Corey Maggette

The 28-year old Corey Maggette entered free agency, opting out of $7M due to him this season in search of upwards of $11M from the LA Clippers, who say they want to resign him (along with the “newly-signed” Baron Davis and Elton Brand, who mysteriously opted out of his contract as well). Despite this, the guard/forward said the Celtics contacted him and that he could be willing to take a pay cut for Boston. All the Celtics could offer would be up to the mid-level exception of $5.8M, but then they also have to resign James Posey.  Something has to give, and I sense a bit of posturing here by the Celtics as part of the Posey negotiations.

Would Corey Maggette fit with the Celtics? He is an excellent shooter and versatile like Posey.  With Brand out for almost the entire season, Maggette was certainly the Clippers MVP last year. 82games.com indicates he put up the best net production at his position and had the best +/- on-court/off-court numbers of any of the starters.  This suggests Maggette’s defense may actually be good while his offensive prowess is great. Ask Paul Pierce and Ray Allen how difficult it is to get recognized for your defense when you are a great offensive player . . .

Maggette would no doubt be an upgrade in talent over Posey, as long as the Celtics are ready to take on the uncertainty the Duke alumnae brings to the squad compared to the test-driven Posey . . . but it appears that since Maggette is considering the Spurs, that he’s okay with the mid-level exception for extended years. The Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies are also reportedly suitors.

James Posey

Is any team in the NBA NOT interested in signing Posey? Boston wants him and got him at a bargain compared to his previous contract with the Miami Heat. Now Posey is looking for the coin while remaining with Celtics as one of their undisputed glue guys. But here comes the suitors. His agent (Mark Bartelstein) says “a lot of people are interested” in his client. Duh!  The teams mentioned thus far are the Washington Wizards (after they get Arenas settled), his “local” NBA team - the Cleveland Cavaliers, the LA Lakers, the LA Clippers, the NO Hornets, the Detroit Pistons, the Houston Rockets, and on and on . . .

And why not? He’s the consummate bench player (move over Manu Ginobili) and he’s clutch. Especially in the playoffs, as he’s proved in Miami and now in Boston.

By the way, Maggette is ranked No. 3 and Posey No. 7 on Chad Ford’s best available free agent list.

Draft Picks

The three draft selections made their appearance in Boston yesterday: J.R. Giddens (4), Bill Walker (12) and Semih Erden (86).  J.R. Giddens.  Here are some nice post-draft interviews with Ainge and Rivers from Wicked Good Sports.

Billy Walker had the quote of the day when he said, “I just want to make Mr. Ainge look smart” for picking him in the 2nd round. This would be despite Walker’s knee issues, but he was aware of another recent 2nd round pick with knee issues that has performed beyond expectations (that would be Leon Powe).

Tony Allen

Celtics did not even extend a qualifying offer to Tony Allen. However, Danny Ainge said “I had a good conversation with Tony and I assured Tony that this doesn’t necessarily close the book for him here. We like Tony. He’s just moving forward in his career. If things might not work out with James or other free agents, Tony would be a guy that we’d be interested in returning to the Celtics.”

Veteran Point Guard Need

The Globe stated that

“The Celtics hope to sign a veteran backup point guard to a one-year, veteran minimum contract, an NBA source said. Candidates include Eddie House, who would return for a second season with Boston, Dallas’s Tyronn Lue, Orlando’s Keyon Dooling, Miami’s Jason Williams, and Chicago’s Chris Duhon.”

Lue is a 10-year veteran who played for Rivers in Orlando and is good friends with Celtics forward Kevin Garnett. However, Lue hasn’t been contacted by the Celtics, Rivers or Garnett, although it is apparent he would be elated to catch on with the current champs.

And then there is Sam Cassell who is interested in playing one more year and perhaps becoming an assistant coach with the Celtics in 2009-10.

Veteran Big Need

What is to become of forward-center P.J. Brown and center Scot Pollard? P.J. Brown came in for a cameo appearance last spring, and earned his ring as the primary back-up to Kendrick Perkins. Pollard just isn’t healthy enough and Brown may be ready to retire, so the search is on . . .

The big men being bantered about thus far are Chris Anderson, Dikembe Mutomobo and Alonzo Mourning.  The Celtics probably can’t go wrong with any of those guys in a back-up F/C role, although Andersen has the most question marks since he just completed serving a two-year ban for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Coaching

Let’s hope the Celtics avoid the coaching carousel. Doc is signed through next season, but obviously doesn’t like being a lame duck, and since he’s earned his stripes, he now stands to improve on his $5M/yr rate.  Ainge is a Doc-guy, so it appears they will get the extension done in due time.

What may be more tumultuous is the fact that Rivers’ entire staff - Armond Hill, Tom Thibodeau, Clifford Ray, Kevin Eastman - have become “free agents”. Everyone will breath a sigh of relief if they can keep Thibodeau on board as he’s been mentioned in head coaching and top assistant positions with other teams.  But you have to like the accomplishments of this entire coaching staff, although having veterans may make coaching look relatively easy compared to the developmental challenges of the 2006-07 season.

With that said, it appears that Danny Ainge certainly has one of the busiest of summers ahead of him.

The triumvirate of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett fortunately has a few more years in Boston, and as long as the Celtics are in championship contention NEXT year, who really cares about the outcome of this draft? Well Danny Ainge does!

The draft was just completed last Thursday, and the Celtics picked up a seasoned college player in J.R. Giddens and a solid forward in Billy Walker. Given the window for the Celtics current success, the Celtics C’s needed to draft players who can contribute fairly soon, not projects. That said, Ainge appeared to have succeeded. Both Giddens and Walker come from big time college basketball programs and also have bodies that are NBA-ready.

In another era, Ainge could have drafted somebody like Gerald Green, who had neither of those attributes, but had tons of upside. Ainge clearly never scouted Green (or at least minimally) because he didn’t think he would fall to #18. When he did, Danny boy had a decision to make and decided Green’s freakish athletic talents were too good to pass up. In retrospect it was a mistake and he should have stuck to his research, but of course that’s easy to say now. In this draft, you could say Deandre Jordan - the young center from Texas A&M - fell similar to Green, but Ainge didn’t bite on that Jordan.

Now if Giddens and Walker aren’t in fact ready, there is still the opportunity to add to the Celtics core via free agency, i.e. this draft was not the only opportunity for the C’s to ensure that solid role players continue to surround our Big Three. Even if Posey, for example, is not re-signed, we can be certain that ownership will pony up dollars and spend them wisely on the right free agents.

Regardless, any rookie from this draft will have to prove they can win minutes away from newly-signed free agents as well as Powe, Baby, Pruitt and yes even Scal. So one way to look at it is that this draft was almost a “can’t lose” scenario.

Ainge apparently did his homework and Giddens and Walker appear to be solid choices in almost every respect, and each of them would have to fail miserably in the “character” department in order to make this draft a failure. That seems pretty unlikely given the highly professional environment they are entering that is comprised of strong leadership surrounded by solid role models. And of course, Giddens (and Walker) will continue to develop his maturity during their inaugural seasons with the Celtics.

Note: Jonathan Givony of draftexpress.com notes that the Celtics have inquired with Walker in playing overseas next year as he rehabs his knees.

With their 1st round pick (30th overall), the Celtics drafted J.R. Giddens, a 6′ 5″ wing player with some incredible pre-draft measurements including leaping ability (42-inch vertical), wingspan (6′ 11″) and standing reach (8′8″). The wing span is exceptional for sure, only an inch shorter than Michael Beasely and Kevin Love, taken 3 and 4 in the draft.  Giddens was named co-Western Conference Player of the Year last season, when he averaged 16.3 points on 51.5 percent shooting, and grabbed an enormous amount of rebounds for a a 2-guard at 8.8 per game.

However, Giddens has a bit of a history due to some altercations, and Chad Ford had him 19 spots later in his draft ranking.  History aside, this guy looks like he could supplant Tony Allen as the teams de facto defensive 2-guard and leaper extraordinaire. Here’s some nice video of the 4-year college player from yahoo.

Doc Rivers was interviewed on the Giddens pick by Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald:

“He’s got an incredible wingspan (and) great feet, and we feel that defensively he can be an NBA player right away,” said the coach, who got his first real look at the 6-foot-5 guard in workouts just the day before. “The other things we’ll work on, but we really like him. . . . We didn’t necessarily draft a guy for position. We drafted a guy that we liked, and we didn’t really care. If it was a point guard that we liked, we would have drafted him. If it was a center. . . . I think Giddens is more of a two-three in some ways.”

“One of our needs was athleticism,” said Rivers. “We felt one of our weaknesses is we were very skilled, but we were not very athletic as a group.”

Mark Murphy, also from the Herald wrote about Giddens:

“I like what he did (Wednesday,” Doc Rivers said at TD Banknorth Garden. “He was very competitive in that workout. His team lost a couple of games, and you could see from how he reacted that he didn’t like it.

“Seeing him work out helped me more than Danny (Ainge). Danny has seen these guys, but the workout sold me on liking him.”

The intensity of Giddens’ workout also helped the Celtics put aside the sore thumb that was the player’s past. Giddens was stabbed in the leg during the bar fight, and his transfer was a mutual agreement with Jayhawks coach Bill Self.

He moved on to have two exceptional years at New Mexico under coach Steve Alford, who told Ainge that Giddens was one of his favorite players ever [emphasis added].

“First, I’m confident that he’s a good kid,” Ainge said. “Second, the team we have will make him better. He’s not as mature as I would like to see, and he’s not as disciplined as our guys are, but they will help him to achieve both things.”

Rivers liked what he saw of Giddens’ ability, particularly at the defensive end.  “I really like J.R. He’s athletic, skilled, a great in-between game,” Rivers said. “He has a chance to fight for minutes right away because of his defense.”

“I never thought about the Celtics until I worked out for them,” Giddens said. “After that, I was just praying to be part of it. Now I’m going to a place with so much history and tradition. . . . I put my heart out on the line . . . I’m totally blessed to be part of it. I’m long and athletic, and that’s one way that I’ll be able to get time, with my defense.  My strength is my compassion to compete and my will to win. (Alford) played a big role in letting me go out and play with confidence, to stay composed. He gave me the ball in big-time situations.”

Bill Walker

The Celtics also obtained Bill Walker of Kansas State, who was selected with the 47th pick by the Washington Wizards and then sold to the Celtics for cash considerations. Walker is best known as Michael Beasley’s teammate at Kansas State this past season. Walker started in 28 of 31 games last season and had a 16.1 ppg average along with 6.3 rebounds. He too is an exceptional leaper and strong for his size, and projects as more of forward compared to Giddens who, as Doc said, could see some time at the 3-spot. The biggest knock on Walker is that he has had 2 ACL tears that have been surgically corrected.

The fact that Celtics spent money they didn’t have to on this guy is curious, especially when they are looking to resign free agent James Posey.

Semih Erden
And with the last pick of the draft, the Celtics stashed away a 7′ 1″ center in Semih Erden from Turkey, who will remain overseas to develop for a few years no doubt. This is Ainge’s first international draft pick in his tenure with the Celtics.

Synopsis

So with the pick of Giddens and Walker, you can only imagine that Ainge has collected more chips in the future to get value from the future supporting cast. Giddens definitely brings into question Tony Allen’s future, and Walker could be some insurance for Posey leaving and perhaps even Leon Powe. On the flip-side, Giddens or Walker could be combined with a Scalabrinian salary and fetch a more durable back-up PG than Sam Cassell, or a replacement for Scot Pollard and P.J. Brown. Who knows?

And since you may have missed it (as I did), here is Allen and Garnett’s obligatory appearance on the Letterman show on Wednesday night.

Ray Allen and KG on David Letterman

I’ve also added the Parade here - I’m going through withdrawals - when’s the next game?

I am so happy that Brian Scalabrine feels this way, because I think that someone forgot about Celtics defense along the way. You can’t ask for a better 13th man than Brian Scalabrine . . . and who were those experts?

Tim Legler is absolutely my favorite ESPN analyst. Just what were those other 9 guys thinking? Is there something wrong with winning a couple of 7 game series to start out the playoffs? By using their method, the Hawks and especially the Cavs are better than Detroit and much better than the Lakers. Take that LA!

A tip of the hat to ZekeMowattFan and MountVJackets at the Celtics17 board for the links, and Kevin M for the improved ESPN experts image

Take time to reflect on this beautiful accomplishment by our Boston Celtics . . . No. 17 has happened.

The Celtics couldn’t quite engineer a second comeback victory on the road and yielded to the Lakers 103-98 in Game 5.  The Lakers starting line-up did what they had to do and jumped out to a large lead from the beginning, scoring a whopping 39 points in the 1st quarter.   The Lakers lead for the game maxed out at 19 points at the onset of the 2nd quarter on a Jordan Farmar lay-up.  

The Celtics fortunately managed to claw their way back into the game thanks to some heroics by Paul Pierce in the 2nd quarter.  Pierce had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in the 2nd quarter, while Kobe Bryant went scoreless.  Oddly enough, Garnett essentially sat out the 2nd quarter with foul trouble, and the strange line-up of Pierce, Tony Allen, Sam Cassell, James Posey and PJ Brown got it done, with Boston pulling to within 3 points at the half.

The Celtics did not successfully continue their usual 3rd quarter dominance in this one, with the Lakers appearing to be more aggressive in the post due to the Garnett foul trouble and Kendrick Perkins sitting this game out with his shoulder injury. 

In the 4th quarter, sometimes it wasn’t clear who wanted to win the game.  There were a lot of missed free throws on both sides, turnovers, and neither Kobe nor KG seemed to step up for their team. 

Correction - Bryant did knock away the ball from Pierce from behind to create a steal (his 5th of the game), which turned into a fast break dunk by Bryant with 37 seconds left to provide the Lakers a 4 point cushion.  Replays indicate that Bryant appeared to wrap around and hit Pierces body on that steal - but it was an acceptable non-call.  Garnett seemed to typify Boston’s woes in the 4th quarter, going a disappointing 1 for 3 and 1 for 4 from the field and the free throw line, respectively. 

Post-Game Tidbits:

• Pierce did his post-game interview alone . . . Garnett came out after getting his thoughts together. Here’s his post-game comments.
• Tommy felt that Garnett was wound tight the whole game as he pressed to make up for the lack of his sidekick Perkins in this one.  Credit the Lakers for attacking a potential weak point in the Celtics line-up by having Odom and Gasol hit the paint harder than normal, with both getting double-doubles.
• Rondo has disappeared and is playing like a 2nd year player - wait a minute - he is a 2nd year player!  Doc wasn’t too upset with Rondo, who only played 14 minutes, and I suspect that Rondo will play huge in Game 6 on Tuesday. 
• Cassell had a huge game in covering for Rondo - he had an incredible +23 for a game +/- stat due in part to a 4th quarter stint where he went 3-4 from the field, as well as being on the floor during Pierce’s 2nd quarter clinic.
• Nobody on the Lakers can stop Paul Pierce.  Pierce seemingly can get to the rim anytime he chooses, but perhaps Bryant also nursing some foul trouble during the game allowed a bit more freedom for the Truth.
• Ray Allen left the game at the conclusion to attend to a health issue with one of his children.  Our thoughts go out to Ray and his family.

See you all Tuesday night at the Garden, where the party will be if the Celtics can get it done with a fractured line-up. 

Lots of great moments to relish in the historic comeback victory. 7 minutes into the youtube video is my favorite play where Ray Allen has an iso on Vujacic with 30 seconds left in the game. The Lakers only down by 3 pts, needed a stop, and Allen had Vujacic freeze long enough near the the 3-point line that enabled Allen to go to his right and blow by Vujacic for the easy reverse lay-up. It seemed effortless at that point.

What is your favorite play?

Mark Game 4 and the 97-91 victory by the Celtics over the Lakers as one of the biggest comeback wins in Celtics history. 

Celtic fans that wear green-colored glasses knew that the Celtics had the Laker right where they wanted them when they lulled the Lakers by giving them a 24 point lead early in the 2nd quarter.   And for good measure, they pulled the blanket over the Lakers eyes with a nice comfy 20 point lead mid-way throught the 3rd quarter.  Other pixie dust the Celtics used included having two of the starters hobbled by injuries (Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins) and giving the previously clueless Lamar Odom an all-star caliber 1st quarter as he went 6 for 6 with 5 rebounds.

The reversal of fortune in this one started in the 2nd half where the Celtics defense played like they were capable of, and Doc Rivers provide the team with the inspiration and guidance to avoid being demoralized.  The defense that did not allow the Lakers to make a single 3-point shot in the 2nd half opened the door to an offensive explosion.  That explosion began when Eddie House stepped on the court for Rondo with 7:05 remaining in the 3rd.   It was a combination of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and House that gave the Celtics energy and scoring they needed to engineer a historic 21-3 run to end the 3rd quarter, to bring the Celtics to within 2 points of the lead.  James Posey and  Tony Allen can lay claim to sharing duties during that run, along with a hustling Kevin Garnett.

The 4th quarter was more mistake-free basketball by the Celtics with key possessions being adeptly handled by Ray Allen and Pierce.  The Lakers poor shooting was compounded by the Celtics controlling the board limiting second chance opportunities by the Lakers. 

A Finals game victory wouldn’t be complete without a couple of big threes by Posey in the 4th quarter, some great moves by Pierce to get to the rim, and a calm Ray Allen taking advantage of whatever the Lakers gave him.

Oh the irony, for Kobe Bryant and Sasha Vujacic (0 for 5 FG) to have the worst +/- stat for the Lakers during their 2nd half collapse, when they were the ones that brought the Lakers back in Game 2, only to fall short.  It was pretty clear that the Lakers entrusted the game to Kobe in the 4th quarter, and Pierce had him under control as well as any NBA player could.  That desire to play defense that Pierce exemplified is what delivered the game for the Celtics.

Ray Allen’s reverse lay-up with 16 seconds left gave the Celtics a 96-91 lead and essentially sealed the victory. Allen got a rather open look at the rim by leaving Vujacic in concrete shoes somewhere in the backcourt, and finding that no Lakers helping as he got in the paint. According to Phil Jackson, that play was a result of the Lakers chosing to honor the outside shooting of Pierce, Garnett, House and Posey, leaving Allen the one-on-one opportunity.

Speaking of coaches, the contrast between Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers could not be any greater after watching this game. Jackson has an air of entitlement and has simply devolved into a curmudgeon in his old age. Doc River, on the other hand, has taken grief ever since his Coach of the Year award in 2000, getting fired by the Magic in 2003 and then taking on the Celtics project and sustaining heavy losses while the Celtics developed youth.  However, Doc Rivers is showing Phil Jackson the proper way to lead a group of veterans to a Championship.  His positive spirit and leadership have been indispensable to the Celtics fortune this year.

One more game and the Celtics are going to have a parade.  As Pierce said, let’s get it done on Father’s Day.

Celtics lose their first game against the Lakers 87-81 in a defensive struggle.  The fact that the Celtics held the Lakers to less than 90 points and still lost is a testament to the Lakers defense, but moreso to what happens when Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett go for a combined 8 for 35 shots (that is not a type - I double checked).  Some of the Celtics fortunately showed up in this game to somehow keep the Celtics within striking distance the entire game, and they even had a lead for most of the 3rd quarter.  Ray Allen had his best game, and Kendrick Perkins, James Posey and Eddie House were also effective. 

But . . . you can play all day long and never win if you can’t put the ball in the hoop . . . so those 27 missed shots by Garnett-Pierce left a ginormous hole in the Celtics effort to take a 3-0 lead in this series.  Whereas Pierce seemed out of synch the entire game, also dogged by foul trouble, Garnett at least made up for it with some aggressive defense and boarding.  Gasol, Odom and Radmanovic, the LA bigs, did not have a good night for a reason.

That leaves Kobe Bryant and Sasha Vujacic as the stars in LA for one night.  See the Lakers Library version of the game went down here.

Rondo was dinged with an ankle sprain, and did not take advantage of being left alone in a defensive switch of Bryant defending Rondo, and in turn played a lot of help defense because of Rondo’s not getting into the offense more.  So Fisher on Ray Allen is likely why Ray went off like he did. 

One thing is clear, just as the Lakers need Bryant to show up, which he did last night by scoring 36 points, the Celtics need Paul Pierce to score more than 6 points, especially if he’s going to “produce” 3 turnovers. 

Lakers and Celtics tee it up again Thursday night, and hopefully some addtional Celtics can bring their shooting touch with them this time.