Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 I have not been a Rick Barry fan since I watched him belittle the great Bill Russell on National TV. But he recently spoke of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as suffering from the Russell Westbrook Syndrome. Was he right? ( per SI's Eric Jay Santos ): Barry:  “Both (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum, who are two talented players, suffer from what I call (Russell) Westbrook syndrome. Westbrook is an incredible talent. I love how hard he plays, but he tries to force things. In the game of basketball, you should always be taking what the defense gives you… Both Jaylen and Jayson, they have a tendency to force things and end up getting a lot of turnovers.” Barry is known as one of the top passing forwards in the history of the NBA, and I do tend to agree with his assessment. I checked the numbers for the 2023 post-season via NBA.com, and sure-enough - Westbrook averaged the third-most turnovers (4.0 per game). Brown comes in at number-15 for turnovers in the playoffs. He has al...

 The NBA Champion Denver Nuggets have all three of those attributes - size, smarts and synergy - and none of those can be taught . The rest of the League can expect the Denver roster to look very-much like it does right now for next season. They are not going away. How in the world does the eighth seed (Miami Heat) put the Boston Celtics in a 0-3 hole in the Eastern Finals - and then fall to the Nuggets in a 5-game series? That is a good question for Brad Stevens , and he knows the answer. No way would the present Celtics squad have defeated Denver had they advanced past Miami. Despite having one of the most-talented crews in the League , there had to be some level of discord within the Celtics organization for the players to perform (at times) so poorly. There is always discord within any organization, but The Green could not overcome whatever was bugging them . Stevens can talk all he wants about Joe Mazzulla being his guy going forward - and J aylen Brown   being suc...

Originally I was not going to watch the NBA finals because I felt as though I needed to mourn the Celtics. Thankfully my wife said you're watching it to see the Heat get beat. I owe her a big thank you because Jokic, Murray and these Nuggets play the game the right way. This group knows their roles, plays D and doesn't rely on the three ball. Unlike our team that shoots too many threes, guys don't know their roles and our coaching failed us.  Jokic is a walking triple double and he trusts his teammates to do the right thing. Murray has no fear at all, imagine if we drafted him instead of Brown? Just food for thought.... Aaron Gordon has shown me that on a good team he's a very good role player. KCP and Bruce Brown are defensive minded guys and can also hit a few shots for you. Uncle Jeff Green is a great piece and presence to have on that bench. This Denver team is who the C's should want to be. Handling a team beneath you and kicking their behinds.  Most of these M...

 Yes, I know the odds of The Suns' Chris Paul ending up with the Boston Celtics after possibly being waived by Phoenix are quite slim, but I honestly think that offering CP3 a second shot as the initiator of Lob City - and possibly his first Championship. Picture it. That would mean putting Chris back with Blake Griffin - and r eplacing the Dunk Machine, Deandre Jordan, with Rob Williams . Blake and Chris are not the same players fans watched with the Clippers, but both can still operate at a fairly-high level in somewhat-restricted minutes. CP3’s market, at least for a short-money deal, will be strong. Memphis, which should be aggressive. Both LA teams. Boston, which could be on the hunt for more playmaking. Miami, even. Lot of possibilities. — Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) June 7, 2023 Let me continue. Two of the several issues that cost the Celtics from competing in the Finals this past season careless passes and turnovers . Chris Paul averaged 7.9 assists per game this past...

 The Boston Celtics are about to add another member to their coaching staff. Charles Lee , an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks last season, will reportedly joinng Joe Mazzulla's coaching staff as lead assiustant - according to Woj. Lee played college ball at Bucknell - went undrafted in the 2006 NBA draft - and played pro ball overseas for four seasons. Charles Lee is finalizing a deal to join the Boston Celtics as the lead assistant coach, sources tell ESPN. Lee had been the associate head coach with Milwaukee and a finalist for the Toronto and Detroit head jobs. pic.twitter.com/t2WO5r2hHh — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 11, 2023  

  NBA.Com's Isiah Thomas said it best. He talked about Nikola Jokic's "intellect" - his basketball IQ - but the former Detroit point guard could just as well been talking about the entire organization. Led by "The Joker", the Denver Nuggets have size and talent, but most of all their best attribute is from the neck up. Following Denver's last-night's 108-95 win over the Miami Heat - putting them one game away from their first Title - the discussion among the analysts turned to past NBA superstars with that Jokic-like quality of being able to mentally overcome anything thrown at them - names like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan. Jokic is able to respond properly to any defense presented by the opposition. He can post up or hit from any distance. Larry Bird did the same. I hope Mazulla is watching this series. Denver is punishing Miami around the basket because they’re a short team and not particularly athletic. Celtics played right into ...

 No, we are not talking about Blake Griffin not winning a Title with the Boston Celtics. Here is his wish list, from November of last year: “I think that’s just part of understanding who you are and where you are in your career,” Griffin said. “I think there’s an opportunity here and the biggest thing for me is playing meaningful basketball, playing basketball in the playoffs and also being part of a good group. I think this place checks that list.” Blake only got on the floor in 41 games this past season and averaged 13.9 minutes per game. That may have fulfilled his desire to "play meaningful basketball". And he certainly was part of a "good group" .  However, he only participated in one of Boston's 20 playoff contests - playing a mere 5.9 minutes and going scoreless. Saying he "played basketball in the playoffs" would be a stretch . Fun fact: Blake Griffin took the biggest pay cut in NBA history, making $32M in 2021-2022, to the $2M veteran’...