Marathon Monday Musings

Another Marathon Monday has come and gone and the Boston sports pulse is racing right now. Before we dive into it, though, I just want to invite everyone out there who has stumbled upon this blog by accident or reads it loyally to take a look/listen to/at BostonSportsRadio.net and WGAM The Game. I'm on BSR doing the daily sports updates on Monday and Friday along with written updates and blog posts. There are a lot of excellent, young, up and coming sportscasters working on that website right now, and if you're like me, you can't get enough local sports coverage this time of year.

The website also features The Chris Arcand Show which is on a hiatus until Saturday and will also be broadcast live on WGAM The Game. 900 am in Nashua and 1250 in Manchester. It's an ESPN radio station and it also carries Sox games so if you are in southern/central New Hampshire check it out, or you can stream live online Saturdays from 4-6 EST. Sundays on WGAM you can hear myself and JJ Truman talking birdies and bogeys on The New England Golf Show from 10-11am EST as well. There aren't a lot of golf shows on terrestrial radio and there are some great stories on the tour right now. Also, if you live in the area we're going to be giving away lots of rounds at some of New England's best country clubs and courses.

Ok. Sorry about that. Marathon Monday......

Can you believe those underdog Kenyans pulled it out? Real Cinderella story there. Marathon Monday is a fun time in Boston because for every one of the 27 thousand runners out there taking their mark who have been training for months and are in the best shape they've ever been in, there are 100 Bostonians who have been drinking literally since they woke up, stumbling around Boston eating pretzels and bumping into people. I have never run in a marathon and I likely never will, but I must say props to everyone who participated in the race, especially those of you who participate in the race and then went out drinking afterwards. You know who you are, and you're awesome.

Along with the race, and the general feeling of cheeriness around town that surrounds it, (unless of course, you work in the city and didn't have the day off yesterday and had to commute) the Celtics, Red Sox, and Bruins all decided, for one 48 hour period, to stop screwing around.

Knicks/Celtics Game 1

Way WAAAAAY too close for comfort, but at this point in the season, I don't expect anything with to be "comfortable" with this team. Certainly not a first round matchup with a Knicks team that sacrificed all of its depth for a bona fide scoring machine and an aging, yet still serviceable point guard with a penchant for drilling daggers into the hearts of postseason opponents.

Unfortunately for New York it looks like Chauncey really messed his ankle up. If he does play I can't imagine he is going to be all that effective. And my god what happened to Carmelo Anthony? I recall some ugly games in Denver but 1-11 shooting in the second half? My word. I don't suspect Melo will be putting up another stinker like that this series but stranger things have happened.

Boston's big problem is going to stopping Amar'e Stoudemire. Jermaine O'Neal did a good job in his 22 minutes but Big Baby/KG/Nenad just can't hang. Especially when Amar'e is hitting his perimeter jump shots and can pull his man out of the paint. Containing Stoudemire is going to have to be the C's biggest concern tonight because with Billups out and Melo slumping there isn't anyone else on that team that can really hurt you. Except Toney Douglas. I'm kind of afraid of Toney Douglas. I'm hoping that it's all in my head.

I think tonight the Celtics win easily as New York tries to adjust to a Toney Douglas-run offense. I predict a lot of one-on-ones and I think the Celtics 2nd unit is going to step up big against New York's even more depleted roster. The Knicks traded their depth but in the playoffs depth is mostly overrated. I think it will play a reasonable factor tonight seeing as how they'll be without their starting point guard, but playoff rotations usually aren't more than 7-8 players anyway, so we'll see how it all shakes out tonight. I expect big nights from both Paul Pierce and Jeff Green, and I also think Rondo will have a much better game than he did last night, despite his near triple double. Celtics in 5.

The Red Sox Don't Suck?

Good news, everyone!

The Red Sox may not actually suck after all!

Jed Lowrie is massacring the ball right now. But much like the bad start, this sample size is a bit too small for me to start tap dancing yet. Lowrie hasn't been able to stay healthy yet in his career and while his numbers are gaudy so far I just keep waiting for that other shoe to come crashing down. Hopefully that will not be anytime soon. Watching him hit when he's on is a real treat, by the way. Kinda reminds me of late 90's Nomar.

My three biggest concerns from the pitching staff on opening day were Lackey, Papelbon, and Beckett. So far Papelbon and Beckett have been awesome. Lackey has been god awful and has his turn skipped in the rotation which everyone made far too big a deal out of. I was guilty of it as well, until I realized that bumping Lackey means that the rest of the staff doesn't have to push back a day, and that the big fella probably could use a week off.

It's also pretty amazing to me how much better Sox pitchers are with Varitek than with Saltalamacchia. I used to think the whole 'Tek calls a better game' argument was stupid, since these guys are all major league pitchers and didn't get where they were by pitching exclusively to Jason Varitek their whole lives. On the other hand, the results speak for themselves. Beckett has looked filthy so far and Tek even got a dominant start out of perpetually frustrating Daisuke Matsuzaka yesterday.

At what point does Francona have to act in regards to the Jason Varitek phenomenon? Does he at all? It's not like Tek is in any kind of shape to be playing a full season at catcher for us but if our pitchers are aces with him and Frank Castillo without him then what's a skipper to do?

The offense seems to be clicking which is nice. In a month or so we'll have forgotten all about the first three weeks of April.

Bruins Bite Back

We all know the Bruins can beat the Canadiens. That's what was so frustrating about games one and two in Boston. The Canadiens aren't that good. They're a bad matchup for Boston, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're a contender. Carey Price looked like he had a powerful puck-drawing magnet on his chest in the first game and his confidence carried over into game two. The Bruins could not solve him, even when Bergeron scored Boston's only goal in game two he almost looked stunned that it went in.

I am still not excited about their offensive sets, they deviated a bit from the "defense slapshots from the point, rinse, repeat" set that they had grown so fond of which was refreshing and accounted for some new angles of attack on Price which the B's took full advantage of. Krecji had a great game. Still waiting for Milan Lucic to remove himself from milk carton status. 0 points, 0 on the +/- , 1 shot on goal. Come back, Looch. We need you.

Tim Thomas looked better than he did in the first two games but he still didn't look great. Still waiting on a dominant game from him. Tomorrow night would be nice.

And oh yeah, nice to have Chara back. The defense is incredibly shallow without him.

So things are looking pretty good on this fine Tuesday afternoon. The sun's not out, but the Sox, B's, and Celts all won their games, and with all the hysteria and uncertainty that those three teams have dragged us through as fans those three wins were very satisfying. It's hard to be down on a day like today, unless you're hungover from running in the marathon and then going out drinking. Now there's a hangover I hope I'll never have to suffer through, and I've suffered through some doozies.

Get'em, Celts.

-Judge

What's Wrong With The Celtics?

This post is perhaps a tad reactionary, however, my concern for the Celtics is at a very high level right now. They've lost three of their last four games to teams they should have beaten easily. We thought we were out of the woods when they laid a beating on Milwaukee Sunday, but as they are prone to doing on the second night of a back-to-back the C's laid an egg last night at the Prudential Center, falling to the new look, yet still 22-43, New Jersey Nets.

Are the Celtics feeling the effects of the Perkins trade? Well, yes and no.

Yes, with Kendrick Perkins in the middle, DeAndre Jordan probably would not have been dunking all over everyone like Wilt Chamberlain in high school last week in the Celtics 108-103 loss to the Clippers.

Although in fairness, Nenad Krstic has been a huge surprise thus far for Boston. It's been a while since we've seen an effective post game from the center position. The guy's not Robert Parish or anything but he has soft hands around the basket and can hit jumpers. His offensive rebounding alone has made up for what he lacks on defense in my opinion. The fact that he can score is an added bonus.

No, the loss of a hobbled Perkins and replacement with Krstic and the immortal Delbarton High alumnus Troy Murphy has not been what's ailing these guys. It's the loss of Nate Robinson.

Ok not really, but hear me out, here. Since Nate was traded on the 24th Rajon Rondo has been playing a lot. Maybe a bit too much. Not only are his minutes up he is on pace to score fewer points this year than he did in 07-08 and his free throw attempts are down dramatically. I have to believe that there's something wrong with Rondo, and thus, something very wrong with the Celtics.

We all know that scoring is not a huge part of Rondo's game, but driving to the basket certainly is, and even though his FT % is pretty bad he was still getting in the paint and getting to the line. This year his FT attempts are way down along with his scoring. For Rondo to be playing so often with a large piece of his offensive game absent is troubling. He is not sharp out there, he is not aggressive. He may be trying to play through an injury, in which case that is a different story but for god sake if he's hurt get him off the court.

I can deal with losing the one seed in the east but I cannot deal with having a hobbled Rajon Rondo come playoff time, and the Celtics can't either. Brrrrrr. The thought of it makes me shiver.

If you think the absence of Perk, or KG, or whomever was a real issue the past two postseasons just think about what this team will look like in a playoff series with Carlos Arroyo and Avery Bradley splitting point guard duties.

Carlos Arroyo hasn't been bad, either. But he's not a reasonable option at point if Rondo goes down. Nate wasn't either, really. But he could do things on the court that Rondo couldn't do, like shoot, for example. Arroyo does everything Rondo does, just not nearly as well. Avery Bradley doesn't really do anything yet, and Delonte West just can't stay healthy.

Whatever is bugging Rondo, I hope it clears up soon, and if he needs to sit, let him sit. There's still another month of basketball before the postseason gets here and this team is going to be relying heavily on Rondo this postseason just like they do every postseason, and every postseason Rondo shows why he's arguably the most valuable PG in the league. However, there's something wrong with him and all we can do is join hands and pray to the basketball gods that whatever it is its gone by April 13th. Otherwise this team is in a lot of trouble.

Then again, I think the Bulls are going to win it all this year anyway, no matter what happens with Rondo. I'm calling it now. Chicago is the most complete team in the league and I don't think it's close.

Also, I filled out my brackets today, I have St. John's winning in every pool I'm in for 2 reasons.

1.) They got to those three refs in the Big East tournament, they can get to everyone.

2.) My cousin picked them and my cousin is a freaking sports-picking rainman. He called the Texas/SF World Series, he called Green Bay winning the Super Bowl when the playoffs started and they barely squeaked in. I don't understand it. I think he's a wizard. Or an old version of himself came back in time and gave him the Gray's Sports Almanac. Or both.

Of course, now I probably jinxed him, but whatever, he was getting cocky.

-Judge