Boston Sports Then and Now

January is really a terrible time for the New Year. It’s always cold, often snowy, the days are short and nobody really enjoys champagne that much.

No, July 4th is a much better time to celebrate a new year. There’s grilling, fireworks, some of the longest days of the year, beach weather, beer, summer vacations – it’s just a much happier time.

But whether you choose to celebrate your changing of the calendars in January with the rest of the world or July with those a little more inclined to sanity, you agree on one thing: a new year means two things. The first is a fresh slate, a tabula raza, if you will, in which anything can happen – as Bill Watterson once aptly put it, “It’s a Magical World.”

The second, of course, is a chance to learn from your mistakes in the years prior.

Flashback: Monday, September 14th, 2009. Foxboro, Massachusetts. The Patriots, riding a consecutive-wins streak of 11 over the lowly Buffalo Bills found themselves trailing, 24-13 with 5:32 to go. Tom Brady looked unsure of himself in the pocket, thanks in large part to Bills’ DE Aaron Schobel spending more time in the Pats’ offensive backfield than any of Brady’s teammates.

The Bills were going to beat the Patriots for the first time at Gillette Stadium. On Monday night. On national television. In Week One. Trent Edwards was going to beat Tom Brady – who, by the way, hadn’t lost a regular-season game since December. Not of last year or the year before, but December of 2006. Could it really be?

Brady and Moss will need to be on the same page at all times if the Patriots have any hope of ascending to NFL greatness again.

Naw, of course not. This was Tom Brady’s team.

This was homo-undecuple perfection. They wouldn’t lose at home in Week One. Definitely not to the Bills. Brady wouldn’t let them.

And he didn’t; in the game’s last 2:06, Tom Terrific twice found Ben Watson in the end zone for Pats’ touchdowns, giving the Patriots a hard-earned (but maybe not hard-fought) victory over a once-proud AFC East patsy.

As the season wore on, however, something became painfully evident: these weren’t your now-18 month old cousin’s Patriots.

Perfection was not their forte – petulance, perhaps, or maybe even pitiful was more like it.

And by the time Ray Rice went MAC Truck on their front seven in the first round of the playoffs the next January, something Pats fans had feared since the Week 2 loss to The Sanchize’s New York Jets had become a painful reality: they just weren’t that good.

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The best days are way behind these three now.

This was supposed to be a very easy recap to write.

Headlines abounded: “Sheed steps up,” “Kobe loses the Magic, Wilts down the stretch,” “Like Christina sang, Can’t Hold them down.” And then it happened. The Celtics finally did in the playoffs what they’d been doing since October – buckled in the fourth quarter.

You’d forgotten what it felt like. I know you had, because I had, too. They handled Wade, LeBron and Howard, turning 3/5 of the All-NBA team into afterthoughts.

And they were poised to do the same to Kobe, too. They weathered one Kobe storm after another. They shut him down. They shut everyone else down. They went down, 1-0. They went down, 2-1. Then they went up, 3-2. And then they quit.

History will show that the Celtics had a big lead in game 7 and just got too tired to hold it, got a little lost without their defensive stopper, and will surely make quite a few more excuses. But the fact is the Celtics lost this series between the 6-minute mark of the first quarter of game 6 and halftime.

It was at that point that the Lakers did what the Celtics couldn’t. They remained composed – owing in large part to their coach – when the chips were down and when they were nearly out, both going into Game 6 and late into Game 7. When Kobe struggled in game 7, Gasol and…yes, Ron Artest…came to his aid. Bynum gave the most that he could, and Odom filled in admirably. Fisher hit clutch shots when clutch shots were needed and stood up for his team, especially in game 3. With the exception of Game 4, the Lakers bench outplayed the Celtics bench, even though the depth on the Green side was far greater than that of the Purple and Gold.

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Are we in for one more heaping helping of Gino before summer officially sets in? Let's hope so.

They’ve been at this for a long time, now.

Three generations of NBA fans – since the modern league’s inception, really – have watched them play for the crown.

And rarely have they disappointed.

In a combined 50 Finals appearances, The Lakers and Celtics have won 64 percent of the time (the Celtics, of course, at a much higher clip than the Lakers).

They’ve played each other 12 times for the Larry O’Brien trophy, which is more times than the Bobcats, Raptors, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Hornets, Nuggets, Clippers, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Pacers, Heat, Kings, Magic, Nets, and Jazz combined have played for said championship.

It’s not that the two franchises are great – no, they’re truly exceptional – nor that they continue to define what the NBA is and was. The rivalry that the Celtics have with the Lakers is a polarizing one – the Green still play the physical, defensive game that traditionalists consider the “right” way, but the Lakers play the game the way so many in their entertainment-hungry town expect it to be played – lots of offense, lots of glamour and, as the Showtime Lakers have been made to realize in some 80% of their Finals matchups with the Celtics, lots of vulnerabilities. Will that hold true this year? Here’s one observer’s thoughts on the matchups:

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It was a big night for the Big Ticket.

It took me a long time to figure out what to write about this team and this series. I watched highlights, I looked at stats, I looked at more stats, I stopped looking at stats for a few minutes to stare at the pictures of Mary-Kate and Ashley that popped up on Google when I searched “cavs-celtics,” and then I watched Doc sit down for the postgame presser. He just looked around for a few seconds, seemingly completely relieved, relaxed, contented, then broke out in a big laugh. Then something popped into my head.

So often during a baseball season, we’re reminded that it’s not a sprint, but a marathon. We don’t hear that as often during basketball, but it couldn’t be more true to this Celtics season. They took their time with injuries. They put up with chemistry problems. They took bad losses and lucky wins, knowing what their goal was: win the division, get a top-4 seed and get healthy in time for April. Then win. And don’t stop winning.

Now, the team is healthy. The team is clicking. Wade has been vanquished. The LeBron James Sweepstakes have begun, prematurely. There are more dragons – and probably the most powerful – ahead, but suddenly nobody’s doubting this team’s ability to slay them.

There were moments during the game that merit mentioning, probably most notable among them the very end of the first half where Rondo attempted to corral Shaq, was called for his third foul and Doc sent Michael Finley to the scorer’s table to replace him with under 30 seconds to go. Rondo waved him back. Garnett may still be the spiritual leader, and Pierce may be the team’s rock, but the Celtics are Rondo’s now.

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The only weakness in Rondo's game was his hesitation to shoot.

Courtesy of North Station Sports

The NBA has been blessed with some beautiful shot form’s over the years. The Association has also had it’s share of ugly, non traditional shooting forms. Bill Cartwright’s scary, alien-like shot comes to mind, Robert Parish’s high arching “tee it up” type shot, though deadly, will never appear in text book’s either. Joakim Noah’s dis contorted shooting form may only appear in instructional DVD’s displaying what not to do when shooting. Dare I cite Magic Johnson’s shot. Magic’s shot was never very pretty and during his first eight seasons he was unreliable in hitting the perimeter stroke.

I am just citing a few examples of the many unsightly shots over the year’s. None of these players have had their shooting form analyzed as much as we have seen with the Celtics point guard the past three seasons.

In all my year’s of following professional basketball, I have never seen a player’s shot more scrutinized then Rajon Rondo’s. Yesterday we looked at his recent improvements and how this will effect opponent’s preparations when facing the C’s. Today the Globe is featuring another similar story on the subject.

Since taking on the role of floor general for the team with (arguably) the best starting line-up in basketball, Rondo’s shortcomings have always been a topic of scrutiny. His inability to not only hit the open outside shot but also his lack of confidence in attempting them when wide open has been listed as one of the (few) weaknesses the Celtics have. I would often find myself screaming at my plasma, “shoot it,” as Rondo would continually pass up the open shot, often leaving the Celtics with a lower percentage shot and, many times, a turnover. Playing into the hands of their opponents, nothing seemed to remedy this act of repeated half court breakdown caused by Rondo’s refusal to shoot when wide open.

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Rondo could be the MVP of the Celtics.

Courtesy of North Station Sports

The average NBA fan determines player dominance by their ability to score the basket and control games through well rounded scoring ability.

Rajon Rondo, widely known as a horrid jump shooter, continues to prove that shooting isn’t the only way to take over a game. Third in the NBA is assists (9.2 APG) and leading the league in steals (2.7 SPG), Rondo is, without question, a top tier point guard. He continues to shoot plain embarrassingly from the foul line (46 percent) and, though only attempting 15 three-point shots this season, he has made but 2.

No, Rondo is not a good shooter. We have established that and it’s plain for any sports novice to see. Their is no such thing as a “streak” with Rondo because he rarely makes (or attempts) two consecutive jump shots. I suggest that, at this point in the season, we move on from this point.

Rondo took flight in the fourth..

How many times have we seen a headline like this? This one is taken from today’s Boston Globe story on last night’s 98-89 victory over the Bucks.

There seems to be a point, especially at the Garden, where Rondo will take over a game, build team momentum and excite the spectators at the Garden.

How can a guy with such awful shooting percentage from the distance take over a game?

Confidence! It comes through one made shot around the basket. He can excite an audience through a magician-like ball fake or spectacular Houdini-like pass to find a wide open teammate. At the point this act of magic occurs, it usually marks the beginning of the end for opponents that have been able to keep pace with the C’s to that point in the contest. Last night it came in the fourth quarter. Rajon started by hitting a difficult shot in the paint. The, up to that point, subdued crowd roared and the C’s were off to the races. Led by Rondo, the Celtics outscored the Bucks 18-27 in the fourth.

Eight Celtics players scored (6 in double digits) and Rondo had his large hands in every one of those players points. The Celtics hit 35 field goals and Rondo had 13 assists. Rondo had an assist on nearly 40 percent of the Celtics’ points scored. The closest Buck to notch an assist finished EIGHT behind Rondo! He was tied with Garnett with 9 rebounds. Rondo grabbed 40 percent of the C’s rebounds, he was directly responsible for 3 of the C’s 5 offensive rebounds. Rondo had more rebounds then Pierce (5), Perkins (5), Wallace (2) and Williams (o) combined.

How can a 6′1 player out rebound four Celtics front line players combined?

Long arms have something to do with it but quickness, hustle  and high basketball IQ are the main reason for Rondo’s rebounding exploits. Rondo is often over-looked for his basketball intelligence by people who only focus on his lack of outside shooting effectiveness.

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