Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 Back in 1973, the players chose the NBA MVP , not the sports writers and broadcasters that do the voting today. And the players chose Celtics center, Dave Cowens , as their Most Valuable Player . And remember, in 1973, players could not vote for a member of their own team. But the 1973 choice of "Big Red" brought some criticism from many NBA followers. Here are a few of the arguments: "Kareem deserved the award." "John Havlicek had a better season" "Tiny Archibald led the League in scoring and assists. He should have won." J abbar finished second in the MVP voting, while Tiny ended up third - and "Jarrin' John" was fifth. Personally, MVP to me means - take the specific player out of action, and how would the team have fared. In the 1972-73 season, Boston finished the regular season with a 68-14 record - tops in the League. So it was no surprise to see two Celtics players in the top-5 . Havlicek was high man for Boston in mi...

 The Celtics system designed by Danny Ainge, Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka relies heavily on switching defense, meaning guys with sufficient size and strength to handle the task. At 6'1" and 195 pounds, Payton Pritchard may seem out of place . The stats for the post-season, and the eye test, indicate otherwise. Although Payton is averaging only 13.6 minutes per game in the playoffs, his per-36-minutes stats reveal : 14.5 PPG - 5.5 RPG - 4.8 APG - 0.6 TOsPG - plus/minus of +9.5 - 46.5% FG - 37.7% 3s Admittedly, Pritchard's lack of size is sometimes exposed on the defensive end , but he can score from anywhere - takes care of the ball (0.6 turnovers per game) - and works hard on defense . He can get exposed on Ime Udoka's plan to switch one-through-five, but this kid belongs in the League . So what happens from here? That may depend on the outcome of this season. Has the "Little Guy" in Boston become a thing of the past. I hope not . Memories of Bob Cousy, K C...

 The NBA revealed the first-25-of-75 players to be included in their 75th Anniversary Team , and five of them played for the Boston Celtics. No major surprises here, but one deserving 'little guy" made the cut, but many would not regard him as a lock to make the team ( per NBA.com ): NATE ARCHIBALD BOB COUSY DAVE COWENS KEVIN MCHALE BILL RUSSELL We knew Cousy and  Russell would be there , and McHale and Cowens were no surprise . But I, for one, applaud the decision of putting "Tiny" Archibald into the mix . Nate remains the only player in NBA history to lead the League in points per game (34.0 PPG) and assists per game (11.4 APG), doing so in the 72-73 season with Kansas City-Omaha. In 13 seasons, he has six All-Star appearances and one Championship (1980-81 with Celtics, alongside a young Larry Bird) to his credit. The next 25 members of the 75th Anniversary Team will be announced later today. Expect John Havlicek and Sam Jones to be in the final-50. Tommy Heinsohn...

      Nathaniel Tiny Archibald played for the Royals, Kings, and of course the greatest sports franchise of all time the Boston Celtics. He was a willing and talented distributor and had a good midrange game, What made him super hard to guard was his quickness, speed, and shiftiness. He had the ability to drive by defenders and make them look silly.       In the 72/73 season he led the NBA in scoring and assists. He averaged 34 points a game and that's a record that stands for point guards. A record held by a true point guard! He's a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.       His talent on the floor helped the Celtics to the best record three straight years. He was a huge bench piece for them during the 78/79 season. In 81 he was the All Star MVP. In game 6 of the 1981 Finals he had 13 points and 12 assists to help quarterback the Celtics to the title. If he doesn't get hurt in 82 you could have penciled the Celtics in for anothe...

 I admit that when I try to discern what lineups coach Ime Udoka will employ this season, I often forget Jabari Parker . He is definitely a wild card.  The injury-plagued forward (two ACL tears - same knee - early in his career) has never lived up to expectations as the second-overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. But he is still only 26 years old and could experience a resurgence with the Celtics. After all, Nate "Tiny" Archibald did just that, coming to the Celtics in 1978 following recovery from an Achilles tear and helping them win a Title in 1981. His career stats don't exactly bring Larry Bird to mind, averaging 14.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 2.0 APG over seven seasons. Although he can hit the occasional 3-pointer, he generally scores close to the basket. At 6'8" and 245 pounds, he could play the center spot sporadically.  My guess is that Udoka will take a close look at Parker and his health and physical shape coming into trai ing camp. Jabari is owed $2.3 million ...