Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

      Founding Fathers... Episode 1       The Celtics have been in the forefront of social justice and of course winning. Red Auerbach was the leader of all of that. A man who was unafraid of what anyone would say. Bob Cousy was ahead of his time the way that man could handle the rock and distribute it! He was a magician on the floor! I personally remember meeting Couz as a young man. He was doing a game at the old Springfield Civic Center. Amazing that despite all the undertones of racism in Boston, the Celtics were the first team to draft a black player in Chuck Cooper. Something to be said for Cooper and Cousy who built a friendship despite looking different. As it should be!      When the Celtics drafted Bill Russell everything in the course of NBA history was set afire. Red knew he could be the most dominant player on defense, I mean let's be real on both ends of thr floor. Pairing Russell and Cousy was one of the most genius sports move...

 Let's face it! The late Red Auerbach was not beloved by many in the NBA community - in large part because he was smarter and more-successful than most of them. Photos courtesy of Mary N. Thawley and Lisa Lane McCarty Bird was plucked from the 1978 draft as a "junior eligible" with the sixth-overall pick . Mychal Thompson, Phil Ford, Rick Robey (more on him later), Michael Ray Richardson and Purvis Short went with the first-through-fifth picks, respectively. Larry not only led Boston to three Championships - but also helped lift the League from hard times . By the way, the NBA changed the  draft rules after Auerbach had masterminded this specific heist. Robert Parish and Kevin McHale came to Boston in another Red sting operation . In the 1980 draft, Auerbach traded the first-overall pick (which became Joe Barry Carroll - who went to the Warriors) for the third-overall pick and Robert Parish . The feisty Auerbach with yet another lopsided (in his favor) deal. On to Red...

  🍀       Cs are in the land of the Sun. They will be without JT after that scary fall vs the Kings. Suns have been playing better basketball led by Kevin Durant. He's been a scoring machine! Yet the Cs have the defensive answers to keep him at bay. I personally think Devon Booker sucks. So he doesn't worry me one bit. Cs have the double big line up tonight. JB opens us up with back to back treys! Let's Go!      Cs are off to a hot start tonight, they are scorching the Suns! Jrue nails a corner three like an assassin! Cs are aggressive on D and running in transition. That's the way to do it folks! If the Celtics continue to punch the Suns in the mouth they will fold like origami. DWhite for three! The Cs are firing on all cylinders! This is a clinic on how you stomp on your opponents throats! It's great seeing all these Celtics fans in the stands.       It's crazy but all five starters have nailed three pointers so early on. This i...

 The Celtics Kevin McHale was known in NBA circles as "The Torture Chamber" for his varied offensive skills near the hoop , but it was his comrade-in-arms, Larry Bird,  that may have been the toughest cover in League history. Bird had ZERO weaknesses at both ends of the court. He had the size, at 6'9", to shoot over many of his defenders - the ability to get a decent shot off despite heavy coverage - the passing skills to get the ball to a teammate if shooting was not an option for him - and the court savvy to make the right decision virtually every time. And Larry's anticipation was astounding. He seemed to know what was about to happen before it occurred. And "The Bird Man" would announce to the opposition exactly what his offensive plan was on the next play - and then carried it out successfully. The many opponents he tortured over the seasons offered that Bird's trash talking was not arrogance , since he made it all happen. He backed it ...

 The present Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown duo may very well be the top pairing in the NBA right now - but how do they compare with the potent combo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen during the Bulls 1990-91 Championship season? Below, I do a numerical comparison of various stats between the two superstar pairings: Tatum/Brown (averages from 17 games this season) 54.5 PPG - 14.9 RPG - 10.3 APG - 2.5 SPG - 0.9 BPG - .464 FG- .350 3s Jordan/Pippen (averages for 1990-91 Title season) 49.3 PPG - 13.3 RPG - 11.7 APG - 5.2 SPG - 2.1 BPG - .530 FG - .311 3s Admittedly, these numbers do not tell the whole story, but they are noteworthy. The Celtics twosome gets the nod on points, rebounds and 3-point accuracy . The Bulls duo wins on assists, steals, blocks and field goal percentage. Jordan and Pippen really shined in the defensive categories . Michael was 9-Time All-Defense, first team - DPOY (1988) - and 3-Time Steals Leader. Scottie was 10-Time All-Defense and 1995 Steals leader.  ...

  This mock draft was held several years ago, and eight teams consisting of 10 players each would be drafted - for a total of 80 players. A total of 76 players had to come from the members of the 75th Anniversary Team, and four others could be "wild cards". It was a snake draft. Larry Bird was the first Celtic chosen (by Sue Bird) with the 13th-overall pick. It is noteworthy that Dominique Wilkins chose himself with the #1 -overall pick . Bill Russell was the second player from Boston - taken with the 19th pick by Shams Charania . Kevin Garnett went to Sue Bird with the very-next (#20) pick . Kevin McHale was off the board at #24, and Ray Allen was next at #34 by Charania. Dave Cowens went to Charles Barkley at #38 and Wilkins chose Paul Pierce at #48. West took John Havlicek and Bill Sharman with his 8th and 10th picks, respectively, well after going with Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as his first, 2nd and 4th choices, respectively.  Sue Bird took Sam...

The late KC Jones was definitely the right coach for Larry Bird and his cohorts in the mid-1980's. KC's fine manner and ability to handle men made him the right man to lead one of the most-talented, veteran teams in NBA history to success. Here is one interchange between Larry Bird and Jones - as told by KC himself - that illustrates the synergy between the two: (K C Jones): "Larry shooting a 3-pointer and then I call a timeout - and they didn't count the 3-pointer." "So he's pretty upset. So I (KC) diagrammed the play, and he (Larry) says "Heck with the play, Case, give me the ball and tell the rest of the guys to get out of the way." So I say, "shut up Larry, I'm the coach here." (KC than lays out the play)): "Okay, Dennis, you take the ball out - get it to Kevin - then throw it to Larry and everybody, get the Hell out of the way." K.C. Jones explains two Larry Bird stories . https://t.co/f6zSXWJnbx via @YouTube — ...

  Danny Ainge's buddy - and former teammate - Kevin McHale once called the past head honcho for Boston "one cold-blooded character" . Certainly, at least a portion of that tag was earned when Ainge traded Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Isaiah Thomas in three separate transactions. But bringing Leon Powe back to the team in the front office showed a warmer side of "Trader Danny" - and now we see that he has signed Isaiah Thomas to the Utah Jazz G-League affiliate , Salt Lake City Stars. The now-35-year-old point guard is still desperately trying to latch onto a roster spot with an NBA team, and his stint with the Stars may be the showcase he needs. IT's size (generously listed at 5'9") and age are against him . But he can still score the ball in bunches - and is an able passer. In the past, he has used his lack of size to his advantage , going under-and-around defenders to hit from anywhere on the court. He scored 32 points in h...

 Here I go with my whimsy at full tilt once again. If each NBA team could clone a member from the past and team him with the present squad - who would that be for the Boston Celtics? Every NBA team should be allowed to clone one all time franchise great like in Foundation — jason concepcion (@netw3rk) December 20, 2023   Of course, for Boston, Bill Russell and Larry Bird come immediately to mind. Russ playing alongside Tatum and Brown would be hard to beat. His superb athleticism, quickness, rim protection and rebounding would offset his lack of an outside shot. Bird was a super-skilled, non-athletic, somewhat-slow white star before the overseas invasion by the likes of Nikola Jokic, Luke Doncic and Domantas Sabonis . He is the type of player that would fit anywhere. Bob Cousy would have his advocates, but I would not be into that. But Kevin Garnett, Dave Cowens and Kevin McHale are another matter. They would need special consideration. Paul Pierce and John Havlicek co...

  Danny Ainge once (at least once) called teammate, Kevin McHale "The Black Hole" because once the ball was passed into McHale in the pivot - it never came back out . Kevin's compadres knew they would not see the ball again once the 6'10" forward caught their pass, but he had great inside moves and had a career .554 on field goals. His career assist average was 2.0 APG. Now to Jaylen Brown . Jaylen has a career assist average of 2.8 APG , and his number this season is at 3.6 APG. But rightly so, his field goal career percentage is at .475 - not bad, but not up to McHale standards. It is well-known among NBA analysts that Brown is known for sometimes forcing his offense, but if he can continue his synergy with teammate, Kristaps Porzingis , that may change. Getting it to the big Latvian for easy hoops may win a number of games for Boston this season. So, for now, there is little danger of Jaylen Brown playing second fiddle to Kevin McHale as Boston's ...

  NBA TV analyst, Carlos Boozer , was the first I heard bring to our attention the amazing footwork that Jayson Tatum has developed. Boozer is right on. Tatum may end up at the all-time Celtics scorer, but he puts the ball in the hoop in so many ways. His footwork may already be in the league of Kevin McHale and Al Jefferson . But Boozer also stressed the beautiful 3-point shot displayed by Tatum. It is a joy to behold. Jayson is on a roll this season - as is his team. He has the tools and seasoning to rise to a true leadership role this season and lead his crew to Banner 18. All worries about the team's synergy with the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday have been dispelled . This team looks potent.

 It may be controversial to some, but I place Larry Bird in my top-5 NBA. All-Time. Here's why. SIZE Larry said it himself - "My entire game changed when I went from 6'6" to 6'9." With the added three inches, The Birdman was able to get his shot off - improve his rebounding - fight for position under the basket - and see over opponents to get the ball to his teammates. He may have been good - even very good - at 6;6" - but not great. Bird averaged 10.0 rebounds per game for his career. Not bad for a guy not very quick or athletic. SAVVY Forget Larry's use of double-negatives. He is no dummy, especially on the hardwood. He almost always knew the right play and how/where/when to get it done. His knowledge of the game and instincts were some of the best the League has ever seen. SYNERGY WITH TEAMMATES "I knew my teammates"  was what Larry told former fellow Celtic, Kevin McHale . Bird knew where his teammates were most of the time - and wh...

 I am not talking saviors here, but rather the players that made the difference that yielded Championships for the Boston Celtics. It starts with Bill Russell . Cousy, Sharman and Company were good but there were no Titles until Bill showed up. From 1957-to-1969, The Green racked up 11 Championships with Russ manning the center spot. The team had an off year until the next big guy appeared in the person of Dave Cowens - add two more Titles. "Big Red" made a big difference. Than came the immortal Larry Bird just as Dave was starting to slow down due to injuries. The Green earned no rings in Larry's first season, but then Red Auerbach picked up two more big men ( Robert Parish and Kevin McHale) , and that sealed the deal - resulting in three Finals victories in the 80's. Paul Pierce was very good - and very loyal to Boston - but he needed help. It came in the body of 6'11" Kevin Garnett . He was the missing piece that put another Larry O'Brien Trophy in...

 It would come down to the size/savvy/skills/synergy of the 1986 crew against the youth/athleticism/quickness/talent of the current version of The Green. Imagine this! Al Horford facing Robert Parish Rob Williams versus Kevin McHale Jayson Tatum confronting Larry Bird Jaylen Brown covering Dennis Johnson Marcus Smart vs. Danny Ainge Then come the benches: Luke Kornet against Bill Walton Grant Williams facing Scott Wedman Derrick White covering Jerry Sichting Horford would have trouble with Robert's size and strength - and that unstoppable rainbow jumper . McHale's inside moves and tremendous wingspan would give Rob fits. But Kevin gave all defenders fits. Larry would be a bit slow in trying to contain Jayson's speed and handles but would out-clever Tatum as he did with most opponents. Jaylen Brown's quickness and size advantage would give DJ a few headaches, but that matchup overall would be fairly even Smart versus Danny? Ainge was known as the "quickness w...

 Jayson Tatum's incendiary performance in last night's victory over the Charlotte Hornets erased any remaining doubt about just how good this youmg man really is. After raining down 51 points on the Hornets, he now has seven games of 50-or-more points. So what are the possibilities. I have broached this question before. Time to revisit. So Jayson Tatum, 45 days shy of 25th birthsday, have same amount of 50pts games (7) as three best scorers in Celtics history (John Havlicek 1, Paul Pierce 1, Larry Bird 5) combined. If he stays heathty (please God) he would join Russell and Bird in all-time Celtics frontcourt pic.twitter.com/Dww3rgYAGs — Davor Vitković (@DavorVitkovic) January 16, 2023 Titles come into serious play here, and Jayson has zero of them. Bill Russell has 11 and Larry Bird has three . Jayson has yet to prove that he can surpass these two superstars. For years, I have projected Tatum as having a ceiling between Paul P:ierce and Larry Bird.   He has already surpassed...

 After following the Russell-era Celtics of the 60's - the Cowens/Hondo/JoJo crew of the 70's - the Bird-era team of the 80's - and the Big-3 Title crew of 2008 , I had to give some thought to what the current Celtics troops could accomplish down the road. Since I rate the 1985-86 Green Team as perhaps the best NBA roster ever assembled, we start there. The two main stars were Larry Bird and Kevin McHale , but some fans may forget that Dennis Johnson already had four All-Star apperarences prior to coming to Boston in addition to a Title and Finals MVP Award. Robert Parish and Danny Ainge rounded out the starting five. And how about the bench. Scott Wedman had two All-Star stints under his belt prior to joining the Celtics, and Bill Walton had a prior Championship, MVP Award and Finals MVP with the Trail Blazers. Jerry Sichting rounded out the bench crew. That is an "Elite Eight" that would be hard to beat. So can the Jay Team and their comrades take over ...

  Rob Williams injury situation remains murky . Does he need further surgery or will rest and rehab do the trick? Regardless, he makes a positive difference for the Celtics - needs to be healthy for next season - and he has to develop some inside moves on offense - anything remotely reminiscent of Kevin McHale would be welcome - and he needs to work on his mid-range shooting . A physically-sound Williams III, able to score inside on more than lobs and hit from 12-feet-in would be a huge boost for Boston. Both Ime Udoka and Brad Stevens do not want big men that are slow afoot and can't cover the perimeter. Rob is quick, mobile and supremely athletic. He gets the job done on defense. And he supplies easy hoops for a Celtics team that always seems to work too hard for every point . And for Celtics fans, he is a bundle of excitement to observe.  One other point. Rob Williams needs work as a traffic rebounder . His leaping ability gets him a lot of boards, and he gets his han...

 Hasten back to Game 4 of the 1984 Finals - Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers - Celtics down 2-1. The Lakers Kurt Rambi s was on a fast break when - out of the blue - Kevin McHale took him out. That changed everything. Game 3 of that series went to LA, and Larry Bird called out the whole team for playing like sissies . Not so in Game 4. The normally super-skilled, but somewhat-placid McHale took the opportunity to lay out Rambis on the hardwood. Did the refs care a lot? Not too much . Here is Kurt's reaction : “The funny thing about all that,” he said, “huge brawl, everybody’s pushing and shoving, benches are clearing, and the referees just go, ‘OK, Kurt just go shoot your two free throws and let’s keep playing.’ That was the end of it. There was no fine, nothing.” It was the NBA Finals after all. No technical foul for Kevin. No ejection from the game . Just a normal foul and two free throws for Rambis. Now fast forward to the present. Draymond Green is testing the refer...

      75 Years, that's a decent amount of time to look at your top 15 players. When in all reality the Celtics could have done 25 if not more. But I get why they limited it to 15. Group 1 gives us Larry Bird who had it all, his shooting was pin point, passing was lazer focused, could bang for boards and defend. Trash talking supreme, and IMO should be in the GOAT Convo.        KG, brought Boston that grit and balls it was lacking. He understood the Celtics brother hood and culture and played that way. Another guy who really could do it all on the floor. If he's healthy we should have had a three peat. He also spoke to Larry about Boston which to me says a lot!       Kevin McHale , was the Swiss army knife of offensive moves. When the ball made it's way into the post, just put two points on the board for the C's. If he doesn't have injuries the Celtics repeat in 87. The best guest on Cheers in my opinion!       Sam Jones ...

 Received Cedric Maxwell's book as one of my Christmas gifts, and it brought back memories of his time in Boston. Let me say this - I really enjoyed watching him play. We hear the nickname, Cornbread , a lot connected to Max, but I always liked the moniker, Rubber Band Man . It clearly described his resilient, wiggle-his-way-to-the-hoop-maneuver for a layup or a foul. Kevin McHale may have had better footwork close to the basket, but The Rubber Band Man was adept at getting a short-range shot up, with or without being fouled. @cedricmaxwell81 We never hear your nickname, Rubber Band Man, anymore. It all had to do with your resilient, flexible maneuvering under the hoop, getting the layup or picking up a foul. One of the best at it I have ever seen. — Tom Lane (@CelticsSentinel) September 19, 2020   Maxwell may have peaked too soon . The 1978-79 season , his second in the NBA, may have been his most-productive season stats-wise. For a full season, he led the Celtics in poin...