Blog Archives

Interesting article we’ll be discussing on the Young Guns tomorrow, mostly because of the superb sources used (especially the one seven paragraphs down).

Also, we discussed our all time Celtics and Lakers teams. First of all, it’s fairly incredible how good those teams would be. Second, I hate to say it, but when alls said and done, I really like the Lakers as the better all time franchise:

Lakers:

PG: Magic Johnson

SG: Jerry West

SF: Kobe Bryant

PF: Kareem Abdul Jabbar

C: Wilt Chamberlain

Bench: James Worthy, Elgin Baylor, Shaqullie O’Neal, George Mikan, Gail Goodrich

Coach: Phil Jackson

Celtics:

PG: Bob Cousy

SG: John Havlicek

SF: Larry Bird

PF: Bill Russell

C: Robert Parrish

Bench: Dave Cowens, Tommy Heinson, Kevin McHale, Bill Sharman, Bill Walton

Coach: Red Auerbach

Both teams are phenomenal, consider this, I left 6 guys off the Lakers team who are in the Hall of Fame and 10 Celtics (12 if you want to count Paul Pierce and KG). The all-time roster really reflects the franchises, the Celtics were the deeper team in the 50s and 60s, hence their dominance. The Lakers team wins, despite the fact that the C’s have more guys in Springfield. All you have to do is look at the sheer talent and athleticism at the top of that Lakers team. Three of the five best centers in history, the biggest mis-match at guard in history, the 2nd best scoring guard I’ve ever seen after Michael Jordan, and the guy on the NBA logo.

The Celtics have more Hall of Famers, but I’m hard pressed to say better talent because the Lakers guys are so good at the top of that list. The C’s also have more titles, but ask yourself this, if you’re a basketball fan…which team would you rather have been a fan of over the years? I’d have to say the Lakers, who never really went through a long period of being irrelevant as the C’s have done. Also, the Lakers, not the Celtics, were the first NBA dynasty in the early 50s.

Other franchises that put out pretty great all time teams include the Sixers (great line-up gets even better if you give them Wilt), Hawks (they can put 10 Hall of Famers on their all-time roster if you include St. Louis) and the Pistons (from Ft. Wayne to the Bad Boys).

New Celticscast tomorrow, but let’s hear your all-time teams for the C’s and/or Lakers, and if you think the best Celtics could beat the best Lakers in their prime, plus let us know what you think about the upcoming series…all those thoughts can be sent to hosts@celticscast.com.

Go C’s!

…is probably what you’re asking yourself right now.  Well, I’ll tell you.  Due to some personal issues on the part of your beloved hosts, we have been unable to produce a Celticscast for some time now.  We won’t go into what the issues were aside to say that everything is fine, and unfortunately, they couldn’t possibly have come at a worse time.

The good news is, we’re back, and better than ever.  During the Finals, we’ll be producing shows for each game, and I’ll be hitting you all up with some segments from the Young Guns as well.  Hope you’ve enjoyed this Celtics run as much as we have, and we look forward to finishing it out and bringing home banner 17!

54-54, 8:34 3rd qtr: Didn’t take long to tie this one up. Ray hit a jumper and the C’s really came out fired up. Rondo is really wreaking havoc on the defensive side, might not be doing much offensively but a bunch of steals (ok 2) and deflections.

68-64 Pistons, 2:47 3rd qtr.: Celtics 15-4 run immediately refuted by a 12-2 Pistons run…Rondo picked up a dumb technical so the teams are now even at a point apiece given away by T’s…The Celts are using far less time on the shot clock on each possession which can work to speed up the pace but can kill you if you give up a quick run - we’ve seen both this quarter. Allen made a few more shots but he still hasn’t knocked down a 3 and now has 5 fouls…

78-69 Pistons, End of 3rd qtr: Free throws are just killing the C’s now, Rondo with a face guard, then Garnett off the ball foul, Pierce with a turnover that leads to a foul all in the last 3 minutes of the quarter…it’s now Pistons up 25-22 in points off free throws…not a huge margin but to have the road team with more points from the line is usually not the case in a matchup like this…BIG 3 by Rasheed to end the third quarter to bring the lead back to nine, slowly building it back up after the Celtics had taken the lead…

86-79 Pistons, 6.55 4th qtr: Ray Allen just slammed the ball home to finish an impressive drive but here’s an unhappy rant. Too many times the Celtics are standing around - ESPECIALLY on the fast break situations. Where is everybody? I might have a partial reason: for the most part Detroit has had the ball longer in their possessions than the Celtics so Boston’s playing a whole lot of defense. In the playoffs especially, defense is where you should be expending most of your energy so when the Celtics come down and shoot in 5 seconds thats 20 seconds less that Detroit has to bear down on D. I think it’s working in the Pistons camp - combine that with Rodney Stuckey going crazy and you got the Pistons close to finishing it off with a run.

10:57 PM: Look who has the same birthday as me…none other than tonight’s announcer Mike Breen. Happy Birthday fellow man of the microphone.

86-81 Pistons, 5:55 to go: Hey hey PJ Brown knocking down a couple of jumpers - there we go. Interesting to see how much Doc sticks with him the rest of the way. I think Perk’s played a good game but how long do you ride the hot hand?

92-88 Pistons, 3:55 to go: Game is getting chaotic but matching bucket for bucket. Allen hit his first three in forever and followed it up with a 10 foot leaner. That’s big down the stretch…

 96-90 Pistons, 2:19 to go: The Celtics cannot guard the pick and roll and pass. The pick and pop with a third guy (usually a big guy) getting open for a 16 footer on the baseline. It’s working every time and McDyess and Rasheed have hit several big shots in the fourth quarter. Doc thinks Ray got fouled on the C’s last possession but he was trying to throw up a poor three point shot. C’s need several good defensive possessions now.

96-92 Pistons, 1:12 to go: Pistons took 45 seconds off the clock thanks to an offensive board by Rip Hamilton (ugh). Ray missed a eight foot leaner from the baseline, need defense now.

98-92 Pistons, 48 seconds to go: The C’s had Hamilton 35 feet away with 3 on the shotclock! But KG got beat and no one helped until Rip had a look and hits a huge bucket. It’s trouble time now and C’s will likely go into foul mode soon.

98-94 Pistons, 41 seconds to go: Pierce layup, no fouls.

98-94 Pistons, 20 seconds to go: timeout detroit, 3 seconds left on shot clock. I don’t know about that move not to foul. If Detroit misses the Celtics are going to need at least two scores in 20 seconds and have two timeouts. If they get a three it’ll make it a lot easier but most importantly they can’t allow the pistons to score and they just did…100-94. Now I definitely think they should’ve fouled….wide open layup off the in bounds will likely do it.

100-97 Pistons, 10 seconds left: Allen hits a tough 3 to keep the C’s alive, but it’s still amazing comeback time if it happens. They get Detroit to use its last timeout to avoid a 5 second violation. Nice.

101-97 Pistons, 9.8 left: Foul on the inbounds and Rasheed hits one. I think they should really look for a three - that’s the right choice and Celtics haven’t looked good in these playoff situations. If they make a two and detroit hits a two, celtics have no time to win this game or even tie.

103-97 Pistons, Final: Garnett misses the three and the Celtics were looking for it which is good but KG isn’t the guy to shoot it.

The key as it usually is was the defense today. The rebounding was there, C’s had a few more turnovers, free throws were fairly even. Detroit just had a ton of wide open looks while the Celtics passing took a big turn downwards compared to game one. Now the C’s need a win on the road to do it - strangely I’m confident they can do it (although I was uberconfident at Atlanta and look what happened). Two days to adjust…

Let’s do it folks.

2-0 Pistons, 1 minute in: Good point by announcing crew on Pistons’ first offensive possession that Rondo should’ve gone and taken Perk’s spot who was guarding Billups on a switch…then a great first defensive possession by Detroit

14-10 Celtics, 4:16 1st qtr.: Lots to notice: Rondo with a great rebound skying on the low block but then gave it away…the good thing: very next possession he works a pick and pop with Garnett and realizes the switch and gets KG a rather uncontested jumper (with a point guard on him)…Rasheed’s got a technincal already and Billups has drawn 2 fouls already (one Rondo, one Perk- both things to watch the rest of the game…Hamilton gets 2 free thows on a brutal foul call on Ray Alllen…Rondo still balking on taking open jumpers…signs of a track meet at the 5 minute mark but the Pistons are so composed they slow it down every time…great blocks by Perk and Pierce and a good defensive start.

14-14, 2:15 1st qtr.: With Rondo so inconsistent/unconfident in taking jump shots, getting Eddie House into the game would be a great idea.

16-16, 1:45 1st qtr: Right on cue, House comes in and fouls Billups shooting a 3 (doh!). Um did I say put him in? Can I just delete that last post? No way for Tommy to argue that call either…

20-18 Celtics, End of 1: OK it’s Pierce (7 pts.) vs. Billups (6 pts.) so far. The numbers may not show that obviously but the ball is running thru these two guys. KG’s had his chances and made a couple nasty jumpers…Rasheed’s doing very little, Rip made a few buckets and McDyess knocked one down. Tight, low-scoring and a pretty slow pace. That’s what to expect right?

23-20 Pistons, 8:41 2nd qtr: Ray Allen’s got three fouls after a brutally late call by the officials. This second quarter is reminding me of a college game - specifically the ones that I watch all the time, a smaller outsized outgunned team trying to pull off the upset. Doc started the bench along with Pierce so it was one playmaker and a bunch of guys who work off of his game (like a lower-level college team) against the Pistons. The Celtics had tons of chances (3 offensive boards on one possession) but can’t score. They’re “running the offense” (a term you only hear from Jay Bilas) but it’s not working while Detroit looks confident in what they’re doing. Once Garnett is back in the dynamic will change again but that 3:30 did not help the C’s momentum.

31-27 Pistons, 5:55 2nd qtr: McDyess has got ten and a free throw coming after a late call foul on Big Baby…with Posey in the drive and kick offense is flowng a little better, but boy nobody except for Houes and Posey (and Garnett from 20 feet) are shooting right off the catch…Detroit’s offense is looking pretty smooth right now and that killer from their first regular season matchup Lindsey Hunter is again doing the damage (3 mins, 2-2 FG, 5 pts, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0 turnovers).

40-37 Pistons, 2:33 2nd qtr: Garnett continues to be awesome, he’s got 12 - Pierce has 13. I’m concerned that the C’s are mostly going with 1 on 1 offense. In fact they’ve only got 5 assists on 12 field goals - a much lower rate than game 1 when the C’s had dimes on 13 of their first 15 buckets…Stat update: Rebounds Boston 20, Detroit 10, Turnovers Boston 9, Detroit 4, FG%: Detroit 45%, Boston 40%, points on free throws: Pistons 14, Celtics 10…hang in there guys.

50-43 Pistons at the half: Detroit’s offense couldn’t be stopped for the most part in that second quarter. Doc tried Tony Allen for the first time in forever and he looked real rusty getting caught in the air on jump fakes a bunch and also missing two free throws..Pistons shooting 52% which the Celtics almost never allow at home…See ya in the second half.

C’s up a point at the half: Doc wants more free throws and agressive takes to the hoop, Flip wants better rebounding and a quick start: I guess I noticed similar things as the coaches in the first half: mad props to Celticscast. My key is the bench, can Lindsey Hunter make an impact or Stuckey, if they can watch out.

52-46 Boston, 7:56 Left 3rd qtr.: C’s trading hoops with Richard Hamilton and then tack on a couple for good measure. I like the unselfish possessions by the Celtics - maybe too many passes but that’s better than none (hear that Cassell?). On another note, you know that sign that counts down from 16 to 1 to win the championship. Shouldn’t the Celtics have a sign with 1-16 crossed out and 17 waiting?

60-52 Boston, 2:39 left 3rd qtr: Boy this is a grinding game. Free throws really matter and Celts reached bonus with five minutes left in third quarter thanks to Pierce driving. I like the timing on taking Garnett out with an 8 point lead with 4:30 to go in the third and PJ Brown some minutes - get KG ready to play the last 8 or 9 of the game. Pierce still has the team on his shoulders with 14 pts and 5 dimes.

69-57 Celts, End of 3rd qtr.: The way Pierce is playing, he deserves to have Tommy Heinsohn ranting and raving. A great fallaway bucket and then good take that set up a Powe offensive board and foul. Eddie House finishes off the quarter in style. Play this guy!!

73-65 Boston: 8 mins to go: Doc says keep the pace. I agree - I saw Syracuse lose enough games this year trying to milk clock with less than time this left to know don’t quit your game yet.

It’s all over: 88-79 Celtics and the C’s are now 9-0 at home in the playoffs. KG had 26 but when this game was really taking its turn in the third quarter, Paul Pierce was guiding this team and he finished with 22. 27 assists on the game while the Pistons had only 15. Not bad team not bad. Have a good night everyone and we look forward to your emails at hosts@celticscast.com

Cheers!

We had a day game today so I’m settled in to watch the C’s and Pistons. By the way, Yankees are losing 10-0 to Baltimore at the start of this game and Masterson’s throwing well so we’re off to a good start tonight. As always, feel free to post comments as we roll along tonight.

8:25: The Bulls win the draft lottery. Good for them…good to see the tanking Heat not get that top pick but I wouldn’t incredibly pumped about drafting Michael Beasley for this year, like Durant he probably will need at least a year of adjustment but whoever goes to Chicago (and even Miami) should have something around them.

8:31: Cool open with historic footage: that’s what ABC and ESPN haven’t done much since they got rights to the NBA. Remember when NBC started their coverage flying thru pictures of Jordan and Bird and Hakeem and the rest of the greats in the game?

8-0 Celts, 8:30 left 1st qtr.: First look of first possession was to Ray Allen - I like it, he missed but give him a shot, KG with an open jumper and then muscling up inside for 2 quick hoops in the games first two minutes is a good sign and the Pistons jump shooting is cold (0-4), no big surprise with the long layoff after beating the Magic in 5…a good take by Ray after passing up the jump shot he could do that all day until they collapse on him and somebody will be open either way.

12-11, 3:13 1st qtr.: Boy the C’s are trying to run on almost every miss. Allen’s cold and ugly with his jump shot - airballed the leaner. I like how the Celtics are rebounding the ball early, Perkins very strong underneath (8 rebounds!).  Remember that was the key in Detroit when Big Baby dominated the fourth quarter. McDyess is hurting them, he’s pulling a KG and shooting 18 footers - Garnett’s missed three straight as they’re becoming contested…

22-17 Boston, End of 1st Qtr: Checked in on the Yankees (still down 10-0) to see LaTroy Hawkins get tossed for throwing at a Baltimore guy’s head. Way to go New York. Ray Allen drove again for a dunk after a good series by Rondo…Rajon’s holding his own against Billups one quarter in…Your first bench player in: PJ Brown. I’m pumped that Chris and I were correct in being more pumped for PJ joining the team instead of Cassell (at least for the last few games). A Tony Allen sighting also! Wow. Good.

28-24 Celtics, 8:28 left 2nd qtr: Detriot did tie it up but hasn’t led.  Pierce/Posey/Powe/PJ and House in the game for the early stint of the second quarter after Ray Allen sits down. I doubt if we saw this lineup play in an important situation in the regular season and it’s staying level. C’s still pushing the ball despite the low score…

32-32, 6:12 2nd qtr.: Two important early stats shown by the TV crew: points on free throws: 11-0 Pistons (that’s why seems like C’s are dominating more than score shows) and Celts had 13 assists on first 15 field goals: that’s what we talked about in the last cast…do it with the passing not isolation and one on one. Mystery foul on KG at the 6:12 mark and C’s are in early bonus trouble in 2nd quarter: good teams like detroit exploit this.

39-37 Pistons, 2:08 left 2nd qtr.: I’m siding with Mike Breen on the foul with the body on Perk’s ‘block’ whose foul gave the Pistons their first lead…whistle’s gettin tight and C’s aren’t hitting their free throws (3-7). Pace has slowed right to Detroit, long possessions and the Celts crisp passing has disappeared, it’s really put it in Pierce or Garnett’s hands and make them do something - not what it should be every time down. Pistons offense really flowing now with good jump shots.

41-40 Celtics at the Half: Not a bad half of basketball. The ball is really running thru Pierce so far tonight but Rondo’s doing OK. Eight bench points for the Celtics but I’d like to see House get a 6 minute stretch in the second half to give Rondo some rest for the end-game situations. Somehow I doubt that’ll happen. So much is on Garnett and Pierce’s shoulders. Back for the second half in a while.

In today’s episode of Celticscast…No Starting Five, just some C’s talk as Game Six comes up against the Cavs