Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 I have always been a fan of Bob Ryan, but apparently, Bob is not a major fan of the Boston Celtics new addition, Kristaps Porzingas . Ryan made his dislike of the Porzingis acquisition on his podcast. Here are a few excerpts: "I'm not a fan of this guy (Porzingis)" "He's 7-3, going on 6-2" This guy is 7-3 and he plays small. He always plays small"\ "Why is he on his fourth team in seven years?" "The last thing I needed in my Celtics life is another guy cranking up big, stupid threes" So why the dislike? Is it Porzingis and the way he plays? Or is it the modern NBA game itself . Ryan goes way back to the 60's when Bill Russell manned the middle for Boston. And then it was Dave Cowens in the 70's and Robert Parish in the 80's.   Russ and Dave played before the trey came to the NBA, but neither fired from long distance, although Cowens occasionally threw up a long ball. When Parish arrived, the 3-point shot had ben instit...

 I understand that the much-revered Bob Ryan did not start writing about the Boston Celtics until 1969, the year Bill Russell retired, but I have to differ with him with regard to what he wrote about Robert Williams III .  Ain’t nobody. The Celtics have never had this kind of 7-foot modern athlete rim-protecting center as Robert Williams. And that includes the fading Shaq. — Bob Ryan (@GlobeBobRyan) January 16, 2022 I have labeled Rob Williams as the most physically-gifted Celtics big man since Bill Russell. Did Ryan forget about Russ as the epitome of "this kind of 7-foot modern athlete rim-protecting center"? "Big Bill" was truly the first super-athletic NBA big who was quick and a high-flyer. He made shot-blocking an art. The following from my previous article: Russell was closer to  6'10" than his often-listed 6'9" , and his  wingspan extended to 7'4" . Upon his entry into the League in 1956,  no one had yet seen anyone like him . ...

At the age of 75, with more than a half-century (52 years) following, and writing about, the Boston Celtics and NBA, Bob Ryan had this to say on the subject of Udoka-as-Celtics-coach ( via CLNS "Goodman and Ryan ):  "I have never - in any sport - at any time seen anything like this. Which is the amount of praise being heaped on a rookie coach from universal sources around the League on Ime Udoka." "I hope the expectations aren't going to be too much.". Ryan qualifying the first part of his statement with his wish that fans not expect too much from Udoka's first shot as head coach is valid. The idea here is that most of the "sources" cited by Ryan happen to like and respect the Celtics new head coach, but he is a rookie in that position, after all , and no one can say with certainly just how he will perform in that tole. My readers may want to take in the video. Other issues are addressed, including Marcus Smart-as-point-guard and the injuri...

Tommy Heinsohn has been around the Boston Celtics for so long, he seems to have a padlocked connection to the team. He has played the role of player, coach and analyst going back 64 years. The guy Red Auerbach called "the oldest 27-year-old body in the history of sports" earned eight Championship rings with The Green as a player and two more as coach. But his work as a TV analyst often spawns criticism from fans that view his analysis as perhaps too slanted in favor of Boston. These occasional attacks on Tommy's rhetoric go back as much as 53 years (from Bob Ryan's book, Scribe: My Life In Sports Everybody talks about (Celtics radio announcer) Johnny Most, and nobody watches Celtics games on TV without listening to him on the radio. That's too bad because if you really want a laugh, you should listen to Tommy Heinsohn, who is so partisan he makes Most seem like Walter Cronkite. Most is essentially a reporter, however ridiculous he may sound on occasion. Heinsoh...

It was in the spring of 2015 that I heard the Boston's Globe's Bob Ryan emphatically state that he would personally pick up DeMarcus Cousins at the airport if Danny Ainge worked a trade for him. Cousins was with the Sacramento Kings at the time, and Ryan was among many others that wanted the star center in Boston. That never happened, but the Los Angeles Lakers did take the bait and sign Boogie to a one-year deal this summer reportedly for slightly more than the veteran minimum. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski subsequently reported on August 15, 2019 that Cousins had suffered a third injury to his left leg - this time a torn ACL. Test results are conclusive today in Los Angeles: Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins has suffered a torn left ACL, agent Jeff Schwartz of @excelsm tells ESPN — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 15, 2019 Now things keep getting tougher for the 4-Time All-Star. An arrest warrant has been issued for DeMarcus on a charge of domestic violence (per USA T...