Re: Official NBA 2010 Draft and Avery Bradley Thread

[jeb]

BSH

Naw was just scouting. They still dont have all their funding but it looks good. Itsa great script and will be king hell challenging...set in the 70's with 50's flashbacks. I am INTO it...keep em crossed.

I aint been posting here cause I was pretty red assed about the free throws...inna game where it was so hard to score. Still am. But I aint saying it would have changed the outcome. You guys were just taller and younger. Artest was huge. That Fisher 3.

In austin for a bit. Feels good. Been blowin and going

[babyskyhook]

Game 7 was probably frustrating for both of us- re: the refs.

I thought the Lakers were getting murdered in the first half every time they took it inside, and got almost no calls. So I was furious.

You probably felt like they were letting them play and were ok with it.

In the 4th, I thought the Lakers finally got the calls they should have been getting b/c they were attacking the paint most of the night- but especially in the 4th.

Most of the calls were shots at the rim or in the paint, or off of pump fakes where the defender (KG twice and Shed once) got caught up in the air and came down on Gasol. They always call that.

But I'm figuring you're as furious about the 4th as I was about the 1st quarter.


With Ron checking Pierce and Rondo afraid to attack the basket in the 4th b/c of his FT issues, the Cs become a pure jumpshooting team. Ray, KG, Sheed- none were attacking the basket at all during the game, and especially not in the 4th.

LA on the other hand was consistently taking it into the paint via Gasol, Kobe and Artest.

And the three FTs they gave Kobe on that rip move are the exact same thing Durant gets game after game. That's a pretty standard NBA call.


I know the feeling of frustration though my friend. I remember in Game 2 in '08 when Leon Powe shot more FTs than the entire Laker team. I was bitter for a long time. But ultimately, I knew Cs were the better team.


Lakers were (just barely) the better team this year. Artest won Game 7 for them. If he didn't step up in the 2nd quarter like he did that game would have been out of reach. he kept them in it almost singlehandedly.

When Rondo went in to double Gasol for a second, you must have felt like I did when Shannon Brown was helping off of Ray in Game 2.

Fisher was the one guy they couldn't leave open to step into an in-rythymn 3 with the game on the line. For whatever anyone wants to criticize Fish for, you KNOW he always hits those shots with the game on the line. I understand Pierce helping off of Artest, but Rondo leaving Fish was a big mistake.


It was an epic series, though. I was at games 2, 6 and 7, and I'll remember it all for the rest of my life.


I think as time passes a little, we'll look back on these battles i the way that we do the '80's battles- as games that we were lucky to witness.

'84- Cs
'85- Lakers
'87- Lakers


'08- Cs
'10- Lakers
'11- Rubber match ?

I hope so. THat would be awesome.

[jeb]

bsh

All of the calls were fouls. They were all called because yall were attacking the rim. No doubt no argument. But the refs just swallowed their whistles in the first three quarters and went crazy with them when it counted.

Again you guys were better and deserved the win. But that many free throws in a deciding game when it was so very hard for both teams to score is hard to swallow. 20 more. 20.

It was a weird weird game. So much EFFORT on both sides and some epic d. But both teams had the yips. You guys just yipped ever so much less.

I am all for your rubber match. Yall are going to shed some dead weight and I trust Danny to do what;s right. For all the dirt they tried to throw on both our graves it was us standing in game 7 when it mattered most.

[jeb]

us meaning both our old dead teams

[babyskyhook]

us meaning both our old dead teams

Yeah- I feel you. How great was it that LBJ was watching the old guys battle it out ?

[babyskyhook]

bsh

All of the calls were fouls. They were all called because yall were attacking the rim. No doubt no argument. But the refs just swallowed their whistles in the first three quarters and went crazy with them when it counted.

Again you guys were better and deserved the win. But that many free throws in a deciding game when it was so very hard for both teams to score is hard to swallow. 20 more. 20.

It was a weird weird game. So much EFFORT on both sides and some epic d. But both teams had the yips. You guys just yipped ever so much less.

I am all for your rubber match. Yall are going to shed some dead weight and I trust Danny to do what;s right. For all the dirt they tried to throw on both our graves it was us standing in game 7 when it mattered most.

That was the most intense D I've ever seen by both teams in an NBA game. Usually, one team will just crack under that D and the game is over. LAkers bogged down early and the Cs bogged down late, but neither team ever gave up or ever gave an inch.

It reminded me or Hearns-Hagler. Both sides throwing haymakers and never backing off.


The thing that I can't stop thinking is that with all of the HOFers on the two teams, the two guys who were unaffected by the pressure were Fish (which I expect) and Ron Ron. I guess being crazy has its advantages. He literally was playing as free and easy as if it was the first round vs OKC.

Everyone else I thought was affected by the pressure in some way, for at least part of the game.

Epic series my man. We'll be discussing for years to come.

[jeb]

BSH

My buddy Chris, A Kansas fan and student of good ball called it. Midseason when it was very unlikely. Just said all year, when it matters the vets will show. He was right...boy was he right. Still trying to process the whole thing.

And yes it was swell and I mean swell knowing we beat James and his dysfunctional freak show of a scene.

Real swell.

[jeb]

bsh

All of the calls were fouls. They were all called because yall were attacking the rim. No doubt no argument. But the refs just swallowed their whistles in the first three quarters and went crazy with them when it counted.

Again you guys were better and deserved the win. But that many free throws in a deciding game when it was so very hard for both teams to score is hard to swallow. 20 more. 20.

It was a weird weird game. So much EFFORT on both sides and some epic d. But both teams had the yips. You guys just yipped ever so much less.

I am all for your rubber match. Yall are going to shed some dead weight and I trust Danny to do what;s right. For all the dirt they tried to throw on both our graves it was us standing in game 7 when it mattered most.

That was the most intense D I've ever seen by both teams in an NBA game. Usually, one team will just crack under that D and the game is over. LAkers bogged down early and the Cs bogged down late, but neither team ever gave up or ever gave an inch.

It reminded me or Hearns-Hagler. Both sides throwing haymakers and never backing off.


The thing that I can't stop thinking is that with all of the HOFers on the two teams, the two guys who were unaffected by the pressure were Fish (which I expect) and Ron Ron. I guess being crazy has its advantages. He literally was playing as free and easy as if it was the first round vs OKC.

Everyone else I thought was affected by the pressure in some way, for at least part of the game.

Epic series my man. We'll be discussing for years to come.

I agree. I think we are seing the game essentially the same way. Nobody choked... it was just a supreme effort on the defensive end. Supreme. You guys just never quit for a second and kept HITTING the glass. If you would have gotten thin in your effort when things were going bad you would have lost by 15. I thought all year the Lakers were a frontrunning team. Deferential to Kobe to a fault. When it mattered most that just was not the case. Artest and Fish save kobe.

I concur that the d on both sides was historic. Historic.

Cheers bsh

and congrats.

Jeb

[babyskyhook]

Thanks buddy. Much appreciated.

It's funny- it all came down to something you and I first started talking about in October. Would we see "share the ball Kobe" or "force the issue Kobe" ?

In the first half, he played right into the Cs hands. I think when he realized they weren't calling any fouls on drives to the rim, he tried to start hitting jumpers, but that enabled the Cs to double him and force him into really tough, terrible shots.

With Gasol giving Wallace fits in the first half also, Artest was like the guy in the old western trying to hold off the Apaches until the calvary could arrive. He was virtually a one man gang in the 2nd.

Once Phil and Fisher finally got through to Kobe and he started looking to get the ball into Gasol (or over to Artest for the open 3), the Lakers offense really took off and it looked like a whole different team.

I thought the defense the Lakers played was the thing that kept the Cs from busting the game open. They kept the game just close enough and kept getting energy from the crowd, even when they were down (19,000 of us made Staples louder than it has ever been for a game), that they never let the Cs pull away.

and once they started chipping away at the lead in the 3rd quarter, you could feel the momentum shifting- it was almost like game 4 from '08 in reverse. You could see and feel it happening.

Another incredible series to go with the battles from the '80s and the Seven Game showdowns from the '60's.

Cheers back to you, buddy.

[pete]

bsky & jeb,

What will always haunt me about game 7 is the fact that had we been able to give PP, Ray & Ronda a breather in the 4th, that we may have had the energy to come out on top. Oh well, easy for me to say, but I think it was a big factor.

Congrats bsky on the win, and thanks for the break on the avatars, although I though Kareem was great in this role.

Pete

[cowens/oldschool]

bbsh you guys are so lucky Perk didn't play,no way we get hammered on boards with the Beast in the paint.

[cowens/oldschool]

bsky & jeb,

What will always haunt me about game 7 is the fact that had we been able to give PP, Ray & Ronda a breather in the 4th, that we may have had the energy to come out on top. Oh well, easy for me to say, but I think it was a big factor.

Congrats bsky on the win, and thanks for the break on the avatars, although I though Kareem was great in this role.

Pete

agreed Pete I was saying the same thing during game.....I woulda given Nate and TA more run.

[bobheckler]

Well, proving once again we (and DraftExpress) don't know jack about drafting, Danny Ainge fooled us again.

Hassan Whiteside and Solomon Alabi, both 7-footers that were projected at one time to be the Celtic's #19 pick, weren't picked until the second round. Alabi, in particular dropped all the way down to 48th or 49th.

We picked a 2 guard in a 1's body. Bye bye Nate. I just don't see Nate playing 2 exclusively. Bradley is 6'-2" without shoes and has a 6'7"+ wingspan. A strong defender but a weak finisher at the rim. Apparently, he's a shooter too who thinks shoot first, pass second.

Harangody is a slow white guy with unimpressive wingspan who can shoot like crazy. Hard to say whether he can make it in the NBA because he's marginally athletic. DraftExpress is claiming they called the Harangody pick by the Celts all along.

If Sheed retires we need bigs badly. Perk's surgery will slow him down next season, almost for sure, and that doesn't leave us any weight or height at all past KG.

bob

.

[Sam]

This is the best article I've seen yet (from this morning's Boston Globe) in dealing with the rationale of taking Bradley and dealing with the complexities of the salary cap. It doesn't clear up everything for me (like what are we going to do with two Rondos and a paucity of big men), but at least it leaves me with two strong impressions:

1. Danny's not going to put us through a prolonged period of depending on some fuzzy-cheeked big man project in a man's league. I'm not at all sure what he WILL come up with at the 5, but he's obviously intent on continuing to swing for the fences now.

2. The team is definitely going in more of an uptempo direction, which actually elevates my heartbeat to a serviceable level.

Sam

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/06/25/starting_to_put_game_plan_in_motion/

Starting to put game plan in motion

By Gary Washburn

With a bright smile and that vintage strut, Doc Rivers showed his hand last night as he addressed the media at TD Garden.Globe Staff / June 25, 2010

He remains undecided on whether he will return as coach next season but he signed off on the Celtics taking Texas freshman Avery Bradley with the 19th pick of the draft, the first move in what could be a myriad of shuffles to prepare for another title run.

Against my strong suggestion — and I have been wrong before, believe it or not — the Celtics chose youth, a Russell Westbrook-clone who can play both guard positions but is the athlete the Celtics desperately need.

Bradley is not a reach here, and the pick displays some long-range thinking from president Danny Ainge and Rivers. Instead of taking a player short on potential but who could help immediately, the Celtics brass decided to take the best on-ball defender available — Bradley — and deal with their shortage of big men in free agency.

Ainge and Rivers decided their frontcourt needs couldn’t be met with the 19th pick and they were right, so they decided to give Rajon Rondo some relief, break in Bradley at shooting guard to spell Ray Allen, and then slyly use the salary cap to their advantage to sign a premium free agent.

We’re not talking about LeBron James, but if the Celtics encourage Paul Pierce to opt out of his contract with the promise of a three-year deal in the $40 million range, they could use the available cap space and the money created by Rasheed Wallace’s likely retirement to sign a big man.

Should Wallace retire — and his agent said he is leaning toward that decision — the Celtics would not be off the hook for the $13 million-plus owed to him over the next two seasons. The sides have to reach a settlement and a portion of that will count against the cap. However, there will be more money for the Celtics to pursue a productive center, so Wallace leaves Boston by slipping a $20 bill under the proverbial hotel door.

Timing is everything for the Celtics. They can use their Larry Bird Rights to re-sign Pierce to an extension if he opts out of his contract, which would put them an estimated $6 million under the salary cap along with an additional estimated $3 million from Wallace’s contract settlement. Then they can re-sign Pierce to a longer-term, lower-priced contract.

The chance the Celtics would take is allowing Pierce to be wowed by other interested clubs, but if Pierce wants to retire a Celtic, then an agreement can be reached on when to sign an extension, which is really what Pierce desires.
Ainge could also re-sign Allen — the Celtics also own his Bird Rights — then add two solid frontcourt players, one of whom would start as Kendrick Perkins recovers from right knee surgery.

Such a plan may entice Rivers to return and he couldn’t hide his approval of the Bradley pick. Maneuvering the salary cap will allow the Celtics to keep their core players and get younger at the same time.

“I love his speed, I can tell you that,’’ Rivers said of Bradley. “He has unbelievable speed. He’s an NBA defender right now and he can play point-guard defense right now and that’s huge for us.’’

Rivers said he is close to a decision and will go back to his headquarters in Orlando and discuss the matter with his family. He noted that he wanted to make a decision by July 1, which would allow Ray Allen and Tony Allen to make a free agent choice knowing whether Rivers would be back. If he does make a decision by next week, free agents interested in coming to Boston won’t be unsettled by his situation.

There is no guarantee Rivers will return, but there is more hope that the Celtics will indeed be a strong team next season and easier to coach.
Ainge could have easily drafted for immediate need or brought in a player not ready for prime time to attempt to appease Rivers. Instead, the two figured the best way to get young is to draft young and fill those immediate needs with proven players

There will be players such as Carlos Boozer on the market, and the Celtics won’t have loads of money to offer, but enough to entice players who want to win immediately. If Pierce opts in, the whole landscape changes, but he indicated earlier in the season that he would sacrifice money for long-term security.

Ainge’s biggest fear is for the Big Three to age like their predecessors, but if he and Rivers carry out their expected plan, that won’t happen. And Rivers’s bright smile was a hint that he may be here for another season.

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com.

[bobheckler]

Nice article Sam. Hope the pieces all fall into place like Washburn says.

bob

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[Sam]

I've mentioned this once before, but it makes increasing sense to me.

1. Sheed's going to retire.

2. Doesn't that make his contract an instant asset? (Help, gyso)

3. Some teams are in the final stages of gearing up for the free agency sweepstakes...to the point where at least two teams that are under the cap and don't have to match salaries in deals have basically given away human assets to other teams just to get rid of those assets

4. Why couldn't Danny turn Sheed's contract into the acquisition of a big? Not necessarily a franchise-changer, but at least a role-playing big. I'm not Beasley's biggest fan, but apparently the Heat are ready to give him away. Why not Beasley and another Miami contract in return for Sheed's contract so Sheed can retire with them and clear some more cap space? If not Beasley, maybe some other young big who could as least contribute?

Sam

[bobheckler]

Somebody at BDC started a thread about this kid. He's undrafted and might be good as an invite to summer camp.

6'11", 260#. Played for Radford (who?) and that might be why he was undrafted (like Lester Hudson in the late second round, his college performances were against inferior competition), but look at his boxscores against Navy, Duke, Kansas and Louisville. He looks like he WAS the entire Radford team.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=41147

bob

.

[mulcogiseng]

This is why we wait, even when we speculate. Danny always has a surprise for us experts. LOL I was waiting for him to draft a big, as the two most talked about continued to slide, Alibi and Whiteside. Well, one slid all the way to the deep second round, clearly the other GM's weren't enamored with them either. Both would be projects and unable to help immediately, and we need help right away. Bradley may be a combo guard, but it seems he can defend, (what is the calling card of the C's?) can create his own shot, and is much taller than Nate. Another good sleeper selection in the second round, a guy who can shoot if needed. Neither should be expected to play a lot of minutes, Doc doesn't play rookies. But both can come off the bench or fill in if someone gets injured. good insurance. But the reality of a Doc coached, Danny signed team is veterans rule the roost. Look for the real players to come after July 7. Who knows what else Danny has up his sleeve but I bet it involves RA coming back, PP not leaving, and the total package being enuf to bring Doc back.

[gyso]

I read something in an article about why the Celt's took Bradley.

"The Celtic's alphabet starts with D."

[bobheckler]

I read something in an article about why the Celt's took Bradley.

"The Celtic's alphabet starts with D."

gyso,

Ooh. That's good. I like that one.

bob

.

[gyso]

Sam,

The article you pasted gives a clue as to how Sheed's retirement would affect the Celtics cap-wise:
____________________________________________________________________________________

Should Wallace retire — and his agent said he is leaning toward that decision — the Celtics would not be off the hook for the $13 million-plus owed to him over the next two seasons. The sides have to reach a settlement and a portion of that will count against the cap. However, there will be more money for the Celtics to pursue a productive center, so Wallace leaves Boston by slipping a $20 bill under the proverbial hotel door.

Timing is everything for the Celtics. They can use their Larry Bird Rights to re-sign Pierce to an extension if he opts out of his contract, which would put them an estimated $6 million under the salary cap along with an additional estimated $3 million from Wallace’s contract settlement. Then they can re-sign Pierce to a longer-term, lower-priced contract.

The chance the Celtics would take is allowing Pierce to be wowed by other interested clubs, but if Pierce wants to retire a Celtic, then an agreement can be reached on when to sign an extension, which is really what Pierce desires.
Ainge could also re-sign Allen — the Celtics also own his Bird Rights — then add two solid frontcourt players, one of whom would start as Kendrick Perkins recovers from right knee surgery.
____________________________________________________________________________________

It looks like the savings from having Sheed retire would be about one half of his salary. But... (and that's a mighty big but!!!)

The other glaring mistaken cap info in the same sentence leaves me wondering if the author has ANY clue when talking about the cap. Washburn says that when Pierce opts out of his contract the Celtics would be under the cap by 6mil. Blah, blah, blah. Then he says they can then sign Pierce to a longer-term, lower price contract.

Right up until Pierce signs that "longer-term, lower price contract", the affect of Pierce opting out on the Celtics cap situation is ZERO, NIL, BUPKISS!! The cap hold keeps Pierce's salary on the books, as does the cap hold on Ray's contract (which Washburn fails to even mention - if they want to use Bird rights on him later this summer).

Another fracking lazy media hack who apparently gets paid by the word, write or wrong!! (pun intentionally intended!!)

I don't know where he got the 6mil number, and I don't know if the 3 mil savings on Sheed is correct, but let's do the math:

18.8 Kevin Garnett
9.0 Rajon Rondo
6.3 Rasheed Wallace
4.4 Kendrick Perkins
3.3 Glen Davis
1.2 Avery Bradley

43.0 in guaranteed contracts (nice round figure)

The sal cap numbers look better than the original 53.6 mil projection, so let's use 56 mil.

56-43=13 mil

Add Sheeds 3 mil savings (if we renounce all our free agents!! All free agents have cap hold numbers that count towards the team's total salary, not just the big boys) and that leaves us just about 16 mil to play with. However, that leaves us without any of our own FA's (Pierce, Ray, Daniels, Nate, Scal, etc).

I saw a proposed contract idea for Pierce last night, 3 years at 40 mil, so that eats up just over 13 mil. That leaves the Celtics with just under 3 mil under the cap to lure a free agent to town.

Dang it, I am seeing an answer that I have not seen in print yet and here it is:

Having Sheed retire as a member of the Celtics does NOT help out with freeing enough cap room to sign another player. All it does is save the owners 3 mil. (plus any luxury tax if the team goes over the luxury amount)

In order for Sheed's retirement to add a player to our team, he has to be traded for another player on a team that wants to dump salary. Then he can retire. The Celtics could send the 3 mil cost with Sheed so the other team doesn't pay any money.

That is why the Perk plus Sheed for Beasley trade idea came up.

I haven't seen anything that states that Sheed has filled out any retirement forms and made it official. Perhaps the Celtics are trying to pull off a deal that nets them a player before he makes it official. If they don't get to it by July 1st, they will have to wait another week for the moratorium to end. I can't imagine that many teams will wait too long after July 8, so the clock is ticking!!!

Sorry to take so long to get the answer, but I had to go through the math first. Washburn's idea sounded good, but in the end, all it amounted to was crap.

gyso

[Sam]

gyso,

Thanks for your response. Actually, your brainstorm near the end about Sheed retiring AFTER being traded was precisely what my question was. Is it legal to trade a player in full knowledge that he's about to retire? (I suspect that it is, but I was wondering whether you knew.) Perhaps it's not illegal until the retirement has actually been announced, which could be why the announcement is being delayed (until a trade is put into place).

I actually knew the other information. When I suggested that Sheed's contract might be converted into an instant asset, I was talking about getting a player or two for his contract and allowing the player or two plus half of Sheed's contract to come off the books of the cap-thirsty trading partner.

Sam

[bobheckler]

gyso,

Thanks for your response. Actually, your brainstorm near the end about Sheed retiring AFTER being traded was precisely what my question was. Is it legal to trade a player in full knowledge that he's about to retire? (I suspect that it is, but I was wondering whether you knew.) Perhaps it's not illegal until the retirement has actually been announced, which could be why the announcement is being delayed (until a trade is put into place).

I actually knew the other information. When I suggested that Sheed's contract might be converted into an instant asset, I was talking about getting a player or two for his contract and allowing the player or two plus half of Sheed's contract to come off the books of the cap-thirsty trading partner.

Sam

sam and gyso,

I've heard it said that Rasheed has offered to work with Celtics management to facilitate a trade and then retire. This would help the Celtics with the above scenario.

As far as it ever happening, how about Keith Van Horn?

bob

.

[dboss]

Thumbs down on nthe picks for obvious reasons.

I will elaborate if asked.

dboss

[tjmakz]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/nba/draft/06/25/avery.ap/index.html

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