Have We Seen the End of KG and “The Truth” in Celtics Green?
A little more than a week ago I made a prediction on the outcome of the Knicks Celtics series. This prediction was made not by an objective sportswriter as I should be but rather by a life-long Celtics fan hoping to see one more miraculous moment in what could very well be the end of an era. Unfortunately, that miraculous moment would not come in the form of a first round playoff victory over my least favorite basketball team, the New York Knicks. However, to say that the series was not miraculous in its own way would be an insult to Celtics and basketball fans alike. Battling from three down to force a decisive game six in which they made a 20-point run to keep the game in reach is truly a miraculous accomplishment especially when considering the circumstances in which this series was played. Beginning back in January, the Celtics saw season ending injuries take both Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger. One had worked himself into the starting rotation, utilizing his offens…
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NBA Rumors: Finding 5 Nuggets of Truth
Whether in work settings or in a classroom, we’ve all played the classic icebreaker game, “two truths and a lie.” Well, in the always-fluid NBA rumor mill, it seems like we’re always playing a game of one truth and a hundred lies.
That’s obviously not to say reporters are fabricating stories. They’re not. It’s just that there is so much information being bandied about regarding possible trades, signings, hirings and firings that it would be impossible for all to come to fruition.
If all of the rumored moves eventually happened, we’d essentially be playing a real-life version of NBA 2K13. And while that sounds fun in theory, no one wants real life to imitate a video game.
That’s why it’s our job to sift through the rumors and figure out which ones actually bear some semblance of truth. They obviously aren’t all going to happen, but finding those kernels of sensible speculation is what helps us know what to truly focus on in the interim.
Which current rumors make the most sense? Here is a breakdown of a few rumors we’re buying from around the Association.
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One Ugly Truth We’ve Learned About Every AP Top 25 Team
While the 25 teams that comprise the AP Poll have certainly showed their strengths during this non-conference season, many of their weaknesses have yet to be exposed. At some point throughout their tumultuous league schedules, these flaws will be exposed.
Their reactions to the rough patches they will all experience at some point will prove their worth come March Madness. The 25 teams highlighted in this slideshow have combined for only 28 combined losses, including four unscathed squads.
The ugly truth about each particular team isn’t in any way to take away from what they have accomplished within the season’s first month and a half, but rather to give a glimpse of an area that could be a cause for concern at some point in the future.
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Boston Celtics: 3 Ways KG and the Truth Will Guide the C’s into the Playoffs
NBA tipoff is seven weeks away, and Boston Celtics fans can’t wait.
That’s because the Green have reloaded after a tough Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Miami Heat, and they now look as talented and deep as any Celtics team since 2008-09 (except maybe the 2010 team that came within four points of a championship).
They’ve added youth and athleticism to their bench. They’ve added scoring and depth in the backcourt. They may even enjoy some addition by subtraction from the departure of the set-slowing SG Ray Allen, who relied too heavily on screens and left the offense stagnant.
They’ve still got PG Rajon Rondo, one of the best floor generals in the league.
Most importantly, they return their best defender and scorer in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
With KG and Pierce rested after last season’s run (and Pierce’s sprained MCL fully healed), the Celtics are poised to make a run at one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.
Let’s take a look at how KG, Pierce, and the Cs look heading into next season.
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Big Ten Basketball: The Ugly Truth About Each Big Ten Team
The Big Ten is arguably the strongest conference heading into the 2012-13 college basketball season.
Indiana will likely be No. 1 in the nation to start the year, Ohio State returns key contributors from its Final Four team, Michigan has its strongest roster since the days of the Fab Five and Michigan State still has Tom Izzo.
But every team, no matter how strong, has concerns heading into a new campaign. The squads that make up the Big Ten are no different.
Here is one thing that each fanbase should be concerned about entering the 2012-13 season.
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Ugly Truth About Every Top 25 Team
The college basketball offseason is a time for fans and analysts alike to reflect on the season that was and prepare for the season to come.
During these roughly seven-and-a-half months, we have the time to nit-pick and scrutinize each Top 25 team for minor flaws or problems.
Sometimes these aren’t problems that can be swept under the rug. Sometimes they get ugly.
From huge questions to minor discrepancies, this is the potentially ugly truth for every team in the preseason Top 25.
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NBA Rumors: Finding 7 Nuggets of Truth
The meatiest part of NBA free agency is long since over since its rip-roaring first couple of weeks back in early July.
But that doesn’t mean teams are finished searching for ways to help themselves. Plenty of solid players are still without contracts and looking for homes, and the chances most of them will be signed in some way, shape or form before training camp begins at the end of next month are pretty high.
The rumor mill churns year round when it comes to stuff like this, and sometimes it’s difficult to separate what makes the most sense from what makes no sense at all.
So, here’s a handful of rumors that seem to have legs, the ones that have the potential to gain a little traction between now and the opening of training camps.
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College Basketball: The Ugly Truth About Every Top 25 Team Entering 2012-13
Considering all the optimism surrounding college basketball’s most promising teams this offseason, it’s time to balance it with a healthy dose of skepticism. Even the most impressive rosters have their weaknesses, and even the projected Top 25 for the 2012-13 campaign will have their share of concerns heading into the year.
One team that’s sure to have plenty of preseason buzz is the Creighton Blue Jays, led by returning super-scorer Doug McDermott. Of course, unless Creighton can do something about a defense that ranked 244th in the country in points allowed, all that offense is going to go to waste yet again.
Herein, a closer look at the Blue Jays and the rest of ESPN’s preseason Top 25, with an eye to the biggest hole in each team’s hopes for national contention.
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How Paul Pierce’s Boston Celtics Exposed the Real Truth About the Miami Heat
The Boston Celtics smacked down the Miami Heat in South Beach on Tuesday night.
There is really no other way to put it.
The Heat were outworked, out-hustled and outplayed in almost every facet of the game, and the Celtics have suddenly turned around the previously popular belief that this club couldn’t contend this season.
Boston took what Miami gave it on the offensive end.
The Heat can have a swarming attack on defense at times, but there are holes where the team can be exposed.
As ESPN’s Beckley Mason very smartly observed, the Celtics made their money all night from the perimeter.
For the season, Boston is shooting just 37.0 percent from behind the three-point line. Although the team is shooting a respectable 46.1 percent from the field, it’s clear that the Celtics caught fire from an area of the floor that Miami could not defend.
Is it possible to beat the Heat? Absolutely. But it’s not easy.
The Celtics are constructed in a very unique way.
Paul Pierce is shooting a lights-out 46.9 percent from deep in April, and his hot-shooting performance on Tuesday (27 points) was a big reason why Boston was able to come out with a victory.
But there is a bigger reason as to why Boston specifically presents such a strong challenge to Miami.
Rajon Rondo’s ability to penetrate into the lane causes the Miami defense to collapse, leaving open shooters on the perimeter.
Miami can’t do that against the Celtics.
With successful perimeter shooters in Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce on the floor, Rondo can weave his way through the key, and as soon as he draws a double-team, the point guard will kick it out to the open man.
The Heat had a tough time defending the perimeter and the three-point shot against a team that starts a penetrating point guard, and that’s not going to change unless rapid adjustments are made.
That issue is masked effectively when teams don’t have a player who can slice and dice into the lane, but the Celtics have that in Rondo.
This is the second time this season Boston has shot over 60 percent from three-point land against the Heat this season.
That’s a trend that has to change for Miami to flex its muscle over Boston.
Otherwise, the Celtics might have figured out a way to beat the Heat.
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Jeremy Lin: The Truth Behind Floyd Mayweather’s Comments and Race
Linsanity has swept across America, even invoking the issue of race in sports, specifically basketball. The always-outspoken boxer Floyd Mayweather wasn’t shy about bring the issue to light and voicing his opinion.
On his Twitter page, Mayweather wrote:
While Mayweather’s comments are far from the truth regarding the issue of praising players of certain races over those of others, they are correct in the notion that part of the fascination of Lin’s success has to do with race.
Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com wrote a great piece about the “dark-side” of the Jeremy Lin story, raising the question what others missed when scouting Lin, a successful player both at the high school and collegiate level.
Doyel does a nice job of tight-roping the issue and merely asking the question about why Lin was overlooked by so many time and time again. It’s not enough.
A huge part of the fascination with Lin is the fact that it’s unexpected. The NBA has more than 400 players, and how many are of Asian decent?
Jeremy Lin has always proved he can play ball. In his final year of high school, Lin led his Palo Alto High School Vikings to a 32-1 record and beat a national powerhouse in Mater Dei for the Division II title for the state of California.
Even with that success, no scholarships. Then he went on to have success at the college level in the Ivy League playing for Harvard. He was drafted in the NBA, but with little opportunity to showcase his talents. But at every level, when given the opportunity, Lin has done a marvelous job showing what he can do.
In basketball, the expectation has become that black players are the more athletic players and are better suited to play the guard and forward positions. For white players, they can either play point guard or big man. Whether right or wrong, that has become the stereotypes for the current NBA.
Race is a fragile issue in society. Many people ignore the issue completely and pretend it doesn’t exist. However, it does exist and it plays a huge role in sports, especially basketball.
Jeremy Lin can play some serious basketball, there is little question remaining there. But like Doyel’s question, why was overlooked so often and by so many?
Sadly, the answer has to do with Lin’s race.
What Lin is doing is incredible and he deserves all the credit he is being given, but it shouldn’t have been so unexpected. It shouldn’t matter what skin color or where Lin’s family is from, but unfortunately it is.
Ever since Linsanity started, the jokes regarding Asian-Americans have been out in full force. Signs have included references to stereotypes and racial divides such as driving ability, yellow skin and even crept into the inappropriate realm of genitalia.
FOX Sports writer Jason Whitlock received heat for a tweet that he later apologized for.
Whitlock clearly crossed the line with his comment and rightfully apologized, but the amount of comments featuring jokes are bountiful. A quick Twitter search of “Jeremy Lin” reveals the incredible amount of racist jokes being thrown around.
While the Lin story has been great to follow and cheer for, it presents an opportunity to reflect on how race plays a role in sports and how that needs to be adjusted.
Jeremy Lin is a basketball player, a damn good one at that, and should be defined as such. Lin’s success has nothing to do with his race and everything to do with an incredible work ethic and ability to seize the moment.
Hopefully the success Lin is having will also help to break down the stereotypes of NBA players filling certainly roles based off of race and more. It needs to happen, sooner or later.
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