Slow start hasn't doomed Celtics yet

Wide spread panic has engulfed the Boston area in the wake of the Celtics limping through a frustrating 0-3 start to the season.  This certainly is not what we expected from a team with championship aspirations.  The quickly closing window on those title hopes, as the Big Three embark on their last rodeo before the expiring contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen inevitably break up the core of the team, makes Celtics fans all the more concerned over this troubling start.  While there is no sugar coating the fact that nobody in the Celtics organization is in any way satisfied with how things have gone thus far, let's keep things in perspective.  It's only three games and things haven't been nearly as bad as they appear.

Let's start with the season opener on Christmas Day.  The Celtics clashed with a Knicks team that was amped up for their home opener to a season which they expect to be relevant from the start for the first time in years thanks to a full season of Carmelo Anthony and the addition of Tyson Chandler.  This is a game the Celtics could have won, falling just short in the end of a narrow two point loss.  They had a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds, but just couldn't convert.  The difference in the game may very well have been those two free points awarded to the Knicks for controversial technical fouls called by veteran official Joey Crawford.  The same guy well known for holding grudges and going out of his way to make his mark on a game, altered the ending of a close game by handing out technical fouls just to remind everyone that he's in charge on the court.  The fact that the league later reviewed and rescinded both technicals shows how bogus they really were to begin with.  That's right, the league actually agreed that the Celtics didn't deserve either technical, which means the Knicks didn't deserve those two points.  Too late now.  The backlash about officiating early in the season may be overblown (especially if you listen to Tommy Heinsohn), but this was a clear example of how an official may have cost us a game.

Things I Noticed: Week 16

With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, most of the week's games were moved to Saturday afternoon.  Which teams were in the Christmas spirit and which found nothing but coal in their stockings?

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Ever since the Texans clinched their first playoff spot in franchise history, the team has started to unravel.  Despite another huge performance from Arian Foster, they blew another game to a losing team for the second week in a row.  With a first round bye now out of reach, the Texans have nothing to play for next week, but they may want to consider playing the season finale as if it does count in order to try to gain some momentum heading into the postseason.
• It's been a miserable season for the Colts, who lost 13 straight to open the season, but the ending may be even worse.  The silver lining to all that losing was supposed to be the reward of the top overall pick in the draft, but two straight wins may end up costing them that pick.
• It was a tale of two halves in New England as the Patriots got off to a terrible start.  Tom Brady was harassed by Dolphins defenders that found holes in the Patriots injury depleted offensive line.  The Patriots punted on their first 6 possessions before missing a field goal just before halftime on their way to being shut out 17-0 in the first half.  As expected, Brady and the offense made adjustments during the break and came back to score 27 unanswered points in the comeback victory.
• New England clinched a first round bye with the victory and can lock up the top seed in the AFC with a win next week against Buffalo.
• Brady was off target on many of his throws in the first half, but part of the problem was dropped passes that stalled their drives.  Wes Welker was one of the guilty receivers that dropped a few passes as the defense hung all over him on his short routes.  Welker would make the defense pay in the second half though, finishing the game with 12 catches for 138 yards.

• The league's leading receiver is now up to 116 catches for 1518 receiving yards on the season.  It's been an outstanding season for Welker, but he'll fall far short of Marvin Harrison's season catch record (143) or Jerry Rice's season receiving record (1848 yards).
• Miami finally scored again with under two minutes remaining in the 4th quarter to pull within 3 points.  They must have figured that was close enough, because they didn't bother with an on side kick attempt. Granted they had all three time outs in their pocket, but did they really expect to stop the Pats from picking up a first down given how the offense had been rolling through the 2nd half?  Probably not, but an interim coach looking to keep his job is probably satisfied with a 3 point loss, rather than risk giving the Patriots good field position if the on side attempt failed, which could have resulted in a bigger loss.
• Reggie Bush extended his career high streak of 100+ rushing games to 4 and has now passed the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.

NBA Preview

It wasn't long ago that there were doubts this day would come, but with the lockout finally over, the start of the NBA season is quickly approaching.  The extended off-season cost us about 20 percent of the regular season and forced the league to cram 66 games into a tight schedule.  That's going to mean a lot of back-to-back games (with each team also playing at least one set of games on three straight days).  It's a grueling schedule that will certainly have an impact on the quality of play, as well as be a struggle for older teams and teams that lack depth.

The condensed schedule could result in a very unusual season.  With that in mind, here is how I predict each conference to finish the regular season.

Western Conference

15.  New Orleans Hornets

A playoff team a year ago, the Hornets will likely sink to the bottom of the conference following the trade of their star point guard, Chris Paul.  They got an impressive package in return that will help in their rebuilding process, but this isn't their year.  Eric Gordon is one of the league's best young shooting guards, but how motivated will he be wallowing away on a rebuilding team?  He may put up big numbers, but that won't translate into winning.

14. Sacramento Kings

They have a nice core of young players to build around with Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, but each of them needs to show more maturity before they can become a winning team.  Evans, who was plagued by a foot injury last season, needs to be able to stay healthy this season and rookie Jimmer Fredette needs to prove he can be a solid NBA player instead of just a likable fan favorite.

13. Phoenix Suns

An aging Steve Nash can only carry this team so far.  Ownership blew up a contending team last year and replaced talent like Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson with a slew of bad contracts for mediocre talent.  They did very little to improve this off-season, although a full season of Marcin Gortat (acquired mid-season last year from Orlando) in the middle will help solidify their frontcourt.

12. Golden State Warriors

New coach Mark Jackson wants to put an emphasis on defense (which is ironic considering he didn't play much defense when he was a player), but that's going to be tough to do when three of his starters are such terrible defenders.  Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis and David Lee can help keep them a fast paced, high scoring team, but it's going to take some time before they are capable of stopping anyone on the defensive end.  After striking out on free agent targets like Nene and DeAndre Jordon, they settled for overpaying Kwame Brown.  This isn't the right roster to play the defensive style Jackson claims they will, which means he'll either be forced to abandon that plan and go with their strengths, or this season could become a disaster.

Things I Noticed: Week 15

A few huge upsets headlined the week.  This time of year, a set back can have a drastic impact on a team's playoff chances.  Which teams slipped up this week and which ones took advantage?

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• The Falcons increased their chances of claiming a Wild Card spot with a convincing win over Jacksonville.  Matt Ryan threw three TDs, two of which went to Roddy White.  The Falcons top receiver has found the endzone in each of the past four games and is now up to 8 TDs for the season.  He may have started slow, but he's gotten on a roll at just the right time.
• Maurice Jones-Drew increased his lead in league rushing yards category, but it wasn't enough to help the Jaguars offense accomplish much.  Their only offensive score came in the game's final minute with the game long since decided.
• The Cowboys got a much needed win to halt their short slide and move back to the top of the NFC East.  Tony Romo got his team off to a fast start with three TD passes and running one in as well to take a 28-0 lead into halftime.  The Cowboys went on cruise control the rest of the game, managing next to nothing on offense in the second half, but the Bucs were too far behind by then do do anything about it.
• Felix Jones reclaimed his starting spot from the injured DeMarco Murray, who was placed on season ending injured reserve.  Looking to prove himself capable of being an every down back, Jones totaled 131 yards to help balance the Cowboys attack.
• Who says Reggie Bush can't be an every down back?  After rushing for a career high 203 yards against Buffalo, Bush has now ran for over 100 yards in each of the past three games.  Prior to this stretch, Bush had never had back-to-back 100+ yard games.
• His day was highlighted by a 76 yard TD run.  Granted he hurt his team by being penalized for sliding in the endzone, but that just goes to show what a ridiculous rule that is to begin with.
• Buffalo has been better at home this year and had the advantage of playing the warm weather Dolphins in a game played in snowy conditions, yet still couldn't manage a victory.  After such a promising start to the season, the Bills have lost 7 straight games to ensure another losing season.

Chris Paul goes to Hollywood

Chris Paul is finally getting his wish by being traded to Los Angeles.  It's just not the team he originally expected to play for.  After commissioner David Stern intervened to block a deal between the league owned Hornets and the LA Lakers, the other team in LA swooped in to steal the super star point guard.

The Clippers made perhaps their biggest move in franchise history by trading a boatload of assets to deal for one of the game's elite players.  In exchange for Paul, the Clippers will send rising star Eric Gordon, last year's lottery pick Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman (a serviceable big man that is a former All-Star and on an expiring contract), and an unprotected 2012 draft pick that belongs to Minnesota (which will almost certainly be a high lottery pick).  That's a lot to give up for one player, but the chance to trade for one of the league's top 5 players in his prime doesn't come along often.

Paul will team with Blake Griffin, one of the game's best young power forwards, to form a formidable duo.  Their strengths compliment each other well and they'll destroy opponents on the pick and roll with Paul lobbing up highlight worthy alley oop passes to Griffin.  Paul is a multi threat offensive weapon capable of attacking the rim as a scorer (18.7 points per game in his career) as well as dishing it out to teammates (9.9 assists).  He can also bring it on the defensive end (2.4 steals) and has made the All-Defensive 1st or 2nd team in three of the past four seasons.  With apologies to reigning MVP Derrick Rose, Paul is the league's best all around point guard.

Meanwhile, the Lakers must be furious.  They had a trade in place a week ago to land Paul for a package that included Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.  The deal also included the Houston Rockets, who would have received Gasol in the deal in exchange for sending assets headlined by Kevin Martin and Louis Scola to New Orleans, along with Odom.  Their plans were derailed when Stern stepped in to squash the deal after several small market owners (most notably, Dan Gilbert and Michael Jordan) whined about how the recently concluded lockout was supposed to prevent big name stars from fleeing small markets for large markets.  With their gigantic TV contract, the Lakers are the league's richest team, making them the last destination these other owners wanted to see trading for a player of Paul's caliber.  The logic behind blocking the trade was indefensible, as everyone knew the Hornets would be forced to trade Paul at some point since he had no intention of staying in New Orleans after this season.  The assets they would have received in that trade was an impressive haul and may have even been the better end of the deal than what the Lakers would have gotten with Paul.  Now the Lakers will be forced to watch Paul play for another team that not only resides in the same city, but shares the same building.

The polarizing Tim Tebow

With the Patriots set to visit the Broncos this weekend, it's got me thinking more about the league's most polarizing figure.  Tim Tebow has been one of the league's biggest stories this season after leading the Broncos to victory in 7 of their past 8 games since he took over as the starter and launching the team into first place in the AFC West.  There's no doubt that Tebow deserves much of the credit for changing the culture of that team, but it's how he's been doing it that has left many of us skeptical.

For starters, there is his unorthodox style.  Any football scout will tell you that Tebow's mechanics are a mess, which led many to doubt that he'd ever succeed as an NFL QB.  While Tebow has been proving the doubters wrong with every victory, he's also proving them right with his performance.  The Broncos have adapted their entire offense around Tebow, changing on the fly to accommodate his strengths.  Their strategy of pounding the ball with their running game to open up the occasional deep pass seems straight out of a High School playbook.  It's unfathomable that it could work in the pros, but Tebow somehow makes it work.

Naysayers will point to Tebow's putrid 48.5 completion percentage (worst among starters this season) as a sign that his QB skills are not up to par.  Watching him play, there are far too many occasions where he's so far off from hitting his target that you have to question where he was intending to throw it.  While his supporters will point out that he's only thrown two interceptions all season, others will counter with the fact that when he makes a bad throw it is so far off target that it lands harmlessly away from where anyone on the field could catch it.  True, he manages to make plays with his legs as well, scrambling for over 500 yards this season.  While his ability to take off and run the ball when a play breaks down has helped his team move the offense to extend drives, he tends to be overly reliant on his scrambling ability, often times looking to run before checking for a second or third passing option.

Things I noticed: Week 14

It was another exciting week as the season begins to wind down.  The playoff picture continues to form as another team clinches their division and more teams fall out of the race.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Ben Rothlisberger left in the first half against Cleveland with a leg injury, but hobbled back onto the field to lead the Steelers to victory on Thursday night.  The Steelers don't have the luxury of resting Big Ben, or anyone, because if they fall a game behind the Ravens it all but assures that their best case scenario will come as a Wild Card given that Baltimore already owns the tie breaker for the division title.
• The ineffectiveness of the Steelers offense behind a hurting Rothlisberger allowed Cleveland to stay within reach near the end, but a 79 yard bomb to Antonio Brown finally put them away in the final few minutes.
• Speaking of injured QBs, Colt McCoy also briefly left the game after a hard helmet-to-helmet hit from James Harrision.  McCoy was apparently ok, since he was allowed back into the game, but Harrison can probably expect some discipline from the league for the hit.  That's nothing new for him.
• The league announced on Tuesday that Harrison has been suspended for 1 game for the hit.
• The Patriots defense is struggling just to find healthy bodies to put on the field at this point.  Once again they gave up a ton of yardage, but they held with a strong defensive stand when it counted in the end, stopping the Redskins potential game tying drive in the red zone with an interception.
• Rob Gronkowski had a career high 160 yards and 2 TDs.  His first trip to the endzone gave him sole possession of first place on the all time list of receiving TDs in a season by a TE.  Gronk celebrated with his trade mark spike in the endzone, which then sent him scrambling to chase after it when he realized the importance of hanging on to that milestone ball. 
• In only his second season, Gronk has not only established himself as one of Tom Brady's most trusted receivers, but also become perhaps the best TE in the league.  The Saints Jimmy Graham and Chargers Antonio Gates may have something to say about that, but when you factor in other responsibilities TEs have, such as blocking, there is nobody better at the position than Gronk.
• The victory for the Patriots helps overshadow a bit of drama that occurred late in the 4th quarter when Tom Brady got into a shouting match on the sidelines with OC Bill O'Brien after Brady threw a costly INT in the endzone.  It was a rare example of a poorly thrown pass, intended for Tiquan Underwood.  Making matters worse, the play came right after Wes Welker dropped a TD pass on a ball that was thrown slightly off to his back shoulder.  Not a great end to the drive for an offense known for it's efficiency, but luckily it didn't cost them the game.
• Roy Helu became the first Redskins RB to rush for 100+ yards in three straight games.  It wasn't long ago that it was fair to question if Helu would even get a chance to play in three straight games, but it's clear they've found a reliable option for their backfield.

Marlins, Angels heat up Winter Meetings

Dallas is known for it's scorching hot weather in the summer time, but a couple of teams are cranking up the heat during this year's Winter Meetings.  The Miami Marlins and LA Angels have made the biggest splashes this off-season, reeling in some of the biggest names on the free agent market.

Miami Marlins
The new look Marlins will open their season in a new stadium, with new uniforms and a few new faces.  Miami entered the off-season with the intention of spending some money.  With the revenue they expect to make from their new stadium, Miami insisted that they would be increasing their payroll up toward the $100 million range for the upcoming season, which is up from the approximately $57 million they spent last season (the 7th lowest payroll in the majors).  So far they have yet to disappoint, kicking off the spending spree this off-season by signing Jose Reyes to a six year, $106 million deal.

The Marlins made it known from the start of the off season that Reyes was one of their main targets, which comes as a bit of a surprise considering their roster already includes a multi-time All-Star that happens to play the same short stop position.  Hanley Ramirez is one of the game's other elite short stops, but his size and decreasing range may make him a better fit for third base.  The Marlins intend to move Ramirez over to the hot corner in a move that has previously been made by greats such as Cal Ripkin Jr. and Alex Rodriguez.  Reyes is a better defensive short stop, and while it remains to be seen how Ramirez would fare defensively at third, the change should benefit their infield defense.  The problem is, Ramirez is reportedly less than thrilled with the idea of switching positions.  He has a reputation as being a bit of a diva, who can be difficult to deal with when things aren't going his way.  Already there are rumors that Reyes' arrival could trigger a trade demand from Ramirez.  While trading Ramirez could free up even more payroll space to make more moves, as well as bring a bounty of assets in return, it's not exactly what the Marlins had in mind when they acquired Reyes.

Assuming Ramirez can be convinced by new manager Ozzie Guillen to buy into the team's plan, the NL batting champions from two of the past three seasons will form a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the Marlins line up.

Things I Noticed: Week 13

They say 13 is an unlucky number, but which teams were hit by the misfortune of bad luck this week?  In some cases it's not bad luck, just bad teams.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Vince Young's night got off to a bad start with an INT on his first pass attempt of the game.  It didn't get much better after that, as he finished with 4 of them.  Granted, he was the victim of several dropped passes by his receivers (1 of those INTs came after a ball tipped off the hands of his receiver), but he still missed on many throws that he has to be able to make.  He was constantly throwing behind receivers, badly missing his target.  When it wasn't picked off it was only because it was so far off target that nobody on either team could get to it.

• On the bright side, at least VY seems to be one of the few Eagles players that hasn't given up yet.  He played poorly, but played hard.
• Marshawn Lynch ran wild against the Eagles for 148 yards and 2 TDs.  His 2nd TD came on a 40 yard run where he managed to beat the defenders to the outside before bursting up field with no defenders in front of him.  Not to take credit away from Lynch, but that was just terrible defense.
• Rob Gronkowski tied the all time record for TDs by a Tight End in a season by adding two more this week to give him 13 for the season.  He scored a third TD, which originally was ruled as the record breaking 14th receiving TD, but it was later corrected to be scored as a lateral pass.  Therefore the score actually counted as a rushing TD.
• New England looked dominant against the helpless Colts team through three quarters, but their defense got a little too nonchalant in the end, giving up 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter.  They never really seemed in danger of blowing the game, but it was frustrating to watch them fail to stop the Colts from piling up yardage and points during garbage time.  This is one of the reasons why the Pats rank last in the league in total defense.
• The Colts defense played just as bad for most of the game, before tightening up a bit near the end of the game when the Pats were trying to run down the clock.  For some reason they backed their secondary off the line instead of trying to press the Patriots receivers.  That allowed Wes Welker far too much room to work with.  On one drive in the third quarter, Brady connected with Welker 4 times, including three straight plays.  Welker caught all 11 of his targets in the game for 110 yards.
• Dan Orlovsky is now the Colts starting QB.  Oddly enough, he was on the winless Detroit Lions team that became the first 0-16 team in league history back in 2008.  Now he has a chance to be a part of history once again.  Just not the type of history he would hope for.

Celtics dream scenario

The Boston Celtics will soon be at a cross roads.  This may be their final season to make one last run with their existing core before they are inevitably forced to start rebuilding.  With the contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen set to expire at the end of the season, we may be approaching the end of the Big Three era in Boston. Rebuilding processes can often be long, painful experiences.  With a few crafty moves, Boston has a chance to skip that process and jump right into a new era with a new championship caliber core.

After this season, the only contracts remaining on Boston's salary cap will be Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Avery Bradley.  We can assume first round draft pick JaJuan Johnson and possibly second round pick E'Twaun Moore will also be included, along with potentially whoever we draft in the first round in the next draft.  This is also dependent upon the team's decisions with their current free agent group, which includes Glenn Davis and Jeff Green, but for the sake of this scenario, let's assume that they are all either involved in a sign-and-trade deal or allowed to walk as free agents.  That would leave Boston with potentially 6 players under contract for next season, totaling approximately $30 million, which is well under the $58 million salary cap.  That leaves plenty of room to sign one of the top prizes on the 2012 free agent market.  Boston isn't a warm weather city that top free agents desire, but it's a good market with a rich history, a committed ownership group and strong leadership.  Will that be enough to lure in a top free agent?  Considering those top targets include two point guards (Derron Williams and Chris Paul), that narrows the field of options as long as Rondo is still on the roster.  That leaves Dwight Howard as the most likely target, but is Rondo and an aging Pierce enough to convince him to come to Boston?  Unlikely.

To change that, the Celtics may be forced to shake things up even more.  The only trade-able asset they have on their roster is Rondo.  Rumors have swirled that Boston would be willing to part with Rondo for the right deal and it's no secret that the right deal includes Chris Paul.  New Orleans is in the difficult position of knowing that they can't afford to hang on to their star point guard and will almost certainly be forced to either trade him or watch him walk as a free agent after the season.  As has been previously reported, Paul seems to have already squashed this rumor by stating he would not be willing to sign an extension to stay in Boston.  With the uncertainty of the team's future beyond this season, it's fair to see why he'd be hesitant to commit to the Celtics, but that doesnt' mean they can't change his mind.  After all, Kevin Garnett didn't want to come to Boston either, but the Celtics changed his mind by going out and trading for Ray Allen.  If the Celtics can lure in another star to join him in Boston, perhaps Paul can still be persuaded