Posted by Paul Flannery

It was early in the game and Rajon Rondo found himself driving to the basket with a clear lane to the hoop. His options: Finish the move and take it strong, or pass it out for a jump shot. As he has several times this year Rondo elected to exercise Option Two–pass it out to the perimeter. The decision elicited audible gasps from the Garden crowd, disappointment really, and a missed jump shot. That’s not what getting Rondo’d is all about.

But the most picked over, scrutinized and dissected player on the Celtics roster does not lack for confidence, and the next time Rondo found himself in the same position (clear path, decision time), Rondo elected for Option One: Take it strong to the goal.

Again and again Thursday night against the Pistons, Rondo took it strong to the basket en route to an 18-point, eight-assist performance that stands as his best game of the young season in a 98-80 win over Detroit. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Jessica Camerato

Update: On Friday, the Boston Celtics assigned Bill Walker to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Utah Flash.

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To some players, the “D” in D-League stands for demotion.

Not Bill Walker. He sees it for what it’s worth.

Walker hasn't seen meaningful minutes since the preseason

“It’s not a demotion at all. So you have you to get that out your mind,” Walker said before Thursday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. “It’s the reason that why they created the D-League, so that instead of having guys sitting on the bench, not staying in shape, they can go down there and play.”

The Boston Celtics rookie has played just six minutes in two games and hasn’t been given the nod since November 9. It’s only natural that Walker would like to play more, but if it’s not going to happen in Boston he isn’t too proud to go elsewhere. Even if that means going all the way to Provo with the Celtics affiliate Utah Flash.

“I welcome it,” Walker said. “If it happens, I’m looking forward to going down and playing against someone other than my teammates.”

The place he gets minutes is in practice, and even those have been few and far between this season.

“It’s tough. We’re not having a lot of practices,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “The individual work he does with Coach (Kevin) Eastman is valuable for him and he’s doing it. Other than that, that’s all he can do and he just has to continue to do that.”

Since Walker can’t learn by playing he’s trying to gain as much as possible from his veteran teammates.

He wouldn't mind joining J.R. Giddens in Utah

“[I've learned about] just having a pro pace without rushing yourself, knowing your limits, staying within your game,” Walker said. “Just little things I’ve been learning, picking up stuff from Paul (Pierce) and the pace he plays at. He doesn’t go any faster than he wants to and he makes use of every move he uses.”

Walker looks forward to putting his knowledge to use. He expects that opportunity to come in the near future.

“I’m pretty sure it’ll happen sooner than later,” he said, “Because guys are playing so well right now and there’s not a lot of minutes for us.”

Until that decision is made, he’ll make the most of his time on the Celtics bench. If he gets that call, though, don’t expect him to be disappointed.

“I’m not worried about it,” he said. “But if it happens, I’m looking forward to it.”

Posted by Jessica Camerato

Game Over: Celtics 98, Pistons 80 … More from the locker rooms to follow.

- Gino time. The crowd is clearing out with 52 seconds left and Gino is shaking it on the big screen.

- Amir Johnson hasn’t shown much in his four-year career with the Pistons but tonight offered glimpses into his potential at the hoop. Johnson has a long wing span and can glide his arms to the basket for easy lay-ins. He’s only 21 and has more time to prove himself.

- Was that Nate Robinson or Will Bynum? The little guard can jump and surprisingly slammed home a Pistons fastbreak.

- With a bucket from O’Bryant, everyone on the Celtics active roster has scored.

- House is out, Scal’s in. And here comes … Patrick O’Bryant. It’s officially only a matter of time before we see Gino dancing.

- There are competing “Let’s Go Celtics” and “Scal-a-bri-ne” chants going on right now. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that Scal isn’t a fan.

- Pruitt is clearly excited to be in the game and tried to run the ball up the court off a Detroit miss. Doc quickly put his hands up to slow down. The Celtics may be up by more than 20 but it’s never a good idea to start getting too flashy against a veteran squad. Plus Pruitt is in the game for experience, not showtime.

- Doc is starting Gabe Pruitt with Davis, House, Powe, and Tony Allen. Curry is going with Sheed, Hamilton, Maxiell, Iverson, and former Georgia Tech player Will Bynum.

- The Celtics kick off the fourth quarter with Lucky the Leprachaun trying to wow the TNT crew with slam dunks. He tried for SportsCenter before and it doesn’t look like he’s giving up until he’s on national tv.

At the start of the fourth … Celtics 77, Pistons 57

Posted by Paul Flannery

Some interesting things to watch in the second half. As Jess pointed out, although no one’s been able to pin down the exact nature of it, there appears to be some sort of ill feeling between former UConn-ers Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton (Ray started wearing the sleeve last year because he said Rip was scratching him). Add to that the little Kendrick Perkins-Jason Maxiell shoving match, the usual (clean) fun between Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace, and two of the fastest players in the game in Rajon Rondo and Allen Iverson, and we’ve got a big game with all kinds of fun personal matchups.

Before the game, Ray Allen was saying that the Celtics fully expect to see Detroit in the playoffs again this spring. Don’t think for a second that Detroit wants to go down 0-2 in the season series (funny how this rivalry completely flipped in one year from the C’s being the hunters to the hunted, isn’t it?)

Onward… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Jessica Camerato

SECOND QUARTER WRAP: The Celtics second unit was hot early in the second and pushed the lead up to 38-27. But the Pistons got physical and are within nine half. They’re looking to battle and the Celtics will have to come out hot in the third quarter to stave off a comeback.

Halftime Notes and Numbers:

• Iverson leads all scorers with 12. Rondo and Tony Allen lead the Celtics with 9 apiece.
• Both teams have 16 points in the paint and the rest of the stat lines are very similar.
• The Pistons are outrebounding the Celtics 18-16 while the Celtics have one more assist, 11-10.

Paul has you covered after a entertaining halftime performance by the Bucket Boys.

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- At the half, Celtics 49, Pistons 40

- Two days after saying KG is “crazier” than him on the court, Perk got T’ed up at the end of the second after Maxiell fouled Pierce at the hoop.

- There is talk of a heated relationship between UConn alums Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton, but few details are known. We’re getting a glimpse into that tonight with Hamilton knocking Allen over for an offensive foul. Hamilton had something to say about it as they ran down the court.

- A little kid dressed in an oversized Bill Walker jersey just won Sarah Brightman tickets in a tot-sized road race. What are the chances he has her songs on iTunes?

- The Celtics have their starters back on the court and the Pistons have all but Wallace out there.

- Both Ray Allen and House have missed free throws this quarter. It was House’s first miss of the season and Allen’s fourth.

- Eddie House is feeling it. After Powe swatted away a Prince drive, House nailed a three on the fast break. He drained another trey on the next possession, prompting the Pistons to call a timeout down 38-27.

- Rip Hamilton completely faked out Tony Allen at the top of the key. TA has learned from his mistakes and didn’t get tricked into fouling him on the shot a la last season against Chauncey Billups.

- During a timeout the Celtics played their first “slow dance” of the year on the Jumbotron. It was a slo-mo of awesomely bad dance moves from the Garden set to the awesomely bad Lonestar ballad, “Amazed.”

- Now Aaron Afflalo is guarding Powe (??) … now Afflalo’s on the ground. Powe’s at the line shooting two.

- Scal for three. And the crowd goes wild.

- I was hoping for a physical match up between Powe and Maxiell considering the trouble the Pistons big man gave Perk last season. But Big Baby is on Maxiell and Powe has Prince. Powe should be able to back Prince down in the paint.

- For the first time in a while, Doc is going with an entire second unit. Usually he leaves PIerce or Ray Allen on the court with the reserves, but now he’s giving the lineup of Scal, Powe, Davis, Tony Allen, and House a look. Michael Curry’s going with Iverson, Stuckey, Prince, Afflalo, and Wallace.

- After another slow start, the Celtics enter the second quarter tied 21-21 with the Pistons.

Posted by Paul Flannery

We are live from courtside for tonight’s showdown between the Celtics and the Pistons. When last we left Detroit, the re-configured Pistons looked dazed and confused as they tried to adjust to life without their spiritual leader, Chancey Billups, and to life with the new jet-engine, Allen Iverson. The Celtics, without even playing particularly well, dusted the Pistons in Dee-troit.

But since then the Pistons have won four of five, including an impressive victory over the Lakers–the first, and only team, to score a win against LA. The difference? The running game. Doc Rivers warned of Piston fastbreaks started by a flying AI and finished off by a trailing Rasheed Wallace knocking down 3-pointers (watch for ‘Sheed in transition tonight, in other words).

So, what will it be tonight? Will it be three in a row for the defending champs? Will it be a statement win for the Pistons? Will Kevin Garnett’s trash talk be PG-rated? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question.) Come one, come all for all the action, updated all night long. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Jessica Camerato

Welcome to the TD BankNorth Garden where Paul and I are bringing you all the sights and sounds from the Celtics-Pistons battle. Tonight’s game is on TNT with postgame coverage later on Comcast SportsNet.

The hot topic tonight is how the Pistons will play after getting acclimated with Allen Iverson. Doc Rivers called Iverson “a freak of nature” considering just how good he still is at his age and size. Rivers explained that many people wondered when A.I. would slow down, and so far, he hasn’t.

Ray Allen expects to see the Pistons at some point in the playoffs, noting that over the last few years they have been the team to beat to get to the NBA Finals. Allen ranks the Pistons and Cavs at the top of his Eastern Conference lists.

Both locker rooms were noticeably quiet. With the exception of Bill Walker, it was a ghost town for a while in the Celtics room. Across the hall, the Pistons locker room was void of Rasheed Wallace’s typically blaring music. Maybe Club Sheed will be open after the game.

Brian Scalabrine is moving back to the bench tonight with Kevin Garnett returning from his one-game suspension.

… Congratulations to the Celtics game day staff who received their very own championship rings tonight. From printing box scores to running stats in between quarters, they help make our jobs easier every night.

Posted by Joe Haggerty

Neely and Co. deserves plenty of handshakes for the Bruins' transformation

Many loyal Bruins followers took heart a little over one year ago when the Boston Bruins ownership and management announced that NHL Hall of Famer Cam Neely was joining the Black and Gold front office as a Vice President, and would carry a strong voice in the day-to-day operations of the then-beleaguered hockey franchise.

Unlike many figurehead alumni that can potentially skulk around the building and smile for photo ops while hanging on their former club’s payroll, Neely has intensely dug into the fray with both hands — as he does with just about everything in his life — and the prototypical power forward has had a Jedi Master-like effect on promising players like his young apprentice Milan Lucic and the skilled Blake Wheeler.

At the time of his hiring, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was wholeheartedly on board with the move and his ability to evaluate hockey talent — both on the Bruins and within the league — has already provided dividends to the B’s front office. Bruins fans knew that the proud, almost-regal Neely was going to do everything possible – short of dropping the gloves and pummeling mediocrity with those powerful fists — to get the Boston hockey club headed in the right direction.

Well, it’s time for Chiarelli, Benning, Neely and Co. to take a bow – and perhaps start talking contract extension with the Jacobs Family — and continue promoting the brilliant, rugged, compelling product they’ve pieced together on the ice. In that vein, here’s the transcription of an interview Neely gave with 850 WEEI’s “The Big Show” yesterday afternoon that covered a whole range of subjects. Here’s the interview:

So much has been made of Tim Thomas, but a lot hasn’t been made about the depth that you have this year and that you’re able to throw three lines out there. How has that made a difference? CM:Well, I think it’s made a big difference and I would even make the argument that we can throw four lines out there. Our fourth line has contributed in a number of different ways and the other night we actually got a couple of goals from them as well. I don’t know how many other teams can say that.

We have three lines that we’re talking about that can create offense and give other teams fits in the offensive zone, and then our fourth line we’ve seen over the course of the season will actually carry play against the fourth lines of other teams.

Are you surprised that the team has had the success that they’d had thus far despite the fact that a number of veterans have struggled a bit in the early going? CM: From an organizational standpoint we looked at last year’s playoffs as an extraordinarily big learning curve for a lot of the young guys on this team. For them to understand what it takes to play in this league on a regular basis, and then this year come in with the attitude that ‘we did a little bit more than was expected, but we’ve also got to keep reaching for that next rung on the ladder.’

The young guys have certainly come in and done that. Some of our older or veteran players maybe haven’t found their stride yet, but they’re contributing in different ways and maybe just not yet necessarily on the score sheet. You guys brought up the depth part of it and it does really show the depth we have as an organization. The younger guys have been able to contribute and you’ve seen that Claude has really shuffled the deck with the lines over the course of the year to reward some of the younger guys with ice time. He’s done that without taking away how he distributes the ice time.

With all of the success that you’ve had thus far, do you have an eye ahead to getting past the first round of the playoffs and how does that manifest itself early in the season? CM: From a player’s perspective, you don’t want them thinking too far ahead about the playoffs. You’re thinking about how you’re playing today and what do I have to do to get ready for tomorrow. That’s the mindset that Claude and the coaching staff have in that locker room to focus on who your opponent is that night and then who you’re playing next.

From a management perspective, you’re certainly looking at how this team is shaping up heading into the second half of the year and then into the playoffs. We’ve got a really good hockey club here that can make some noise in the playoffs, and we’re always constantly looking at how we can improve and that doesn’t matter how well we’re doing in the standings right now.

Knowing that the fans in Boston really enjoy the physical brand of hockey and that you’re playing that style, how much is that going to play into getting fans back into that building? CM: You have to win and that’s obviously staring you right in the face. But I can tell you this, we know what our fans like and what kinds of players they like. You can go back to that Dallas game and that was an entertaining hockey game that’s got everything that our fans love about the game of hockey.

One of the things that happened is when the league expanded you tried to cater to a newer fan, and unfortunately to a degree the older cities, the Original Six cities, kind of have to suffer along with that. We’re trying to get that back a little bit about how our fans grew up watching [the game]. For example, if I’m introducing my children to the game now then it’s not the game that my father introduced me to, nor is it the game that maybe my grandfather introduced to my father.

It’s a little different in that generation, but it’s very clear when we’re talking to our scouting staff that we’re looking for Bruins-type players. Obviously you want skill because skill helps you win hockey games and win championships, but we want that skill but also with an element of what a Boston Bruin really is.

So you’re talking about the physical aspect of the game, but you’re not going to go back to the Don Cherry fighting videos? CM: Yeah, I don’t know if the league is going to let us go back to that.

Talking about Blake Wheeler, he’s so young and he seems to be getting better all the time. CM: He’s got a lot of skill and he certainly is going to improve as time goes on. He’s somebody that personally I’d love to see shoot a little more at times. At times I see him looking for the pass and he’s not a very selfish player, but at times you have to be a selfish player in this game. He protects the puck well and he’s got a good shot. 

He’s a guy in our organization that we’re fortunate to have. He wasn’t one of our draft picks, but we ended up getting him for nothing and he’s going to end up being a very good player for us. I know people around here appreciate watching a player like that.

What is it going to take for people outside this area to recognize how good a job Tim Thomas has done? CM: It’s an interesting question and something we really don’t have an answer for. To be left off the ballot was really shocking to a lot of us especially considering that he played in the All-Star game last year, so you would think he’d automatically be on the ballot this year.

A lot of it has to do with, quite honestly, the lack of success that the team has had over the last couple of years while Tim has been playing here. If you’re not really showcased in the playoffs then people begin to forget pretty quickly what you did in that season. I know Tim’s making a lot of noise this year with how he’s played and statistically he’s among the leaders if he’s not leading them. I think it’s going to make people sit up and notice Tim Thomas, but having said that — let’s be honest — players generally make names for themselves playing in the playoffs. If the way Tim’s playing now continues through the season and then into the playoffs, then people will notice what type of job he’s done for us.

How much of it is also perception that he’s a lifelong backup or journeyman? CM: There’s no question. You in the media would probably know better than me what the perception of somebody is.

Clearly Thomas is your Number One goaltender, correct? CM: Claude is going to go with the guy that he feels will have the most success against a certain team, and as you saw on the West Coast trip…he went with Tim because of how he played in Edmonton and Vancouver. We are fortune that Manny plays very well for us whenever he’s in the lineup and he gives the guys the same kind of confidence as when Tim is in the lineup. It’s not a bad problem right now to have when you have two goalies that can win you a hockey game.

I think the other aspect of who’s going to play is who’s hot, does somebody need a rest or what kind of success have they had against the opposing team.

You’ve got to really hope the success just keeps on coming for a team that’s white-hot right now. CM: It’s exciting and I know a lot of people are excited and there’s a lot of talk away from the building about the Bruins, which is nice. I certainly know through the years that this is a very strong hockey market and they’ve been anxiously awaiting a reason to come back. It’s nice to see them bet back in the building, and it’s a style of play that our fans are excited to watch, we’re winning some hockey games and it’s good to see them back.

People argue that it’s a baseball town, it’s a football town, it’s a hockey team…it’s a winning town. If the team is winning then the base is already there to build on, and people are already seeing the difference. There’s also a lot of afternoon games coming up, which is great around the holidays. CM: When I first got here it was really the first time – I remember we didn’t have any afternoon games in Vancouver — but I thought it was the best thing in the world that you just get up in the morning and go play.

The type of fans in that building you’re able to get a lot of kids into the building, and the youth hockey players from the area. I think it’s fantastic and those guys are fun for the family and quite frankly the players love playing in those games as well because they see all the families in the stands. And every player remembers what it was like to go into a building to watch their first hockey game.