Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 Yes, ESPN's Tim Bontemps voted the Celtics signing of Al Horford in 2016 as their most-impactful free agent signing since 2010. And Bontemps makes a good case for the positive impact the "Dominican Gentleman" has had on the franchise. Boston Celtics Al Horford , 2016 Four years, $113 million It's easy to forget now, but in 2016 after Durant signed with the  Golden State Warriors , Horford was down to two choices to sign as a free agent: with the  Washington Wizards , or the Celtics. His decision to sign with Boston helped tip the balance of power in the East for years to come, as he has become a fixture of Boston's many deep playoff runs since then, while the Wizards failed to beat the Celtics in the second round in 2017 and haven't been back to the playoffs since.  -- Tim Bontemps Sending Horford back to Philly would be nasty work https://t.co/fNlQK5ms0F — Cameron Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) June 30, 2023 The Green may not have Banner 18 flying in the rafte...

     One of the greatest Celtics to ever play gets inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this Saturday! Now he has endeared himself even more to fans by going at ESPN and Lebron. This year's Celtics team could use his fire and spirit! There are a few Celtics who could harness that. Whether you love him or don't, Paul Pierce aka The Truth has never been afraid to speak his mind!       Most fans remember when ESPN was great, but now they have taken that turn where they coddle to certain stars. This writer remembers ESPN not being afraid to look at Michael Jordan's gambling . Anytime Lebron does anything questionable it's swept under the rug. Plus for them to "mandate" talking about Lebron is a joke. Good for him to throw that out there! NBA basketball doesn't start and end with LeBron . There are far too many past and present players who are better and deserve recognition!        Paul Pierce isn't afraid to hold a sports grud...

ESPN's top-100 rankings are out, and the Celtics Marcus Smart sits at #37. I see it this way. With 30 teams in the league, this often-underrated, do-everything dynamo is listed as the 37th-best player in the NBA. Four Celtics are in the 11-50 range of ESPN’s NBA Top 100 rankings: Kemba Walker (No. 48), Marcus Smart (No. 37), Jaylen Brown (No. 32) and Jayson Tatum (No. 11). ( https://t.co/DlBDscB2WI ) — Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) December 9, 2020 In the final year of his $52 million/4 year deal (2021-22 season), Marcus will earn 13.8M. Really? Doing some quick math, each of the 30 teams (on numbers alone) might expect to have 1.7 players in the top-50. Boston has four. Out of a possible 450 total players in the NBA, Smart is rated as being better than 413 of them.  I see only two possibilities here. Marcus may be the most trade-able player on The Green's roster, based on ability, drive and money. Yet, the bromance between Danny Ainge and The Wolverine is such that I can...

I am still not sure ESPN has any affection for the Boston Celtics, but they did put Boston in second place to finish in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics are surrounded by the Milwaukee Bucks in first place and the Philadelphia 76'ers in third spot. . @kpelton projected every NBA team's win-loss record using real plus-minus. Here's how the postseason stacked up. All 30 teams (E+): https://t.co/WqKIn1jLDB pic.twitter.com/9oNqcK0Zco — ESPN (@espn) August 17, 2019 ESPN's Kevin Pelton bases the predictions on a mathematical scheme referred to as Real Plus/Minus (RPM). Pelton rationalizes that the loss of Al Horford and Aron Baynes would put a damper on the Celtics defensive capabilities (and I agree), but the guys in green have enough defensive wings to create just enough havoc with opponents (per ESPN's Kevin Pelton): 2. Boston Celtics Average wins: 47.4 Playoffs: 95% The Celtics are one of four teams projected by RPM to rank in the top 10 in both offen...

Make no mistake about this. Success and the limelight bring jealousy and even hatred. One of the most successful NBA coach/executives in the 1950's and beyond was Red Auerbach. He was smart. He was shrewd. He took chances. And the Boston Celtics just kept winning. To this day, I swear that the envy and dislike continues. Red's mortal self has left us, but the issue remains. I posted an article a few days ago focused on ESPN's projection of a starting USA Basketball lineup when the crew travels to China. Despite the fact that Kemba Walker started last night's game once again (versus Spain), ESPN's starting-5 did not include one Celtic. Yes, the envy and dislike persists. I believe the photo below is to blame. Red is pictured smack-dab in the middle of villains from the Batman TV series. We have Frank Gorshin as The Riddler, Julie Newmar as Cat Woman, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, Cesar Romero as The Joker - and Red Auerbach as - well, himself. Red doesn'...

ESPN's Zach Lowe had Minnesota Head Coach, Ryan Saunders on his podcast , and Ryan had a few memories of Kevin Garnett. According to Saunders, when he was a ballboy for the Timberwolves, prior to a game, Garnett took off his warm-up pants and tried to throw them down on the court. What Ryan didn't know at the time was that this was one of Kevin's pre-game rituals - the pants had to hit the floor. Saunders caught the pants in mid-air three times and kept throwing them back to The Big Ticket. After the third catch by Saunders, Garnett walked over to him - grabbed the pants - and threw them to the floor. Lowe asked, "Was there profanity spewing out of his mouth the whole time." If you remember Garnett at all, you know Ryan's answer was a definite "Yes". Saunders added that after the game, Kevin never realized that had happened, and this incident showed Garnett's level of intensity. We recall that intensity, and we miss it. We could use some of ...