Time to blow up the Celtics?

It's been a great run these past few years.  A title in 2008, another Finals appearance where they came within minutes of winning it all again in 2010 and the pleasure of watching a trio of future Hall of Famers on the court together.  It's been an amazing ride.  Yet all good things must eventually come to an end.

The Celtics have come to that end.

Boston enters the All-Star break at the halfway point of the season with a disappointing 15-17 record that has dropped them to the 8th seed in the playoff race.  Injuries have ravaged the team, but given the age of the players on this roster, there's little reason to expect that won't continue.  We knew that coming into the season.  We knew that the condensed schedule of a lockout shortened season would be brutal for a veteran team, but we didn't expect things to be this bad.

Right now we are realistically looking at a 7 or 8 seed in the playoffs, which sets us up for an ugly first round exit against Miami or Chicago.  Best case scenario appears to be stringing together enough wins to leap to the 6th seed, which gives us a chance to at least make it out of the first round.  Another semi-final exit against one of the East's elite teams is a likely outcome though.

You can make the argument that if they can manage to be healthy enough come playoff time, the leadership and experience of their veterans will carry them in the postseason and at the very least, make them a tough out with a puncher's chance at making a surprise title run.  After all, nobody gave an aging squad like Dallas much of a chance last year and look how that turned out.  The Celtics still play championship level defense, ranking third in Defensive Efficiency, Opponents Scoring and Opponents FG%.  The problem is, they're too inconsistent on offense.  Their point guard is too often afraid to attack the rim for fear of being fouled and he lacks a jump shot worthy of keeping defenders honest, while the rest of their key players have essentially become jump shooters.  If the shots are falling, they can get hot and compete with anyone, but it's not an efficient way to run an offense (23rd in Offensive Efficiency).  They also turn the ball over far too much (28th in turnover rate) and are a poor rebounding team because most of their players play so far away from the basket (25th in Rebound Rate).

Break it all down and this is not a contending team.  Recent seasons have proved that picking up spare parts off the scrap heap late in the season have little chance of having a positive impact, while the team is too far over the cap to make substantial upgrades.  So where does that leave them?  At the moment it appears the Celtics are doomed to end up in perhaps the worst possible position for an NBA team - no man's land.  They're just good enough to cling to a lower seeded playoff spot in a top heavy Eastern Conference, which takes them out of the draft lottery while leaving them with little chance of being a title contender.  For a team that will be forced to rebuild after this season anyway, one and done in the playoffs with a mediocre draft pick is the worst case scenario.

Linsanity takes over NY

The New York Knicks entered the season beaming with optimism.  Having signed defensive anchor Tyson Chandler in the off-season, the Knicks added the final piece to assembling their own "Big Three," along with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire.  However, they would soon find their high expectations deflating as the team got off to a troubling 8-15 start.  Stoudemire seemed like a shadow of his former self, while he and Anthony struggled to run a cohesive offense together, despite their individual scoring talents.  The real issue behind their struggles though may have been that the team lacked a point guard capable of running Mike D'Antoni's offense.

Enter Jeremy Lin.

The Harvard graduate has come out of nowhere this month to take the league by storm.  After being planted on the bench for the majority of the season, Lin was finally given a chance to shine in extended minutes in a February 4th match up with the Nets.  Since that time, Lin has joined the starting lineup and averaged 26.8 points and 8.5 assists, while leading the Knicks to a season best 6 game win streak.  He's currently 7th in the league in PER (24.67), ranking him amongst the league's elite players.  The team still hasn't lost a game since Lin became a mainstay in the rotation, which is especially impressive given that this streak has come mostly without the services of Stoudemire and Anthony.

The legend of Lin grew further last night when he led the team to a comeback victory in Toronto, sealed by a game winning three pointer by Lin at the buzzer.  Stoudemire's return to the lineup surely helped, but this was yet another game that clearly belonged to Lin.  Ignoring the fact that his counterpart that he matched up against in the game, Toronto's Jose Calderon, essentially matched his production, Lin was the hero in the end thanks to his game winning shot.  So his magical run continues.

Patriots off-season needs

With the sting of their Super Bowl loss still fresh in their minds, the Patriots need to press forward to prepare for next season, when they'll have a chance to once again be one of the top contenders.  Despite their run to the championship game, this roster still has some holes.  There are several avenues the team can take to address those needs and the Patriots will be expected to explore any of them that can help this team.

Here are some of the team's biggest priorities this off-season.

Re-sign Players

Priority number one is undoubtedly getting a new contract for Wes Welker.  Over the past five seasons since being traded to New England, Welker has led the league in receptions.  He's as sure a bet as anyone in the league to rack up 100 catches every season and this year he was also second in the league in receiving yards.  Ignore all the backlash about his over publicized drop at the end of the Super Bowl.  That was one play in one game.  Anyone who points to that play as a reason not to re-sign Welker is a fool.  There's no doubt that he will be back.  If they are unable to reach an agreement on a long term deal then expect the team to use the franchise tag on him to retain him on a one year deal for around $9.6 million. 

Another big decision will be whether to bring back Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis.  The Law Firm is far from being the most explosive back in the game, but he's never fumbled in his career, rarely loses yardage and has a nose for the endzone.  Even if he's not at the top of the depth chart, he's a solid option to keep on the roster.  The only issue is that another team may be willing to overpay for him.  Considering the team just drafted two running backs last year, it's unlikely the team will try to outbid anyone to retain Green-Ellis. 

Other players likely to be retained include Matthew Slater (for his importance on special teams), Deion Branch (he's expressed interest in finishing his career in New England and still has value as a 3rd or 4th receiver given his leadership and comfort level with Brady), Mark Anderson and Andre Carter (the team's best pass rushers last season).

Paul Pierce moves up the scoring list

A Tuesday night game against a depressingly awful Bobcats team doesn't appear on paper to be anything to get overly excited about, but it actually became a special night to remember.  A win was nice, considering it was their 5th straight victory and 9th in their last 10 games, but Paul Pierce made the game mean so much more than that.

Early in the third quarter, Pierce hit a three pointer from the right wing to pass Larry Bird for second place on the Celtic's all-time scoring list.  Any time you can pass Larry Legend on any list it's bound to grab the attention of Boston fans.  Once Pierce's shot splashed through the bottom of the net, the Garden crowd erupted in support of the Celtics captain for his great accomplishment. 

Pierce would later admit how much of a relief it was to finally have this milestone behind him.  He seemed to be noticeably pressing in the first half, when he missed 7 of his first 10 shots.  The crowd held it's collective breath as Pierce launched a three with time running out in the half, which nearly sent him to the locker room at halftime with the milestone in hand, only to watch the ball rim out.  Like any great drama, the suspense of this quest would have to be drawn out just a little longer.

After being relieved of the pressure of his pursuit of moving up on the team's scoring list, Pierce seemed noticeably relaxed in the second half, as he helped lead his team to victory.  He would finish with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, reminding us that scoring is hardly his only contribution to this team. 

Super Bowl rewind

Tom Brady drifted across the field, his facial expression sunk with disbelief, as confetti rained down all around him.  For the second time in four years, his Patriots had come up short against the Giants in the Super Bowl, depriving him of his chance to move to the top of the class among the all time greats.  Several hundred miles away, back in New England, millions of Patriots fans had that same sinking pit in their stomach feeling as they watched their team exit the field.

To be honest, I'm still not over it.  This isn't as bad as 2007, when the Patriots fell just short of being immortalized with a perfect season, but this is still pretty bad.  Granted there are plenty of fan bases from teams that have never even been to a Super Bowl that see no reason to feel sorry for Patriots fans that have been spoiled by their success, but those fans don't know what it's like to come so close, only to have it all slip away.

Like their last Super Bowl meeting, this game was a classic thriller that once again came down to the wire.  If a play or two had broken differently in this game then the outcome could have been drastically different.  So as painful as this experience may be, to find out where things went wrong, we need to break down the game with a Super Bowl rewind.

Day after the Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday is one of my favorite days of the year.  While it certainly helps that my beloved Patriots are back in the big game this year, it should go without saying that I would be watching anyway.  For many Americans, it's the same way.  You don't have to be a sports fanatic to be swept up in the excitement of this game.  Even if you're not much of a sports fan at all, you'll likely find yourself using the event as a reason to get together with friends for a party.  Maybe you're one of those people that just likes to watch for the commercials.  In any case, there's a pretty good chance that you'll be watching the game this Sunday (if not, I have to question what you're doing reading a sports blog).

Which leads us to one of my least favorite days of the year - the day after the Super Bowl.  That Monday morning where you wake up from a beer and nacho induced coma and realize you have to go to work.  There's a reason why the day after the Super Bowl is when the highest percentage of Americans call out of work.  Sadly, by writing this article, it essentially means I have no chance of calling out that day.  The boss isn't going to buy any excuse of being sick no matter how many fake sniffles or coughs I can utter through the phone.  So on Monday morning I'll be forced to drag myself out of bed and off to work.

Super Bowl hangover is a term typically reserved for the teams actually participating in the game, but it's something we'll all be suffering from on Monday.  Why does it have to be this way?  Can't the day after the Super Bowl just be considered a national holiday to spare us all from this sleep deprived fate?  Actually, that scenario may not be that far fetched.  Here's how. 

Super Bowl XLVI Preview

Super Bowl XLVI features a rematch from four years ago between the New England Patriots and New York Giants.  In that historic 2007 season, the Patriots rode an undefeated record into the Super Bowl, behind record setting TD performances from Tom Brady and Randy Moss, only to be stopped just short of perfection.  It was a gut wrenching loss for the Patriots and their fans, who will forever be tormented by images of an impossible helmet catch that was just one of many bad breaks that led to their demise.

This is now a different season, so while the teams may remain the same, the rosters have each seen a lot of overhaul since that game.  In order to properly preview this match up, we can't just look at a game that happened four years ago, we need to compare the major aspects of each team to break down how they match up against each other.

Regular Season

The Patriots earned the top seed in the AFC with a 13-3 record.  Tom Brady added another spectacular season to his resume, but concerns about the defense kept them from being considered a dominant team.  Like every team in the league this season, they are not without their flaws, but with a prolific offense on their side, they've proven that they always have a chance to win.

The Giants squeaked into the playoffs with a much needed victory in the season's final week against the Cowboys to clinch the division and grab the 4th seed in the NFC with a 9-7 record.  The Giants will have history working against them, as no team with single digit wins in the regular season has ever won a Super Bowl, while no team with a negative point differential in the regular season has ever even been to a Super Bowl (the Giants were -6 this season).

These two teams met earlier this season, in Week 9, which resulted in another Giants victory.  The game started out ugly, with neither team able to score in the first half, before picking up with a furious pace in the 4th quarter.  The Patriots thought they had victory in hand when they scored to take a lead with about a minute and a half left, only to watch their much maligned defense give up the game winning TD with 15 seconds left.  The ending was eerily similar to their Super Bowl loss, with the last minute scoring drive being aided by an unlikely key play.  In the Super Bowl it was the helmet catch.  This time it was a bonehead pass interference penalty on Sergio Brown that gave the Giants the ball at New England's 1 yard line and set up Manning's TD pass to Jake Ballard.  David Tyree has been out of the league ever since his miracle catch, while Brown has been relegated back to his rightful role on special teams instead of the defensive backfield, so neither of those plays is likely to happen again.

Too much has been made of the fact that the Patriots didn't beat a single team that finished with a winning record until their playoff victory over Baltimore.  They can't help who is on their schedule, and that stat discounts the fact that they won 7 tough games against teams that finished 8-8.  The Giants may have sneaked out a win in their head-to-head match up, but the Patriots still had the better overall regular season.

Edge: Patriots