Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

  In the 1970's , you could count the black families in my town on one hand . One such family lived in our development, and one of the sons, Fred, and his white friend, Mike, would often use the basketball hoop in my driveway. One day while my wife, Linda, was hanging wash outdoors, Fred and Mike showed up. My very young son, Marc, not familiar with those of African descent, yelled out, "Hey mom, guess who's here. Mike and the shiny kid." Linda, hoping this embarassment would end quickly, ignored Marc's heralding-of-the-arrival of the young duo. Marc, not to be deterred , yelled out once again, "Mom, look who it is. Mike and the shiny kid". Whether there was a third outcry from our offspring , we can't recall. But Fred and Mike stettled in for basketball competition - the clothes got hung out to dry - and the world went on. Fred and I became good friends . I once took Fred, Mike and a friend to a Celtics-Knicks game at the Old Boston Garden. It tu

 This comes as no surprise. The National Basketball Referees Association has determined that Lebron James was fouled by the Celtics Jayson Tatum on the last play in regulation - with no foul being called. Here is how the 38-year-old superstar reacted ( per NBA.com's Tim Reynolds ): “We don’t have room for error,” James said after Saturday’s game. “And it’s one of the best games we played all year. For it to fall on somebody else’s judgment, or non-judgment, it’s just ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.” Since when does any NBA referee, or any other occupant of this planet, have no "room for error" ? My readers know well that I rarely criticize League refs, and there is a reason. They have to make split-second decisions during an extremely-fast game. Errors will happen. There is nothing "ridiculous" about that.   Over the years, Lebron, listed at 6'9", 250 pounds, often bulls his way to the hoop, and his superstar status earns him plenty of calls that could h

 The Celtics 6th-Man-of-the-Year candidate, Malcolm Brogdon, is hard to define but I describe him as quietly-intense. One analyst on Twitter acutely portrays Brogdon playing basketball with "the personality of an 8th-grade world history teacher" . I get that, and I agree with the comparison: Malcolm Brogdon hoops with the personality of an 8th grade world history teacher Does that make sense? I think it makes sense — Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) January 29, 2023  Some may misinterpret that analysis, but not me. We are not looking at a loudmouth with child-like antics on the court . Malcolm is inwardly intense, professional and dedicated to the task at hand, but he hardly ever displays emotion. He and Payton Pritchard are very much alike in that sense. Now to the 6th-Man-of-the-Year battle . I won't bore you with the stats, but for bench players participating in 40-or-more games, his only competition is Benedict Mathurin or Russell W@estbrook . And for the past five game

Why do I say historically speaking because both franchises are tied with 17 titles. Even though five of their titles belong to Minneapolis and they only started claiming them when they needed too close the gap on us! So in essence it's Boston 17- Lakers 12. If dig deeper it's really only 11, that bubble crap was not a real title. I've never held my feelings back about the Fakers and Leflop and I will continue to be a Bleed Green, Celtic Pride, I Am A Celtic, C Us Rise guy! We own the Lakers in regular season wins, and we own them in the Finals. We also own them in integrity, always winning the right way. While they get gifted players.    1st Quarter ☘️ JT starts things off with a great left handed layup. JT to the hoop and draws and foul! Boy do I despise James.....  LEflop James is the worst thing to happen to basketball in my lifetime. Guys chasing rings, and flopping their way into eternity. I'm also going to say he's a hypocrite, calls Boston racist yet owns par

 You don't hear the term, "street justice" , much anymore, but it was used and practiced when I started my law enforcement career in the early 70's. On my very first arrest for public dunkenness, the veteran booking officer at the neighboring police department came around the counter and punched my prisoner in the face for no apparent reason. The unfortunate drunk fell to the floor with blood flowing from his nose ( per U. S. Department of Justice ): "Street justice is a police response to a community mandate calling for action to be taken when formal institutions will not or cannot respond for various reasons. This street justice function has created widespread concern, particularly when police officers simultaneously display ethnic or racial prejudice." Street justice was dealt by a number of officers, and hardly a peep was heard from the victims, their families or the media . Things changed in the ensuing years, and particularly in liberal Massachusetts,

 The Celtics record this season with Marcus Smart on the sidelines is 5-4 (.556), including a 3-game losing streak in the team's last three games. With The Wolverine on the court, the team is 30-11 (.732).   So what are they missing when Marcus is out of action? No stats really stand out, so I will go with the subjective factors such as "energy", "fire" and "intensity" . This present Celtics crew maintains a tenuous hold on the number-one spot in the Rankings, but they are still prone to relaxing at certain points in games. That doesn't happen as often with Marcus directing the offense and bugging the Hell out of the opposition on defense.   He remains the unofficial leader of The Green , and they are not the same without him. When his latest ailment heals, he will be welcomed back to help reverse that bothersome losing streak.