Questions abound after Loss, Will C's find the Answer??

While waiting for the T at North Station I was planning on ranting and raving about the latest C's letdown on Friday night, and I still may later, but when I returned from the game, the Worldwide Leader was flashing this headline [ESPN]. Hallelujah!! It's time for the rumor mill to kick into high gear once again about A.I. coming to Beantown. Personally I am all for this move. Consider the following.

1) Boston would become relevant again - The national media, for good reason, ignores the Celtics at all costs. Who can blame them. They're sitting with a share of the worst record in the league, they traded away their headcase last season (Davis) and most of them are too young to be household names. The Knicks are at least dysfunctional enough to make everyone want to stop and stare at the train wreck. Iverson changes all of that. He'll bring the off-court baggage, everyone knows him, and after a time, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a push to get Doc fired. A guy can dream can't he??

2) The Celtics would at least be entertaining - Despite Friday's near miss, the Garden was practically dead. Orange seats stained every row and section while those who made up the crowd weren't into the game until the last minute (by they had already blown their lead). The biggest reactions from the crowd were saved for the Dance Team (deservedly) and anytime Scalebrine was near the ball (again, deservedly). A.I. brings flash, excitement and a sense of urgency. He's another vet, he wants to win now.

3) It's feasible - You're telling me that the Sixers wouldn't take Jefferson, Rondo, West, and a first rounder for A.I. and Dalembert? No matter the salary cap parameters, the C's have the assets to get it done. Come on Danny. A.I. has asked for the trade and Philly has sent him home as they look for suitors. Now is the time to strike. If he agonizes over this until it's too late and another team has swooped in with an offer, the whole city may very well riot. Ainge can get this done. This is Billy King we're dealing with here!

For all the possible negatives Iverson brings to the table, he's one of the toughest guys in the entire league. There is a reason Boston is in last place. They have more holes (and "tremendous upside potential") than any other team in the L. Boston needs someone to take the pressure off Pierce to perform for 40 minutes a night. A.I. is still a great scorer. With Pierce on the bench for the first half (!?!?!) of the fourth quarter on Friday, the Celtics had no go-to guy to keep the offense chugging. The C's lack veteran leadership at the point. A.I. has been doing this for 11 years, and he's still going strong. Their perimeter defense is incredibly weak. The list goes on and on. For all the problems and question marks that the C's have, A.I. just might be the Answer to enough of them to make the deal worth it.

Loose Balls Vol. 1

We'll see how long this last, but every other morning I'm going to try and provide a few links that I found interesting while killing time in CubeLand. The loose set of links, aka Loose Balls, are where I've been and what I've been doing. Obviously, CRFC is going to be heavily promoted whenever possible. But I have other interests, really I do. Ok, so not many, but what more do you want from me??

I'm so jacked up for this, it's going to be terribly awesome [YouTube]

For all those CRFC enthusiasts out there. A2 and B1 East updates for Round 1 of the playoffs are available [CRFC Basketball]

Sadly, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if next year this were true [The Onion]

Yea it's old but Colbert is hilarious and I missed this episode [Colbert Report]

Who didn't see this coming?? [Tech2]

Why These Cs Aren't Even Average

Fresh off a couple recent posts I'm running on an all time high, in productivity, so I thought I'd spit out an update tonight. Nothing seriously mind bending, just an update on the 'professional' basketball team in the city. Although everyone in the city, even NBA fans, pretends the team doesn't exist, I've been informed that they do still in fact occasionally play games at the Fleet Center, sorry Garden. The big news in the off season had nothing to do with the team actually improving of course, No, the Celtics' dancers were the hot button topic in the papers, over the airwaves, and on the web. They've caused a lot of debate and intrigue in the city of Boston, but unfortunately for you, this blog isn't about them. I just wanted an excuse to run the picture. In fact, this is the last time we'll mention them, so take a nice long look now. Instead, it's the state of affairs within the sorry ass team they are paid to dance for that will be under fire.


Friday night the Celtics play the Suns in Boston, and I'll be at the Garden for the first time this season. After attending a number of games last season, their problems [courtesy Deadspin] were fairly obvious; too many young guys, no reliable second scorer, and big men who only excelled in one area of the game (either offense or defense, but never both). But the major issue, at least from my vantage point, was the lack of a consistent rotation. It was never out of the question to see 13 guys play on one given night. In no way is that concussive to well-played, efficient offense. Heading into this season, the logical move seemed to be to trade for a vet, any vet, that would replace the potential [Globe] of a couple of the young guys for actual production. In the weak East, a record close to .500 would have again won the Atlantic. Instead, the Cs are currently 5-12, half a game out for the worst record in the league, and not getting better any time soon. But as has been the case the last couple season, it seems as if Ainge is waiting for the perfect deal, and sat tight during this past off season. That's not entirely true. He found a way to unload Raef's contract for Telfair, another young point that's still green behind the ears.


So the problems of last season are simply much more pronounced this season, since we know what direction they are heading in. The direction isn't up. The Cs are still without a solid rotation. As of last night 9 guys were getting 15+ minutes per game. That doesn't even take into account Scalebrine! Everyone's favorite whipping boy is getting 12 minutes a game to do his thing, or more accurately, not do a thing. We're not even going to go into last nights game, where the Cs were trailing the worst team in the league by 17 (!!!) at home in the fourth. It's almost as if Doc is testing the entire front office, and city, seeing how far into the Greg Oden sweepstakes he can push the team before he gets the axe. Of course, if they 'win' his draft rights, it will be the best thing that Doc has done in his tenure as coach.


Despite a superstar and second fiddle, these guys can't get it done in the clutch, can't play D, and most of the time run around like headless chickens. It's not pretty basketball. All the high hopes and playoff aspirations for the team have been dashed in the first month of the season. Despite the ridiculously weakened state of the Eastern Conference this team, with this coach, will never even be a .500 ball club, let alone a playoff contender. You know what, I'm depressed, let's run another pic.

It's a Mailbag! [Loose Balls with Tibbs]
B1 East Regular Season Awards [Loose Balls with Tibbs]
Five Tiny Tidbits On: The Boston Celtics [Deadspin]
The Green Room [Boston Globe]

I'm So Money

That's it, it's time for me to throw down with the big boys. I've finally caved and decided to try my hand at the blogging experience. I figure what the hell, why not. I'll have a bit more freedom, plus expanded topics (and many more posts) than over here, but I'll always link between the two. Expect a whole lot of shit to appear that you won't want to read. But you'll feel compelled to and then comment on what a waste the last half hour was. Funny thing, you'll keep coming back for more.

As if the days aren't already short enough, I'm now going to spend a mind numbing amount of hours drafting new blog topics and reading asinine posts by other hacks that are only slightly more qualified than yours truly. Basically, they own a better computer and spend even more time online than I tend to. All in all get ready for a bumpy ride through the mind of a man who has too much to think about, and not nearly enough time to process it all before it becomes written (typed) word. Yea, that picture personifies your main man, and don't be jealous, there is much more to come.

I've got to point everyone over to CRFC Basketball for some of the most entertaining runs in the city of Boston. We're growing in cult status by the season and if you're in the area, you've got to come check us out. Basketball City has nothing on us!

Loose Balls with Tibbs [CRFC Basketball]

Why Texas Should be it's Own Country [Tical's Corner]

Top Ten Geek Presents [I Stole Your Lunch]