The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and all the same guys are still here. I'd like to thank Danny Ainge for listening to me. Everybody's main concern now about the Celtics is their lack of big men; Greg Stiemsma is the only active true center on the roster. But recent numbers show it might not be as great a problem as people think. Since the All-Star break Boston is 8-2, and in each of those ten games they've started Brandon Bass at power forward and Kevin Garnett at center. The Celtics are a better team now that KG is the center. Yeah they struggle to rebound, but that's been a problem all season anyway. Garnett forces other team's centers to cover him on the perimeter, which opens up offense under the basket for Boston. The C's are averaging 91.3 point per game this season, but 97.5 ppg in the last ten with KG in the middle. 
Their only two losses with the new smaller lineup were on the second night of back to backs in Philly (after consecutive overtime games no less), and a hard fought game to the Lakers in LA. The lack of effort against the Sixers is understandable, and very few teams in the league can compete with the size of the Lakers. I actually think LA is the only team in the NBA that Boston has serious problems matching up with at center, and if the C's get another crack at them this year (it could only happen in the Finals), nobody is going to be complaining. Garnett has already outplayed Dwight Howard twice this season, and beyond that a case could be made that KG is the second best center in the Eastern Conference right now. Not to mention this stat that CSNE was nice enough to throw out there late in the game on Wednesday night:
Right now Dunkin Donuts is heavily advertising their "angus steak and egg sandwich." I have several thoughts on this subject. To begin, I think probably the only other time I have ever heard the word "angus" is in Burger King commercials. And in both cases, I think it's highly unlikely I am going to decide to eat at either place because their meat is "angus." Not that I won't eat at DD or BK, but on the occasions when I do it's definitely not because I am looking for the best quality ingredients. And does "angus" really mean top of the line beef anyway? I've worked at some high end restaurants that served some really good steaks, and I've never seen or heard the word "angus" mentioned even once in any of them. Plus there's the fact that "angus" is just not a very appealing sounding word. Especially now that I've said it seven times. So, Dunkin Donuts, it's cool with me if you leave the "angus" out of your ads. I promise it doesn't help.
It kind of blows my mind to say that, I feel like an old man. I was a freshman in high school that year, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed watching any college hoops team as much as the Michigan Fab Five. The Wolverine freshmen made it all the way to the title game as a #6 seed, and even led Duke 31-30 at halftime before falling 71-51. That tournament also gave us Pitino vs Calipari, Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, Nick Van Exel taking Cinci to the Final Four, "Baby Jordan," and a Florida State backcourt of Charlie Ward, Sam Cassell, and Bob Sura. Not to mention that Christian Laettner shot to beat Kentucky at the buzzer. You can read my full article article about it on clnsradio.com.
If the title sounds familiar, you're right, I wrote this before last year's tournament. But now I have a new and improved version, and the results of the 2011 tourney validated my theory more than ever. The champion UConn huskies finished the regular season in a three way tie for ninth place in the big east; nobody picked them to win it. And their opponent in the final, the Butler Bulldogs, got there out of the Horizon League, for the second consecutive year. That is possibly one of the least predictable occurrences in the history of any sport, ever. Now consider this: somewhere out there a person won their tourney pool last season by making their choices strictly on the fact that they love dogs, but think huskies are cuter than bulldogs. Nobody really knows anything.
This is for all my regular readers who have been around since the days of all lower case letters, and many many photos from Martha's Vineyard. There are two things happening here that I am aware of: One, many of my posts recently take significantly longer than 37 seconds to read. And two, lately they are extremely Celtics heavy. And in the very near future there will be a lot of stuff about the NCAA Tournament, and then the Red Sox after that. The reason for this is simple, I've started writing more and more for other sites. The newest one is clnsradio.com, here's a link to my first post for them.
The Lakers have two All-Star centers. Yesterday all the Celtics had to counter was a rookie who only averaged 3 points and 10 minutes a game; in college. Take a look at Greg Stiemsma's stats at Wisconsin if you don't believe me. Considering that, I think it was a pretty impressive effort the old guys put forth against a Laker team that is now 18-2 at home. On the heels of Friday night's demolition of Portland, it seems fairly clear that this team is still capable of competing at a high level. Do I think Boston can win the title this year? Probably not. But there's more to it than that.
Winning championships is a hard thing to do. Very hard. The majority of sports teams and their fans head into each season without realistically thinking they can win a title. In all honesty, it's highly unlikely there is any possible trade Danny Ainge could make that might lead to another banner in the near future. Which is why he should keep this team together for one last run. One thing I know for sure is that we like these guys. Over the past four and a half seasons we've greatly enjoyed watching Pierce, KG, Ray Ray, and Rondo play together. Sports is entertainment, and the Celtics right now are still fun to watch. I'd much rather see them play their hearts out together till the bitter end this spring, than watch a different team that might be slightly less mediocre next year.
With just under two minutes to go in the second quarter at the Garden on Friday night, the Celtics led Portland by the score of 60-23. In my years as a season ticket holder I have definitely never seen a 37 point lead in the first half before. It ballooned as high as 43 mid way through the third quarter, at 81-38 (on a slight tangent, with Boston up 35 at half time, I told my buddy I though they would win by 18. Final score: 104-86. Man I wish I'd tweeted that at the time). None of the Celtics starters played in the 4th quarter.
