Summer Quandaries 2010 #1

Aug 1—61 Days to camp
Central to the Dilemma

Each year for the past five, I have done a series of posts in an effort to fill the void between the drop off in free agent activity near the end of July and the start of training camp at the end of September. For me this was the true doldrums of summer. The Boston media sportswriters lost all the lead out of their pencils—and what should just be a personal problem became instead a hole in the hearts of Celtics’ fans. Now, the blogosphere has helped fill the vacuum but if you keep a number of browser windows (which ones might be a good subject for a later post) open and periodically refreshed during each day, you have noticed the last 48 hours has seen a serious drop off in traffic. To span this breach I shall try to generate 61 thought provokers to tickle the little gray cells these next two months. After all the unquenchable thirst for Celtics’ musings should not go unslaked.

Obviously the center position has garnered a lot of attention this off season. Almost as obviously, the process of solving this dilemma is still a work in progress. Danny has already played the biggest (and darn near only) chip at his disposal by securing Jermaine O’Neal with the MLE. For the next month we watched as the (never extensive) supply of big men were taken off the table with various offers—all having in common that they were more than the veteran minimum which is the only size currency left in Danny’s GM wallet. With no LLE (used last year for Marquis Daniels) and no tradable contracts outside the starters except for Glen Davis and the smallest of vet min contracts of Oliver and Gaffney, Ainge has few options. He has been left to explore deals using the contract of the ready-to-retire Rasheed Wallace while waiting for the market to dwindle until the mystique and contender-status of the Celtics make Danny’s min vet contracts among the “best” deals left. An indication of just what an irksome wait this has become is the fact that still holding out for more cash are Kwame Brown, Earl Barron, and the large bulk of Shaquille O’Neal (once a powerhouse but now only a shell, albeit a massive one, of his former dominant self ).

Another idea occurred to me but let’s hold off on that and consider the “merits” of these three best of the leftovers.

I Always Played The Game

I am delighted to have joined the staff of Celtics Life and look forward to sharing our common passion for the Boston Green Team. I wrote for several years for Celtics Nation, a fine site that has fallen into disrepair. Frustrated at the lagging support, I asked to join FLCeltsFan on her Celtics Green Blogspot and greatly appreciate her welcoming me with open arms. Six months later she approached me with concerns about dwindling support there and we discussed our next move. We chose Celtics Life only after looking over the possibilities and felt this site brought the best combination of support, activity, and promise. Hope you enjoy having us as much as we enjoy being here.


When I joined FLCeltsFan she asked to write an introduction of myself as a basketball blog writer and what follows is an edited version.


While I was loathe to discuss such a mundane subject, it did seem reasonable to explain why anyone would/should give my insights any consideration. If the title seems familiar, but skewed, it parodies the title of the semi-autobiographical book by Howard Cosell. Somewhat knowledgeable about boxing upon which his journalistic career rode the coattails of Ali, Howard knew almost nothing about football and yet served as an interesting foil for the ex-jocks Dandy Don Meredith and Frank Gifford in the sports-gone-entertainment of Monday Night Football. My credentials similarly lack typical school participation as I was cut from my only school basketball team in the 7th grade for "Mike" who was an inch taller and whose most athletic activity after that year was pulling shoe boxes off the shelves at the local department store for several decades.


Yet I played the game for nearly five decades, passionately and with determination, undaunted by such hindrances as a career, marriage, and fatherhood. I coached intramurals, city leagues, rec leagues, youth leagues, even a few fortunately-tolerated comments in pickup games.

Random Thoughts as the Off Season Slows to a Crawl

It was good to see the interview with Perk. He said that his rehab is going really well. I wouldn't expect anything less from him. I still remember his first season in the league. In that season, in spite of getting virtually no playing time, he went from a pudgy high school body to a muscular NBA body. Perk is going to work as hard as humanly possible to get back as quickly as possible. He also talked about how hard game 7 was for him, knowing that if he was playing the outcome would have been different. When he comes back, he is going to be on a mission. I've heard people say that Perk may not be back at 100% but I believe that he will be back and back all the way. He just works too hard not to be. He put in a lot of work before he even had the surgery to strengthen the knee in advance so that the recovery time would be quicker. I expect him back sooner than expected and better than most expect.

I read the other day where the Fakers are talking about a trade for Delonte West. Delonte, Ron Ron Artest and Matt "I will kill you" Barnes all on the same team would set a record for crazy and may even set off some kind of seismic crack in the universe. All joking aside, I loved Delonte when he was with the Celtics and even though he took on some of the ego that emanated from LeJerk in Cleveland, I hope he can get himself on the right track and do well.

What the Hell Happened to...Bimbo Coles?

In this week's episode of What the Hell Happened To?, we look back at the epitome of an NBA backup point guard.  Vernell Coles was a 6'2 guard from Virgina Tech.  That name may not ring a bell since you probably remember him by his nickname, Bimbo.

Bimbo Coles was drafted by the Kings in the second round of the 1990 draft but before ever playing for Sacramento was shipped to Miami for Rory Sparrow.  He'd play with the Heat for his first 5.5 seasons, and actually put up over 10 ppg for three of those campaigns.  Since the Heat were such a young franchise, Coles would actually set the Miami Franchise record for assists while he was there.  There's a better chance of Kendrick Perkins making two consecutive free throws five straight times then of this record still being held.