Celtics’ Avery Bradley injures shoulder

Avery Bradley has been a solid contributor for the Boston Celtics this season filling in well for an ailing Ray Allen and providing quality minutes at the shooting guard position. The Celtics have been hit by a myriad of injuries this season and the playoffs are no different. Allen returned from an ankle injury but is playing limited minutes. He probably will return to his role as a starter because Bradley injured a shoulder in Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks and re-injured it again in Boston’s Game 3 win last night.

Bradley has fought a shoulder injury all season but it just hasn’t worked out for him in the playoffs. He left last night’s game in the third quarter and never returned after it was believed that he would return.

“It’s really sore,” Bradley told CSNNE.com after the game. “Every time I go to extend my arm, and it gets hit, it comes in and out.”     


“He’s had that problem all year,” said C’s coach Doc Rivers. “Usually they’re able to, like a leg, snap it back in. It wouldn’t go back in.”


As of now Bradley expects to be back for Game 4, but expect Celtics officials to hold him out.  

Pierce Gets No Love In His Hometown

Why is that a hometown hero can’t get any cheers when they come home for an All-Star game. Paul Pierce was the latest to experience the hometown hate. Pierce plays for the Boston Celtics, and with the All-Star festivities being held in Los Angeles that should tell you all you need to know. Hey, Kobe Bryant experienced this when the game was held in Philadelphia. At least you expect it there.

Part of it comes from the fact that the player is usually killing the hometown every time they go there. At least Pierce understands why they boo him and embraces the hate.

“When you play for L.A.’s biggest rival, it’s tough getting booed by the fans. But I’m sure if Kobe Bryant was from Boston, he’d get booed, too, if he went back there. It’s something you get thrown into once you become a Celtic or a Laker. It’s automatic, regardless of how you used to feel about the Lakers or Boston. Once you put on one of the uniforms from either side, you automatically inherit the rivalry,” It’s something you get thrown into once you become a Celtic or a Laker”, Pierce said.

Dwayne Wade hears it when he goes home to Chicago. I don’t think Rasheed Wallace ever heard it when he went back to Philadelphia. I guess the dislike only goes for select players.

 

Quote Of The Week: Eddie Sefko

Not so much of a quote, but a headline. Eddie Sefko from the Dallas Morning News was blogging on the Boston Celtics/Dallas Mavericks game Friday night and was disappointed with Brendan Haywood’s performance.

Brendan Haywood getting schooled by some dude.

Some dude was Boston Celtics deep reserve center Semih Erden, who normally wouldn’t play if Shaq wasn’t hurt right now. 

West, Wafer Throw Blows

Boston Celtics reserve guards Von Wafer and Delonte West reportedly came to blows during a shootaround Friday. West is already serving a 10 game suspension. Wafer is trying to stick around Boston. If what is reported is true this doesn’t help either’s cause.

Alex Kennedy at HoopsWorld:

During a three-on-three game with Avery Bradley(notes), Luke Harangody(notes), Semih Erden(notes) and assistant coach Tyronn Lue(notes), West began fouling [Von] Wafer each time the reserve guard touched the ball. West was increasingly physical to the point that Wafer exited to the locker room midway through the game. As he walked away, West barked obscenities and taunted Wafer.

After Wafer had showered and sat down at his locker, West approached from behind and threw a punch. Wafer didn’t see the punch coming but quickly got off of the ground and connected on two punches of his own. He then wrestled West to the ground before being separated by the team’s veterans.

Kennedy went on to say that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce didn’t find any pleasure in this situation and that Danny Ainge was considering waiving West.

West believes Wafer was behind this comment which led to the scrum.

Danny Ainge was not pleased with the story altogether. In the big scheme of things, they are bit players on the Celtics and they shouldn’t let something like this potentially derail their season. From what the report says it seems like Wafer got the best of the exchange.

Don’t Be Alarmed

The Miami Heat and their supertrio probably played the worst game they’ll probably play this year. The Heat dropped an 88-80 decision to the Boston Celtics last night. Save for LeBron James, the Heat didn’t play that well. They showed flashes and LeBron showed that he might be the go to guy out of the three. Due to a hamstring injury and his divorce/custody case Dwayne Wade looked a little rusty to me. Chris Bosh looked like Chris Bosh having a lousy night in Toronto. Also as usual Boton played their trademark tough defense. They won’t look this way every game. Nor will they look like the 72 win Bulls team every game. But there’s no way they put together another nine point quarter this year.

For Rondo It’s About Dollars And Sense

Rajon Rondo is doing what a lot of NBA players didn’t seem to do during the last lockout. He’s saving his money. After Big Daddy Stern said he wants to cut player salaries by a third, Rondo is doing the smart thing by preparing as if there will be a lockout next season. Even though he makes 9 mill this year, it can go fast when you’re not getting paid. Undoubtedly a smart move that some other players might want to take heed to.

Then there won’t be anymore comments like this.

  

Shaq, The Big Leprechaun

The Big Leprechaun, The Big Clover, or whatever Shaquille O’Neal decides to call himself these days has landed in Boston. The Celtics signed the 38 year old O’Neal to a two year deal. Now he gets to join all the star geriatrics in Boston. To be honest, I kinda like the deal, even though the Big Diesel is on the verge of breaking down. Boston gets someone to fill the hole left by Kendrick Perkins and people like me still get to hear quick one liners from Shaq. Especially this year a they try to keep up with the Miami Heat, who rounded out their roster with a bunch of ring chasing vets.Hopefully we can see more ESPN commercials like this.

Even though Shaq really didn’t fit in with Cleveland, he might do just fine in Boston. The Celts do like to run when they have the chance, but they are more likely to shut you down on defense, wear you down, and be effiecient on offense. As long as they don’t let Shaq dominate the ball when he’s in the game, the Celts should be ok. Only if he has a matchup he can still exploit. Also don’t have him in late in the game. If they can do that this experiment just might work out. If not it might go the way of the Stephon Marbury experience. Hey at least there’s still a character in the game. Which means i get more ridiculous Comcast commercials and maybe get one more hilarious ESPN spot.

File this under things I think I think

The demise of the Boston Celtics was greatly exaggerated.The Celtics hammered the Orlando Magic in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals,making their second trip in three years to the NBA finals.I was one of the non-believers who figured the Celtics were done and went as far as saying this was thier last stand and with hardly any help on the horizon.I couldn’t have been more wrong.Rajon Rondo has played like he’s one of the all time greats,they’ve ramped up the defense,and have been fairly efficient on offense.Add to that,that the bench has been pretty good to.Right now I have to give them the nod over the Los Angeles Lakers or Phoenix Suns,because of the way they’ve defended throughout the postseason.Phoenix plays no defense and they Lakers have been somewhat exposed and have a hobbled Andrew Bynum.Its too early to crown a champion,but if I were a betting man,I’d put my money on Boston.   

You have to know when to break it up

While watching the Trailblazers-Celtics game last night,my wife asked,”If Boston wanted Rasheed Wallace,why couldn’t the Pistons use him?”You see she’s a Piston fan,more of a casual one since she really can’t bear to watch an effortless team parade toward Lotteryland.I’m a Pistons fan through and through.It’s where I’m from so I’ll always support them.Well,back to the point of today’s posting.We always have the discussion about how the business of sports works.More specifically about when to break a contender up and start over.

  A lot of people in the Detroit area were upset about the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade.Including my wife.At that point it seemed like a trade that wanted to put fans in the seats.You know,get a bonafide superstar without a championship,and add him to a team that made the Eastern Conference finals for 6 straight seasons and you might make a deep run in the playoffs.In addition,seeing someone fresh and new,you could put a few extra fannies in the seats.My wife hated that move,but I explained that since Iverson had an expiring contract they had to get something for Billups while they could.If it worked out for the Pistons,great.If not,then they had the option to start the rebuilding process instead of waiting out everyone’s contract,having an old team going nowhere.Which is something I always bring up.You can’t let a team age and just get old without having younger talent in place for the future.This is something I alluded to in a previous post about the current Celtics.They have 3 of the premier players in the league,but in the NBA you can get old quickly.Just ask the Miami Heat (2001) about that.Yes someone wanted Rasheed Wallace.He signed with the Celtics.But they had a better role for him,also he’s a better fit with Boston than Detroit.I explained that to her as well as the art of the trade nowdays in the NBA.You try to trade a player with a heavy contract for a player with equal ability and value with a contract that is up after the season.It just didn’t work out well for the Pistons.

 In the NBA,when your team has a lot of good,but not great players such as the Pistons did,there will come a point where you have to cast an eye to the future.Detroit wasn’t getting any better as they were constructed.They would’ve put up 50 or more wins in the regular season, only to be embarrassed by teams they once dominated such as Atlanta,Cleveland,and Orlando.Then you would have to hear,why didn’t they get rid of these players when you could’ve?  Joe Dumars had to do something .It’s just that the wrong move was made last year.If you allow your team to get old without having younger talent to take their place, there will be a longer,steeper climb back to the top.Celtic fans know all about this.They weren’t going to trade Larry Bird,Kevin McHale,or Robert Parish,but they got older and eventually walked away from Boston with no one there to take their place.Of course the untimely deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis didn’t help.In the early 90’s when the Pistons were surpassed by the Chicago Bulls,they were devoid of younger talent to replenish the roster which led to some dark days at the Palace.The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to overcome this phenomenon by getting lucky with younger,cheaper talent like Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and Vlade Divac,the latter two being parlayed into Kobe Bryant.Good things don’t last forever.Some fans need to learn to let go.Sometimes you have to get bad before you’re good again.If management makes the right moves and has a little luck it can happen a little quicker.You gotta learn how to bridge the gap.

I might be wrong,but the Celtics could be done

I was talking basketball with a few friends recently and the conversation turned to the NBA playoffs and possible matchups.More specifically about the Eastern Conference.One of my friends boldly predicted a Cleveland vs. Atlanta Eastern Conference final.We both came to a conclusion that Orlando is a good team,but doesn’t really know what they are.They seem kind of lucky last year.They caught Cleveland looking ahead and their perimeter shooters caught fire.Just like the hot goalie in hockey.We said that if Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson can’t score for the Hawks,Cleveland would run through them.As good as Joe Johnson is it seems like he shrinks up when guarded by Lebron James.After Johnson and Crawford,the Hawks have no bonafide scorers.They have some good players,but not enough to beat the Cavs.Then the talk turned to the Boston Celtics.
   The Celtics are a good team,but they might be fool’s gold.They’ll make the second round by default since the East is so weak.But they might not have enough to beat the young gun squads like Orlando,Atlanta,and Cleveland.The Celtics need to get younger,which is why the Ray Allen rumors have been out there for the past few weeks.The team’s core,the big three,aren’t getting any younger and as much as it might pain Boston fans to think about it,its getting dangerously close to thinking about blowing this team up.Don’t be alarmed,I’m not saying do it now.If there are some sweetheart deals in trade possibilities that can keep them among the elite, then make those moves.If things remain status quo,others will start to pass them by.I’ve seen this before with the Miami Heat back in 2001,when they held on and were swept out of the playoffs in the first round.It happened with the old Pistons and Celtics teams when they held on to aging stars.Piston fans today think they should’ve held on to Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace.But the fact is that they would’ve gotten their 50 wins and drummed right out of the playoffs.The Celtics need to heed this warning.Kevin Garnett is playing on one leg,Ray Allen is prone to shooting slumps,Paul Pierce is Paul Pierce,which is the only thing that seems to be holding them together.Rajon Rondo is good,but he might end up pouting himself out of town this offseason.I think they might have a last stand in them,but Danny Ainge might want to think about retooling this offseason if they can’t make a deep playoff run.