211 days. 211 days since I last saw the Celtics play a game of basketball. In those 211 days I lost a job, found a new job, made my coaching debut, ran the Beach to Beacon, started and finished P90X, and completed three more college courses. Needless to say, it had been too long. I watched pre-game, post-game, and was even so excited that I watched another preseason game (Mavs vs. Thunder) because I just couldn't get enough. So here are my thoughts on this game and the 2011/2012 Boston Celtics.
Starters: The starting lineup looks like it's going to be Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jermaine O'Neal. This is definitely a veteran unit and shouldn't offer too many surprises. Pierce and Allen have aged well, so I would expect that their play will be much the same as it was last year. Kevin Garnett looked good today, but is still a far cry from the KG that arrived in Boston four years ago. The real question with KG is what he'll be feeling like in April. According to Shaq's new autobiography, KG was in intense pain last year playing every day and had a hard time just making it through the games......not good news. This is the last year of his contract, and it wouldn't shock me if this ended up being the last year of his career. If you're a KG fan, like I am, then enjoy this year because it could be the last time you'll get to see "The Big Ticket" play in the NBA. At this point in his career Jermaine O'Neal is what he is, he'll give the Celtics somewhere around 1o points and probably 7 rebounds a game this year with a block or two a game. If this was 5 years ago I'm not sure this team would lose a single game all season, but being 2011 and not 2006, the starters are going to need some nights off.
Bench: VERY IMPRESSIVE. After the unfortunate news about Jeff Green needing heart surgery, the idea of having a great bench didn't seem likely, but I was pleasantly surprised today. Marquis Daniels, starting today because of a minor Pierce injury, played very well. He appeared to be completely over the spinal injury that ended his season last year, making cuts to the basket and playing good defense. Of every player, he probably had the best game for the Celtics today. Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox were solid off the bench as well, providing solid minutes and giving the Celtics much needed athleticism. Having Big Baby be the best sub the past few years has made me forget what an actual athletic big man can do. Bass and Wilcox both DUNKED today, something Big Baby never did. Keyon Dooling played well and will probably backup both Rondo and Ray Allen, while Avery Bradley played fairly well and will see playing time this year as a backup.
Rookies: Jajuan Johnson (JJJ) and E'twaun Moore played decently for their first NBA game. Moore, the second round pick, actually looked like he could handle some playing time this year and Johnson showed flashes of great defense. With multiple back to back games and even one back to back to back set of games, Johnson and Moore will get their chance to play.
Bottom Line: As much as I love the Celtics, I had VERY little faith in their ability to win a championship this year, but I'm coming around. I know it was only a preseason game and against the Raptors at that, but the bench showed that they can play and actually provide a break for our starters. If they can find one more guy to come off the bench, either a scoring guard or rebounding big man, then they are right back in the championship hunt. Don't write off this veteran bunch yet.
TIM TEBOW
When I sat down to write this column, the Patriots vs Broncos game hadn't started yet, but I was already planning on writing about how Tim Tebow had beaten Tom Brady. Even though it didn't happen, I think it says everything you need to know about how I feel about Tebow that I was confident he'd beat Tom Brady. He's taking the nation by storm with his Tebowing, 4th quarter comebacks, and Bible banter. He is the best thing to happen for religion in sports and seems to be that "good guy" that every professional sports league is looking for to market. His future is bright and as long as he keeps winning, he'll continue to be a fan favorite.
TLC
For those of you who don't know....oh ok, I know that none of you know....TLC stands for Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (oh my). It's a wrestling pay per view where there is a match type for each of the letters (a tables match, ladder match, chairs match). There's really only two reasons that this is even getting a part of the blog, and the first is because ZACK RYDER won the United States Title. At the beginning of the year he was one of the guys that you looked and knew he wasn't going to be employed much longer. He was never on Raw or Smackdown (Zackdown) and certainly never made any appearances on pay per view, but then he took the reigns on his career. He started a Youtube show called Z True Long Island Story, proclaiming himself the "Internet Champion". He played up his Jersey Shore roots and made entertaining videos that ran for about 5 minutes once a week. The videos were hilariously funny and poked fun at the fact that he was never on the shows and had no merchandise. Amazingly, fans started flocking to the videos and he started to become a fan favorite. At first it was just a noticeable reaction the few times he was on t.v., but then it grew to fans chanting his name during shows, demanding that he be on Raw or Smackdown. By the end of the summer he had enough of a following to not only stave off being fired, but was starting to appear on Raw regularly. I may have even bought his t-shirt. Fast forward to the last pay per view of the year and he FINALLY won the United States title, one of the second tier championships in the WWE. For wrestling fans this was truly the year of the Long Island Iced Z, Zack Ryder.
The second reason is because Daniel Bryan won the World Heavyweight Championship. I know that none of you have any idea who Daniel Bryan is, and that's ok because there's really only one thing I want to point out. According to wwe.com, he is 5'10" tall and 210lbs. Those numbers are curiously close to someone else I know who has always been told they were too small to be a professional wrestler. But if it's good enough for the World Champion, then maybe it's not too small. Congrats to D-Bry.
Once again thanks for reading, be sure to go back and read all my other blog entries, leave a comment, follow me on twitter @joshviola19, and one more time for Zack Ryder....Woo Woo Woo.....You Know It.
-Josh
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