Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 With Kawhi Leonard withdrawing from Olympic competition , the Celtics Derrick White will apparently replace him on USA's roster. Leonard must still be recovering from a knee injury suffered last season with the Clippers and will be focusing on rehab rather than international competition . The choice of White over Jalen Brunson for the open spot is a clear indication USA Basketball is looking for perimeter defense - with the plan of often pairing the Celtics Championship backcourt duo of White and Jrue Holiday. Good guy Derrick White is headed to the Olympics pic.twitter.com/u0WakBvSiv — Cameron Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) July 10, 2024 This is simply good news for the Boston Celtics. A Championship and a gold medal for three of The Green's starters in the same year would be remarkable. 

 The best duo in the entire NBA? Mavericks star, Luka Doncic, thinks it is the pairing of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown   ( per Yardbarkers Darryn Albert): Luka: “They’re probably the No. 1 team (Celtics) in the league, and they probably have the best duo (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown)  in the league too,” he said of Boston,  per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps . “And we’re in the Garden. It’s always a special game. You have to come 100 percent. If you’re not, you’re probably going to lose. It’s a big game.” The Celtics star duo bested another standout pair in Boston's 116-110 win over ther Clippers last night. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard need to be mentioned in any such discussion. The same with the 76'ers Joel Embiid and James Harden - Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kris Middleton (Milwaukee) - and Lebron James and Anthony Davis (Lakers). But when both Tatum and Brown are on their games - raining jump shots down on opponents and getting to the rim - they often seem unbeata...

 One year ago I wrote that the once-alive Jaylen Brown-for-Kawhi Leonard proposed trade between the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics not happening was a boon for The Green. I expect this season will reveal my stand to be valid. Jaylen recently revealed that he dealt with a knee issue (tendinitis) last season , but that problem no longer exists, and he expects to have his superior athleticism on display once again. Brown has shown a number of similarities to the Clippers' Kawhi Leonard, and I expect to see more of that in 2021. Jaylen Brown’s first All-Star season was something special 🤩 pic.twitter.com/4YOAIUsjAK — Celtics Junkies (@Celtics_Junkies) September 21, 2021 The Klaw made his first All-Star appearance in his fifth NBA season, as did Jaylen. Their stats for their fifth seasons in the League are remarkably similar. Kawhi now has five All-Star nods to his credit and will surely pick up at least several more. Jaylen's numbers from last season follow: 34.5 MPG - 2...

I won't be overloading my readers with tons of statistics here, so don't leave me. This is simply a rough comparison between the Celtics "Potent Pair" of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with the Lakers "Dynamic Duo": of Lebron James and Anthony Davis, in addition to the Clippers Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. All six players are regarded as high-level defenders, so I will stick to the 2020-21 offensive stats here. Here we go: Tatum/Brown:      53.9 PPG - 12.6 RPG - 7.3 APG - 2.4 SPG - 1.3 BPG James/Davis:         47.0 PPG - 16.8 RPG - 11.0 APG - 2.3 SPG - 2.3 BPG Leonard/George:  49.8 PPG - 11.6 RPG - 11.1 APG - 3.2 SPG - 1.2 BPG Not a lot of surprises here . The Celtics pair takes honors on combined points. Jayson and Jaylen are known as volume scorers this season. Lakers take it on rebounds and blocks, and with the size and athleticism of The King and The Brow, it would be expected. The Clips win on assists and steals (barely), and we see the...

Remember when the San Antonio Spurs were trying to develop a trade for their star forward, Kawhi Leonard. The Celtics at the time were rumored to be in the mix for his services, with the names of Jaylen Brown - and possibly Marcus Smart - tossed out there.  The rumored trade seemed to center around Brown and draft picks, and at least to me, the possible inclusion of Smart into the deal appeared ridiculous. Well, Jaylen, Marcus and the Celtics are still in the fight for a Title, while Kawhi and his new team, the Clippers, have been vanquished. Leonard's 2020 post-season stats are mostly ahead of Brown's, but not by a large margin, and we might add that Kawhi is now 29 years old while Jaylen is only 23. Brown is averaging 21.1 PPG in the playoffs compared to 28.2 PPG for Leonard. Rebounds are close with 7.3 RPG for Brown and 9.3 for Leonard. Assist honors also go to Kawhi (5.5 APG, 2.2 for Jaylen). With Leonard probably having reached his peak and Brown continuing to improve hi...

The future of the Boston Celtics is becoming clearer as this season progresses. It is now possible to project, or at least guess, what Danny Ainge's plans are for the next several years. The Jay Team of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are the focal point here. In their third and fourth seasons, respectively, they are emerging as potential All-Stars right before our eyes. Unless something unexpected happens, this duo is destined to be in the spotlight for Boston for the foreseeable future. NBA TV's Sam Mitchell recently compared the Jay Team with the Clippers' pairing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Brown and Tatum could reach that level in as little of a year or two. Who's the #Celtics MVP through the first half of the season -- and which reserves are most invaluable? @ChrisForsberg_ has power ranked the C's roster from 1 to 17. https://t.co/kzobCZcGjr — Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 14, 2020 Jaylen Brown was granted a 4-year/$115 millio...

The Boston Celtics continue their road swing tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers. Marcus Smart is nursing an ankle injury and was listed as day-to-day as of yesterday. Being so early in the season, Brad Stevens may elect to sit Marcus out for at least one more game. If that does happen, it is not out of the realm of possibility for guard Brad Wanamaker to take Smart's starting gig. Wanamaker logged 29 minutes off the bench in Boston's last game, scoring 10 points, handing out six assists and picking up three steals in the victory over the Suns. Swing-man, Kawhi Leonard is listed as questionable for the Clippers while still dealing with a knee issue. Forward Paul George has excelled in the three games he has played this season. In only 24.5 minutes/game, he is averaging 29.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.7 APG. His shooting has been right on, hitting 56% on field goals, 52% on 3-pointers and 96% from the free throw line. The duo of Leonard and George can be tough to handle for the C...

Kawhi Leonard's return to Los Angeles with the Clippers may open the door to solving the murder of his father almost 12 years ago. As a retired Police Lieutenant/Investigator, I realize all too well that in this type of case, there are people walking the streets that know exactly what happened on January 18, 2008. The popularity and public exposure of the Los Angeles Clippers and the front office of Doc Rivers, Lawrence Frank and Jerry West - and Kawhi himself - may just bring this case to a conclusion ( per NBA's Shaun Powell ): Mark Leonard was from the South Side of Chicago and raised and lived most of his entire adult life in and around Compton, and people with that geographical bloodline usually carry a gene for detecting danger. His sixth sense did not betray him this day; indeed, the man reached for a handgun under his shirt and aimed. The first shot sent Leonard stumbling and the employees scattering. He told his wife to run and pushed her toward the office. She did...

Brazil's win over Greece in World Cup competition brings up an important question for Adam Silver and the rest of the NBA. Should the NBA adopt the FIBA rule on goal tending and basket interference? Brazil's Bruno Caboclo ended the game by swatting away a third free throw by Greece's Kostas Sloukas as the ball hovered above the rim giving Brazil the 79-78 win. AND NOW BRUNO WITH THE GAME-SAVING TIP pic.twitter.com/As8xQZbtbm — William Lou (@william_lou) September 3, 2019 The NBA and FIBA rules are the same on a ball in downward flight towards the basket . A player can not block the ball when it is in downward flight. The difference in rules comes with a ball above the cylinder. FIBA: Once the ball strikes the rim, any player can play the ball (i.e. swat it away or tap it in) No blocking a ball in downward flight towards the rim. NBA: An imaginary cylinder exists that has the basket as its base. Touching the ball while any part of it is in this cylinder (and still ...

As a fledgling sports writer two years ago, I wrote on Celtics boss, Danny Ainge, possibly having a new rival NBA exec out west in the person of The Logo, Jerry West. After West's move from the Warrior's camp to Clipper Town, I wrote the following: So Danny has his eyes focused on the western conference, specifically on the Golden State Warriors. He may want to also gaze further south in California and take a look at the Los Angeles Clippers. There is a new guy in Clipper town, and his name is Jerry West, otherwise known as The Logo. But he is much more than simply the image on the NBA logo. The old Boston vs. LA battles may return in the next few years, but with a different look. Well, a combination of the California sun and the solid owner-leadership core of the Los Angeles Clippers, it now appears that the Clips have landed both the much-sought-after, Kawhi Leonard, and All-Star forward, Paul George . These deals now make the best-of-the-West fight even tighter - amazin...