David Trageser's Boston Celtics fan blog

Y'all better sit down, I have some serious news...  I've decided to head out on my own and start a new Celtics blog, which I am calling the C of Green.  I'll be bringing the same hard hitting analysis about the Boston Celtics as I have here, so if you've enjoyed reading my thoughts and musings about professional basketball, please follow me over to http://CofGreen.blogspot.com .  

I hope that most of you will continue to read my blog on the other side, I probably don't say it often enough but I am truly grateful for everyone who reads faithfully, occaisonally or hardly at all.  So in the words of the immortal Douglas Adams, so long and thanks for all the fish! 

Continue reading "Weigh the Anchors and Set Sail!"

I'd like to take a break from all of this basketball nonsense for a moment and address an issue that has been eating at me since this past fall and desperately needs a resolution in the near future.  As many of you out there know, Spring Training is less than a month away, and for the first time in more than a decade, it seems as though the Boston Red Sox may be facing a new season without their captain, Jason Varitek.  This is just wrong, and although he'll be 37 in April and his offensive production has dipped dramatically in recent years, the Red Sox still need number 33 behind the plate come April.  Anything else would be a travesty, plain and simple.

Why do the Sox need Varitek?  Despite his offensive numbers, Vartek is still valuable to the Red Sox because of the leadership in the clubhouse and on the field that he brings to the table.  If there's a harder working catcher who has a greater impact on his pitching staff in terms of maximizing potential out there, I'll eat my shorts and write a gushing 1,500 word column about how Derek Jeter is the greatest shortstop to ever play the game.  But don't bother looking anywhere else, because that guy doesn't exist, at least not in today's game (you know it's true, otherwise I wouldn't have made such a ridiculous offer, right?).

Continue reading "Rightful Place"

Anyone catch that Spurs Lakers game from last night?  It was a fantastic, wonderful game from tip-off to final buzzer.  It came down to the last possession, and there was a certain exchange that I found to be quite delightful that may just come in handy sometime later this year...  

         After hitting a three with less than 15 seconds to go, Kobe Bryant (who at this point was so hot that I'm surprised he didn't melt through the floor) nailed a contested three-pointer to give the Lakers a 111-109 lead, and a timeout was called.  In celebration, Kobe struts down the floor and sets an NBA record for consecutive chest bumps in a regular season game.  Kobe celebrated so exuberantly; you’d have thought he’d won the Spanish National Lottery or something.  Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought for sure the game clock read all zeros. 

Continue reading "A Quick Aside... (NOT!)"

The Celtics finally lost, and although many in the sports world would have you believe that the sky is falling, I for one am not entirely convinced.  Give credit to Kobe and the Lakers, they played hard on Christmas day and earned their win.  They were physical with the Celtics and very aggressive on both ends of the floor, forcing Boston turnovers and making big shots when it counted, but I'm not worried, and I don't believe that the Lakers have redeemed themselves at all for the turd egg they laid in last season's Finals.  Since when does winning one regular season game at home count as a statement game?  How does one victory on National TV even come close to making up for a humiliating 39 point ego-ectomy (to use the basketbawful terminology) of a defeat in basketball's biggest game of the year or the three embarassing losses that preceeded it?

Continue reading "Are They Who We Thought They Were?"

Sorry for the gap in between posts, but I feared blowback after the way the Celtics thumped the Blazers on national TV and I didn't want to hurt any feelings (too much...).  Needless to say, people in Blazer land were super pissed off, and honestly, I can't blame them.  But it was only one loss, and more than anything, it showed the Blazers (and their fans) where they need to be at season's end if they truly want to compete.

In other news, I am officially home for the holidays sans laptop (which is no longer soaked in whiskey and is working again, woo hoo!), so my posts for the next week or two may be spotty and somewhat behind on the breaking news, but I'll do my best.  The good news, however, is that while I'm home I get to watch every single Celtics game, so I won't be lacking in material to cover.

Continue reading "Jet-Lagged"

First, check out this, it's super hilarious and well written.  Now, on to the good stuff... 

We're less than four hours away from the Blazers and Celtics tipping off in Boston (catch it on ESPN if you don't want to listen to Mike Rice gush over Channing Frye and you love Van Gundy/Jackson as much as I do), so I figured I'd provide a few nuggets of wisdom about what might be the keys to the game for both sides.  Now before you all collectively groan in disgust, let me reassure you that what follows may actually prove insightful, unlike most other "key to tonight's match-up" pieces that simply say score, defend and rebound better than your opponent.  There are a few things that I'm looking for as indicators of successful play by both sides which go much deeper than the usual mundane crap, so bear with me.

Continue reading "Celtics v. Blazers Preview Extravaganza"

(cue the Biggie...)  I'm going out of town for the long holiday weekend, so all of you out there (if there are any of you) are going to have to survive for a few days without my wonderful and insightful analysis about all things basketball for a few days.  (I'll pause for a moment to let you scream in anguish and control your sobbing...)  But fear not, I will be back with even more opinions and prognostications about the realm of professional sports on Tuesday, and by then I should have plenty to write about.

Also, I'm going to try and score some seats to the Blazers/Heat game going down tonight in Portland, which would be my first live NBA game of this young season.  I've never seen D-Wade or Oden (obviously) in person, so it will definitely be interesting to see those guys in action.  It may sound silly, but I firmly believe that television cameras distort the size and quickness of these guys.  You don't really get a feel for the speed of the game unless you're actually there to see it live.  It sounds odd, but I can tell you from personal experience that it's true.

Continue reading "Thanksgiving Send Off Spectacular"

Rajon Rondo should bake a nice cake with the words "thank you for trading Chauncey Billups" written in icing on the top and send it to Detroit Pistons GM Joe Dumars.  It wouldn't hurt if all of the Celtics helped (even Scalabrine), but Rondo in particular should take the lead on this one.  Stop scratching your heads and looking confused and don't ask why, you should know very well by now that some rambling, tangential diatribe of an explanation is forthcoming...

Does anyone remember the head to head match ups between the Celtics and the Pistons last season?  I certainly do, and do you know what the number one issue always was for the Boston Celtics against the Pistons?  It was the point guard match up, which at the time was the 6'3" 202 pound Chauncey Billups against the 6'1" 170 pound Rajon Rondo.  Does anyone remember the first Celtics home loss from last season, because I sure do (I was a history major, you know).  To refresh your memory, Chauncey Billups dropped 28 points and 8 assists on the Celtics that night, including two free throws that decided the game in the final second and propelled Detroit to an 87-85 win.  Although Rajon Rondo did not foul Billups on the decisive play (it was, of course, Tony Allen), Rondo was over matched for the entire game in what was to be a foreshadowing of future match ups with the big point guard.  

Continue reading "Raving About Rondo Part Deux: A Pat on the Back For Joe Dumars"

Don’t let the 9-2 record or the constant late game heroics of Paul Pierce fool you, something is very wrong with the 2008-2009 Boston Celtics.  Actually, “something” isn’t even the right word, because there are multiple things wrong with this year’s Celtics team that if uncorrected, will spell disaster for the defending champs come springtime.  If you don’t already believe me, then I would respectfully refer you to the tape of last Friday’s pathetisad home loss to the Denver Nuggets as evidence supporting my forthcoming claims. 

Sure, it was only one game, and sure, it’s only November, but that game was like the antithesis of a youtube highlight reel of the Boston Celtics, showcasing everything wrong with the previously invincible Boston Celtics in one concise, well-edited 48 minute clip.  Last Friday’s game was so bad (how bad was it?), it’s taken me nearly a half dozen drafts of this post to decide which flaws to focus on and how to describe them without making myself violently ill.  

Continue reading "Alarm Bells are Ringing"

Dear Antonio,

Greetings!  I thought i'd write you to congratulate you on your successful separation from the Denver Nuggets, and to offer some advice to you about how to spend your next thirty days of unemployment before resuming the endless grind that is the NBA season.  As a sportswriter and a liberal arts college graduate, I am an expert in not having a job, so you should read carefully and really consider what I have to say.  Normally, I wouldn't give away my secrets to jobless success for free, but for you, I'm willing to make an exception.

I'm going to violate my normal protocol and get right to the point here: watch TV.  That's my own personal secret to successfully combatting boredom in the many hours of the day when I should be working.  Oh yeah, and I read a lot of sports pages, thanks in no small part to the miracles of the interwebs.  There's a whole lot of content out there for the basketball crazed mind to devour, and thanks to cable and god knows how many different channels of ESPN, there always seems to be a basketball game on TV.  My advice to you, Antonio McDyess, is to watch as much basketball as you possibly can in the next 30 days, mostly because, in my humble opinion, watching is the next best thing to playing.  

Continue reading "For Your Consideration: An Open Letter to Antonio McDyess"