Josh Smith Already Hinting About Joining The Celtics

“When you’re playing in an environment like the Boston Garden, they have probably the best fans,” Smith paused, and then thought better of completely throwing Atlanta fans under the bus, adding, “some of the best fans in the whole entire league. Like I said before, I was a little jealous, you know what I mean?

“The fans out here are so supportive of their team,” he said. “You go out and look in the stands, there’s nothing but Celtics jerseys and I don’t see a trace of red in there, you know what I mean? Understanding that the fans are that passionate, it adds an extra advantage for them. A bad shot can be as good as a turnover when you’re playing against a team like Boston, especially with the fanbase that they have.”

I have always wanted Josh Smith and I have always wanted KG to tutor him. With the team in limbo after this year and with the Celtics having 2 1st round picks, this could be the year. There have been rumors that Smith and the Celtics have been flirting for years and he never has anything but good things to say about Boston. So IF we were able to get a guy like Josh Smith and have Rajon, Bradley, Smith, KG, Pierce, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, we are talking about a great transitional team going forward. The Hawks are in a bind with Joe Johnson making a ton, and with Horford needing a max contract coming up.

This could be a pipe dream, but man.

Also, thanks Josh for giving our fans praise, we do own the best fans in Boston.

83 Celtics, 80 Hawks

Phew, this game was weird and way too close for comfort. It was weird game, Rondo didn't necessarily have a great game, Brandon Bass was an embarrassment, Ray had a real bad game including huge free throws, and Doc Rivers did some kooky things like putting Marquis Daniels in on Horford at the end of the game, benching Mikael Pietrus, The Ryan Hollins experiment, and resting KG during a very important stretch during the 4th quarter BUT that aging PF turnered C played like a man possessed.

Kevin Garnett was an absolute monster and the reason the Celtics are where they are. He put the whole team on his shoulders and brought them to round 2. KG had 28 hard points (he was backing Horford/ Smith/ Dampier down) and 14 rebounds, 3 steals and 5 blocks. My friend and I were talking about it yesterday, I was arguing that for THIS year, I would take KG over Blake Griffin. I think what KG brings in an all around game blows Blake Griffin out of the water. And last night was the case and point.

As for the game, the final 10ish seconds are all that mattered. Ray Allen missed 1 of 2 free throws. Now it's Atlanta ball, trailing by two, 9.3 seconds to go. Joe Johnson drove by Paul Pierce, but Pierce blocked the ball off the glass at the last second sending it out of bounds with 3.1 seconds to play. Atlanta's last chance went to Horford who was fouled by Marquis Daniels while shooting. In token Atlanta fashion Horford bricked his first then hit his second making the score 81-80. Pierce was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and went to the line at the other end. And knocked both down.

I'll take the win, but I certainly wasn't happy the way the game went.

Celtics vs Hawks Preview

The Celtics will be home and the Garden will be rocking. After a 1 point loss in Atlanta the Celtics come home with a 3-2 lead in the series to close out the Hawks.

The Hawks may have had Al Horford back and everyone else healthy, but Doc now has a day and a half to put an end to the Atlanta offensive schemes. I guarantee there will not be as many open dunks/ layups this game as in game 5.

As for the Celtics offense, look for a much more aggressive Rondo (I smell a triple double game), last game, especially in the 1st half he looked tentative at times and with him being pissed off for letting the team down on that last possession I would not want to be Jeff Teague tonight. Kevin Garnett needs to get the ball more, he's getting every look inside, and can do everything he wants to Josh Smith and Al Horford. I haven't heard anything about Pierce's knee yesterday, so I guess he's good to go, and Ray Allen seems to be alright. I do get a little concerned with our bench, I would like to see Mikael Pietrus hit some shots, offensively he has been awful so far, and I would like to see Greg Steimsma in instead of Ryan Hollins. I know Hollins was OK the last game, but something about him pisses me off. Like most of Celtics games, Rondo is the key to the game and I believe he gets it done.

UBUNTU!
Celtics win 101-89
Tommy Award: Rondo

87 Hawks, 86 Celtics

I was afraid that the Celtics would take the foot off the gas during this game, they do it a lot. And there can be a lot of things this game could be blamed on lack of execution on the last "play", Paul Pierce not being himself, Doc Rivers not having a timeout left, etc. But the fact is the Celtics had them in the 1st quarter and thought they could lollygag the rest of the game. The Celtics raced out to a early lead just to blow it. And then the Hawks had a double digit lead the blew. Ultimately the Hawks were lucky to get out of this one.

Al Horford was a monster for the Hawks. 19 points, 11 rebounds in 41 minutes. He hit a lot of jumpers and was alone in the paint too much last night.

Paul Pierce's knee is an issue, but Paul refuses to use that as an excuse. He airballed a shot to take the lead with 18 seconds.

Rondo had a weird game, he was nonexistant, not aggressive basically in the 1st half. But in the second half he started getting going being huge in the late 3rd/ early 4th to get the Hawks lead to dwindle. He still finished with 13 points, 12 assists, 5 steals.

Doc also had a weird game, as I alluded to earlier he didn't have a timeout in his back pocket that normally never happens. Also, why didn't Greg Stiemsma play? Ryan Hollins was his go to man off the bench, and he looks very all over the place out there. Tommy said during the game that The Stiemer had a deer in the headlights look, I never saw that, but maybe this was just a statement from Doc. Still thought it was weird.

Next game is Thursday

Celtics vs Hawks Preview

Depth Chart

	Boston (PPG)	Atlanta (PPG)
PG	A. Bradley 8.8	J. Teague 15.8
SG	M. Pietrus 1.5	K. Hinrich 5.5
SF	P. Pierce 23.3	J. Johnson 17.8
PF	B. Bass 8.5	J. Smith 17.7
C	K. Garnett 17.0	J. Collins 3.0
View full depth chart: Boston | Atlanta

The Celtics have them on the ropes. And this is a perfect chance for the KO of Atlanta and their shit arena, in their shit city, with their shit fans. The Celtics absolutely shellacked the Hawks in Boston the last game out and ended up winning the game 101-79. What does scare me about this game is that the Celtics have been known to take their foot off the gas when they smell blood and get a little cocky. I would think that Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Jeff Teague and others would be prideful and try not to let Sunday happen again. But then again Joe Johnson, Jeff Teague and Josh Smith have also been known to suffer from the give up syndrome.

Everyone seems to be healthy, everyone seems ready to go. Our point guard is playing on an MVP level, Pierce is playing out of his mind, KG has been great too defensively. I would like to see more production from Brandon Bass, who has kind of disappeared in the playoffs. However, the Celtics still keep their foot on the gas and win this one.

UBUNTU
Celtics win 97-82
Tommy Award: Rajon Rondo

101 Celtics, 79 Hawks

It's weird because this is the performance I would expect in game 3, not in game 4. In game 3 they needed overtime to defeat the Hawks without Josh Smith and Al Horford, in game 4 they absolutely rolled the Hawks from start to finish with Josh Smith and Al Horford back in the line up.

It was a great game, and I would take a win like last night over an OT win anyday. Other than a small scare with Paul Pierce's knee (which he says is fine) the Celtics played pretty flawlessly. Speaking of Pierce, he was incredible in 17 minutes of play Pierce had 24 points on 10-13 shooting, just on fire. Rajon Rondo once again played like a man possessed and absolutely torched Jeff Teague and in 35 minutes he had 20 points 8-11 shooting, 16 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 turnover. Incredible. Brandon Bass, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Keyon Dooling all scored in double figures.

This game was great not only because it put the Celtics in a position to take the series next game, but it was huge that our starters had a chance to rest. Next game is on Tuesday in the ATL.

87 Celtics, 80 Hawks

No Ray, No Rondo, No Problem. The Truth, Paul Pierce did it again and carried this team over Atlanta to even this series at 1 with all the momentum the Celtics way coming back to Boston. Even though the Celtics won this won, they will not be able to be successful without Rajon and were very fortunate to have this all knotted up. In the 1st half the Celtics whole offensive rhythm was out of wack, we were settling for long jump shots and turning the ball over. In the late 3rd through the 4th quarter the Celtics took control of this game outscoring the Hawks 26 to 14.

Paul Pierce had an unbelievable game, he did everything he scored 36 points got 14 boards, 4 assists and got to the line 13 times. He played the roll of superhero with Rondo out and was an absolute monster. He also took the roll of Danny Glover after the game and tweeted this, "44 mins tonite to old for this I need a bed right now !!!" Avery Bradley had a much improved game from game 1 and had 14 points, 3 steals and 3 blocks. KG had 15 points and 12 boards. Pietrus had a rough game offensively, but was spectacular defensively constantly harassing Joe Johnson. Speaking of the Hawks, Josh Smith left with a knee injury, later Adrian Wojnarowksi reports "Smith has sprained patella ligament in knee, source tells Y! 'He walked out of arena w/ no help, just gingerly,' source says." MRI on Wed. So that would be huge if he can't play.

This was a huge game and it's great to head back to Boston game 3 with momentum, with Rondo and maybe Ray Allen (even though I'm thinking more and more he's out for the playoffs).

Celtics @ Hawks: Game 2 Preview

The Celtics have overcome injuries (some life threatening), and age all season just to get to this point. They will have to do it again tonight as the Celtics will be without Allen (injury) and Rondo (stupidity).

Yesterday I really felt terrible about this game, but today for some reason I really am starting to feel a lot of hope. Paul Pierce usually bounces back after a bad game with a big performance. Actually I think there are a lot of Celtics that are going to have much better games than they did in Game 1. I believe Bass is going to have more than 8 points, no way Pierce goes 5-19, I think Pietrus (who is starting tonight) will score 10 points (he had 0 game 1).

Now I know Joe Johnson also had a bad game and he is certain to turn it around, but call me crazy, but even without Rondo AND Allen, I still think the Celtics have a better team. Remember it only takes winning 1 game in Atlanta to win back homecourt in this series. I think they get it done tonight, and rally around the bad refs from Game 1 and the loss of Rondo.

Celtics win 93-89
Tommy Award: Paul Pierce
Game starts at 7:30pm

Captain's Thoughts: Rajon Rondo

We knew it was coming. At least most of us did. Some Celtics' fans were hopeful it wouldn't.

I love Rondo. He has his haters here in Boston and I find them to be simpleminded. Trading a good point guard because he can't hit free throws? Or trading him because he's not the absolute best at his position (and not acquiring the absolute best to replace him)? It doesn't make any sense.

Rondo's haters are having a field day with this incident. "This is what I was talking about." His haters will also see his value tonight as the Celtics try to win a pivotal Game 2 without him.

I like Rondo, but he deserved this suspension. You can't touch an official. Period.

I love the arguments some Celtics' fans are making, about the poor quality of the officiating, and how that instigated Rondo's actions. That's just dumb. And what Rondo did was inexcusable, no matter how bad the refs were.

And shouldn't he and we be accustomed to seeing bad refs? Is this his and our first taste of NBA basketball?

Rondo acted like a child. The NBA hands out automatic suspensions for intentional contact with an official. There is little grey area here. Little room for debate. It sucks, but Celtics' fans really have no grounds for complaint.

-The Captain

83 Hawks, 74 Celtics

Before I get to Rondo, let's talk about the game.

The Celtics started off flat, they were awful in the 1st half, The Hawks were hitting everything and the Celtics were missing everything. It was evident that the Celtics were a little rusty from having some extended time off. They dug themselves into a hole in the first having the score be 31-18 and even were down 19 at one point.

The Celtics eventually clawed their way back into the game cutting the lead to 4 and then IT happened. There was a loose ball and people were jumping all over the place and Brandon Bass and Josh Smith got tied up with the ball, automatic jump ball, right? WRONG. They called a personal on Bass (his 6th), and this call was right after they jobbed the Celtics out of a ball that was blatantly off Josh Smith that cost the Celtics ANOTHER possession, but Rondo lost it. Immediately after the ref called a personal on Bass, Rondo turned an screamed at the ref and as he was getting T'd up he moved towards the ref and bumped him, which resulted in his second technical and ejection. To be honest, Marc Davis just blew 2 huge fucking calls, the Hawks were on ropes and ALL the momentum was on the Celtics side and his 2 blown calls cost the Celtics the game, it wouldn't surprise me if Davis was on the mafias salary, he pretty much had to bump him.

The only thing that sucks is that Rondo could and probably will be suspended next game and that could cost the Celtics a game. Do I think he should? No. But it's up to that man Delmon Young probably wouldn't like to decide. This also takes away from the hell of a game Rondo had he had 20 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Paul Pierce had a dreadful game shooting 5-19 and 0-6 from 3 and Avery Bradley went 4-12 and KG had a rough game as well. The bench also had 4 points. The silver lining in this is that the Celtics had the refs act like a bunch of assholes, they played like shit and almost won the game IN Atlanta.

Al Horford Out For Playoffs

This is a huge break for the Celtics because now instead of dealing with Horford in the middle, we have to deal with Zaza Pachulia which is a step down. Even though Horford (today) said he now may play I'm not buying it for a minute, he's not going to be in game shape, he's not going to risk re injuring the peck injury.

This is also great because it shortens the Hawks bench rotation to and limits who they can go to for bigs. A guy they have been using a lot is rookie Ivan Johnson at C for a big, he is their equivalent to their Brandon Bass, he's 6'8 and a strong rebounder. So having a rotation of Zaza, Josh Smith, and Ivan Johnson is a lot easier than Al Horford, Josh Smith, and Zaza Pachulia from the bench.

The Hawks will be a tough team, but I just don't trust anyone on that team other than Joe Johnson. I hate Jeff Teague, Josh Smith could be good, or awful, and have no faith in Marvin Williams to be any kind of a factor.

88 Celtics, 86 Hawks

The fight in this team is unbelievable. I was worried about this game big time before it happened. This all had the makes of a loss, the Hawks had 3 days rest before this game, they are a running team, the Celtics were coming off an emotional win in Miami, I would have been upset but would have understood a loss. But this team really does have heart. This may have been one of the sloppiest games the Celtics have won, but everyone is giving their all.

Tonight we got a surprise performance from Mickael Pietrus, He came back from the concussion and Doc said he was only going to play 5 minutes. Well that was a good theory Doc, but he ended up playing 29 minutes, 8 points and great defense on Joe Johnson.

Before I get to the game, I have to mention the officiating. This was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen in my life. They fouled out KG on a pick in which the Hawks players was draped on him and moments later they fouled out Greg Steimsma when he was fighting for position on Josh Smith. Then with the game dwindling down and Paul Pierce dribbling the ball down with the score 88 -86, he drove past Josh Smith and the called an offensive call on him. It was almost as if the officiating wanted the Hawks to win, it was ridiculous.

But to the game, KG was great again, he had 22 points and 12 boards, Brandon Bass had 21 points and 10 boards. Bass at one point landed on his knee, but he ended up fine. And my MVP Rajon Rondo may not have had the best shooting night, but had yet another triple double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 20 assists, yes that is at least 50 points he directly effected. That is also his 19th Career triple double, 19th game in a row with 10+ assists and moved 2nd in Celtics history in triple doubles. I guess we can all stop the "only tries on nationally televised games, nonsense."

The Celtics have a much needed day off before back to back to back games.

Celtics (33-24, 20-9 home) vs Hawks (34-23, 15-15 away) Preview

Depth Chart

	Atlanta (PPG)	Boston (PPG)
PG	J. Teague 12.6	R. Rondo 12.2
SG	K. Hinrich 6.6	R. Allen 14.2
SF	J. Johnson 18.9	P. Pierce 19.3
PF	J. Smith 18.9	B. Bass 12.2
C	Z. Pachulia 7.8	K. Garnett 15.8
View full depth chart: Atlanta | Boston

Boy, this schedule is just crazy huh? It seems like every night, especially in the second half the Celtics are playing a tough opponent. Tonight is no different, the Hawks are always a tough team and if any player in the NBA Joe Johnson scares the living shit out of me. He's just deadly.

My biggest fear is that the Celtics lay a collective egg after an emotional win at Miami. The good news is that the Celtics are home, where they play significantly better and have a ton of momentum going their way. The Celtics will need to bully around the Hawks and have them lose focus, if you get inside Josh Smith or Jeff Teagues head, they will be easily beatable. KG and Zaza Pachulia is always fun as I'm sure there will be a shoving match at some point.

The matchup of the night is going to be Bradley/Pierce on Joe Johnson. But like always, Rondo is the key to this game, Jeff Teague isn't good, he's not and Rondo is 10 times more cerebral than him. If Rondo can penetrate and make the smart decisions we should be able to take this game and get our well deserved day off before a back to back to back.

Celtics win 92-85
Tommy Award: Paul Pierce