions.
I
will dare to
do it all,
live my whole
life, again.
For
the
most
crushing
agonies of
life's defeats
Was
my strength's
source to
achieve life's
victories."
--Mike
Buckley,
2006
used with
permisssion of
the author
Measure
Once,
Cut Twice, or,
NBA Division
Math
It's a
good idea to
remind
everyone--myself
included--about
the
NBA's current
Divisional
alignment and
Playoff
seeding.
Here's
how the
divisions go
now, with the
official
explanation
following:
Eastern
Conference
Atlantic
Division: Boston
Celtics,
Brooklyn Nets,
New York
Knicks,
Philadelphia
76ers, Toronto
Raptors
Central
Division:
Chicago Bulls,
Cleveland
Cavaliers,
Detroit
Pistons,
Indiana
Pacers,
Milwaukee
Bucks
Southeast
Division:
Atlanta Hawks,
Charlotte
Bobcats, Miami
Heat, Orlando
Magic,
Washington
Wizards
Western
Conference
Southwest
Division:
Dallas
Mavericks,
Houston
Rockets,
Memphis
Grizzlies, New
Orleans
Hornets, San
Antonio Spurs
Northwest
Division:
Denver
Nuggets,
Minnesota
Timberwolves,
Portland
Trailblazers,
Oklahoma City
Thunder, Utah
Jazz
Pacific
Division:
Golden State
Warriors, Los
Angeles
Clippers, Los
Angeles
Lakers,
Phoenix Suns,
Sacramento
Kings
Under
this
plan,
teams
will play
divisional
opponents four
times each
(two home
games/two road
games),
conference
opponents
outside the
division three
or four times
each and
opponents
outside the
conference two
times each
(one home
game/one road
game).
The
three regular
season
divisional
winners in
each
conference
will earn a
playoff berth
and one of the
conference’s
top three
playoff
seeds based on
regular season
record. The
remaining five
playoff berths
for each
conference
will be based
on regular
season records
with no
regard to
divisional
alignment.
Home
court
advantage
throughout the
NBA playoffs
will be based
solely
on
regular season
record,
not playoff
seeding, thus
a divisional
winner that
has a higher
playoff seed
than an
opponent will
not
necessarily
have home
court
advantage in
the playoff
series.
What
changed?
Not much, as
far as the
regular season
goes.
The teams
still play 82
regular season
games.
Boston
is even still
in it's
original
division.
The C's will
still play
WC teams twice
a year, home
and
away.
Some of the
teams outside
the division
we might see
only three
times a year
instead of
four--it'll
depend on the
schedule.
The
big change
comes in the
playoffs.
There are now
three
potential
Divisions to
win instead of
two, with each
Division
winner guaranteed
a playoff
berth and one
of the top
three
conference
playoff
seedings.
The remaining
five
spots are
based on
regular season
records, as
they are now.
A
word about
game reviews
As
is
obvious to one
and all, I've
fallen far
behind.
The problem is
one of
health--and
stamina.
I record the
games--and zap
commercials in
the
process.
Then, I have
to watch the
games again
to review
them--this in
order to
replay crucial
possessions,
get a
better look at
who did what,
and so
on. Then
I start typing
up
and posting
the
review.
From start to
finish, that
takes 5-6
hours per game
(including
needed
breaks).
Right now, I'm
doing
well to watch
the initial
game before
falling over.
I
WILL be
reviewing all
the games AND
putting them
up
here--but it's
going to take
some
time.
People have
been
phenomanally
patient about
this and I
wanted to let
everyone know
I
appreciate
it. I
have already
decided that
the major
offseason
project will
be catching up
on any reviews
not done, with
the goal of
having
everything
caught up
before the
start of next
season. The
good
news is, once
they're up,
they'll STAY
up, and you
can compare
games
from different
seasons, etc.,
to your
heart's
content.
Celtics
Season Series
team by team:
This not-for-profit
page is intended for
Celtics fans to enjoy.
This
site was created by me
and is maintained by
me.
Anything not a
statistical fact is
individual opinion.
Snoopy & the
round-headed kid--er,
Charlie Brown--were
created by
Charles M. Schulz,
and are copyrighted by
United Features
Syndicate, Inc.
Please
visit The
Official
Peanuts Website!
The Boston Celtics and
all other team names,
logos, etc., are
copyrighted by the
NBA.
Please visit the Official
site
of the Boston
Celtics!
The Celtics list on
IGTC.com was created
and is maintained on
by Paul
Moriarty. Please
visit the Official
IGTC.com
site!
The Celtic
Stuff list at Yahoo
was created and is
maintained
by Jim Metz.
Please visit the Official
Celtics
Stuff site!
The names of those on
the predictions list
have not
relinquished their
right to
privacy. Do NOT
send unsolicited
e-mail!
Extra
Special Thanks to Mrs.
Celtics
Beagle for
putting up with the
funny looking kid with
the big nose.
Special
Thanks to Kim Malo
for her help and
patience in making
this site "A Better
Place To Be".
Special
Thanks to Paul
Moriarty for
creating the Celtics
list on IGTC and not
giving up.
Special Thanks to Bob
Chin for his
permission to use
several of the cool
pics used
here on the site.
Thanks to the
following people,
places, and things
("nouns" seems too
impersonal...) for
various reasons:
Mom & Dad,
without whom I
wouldn't be here, and
you'd have a
heck of a time getting
to this page.
My sister, who
is smarter than she
ever gives herself
credit for.
Harry
Chapin
for teaching me to Do
Something.
Paul
Simon and Art Garfunkel for "Bridge Over
Troubled Water".
Charles M. Schulz
for being exactly like
I hoped a cartoonist
would
be.
Kent G. Orlando
(Cheeks the Toy
Wonder), who
proved that websites
can be a form of Art
and Free Speech--and
still fun.
Boston Radio Station
WUMB
for
introducing me to the
music of Stan
Rogers, Christine
Lavin,
Cindy
Kallett and John Gorka.
Walter Brown for
betting everything he
had on the Boston
Celtics.
Red Auerbach for
putting up with the
neck-deep sh---er,
stuff---from
subsequent owners.
Johnny Most for
all those great
moments.
Bob Cousy for
being my mom's
favorite player.
Dave Campiti for
keeping the magic in
comic books
alive.
Please visit his Glass
House
Graphics
website.
Finally, to Bill
Cooper for those
incredible game
reviews of
seasons past.
