Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 Boston Celtics fans are hearing and reading that the present Celtics team is looking to pick up the pace. But the 96-97 Celtics crew led the League in pace and had the worst season (recordwise) in their history . For that horrendous season, the M L Carr-coached Boston team finshed the regular season with 15 wins and 67 losses . Antoine Walker was the star, but he was only a rookie. And The Green were still trying to recover from the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis . Rick Pitino had not arrived on the scene yet. Hindsight reveals his presence in Boston would not have made a positive difference in the season's outcome. The 96-97 crew had 11 players averaging 20-or-more minutes per game, and as stated, their pace led the NBA. It appears that Boston sports fans can expect high  minutes from the Celtics core this season - and significant floor time from a number of the newcomers .  NBA.com has the Boston Celtics ranked 12th in the East in their Power Rankings , b...

      Where were you when you heard the tragic news. That spring with my birthday I bought my first jersey. That jersey was the number 35 with Lewis on the back. That summer we were in Disney. We had gotten into the car and heard the news on the radio. I was devastated and honestly couldn't believe it. The next guy of the Celtics had passed away from heart complications. Thirty two years later and it still brings me sadness. I feel lucky enough to have watched Reggie play and block the great Michael Jordan 4 times in one game.       I wonder how things would have went if Reggie was healthy. The Celtics could have built the team around him. He and Dee Brown could have been a heck of a duo. Plus imagine the guys they could have drafted to compliment him. I truly feel Reggie would have kept the Celtics away from those dark years. Maybe we never have to deal with Rick Pitino ruining our franchise. I bet Reggies numbers would be amongst the top of the Celti...

 Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a trend towards "slenderness" in the NBA . A number of present and future stars are thinner that what prevailed in the past seven (7) decades. It starts with the top-2 players in the Kia Rookie-of-the-Year Ladder. Victor Wembanyama is listed at 7'4" and 210 pounds, while Chet Holmgren is 7'1" and 195 pounds. In earlier times,  Bill Russell was considered to be a "slender" center at 6'9.5" and 220 pounds , and Reggie Lewis, listed at 6'7" and 195 pounds , was slim for the times. Now to the Kia MVP Ladder . Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 6'6" and 180 pounds , while Tyrese Haliburton is 6'5" and 185 pounds . Both are top-10 in the ROY rankings.  Trae Young isn't in the MVP Ladder, but he is a legit star and stands at 6'1" and 164 pounds . That is shades of Allen Iverson. Is this a lasting trend or simply a temporary phenomenon?  I believe "slenderne...

Thirty years goes by in the blink of an eye... My personal memory of that day, we were in Disney going to dinner and we heard it on the radio. I cried and was in shock. How could the next great Celtic die playing the game he loved. The first basketball jersey I personally bought with my own money. I still have the newspapers my dad had my Papou buy back home. I still have that jersey, and all his basketball cards I collected along with a shirt my dad had of him.  Any Celtic fan my age or older knows about Reggie and what promise he had as a player. He truly was becoming that next Great Celtic. He played alongside the big three and I'm sure learned from their greatness. His game was becoming that of a true star. He once blocked Michael Jordan multiple times in a game. Yes Michael freaking Jordan.... Reggie had a beautiful jumper and midrange game. He could get to the rim and man he could defend. He played the game the way it should be. If not for his early death he would be in the B...

 Three years ago, I wrote about how quickly deconditioning can occur with elite athletes. Jaylen Brown is certainly in the "elite athlete" category. At 6'6", he carries 223 pounds with only 5.1% body fat. Look at the above photo. There is only about 11 pounfs fat in his entire frame . When we ordinary folks are told to pinch an inch (25 millimeters) or less in the abdominal area, caliper measurements on Jaylen's mid-section would show low single digit-millimeter numbers. Brown looks like he weighs less than he actually does . He is that solid, and he has remarkable quickness when he turns on the after-burners. As a comparison, the great Reggie Lewis , at 6'7", only weighed 195 pounds. And Jayson Tatum , at 6'8", comes in at 210 pounds. Jaylen uses his physique and strength to his advantage on his drives to the hoop. Here's a quote from Brown following being drafted by the Celtics: “NBA is a faster pace, faster tempo, so it’s a lot of tran...

Where were you when you heard the news, that up and coming star Reggie Lewis passed away from heart issues? Personally on my way to dinner with my family in Disney. Dad had sports radio on and that sent me into tears. My favorite Celtic player after Larry and my first jersey bought with my own money. Talk about a gut punch for all Celtics fans, losing such a great player and person.  When you talk about Reggie he has it all on the floor and was becoming such an all around player. He could score by getting to the basket, and could nail jumpers with pin point accuracy. His jumper was one of the sweetest I've ever seen. He had pretty good passing skills, and knew where to find his teammates. He was unafraid to grab boards when needed. Defensively he had everything needed to be a menace. He had length, quickness, and a strong body. Anyone remember him blocking the great Michael Jordan multiple times in one game?! This was when MJ was at his first peak!  The outlook on Reggie's car...

     For the most historic franchise in sports history from this writers perspective, has any other team ever lost two transcendent players in a span of seven years? Give me another franchise who had such success and yet lost what could have been two players who could have been basketball Hall of Famers?             In modern sports generally, your transcendent players go in a few directions. They tend to stay with the team that drafted them, typically they win and make an incredible impact on that franchise and city. Sometimes they force a trade, or they choose to leave in free agency. Yet for the Celtics, they lost Len Bias in 86 due to a cocaine overdose. Fast forward to 93 and they lost Reggie Lewis to a heart condition/ usage of cocaine.          These two impactful moments in a franchises history lead to some very dark days of basketball in Boston and eventually led to the hiring of Slick-Rick-the-r...

      With the second overall pick in the 1986 draft the Boston Celtics select All American Len Bias out of Maryland! Say that again. The NBA champion Boston Celtics with Red Auerbach at the helm get Len Bias to go with the Big 3, Danny and DJ!!! Back to back champions is what fans saw coming their way.  Fans also saw the next great Celtic who would not only win rings with the Big 3, but probably challenge Jordan and the Bulls in the East.        Len Bias was a true talent He had amazing leaping ability and   his physical stature was a force. He was incredibly dynamic and was compared to Michael Jordan. With what basketball fans were able to witness watching MJ, if Len came even close to that the Celtics would have won several more titles. In 87 when the Celtics dealt with injuries, imagine Bias on that team and what he could have done. Yes Banner 17 would come in those 87 Finals over the Lakers.       "What if " is a q...

      Reggie Lewis : What could have been. As his career and game were ascending,  suddenly, tragically he collapsed during a playoff game in 1993 vs the Charlotte Hornets which turned out to be his final game. His last moments in this earth were spent on the court during an off season practice. He was special and was going to be that next great Celtic .       How many players can say they were on a roster that consisted of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish and say they were becoming the best on the team well that's what was happening with Reggie. Lewis had some epic moments during his years and especially in the playoffs when the Celtics needed him the most.       Reggie could do it all and get to the hoop with ease. His midrange game was becoming unstoppable. He could even knock down an occasional three even though it wasn't as prevalent as it is in today's game. Defensively he was nasty! In a single game he blocke...

      Do you ever sit there and wonder what could have been? Len Bias and Reggie Lewis were two of the best draft picks the Celtics ever made. Len unfortunately never was able to play on the parquet. Reggie gave us a glimpse of how special he was becoming.       From all accounts and video we have on he Len was Jordan like and probably would have been his greatest rival. When he was drafted Len was heading to the NBA champion Boston Celtics. Imagine him on that 87 team or subsequent years and what he would have done with the team that was already here. Possible titles in 87, 88, and 89 he would have definitely put us over the top vs the Lakers and Pistons.       Reggie, who we were able to see, was taking the mantle from Larry and the Big 3 and handling it quite well. Do we all remember those playoff series vs Indy and Cleveland?! Sadly we all remember that series vs Charlotte when he collapsed. We all know where we were when he b...

I openly admit to having an obsession with Robert Williams' per-36-minutes stats , always trying to project what he could do with more floor time. Over the past 10 games, Rob's 17.1 points per game don't really stand out, but there is hidden value in the rebounds (13.2 RPG), assists (3.7 APG), steals (2.0 SPG) and blocks (3.7 BPG). The obscure value pertains to the easy baskets that Rob may generate. Iso-ball requires a lot of individual effort, and the rewards from the physical strain don't always come to fruition. Easy baskets come from steals, blocks, offensive boards and the resultant (hopefully) fast breaks that lead to scores. The Celtics currently are ranked 20th in points per game scored on fast breaks , and hold 13th place in blocks . What team is first in both categories? That would be the Philadelphia 76'ers that, not coincidentally, also hold first place in the Eastern Conference. Boston is also in 12th place in steals and 4th place in offensive rebo...

The pain of losing both Len Bias and Reggie Lewis will forever go down in Celtics history as a near-disaster that helped put The Green in a 22-year Championship drought. What could've been....sigh pic.twitter.com/ILDngfoBFW — Frosty Bias (@frostybias) January 15, 2021 Shortly after being taken second-overall in the 1986 NBA draft, Bias died of an apparent cocaine overdose. Boston had acquired the draft pick by means of trading Gerald Henderson to Seattle, and I not-so-fondly recall a cruel written comment indicating "the Celtics traded Henderson for a corpse."   Red Auerbach knew NBA talent, and Len had it big time. The 6'8" forward would have been a superstar in the League. The next year, Boston took 6'7" Reggie Lewis with the 22nd pick in the first round of the 1987 draft. If rival GMs could have a redoing of that draft, Reggie would have been snagged much sooner. He turned out to be that good.  But death intervened once again for Red and his team. Lew...

Imagine it! Ten dearly-departed, former Celtics returning as a small-ball team to compete. And why not bring back John Kiley at the organ and Johnny Most "high above courtside" .Hell, put Red Auerbach on the sidelines to coach and berate the refs. Starting at center, we have 6'7" Tommy Heinsohn . At the point, 6'3" JoJo White will run the show alongside defensive ace, 6'4" Dennis Johnson . At the small forward slot, 6'5" John Havlicek will start and be partnered with the bruising, 6'5" Jim Loscutoff . "Loscy" will handle many of the "drudgery" chores and play the role of enforcer should the need arise. Coming off the bench as backup point guard is 6'1" Bill Sharman . We can expect him to see minutes at the shooting guard spot next to DJ at times during the game. Also coming off the pine will be 6'5" "Pistol Pete" Maravich at both back court spots, but not at the same time. Sorry...

I have placed 32 Celtics players into eight seedings and came away with what I feel is the best crew to win a crucial contest. Larry Bird over Bill Russell was a tough call, but I went with Larry's versatility. There is nothing he does not do well. Dave Cowens over Kevin McHale was difficult, but I went with Dave's blue-collar, lunch bucket mentality. Dennis Johnson at #3 was my choice - and a controversial one. He was simply a fabulous 2-way player, and his synergy with Bird made the decision. I went with Marcus Smart and Larry Siegfried because of their toughness in the back court. And Rajon Rondo? I needed another floor general out there, and he fits the bill. Al Horford is in there to add more size, playmaking and defense. My 8-man rotation. What's yours? 1- Bird 2- Cowens 3- DJ 4-Reggie 5-Rondo 6-Horford 7-Smart 8-Siegfried — Tom Lane (@CelticsSentinel) March 31, 2020 You will most-certainly disagree with my seedings and 8-man rotation - and you should. There ar...

This marks the 26th anniversary of the tragic, and sudden, death of Reggie Lewis. He was the 22nd overall pick in the 1987 draft, one year after the Celtics drafted Len Bias, who died of a drug overdose before ever donning the Celtics uniform. Reggie played very little in his rookie year under coach K. C. Jones, but started to flourish in his sophomore season. His career and his life ended on July 27, 1993, the apparent result of a heart condition. Some have proposed that drugs may have played a part in his death, but as far as I am concerned, that speculation has been laid to rest with Reggie's remains. 26 years ago @celtics lost a great one. We remember. Rest In Peace, Reggie. pic.twitter.com/odVUaOEsgb — Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) July 27, 2019 Lewis' sole All-Star appearance was in 1992, and for his career, he averaged 17.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.3 SPG. I have written in the past about the similarities in the play of Reggie and Jaylen Brown. With both list...