Calm Down Celtics Fans; Embrace the Positive
By: Matt Burke
”The negativity in this town stinks … and it sucks. I mean I was around when Rice was booed, when Yastrzemski was booed and it sucks. It makes the greatest city in the world, lousy.”
Turns out Rick Pitino was right all along.
As a Grade-A cynic, even I gotta say: Hey Boston, lighten up a bit, will ya?
Afterall, for the past 17 years or so, Spring time in Boston has been highlighted, sports-wise by three things and three things only:
1. The Red Sox (Sorry, can’t get too jumpy for the glorified exhibitions in April and May anymore);
2. The Boston Marathon (A great excuse to drink on street corners at 10 AM);
3. The “early” debut of Sam’s Summer Ale (That is, of course, if you think drinking is a sport).
Notice that two of those, if not all three, involve drinking.
In the most positive of ways of course.
That’s why I was so dismayed to learn in the past couple of days that people in Boston are on the verge of drinking heavily, DUE TO CELTICS DEPRESSION!!!!
The negativity revolving around a franchise that hasn’t had a legit shot at winning the title in 17 some odd years was and is running rampant. In the faithful words of Tommy Heinsohn, “What is the matta with these guys!!!???”
Sure, the Hawks series was pathetic. I threw my remote against breakable objects several times.
Game 3 of the Cleveland series was quite depressing. I opted for watching “I AM A CELTIC” on my DVR late in the third quarter in hopes of cheering up. Continue reading…
Game 4 Can’t Be A Flop
By: Matt Burke
It’s ALMOST a running national joke, albeit a lame one:
“So, the Celts gonna think about winning one on the road or what?”
Sure, I could look at that line as simple, idle conversation and it really isn’t that offensive, but, hey, any slight at the expense of the C’s these days, makes my green blood boil. I’ve been waiting to long to be in this position to stand for sophmoric taunting from people who can’t decifer Danny Ainge from Danny Baldwin.
But getting back to the actual, on-court activities, without question, Game 4 will be very telling. The Celtics struggled with Atlanta’s “athleticism” on the road (not sure how they were suddenly not as athletic in Boston). But struggling in Cleveland, with LeBron not having a “LeBron” game, was somewhat dumbfounding.
The road woes have been somewhat alarming and if they lose Game 4 tonight, I’ll think something is really up. But, in the grand scheme of David Stern’s league, the Celtics are in just as much trouble as any other team in the Elite Eight.
The Lakers are having obvious withdrawals with the lack of silicone and hard liquor in Mormon country, the Pistons are not out of the Wonderful World of Disney just yet, especially with a questionable Chauncey Billups and the Spurs and Hornets look as though they’re just getting warmed up.
So, Celtics fans should not be on edge (yet). With what transpired with the Patriots, I kind of welcome this sense of no security, when, for the entire months of December and January and for the first two days of February, I had the falsest possible sense of security that Super Bowl XLII was a mere formality.
My major issue with the C’s as we approach the halfway point of the NBA Playoffs: The lack of a Grade-A flopper.
San Antonio and Cleveland have all but perfected the art of the flop, to the point where Picasso of Flop, Reggie Miller is openly questioning the legitimacy of these calls.
At this point LeBron, arguably the top NBA player left in the playoffs, should NEVER, EVER be compared to Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson ever again for the simple fact that he makes Ric Flair blush with his unadulterated floppage.
The Spurs, meanwhile, have become even more unwatchable than before, due to their soccer style approach to the NBA playoffs. Continue reading…
Hating LeBron
By: Matt Burke
Maybe it was simply the fact that the Cavs and Celtics set the game of basketball back 11-12 years on Tuesday night.
Nonetheless, the born-again Garden crowd was not exactly an “indoor insane asylum,” as the great Kevin Harlan would say (are there outdoor insane asylums? If yes, I’m more than intrigued).
There was no booing Boobie Gibson or Delonte West every time they touched the ball. There were no “Cleveland Sucks” chants. There were no HGH chants directed towards the bodybuilder formerly known as Ben Wallace. And there were certainly no “Doc is Bet-ter” chants shouted in the direction of Mike Brown.
So where’s the hate?
Ray Ray, where art thou?
By: Jason Devaney
We gotta get this guy shooting again.
After scoring just seven points in Game 7 Sunday, Allen was held scoreless for the first time since I paid $0.99 for a gallon of gas. In last Friday’s Game 6, although he scored 20 points, Allen went 1 for 8 from beyond the arc.
Just so we’re clear, we are talking about one of the best 3-point shooters in NBA history. 
Fortunately for the Celtics, one member of the Big Three stepped up and had a big night – Kevin Garnett and his 28 points. And don’t forget Rajon Rondo’s huge performance, which consisted of 15 points – including a 5-for-6 mark from the charity stripe.
Then there was Paul Pierce, who had a dismal day shooting. He dropped in just four points on 2 for 14 shooting.
Will somebody please give these guys another bowl of Wheaties in the morning? Something. Anything. Or maybe they could all take a page out of Garnett’s book and not sleep a wink before the next day’s game – El Chosen One was too amped up to get any rest Saturday evening, so he passed the time by watching game film.
I saw a lot of good things in Tuesday’s series opener, and I saw a lot of bad things. Fortunately Lebron James was not his usual dominating self, adding just 12 points to the Cavs’ total. Will his field goal shooting (2 for 18) stay cold in the next few games?
All signs point to no.
In order for the Celtics to win this series, a few things need to happen. Pierce and Allen must get hot, the Celtics must win at least one road game (to break the winless streak, if anything) and James has to be contained and held somewhat in check. If Bron Bron scores less than 20 points per contest, I like the Celtics’ chances.
I was also impressed with Sam “Ugliest Man in the NBA” Cassell. His 13 points were clutch, and I liked his intensity after getting “accidentally” kicked in the head by Zydrunas Ilgauskas. That flagrant foul he received in the second quarter? Awful call. I think James deserves an Oscar for his performance on that play.
Am I bleeding? Is my lip bleeding? Seriously, is it bleeding now?
Come on Ray Ray. And Paul. Flash some gang signs for us and start making some shots.
We’re not in trouble yet, but another dismal Game 2 would certainly not help our cause.
The Game 7 Exhibition
By: Matt Burke
If nothing else, the Celtics passed the “lovable team” test Sunday afternoon.
How else do you explain a raucous Garden crowd that stuck around well past the point when P.J. Brown was doing his best … well, mid-90s P.J. Brown immitation?
The House That Gaston Built was electric and in any other year, with any other team, there would have, or even should have been a sense of “damn, these guys are a bunch of dogs that lie down when facing any type of adversity.”
But there was certainly none of that. In a span of a couple hours, the Celtics went from being regular season heroes and the NBA’s version of (take me now God) the New England Patriots, to being once again the front-runners to win the Eastern Conference.
Prior to Game 7 (feels strange even typing that), the critics and myself panned the Celtics chances at No. 17. Afterall, a team that couldn’t contain the Joe Johnsons of the world would get clobbered by the likes of Senor James and Bryant.
I’m still very curious as to how all this will play out. However, with all the bad signs the Celtics showed in the Hawks series, there were also some good/great signs, starting with the fact that it’s going to take a Hurculean effort or the revived corpse of Tim Donaghy to have the C’s lose at home in the next few weeks.
Plain and simple, if the Celtics win all of their home games from now until mid-June, No. 17 is secured. Continue reading…
Celtics Update: Series to End Friday Night
By: Jason Devaney
Celtics will win in four games. Five at the most. No question.
Hot damn. Celts looked awful tonight. We’ll nip that forgotten NBA team in Game 4.
Oh jeez. Here we go again. Can you say Patriots-Giants? Super Bowl? Helllooo???
Wow great game tonight. C’s looked awesome. No question we’re back. Celtics in six.
Those are the emotions I’ve gone through the last few weeks as I watched the Celtics-Hawks series unfold before my 20-something-year-old eyes. And I had to do some major cutting. And editing. 
We Boston fans are a rare breed, I tell you what. The Sox looked awful last weekend, getting swept by the Tampa Bay “Heart and Hustle” Devil Rays (I was in Florida a few years back and saw a billboard for the team; “Heart and Hustle” was the slogan.). We were all down in the dumps Monday morning because of this, but we also knew that the Sox had played about 427 games in a row without a day off.
Our boys have gone 2-1 since then, so everything is back to happy-land. Until they lose a few more, of course.
This Celtics series has caused me much agony and mental suffering. The difference in how they played between the first two and the second two games was on display for the country to see (courtesy of our good friends at TNT and the four-letter network), and you got me as to how it happened. But then the Green returned to the comfort of home and roasted the Hawks Wednesday night.
So what gives?
keep looking »