Trade Deadline

With the trade deadline happening on Thursday there has been trade talks all week about all the possible deals that we could see come 3pm. With the trade machine on ESPN.com I have just about found every possible trade that the Celtics could do. Although there are many great trades out there, will Danny Ainge pull the trigger and make a move? Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and even Rajon Rondo(out-ACL tear) have been talked about possibly getting moved around. The day that all Celtics fan have been worrying about is slowing coming, will the Celtics team get blown up in hopes of creating a new championship team? I have reasons why none of the Celtics stars will be traded.

Kevin Garnett: I am convinced if you were to cut him, he would bleed green. He lives and breathes Celtics since he put on that Boston uniform. He believes this team has the potential to make a run and there is no way he is abandoning his troops. He has a no trade clause in his contract and he does not plan on ever waiving that. The only way that would be possible would be if Pierce was included in a trade with him and at this point is does not seem possible to throw a deal together between now and the deadline. He stays.

 

 

Paul Pierce: This is the only guy that has a chance of being dealt. Many teams have been rumored to be interested in Paul and with Ainge being trade happy around previous trade deadlines you never know what could happen between now and 3pm. At the end of

Thursday, Paul will remain a Celtic. Ainge wants the perfect deal for the Celtics moving forward but I do not think he can pull the trigger and send the Celtic great out of Boston. He started a Celtic and he will retire a Celtic. Reports earlier today said that the Brooklyn Nets offered the Celtics MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, and a future draft pick. With this trade being rejected it makes me more confident that Ainge will not trade Pierce. When looking at that trade you get a reliable big man which Boston desperately needs with their thin front court, a young guard/small forward with huge potential in Brooks, and a future draft pick to help make the Celtics younger. This trade has everything to help get the Celtics putting different pieces together for the future but Ainge decided against it. He stays.

 

 

Rajon Rondo: It feels like Rondo has been in trade talks ever since he stepped into Boston with Ainge always trying to shop him. He’s been in trade talks with Russell Westbrook, the Lakers, and probably every other team in the NBA. Ainge is always trying to find the best deal for Rondo. In this case, he will not find the best deal for Rondo before the trade deadline. Although some teams have showed interest in acquiring Rondo, he is out with a torn ACL so it becomes tougher to move a guy like that. If Ainge were to trade him, the Celtics would not get the best deal and would get short changed as teams will be skeptical as to what Rajon Rondo they are picking up. Look for Ainge to shop Rondo from now until he retires but for now he is staying on the Celtics sideline come 3pm. He stays.

 

 

 

Just because the Celtics are not going to send away their three star players they are still going to look for a good deal to help out Paul and KG as they look to make a postseason run. Danny Ainge is on the phone looking for the right deal, but we will not know what deal that might be until 3pm tomorrow. Let’s hope he makes the right decisions.

First Half Grades

Doc

The Celtics finished off the first half of the season with a tough win against the Bulls giving them a record of 28-24 going into All Star Weekend. With all the ups and downs this season has brought it is safe to say that this record is something to be happy about but also shows that there is improvement that needs to be made in several areas of the game. With a wave of new guys joining the team this year and with KG and Pierce adding another year onto their career, people were skeptical as to what kind of Celtics team the league would see. The skeptics were correct and the Celtics began the season struggling to win games and to maintain a .500 record. The new guys were still trying to buy into the system of Celtics basketball and the whole team was not meshing.
Along with the team not meshing, the Celtics lacked Avery Bradley who was still out from last season due to shoulder surgery. He is a key part to the Celtics defense and overall team and it showed during the first couple months of the season. When Bradley came back it brought the Celtics team back to life as they revamped their defense and finally had a stable starting lineup. Still not playing consistently as the team expected, the Celtics suffered a huge blow. In a double overtime game against the Hawks Rondo tore his ACL sidelining him for the rest of the season. This news came after the big win against the Heat leaving most Celtics players and fans shocked. A huge win against the defending champs suddenly seemed not in the least bit important as they lost their All Star point guard.
As soon as the news struck that Rondo was out for the season, the team was suddenly counted out. No one thought that the Celtics offense would be able to get things going without him. Along with him they ended up losing Sullinger to back surgery and Barbosa to an ACL tear. To everyones surprise the Celtics ended up finishing the first half of the regular season 8-1 without Rondo showing the league that no one should forget about the Celtics. So at 28-24 the Celtics midseason grades breakdown like this:

OFFENSE: B-
The Celtics proved they could score the ball at times during the first half of the season but they were far too inconsistent with their shooting to get a higher grade. With Jason Terry struggling from deep and Courtney Lee having trouble to find his game they Celtics were on or off for most games. Pierce showed his age in some games shooting terribly and other games he showed us why he is The Truth and put on a show for everyone. KG did his thing for the first half of the season working big men on the post and hitting his mid range shot consistently. With Rondo out the team has not had a guy to have the offense flow through but this has not phased the Celtics as they have shed some light on the offensive end. Players like Terry, Green, and Lee have been able to create their own shot more than just relying on Rondo to create the shot for them. With this new look offense in the second half of the season, the team will look to share the ball more and look for the open shot while having an array of people walk the ball up the court.

KG defends Gay

DEFENSE: C+
The defense this season has not been the patented Celtic defense that was instilled when KG first came to Beantown. Players forgot that defense takes hard work each possession and if there is not that intensity on every possession then they will be beat. The front court has been undersized all year so they need to body up and hit the boards. Too many times I’ve seen them get bodied by the opposing big men and out rebounded. You have to physical on defense and at times that was something the Celtics lacked but with KG running the front court and Bradley running the back court, the Celtics have a good chance at patching up the holes and getting back to the Celtic defensive ways.

OVERALL: B-
I have not seen anything too special from this Celtic team and this is why they earned their grade. They are about .500 without their all star point guard which is a miracle within itself after watching some of the games this year. They have played great basketball at times but you have to wonder how far this team can actually go without Rondo. Doc knows how to coach so plan on him to make the right adjustments and call the right game plans for this Celtics team. The first five games of the second half of the season will define the rest of their season and how they will finish in the playoffs. If they are able to start off strong then they could end up making a mini run come May. At the seventh spot in the playoff picture the Celtics need to buy into Doc’s system. Everyone needs to rally around their leaders in KG and Pierce and they need to play as a team. If they can continue to move the ball and get the open shot while cracking down on defense look for the Celtics to move up the playoff ladder and get a better seed. If they come out flat to start the second half of the season then expect to see another volatile Celtics team.

Jeff Green over Chris Bosh

CHEERS:
Jeff Green: This man is doing some insane things on the court and seems to be slamming on someone every single night. An amazing story, the man is about a year out of heart surgery and he is already back on the court evolving in front of our eyes. Look for him to keep evolving and to help the Celtics down the stretch.
Kevin Garnett: No surprise here. The man LOVES to compete and will be attending and starting yet another All Star game. Arguably one of the most consistent players for the Celtics right now and a defensive anchor. Look for him to keep that intensity as the season goes on. After some of the comments he has made this All Star Weekend, it could be his last ride.

JEERS:
Jason Terry: He was brought in to be that sixth man who could hit the long range jump shot and up until this point he has been hot or cold. Look for the All Star break to revamp him and help his legs rest for his jump shot.
Courtney Lee: Another guy struggling to find his offense. Many thought he would come into Boston giving them good minutes on both the offensive end and the defensive end but for right now you only see the defensive end. With Rondo gone look for the ball to flow through him a little bit more and for him to get more open shots.

SIDE NOTES:
The lingering question with the Celtics organization is will they make a move at the trade deadline. With them playing inconsistent there will be nights when they say no trade needs to happen and other nights when a trade really needs to happen. Ainge never plugs his ears when it comes to trades, just look at what he did when he traded Perkins. He’ll be open to trades come deadline time but he won’t pull the trigger unless he knows its the right deal for this Celtics organization.

The End of a Rivalry

Last night I was able to witness the last in conference match up between the UConn Huskies and the Syracuse Orange. With the Orange leaving the Big East this summer for the ACC and UConn being banned from tournament play, last night was the last time the two rivals will play an in conference game. Since this was the last Big East match up I knew I had to be there and ended up buying tickets late Tuesday night. Going into the game I knew it was going to be an uphill battle for the Huskies since the Orange were sixth in the country and after losing their 7 foot big man Enosch Wolf to an arrest.  The Huskies were undersized but they had the bigger heart walking into Wednesday night’s game.

The game started off like any other UConn-Cuse game with the score jumping back and forth. One team would go on a little run and then the other would counter and as a Husky fan you just sat there nervous wondering how long they could actually stay with the sixth best team in the country. They ended up staying with them and even exceeding that mark by playing the better basketball game which made Syracuse look as if they were not even ranked. Where I was sitting I was surrounded by Syracuse fans so I made my presence known by screaming extra loud when UConn made a big play.

From the tip off the XL Center was rocking and you could tell all the UConn fans were hoping to see one last UConn win over the Orange on their home floor. Towards the end of the first half the clock was winding down I knew if we could get a bucket before the buzzer we had a good chance. As the clock was about to hit zero Ryan Boatright got a good look at a three and nailed it. The XL Center went into an uproar knowing that UConn had come to play.

Boatright hits the three to close out the first half.

Jim Boheim wasn’t going to let the Huskies just walk all over his Orange, and with him being a Hall of Fame coach he made the necessary adjustments coming into the second half when Syracuse went on a run of their own to start the second half . The Huskies fought through the run and held tough as they matched baskets for a good portion of the second half. For me the turning point in the game was when Napier was sitting around the three point line dribbling the ball and next thing you see is a cutting Boatright, and with the chemistry of the back court everyone knew what was coming next. Napier throws up a lob perfectly to the 6 foot Boatright and he threw it down. The XL Center went nuts and Syracuse knew they were in trouble. After that it seemed as if UConn hit their next 4 shots they took which were all threes and all of a sudden they were up 10 and they never let up from there. The Huskies came out on top and won the game with their heart.

At the end of the game Andy Katz interviewed Coach Kevin Ollie and the whole team surrounded him as a big family. Katz turned to Boatright and teammates continued to pat him on the head and praise the sophomore guard on his job well done. When asked about Syracuse leaving the Big East he put it into words that Syracuse players and fans will sit with them for a long time: “They leavin’ with a bad taste of UConn in their mouth.” The post game interview made me realize that this team is special.  This team separates itself from the past UConn teams. With no tournaments to look forward to it is sometimes hard to focus on a season and find meaning within it. Ollie has gotten these players more focused than I haven’t seen a UConn team in a long time. As a UConn fan I fall in love with this team more and more as the season goes on. No tournament? No problem. This team is a family and they play for the name on the front of their jersey and for the fans. After the team finished their interview, they walked over to the student sections and celebrated the win with the student section. To be apart of UConn is to be apart of a family. Whether you go to UConn, went to UConn or live in Connecticut we are one big family when it comes to UConn basketball. In the post game interview Ollie said it perfectly:

“They can ban us from the postseason. They can ban us from the Big East Tournament. But they can’t ban us from getting better. They can’t ban us from loving each other. We’re the purest team out there, we’re not playing for the postseason, we’re playing for the love of the game, for the love of UConn and for each other.”