New England Sports Beat

Flashback to June of 2008, the Celtics defense put the clamps down on the L.A. Lakers and closed out the NBA finals in 5 games. The Celtics brought that spirit back against the Sixers in Game 3 on Wednesday night.

Nobody wants to play the Celtics right now. They’re a tough out. Kevin Garnett has been the Celtics postseason MVP thus far, averaging over 20 points and 11 rebounds per game. But aside from his production, his leadership and compete level has been contagious… bringing back “Ubuntu”.

Also inspiring is watching Avery Bradley play through a reoccurring shoulder injury. In Game 3, his shoulder came out of socket again on a drive to the basket and a collision with Elton Brand. I had a terrible feeling watching Bradley walk away from this play with his left arm hanging down. A separated shoulder is unmistakeable. Celtics trainer Eddie Lacerte could not put Bradley’s shoulder back in place on the Celtics bench and escorted him to the locker room. At that point I thought Bradley was done. But not only did he come back, he played terrific on-ball defense with one good arm for most of the forth quarter.

And there are some intangibles that are fueling the Celtics resurgence. The team is using the media’s ‘Celtics are old’ notion in a very “Belichickian” way. Kevin Garnett was very poignant in addressing some bulletin board martial from Hawks owner, Michael Gearon Jr., where Gearon Jr.labeled KG as “the dirtiest guy in the league”. Garnett had some choice words for Gearon Jr. after the game 6 close-out win over the Hawks. Watch Rajon Rondo’s reaction after game 1 when David Aldridge referred the Celtics as an “older team.” Rondo said, “…look at us we’ll be fine”, then bailed on the interview. I liked that.

Lastly, given the context of the impending “last year of the big 4″ and the intensity level of their defense, a championship run appears to be aligning for the Celtics.

The question is… can they sustain?

It’s been almost a year since Aaron Rome’s game 3 hit in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals that ended Nathan Horton’s season. It’s likely that the Bruins will go though the 2012 playoffs without Horton, who’s still suffering from the effects of concussion symptoms. Horton did come back for the start of this season but sustained another concussion on January 22nd against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Aaron Rome is not known for being a dirty player, but this hit has no place in the NHL. It was frustrating last year hearing people talk about that hit being “clean” or how Horton was partly responsible for not keeping his head up. I play hockey and understand the responsibility of all skaters to not put themselves in vulnerable positions, but Rome’s transgression crossed the line of good sportsmanship and hockey sense, look at why:

1) Late

The hit was way late, not “a little late”. If you watch the video, you can see that Horton takes about 3 strides after passing the puck before the hit occurs. Horton is not expecting to get leveled after taking 3 strides without the puck. Hitting the non puck carrier is an interference penalty.

2) Launch

Rome did not simply hold his position when the hit happened, he launched himself into Horton. Freeze the replay at the time of impact and you’ll see both of Rome’s skates completely off of the ice.

3) High Elbow

Rome let his left elbow fly from the shoulder check motion. The problem was that it was an elbow to the head area. This is precisely what the NHL is trying to banish from the league.

4) Speed

Horton was skating through the neutral zone with great speed. Rome’s decision to “stand up” the offensive player who’s skating at this rate of speed put Horton at risk. Hockey is a tough game and I think it should stay that way, but Rome could have made a different defensive play that wasn’t so reckless.

Why talk about this now? Well the hit is still effecting Nathan Horton as well as the Bruins 2012 playoff run. Rightfully so, the NHL suspended Rome for 4 games, resulting in him missing the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately, Horton is paying an even bigger penalty.

The Jeremy Lin story has blown up and deservedly so. For an undrafted Ivy Leaguer to drop 38 points in one of his first NBA starts is unprecedented.  However, in the midst of all the euphoria, “Linsanity” has also revealed a dark undercurrent of racial tension.

Last Monday, boxer Floyd Mayweather tweeted:

“Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.”

Whether or not Mayweather is aware, the statement serves to diminish Lin’s talent. Yes, Lin’s ethnicity is part of the story, but Mayweather’s commentary insidiously suggests that Asian players do not have the ability to be NBA stars. To be honest, I’m really not surprised by these comments, considering what Mayweather said in the past about fellow boxer Manny Pacquiao. This also sounds to me like what Rush Limbaugh said about Donavan McNabb in 2003.

Jason Whitlock, a columnist for FOX Sports, seemed to get caught up in “Linsanity” such that he lost his mind, posting this on his Twitter account after Lin scored 38 points against the LA Lakers:

“Some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight”

He later apologized for his tweet. But seriously Jason, you really thought this would be received as witty or funny?

ESPN’s Inexplicable Headline

You’d think that a media giant like ESPN (not to mention who’s profited greatly from the Jeremy Lin story), would display a bit more professionalism/morality. Not to be. The New York Knicks lost to the New Orleans Hornets last night 89-85. On its mobile site last night, ESPN posted a headline titled, “Chink in the Armor” in response to Lin’s 9 turnovers and the first Knicks loss since Lin took the starting role as point guard.

ESPN released this discreet statement to address the matter. But the damage done, revealing another ugly chapter in this story. Even if this headline was unintentionally racially insensitive, you have to wonder what the editorial process is at ESPN and why no one had the common sense to see this before it was published.

Maybe the media today is being fashioned in a way that is too much, too fast, predicated on viral/manic stories that are delivered to us until we can have no more. With all the emerging outlets for opinion (this blog being one of them) there has to be some culpability for hateful speak or racial stereotypes. These things only serve to foster lies and disharmony. Moreover they cloud a terrific story, that of Jeremy Lin.

(Photo by Ed Wines)

The Celtics out-willed and out-toughed the the New York Knicks last night to a 91-89 win. This was clearly a Doc signature win, which is to keep fighting until the end, persevere through adversity and refuse to quit. Doc preaches these things in his time-out talks and the Celtics certainly “bought in” last night.

In the second half, the Celtics defensive pressure wore down the Knicks. And while Knicks kept it close throughout the game, I just felt the momentum sway in the Celtics favor early in the 3rd quarter because of their energy. Paul Pierce dropped 30 and Kevin Garnett add 15 in a solid effort for the C’s. Credit both the players and Doc Rivers for this victory.

Void in the Middle

The Celtics have been winning despite some shortcomings at the center position. KG is not a true center, given his build. Jermaine O’Neill is good player, but he is nowhere near is former All-Star self of 10 years ago. JO does add some individual defensive abilities with his shot-blocking and his adept skill of taking charges.

I think team defense has vastly improved since the beginning of the season, but on many occasion the defensive rotations are still a step slow especially within the interior. They seem to give a lot of uncontested points in the paint. Don’t get me wrong, JO has done a good job this year, but he simply shouldn’t be a starting center on a team that is making a run at the championship.

Greg Stiemsma, has shown some shot-blocking ability, but need work on his team defense. I liked the energy that Chris Wilcox brought last night and his willingness to crash the offensive boards. This is exactly what the Celtics need from him coming off the bench.

I hate to harp on it, but Danny undervalued Perk (Kendrick Perkins) in trading him away to Oklahoma City last year. (By the way the Celtics were first the Atlantic Conference when the trade happened). The C’s are going to have to figure this out if they have any shot this year.