DaveChung.com - A Guy’s Blog From Girl World

In what will undoubtedly go down as one of the more dramatic moments of this year’s NBA playoffs, Celtics captain Paul Pierce (who I admit is my favorite basketball player) made a dramatic comeback after sustaining what looks to be a sprained knee to help bring the Boston Celtics to their first NBA Finals victory in twenty years - beating the Los Angeles Lakers 98-88 in the first game of the much anticipated series.

Pierce was injured when fellow Celtic Kendrick Perkins accidentally landed on him while going for a rebound, which led to Pierce being carried off the court by his teammates before being wheeled to the locker room by team officials. Now in his tenth NBA season in what has been an almost injury free career (other than being stabbed, of course), the air went out of the Boston Garden for a minute as the team has rarely been without Pierce for the past ten seasons, let alone in the NBA Playoffs.

Even with Pierce off the court, Ray Allen stepped up in his absence, having a great overall game in what has been a roller coaster playoff journey for the veteran who has played some of his worst basketball in spurts during this year’s playoffs. As expected, Kevin Garnett played with all the passion and desire (with the thunderous dunks to match) that appeared to make all those frustrating years in Minnesota worthwhile.

However, while Pierce is expected to be a hero at times, Celtics veteran P.J. Brown surprised everyone with some huge contributions off the bench. While Brown was not an offensive presence, his ability to step up in place of an injured Kendrick Perkins to play some solid defense and pull down some crucial rebounds made him one of the games most valuable players. Just how much is P.J. Brown under the radar after his long NBA career? He’s so under the radar that his NBA.com widget looks like this:



While P.J. Brown was providing valuable minutes, Pierce’s return to the game energized the Celtics crowd - a la Willis Reed of the New York Knicks. Not only did Pierce’s return provide a mental lift to the team, his back-to-back three pointers gave the Celtics some breathing room against a very talented Lakers team that will continue to fight (and win some fights) as the series goes on.

For the Celtics to win the series, they will undoubtedly have to continue to contain Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant like they did tonight. With stellar defense on Bryant by a combination of P.J. Brown, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, James Posey, AND Kendrick Perkins, the Celtics managed to hold the MVP to a near-average performance, which is no small feat against a determined Bryant.

Of course, Bryant had a few shots that made anyone watching the game shake their head and wonder “How is this guy that good?”, but as long as the Celtics can keep these moments few and far between, the championship drought stands a chance of becoming the rags to riches story that has been the Celtics transformation from 2007 to 2008.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has won every NBA Playoff series where his team has won the first game of the series, so by the Celtics winning Game 1, they give themselves a chance at taking what will be one of the most entertaining and intense NBA Finals match ups we’ve seen in years.

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The Boston Celtics have clinched a spot in the NBA Playoffs with the best record in the Eastern Conference, which is incredible news for all Celtics fans. While I’m not that old and liked Michael Jordan much more than Larry Bird, I used to cheer on Celtic teams that had stars like Eric Montross, Eric Williams (once my favorite player), Todd “Ding Dong” Day, Travis Knight, and Marty Conlon.

It is a far cry from these Celtic teams of lore to have a lineup that has three perennial all-stars on it: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

Honestly, I don’t get to watch the C’s that much anymore now that I’m on the West Coast, which used to be one of my favorite things to do when I was in high school. Well, it’s location and the fact that I get too restless to sit and watch basketball games more than a couple times a month.

Ok, it’s that and the fact that I still hold a hatred deep down in my soul for the NBA for the Pacers/Pistons brawl starring Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, and Jermaine O’Neal punching fans in the face. I will never forgive the NBA for that night and the way that they likely paid off commentators and networks to say “the players have to defend themselves in that situation” in a full force PR emergency plan. I will never forget the first time I saw that on TV and vowed to not watch basketball again for a year (and I didn’t!). Since then, basketball has never returned to its spot as my favorite sport to watch.

Honestly, NBA basketball is almost painful for me to watch because I hate the league so much for standing behind players’ actions who punch paying fans in the face who make it possible for these some thugs (not all of them) to have a job that overpays them as much as it does. I know a lot of professional athletes and know that it’s not normal what happened that night, but it’s still something that I can never forgive the NBA for handling the way that it did in terms of its PR spin. It makes me sick to this day.

Anyways, where were we?Ah yes, so the Celtics had some dark days, then some bright days with Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, who made up one of the least consistent, but most entertaining duos in all of basketball. Antoine shot 3’s like the white Jason Williams and Paul Pierce was fairly consistently awesome, but Walker’s antics made the whole team inconsistent. The team made it to the Eastern Conference finals and made the playoffs generally, but it was never going to be a championship team and rebuilding felt like it was taking forever.

Have Celtic fans ever wondered “Why did it take so long to rebuild?”

Because the Boston Celtics absolutely sucked at the NBA Draft for years! In addition to that, free agents were wooed from other teams in exchange for draft picks, giving the Celtics a fairly low number of picks until the mid-2000’s.

Not only did the Cletics choose crappy players, but they would let go of and traded players who “weren’t developing,” only to see them become superstars on another team with a better coaching staff.

And for what and for whom?

Losing seasons, some dudes who aren’t on the team anymore, Raef Lafrentz, and a frustrated team captain?

While the C’s are looking great and I wish them the best, I thought it would be fun to look at their draft choices from the past 10 years to see why it took a crapload of money, veterans, and a whole lot of time to finally make this rebuilding process a success in 2008 because of wasted years in the NBA Draft.

1997: The Tim Duncan Year

The Boston Celtics Select….

#3: Chauncey Billups: Traded him, not like he was going to be good…

#6: Ron Mercer: Spent less time with more teams than almost any player I can name whose name isn’t Marcus Banks, no longer in the league.

#55: Ben Pepper: Who the hell is Ben Pepper?

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

#5: Tony Battie: Spent later years with the Celtics as one of its “marquee” players.

#9: Tracy McGrady: Understandable, considering he was a early entry gamble.

#19: Scot Pollard: Lose Chauncey Billups, but at least we have Scot Pollard in 2008, who we clearly wanted back then but just missed out.

#54: Mark Blount: Also spent later years with the Celtics and I’m sure he was better than Ben Pepper.

1998: Michael Olowokandi becomes a rich man

The Boston Celtics Select…

#10: Paul Pierce: Jesus, Take the Wheel!

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

None. No one taken after Paul Pierce has turned out to be a better NBA player.

1999: When Steve Francis was awesome

The Boston Celtics Select…

#55: Kris Clack (who the hell is Kris Clack?)

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

#57: Manu Ginobili: Who I have no doubt was a sleeper and it’s a rarity to find such a talented guy so late in the draft, but WHO IS KRIS CLACK??

2000: Worst. Draft. Ever.

The Boston Celtics Select…

#11: Jerome Moiso: Who was actually pretty good in college, but I really can’t remember a single thing that he did in the league. I think I saw him block a shot once, but that might have been Manute Bol.

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

#17: Desmond Mason: I could put almost anyone on here above Moiso.

#18: Quentin Richardson: The Los Angeles Clippers version was more fun.

#43: Michael Redd: Everyone missed the boat on this one

2001: Drafting on “Potential”

The Boston Celtics Select…

#10: Joe Johnson: Traded, not like he was going to become one of the most well-rounded players in the NBA.

#11: Kedrick Brown: Traded after one awesome dunk and a Shawn Kemp-like hamburger eating contest that made his “potential” turn into a very fat man. Kedrick has been out of the league for years.

#21: Joseph Forte: One of the worst Celtics draft picks of this whole bunch, not only because Forte couldn’t play in the NBA, but his character was absolutely awful as well. I’ll let Wikipedia do the rest of the talking for me:

“Unfortunately, his most memorable moment with the Celtics came when he wore a Scooby-Doo shirt on the sidelines during the playoffs. In two seasons with the Celtics and the Seattle SuperSonics, Forte averaged 1.2 points and 0.7 assists per game, struggling to convert from his natural shooting guard position to point guard. He was eventually waived by the Sonics due mostly to attitude and legal problems. While with the Sonics, he was arrested on gun and drug charges in Maryland, as well as an assault charge in which he allegedly punched a man in the face during a pickup game.”

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

#13: Richard Jefferson: Not better than Johnson, but way better than Brown or Forte (though Marty Conlon was better than Joe Forte).

#25: Gerald Wallace: See above.

#27: Jamaal Tinsley: Not really because Tinsley is THAT good, but the Celtics were obviously looking for a Point Guard and we chose Joe Freakin’ Forte. This isn’t half as bad as…

#28: Tony Parker: See Manu Ginobili. Damn you, international scouts for the San Antonio Spurs.

#31: Gilbert Arenas: Plug him in wherever Kedrick’s “potential” was supposed to go and you have a player for years.

#35: Brian Scalabrine: We missed him in the draft, so why not get him later for more?? The Celtics did just that with the well-traveled NBA utility man.

2002: A Seven Foot Five Inch Tall Chinese Guy

The Boston Celtics Select…

#49: Darius Songaila: Actually, not a bad pick this late in the draft because he was a great player at Wake Forest. He wasn’t a Tim Duncan, but he was a good value at this spot, but of course the Celtics got rid of him too before he became a serviceable player and good defender for the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls.

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

#55: Luis Scola: Ok, I admit this is nit picky.

2003: Lebron James or Darko Milicic?

The Boston Celtics Select…

(#16: Troy Bell: No longer in the league and traded to Memphis for…)

#13: Marcus Banks: Banks didn’t really play on the Celtics and gets traded more than anyone, much like he won’t anywhere but the Phoenix Suns, and traded for…

(#20: Dahntay Jones: No longer in the league and traded to Memphis, which turned into…)

#27: Kendrick Perkins: Can’t complain about this one as Kendrick has finally turned into a strong inside presence for the Celtics.

#56: Brandon Hunter: Nope, don’t know him either, though something tells me he stuck around for a minute.

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

#29: Josh Howard: Just a cornerstone of one of the most high powered offenses in the league, that’s all.

#51: Kyle Korver: He has to be better than Brandon Hunter and he could have been the C’s 3 point shooter.

2004: Was Dwight Howard another Kwame Brown? (No)

The Boston Celtics Select…

#15: Al Jefferson: Was actually a player with a ton of great potential and this eventually turned into part of the deal for Kevin Garnett.

#24: Delonte West: See above, but change Kevin Garnett to Ray Allen.
#25: Tony Allen: Can’t complain about the value of getting a quality player like Allen this late in the first round.

#40: Justin Reed: Meh.

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

None.

2005: How many North Carolina players can go in the first round?

The Boston Celtics Select…

#18: Gerald Green: The dunk champion that Kedrick Brown was supposed to be, but this pick also turned into Kevin Garnett. It would have been fun to have seen Jefferson and Green grow together in Boston.

#50: Ryan Gomes: Another good player who played some very good minutes for the C’s, but again, turned into Kevin Garnett so it’s tough to say this wasn’t a good pick. The T-Wolves got a ton of young talent in that trade.

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

None.

2006: Where are the All-Stars?

The Boston Celtics select…

#7: Randy Foye: Never played on the C’s, but seems like a decent player for the Timberwolves, who are pretty much the old Boston Celtics.

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

N/A

2007: Greg Oden or Kevin Durant?

The Boston Celtics select…

#5: Jeff Green: Traded to Seattle, eventually became part of Ray Allen.

#32: Gabe Pruitt: A USC guy who can score, but clearly has a pretty good shooting guard and small forward ahead of him.

Notable players who were taken after the Celtics’ picks

Too early to say.

I think it’s tough to find any team that was as bad at the NBA draft as the Boston Celtics were in the mid-90’s to mid-2000’s. It’s only after really looking at these drafts that you can see just how horrible the talent scouts and management was to choose horrible players and trade away good ones. One way or another, we kept a couple of them and we’re going to the playoffs.

Go C’s.

Big thanks to CelticsBlog.com for linking this blog, much appreciated, guys!

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