Props to Derrick White for being the most consistent player in the Celtics gentleman sweep of the dreadful Miami franchise. 62% shooting, averaging 22 points, and elevating the Celtics in Game four when it appeared no one else was showing up scoring 38 in the one-sided drubbing.
Offensively the Celtics left a little to be desired. Jayson Tatum was solid, but they’ll need more than solid to advance. Game four was more White carrying the burden than a collective team effort. The open shots are there for everyone else, the issue is are they expecting too much from Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser, and should the strategy be for Tatum and his running buddy Jaylen Brown be more focused on getting the best look for themselves off, rather than them looking for the open man?
While Hauser and Pritchard are solid bench players, it’s a lot to ask of them to maintain consistent production as the leverage situations gets higher and higher. In Game one the two combined for 20 points. I’m games 2 thru 4 they scored 18. At some point the Celtics two best players are going to have to do it themselves. They are fortunate White contributed to the extent that he did, but his performance is reliant on the Jays’.
Heading into the next series without Kristaps Porzingis is both daunting and potentially eye-opening. We know who the Celtics are without Porzingis because a majority of the players from the Pre-Porzingis days are still here. The good news is there’s continuity and the Celtics know what to run. The bad news is other teams know what they’ll run and predictably is exactly the issue Porzingis was brought in to combat.
During the season the Celtics ran the second most post-ups with 8.1. In the previous campaign they ranked near the bottom of the league with 3.1 post-up possessions per game. The pre-Porzingis era Celtics preferred to play at a breakneck speed, generate open looks near the basket with their uncanny ability to finish in traffic and open the door for their shooters. The mid-range was a non-factor for them, so if things get bogged down then you can expect the “my turn, your turn” bug to bite them.
The numbers without Porzingis aren’t dissimilar to the numbers with him:
The statistics are reassuring, the eye test will be a different story depending on who the Celtics face between Orlando and Cleveland, and what situations they find themselves in.
The Celtics win the bulk of their games handily, so we rarely saw them in crunch time and when we did the results have been iffy. From my vantage point the issue is Joe Mazzulla does not know whether to end close games with Porzingis at the five and maximize the offense, or with Al Horford and get more bites at the apple through tough-nosed defensive stops.
The answer in my humble opinion is the latter. It’s better to get stops and hope Tatum takes you home, rather than risk the opposing offense get into their sets and make a close game out of reach with timely threes.
Regardless who the Celtics face next round they’ll be heavily favored and should be for that matter. Even without Porzingis they are the most experienced team left in their conference and even their second year head coach laps J.B Bickerstaff and Jamahl Mosley in that department as well.
The aces Orlando has up their sleeve is their lockdown defense requires a Herculean effort to score more than ninety-points. For Cleveland it’s Donovan Mitchell being the most battle tested on the roster.
But the drawbacks are just as prevalent. Orlando’s crunch time offense is among the worst in the league. The Cavaliers have an iffy playoff history and despite seemingly handpicking Orlando can’t decisively put them away. Orlando is extremely young and raw, and Cleveland is taking advantage of that. What are they going to do when they run into a team that’s been in twice as many big games as they have?
What are the New England Patriots – without providing my usual snark, I can guess they are attempting to transform the team in a way that can be described as the same as before, only nicer.
The real departure from Belichick has not been in its roster construction, as most of the transactions have been re-signing many of the players Belichick drafted or signed. It’s certainly not in the front office as the scouting department was kept in tact, and even though Elliot Wolf has not been given the official title of general manager, for all intents and purposes it is his operation (until Jonathan Kraft decides it isn’t).
The real changes are not the vehicle, but it’s engine and its driver. In his efforts to cover himself in glory Robert Kraft has launched a long series of winded apologies to fans and the media for employing Belichick. Likely on the orders of the Krafts new head coach Jerod Mayo does not stand at a podium sneering at every MassLive and WEEI numbskull, but instead he sits down and vibes with “the scribe”.
For the last two off-seasons fans poked the Patriots with a stick and demanded they “do something” and now they consider it smart to focus on maintaining players already in house rather than going outside. It’s now smart to trade back in the later rounds, and later “reach” for an offensive lineman. All things Belichick would have done and been labeled a heretic are now deemed acceptable by the vocal minority.
What are my feelings on the 2024 Patriots draft class? Meh, we’ll have to wait and see how they play until any declarations are made is what I say. I don’t put much stock in grading the draft moments after its conclusion. The 2020 draft, the last one Bill had complete autonomy over, was considered a flop at the moment and players like Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings and Michael Onwenu have received extensions.
I am more bullish on Drake Maye not being any good. His footwork is atrocious, bails out of a clean pocket and does not make the simple throws that won’t show up on a highlight reel. Perhaps those flaws can be fixed, but I don’t trust the duo of Alex Van Pelt and Bob McAdoo to be the ones to shepherd Maye’s development. There’s certainly no reason to think Mayo is ready to be a head coach given his lack of sufficient experience and it’s assumed he’ll coach like the Anti-Belichick because the team is under the impression if he wouldn’t have done it, then it’s a good idea!
Ja’Lynn Polk is a solid player and I hope he can find his place on a crowded wide receiver depth chart. What I like most about Polk is his ability to block and I hope New England knows how to put it to good use.
Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson are my favorite selections from this crop. I can see Bill making these picks. Wallace played 1,100 snaps during his time at Penn State, rarely gives up sacks. Played solely right tackle, but can move into the guard position and the Patriots desperately need that kind of flexibility.
Robinson while at Texas A&M only allowed 1 sack in 2023 on 401 pass block snaps. He’s very mobile and fluid.
Drafting Joe Milton likely means Bailey Zappe is on the chopping block. I have a soft spot for Zappe because of his professionalism and toughness. I hope he lands on his feed somewhere else. Milton hopefully can learn under Brissett and become a competent quarterback that helps New England in game-prep and run scout team.
And that’s pretty much it. Nothing happened that irritated me. I still hate this team and pray for the Krafts downfall. But Elliot Wolf appears to be competent enough, I just don’t know if the Krafts saddling him with Maye won’t set our team back another few years like when they forced Mac Jones on to Belichick.
I initially wanted to be charitable and say the New England Patriots are in their soul searching phase; even if you could describe what is currently going on as a power struggle would provide a more optimistic portrayal of what we’ve seen, but the fact is none of that is the case. This is who the Patriots are. A blathering, incoherent mess.
For the past two off-seasons fans frantically wondered why the team didn’t spend and would lost free agents they should have gone after, only to turn around and shrug “Who were we supposed to sign?”
I struggle to find a reason to believe the next season won’t be a miserable mess when it should at least warrant two or three extra victories from the previous campaign. The AFC East is weaker, if you subscribe to the philosophy that it was all Mac Jones’ fault the Patriots are theoretically not far off from contending. But a mediocre coaching staff made up of cast offs thrown overboard by their previous employer inspires little trust they’ll do right with their shiny new quarterback.
Jerod Mayo has only coached for five-years and his hand was held by Steve Belichick and DeMarcus Covington the entire time while he mainly communicated with the players. He’s never called plays, never coached without Bill Belichick, and is a human rubber stamp for Jonathan Kraft and Robyn Glaser.
In Jonathan’s world the Patriots are excited for Drake Maye, but also are looking to trade down, they want a haul, but also don’t think you need a quarterback to jumpstart a rebuild; they say this as they make it clear their two options are the aforementioned Maye and Michigan QB J.J McCarthy. What ever happened to shutting up? More importantly, what happened to the owners kid staying far away from football operations?
In some ways I pity general manager Elliot Wolf. While he gets to live in a fairy tale where signings like JuJu Smith-Schuster was all the other guy’s fault, he’ll fall on his sword soon enough when his boss’s team fails after taking their advice. Wolf is likely full of himself and has little reason to be given his mediocre track record, but he doesn’t strike me as particularly dumb. There’s no way Alex Van Pelt and Ben McAdoo was his first choice to coach the offense. Just like there’s no way he wants either Maye or McCarthy. Which is why he’s searching for a way to appease Kraft’s need for instant gratification by getting a quarterback, while also not putting all his eggs in that basket. Even Tom Eeeeeeeee Curran is chiming in saying New England should have taken the Minnesota Vikings offer of 11, 23 and next year’s 1st round pick in exchange for the third pick. But chances are Johnny boy said no dice.
I do wonder what is going on in the tapioca riddled brain of Robert Kraft. If his son could have cared less about the Patriots and didn’t fancy himself a football genius it’s likely the elder Kraft would have remained content employing Bill, and using him as a human shield from criticism. Now that’s all gone and all that’s left is the numb-nuts he has on payroll. Maybe that’s all he needs, but he has to know he’s spending his last years on this Earth pissing on his legacy?
The bottom line is Robert is 83 and couldn’t have been gung-ho about reshaping an entire franchise. Firing Belichick was a favor to his special little guy, giving him his own little sandbox to play in. The New England Revolution was never enough.
This was probably all memory holed for you dear reader, but remember when the team’s training room, locker room and strength coaching ranked at the bottom of the most recent NFL Report Card back in February? Last year the Patriots ranked amongst the dregs and Kraft responded by purchasing a bigger scoreboard for more room for sponsors. When pressed as to why improvements weren’t made he blamed the team’s former coordinator Matt Patrica departure citing him as the architect of the supposed renovations.
Imagine if Bill did that? We’d still be talking about it. But the Sainted Old Man said it, so we have to either take it at face value or forget it because he’s done so much for the team like… not moving them to Hartford when he clearly wanted to. Thanks, Joe Lieberman.
A fat man who sounded like Bugs Bunny once said “I remember is the lowest form of conversation” not for me, while I have scores to settle! How about when there was an emergency at the box factory Johnny boy had to tend to and his old man blamed not signing Calvin Ridley on his girlfriend (Ridley is married) and said she didn’t want to live in Massachusetts. In my brief time on this Earth I’ve never heard the argument of whether playing a factor whether a player signed with the Patriots or not. It usually comes down to dollars and as usually the Krafts didn’t wanna pony up.
In the latest episode Kraft sandbagged Bill during his interview with Arthur Blank of the Falcons. Not once did Kraft call to warn Blank “not to trust” Belichick, but twice. Saying of his former coach he was “very, very, very arrogant.”
Is this confirmation that Kraft knows Bill was right all along and didn’t want his former coach out there so fans can measure the success of the two? Or does Kraft think everything he hears on sports talk radio is the gospel? A little from column A and a little from column B.
I feel a deep insecurity lurks within Kraft in a not so subtle manner. He frequently showcases his neediness through various public relations stunts and other cringeworthy moments. While his son screams arrogant prick, his father still has that small part of his brain that exercises shame. Deep down Robert knows he’s a fraud and rather than being content with the riches he’s amassed his entire life he’s throwing the man responsible for making him famous under the bus in a futile attempt to garner the favor of football hall of fame voters. To put it bluntly, Kraft wants Ron Borges’ approval.
And that’s who runs the once proud Patriots franchise. A bunch of people frantically searching for approval from people who couldn’t predict six o’clock at five-thirty.
Since the Celtics long locked up the number one spot in their conference, the angst from the fans and the media is primarily based in their collective angst. The “boring” part of the season where the Celtics are not one of the teams scratching and clawing like the others, merely going through the motions with relative ease.
Though close defeats at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks inspired a bevy of concerns, the numbers are still encouraging as is the teams history.
They’re now 21-4 in their last 25 games.
16 of the wins by 10+ points.
The 4 losses by 10 points…combined.
With 8 games left, Boston’s magic number is now 3 to clinch the NBA’s best record for the first time since 2008.
Given previous years you can count on the Celtics at least making it to round three. The worry is will they do it the way we want them to, or will they dig themselves into holes that’ll leave them vulnerable? History suggests it’ll be the latter. The day the Celtics easily despatch the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers or Miami Heat in a potential round 1 matchup is the day pigs fly.
The Celtics are masochists. The type of people who go to their landlord and demand their rents be raised because that’s how much they believe in the hustle.
I wish they’d stop doing that and just flat out run away with a game and series. It’s likelier the bottom gives out than the former happens.
Even as I write this my mind races with scenarios catastrophizing how it’ll inevitably go wrong for Boston. When you’re a team that needs however many breaks to make the NBA Finals you can be sure your luck will run sooner or later.
But that’s been the reality of the eastern conference since LeBron James left in 2018. The Toronto Raptors snuck by the 76ers by the slimmest of margins, were down 0-2 to the presumed champion Milwaukee Bucks, then Fred VanVleet became a father, the Golden State Warriors fell to a bevy of injuries and voila! You have an outlier NBA champion.
In 2020 the Bucks played at a 70-win pace before the pandemic shut the league down for four months. They came back sluggish and it left the door open for them to be slapped by Miami. Then Gordon Hayward gets hurt, Tyler Herro turns into ‘96 Michael Jordan and you have an improbable finals run.
The list goes on… 2021, Kevin Durant’s feet are too big and the Brooklyn Nets bow out to the Bucks who all game appeared ready to fold. 2022, Jimmy Butler uncharacteristically misses a would-be game-winning shot in Game 7. In 2023, Jayson Tatum sprains his ankle mere minutes into Game 7 and Miami wins in a anti-climactic fashion.
Luck. Every eastern conference team needs it. Even Miami in last year’s series shot an insane outlier percentage from deep and Caleb Martin became what Victor Oladipo was supposed to be, and Duncan Robinson magically became a rotation player again. This was like if the Celtics this year suddenly got carried to the finals off the backs of Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard.
Admittedly, I am handwringing over who’ll be their first round opponent. Though their core is made up of disappointing misfits, the Hawks proven themselves to be a sore matchup for the Celtics. De’Andre Hunter and Dejounte Murray providing size and shooting from deep that’ll off-set any Celtics attempt to maintain momentum. Timely baskets are a killer and when the games are close that’s when you concern yourself with the fact the Celtics have the slowest pace of any team in the clutch.
That all being said, it shouldn’t go more than six in favor of the Celtics. If it does, then heads will roll.
Miami is their historical foe and seems to bitterly be seeking out the Celtics. Performing well enough to remain in the play-in, but not so much that they’ll rise to the sixth seed and face a weak Cavaliers team. No, they want the Celtics. Deranged, sick people.
But I don’t know. There’s a cautious optimism when I think about a potential matchup with the Heat. Boston’s won all three of their regular season matchups against them, though a close February game came without Jimmy Butler. Boston smashed Miami with no one of real consequence missing in action by 33, on January 25th. Kevin Love and Jaimie Jaquez are fine players, but they’re not making up that much ground when the Celtics play like this.
The issues with Miami primarily are Bam Adebayo guarding Tatum or Brown and deterring shots near the rim without much way of dragging him away. Robert Williams was never a floor spacer, and Al Horford wasn’t consistent enough. Kristaps Porzingis is hopefully the solution to the dilemma “what do the Celtics do when the threes stop falling?”
I’m not doing the Chicago Bulls because they’re a normal playoff bottom feeder team. I like Colby White. Alex Caruso is way too overqualified yo play for this team. And I have a soft spot and still fear DeMar DeRozan.
Lastly, the 76ers with a potentially returning Joel Embiid. I don’t know if he’ll be 100% or 70%. He’s coming off a left meniscus injury that required surgery and is expected to play before the playoffs start. Embiid will undoubtedly have a game that inspires fear, but can he sustain it in a playoff setting?
Regardless, Philly knows everything they need to know about the Celtics to be as pesky as possible. Especially with Kyle Lowry now on the team who always turns the clock back when he sees green and white laundry.
Bill Belichick gets saddled with Mac Jones, and vindictive Gregg Popovich gets this generations GOAT. BARF!
In the new criteria to qualify for the All-NBA team it provided players like Jaylen Brown an opportunity to hit the financial incentives in his contract. It’s a fine proposition to pry spots away from players and go are grandfathered in off of name recognition (or the fact they’re better). The problem being it risks watering down the honor of All-NBA.
Donovan Mitchell and Kristaps Porzingis have had career seasons and cannot make the ballot due to nagging injuries robbing them of the ability to hit the 65-game mark. This leaves the door open to players to sneak on to the third All-NBA team and leave fans scratching their heads.
For now there are only one or two names that’ll arouse suspicion. Talent levels in the NBA has never been higher, even bottom franchises franchises like San Antonio, Detroit, and Charlotte have players fans can envision being part of something greater in the near future.
First Team All-NBA:
Nikola Jokic – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Giannis Antetokounmpo – Luka Doncic – Jayson Tatum
I am peeved I couldn’t squeeze another Celtic on an All-NBA team. Maybe Brown makes third team this year, the second best player on an all-time regular season team favorites to come out of the conference would warrant the honor in previous years. The fact being I believe there are better players than Brown this season. That’s how good the league is right now. Hopefully expansion won’t dilute it!!!!!!!
The brief summarization of Jokic is he is Bill Walton crossed with Larry Bird, the Nuggets chug along almost effortlessly. No matter the road signs urging caution, I am blindly trusting the Nuggets to push through the Western Conference and repeat as champions off the backs of potentially the greatest center of all time elbowing his way into the top-10.
I respect and fear you Mr. Jokic. All I ask is if you see my Boston Celtics in the NBA’s World Series this June is you tear your ACL a minute after tip-off.
For Shai, he is the closest we’ll get to a recreation of late-80’s Michael Jordan, playing with reckless abandon, showcasing elite handles and footwork and with the softest touch around the rim. Shai can go zero to sixty, then back to zero on a dime and clutch up and hit you with a mid-ranger with consistency. No other superstar has more control over his explosiveness than SGA.
It does not matter if the Bucks win the title our not, revisionist history will not occur. It’ll be my second greatest nightmare if the Bucks climb the mountain this year, but my bitterness will not prevail. Giannis is carrying this team made up of washed up, ill-fitting superstars (Damian Lillard), a slow and non-athletic supporting cast. Maybe the Bucks ownership is simply too cheap to splurge on better players than Jae Crowder and Danilo Gallinari.
The only players outside of Milwaukee’s top-3 to show a pulse is Bobby Portis.
Giannis dragged this Bucks team like a dead carcass to 50-wins and most likely to an eastern conference finals bid, providing Miami isn’t in their bracket in the first two rounds.
Luka rediscovering his smile after a tumultuous 2022-23 campaign, co-existing with Kyrie Irving and finding a pick-and-roll dance partner in Derek Lively rejuvenated the Mavericks and perhaps they’ll ride that into round three this May.
Tatum is the person I’ll be the most harsh on. I am not disappointed, far from it. I still have questions. Albeit, it’s hard to answer the questions I have in the regular season.
Like his teammate Brown, Tatum’s improvement is beyond the stat sheet. His passing, defense and rim finishing all improved via the eye test. Tatum’s highlights happen in silence. The quiet 30 and 13 outings, the nights where he looks like Rick Barry passing the basketball – not Larry Bird, but his precursor.
But all his positive attributes happen WITHIN the team concept and not extending beyond to himself. This is why he gets no MVP considerations beyond a charitable top-5 finish. Fans and media view him as Brock Purdy. Someone fortunate enough to play for a machine. “What if Giannis or Joel Embiid had the Celtics front office?” Dominate the narrative more than actually giving the first Eastern Conference Finals series MVP his flowers.
This is another chance for Tatum to rewrite the narrative. Either he gets curb-stomped by Miami and cements him as a good, just not great superstar that’ll find himself on another team in a handful of years OR he does in fact take that final step and soon number 0 will hang in the rafters.
Fun fact: if Tatum’s number is retired it’ll have to be on a brand new banner. Kevin Garnett occupies the eighth and final spot on the green and white fabric.
Second team All-NBA:
Jalen Brunson – LeBron James – Kawhi Leonard – Stephen Curry – Anthony Davis
Yeah, I’m not happy Steph “I’m a cuck” Curry, and two Lakers are on my All-NBA team, but damnit I have standards for my made up lists!
Brunson rejuvenated the state of New York basketball and ushered in a new era where the Knicks aren’t a complete dumpster fire. It’s been four years and they haven’t reverted to their usual form.
Brunson is who Trae Young is supposed to be. The shot making capabilities of Lillard, the passing of Steve Nash, and rim finishing of Isaiah Thomas. The 6’1 star is the whole package. The Knicks haven’t had a dynamic guard like him since Walt Frazier six decades ago.
The Knicks are the second most dangerous team in the conference, behind Boston and in front of Milwaukee. Despite losing Mitchell Robinson all year to an ankle injury, and Julius Randle being on the mend for months thanks to a dislocated shoulder, followed by O.G Anunoby suffered from elbow inflammation, the Knicks ran on Brunson power.
The Knicks will likely draw the young Orlando Magic in round 1, make quick work of them and have a seven-game battle with the Boston Celtics… or get curb stomped by Miami in round two. Either way, the Knicks are not the Knicks we grew up with.
I’m not writing nice things about LeBron or AD.
This year is the umpteenth time nothings gone as planned for the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul George regressed dramatically, James Harden is in the middle of his disassociating from the team as the challenges mount. Through all of this Kawhi Leonard remained the lone constant.
For the past two seasons the Clippers was held together by duct tape and broken dreams. Kawhi represents the faint possibility they’ll get to the promise land and if they indeed do, it’s because of the dirty work Leonard’s done this regular season to keep this batch of crazies in the hunt.
Third team All-NBA:
Kevin Durant – Chet Holmgren – Domantas Sabonis – Alperen Sengun – Victor Wembanyama
We’re too hard on Kevin Durant. The greatest shooting forward the league’s ever seen, an artist on the hardwood and we’ve reduced him to rubble because his clown feet cost him a title. All the adulation and rubber stamping we’ve done for Steph since 2022 we could have done for Durant bad circumstances been slightly different in 2021.
I’m not going to penalize Durant in terms of legacy for not winning a title “the right way.” He had his chances, couldn’t cash-in, then he did by being the best player on a super team. Durant’s only mistake is seeking validation from the media and fans, rather than from himself.
Holmgren is my rookie of the year pick. This skinny wigger is a tougher Porzingis with the ability to defend, just wait until he grows into his body and he’ll really become unstoppable.
Sabonis a Lithuanian-American wigger… wait.
Sabonis is on this list, but not De’Aaron Fox? I don’t mean to slander Fox, but I think Sabonis has been more vital than Fox. He’s provided sufficient rim protection, great DHOs, PnRs and inside scoring at an elite level that kept the Kings in the mix.
Does it matter the Spurs are on pace to win a measly 18-games, that it should disbar Wembanyama from the All-NBA team? Maybe? Winning does matter, but I think he’s the exception to the rule.
Wembanyama is Ralph Sampson with a higher ceiling. People forget, Sampson could dribble through his legs and had excellent handles for a big man. His limitations offensively could have been less severe had the 1986 Finals not scarred him.
But Wemby has a quicker first step than Sampson. His arms are almost like the shark from Jaws. When you beat him off the first step he’ll recover and block defenders in the middle of their shooting motion. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.
Lastly, is Sengun. Mini-Joker. An excellent post-scorer, a strong presence and developing skills that’ll make him first team All-NBA caliber in the near future. His defense took a major step forward this past season, anchoring a sneakily elite Rockets squad in that department behind his basketball IQ and physicality.
Keep an eye out on Sengun and the Rockets. Jalen Green is a big question mark, but Ime Udoka is whipping these boys into shape.
There are two kinds of superstar players in the NBA, those who can get it down in crunch time and those who can get you to their critical moments, but needs someone else to finish the job.
For every Jordan, LeBron, Bird, there’s a Ewing, Drexler, and Paul George. You can win divisions, playoff series, maybe even sneak into the finals once or twice, but you’ll never win the title for what ever their shortcoming be.
Thus lay the greater mystery of this sport: what does it take to cross that threshold? Previous test cases like LeBron suggest it is mostly mental, the growth and maturity that comes from failure. Deep down we knew LeBron was always capable of winning the big one. The sensationalist dribble expounded by reporters and fans added theatrics to a rather anti-climactic finale.
The real “we didn’t think he could do it until he did” example is Dirk Nowitzki. Outmuscled in the 2006 NBA Finals. Mentally deconstructed in the 2007 1st round series vs Golden State. Nowitzki was labeled soft, a poor defender, and someone who wilted under the pressure. From 2008 to 2011 he continued to played at a high level, even though the interest for him waned. The story was written and ready for publishing. Another superstar with all the potential unable to take that final step.
Until the faithful day he rewrote said story. Now the lasting imagine of Nowitzki is not him kicking the ball into the stands as his team implodes to an inferior Miami team. It’s him so overcome with emotion as the seconds trickle down in the Miami arena, LeBron and Wade standing forlorn, the impossible victor retreating from the spotlight to shed a tear in solitude.
But for every Dirk, there’s players like him who are the nail to the superior one’s hammer. Drexler couldn’t beat MJ. Ewing couldn’t beat Olajuwon. Paul George couldn’t overcome himself.
Can Jayson Tatum overcome the Miami Heat? He did it once before. An underrated gem is his Game 7 in Miami in the 2022 East Finals series. Jimmy Butler being the lone Heat with a pulse for 40 of the first 48 minutes keeping their chances alive, Tatum quietly notched an efficient 26 point effort, including a sick turnaround on Butler before a last ditch comeback by Miami fell so short. It was the most clutch Tatum’s ever been. On the road, all the momentum on the opposing side, and the Celtics led wire-to-wire.
Yet, they almost blew it. The ball continuously found their weakest link (Sorry, Marcus) and the Celtics ran the basketball equivalent of victory formation for the final 3 minutes and 20 seconds. Five of the final six Celtics shots came from Smart, not because of his selfishness, but because of Tatum’s fecklessness. Not wanting to step on anyone else’s toes, not wanting to be the guy everyone looked at for why things went wrong.
There is no malice in Tatum’s heart when he does this. I smell fear and it extends like the plague to the others. Basketball is a game most akin to spreading a diseases and cures. A good bench is a symptom of an established hierarchy setting the backups to carry the load for the needed respite of the starters. That’s the cure. The disease is if your superstar falters it’s unlikely anyone will save the team.
The numbers regarding the Celtics in the clutch aren’t initially concerning. Teams tend to slow the pace down and milk the clock when they’re up by a substantial amount. For Boston, the victory cigar is lit up either prematurely or their drop in effort leads to a heart stopping comeback attempt from the opponent.
Over the years the Celtics have fielded different teams, capable and incapable of certain things. The numbers don’t reflect in a vacuum how they responded to gut check situations, but the situations they often found themselves in.
The Isaiah Thomas-era Celtics have better numbers in clutch situations than the Tatum-era Celtics, but they rarely ran away with contests and often found themselves going 100% against teams either in their tier of “plucky, but not real contenders” or below. For the past three years the Celtics have found themselves considered top of the heap and they meet that criteria by smashing lesser teams into oblivion.
So does Boston rank at the bottom of pace in the clutch because opposing defenses up the tension forcing their best players into compromising positions, off balanced shots leading to fast break opportunities? Or is it because they’re bored and we shouldn’t overly react to a game serving little relevance to the standings.
As a first round matchup with Miami looms it seems we’ll learn soon enough.
Entering this bold and new era of New England Patriots football the first order of business was to re-sign four players from 2020 draft class, re-signing on to two of the free agents spending spree from 2021, and keeping players on the margins from the previous season.
I doubt there was a real football reason behind ousting Belichick, the only real motive was Robert Kraft’s son didn’t want to wait around for him to retire to inherit the team. So now they’re running the “it’s all Bill’s fault” playbook.
Besides a few quibbles, I don’t think the Patriots had a bad off-season. They can roll the cap space over into next year where hopefully the free agent class is better and their reputation is rebuilt and they can go big game hunting.
Bringing back Kendrick Bourne, I don’t care how player-friendly the contract is, was a dumb move because he’s 29, coming off an ACL tear and was a malcontent for the past two years. He commits too many penalties and relies too much on his speed to reasonably expect him to return to form this upcoming season. The alternative was chasing Hollywood Brown and K.J Osborn, the latter of whom they did sign in a deal I liked, and not being played by Calvin Ridley’s representation to have the Titans inflate his market.
Losing linebacker Mack Wilson is a disaster. Wilson is a scraper, very smart and capable. He was a key part of the Patriots defense that remained in elite form even after losing its two best players early in the season. His departure is an indictment on the Jerod Mayo regime and how players inside and outside the league will regard the franchise post-Bill.
Regardless, the loud mouthed Elliot Wolf’s approach to building through the draft and keeping the powder dry is a reasonable one. I would have preferred them to chase Baker Mayfield or Gardner Minshew in free agency, I don’t think they should take Drake Maye at three because he isn’t going to be any good.
Bringing back Jacoby Brissett is great just for rising the ceiling of a shallow quarterback depth chart. Bailey Zappe perhaps in the future can become a solid backup that runs scout teams and follow the trajectory of Brian Hoyer, but as of now he’s a ways from being that. Brissett can serve as a starter or a mentor for a rookie quarterback, should they foolishly decide to draft one.
Another quibble I have is them jettisoning Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown for Austin Hooper. The first two players I listed are better than Hooper and would cost less to keep. This is another instance of the new regime signing a player because fans and media have heard of him. Same with Ridley. Gotta chase those headlines.
If you’re a ride or die Patriots fan (why?) the only thing that should concern you is will the braintrust allow Kraft’s kid, the media and fanbase bully them into taking Maye when Joe Alt or Olu Fashanu are better options long term. They’re destined to be stalwarts on the offensive line and this Patriots team needs to get younger at that position with David Andrews getting long in the tooth (they don’t play the same position, but you know what I mean), and Trent Brown can go kick rocks on his way out of town.
At this point I’d settle for them taking Marvin Harrison Jr. At least I know the Patriots didn’t piss away the value of the third pick by drafting a player who stinks.
Once upon a time the NBA gave out awards to who was widely regarded as the best player in its league at the time. There would be some twists and turns, but for the most part you can count on the voters to not get cute and always do the right thing.
Back when the players voted on the most valuable player award, there was a significant point of view included that we as fans could never truly understand. While Wilt Chamberlain racked up All-NBA 1st teams voted on by the media, Bill Russell was selected as the MVP by his peers.
The fans couldn’t see beyond the numbers Wilt provided, but behind those gaudy stats laid a team-killer, while Russell was the ultimate glue guy.
It wasn’t until 1981 when the voting process shifted completely away from the players and into the hands of sportswriters who grew overzealous over time. Soon narratives became the driving force behind who won, rather than play.
The fear of Larry Bird having more MVPs than Magic Johnson directly led to Michael Jordan being robbed on numerous occasions. Charles Barkley being traded to Phoenix and the ‘93 campaign being all about him overshadowed MJ’s best season. It’s voter fatigue that led to LeBron James not having the award since 2013 despite being the leagues best player in 2014, 2017, and 2018.
Now I’m not a player. I’m hardly talented in any way. I am just an asshole with a blog that likes to complain about stuff. But it’s very apparent the NBA is a bells and whistles league designed more to gin up for internet engagement rather than preserve its history.
Had the MVP vote been done within the basis of “this player was the best in the league when we casted our ballots” the winners of the MVP would have gone as follows, according to my personal biases of course:
1982: Magic⁃ Best player on an All-Time team that is slept on by the modern viewer. Magic still played defense around this time and used his 6’9 length and 7’0 wingspan to perfection garnering 2.7 steals.
1983: Bird⁃ Yeah, the year nobody talks about. Larry was the best then too. It was the last hurrah for the first era Bird Celtics, Tiny, Quinn, and M.L would either leave or have their roles significantly reduced after this year. Bird led the league in Box Score Plus-Minus that year, as he would every year from 1982-83 to 1985-86.
1984: Bird
1985: Bird
1986: Bird
1987: Bird⁃ Bird’s real masterpiece. The league had caught up to the egalitarian style the Celtics had perfected. McHale was en route to a sneaky viable MVP campaign before he broke his leg in March. The team was not deep and K.C Jones was playing his guys way too many minutes. Larry surged on and in the most contentious era in league history held back better and younger competition until he couldn’t anymore.
1988: MJ
1989: MJ
1990: MJ⁃ The reason Magic got this award was because voters couldn’t believe the Lakers won 63-games after Kareem retired. Kareem was a corpse after 1985, and by 1990 they found better options in Mychal Thompson, Vlade Divac and Sam Perkins to replace him. Jordan was better. Jordan was always better.
1991: MJ
1992: MJ
1993: MJ⁃ Barkley was everywhere during the ‘93 season. Freed from the shackles of Philadelphia, Barkley soared to new heights with an embarrassingly rich roster that would have won the title in any other year not involving Michael. Barkley’s oval shaped body sprinting down the floor like a gazelle in an open field, coupled with his court vision was very reminiscent to Giannis game. That all being said, Mike was better. He was always better.
1994: David Robinson⁃ Yup. Not only am I giving David Robinson 1995, the year everyone pretends Hakeem didn’t deserve the shaft, but I’m giving him 1994 too. Robinson had the best shot diet of any big, possessed better passing and only lost every year because his best teammates (Pre-Duncan) were Sean Elliot and Dennis Rodman.
1995: David Robinson
1996: MJ
1997: MJ
1998: MJ
1999: No One
2000: Shaq
2001: Shaq⁃ Allen Iverson is a cool guy and I respect him on so many levels. That all being said, he wasn’t better than O’Neal. Not by a long shot.
2002: Duncan
2003: Duncan
2004: KG
2005: KG⁃ Kevin Garnett produced the exact same numbers from his MVP campaign and the only reason the team got worse was because of the roster succumbing to injuries. Garnett deserved that award.
2006: LeBron⁃ Could be chalked up to hindsight, but LeBron already was the leagues No. 1 guy. I only knock him off in ‘07 for Dirk because he won 67-games with Jason Terry as his 2nd best player.
2007: Dirk
2008: LeBron
2009: LeBron
2010: LeBron
2011: Wade
— LeBron was disappointing that year. Wade outshined and outplayed him. The best two-guard in the league from 2008 to 2011, Wade did more to deserve that award than LBJ.
2012: LeBron
2013: LeBron
2014: LeBron
2015: Steph
2016: Steph
2017: LeBron
2018: LeBron
2019: Harden
2020: Giannis
2021: Jokic
2022: Jokic
2023: Jokic⁃ “The Three-Peat dies with Larry” my ass!
Everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t end. No, I have not seen Tom Cruise’s ‘Cocktail’, but this line is incredibly prophetic. All dynasties end with a bitter taste in the mouth of those involved. The Chicago Bulls still haven’t buried the hatchet because of Jerry Reinsdorf and the late Jerry Krause. The Larry Bird era Celtics ended with saltiness that could have been seen as a bigger deal if fans and the media wished to pry deeper.
If it’s any consolation, eventually Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid will stop pretending they take tandem bicycle rides in the off-season, and fail son owner Clark Hunt will eventually complain why doesn’t he get more credit. One day this will happen, but it won’t for another decade or so. For now we are going to watch the media pretend the Chiefs are villains when any distaste towards them hasn’t risen above fatigue.
In hindsight, this is how the Patriots were destined to end. A weepy owner throwing everyone he can under the bus for the approval of his peers who wished him nothing but ill. Robert Kraft enjoyed paradise for two decades, only to want more. To be seen as the third (or maybe the lead) man in the triumvirate. But recent events have shown if Kraft had it his way in the moment of truth, he’d reinsert Drew Bledsoe as the starter, or he’d fire Belichick had the Patriots lost the playoffs to Oakland.
Fans who once wore “Sons of Belichick” biker jackets, shifted to Brady, now have to grit their teeth and believe the Kraft family will right the wrongs of the big meanie. The human shields the Krafts deployed are now all gone. All there is left to protect them is the controllable operatives in the media they can buy off with beer and pizza.
“Sure, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft were conspiring to replace Bill will Bill O’Brien, whilst Bill in Krafts ear saying Brady was done. Yeah, sounds about right.”
It’s always “why didn’t Bill offer Brady the Drew Bress contract?” and not “why did Kraft give Brady a void year in his contract so he can hit free agency sooner?”
Anyone once entertain the possibility Kraft was the one who didn’t want to spend top dollar on his 40-plus year old quarterback? Kraft said he stopped Bill from ditching Brady sooner – so why didn’t he this time? Why didn’t he simply fire Bill if it was really a “him or me” situation?
Because Kraft is full of shit.
The man who claims everyone in the Patriots organization is like family to him, got an F-minus mark for his treatment of families on the NFL Report Card this past season. When pressed about why the weight room was not improved upon after last year’s poor grade, the Kraft’s made the pathetic excuse it was Matt “Captain Pencil” Patricia’s fault because he was the only one who could read a blueprint apparently. Not to mention the shabby treatment of their players, where every other team sends a private jet to pick up their first round draft pick, Kraft buys them a ticket to fly commercial.
I feel dirty defending the Kraft’s in the past. When accusations of them being cheap arose, I was quick to the hilt. Belichick was a mighty good shield because we spent decades calling him cheap while ignoring the owner. What kind of general manager doesn’t want to spend his owners money unless if he was explicitly told not to? The Patriots could have had DeAndre Hopkins last off-season, but that ogre Belichick didn’t want to pay him. Certainly couldn’t have been Kraft putting the kibosh on that like he did for every other good idea Bill had the last few years.
Kraft is so cheap that in the franchise’s most critical off-season they have several front-office members are on expiring deals. If you’re a front office employee in the NFL and you haven’t been extended in your contract, chances are the team doesn’t want to retain you in the first place and no matter what you’re gone.
The organization lost so much respect since they axed Belichick, their first choice, second choice, and god knows how many more turned them down for the vacant offensive coordinator job. Nick Caley would rather watch Sean McVay fix his hair for another year than get a promotion. Zac Robinson would rather see blood in his urine than work for the Kraft’s.
In just two months the post-Bill Patriots have lost all respect and agents candidly told them they’ll have to pay top dollar to compensate. Players always prioritize money, but what this says is if you want good players to attend your circus you need more zeros in their checks. The Patriots pathetically spun this pretending they’re just a small-market team and this has always been the tax. Boston is a small market?
But at least that mean old baddie isn’t here to take a defensive player in the draft. We can draft Jayden Daniels… oh wait.
There are people within Jayden Daniels’ camp that DO NOT want him to be drafted by the #Patriots, sources tell @PhilAPerry.
It is believed it has to do with the weather in New England, specifically due to Daniels not being accustomed to living/playing in the climate.
Drafting is a mugs game. Pure and simple. I know just as much as any dimwit on Twitter, and just a little less than someone who writes detailed scouting reports. Unless it’s actually your job to pick the players, you’re better off closing your eyes and playing eeny, meeny, miny, moe and hope you catch the tiger by the toe.
The modern perception about drafting a quarterback solely because you need one, and if you take the wrong one you can simply take another one in the next draft, is how people justify demanding instant gratification. The Patriots need to copy the Kansas City Chiefs model, despite the fact what the Chiefs did was trade up to take Patrick Mahomes at No. 10 and prior to that from 2013 to 2017 laid the foundation of what would become their championship core. They began the rebuild by drafting tackle Eric Fisher, and traded two second round picks for Alex Smith. It wasn’t the sexiest off-season, but it set them on the right track.
So why can’t the Patriots emulate that by drafting Joe Alt or Olu Fashanu, and signing Gardner Minshew in free agency?
Because the team is not run in that pragmatic direction anymore, and fans aren’t enamored with multi-year projects even if the evidence is staring at them in the face that this is the more viable route than simply drafting Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels and praying they’re the franchise savior. These same people will also be ready to drive them to the airport when they throw their first interception.
Quarterback is the hardest position to determine, for every success there are so many failures. Historically, there’s only been a handful of sure things taken in the draft at the position. John Elway, Peyton Manning, and Andrew Luck. Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels are likelier to all be awful, than even one of them becomes franchise players. Stay far away from them. If I’m the Chicago Bears I’m trading out of the first pick, same goes for if I’m the Commanders (Ew), and if I’m the Patriots I’m either trading down or taking Joe Alt with my pick.
If you can trade down for either J.J McCarthy or Michael Penix and they aren’t up to snuff, at least you picked up an extra asset and didn’t get no value for the pick. It’s what Belichick wanted to do with the fifteen pick that was Mac Jones. If he was allowed to trade down for David Mills he’d be a quarterback of similar production to Jones and an additional asset.
Good Time Basketball 