Sports quick-hitters

Boston Celtics – Sheeeeeeeeeeed! Bill Strickland, Wallace’s agent, told the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe that Sheed will sign with the C’s for two years at the mid-level exception. The 6′ 11″ forward/center averaged 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Pistons last year.  Meanwhile…

Starbury said in an email to the Globe, “Thank you Boston for allowing the world to see me play again after all that went on in N.Y.,” Marbury said in an e-mail to The Globe. “The fans treated me with open arms and that’s all anyone can ask for.” Marbury was offered $1.3 million by the C’s, the veteran’s minimum, but doesn’t foresee a return.

Okay, so let me get this straight…we just signed a 6’11” center with an inside-outside game and solid defense while we ditched the crackhead PG with a huge star tattoo on the side of his head? Sounds like a pretty solid move from where I’m sitting. Wallace adds some key depth to our front court off the bench, providing the C’s with a vetran presence that can give us 10 pts and 8 boards a night. Starbury turned out to be mediocre as a late-season flyer last year and his production can easily be matched by a number of veterans at the minimum. Great move for the C’s — book our ticket to the finals baby.

In Red Sox news, congrats to Tim Wakefield who became the oldest player since Satchel Paige to be selected to his first All-Star game. Wake, who is 10-3 overall with a 4.30 ERA, has been a staple in the Sox rotation for practically a decade and while his knuckleball can sometimes provide fans with a rollercoaster of emotions, Tim has always been a class act and the consummate professional. Well deserved Wake.

Report: C’s offer Allen, Rondo for Detroit Big 3

No, not THAT Detroit Big 3. According to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, league sources said the Celtics offered Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo to Detroit for Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey.

Boston general manager Danny Ainge and Detroit’s Joe Dumars never spoke, but rather the Celtics had a lower-level executive make the pitch to a Pistons official over the past weekend, league sources said. Detroit immediately rejected the idea, and it never advanced to the two top executives speaking about particulars.

This isn’t an uncommon occurrence for a GM like Ainge to dispatch an underling to make that kind of a call, if for no other reason to give the top executive some level of deniability that he’s shopping his stars.

Since the draft is rapidly approaching (Thursday) and Ainge is eager to make a move, let’s address some of these rumors, shall we. First of all, I would have pulled the trigger on this in a minute. I would absolutely hate to see RayRay and Rondo go, but I love Tayshaun’s lockdown defense, Rip can still score at will because nobody can keep up with him, and Stuckey is a strong son of a bitch at PG with some playoff experience and good upside potential. Naturally, Detroit shot this down within 0.005 seconds because it makes absolutely no sense for them. The rumor of Allen and Rondo to the Suns for Amare, Barbosa and the 14th is garbage because I don’t want a screen door down low for defense. I’ve reconsidered the Tyreke Evans play and no longer like that because in the time it would take Evans to develop a better outside game, KG and Pierce would be too old to make a serious run. I’ve also heard Rondo to Memphis for the 3rd overall, which I hate because again, I don’t like the development time involved in drafting someone like Ricky Rubio.

The bottom line is go out and sign a veteran defender for relatively low money, keep RayRay and Rondo, and let KG come back healthy. After the season is up, let RayRay’s $20 million roll off the books and make a play for one of the big free agents next summer. Meanwhile, draft a PG and start grooming him this year, then either pay Rondo and bite the luxury tax or give him up. That’s my vote.

Leave comments and tell me what your thoughts are.

Tyreke Evans bound for Celtics’ green?

(Photo attributed to SI.com)

According to the latest ESPN Insider article by Chad Ford, he’s hearing Boston’s name more and more in conjunction with a top-to-mid first-round draft pick – “a sign that Danny Ainge must see someone he likes up high.” Ford goes on to say that there seems to be some consensus among various sources that Memphis’ Tyreke Evans is Ainge’s favorite. After running through different trade scenarios (with Rondo’s name still floating around – I just don’t understand that one), Ford says:

“That leaves the Wizards, who are really intriguing. Allen is a fit in Washington. The Wizards are a veteran team that is looking for another piece to make it a contender. Allen also is in the last year of his contract, which means the Wizards could get some long-term cap relief if they put together the right deal. Would trading Allen for Etan Thomas, Mike James, Darius Songaila and the No. 5 pick make sense for the Wizards and Celtics?”

Evans, generally regarded as a top 5 pick in this year’s draft, is a 6′-5″, 220 lb. shooting guard coming off his freshman season at Memphis. Personally, I actually like this idea and think Evans would be a great fit at the two-guard for the C’s. While I would obviously hate to see Ray Ray go (one of my favorite players of all time and one of the purest shooters the NBA has ever seen), Evans’ dribble-drive game could really help the C’s in a half court set and his ability to dish from inside the paint would help to set up KG and Pierce. Defensively he would also contribute in a Rondo-esk fashion because his freakishly long arms and great hands would constantly be interrupting passing lanes. His biggest weakness at this point is his jumpshot (terrible thing to say about a shooting gaurd), but with his athleticism and young age he would still be able to contribute to the team while his shot matures under some NBA coaching. As an added bonus, I like the potential of Mike James as a back up PG to Rondo.

What are your thoughts?

WTF!?!? I don’t believe this…

 

I don’t believe this so I’m gonna let this one speak for itself…

Fannation.com – Off the record, we have several sources telling us that Ray Allen is, indeed, on the block. It’s easy to make the leap, as the Celtics have managed to develop some nice young talent around their Big Three while also managing to win a championship. They might have even repeated had Kevin Garnett been healthy. It’s not a stretch to say the Celtics would part with Allen, who has an ending contract next season, if they could add another top young player to the mix. On the record we have an added wrinkle – one that we thought to be highly unlikely until we found it reported with a quote attributed to Celtics GM Danny Ainge. It seems the Celtics are willing to package Rajon Rondo with Allen to make the right deal happen.

Shopping Ray Allen – okay, I can stomach that. Shopping RONDO!?!?! Why the hell would you do that? What is the right deal? Derrick Rose and a first round pick?????

Kobe is a deutsche…and NASTY…and I could care less

 

I assume I’m in the majority on this when I say Kobe is a pompous ass. I also assume I’m in the majority when I say Kobe is one of the two best players in the league, if not the best (and in my opinion, he is better than LBJ-23 at this current point in time because he’s a better closer). So if the “best” player in the league is on the doorstep of winning his fourth NBA Championship ring, why do I find myself caring less about these finals? Granted, I’m a Boston C’s fan, but my hopes were realistically put in check with no KG and up until tonight’s finals matchup, I would have said these playoffs series were some of the best I can remember.

But with the Lakers now set to square-off with Orlando, I find myself rooting for the Magic, and that is only be default. There is zero likability in either one of these teams! Prior to the playoffs, I loved Dwight Howard, but after seeing him in a seven-game series against the C’s, I’ve come to realize that he can jump very high, AND THAT’S IT! The kid has no offensive game whatsoever, except of course for cleaning up junk rebounds with oh-so-scary power dunks. He’s absolutely terrible from 4 feet out and his free-throw shooting is disgusting…and this is a guy calling for the ball!?! I get that because of his size and muscle most teams decide to double-team him and then he can dish it out to his squad of three-point specialists, but that certainly doesn’t make Dwight an offensive powerhouse. Perhaps my biggest contention with him is that he is a giant crybaby who gets T’ed up constantly for bitching to the refs (maybe the only case he had was against Lebron on some cheap fouls – but he can expect more of that tonight with Kobe).

Either way, if you don’t like Kobe (90% of the nation) and you don’t like Dwight Howard (soon to be 90% of the nation), then why watch? Nobody else on either team has a personality, unless you like the homelessness factor of Pau Gasol or the straight up thuggery of Rashard Lewis. Andrew Bynum is cool is you like mouthy, immature teenagers comlpaining about not getting the ball enough. Better yet, Rafer Allston is good for entertaining…on the And 1 circuit.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just bitter, but I can’t find a reason to like either one of these teams and lord knows I’ve tried because I’m a fan of the game and want to see some good basketball. I’ll be rooting for Orlando, but that’s only because they have an overweight former Celtic in Tony “Batman” Battie and a recently-converted heterosexual in JJ Reddick. All my rooting will be for naught though as LA smokes Orlando’s ass in 5 – you heard it here first.