RealGM

1. Bill Simmons

Has Sportsguy renounced his antiDoc ravings yet? (I haven't read him in a while.)


2. Oden/Bynum

Which one is ahead in the injury race?

I just heard Andrew Bynum has some bone spurs and might miss some time, perhaps undoing the legendary prophecy of the golden bynum.


3. Big Baby

Who had the last nickname as good as Glen Davis?

I'll answer this one: Darryl Dawkins, Chocolate Thunder.


4. Posey

Do you still miss him?


5. Unless you want all shooting guards...

Rondo just outplayed Iverson and Calderon. Why can't he be an all star now? Right freakin' now!


6. Injuries part 2

How come no one questioned whether Jermaine O'neal and Elton Brand would instantly be back to their old all star selves after taking a full year off?


7. Tall face off in 09/10

Who will win: Semih Erden or Patrick O'Bryant?


8. Salary cap question

If Pierce terminates his salary early and the Celtics only resign Rondo and Powe, won't that put them like 30 mil under the cap allowing the green to go after LeBron or Bosh in the free agent class of 2010? (THEN after signing a free agent they resign Pierce. Heh heh heh.)
http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages ... eltics.jsp

Is this possible?


9. Utah Flash

When are the Celtics getting a local D-league team? When for godsakes? WHEN? I think I'd watch their games on pay per view. (No... not really)

...though I am suffering from an acute case of Bill Walker withdrawal.


10. Food question

Every Thanksgiving I get take out Indian food. Is this wrong?

I like #8

i like #10

mmm... turkey tikka masala...

ParticleMan wrote:i like #10

mmm... turkey tikka masala...

Shrimp Vindaloo and Malai Kofta. Hot pickles. Mango chutney. Fritters. Roti.

Every year the president should pardon a shrimp...

Re. watching the Utah games, they're all streamed for free. Go to the NBADev League site, and follow the links.

I agree though, sure would be nice if they were local.

I'm also interested in #7. Erdan vs. POB. Semih shows more heart from the little that I've seen of the two.

Gant
Indian food is good but not from the metrowest area. I have from a reliable source that most of the indian restaurants in the metrowest are substandard. Good post , once again

Happy Thanksgiving, Gant -

Nice post. With regard to question #'s

5. I was thinking the same thing. With Chauncey Billups in the West, you could make the argument that Rajon Rondo is near the top, although Devin Harris and Derrick Rose will have tremendous support, followed by Calderon (who supposedly was gimpy when Rondo destroyed him).

6. Yeah, like with Tony Allen's recovery last year, you don't just step onto the court. But Jermaine O'Neal had a lot of time off, so his swollen knee is more than a minor concern. Brand, well, he's all offense and stats, but I never liked his defense or lack of movement (from a team perspective). Philly has an inside game and slashers, if they ever get some shooter, well, then their team will be another story.

8. If Pierce were to opt out in the summer of 2010, there is a cap hold equal to like 150% of the previous year's salary, which for Pierce would be like $29,600,000. So, although the Celtics could re-sign Pierce without regard to the salary cap, the cap hold would eat a chunk of space and prevent signing a major free agent. If the Celtics renounced their right to Pierce, that cap hold would be removed, but then the Celtics could only sign Pierce to the MLE (if their over the cap) or use whatever cap space they have if they are under the cap.

Jammer wrote:Happy Thanksgiving, Gant -

Nice post. With regard to question #'s

5. I was thinking the same thing. With Chauncey Billups in the West, you could make the argument that Rajon Rondo is near the top, although Devin Harris and Derrick Rose will have tremendous support, followed by Calderon (who supposedly was gimpy when Rondo destroyed him).

6. Yeah, like with Tony Allen's recovery last year, you don't just step onto the court. But Jermaine O'Neal had a lot of time off, so his swollen knee is more than a minor concern. Brand, well, he's all offense and stats, but I never liked his defense or lack of movement (from a team perspective). Philly has an inside game and slashers, if they ever get some shooter, well, then their team will be another story.

8. If Pierce were to opt out in the summer of 2010, there is a cap hold equal to like 150% of the previous year's salary, which for Pierce would be like $29,600,000. So, although the Celtics could re-sign Pierce without regard to the salary cap, the cap hold would eat a chunk of space and prevent signing a major free agent. If the Celtics renounced their right to Pierce, that cap hold would be removed, but then the Celtics could only sign Pierce to the MLE (if their over the cap) or use whatever cap space they have if they are under the cap.

Thanks for the information. Too bad about that cap hold thingie. It was a good plan while it lasted.

Rondo is going to have his ups and downs but he has a mile to go to reach his ceiling. Though yeah, Rose and Harris are both real talents, as is Calderon on the offensive end.

Yesss!!! a Gant 10 thingy. In response to your questions:

I don't read TSG unless I get forwarded an article. It's been a while.

I root for Oden to stay healthy, I stick pins in the Bynum voodoo doll. Mostly though, I'm indifferent, by the time either of them reaches their potential the Celtics faces could look different, and a few rings could be chillin on the young guys' fingers.

What, you don't think Black Mamba is the coolest nickname evah?

I miss Poze ;cry; he hated pants.

Rondo can move so fast that even when they lay off him he lays up in them, he still gets to the hole, and then he makes that last quick move with those E.T. fingers, flips it up and in. suckabeaches. Fake you right out of the air bizniss.

Patrick O'Bryant needs to trade brains with Powe. Can't we do that, don't they have the technology?! Also, OT, but can we sign Perk's child? Layaway plan or something. I mean look at the work they've done with Papa in such a short time, imagine if they had started even EARLIER.

If they can have an indoor lacrosse league, then they DEFINITELY could have a (local) DLeague team. Put it up in NH.

Finally, in response to #10, yes, it's wrong. The Curry shack will always be there for you, today you should eat [select one: turkey, tofurkey, turducken].

Gant wrote:1. Bill Simmons

Has Sportsguy renounced his antiDoc ravings yet? (I haven't read him in a while.)

2. Oden/Bynum

Which one is ahead in the injury race?

I just heard Andrew Bynum has some bone spurs and might miss some time, perhaps undoing the legendary prophecy of the golden bynum.


3. Big Baby

Who had the last nickname as good as Glen Davis?

I'll answer this one: Darryl Dawkins, Chocolate Thunder.


4. Posey

Do you still miss him?


5. Unless you want all shooting guards...

Rondo just outplayed Iverson and Calderon. Why can't he be an all star now? Right freakin' now!


6. Injuries part 2

How come no one questioned whether Jermaine O'neal and Elton Brand would instantly be back to their old all star selves after taking a full year off?


7. Tall face off in 09/10

Who will win: Semih Erden or Patrick O'Bryant?


8. Salary cap question

If Pierce terminates his salary early and the Celtics only resign Rondo and Powe, won't that put them like 30 mil under the cap allowing the green to go after LeBron or Bosh in the free agent class of 2010? (THEN after signing a free agent they resign Pierce. Heh heh heh.)
http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages ... eltics.jsp

Is this possible?


9. Utah Flash

When are the Celtics getting a local D-league team? When for godsakes? WHEN? I think I'd watch their games on pay per view. (No... not really)

...though I am suffering from an acute case of Bill Walker withdrawal.


10. Food question

Every Thanksgiving I get take out Indian food. Is this wrong?

This is just off the top of my head stuff, like I first posted. It kind of got into too big a project for me to keep up with when I was wasting effort checking facts to make sure I was accurate. Accurate-shmaccurate, the Celtics are going to win. I spit on my former fact checking *P-tooo* and renounce obsessive statistical accuracy as a way of living.

Ray Allen's healthy, Rondo's getting better. Pierce and Garnett are themselves. The rest of the league is in trouble.

Viva la Vindaloo!!!

Great work, Gant. Fact-checking be damned.

I think the Cs are likely out of luck for the 2010 sweepstakes. If we:

1. renounced Ray Allen altogether (though we could sign him using our MLE slot later int he summer);
2 had Paul opt out and we resigned him for a four or five year deal beginning at only $11 million per year in 2010-11;
3. held off on extending Rajon until later summer 2010 (so he only counted $6 million against the cap before signing an extension;
4. let one of Big Baby and Leon walk in the summer of 2009;
5. signed no other free agents and made no deals to add players with salaries past 2010;

we would still not have space to sign a max-contract player. We would also possibly make our team weaker in the meantime. Since the first order of business is to win titles in 2009 and 2010, that seems like putting the cart before the horse.

A more prudent course: plan to get under the cap significantly by 2012 or 2013. Ray wil be gone or very cheap by then. Paul will be much cheaper by then. KG will likewise be gone or cheaper by then.

Frontload deals whenever possible.

So, for example, extend Leon to a five year deal starting this summer at $6 million and have the salary decrease by 10 percent every year. So in 2012-13 the salary is $4.2 million. Likewise have Rajon sign a five year deal that is frontloaded. It starts at $11 million in 2010-11 and decreased by $1 million every year.

The Cs pay more in luxury tax in the short term, but have max cap space come 2012 or 2013. Plus a nice core of players in their late 20s with very reasonable contracts.

It also means the Cs could be liberal users of the MLE slot for the next year or two to grab veterans; just make sure the deals end by 2012. e.g. someone like Shawn Marion in 2009 might make a solid MLE free agent. I doubt he will get much more. There will be many more like that tro consider in 2009 and especially 2010.

Just a thought.