Considering Non-Free Agents

Today is the last day for NBA players with options to opt out and become free agents.  Oddly enough, a number of them are not doing so.  But I think these guys made the right move.

Among those who decided to stay put for the final year of their contract are the Celtics’ Eddie House, and the Jazz’ Carlos Boozer.

Why is this the right move?  Right now the economy is tight.  There seem to be a goodly number of free agents out there, and only so much money to go around.  Teams will not want to spend lots of money so these guys might not do better than their current contracts this summer.

Teams have been clearing cap space for 2010 however.  Some high profile players will be available.  Here the deal- they can only sign with one team.  So, the teams that don’t sign the high profile players like LeBron James will have money to spend on guys like House and Boozer.  So it make sense for them to stay put, earn some good green and wait for what promises to be a better contract next summer.

Teams are also realizing other teams don’t want to pay free agents much this summer.  At least that is the gamble teams like the Bucks are taking.  By not tendering some free agents, teams are thinking they might be able to get that player for less, or a suitable replacement for less than what the player expects right now.  The economy and the fact that teams don’t want to tie up money long term means there may be some good bargains out there.  Some of these guys may have to settle for less time and less money than they want.  It may very well pan out like the baseball off season did- a few guys got way too much money (Money Ramirez and the Yankees’ signings) and lots of guys took huge pay cuts.

House, Boozer, and a few others may have read this right and will be better off long term.  We’ll see in the next few days.

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House Staying Home

The Celtics did what I didn’t think they would do: re-sign both Eddie House and Tony Allen.  And they gave them 2-year deals.  They buy some security, but don’t create long-term salary cap issues.

I’m glad Eddie House is back.  He was a nice change of pace for Rajon Rondo, and was able to spread the floor with his 3 point shooting.  He was an important part of that playoff run.

The jury is still out on Tony Allen.  His injuries have inhibited his progress.  We really haven’t seen what he can and cannot do.  This next year his knee should be completely healed, and he should have learned its limitations.  He can be that dogged defender that James Posey was.  But can he keep his head in the game sufficiently to be that 6th man the Celtics need?  Only time will tell.

Either way, the team that will defend the NBA championship is beginning to take shape.  There are still rumors that Devon George may be of interest.  Good defense, and that’s about it.

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Considering James Posey’s Move

I will confess that I was not excited about Posey signing with the Celtics last summer.  I hadn’t watched him play much.  I was wrong!  He played a vital role in the Celtics’ championship season this year.  Great defense, timely 3-point shooting and a great locker room guy.  He was VERY important.

So, he decided he needed a raise.  He did have the player option, so he went for it and opted out.  His agent talked about how this might be his last contract, and he wanted to make the most out of it.  That meant that he wanted 4 years.  The Celtics, leery of his age and wanting salary cap flexibility, were only offering 2 years.  He wanted to stay a Celtic but they couldn’t agree on the contract.  There didn’t seem to be a middle ground where years were concerned.

Lots of other teams wanted him.  And the New Orleans Hornets got him while he got his 4 years.  His $25 million dollar salary over those 4 years represents a nice raise for James.  And he does go to a very good team featuring Chris Paul.  So, he didn’t take the money to play on a lousy team.  I respect him.  It basically starts with the full MLE.

This puts the Celtics in a quandry.  Posey is gone.  Tony Allen didn’t quite turn out like we hoped and he is probably gone (he’s a FA).  Eddie House is probably gone too.  Scot Pollard was barely here, and he’s gone.  P.J. Brown will most likely retire.  Sam Cassell will probably go elsewhere.  This is why it is so hard to repeat in this era of sports- guys want to get paid (you’d think they were making $50,000 instead of millions of dollars).  Especially after they win a championship.

But we picked up Patrick O’Bryant (there is some sarcasm there if you missed it).  Problem is we have lost one of our best perimeter defenders, and 2 out of our 3 best 3 point shooters.  Not quite easy to replace, but essential to winning another championship.

So Danny, we really need you to pull something out of the hat.  What you got?  I don’t think our draft picks, even Giddens, are quite what we had in mind.  Cost-effective, yes.  But not adequate replacements for Posey and House.

The Free Agent Market?  Maggette, gone. Lue, gone.  We never had a shot at Brand or Davis.  There is always the Birdman, Chris Anderson.  But he’s a big man and not a guy who’ll create space by hitting mid-long range jump shots or back up Rondo.  What’s a GM to do, Danny?

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Celtics Sign Who?

The Boston Celtics made a free agent signing today.  No, it wasn’t James Posey.  Or any other big name.  It was the one and only, utterly amazing Patrick O’Bryant (now that’s a good Irish name, me boy).

Bryant was the Warriors’ first round pick (#9 overall) in 2006.  He’s a 7 footer out of Bradley weighing in at 260 pounds.  Apparently he didn’t overwhelm Don Nelson and company.  But, due to the amazingly Irish name, he’s good for the Celtics as a back up to the oft injured Kendrick Perkins.

In his career, he has averaged 1.5 points, 1.2 rebounds and 5.5 minutes.  Oh, he’s a keeper, a trooper and a difference maker.  He was sent to the D-League on March 10th.  I am estatic about this signing!

I’m more estatic after reading Don Nelson’s comments regarding Mr. O’Bryant:

“I told him if he goes down to the D-League and isn’t a dominant player, there should be red flags all over the place, and he should be the first to notice. He’s not only not dominating, he’s not playing very well. He’s a long-term project. I really liked him the first week of training camp, but I assumed there would be great progress. He hasn’t gotten better one bit.”

HT: Celtics Blog

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How Sweet It Is

It only took 22 years, which is nothing compared to 86 years.  But that is still a long time when you are a life-long Celtics’ fan.  In the 80’s we had a sense of entitlement.  The Celtics were champions or contenders nearly every year that decade thanks to Larry Joe Bird, the Chief, McHale and all the rest.

It seemed nearly anti-climatic.  The Celtics just blew the Lakers out.  It reminded me of Game 7 against the Knicks in 1984.  I was there.  It had been a tough series, and Bernard King was lighting the Celtics up.  But in the 2nd half, the just ran over the Knicks for a dominating win.  KG finally showed up, and helped the Celtics dominate Kobe and the Lakers.  The Lakers had the best player, but the Celtics clearly had the better team.  And it was one of the largest point spreads in an NBA Finals game.

This was a team that I thought wouldn’t do it when the trade rumors were circulating last summer.  But Danny Ainge put together a great supporting cast for the 3 stars.  He, not Larry or Kevin, is the first player from those glory years to put together a championship team.  He had an assist from Kevin.  Danny was much maligned, but now he should feel vindicated.  The “plan” worked perfectly.

Paul Pierce should feel vindicated too.  Many people wanted him shipped off.  There were trade rumors all the time.  People dismissed him.  Not being on a team that was able to compete, he was asked to do too much and his defense suffered.  This year he showed he could play defense.  The Captain led this Celtics team to a championship.

Ray Allen should feel vindicated.  Earlier in the playoffs he was written off as D-O-N-E.  But he had a great series, breaking the record for 3 pointers in the championship series.  This despite worrying about a sick child, and having Odom rake his face.

Doc should feel vindicated.  He was accused of being a horrible coach who should have been fired long ago.  He carried the stigma of never winning a playoff series as a coach.  Now he has coached a great Finals.  He outcoached the man wanting to surpass Red.  Danny didn’t give up on him, and he proved Danny right.  He was the right man for this team.

Indeed, how sweet it is.  Now, how about 18!

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From Small Consolation to Big Shocker

In the first half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals I was discouraged and disappointed.  I figured we still had a shot at Game 5, but the Lakers were going to win Game 4.  Afterall, Lamar Odom showed up and the Celtics were playing no defense.

They sort of gave me a glimmer of hope as they cut the Laker lead to 12 just before the Lakers put on a mini-run to push the lead back up at the half.  Ray Allen was the only one who looked like he hadn’t been replaced by an alien look-alike.  Pierce, KG, Rondo … anyone you named- horrible!

Doc needs more credit than he gets.  He didn’t panic, and he assessed the situation well.  He and his coaches did  a great job.  They worked to spread the floor and give their guys room to run the offense.  Paul Pierce gets tons of credit for 1. volunteering to guard Kobe and doing a fantastic job, 2. reminding guys to play and not look at the score, 3. leading the charge offensively in the 3rd. 

The Celtics returned to playing defense, and shut down the Lakers.  I love that the Celtics didn’t give up, which would have been very easy.  But they kept going.  Leon Powe bought KG a few minutes of rest.  Pierce was utterly exhausted when this was over.  It is a testament to Ray Allen’s conditioning that he played the whole game and still had something left for that final layup on the isolation to basically seal the victory.  He was moving all night long and had increased ball handling responsibilities with Rondo on the bench during the stretch run.

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Small Consolation

My small consolation from Game 3 was that Pierce played horribly, and KG was sub-par.  And the Celtics still could have won that game.  It was ugly basketball.  The play is physical and the refs are inconsistent. 

The disconcerting question is what is wrong with Rajon’s ankle?  That could be a series altering injury.  Or, he could be perfectly fine in 2 days.

What I do know is that the Truth needs to return from Jet Lag City.  If he plays like he did in the first 2 games, the Celtics put this baby away, and quickly.  But if he struggles in LA, they are in big trouble.

Kudos to Ray Allen who was the only Celtic who seemed to have a good game.  He’s recovered from his slump, and that is good news folks.

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Back to the Whinery

We are back in the Whinery after a few days sans kiddos.  CavWife and I flew the coop to visit with a search committee, and I met with the elders.  The kids got to stay home with a friend of ours.  They did very well.  She was a bit sad Friday night.  He was clingy before we left Friday morning, but we were able to slip away, and heading into our friend’s pool was distracting enough for him.

We flew up Friday afternoon.  We had a slight delay in our flight departure time.  A mere 20 minutes or something.  Oddly, it continued to say “On Time” even a few minutes after our departure time came and went.

A few members of the committee picked us up at the airport and drove us to town.  We were free to have dinner on our own, so we got a recommendation for a local establishment.  It was a very nice place.  We ate outside and enjoyed some of the local sights, and sounds (particularly the motorcycles).  Then we took a spin to see some of the local geography.  We located the YMCA (since CavWife is certified for spinning, and in process to be certified for step- and has a class 2x/week at the local Y), the movie theatre, library …  We also drove through some subdivisions near the church.  We aren’t sure if they will be in our price range, though.  The area looked far more beautiful than it did in March.

Exhausted, we crashed at the hotel.  We were up early the next morning, as I met with the Session all morning.  One of them saw my post on Adam Again, and gifted me with his copy of 10 Songs by Adam Again.  It got a good listen this morning!  Quite thankful.  Hmmm, I wonder if he has Outdoor Elvis by the Swirling Eddies….  Great to ponder having elders who have actually listened to some of the obscure bands I enjoy.  CavWife got a tour of the area by a committee member and talked about some of the pragmatic stuff about living in that community.

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Freaky Night in Boston

One of the stranger nights in Boston sport’s history started in Fenway Park last night.  Forgetting that they moved up the start time, I missed the most explosive part of the game.  It began Wednesday night when Coco Crisp slid hard into 2nd base.  The Rays, about to fall out of 1st place, were not excited about the play, calling it dirty.  Coco expected payback.

In the 2nd inning, it came.  Shields hit him with a pitch.  And then came the brawl.  Seems like old times.  In the late 90’s – early 2000’s these 2 teams did not like each other.  A brawl led to bad blood and Brian Daubach was vilified by Rays’ fans.  That feud didn’t die until Daubach left the Sox.  The odd part was that the Rays weren’t very good at the time.

Now they are fighting for first place, and bad blood is back!  Makes things interesting, though I’m not in favor of brawls in sports.  In this go round, Gomes is playing the role of villain.  He is the one who pounced on the pile and threw cheap shots at Crisp- which is what Daubach is accused of doing.  This fight may be the catalyst the Sox needed to pull together in the midst of injuries to key players.

With Crisp tossed, Ellsbury moved to center.  It was the 4th inning when all Boston held its breath as he came up hurting after catching Longoria’s drive.  He would leave the game with only a strained wrist, but it was scarry.  With Coco possibly getting suspended, the timing is quite unfortunate.

But it got stranger as Youk and Manny had to be pulled apart between the 4th and 5th innings.  No word about what the fight was about.  Could be Youk was not wild about playing in the outfield.  Who knows.  But the Sox prevailed 7-1 to take a 1.5 game lead in the AL East.

The Celtics-Lakers game was looking good, though mundane.  It was exciting, but in the 3rd period it got scary as Boston again held its collective breath.  Captain Paul Pierce went down holding his leg.  Scary.  Carried off the court.  Scarier.  Brough to the locker room on a wheelchair.  Level 9 anxiety attack for Celtics Nation.  The guy is finally in the Finals and this is how it ends?????  Are our chances shot????

Next thing we know, Derek Fisher falls on Perkins’ leg after a free throw attempt.  Now he’s limping off the court and heading to the locker room.

Pierce pulled his best Larry Bird impersonation.  Like Bird he would emerge from the locker room to a thunderous applause and entered the game to lead his team to victory.  He showed leadership and courage, and the Lakers couldn’t stop the Celtics despite lots of horrible shots by KG.  It was Pierce who didn’t just play but drained shots and hustled.  While Garnett owned the first half, Pierce owned the second half and the Celtics came up with an exciting win.  This is what Lakers-Celtics is all about, folks.  And somewhere David Stern is rolling on the floor with delight- the string of less-than-interesting Finals is OVER.

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Celtics Top Lakers in 7

No, this is not my prediction.  Boston.com ran a NBA 2K8 simulated series.  The Celtics took Game 1, but lost Game 2.  In LA, they lost 2 of 3.  But back in Boston they prevailed both times to win their 17th banner, and keep Phil Jackson from surpassing Red for the most titles by a coach.

Now we have to watch and see what REALLY happens.  Go Celts!

Update: ESPN used NBA Live, and the Lakers won in 7.  ESPN has been pro-Lakers all week, so this just adds to the pile-on.

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KG, Perkins and Allen Barely Enough

I was ready to lose my mind during much of the first half of Game 5 between the Celtics and Pistons.  Horrible, horrible calls.  The inconsistency was maddening.  I still can’t believe they called a flagrant foul on P.J. Brown, but one was not called on Billups for taking a shot at Perkins’ head on his break away.  And so was the Celtics inability to hang on to the ball.  It was not looking good for my boys in Green to be sure.

But they regained their composure.  Perkins was a beast: pulling down rebounds, blocking shot and pouring in shots (18 pts. 16 boards 2 blocks, 2 steals).  Ray Allen finally came to life, draining 3-pointers (5-6, 29 pts).  And all this was not a second too soon as ‘Sheed started hitting from behind the arc too.

In the 3rd period the Celtics defense was cranked up a notch as they created turnovers to open up a double-digit lead.  I find Rick Hamilton to be quite annoying.  He consistently over-reacts in the attempt to draw a foul.  Antics like this is part of why Brent Barry didn’t draw a foul at the end of Game 5 of the Lakers-Spurs series.  He didn’t over-react (flop).  They need to start penalizing the floppers.

In the 4th quarter, the Celtics began to settle for the 3-pointer and the Pistons slowly began to close the gap.  It was a 1 point game with 1:05 to go.  Ray Allen hit a 2 to get a 3 point lead.  Billups missed a lay up, and KG missed a too-long jumper at the buzzer.  But Stuckey hit 2 FTs to pull within a point with 8.2 seconds left.  This is just too close for my liking.  So the Pistons put Ray Allen to the line to hit 2.  Stuckey returned to the line (good strategy, boring basketball), and he missed his first FT forcing the Celtics to guard that glass.  But he hit the FT instead.  Garnett was the next Celtic to head to the line, and hit bothto ice the game.

KG rebounded from a sub-par Game 4 for 33 pts and 7 rebounds.  It was barely enough for Gino to dance to the Bee Gees (seriously, a new tradition is needed).

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Take That Celtic Bashers

I heard the analysts and commentators.  They seemed to forget that despite their lousy road record in the playoffs, they had a great road record during the regular season.  They seemed to forget that they Pistons have not defended their home court in the playoffs this year.  They pronounced the Celtics D-E-A-D.

Hmmmm, the Celtics took Game 3 in Detroit to regain home court advantage.  They had a double digit lead most of the game.  Their bench players played some good basketball.  They played defense.  They won 94-80 even though Paul Pierce (11 points) and Ray Allen (14 on 5-16 shooting) didn’t have much offensive impact.  Perkins had a very good game, hitting his first 6 shots to pick up a double-double.  Garnett had 22 pts, 13 rebounds & 6 assists to lead the Celtics.

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The NBA

Where Kicking a Guy in the Package (without a foul) Happens.

 

That loss last night was like a kick in the crotch.  But, Detroit has lost to lesser teams at home in the playoffs this year.

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Next, the Pistons

Paul looks much happier after this game.  LeBron, not so much.  He quickly left the court, seemingly not congratulating anyone.  Not quite good sportsmanship.

Both Pierce and LeBron had great offensive games.  Pierce gave most of Celtics’ nation a minor heart attack when he took a tumble just before half time with an injured ankle.  It didn’t seem to bother him much as he continued to knock down shots on his way to a 41 point performance.  It was about time he dominated.  But LeBron had 45 in a losing cause- similar to the classic battle between Larry Bird and ‘Nique back in ’86.

The surprise of the game was the play of P.J. Brown.  He’d looked just plain ugly in previous games.  Many of his shots looked ugly, but they went in.  He played some good defense and grabbed some key rebounds.

Eddie House also played some significant minutes.  This time he took the place of Ray Allen, who spent much of the 4th quarter on the bench.  That had to hurt him.

There were some very bad calls, and non-calls.  Not as many as in Game 6, but enough to make me wonder if the Celtics would be able to pull it out.  LeBron abused Pierce at least twice without a whistle.  One was when he tipped the ball out of his hands and then held onto his jersey.  No call on that, ball out of bound … turnover.  Another time LeBron pushed Pierce down to create another spurious turnover.  I’m beginning to wonder if LeBron can actually commit a foul (or be called for traveling).  At least Jordon won a title before he got all the calls (or is that just a figment of my imagination).  LeBron James is a great player, he doesn’t need help. 

Rather than the usual lopsided FT totals, the Celtics only took 1 fewer FT.  I can’t quite figure out how they call these games.  But thankfully we have home court advantage all the way through in this league that creates such an obvious home court advantage that has little/nothing to do with how players play.  I just want a little consistency.  Am I asking too much?  Apparently.

Now we get to face the Pistons.  Which Pistons team will show up?  They seem like Jekyll and Hyde.

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Considering 0- Awful on the Road

This about expresses it for me.  “What???? Are you stinkin’ kidding?!”  I saw a few things:

1. Inability to keep Cleveland off the offensive boards.  This gave Cleveland too many 2nd chance points.

2. Inability to take care of the ball, particularly under pressure- leading to easy buckets.

3. Horrible officiating.  They made bad calls against both teams, but the sheer number of calls went against the Celtics.  LeBron took more FTs than the whole Celtics team.  It was free throws that kept Cleveland in the game in the first half before they went on that run to end the half.

4. Doc was smart to play House, dumb to play Davis.  House kept the Celtics in the game replacing a tentative Rondo (all those horrible whistles don’t help a guy be aggressive though).  I lost track of the number of times Big Baby was blocked underneath, or at least seemed unable to finish under the hoop.  Where was Powe?  Just because Davis played well in Game 5 doesn’t mean he’s going to play well in Game 6.

These are not the Celtics of my youth, so I don’t care about what Celtic teams of the past have done when up 2-0 in a series.  Irrelevant because Russell, Hondo, Bird etc. are not playing on this team.  Yeah, these guys have pretty much dominated at home.  So why can’t they dominate on the road?  Is it the officiating?  Are they replaced by look-alikes who can’t play?

Defensively, we can’t pay attention to the little change of direction LeBron makes while driving to the rim.  If you move your feet, it WILL be a blocking foul.  If you STAY PUT and he creates contact above the circle- it is a charge.  That move alone was killing us.

 

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Considering Game 7

I had to do some pre-marital counseling after church today, so I didn’t get home until after 2 pm.  Well, the game was basically OVER.  I came home to see Rondo lying on the court after having been thrown down by his good friend, Marvin Williams.  With friends like that….

I feel almost as good as KG.  Maybe the utter demolition of the Hawks will quiet some of the whiners and complainers, doubters and deniers.  This is an excellent team.  I didn’t see a bunch of heartless slackers in Atlanta, like some people claim.  I saw guys who weren’t allowed to compete due to the constant refrain of the ref’s whistle.

Now it is Cleveland, and more whistle-blowing.  But if they play this kind of stifling defense, they should prevail though it may take 7 games again.

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It’s the Free Throws, Silly

I’m very frustrated.  I’m frustrated with the fact that the Celtics-Hawks series has gone to 7 games.  It should have been done in 5.  I’m frustrated that some guys on talk radio talk like the Hawks have dominated the Celtics at home.  2 of the 3 games have been down to the wire. 

I feel like the 1992 election when Bill Clinton had to state the obvious.  In watching the games it is obvious to me that it’s the free throws.  Free points by the Hawks that have made a BIG difference in Atlanta.  Horrible officiating is why Paul Pierce watched the end of Game 6 from the bench with a towel on his head.  I’m not impatient with the Celtics.  I think they have played well.  But they’ve played with a disadvantage due to the disparity in fouls called.  Whining, or facts?  Look at the facts, folks.

During the course of the regular season, the Celtics averaged 26.5 FTA per game.  So far in the playoffs, they are averaging 22.2. 

During the regular season, the Hawks averaged 27.1 FTA per game.  During the playoffs, they are averaging 34 FTA.

Contrary to what some nimble-minded announcers would think- over the course of an 82 game season the difference between free throw attempts for these 2 teams is .6 FT or less than one.  Yet, in the playoffs, the Hawks are shooting 12 more per game than the Celtics.

It is not because the Celtics are a “jump shooting team”.  Watch Pierce drive to the hoop.  Watch Rondo drive to the hoop.  Nearly every shot Powe and Perkins take is near the basket.  Half of KG’s shot are close to the basket.  Game 6 was just another example of the Celtics being whistled for minimal contact and the Hawks, well, not being whistled.

2 of the 3 games in Atlanta were essentially settled by free throws.  The free throw disparity created the Atlanta victories.  This is not the Celtics being passive, but the refs calling 2 different games.  Should the Celtics win, and the same crew(s) officiate, LeBron himself will probably average 30 FTA/game.  How can you compete against this unfair advantage?

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Considering Defense and Pitching

The vaunted Celtics’ defense showed up last night.  And they once again put a major league hurtin’ on the Hawks.  Whenever the Hawks made a good run the Celtics amped up the intensity and extended the lead.

The series is getting pretty chippy.  Most of that chippiness seems to involve Horford.  He could be the next Tree Rollins (who bit Danny Ainge, not the other way around as people erroneously recall it) or Bill Lambeir.  That he didn’t understand the Flagrant Foul rule is amazing to me.  He didn’t go for the ball, but a takedown.  Don’t get angry about it.  And there were plenty of angry Hawks near the end of that game.  This could get ugly soon.

The person who should have been angry was Paul Pierce.  Kudos to Paul for maintaining composure despite a series of bad calls and non-calls.  He couldn’t catch a break from the officials who seem determined to send the Hawks to the line 3-4 times as often as the Celtics.  I’m not buying the line the Czar (btw- could they forcibly retire him?) is selling.  “The Celtics are a jump shot team.”  Okay, during the Chris Ford era that was true.  But did you see how many times Pierce and Rondo penetrated?  Did you see how many times KG, Powe and Perkins took shots in the paint (drawing contact)?  There was no logical, sensible reason for the FT disparity.

In light of all that- what was KG doing on the floor with 3 minutes to go????  Is Rivers trying to get him hurt?  With that kind of lead the bench should have played the last 8-10 minutes.

Pitching.  I am amazed at this string of pitching performances by Buchholz, Beckett, Lester and Dice-K.  The Red Sox offense has been on vacation, and squandered Clay and Josh’s stellar performances.  Thankfully they provided just enough for Papelbon to get the wins with walk-off hits.  Suddenly the Sox pitchers are going deep and holding teams to almost nothing.  5 runs in 4 games I think.  This is the staff we expected heading into the season.  Is this just a fluke, or the real deal?  The latter I hope.

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Considering the Unthinkable

For me it was unthinkable for the Celtics to lose to the Hawks, again.  Well, it was nearly unthinkable for the Sox to be swept by the Rays, and that happened.  But the Celtics had dominated the Hawks this season, and in the first 2 playoff games.  The Hawks looked utterly horrible!

Game 3 was different.  It was like a completely different team showed up.  The Hawks could apparently do no wrong.  This despite working in a bargain basement setting.  In the second half one of the shot clocks on the goal post didn’t work.  So they turned both off and had the announcer say “10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and a whistle indicated that time had elapsed.

Surely, I thought they Celtics would figure out their defensive rotations, the technical crew would fix the shot clock and the Hawks would regress to the mean of mediocrity.

Well, the shot clock worked.  But the buzzer didn’t so they time keeper used an air horn.  What is this, Middle School?  David Stern, who was there, had to be cringing since this was part of the national TV doubleheader.  Doc helped the Hawks with some strange rotations.  In a time when they needed a lockdown defender, Eddie House was in there instead of Tony Allen or James Posey.  Huh?????  This helped former Celtic Joe Johnson do his best Michael Jordan impersonation and totally dominate the 4th quarter so the Celtics actually LOSE.  Arrrggghhh!

Worse, ESPN keeps playing the little scrum that erupted.  2 players (Perkins and Marvin Williams) left the bench area and might have to sit for game 5.  KG was going ballistic, so focused on Pachulia that he flicked the ref off of him.  Since the ref didn’t toss him, I’m hoping that the league doesn’t decide to help the Hawks some more by tossing KG for a game or 2.  Of course they fined Pierce for making a gesture that they claim is a gang symbol.  Looks more like flicking something off your finger or going “okay”.  I don’t know.  Apparently it means “blood, sweat and tears” and he does it at the beginning of every game.

So, this series should be over, or at least on the verge of being over.  Yet, we are tied with a far inferior team.  Welcome to the joys of the playoffs.  Now, can the Celtics make the necessary adjustments?  Will they continue to give Bibby wide open looks?  Will they lose players for Game 5?  Have they noticed that the Magic finally WON a playoff series (it’s been more than a decade folks)?

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A Weekend and a Day

It was a jam packed weekend filled with fun and frustration.  It is fun hearing that you don’t have any cavities!  It is also fun trying to teach my daughter how to cut paper with her new scissors.  She still uses both hands to open it, and wants to hold them at an odd angle.  Yes, it will take time.  But it was fun.

Frustration?  I was certainly frustrated with the same daughter was angry with me because I didn’t want her walking around with the blade unit from the Magic Bullet.  She can’t grasp that I’m trying to protect her from potentially dangerous situations.  All she knows is that I’m blocking her pursuit of fun.  It also was frustrating not being able to find a gender-neutral scooter for my kids at the W-M. 

Fun was watching my son play with his new cars.  A neighbor gave him the Cars collection.  He really enjoys playing with them- captivated really.  And he has not seen the movie.

Fun was watching him pretend to throw a baseball.  I had the Sox-Rays game on and he was mimicking the pitcher.  It was even funnier looking when I put his arm restraints back on.  He seemed captivated by baseball this weekend.

And boxing.  We were at a friend’s house.  They were showing part of the Ali-Ernie Shaver fight, and his eyes were glued to the TV.  Thankfully he wasn’t practicing with his arm restraints on this time.

Frustrating was having CavWife ask anytime I either had been or was going to be near a computer and wanting me check on the progress of the laptop.  I kept forgetting.  We were both frustrated.

Even more frustrating was watching the Sox get swept by the Rays (who have a very good team this year).  Why?  Try no off days in 3 weeks and fending off the bug.  They were worn out and wasted 2 superior pitching performances by Buchholz and Beckett.  Beckett’s 13 Ks meant an extra point for my fantasy team which remains in first place at this VERY early juncture.  I was also frustrated with watching the Hawks play an amazing game to beat the Celtics.

CavWife is not sure why the NFL draft is a big deal.  I’m not sure why anyone would spend all day watching it, much less heading to Radio City Music Hall.  I did check in periodically to see how the Patriots were doing.  Some people watch to see where players from their favorite college teams and alma maters go.  My alma mater, Boston University, no longer has a football team and so my efforts to see one of them drafter were in vain.  I can’t remember the last Terrier drafted in football or  basketball.  Hockey is a different story.  I think the Patriots addressed their most pressing needs (youth and speed at linebacker and cornerback).  But who’s to say at this point?

Our study of 1 Peter wrapped up chapter 2 Sunday night.  Our group is in transition.  The youth pastor will soon have to take over the youth study since the intern is graduating and moving on.  My long-term status in up in the air.  So we aren’t sure if the group will be able to continue come the Fall.  Someone would have to step up.

Today I took our son to one of his post-surgical appointments.  We arrived early since you can’t predict the traffic into Orlando.  We enjoyed a walk around a nearby park.  He enjoyed the fountains and the water fowls.  We saw a group of ducks that included 8-9 ducklings.  We also saw a good sized turtle swimming around in the pond.  I like sharing those moments with him.  So much better than the wet bedding (an unfortunate result of the liquid diet he’s been on since the surgery).

The surgeon was quite pleased with the repair on the lip.  He thought the palate was looking much better.  We were rinsing it when we should have been irrigating it.  The white spot I feared was a hole or exposed bone is only a scab (huge sigh of relief).  He should only wear the arm restraints for another week.  Once the stitches fall out we no longer have to irrigate.  All in all- a very good report from the surgeon.  I did discover that the reason all the skin was peeling off of his thumb was that in the restraints he couldn’t put it in his mouth.  So it dried out, really dried out.

I finally remembered to check the progress of the laptop.  Still in the repair process (sigh) so no pictures of the family or the animals we have seen.

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