The Doc is out

The long rumored deal has finally been completed, although hardly as originally orchestrated.  The Boston Celtics have agreed to release coach Doc Rivers from the three years that remained on his contract to allow him to jump ship to sunny Los Angeles, where the Clippers will make him their coach, as well as senior vice president of basketball operations.  As compensation, the Celtics will receive a first-round draft pick in 2015 from the Clippers.

It's a tough pill for Celtics fans to swallow to see Rivers leave after 9 seasons in Boston.  He's widely considered to be one of the top coaches in the league and the team was very successful during his tenure.  His 416 wins are the third most for a coach in franchise history.  He led the team to six division titles, two Finals appearances and one unforgettable Championship in 2008.  Rivers helped bring a winning culture to a franchise that had struggled for over two decades.  Yet all good things must eventually come to an end and Rivers had reached the end of the line in Boston.  The time had come for him to move on.

The Celtics are in a position where they inevitably have to start rebuilding toward the next stage of the franchise in the post-Big Three era.  Despite knowing the rebuild would be coming at the time he signed his 5 year extension, Rivers was far from enamored with the idea of leading a rebuilding team.  Why bother to pay $7 million per year to a coach of a young team that isn't ready to contend?  If that coach isn't fully committed to the idea of being here through that rebuilding stage, it makes the decision that much easier.  Doc is a great coach, but he may no longer be the best fit for this team if they intend to rebuild with young players.  That doesn't play to Doc's strengths as a coach.  It was best for everyone involved for the Celtics to allow Rivers to join a contender while allowing them to kick start the rebuilding process.

What does Belichick see in Tebow?

For a guy widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, Bill Belichick has a habit of making some head scratching moves.  Sometimes these risks work out (Randy Moss) and sometimes they don't (Chad Johnson, Albert Haynseworth).  It's often best to give the genius of Belichick the benefit of the doubt - or as we stay in New England: In Bill We Trust.  On the surface of his latest surprise, it's tough to see what he's thinking with signing Tim Tebow.

Let's start with the obvious.  Tim Tebow is not a good quarterback.  In fact, he's not even an average one.  Some consider him to be capable of running the option offense due to his ability to scramble with the ball and make plays with his legs, but the difference between him and guys like Robert Griffin and Colin Kaepernick is that those guys can actually throw the football.  Tebow's career completion percentage is a cringe worthy 47.9%.  He played in too limited of a sample size last season with the Jets, making only 8 pass attempts all season, but had he played as a starter last year at his career average level he would have been by far the least accurate passer in the league.  His career Total QBR rating (34.3) would also rank near the bottom of the league (although still ahead of Mark Sanchez!).  He has nearly as many career turnovers (16) as passing TDs (17) and has only thrown for over 300 yards in a game once.

Yes, Tebow does seem to have an immeasurable amount of intangible skills that feed into the belief that he is a winner.  He had a very successful college career and does deserve some credit for winning a playoff game in 2011 with Denver (before getting demolished by the Patriots in the next round).  Keep in mind though that his Broncos team was a mediocre 8-8 that season.  Peyton Manning led essentially the same team to 13 wins and the AFC's top seed last year after Tebow left (true, Manning lost his first playoff game in a Broncos uniform, but the defensive collapse that allowed the eventual champion Ravens to come back in that game can hardly be blamed on Manning).  Tebow was given a lot of credit for carrying an overachieving team to the playoffs on the back of his leadership, when in reality, the team around him may have been better than we thought.  Those late game heroics that resulted in dramatic wins may only have been necessary because his dismal play earlier in the game put them in a hole to begin with.

We Want The Cup!

The cheers were deafening in the TD Garden as the final seconds ticked away at the end of Game 4.

We want the cup!  We want the cup!  We want the cup!

Boston fans want it.  You know the Bruins players want it just as much.  After capping off an impressive four game sweep of the once mighty Pittsburgh Penguins, they will have the chance to play for the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.

But wait, how did we get here?  Weren't the Bruins supposed to be underdogs against a Pittsburgh team

loaded with the league's most explosive offense?  Well that unstoppable scoring machine was held to a meager two goals the entire series.  The Penguins boasted a roster full of household names, but Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were both held without a point - the first time that's happened to either of them in a playoff series.  Add Jarome Iginla to that list as well.  You know, the guy that Bruins fans thought was headed to Boston, until he squashed the deal by choosing the Penguins over them and forcing Calgary to make the deal with Pittsburgh instead.  Bruins fans didn't forget.  Nor will they forget that Iginla not only failed to tally a point, but the series deciding goal in the Bruins 1-0 win in Game 4 appeared to have deflected off of him on it's way into the net.  So in a way, maybe Iginla did end up helping the Bruins in the end after all. 

Meanwhile, David Krejci is the one leading the postseason in goals (9) and points (21), with Nathan Horton not far behind.  Even the 41 year old Jaromir Jagr looked rejuvenated in chipping in three assists in the series against his former team.  This Bruins team isn't known for it's offense.  They score enough to win, using their toughness and grit on the defensive end to keep the other team off the scoreboard. 

Kidd and Hill share co-retirement of the year

They entered the league together nearly two decades ago.  It's only fitting that they'd leave together.  In 1995, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill shared a rare tie for the Rookie of the Year award.  They quickly rose to stardom in the mid-late 90's before their careers took very different turns.

The Dallas Mavericks made Kidd the second overall selection in the '94 draft.  Teaming with Jimmy

Jackson and Jamal Mashburn to form the Three J's, Kidd helped lead the once struggling franchise back to respectability.  The turnaround wouldn't last long, as tension between coaches and teammates forced the Mavs to trade a disgruntled Kidd to Phoenix mid-way through his third season.  It seemed like a bad idea to give up on their star point guard at the time and the decision would only prove to be more damaging over time as Kidd developed into a Hall of Fame player.

The Suns showed immediate improvement after trading for Kidd, making the playoffs in each of the five seasons he was there.  Kidd was an All-Star in three of those seasons, in which he also led the league in assist those years.  His presence left a young Steve Nash with little playing time behind him, resulting in the future two time MVP being traded (ironically, to Dallas, as if the Suns were trying to make it up to the Mavs for stealing one star point guard away from them).  Kidd's time in the desert would end with yet another regrettable trade, with the Suns shipping him to New Jersey for Stephon Marbury.

Red Sox Revival

A season isn't won after only two months, but the standings in early June are very encouraging for a Red Sox team that has failed to make the postseason in each of the past three seasons.  After an epic late season collapse was followed by one of the more miserable seasons in recent memory, expectations were understandably low.  So far, this team is blowing those expectations out of the water.

How has this team turned things around to go from cellar dwellers in the division all the way to the top of the AL East?  The offense has been outstanding, ranking first in the majors in runs scored and second in OPS, but the Red Sox had a top 10 offense in each of their past three postseason-less years.  The difference this year has been the pitching.

Boston's pitching staff currently owns a 3.72 ERA, which trails only the Texas Rangers in the AL.  When Boston won two World Series titles in the last decade they did so with a powerhouse offense that was complimented by a dominant pitching staff headlined by a pair of aces - Pedro/Schilling (2004) and Schilling/Beckett (2007).  In order for the Sox to get back to that championship level they are going to need that same type of one-two punch in the rotation to help carry them.  This year they may finally have it again.

Leading the way is Clay Buchholz, who leads the majors with a sparkling 1.62 ERA.  You can't really call it

a break out season considering he finished second in the AL in ERA back in 2010, but skeptics will point to his mediocre K/9 inning rate as a reason to expect regression.  An injury shortened season would follow, which may be partially to blame for his rather disappointing numbers last year.  Healthy once again, Buchholz is picking up right where he left off a few years ago.  He's even improved his K/9 rate to a career high 8.92, suggesting that his strong start is for real.  His minuscule 3.6% HR/FB rate is likely to rise (he's only given up 2 HRs all season), but given that he's induced ground balls nearly 50% of the time throughout his career, it probably won't go up too much.  Buchholz's ascension has not only put him at the top of this Red Sox pitching staff, it's put him in the conversation with the best pitchers in the league.  With the AL's usual suspects like David Price and Justin Verlander struggling so far, Buchholz has found himself neck and neck with Yu Darvish for the early season favorite for the AL Cy Young.