Celtic Ramblings

Last night was an entertaining game all the way through. It was especially entertaining because the Celtics won. Had they lost, the game would have been less entertaining and more excruciating. Anyways, I had several observations throughout the contest and I figured now would be a good time so share them with you.

• The game's Hero Among Us, which is where the team takes the opportunity to honor a person who does extraordinary things and who also has a New England tie, was Captain Richard Phillips - a Mass Maritime grad who traded himself in an attempt to keep the rest of his crew safe when his ship was overtaken by pirates. A brave act, to be sure. But don't you think that the Navy SEALs, who took out three pirates (with three head shots... at the same time), should be getting a little love here? At least a ticket to the game? Anything?
  
• At some point this summer, a team like Oklahoma City or Charlotte will open the checkbook and offer Glen Davis a deal somewhere in the area of 5 years/30 million dollars. At that time I suggest the Celtics let me drive him to the airport. Seriously, if someone offers you that, Glen, take it before they have a chance to think it through. I have no need for a "power forward" who won't stay on the damn boards. Perk was by himself against multiple Bulls last night. Also, there is no reason why this team should be running their offense through Big Baby while Pierce is forced to get his looks through any accident deflections that come his way. Look, I get it: Davis is a good guy, great in the locker room and does lots of appearances for the team. Big Baby would be great as the second forward off the bench, which is what he was until Powe and Garnett got hurt, but he just isn't good enough to be the starting power forward on a championship-caliber team.
  
• Also, since I'm calling people out: Stephon Marbury, if you ever... and I mean, ever, hesitate to take a wide-open three late in a game and instead give it to a teammate who has to hoist an awkward shot like that again I want you to immediately go to the locker room, change into street clothes and watch the rest of the series from the bench. If we wanted a guy who shrank away in big moments on this team, we would have made a harder push to get Chris Webber out of retirement (frankly, we could use the height right about now).
  
• It shouldn't bother me, but it does: why is Scalabrine the only one on the team wearing a white headband? Everyone else goes with striped look, Scal goes with the all-white one. Like you needed any more help sticking out. C'mon, man, it's a team sport.
  
• This one is not basketball related, but I flipped over to the Sox/Indians contest at halftime and something about baseball continues to bother me: if batters want to wear those huge arm pads that allow them to stand on the plate when they bat, then they should have to keep them on while they're on the base paths. No other sport allows you to add or subtract equipment while you're on the field of play.
  
• I don't want to hear Brad Miller complain about the foul by Rondo at the end of the overtime. That would be karma for getting Ray Allen out of the game on some serious bullshit double foul and then laughing on your way to the bench. What goes around comes around, Brad.
  
• I know I said that I was going to start hating Joakim Noah in this series, but at least he's earned the right to be annoying cause he actually plays and plays well. The Bulls' player that I can't stand the most is Aaron Gray. Dude never plays (took me a while to figure out who the hell he is cause I've never seen a number as he's always got his warm-ups on. As of right now, he and I have scored the same number of points in this series) and yet he's always right in the middle of the picture, making goofy hand gestures and signalling the crowd. This is the equivalent of a kicker calling out a middle linebacker.
  
• Give me Tommy Heinsohn over the national announcers everyday, twice on Sunday and especially in big games. I like my announcers to actually be into the games, call me crazy. Last night when Ray Allen fouled out on a terrible call Tommy was at Defcon 3. I, without the threat of FCC fines, was at Defcon 1. That's a connection you just don't get with the national announcers who only see a team 10 times a year at most.

Game 6 should be interesting, because this young Bulls team will be playing in an elimination game for the first time. The last time they played in a pressure game, it was game 3 and they got clocked. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the game Thursday night.