By The Balls

I can’t decide if this is awesome or horrifying. I think I’m leaning more towards AWESOME.

And the Celtics come out of the gate swinging. This is more like it.

Some shady officiating but what else is new. I just heard a little kid booing the refs and it brought back warm and fuzzy memories.

KG with a SICK dunk from Rondo’s dime. Is anyone worried about this guy anymore? Didn’t think so.

Really good to see Billy Walker back in uniform. Welcome back, Billy!

As soon as Tommy said that Shelden Williams is playing mistake free basketball, he promptly turned the ball over. However, other than that, I have to agree. That kid can play.

Tommy quotes:

“I’m with you, Mom!” (in response to Ray’s mom not liking a call on Ray)

“You are just getting so…so…whatever.”

“Call a foul on the big guuuuuyyyy.” (I think you probably needed to hear that one in his Cookie Monster voice, but whatever.)

God, I love him. I want Tommy to adopt me.

Once again I’ve abandoned you, blog.  I can’t promise it won’t happen again, but I will do my best.

Marquis Daniels has his hair in a bun right now.  He also just came in to the game and scored within his first 10 seconds of play. I think I’m OK with it.

Too many second chance points  for the Jazz tonight. Also at least two shots so far where their guy was WIDE open. Could’ve eaten his lunch before getting his shot off.

Tommy Heinsohn quotes so far:

“You know…phantom fouls really get me.” (We hadn’t noticed, Tommy)

“I had the full roller coaster ride – came in, won 2 championships and got fired. Can’t ask for more than that.”

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Holy crap.

That was unbelievable. From Rondo with 16 assists(!) to Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Eddie House shooting the lights out, to KG looking like KG again, right across the boards, the guys just looked unbeatable. They played phenomenal basketball tonight.

Make room on the Shelden Williams bandwagon, I’m on board. Big Baby is probably kicking himself watching how well he’s playing. He knows his role and doesn’t try to go outside of it. I like this guy.

And who doesn’t look forward to the late show with KG and Puddin’ after a blowout? These two need to have their own reality show when they retire. Comic gold, folks. Comic. Gold.

I have been stuck in rehearsals and not able to watch until tonight, and our DVR has been broken so I’ve had to watch what I can online after the fact. But I’m pretty stoked at what I see so far. I’m hesitant to get too pumped given that this teamed looked immortal at the beginning of last season as well…and we all know how that turned out.

That having been said…

I mean…

It’s a long season and all…

But IF the Celtics can manage to stay healthy…HOLY #%&%O# #$%*!!!!! These guys ROCK! KG is looking good – not his old self yet, and we may never see the old KG again. This is his first major injury and he’s not exactly a youngin’. But still, he’s got that insane look in his eyes that we all know and love and he’s back out there yapping away on defense, which the team sorely missed last season.

Rasheed Wallace (who just hit a monster 3 as I type this) – I think I might be in love with him. Which is odd. I hated him in the Eastern Finals a couple of years back. But I am more and more in love with this move. Kudos to Danny Ainge.  Sheed stretches the floor – BIG time. Sometimes all he has to do is stand behind the 3 point line – you have to defend him so his guy can’t help off him and Pierce can attack the basket. Freaking awesome. AND he’s HILARIOUS. Bonus.

Ray Allen is looking a little funny to me. He’s missing free throws – not a lot but for a guy who never misses, it’s enough to notice. And his shot has just not been falling the way you’d expect.

Marquis Daniels is going to be a huge asset. Another pat on the back to DA for that one. That guy can play. I am loving the Eddie House/Daniels combo when they are on the floor together.

I’m loving the thinner Perk. That’s going to give him more lift in the paint. I’m glad to see him getting credit for being such a kick ass defender.

Admiral Ackbar…I’m digging him. (That’s Shelden Williams for those of you not seeing the resemblance). Starting to see what might have made him a lottery pick once upon a time. He’s a great rebounder and he can score in the paint. We’ll take it. Especially now that Big Baby – um, I mean Glen – was a big giant dumbass and will not be with us until January.

Rondo, where the heck is your jumpshot? And your free throws? I’m not seeing it. However, you’re still awesome in every other capacity. Carry on.

And Puddin’. I love me some Puddin’. He no longer looks like the walking dead, has dropped some poundage, and is quite obviously PUMPED about this season. He keeps saying he feels like someone stole something from him last season – and he’s playing like it.

I like this team. They are somewhat elderly, it’s true, but they are smart. And they’re GOOD. The Lakers also looked good from what I was able to see of their game. And they were missing Gasol. So they’re going to be tough. I think the Celtics want it more. And they feel like they were robbed of the chance to defend their title. I’m kind of writing Cleveland off at this point, don’t know if I should be, but given that we’ve played them once in pre-season (and killed them with KG and Ray on the bench) and once in the regular season and beaten them convincingly…I’m not so sure the King has the help he needs. Orlando remains the X-factor. Haven’t seen them yet and there is a lot of talent on that team. The Wizards also look like they could have something going on there…I love the beginning of the season! Especially when they begin like this!

Oye vay.

So this morning I open up the ESPN NBA page to see what’s going on, you know, like you do, and I read the following headline:

Rumor Central: Pierce keeping options open for 2010-11

When you click the link it brings you to the rumor page where they proceed to quote an article from the Herald that makes it sound like he’d think of leaving Beantown.

“I always said my goal was to play until I was 36, but my goals can change,” Pierce said. “My contract is up when I’m 33, so we’ll see from there. But hopefully I can play three more years after that, and if I’m in good shape and I’m taking care of my body, then maybe I’ll play more. I don’t know. I haven’t really given it much thought. I’m just playing it out.”

“I might get hit in the head (if he opts out),” Pierce said. “You never know.I don’t know yet. Maybe I might leave my options open. Hey, what if they trade Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace away? What if they trade everybody? You want me to be here on a 15-win team? I already did that.”

So I start to panic. I mean, I love this whole team, don’t get me wrong. But me and Puddin’? We have history. If this was a relationship, we’d have broken up and gotten back together at least 27 separate times. I loved him. I hated him. I gave him another chance. He delivered. Big time.

People who just jumped on the Celtics bandwagon when KG and Ray Ray came to town might not remember how ugly things were once upon a time. There was a time I, along with most of the fans in Boston wished they’d trade him. It had nothing to do with his abilities as a player. He played with this scowl permanently imprinted on his face. He did STUPID crap that just made it all the more frustrating to watch how ridiculously talented he was. But then, something changed. He grew up. A lot. He made the decision to buy into what Doc and Danny were trying to do and committed 100%. And that’s when he became the man we all know and love today.

So I couldn’t believe that Pierce would actually want to leave us after all of that. And when I read the actual article, it’s not what he said at all. It’s taken out of context at ESPN, probably because it inspires the exact reaction that I had.

The Herald goes on to say this:

Pierce stopped laughing in time to add, “Truthfully, I’ll evaluate everything at the end of the year. I’ll talk to Danny (Ainge, general manager). But, you know, I’ve always said I want to end my career as a Celtic.”

That’s more like it.

Still, a co-worker said to me, “He’s getting older, would it be such a bad thing if he left?” Um…duh! Yes! It would be an AWFUL thing if he left. I would never get over it! I know KG is the ’star’ and Ray is the one with the beautiful shot and Rondo is the one everyone is watching – but Pierce is the captain. If KG is the heart, Pierce is the guts of the team.

Bill Simmons wrote an article when the Celts won the championship in 2008 and said it perfectly.

We’re basically rooting for laundry in sports. Of the 10 best guys on this particular Boston team, seven of them weren’t Celtics during last season’s despicable tank job, and two of them weren’t Celtics as recently as January. As much as I like the new guys and everything they brought to the team, I still feel like I’m getting to know them. Posey, House and Brown were hired guns. Garnett belongs to Minnesota. Allen belongs to Milwaukee and Seattle. Powe, Rondo and Big Baby just got here. This season was like having a great fantasy team — the guys were thrown together and made some magic happen, but, still, they were thrown together.

But Pierce …

I mean …

We watched that guy grow up. We watched him become a man. We believed in him, we gave up on him, and we believed in him again. I don’t mean to sound like the old man in “Pretty Woman,” but part of me wanted to walk onto the court Tuesday night and just tell Pierce, “It’s hard for me to say this without sounding condescending, but I’m proud of you.” The guy gave us everything he had, altered his NBA tombstone, earned a place in the rafters and brought us a 17th title — just like he promised, by the way — and his sterling play in Games 4 and 5 ranks among the all-time greatest Celtic performances. We spend so much time complaining about sports and being disappointed that our favorite players never end up being who we wanted them to be, but in Pierce’s case, he became everything we wanted him to be. When he held up the Finals MVP trophy after the game and screamed to the crowd in delight, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier for a Boston athlete. How many guys stick with a crummy franchise for 10 solid years, then get a chance to lead that same team to a championship? Does that EVER happen in sports anymore?

Not very often.

Happy birthday #34.

So in all the questions about the upcoming Celtics season, my favorite Celtic has been a tad neglected. Is it understandable given that KG is coming back from a serious injury and we’ve made some major roster changes? Perhaps.

But the Truth - or as my cousins and I affectionately call him, Puddin’ – stood up and made some noise today reminding all of the Celtics faithful that he is still capable of kicking some serious boodandi.

Puddin scored 25 points in 29 minutes with 8 of 12 shooting – not bad. Beyond the numbers, he just looks good. He looks like he’s moving really well, his legs look good, he’s slashing like he used to. He looks like Paul Pierce again and not the ghost of himself that he looked like late in the post-season. What a relief!

Beyond the awesome performance from Puddin’, the rest of the team didn’t look half bad either. KG came out like somebody had set fire to his sneakers and proceeded to shoot 6 of 8 and ended up with 12 points and 7 rebounds. But he’s another one who looks like himself again. There are times when he seems to hesitate a little but I could totally be imagining it.

That second unit continues to blow my mind with how crazy good they are. Sheed is the man. It’s just that simple. And beyond that, I’m more and more impressed with Daniels. I loved the pickup from the beginning, but I had no idea how good he was actually going to be.

I’m slightly concerned that we haven’t seen more from Rondo considering how much we heard about him during camp. But I think we saw a couple of flashes today and the more he plays, the more he’s going to find his rhythm.

That was a little better than that nonsense we saw in Texas the other night, huh?

Although, in the beginning, I was starting to wonder if we were ever going to score again. The boys took awhile to find their rhythm, but once they did, we got a chance to see some nice stuff. A couple of thoughts:

First, Kendrick Perkins is a beast. There have been some rumblings about the changes to his physique this off season and whether or not it will hinder his ability to guard bigs like Shaq and Dwight Howard. Granted, he hasn’t truly been tested in that capacity yet, but he looks to be a lot more agile and he is getting more height on his jumps. On top of that, his offense has drastically improved. He even made his free throws tonight! I think Perk is going to be huge for this team this year. I’m just throwing it out there.

Second, did we all pretty much crap our pants when KG sort of got ‘kicked in the calf’ and go to the ground all twisted under Jared Jeffries? I think my heart actually stopped. But he played almost 22 minutes and he looked pretty good – a heck of a lot better than the other night. The thing that I find the most interesting about KG is the energy he brings to the game. Whether or not he’s hitting his shots, when he comes on to the floor something happens to the team and to the building. It’s pretty fantastic.

Third, how glad are we collectively that Boston signed Sheed and Daniels? Those guys are kick ass. Daniels works really well with Eddie House – I think that’s going to be a team to watch. Sheed just kept knocking down threes in the second half and threw and unbelievable pass to Pierce that ended up in a reverse dunk. It kicked ass. I love what both of these guys bring to the table.

I’m kind of randomly intrigued by Michael Sweetney…does that make me insane? Yes. Yes it does. But still, he’s a huge body with a lot of strength…I don’t know. Tommy thinks he might make the team. So if I’m insane at least I’m in good company.

Lester Hudson and Giddens both showed flashes. Hudson is quick and he can score, the problem seemed to be that he was shooting first and asking questions later. Not the way to earn minutes with Doc.

I think this team is going to be sick. In a good way. Not in a swine flu way. Word.

I know, I know. Inexcusable. However, I was saving the world from crime. Seriously.

Anyway, almost halfway through game 2 of pre-season. Um…where did the offense go?  And did anyone else just notice KG grab the official on the ass while Dickerson was talking?

More after the game…

Once again, Stan Van Jeremy proves to the world at large how big a tool he is.

Via Michael Hurley at NESN.com:

…Van Gundy, who helped lead his team to the NBA Finals in June, said that the NBA was disrespecting the Magic by making them play in the ‘B’ game on Christmas Day.

That secondary, less important game will be played against the Boston Celtics, with the Los Angeles Lakers playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the more coveted 5:30 p.m. ET time slot.

“It’s a lot of little things, and in the long run they’re not very important, but you feel it,” Van Gundy said at a news conference, according to The Orlando Sentinel. “Like the television schedule. Normally on Christmas Day, you get a rematch of the teams that played in the Finals. But instead, we get a Christmas Day matchup of the teams that they [ABC] wanted to see in the Finals.”

I don’t even know where to begin with that. Oh yeah. I do. WHAT A TOOL!!!

Seriously, what a whiny little bitch he is. You want to talk about disrespect, Van Jeremy?

First off, the Celtics took the Magic to seven games in round 2 of the playoffs while missing Kevin Garnett and with the rest of the team running on fumes. The team was decimated by injuries and running out of bodies, but they still almost pulled it off. Kendrick Perkins absolutely punked self proclaimed ‘Superman’ Dwight Howard and played him better than anyone in the post season. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were half dead by the end of the series. To put it nicely – you lucked out.

The Magic absolutely should have won that series. They played better, give them credit. But Boston wasn’t exactly playing with a full deck. For Van Jeremy to insinuate that it is disrespectful to ask them to play the Celtics on Christmas is off the charts stupid.

He’s right that typically it’s a replay of the previous year’s NBA Finals…but since last year’s finals was so boring and borderline unwatchable, ABC thought it might be better to go in another direction.  Nobody wanted to watch Smiley Dwight go up against Llama Gasol in June and nothing has changed. People want to watch Kobe vs. Lebron – which has an added dynamic of awesomeness now that Shaq is a Lebronette.  Just deal with it.

The Celtics were the reigning champs last year and still had to travel to LA to play the Lakers on Christmas Day.  I think Doc mentioned that they’d have liked to have been at home with their families – and they had earned that as the reigning champs – but they never claimed that the league was disrespecting them. And that comment took place in December. Why is Van Jeremy bitching about Christmas in August? Oh yeah. Because he’s a tool.

Just be grateful anyone wants to watch your silly little team at all, dummy. You’d never have gotten as far as you did last year if the Celtics weren’t plagued by injuries and everyone knows it. I give them credit for getting past the Lebrons, I never saw that one coming, but that’s where my respect for the Magic ends. And comments like this don’t do much to make me feel differently.

I hope the Celtics absolutely murder the Magic on Christmas. OK, I hoped that anyway, but still…just shut your pie hole Van Jeremy.