Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 As the saying goes - The most stress is caused by things over which we have no control. Well, that is what Celtics GM, Brad Stevens is experiencing, after being forced by ownership to cut monetary costs by stripping the once-Championship roster considerably. Stevens came to Boston as Celtics coach prior to the 2013-14 season . Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry, all members of the 2008 Title team , had been traded, and the roster had youngsters such as Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford vying for playing time. The Green ended the 2013-14 regular season with a 25-57 record , obviously missing the playoffs. In the following years, GM Danny Ainge left for Utah and Brad Stevens took his place as Head Honcho, eventually winning the 2024 NBA Championship with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the way. Back to the present. The ravaged roster , now minus Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Luke Kornet (all lost to trades or free a...

  The Athletic chose a panel of 43 writers, podcasters and editors to vote for their 25 top NBA players of the 21st century - a tough task, indeed. But they did it anyway, and it was gratifying, as a Celtics fan,  to find three members of The Green , both past and present, on that list . Kevin Garnett came in at #11 , and his MVP Award in 2004 , as a member of the Timberwoves , was mentioned in the article - but his 2008 Championship with Boston was somehow omitted . That omission sticks out because "The Big Ticket's" addition to the Celtics was the transaction that spurred the Title. Paul Pierce came in at #20 . As one would expect, "The Truth's" 2008 Title with Garnett, and his Finals MVP Trophy in the same year, got him into the list. Jayson Tatum was the "Third Celtic Picked" (at #23) , and he belongs . His Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award and 2024 Championship got him there.   Voting in such a poll appears to be highly subjective . ...

      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...

  Jayson Tatum may not be Superman on the court, but he certainly is the Celtics "Iron Man" . He rarely misses games and leads his team in five key statistical categories.   Is he "soft"? I think not. Here are my -eight tough Celtics players from the past as compiled by my readers when I wrote for another blog. Bill Russell . Few in the NBA at the time could handle Russ in the middle. He rebounded and defended like no other. He averaged 42.3 minutes per game in the regular season over the course of his career - and 45.4 MPG in the post-season. He backed down to no one - including Wilt Chamberlain. Larry Bird : Larry could play either way - as a finesse guy or a hard-working warrior. He was tough - both mentally and physically. Never forget his head bouncing off the floor in that crucial playoff game versus the Pacers - and his triumphant return to the court to the surprise of everyone watching the game.  Isaiah Thomas : I am not talking "toughness-per-inch...

In the past,, I have broached Jayson Tatum as potentially having a career ceiling somewhere between Paul Pierce and Larry Bird in Celtics history. But hey, let's take a look at Jaylen Brown in that discussion. I am leaving past point guards ( read: Cousy, JoJo, Rondo ) and centers ( read: Russell, Cowens, Parish ) out of this analysis - and sticking with wings only. Take a look below. Here are the 9th-season stats for Brown (12 games thus far in 2024-25) and Pierce (2006-07 season). Brown: 25.3 PPG - 7.1 RPG - 4.4 APG - 1.0 SPG - 2.5 TOPG - .426 FG - .284 3s - .772 FT Pierce: 25.0 PPG - 5.9 RPG - 4.1 APG - 1.0 SPG - 3.2 TOPG - .439 FG - .389 3s - .796 FT Looks like "The Truth" gets the nod on shooting accuracy in all three categories - while Jaylen wins on rebounds, assists (nice job on those) and turnovers (ditto) . In today's NBA, both players are classified as wings - with both occupying the SG and SF positions. My take is that Jayson Tatum has already passed ...

  Poise: definition Merriam/Webster: :  easy self-possessed assurance of manner  : gracious tact in coping or handling. also : the pleasantly tranquil interaction between persons of poise. no angry outbursts marred the poise of the meeting. b. : a particular way of carrying oneself : bearing, carriage "Easy self-possessed assurance of manner". "Gracious tact in coping or handling". "No angry outbursts". That describes the Jayson Tatum fans have seen and heard throughout the 2024 playoffs. I started noticing the change in the 26-year-old superstar when he took a hard foul by Miami's Caleb Martin . Tatum hit the deck hard, but bounced right back up with no verbal explosions or physical reaction, He simply walked away. #Celtics brothers and sisters all we heard for the last couple of weeks was how Tatum was underperforming. Check out the graphic below. ESPN showed this last night on Sportscenter, but you won't here achievement coming out of the mo...

 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...

 In his past role as Celtics head honcho, Danny Ainge lamented that his team lacked a clear hierarchy.  Most Celtics fans would agree that Jayson Tatum is the Alpha Dog with respect to talent in Boston's structure, but can he be the on-court leader in the mold of Bill Russell, Larry Bird or Paul Pierce?  As much as many fans hated to see Marcus Smart traded away, and I include myself in that bunch - in many ways he was the most-vocal member of the team, and probably the main driver of what took place on the hardwood. Smart's departure may clarify the leadership role in the upcoming season. So it may come down to the best player (Tatum) assuming the leadership role and running with it. Jaylen Brown, with one more year in the NBA than Jayson, may have an issue with that, and we may see a Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett leadership replay with both members of The Jay team sharing control duties. Stay tuned.

 After failing once again to take his team to the Conference Finals, It appears that Philadelphia Coach, Doc Rivers , may be out of a job. And to make matters worse, Doc took a shot from one of his former players . Rivers' comment on "cooperation" and J J Redick's response are seen below: I wonder if they cooperated — JJ Redick (@jj_redick) May 14, 202       "Not trying to take anything away from that [Clippers] team. That team was never going to win, when you look back at it. We just didn't get along well enough as a group and you can't win without cooperation. That's the only way you can win." -- Doc Rivers during an ESPN segment   "Everybody I've talked to about [Lob City] has kind of owned their own mistakes, if that makes sense, and realizes especially later on that we still could have had something special. And to not get any of that accountability from [Rivers], and the interesting part too, is he talked about players not gettin...

  Oh no, not Lebron again! Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers have defeated the 2022 Champ Warriors and will move on to the West Finals versus the Denver Nuggets . And Lebron James will potentially be seeking his fifth Title. It is possible that we could be seeing yet another Celtics-Lakers Finals if LA takes out Denver and Boston defeats the 76'ers in Game-7 of the East Semis and then takes care of business against the Miami Heat. That is a lot of "Ifs" , but it could happen, this time for all the marbles . He has battled with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett,  but this time, The King would be facing  Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart .  There is little question that yet another Celtics-Lakers Finals clash would draw a lot of attention, and the "age-versus-youth" hype would be loud and long. plus, the Tatum/James matchup would be interesting. But without suggesting any clandestine workings within the referee crew or NBA generally, the question must be ask...

 It's not over yet. The Celtics still have a shot at making the Eastern Conference Finals, but I must admit the thought of the 76'ers potentially ending Boston's run for Banner 18 this season makes me nauseous . Here's the deal. It's not the fact that Banner 18 would have to wait at least another year before being raised at TD Garden. It has only been 15 years since Beantown's last NBA Title, and the last I knew, there are 30 teams in the League. Do the math. I am not a "Title-or-nothing" Celtics fan . I can handle another "almost-made-it" season, but what I can't stomach is the thought of the Philadelphia 76'ers moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals - and possibly going all the way this season. My basis for this stand? Doc Rivers walked away from Beantown because he did not want to take on a rebuild after the departure of Paul Pierce andf Kevin Garnett . Nothing personal, but Doc has not exactly flourished since he left the Cel...

 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...

 My guess is that if Danny Ainge was still in command of the Boston Celtics, Danilo Gallinaro would just be a memory in Beantown. He will turn 35 prior to next season and has yet to play a minute for The Celtics after signing a 2-year, $13.3 million deal with Boston prior to suffering a season-ending injury (torn ACL). Would it be ethical to trade the Italian forward?  "The greatest good for the greatest number" is a maxim of utilitarianism. I would stretch that maxim a bit further and add "for the longest period of time".   Would Gallo be happy about being traded? Probably not . Would management, team members and Celtics fans benefit from a Gallo-plus-pieces deal that brought in a guy that would be a healthy and productive addition for the remainder of the season and playoffs? Highly likely. You get the argument. The right transaction could very well shore up an already-first-place team, resulting in increased chances for Championships for an extended period of...

 FIRE AND ICE! I'm tralking about Celtics players that had both the fierce fire to keep competing - and the ice in their veins to accomplish the goal. It starts with Bill Russell . How many hearts of skilled opponents has he ripped out. And he had two fistfulls of Championship rings to prove it. Dave Cowens? Yup, he has to be there. Was there any Celtic that was more intense. He would take on the little guys on the perimeter and the giants under the hoop - and give an inch - never give any quarter . If this current Celtics crew regains the killer instinct they had early in the season, the El Deguello-no quarter-throat-slitting bugle call should be played in Crunch Time. When the Boston Celtics regain the fire & ice they displayed early this season, the El Deguello (no quarter-slit throat) bugle call should be played in crunch time. https://t.co/OshLVmRud2 Deguello (No Quarter - Slit Throat) (The Alamo) https://t.co/i2DEgUpaZ9 via @YouTube — Tom Lane (@CelticsSentinel) Dec...

 It just may be time to attach the "Franchise Player" label on superstar, Jayson Tatum . Exactly when does that mean? FRANCHISE PLAYER: (per Wikipedia) In  professional sports , a  franchise player  is an athlete who is both the best player on their team and one that the team can build their " franchise " around for the foreseeable future. Hard to dispute the 6-season star's checking the first box as "best Celtics player" . Can ownership build the team around Tatum? It seems thay already have done so. The most-recent franchise player for the Celtics was most-likely Paul Pierce. The Truth was a 10-time All-Star , in addition to 2008 Champion and Finals MVP. Jayson has 3-All-Star stints to his crfedit, but lacks a Title and Finals MVP Award. But his stats thuis far this season are solid:' 30.7 PPG - 8.1 RPG - 4.3 APG - 1,0 SPG - 1.0 BPG - 48% FG - 36% 3s - 87% FT There is no official trophy for franchise players, but Boston has had a number of them...

 I am now into my seventh (7th) decade of following the NBA and Celtics basketball, and I am in total awe of Jayson Tatum and his game.  From his arrival in Boston, I have tagged as possibly the smoothest Celtic to ever take to the parquet. Tatum seemed to glide down the floor like no Boston player before him. But my argument was that the youngster, unlike his predecessor, Paul Pierce , always seemed to avoid contact. That has not changed to a large extent. Jayson's smoothess remains, but he is stronger and can take the buffeting on the way to the hoop - and still finish. He is a solid defender - skilled rebounder - and willing passer. Tommy Hainsohn once labelled The Truth as possibly the best scorer in Celtics history, but Tatum may take over that label. Originally, I placed Tatum's potential ceiling somewhere between Pierce and Larry Bird, and that may come to fruition. He is that good. MVP is far from being out of the question. In last night's 122-104 win over the Ki...

 When comparing the 2008 Celtics team that took the Title against the 2022 crew that came reasonably close to a Championship, the first thing that stands out is the age difference . The 2008 group were led by Paul Pierce (30), Ray Allen (32) and Kevin Garnett (31).They were backed up by P. J. Brown (38), James Posey (31) and Eddie House (29) . Back to the present. Al Horford (36), Marcus Smart (28), Jaylen Brown (25) and Jayson Tatum (24) make the Banner-17 crew seem ancient. Other major contributors are Derrick White (27), Rob Williams and Payton Pritchard  (24) and Grant Williams (23) . You get the picture. And while we're on it, here is a comparison of the two benches from the Finals (combined averages/game): Posey, House, Brown (2008): 20.7 points - 9.5 boards - 4.5 assists White, Green Pritchard (2022): 18.2 Points - 8.5 boards - 4.7 assists Not a major difference in the bench production, is there? Yet that bench from 2008 gets a lot of accolades , as they should, whil...

I have repeatedly written that Jayson Tatum's ceiling will be somewhere above Paul Pierce and short of Larry Bird. He can forget about reaching Bill Russell-level . Big Bill's 11 Title rings and five MVP awards can't ever be ignored. Jayson has already bypassed The Truth on the skill scale and has yet to reach his peak. Not diminishing what Pierce accomplished, but Tatum is something special. Tatums potential is much higher than PP. He's already a better defender, bigger, stronger. Flat out a better athlete. — Ty Ray (@coug88) April 4, 2022 Can he reach the heights that Bird attained? It's possible - but doubtful . Jayson is certainly the better athlete but has yet to match Larry's skill-set, savvy and toughness. But the youngster seems to have all the tools. Anything is possible. Tatum is in the mix for MVP this season, but The Greek Freak and Joker are certainly the favorites. In closing, Jayson Tatum could possibly nudge into third place, behind Russ and Lar...

 Some time ago, I placed Jayson Tatum's ceiling somewhere between that of Paul Pierce and Larry Bird.  With Tatum just being tagged a Eastern Conference Player of the Wee k, it may be time to compare their 5th-season stats. Pierce: 39.2 MPG - 25.9 PPG - 7.3 RPG - 4.4 APG - 1.8 SPG - .416 FG - .302 3s - .802 FT Tatum:  36.2 MPG - 26.5 PPG - 8.2 RPG - 4.2 APG - 0.9 SPG - .438 FG - .334 3s - .849 FT The numbers don't tell the whole story, but Jayson gets the nod in 5-of-the-7 categories for both stars in their fifth seasons in the NBA. What Tatum doesn't have (yet) are Paul's Championship ring (2008) or his Finals MVP Award for the same season. Make of it what you will, and I had to refrain from digging into Tatum's stats since the New year when he and his teammates have surged in the rankings. I have a special affection of The Truth, but Jayson may just surpass what Paul accomplished in Boston.

  NBA.com's Sreve Aschburner just wrote what I, and many other Celtics fans, have been thinking since the start of this season - namely, that the talent on the Boston roster is too damn good for this level of mediocrity to continue. Steve Aschburner:  Maybe I’m just analyzing according to laundry at this point, but  the Boston Celtics thrashing around at .500 or worse  for much of this season has surprised me. Having two tremendous wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown somehow has turned into the my turn-your turn dead end of the unsatisfying Paul Pierce-Antoine Walker days. I get that point guard has been an issue and Al Horford is well past his prime, but Marcus Smart is tough, Robert Williams III is delivering in the middle and I simply assumed Brad Stevens taking his coaching chops upstairs meant he would replace or surpass them with his choice of sideline successor (Ime Udoka). I get it, they’re vertically challenged defensively, but I cannot believe this m...