Update From Justin.Tv: Marbury Was Not Paid

We have received the following information through correspondence with the folks at Justin.Tv:

"Hi, I would like to talk with you about your post that claims we paid Stephon Marbury to broadcast on Justin.tv. That is a complete lie and I'm baffled as to why you would write that, especially without talking to anyone at the company. Please call me."


So, I'll accept that we were misinformed. I've taken down our previous post, which hopefully considered the possibility that Marbury was paid. We had heard some rumblings around here to that effect, and it seemed to make sense. I in no way meant to baffle the people at justin.tv by presenting a scenario in which a professional athlete might require compensation for a live media appearance. It's still hard for me to believe he's getting nothing, but I'll take them at their word.

Notes on the Boston Celtics

I intended to write this post before the news of Kevin Garnett's continued injury woes surfaced. However, I got distracted and now its inevitable that Doc Rivers' recent take on the situation, "It's just not progressing the way we anticipated it would progress" will linger over the entire post. But here goes.

- Mike Gorman and the ABC crew have done a great job pointing it out, but it deserves my attention. Eddie House has been outrageously hot from deep. Dating back to January 12th, over a 36-game stretch, he's gone 79-152 from beyond the arc. That's 52%. In one 4-game strech he went 7-11 (Miami), 0-1 (Orlando), 7-11 (Dallas) and 8-9 (Sacramento). Factor in the entire Eddie House experience and it has been tremendous to watch. Though I'm rightfully concerned by the Stephon Marbury/House pairing on the defensive end, it's nice to see the former ASU star get minutes at the 2, run off screens, and get it done.

- As well as House has shot he's got nothing on Paul Pierce, who has had some fantastic stretches. I know the game went to overtime and Dwyane Wade didn't suit up, but it doesn't take away from the fact that Pierce was lights out against Miami. He pulled a similar effort in defeat the previous night in Chicago. He's evolved into a tremendous weapon from around the free throw line. Yet Pierce still takes it to the rack and gets to the line. And when KG made his short lived return the Truth immediately worked to get Garnett back in the flow of the offense. Pierce's growth as a player has been rocky and ultimately rewarding.

- A while back Mike Gorman's disdain for Carmelo Anthony's game came through in Boston's trip to Denver. Gorman went as far to say that he wouldn't trade a bag of balls for Anthony. Ignoring the obvious salary cap issues with the proposed deal I was somewhat bothered by the commentary. First of all the Celtics broadcast crew is widely considered to be the most biased in the entire Association. Tommy Heinsohn and Donny Marshall see to that. So I've always relied on Gorman to stay above the fray, provide some objectivity and keep the broadcast from falling into an unmitigated Celtics love fest. That's particularly the case when Marshall is on the air as Heinsohn has earned the right to do whatever he wants given his decade long assocication with the organization. Furthermore, I don't entirely agree with Gorman's assessment. Yes, he knows the players better than I do and has the best seat in the house. However, Carmelo can flat out score. And though he's made it into the headlines for his fair share of idiocy, it's way too early to cut ties with the former Syracuse star. Just look at Pierce's growth and maturation process.

- I might be in the minority on this one, but I was a little disappointed to see Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury running around in the numbers formerly worn by Big Al and Antoine. Granted the C's have a lot of unavailable numbers. And Jefferson and Walker didn't exactly have the most distinguished careers. I just felt that same way I did when I first saw Rocco Baldelli's rocking Nomar's #5. I'd feel better if those numbers were taken by better players or guys with a future in Boston. In the end it's really a minor thing. More importantly Moore's love of personal fouls and Marbury's inconsistent play have concerned me. Still it's hard to join a team late in the season and there are signs of both guys coming along. And no matter what happens Marbury took a charge against Tim Duncan of all people. True story.

- I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Stan Van Gundy. I tend to agree that he's one of the better coaches in the NBA. I follow the line of thinking that the Shaq feud was pretty one sided and unnecessary on the Diesel's end. Van Gundy's defense of Patrick Ewing/shots at the Knicks caught me off guard. However, it's always admirable to see a head coach try to get his assistants to the next level. In fact it's something that probably doesn't happen enough. So ultimately my hesitation on Van Gundy comes down to 2 things.

1. We'll never know exactly what went down, but he was bounced in Miami by Pat Riley who then took the Heat all the way. Does that happen with Van Gundy? Once again we'll never know. And while Van Gundy has clearly bounced back well, it does linger at least somewhat. Maybe that's just me.

2. Van Gundy was recently critical of Boston and its injuries excuse: "I want to know how some teams get on the list, where they get excuses and other teams are not on that list. All I've been hearing about is all the injury problems the Celtics have had this year." Is he right? Maybe. Still there's no denying that losing KG, Leon Powe and as weird as it may sound Brian Scalabrine has had a noticeable impact. The C's are incredibly thin at the 4 and by extension the 5 as some of the aforementioned guys get minutes at center as well. Factor in Rajon Rondo's ankle issues and that's a legitimate excuse. At the same time every team has injuries. Off the top of my head LA (Andrew Bynum), San Antonio (Manu Ginobili), Orlando (Jameer Nelson), Cleveland (Ben Wallace), Milwaukee (Michael Redd), Philadelphia (Elton Brand), and Washington (Gilbert Arenas) come to mind. The list goes on.

Ultimately I always prefer the Bill Belichick style refusal to even acknowledge injuries. And of course Van Gundy is doing his job attacking the bullies in the East. It just makes me want to see the C's drive the dagger through the Magic even more. That's it for now.

Can Steph Help the C's Get Their Swagger Back? Plus..the Playoff Picks

Don't try and convince yourself, that was not a close game last night. The setting was perfect for them to make a statement, and because of that it would have been nice to see a sense of urgency. Even if they hadn't been sliding, this was a huge game. I had it circled in December, during the midst of a huge winning streak, because I knew Cleveland was right on our heels (those were good days..) and I knew that this was a possible Eastern Conference Finals matchup. This should have been one of the most epic games of this regular season. And yet, the only player on the court that seemed to grasp the magnitude of the night was LeBron James.


Now, I'm not panicing by any means. Kelly Dwyer has been saying this week that what we're seeing from the Celtics is "regression to the mean". I like the way that sounds. Normal NBA teams go through these types of skids. But, something happened this morning that I never expected:


I woke up, got out of bed, and said to myself "man, we NEED Stephon Marbury."


I was livid when I first read the reports that the Celtics were interested in bringing Marbury on board. But, this morning, it makes sense. They said on the radio last night that Rondo has been in a lot of pain from being knocked hard to the floor so many times. We're not even halfway through the season. He's going to need some stretches in which he plays fewer minutes. On top of that, although he did have a stretch earlier this year where he looked like the best point man in the East, Rondo is still a work in progress.

Marbury would give the Celtics a guy that could play a lot of minutes when Rondo struggles. Additionally, he will keep defenses more honest than Rondo or House can. Teams cannot leave him open to shoot as they do with Rondo, and yet he can create offense and handle the ball better than House can. In fact, he could be very dangerous on the floor with the starting unit.

Marbury's "cancer" effect is well documented (if you haven't read this yet, get on it!). But, I'm not really concerned that he will be able to negatively change the chemistry of this team. The leadership is too solid. On top of that, who in the NBA has more to prove than Marbury (you could argue several people here, but just stick with me)? The guy DOES NOT WANT to be a cancer. He grew up devoting his life to basketball. I'm sure it kills him that he has developed this reputation. I think the sense of rejection that he felt from the Knicks this season really hurt him and led to the actions that we're seeing (sorry, I've been attending native american peacemaking circle training for the past two days and I am going for the final day in about 15 minutes). I think he will be ecstatic to be joining such a great organization, and I think he will be happy to contribute.

I have heard several people on the radio make the "Manny to the Dodgers" comparison. That doesn't work that well for me. I think Randy Moss to the Patriots is a more accurate comparison. The Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks parallel one another in many eerie ways. Marbury is a real talent, and I think he would relish the opportunity to join forces with guys like KG, Pierce, and Ray Allen (as Moss felt with Tom Brady). This is a shot at redemption for him.

So, there it is. I'm crying out for Stephon Marbury. We need some swagger back. We need to shake it up. I also really, really hope PJ Brown is working out right now and that he and Danny Ainge have already had phone conversations about when exactly he will be joining the team, but only time will tell.






The Picks:

TITANS OVER RAVENS: This is going to be a battle, but I expect the Titans to run on Baltimore. The Titans will lock down McLain and Mcgahee.

CAROLINA OVER ARIZONA: The line is something insane (I think 9.5) on this one. I don't expect it to be that lopsided, but Williams and Stewart will keep Carolina's offense on schedule.

GIANTS OVER EAGLES: A new season starts now for the Giants. If you've actually been watching the Eagles, they aren't that scary. If Philly plays the game they played last week, the G-Men will run away with this one.

SAN DIEGO OVER PITTSBURGH: The Steelers can't protect Ben Roethlisberger, and I don't think their offense will be able to do anything against the Chargers, who have just the right kind of momentum right now.

Hump Day Spectacular

Classy.

Without a team in the NFL Playoff mix and with the Celtics sliding to the brink of Stephon Marbury I have had a lot of time to reflect over the past two weeks. In many ways, not having to deal with the stress of putting all of your hopes and dreams into a professional sports franchise in the hunt for a Superbowl has been a calming and interesting experience. I can watch the games for what they are: pure entertainment.

LaRocque and I, in a serious display of solidarity hit on 50% of the games during that "Wild" Wild Card weekend. A few points:

-I love the Saturday/Sunday combination. When you mix in the Rose Bowl this made for excellent viewing that carried itself throughout the weekend. Just when you get tired of watching the NFL you can switch into "Big 10 getting dominated mode" without leaving your seat at the sports bar. And when you've seen enough shots of Joe "The Puppet" Paterno you can put yourself right back into the NFL mix in time to see Chad Pennington begin his quest for an unprecedented 3rd comeback player of the year award. My money says that Paterno continues to coach past 90, calling in plays from that strange life support capsule that Arthur Digby Sellers was seen in in The Big Lebowski. Naturally, his headset will be plugged into an old shoebox, and occasionally an intern would show him some of those laminated black and white formation photographs in a 3 ring binder.

The bulk of the series...

-Indy displayed a miserable running game. Oddly enough, Edgerrin James had his best game of the year the same weekend despite being a non factor the entire season. What if the Mannings mated with the Williams sisters? I think about these things all the time.

-Ed Reed is Nasty.

Moving along...

Rather than focusing on the fascinating New England Patriots offseason that might see the loss of Coordinator Josh McDaniels and Serious Personnel Guru (my own terminology) Scott Pioli, along with an unprecedented Franchise-and-Trade maneuver featuring Matt Cassell I have been thinking about this:

Unnecessary Scarf on the Offense, number 12...

I have determined that from now on I will refer to Giselle Bundchen as "Gis". I will pronounce it as "jizz", however, not "jiss". I invite you all to join with me. Imagine reading thinking or saying this line: "Tom Brady was spotted courtside at last nights Celtics game with Gis on him arm". Or "Tom Brady was photographed picking up Gis outside of a trendy SoCal salon." We can make this happen.

Seriously though, Happy New Year.