Celtics 2008 Draft Picks

I am pretty happy about the celtics draft picks. Every one of them can play fairly well. I think it was very smart to get Semih Erden because we would of got a bad draft pick. From wibw.com: The Boston Celtics selected guard J.R. Giddens and center Semih Erden in the 2008 NBA Draft on June 26, 2008. The Celtics also acquired forward Bill Walker from the Washington Wizards in exchange for cash considerations.

Giddens, a 6’5, 215 pound guard from the University of New

Mexico was selected with the 30th overall pick. He is the first player from the University

of New Mexico to have been drafted by the Celtics. The former Lobo shared Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Year honors as a senior when he averaged 16.3 points and a league leading 8.8 rebounds in 33 games played. Giddens earned First Team All-Conference honors as a senior and earned Honorable Mention All-MWC honors as a junior. Giddens transferred to New Mexico after his sophomore season at the University of Kansas. The 23 year old was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week a record five times during his senior season.

Erden, a 6’11” 240 pound center from Turkey was selected with the 60th overall pick. He has played in his native Turkey for the majority of his professional career and averaged 7.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game for Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul last season in Turkish League play. Erden also averaged 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game in the Euroleague for Fenerbahce. The 21 year old earned Turkish League All-Star Game honors in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Erden made professional debut with Darussafaka in the 2003-04 season.

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Steve Detwiler

That was such a fun game to watch. Steve Detwiler wow he had a great game. H drove in all the runs wow almost completed the cycle. From baltimoresun.com: The Fresno State baseball team’s underdog story is just the  kind of happening that makes sports so enjoyable (unless you’re a Georgia fan).  Fresno State was 8-12 at one point during the season, made it to the College World Series playoffs by winning the WAC tournament, survived several elimination games and beat favored Georgia, 6-1, yesterday to win the best-of-three finals.

The offensive hero was outfielder Steve Detwiler who hit two home runs for Fresno yesterday and drove in all six runs.  But significantly, it was Detwiler who helped bring Fresno back from the brink in Game 2 of the final series.  Georgia, the No. 8 national seed, had won the first game and had a 5-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings in the second game.  The                                for the rest click here

Extra good

That was a crazy game. I don’t know why Coco was playing so shallow. But Youkilis played a great game with two home runs. From nesn: Kevin Youkilis blasted a game-winning two-run homer off Mike Parisi in the bottom of the 13th inning as Boston downed St. Louis, 5-3, to avoid a sweep in the finale of a three-game interleague set at Fenway Park.

Mike Lowell greeted Parisi (0-3) by ripping a single of the famed Green Monster before Youkilis, who also homered in the seventh inning, drilled an inside fastball over the Monster in left-center.

Dustin Pedroia finished 4-for-5 with a run scored for the Red Sox, who have won three of their past five games and now lead the AL East by 1 1/2 games.

Jon Lester allowed two runs on nine hits in 7 1/3 innings but was long gone by the finish. Javier Lopez (2-0) earned the win by recording two outs in a scoreless 13th.

Aaron Miles was 5-of-6 for the Cardinals, who have dropped four of six games. Adam Kennedy, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth, was 3-for-3 with an RBI.

Joel Pineiro started on the hill surrendered just two runs on seven hits in seven-plus innings.

The Cardinals broke a scoreless tie in the sixth when Brendan Ryan and Brian Barton led off the frame by rapping consecutive doubles off Lester. After Barton swiped third with one down, Ryan Ludwick came through with an RBI single to left that made it a 2-0 game.

The Red Sox closed the gap in the seventh after Youkilis touched Pineiro for a two-out solo homer, his 12th on the year.                                          for the rest click here

The End Is Near

I don”t mind that Curt is leaving. He gained so much weight and he is getting old. But I think he was an amazing pitcher. From sprts talk: Much like Frank Sinatra, Curt Schilling did it his way.

As news broke about Schilling requiring shoulder surgery, I kept hopping to the big right-handers blog 38 Pitches to see how soon he’d comment. Didn’t take very long. But the content was rather surprising.

I expected the outspoken Schilling to give Red Sox management a big “I told you so” for not allowing him to undergo surgery during spring training, just like his doctor advised. Heck, you know I would have done so, and I‘ll bet most of you would have done the same.

On the contrary, the man never at a loss for words or too shy to give an honest opinion, Curt on the Car Phone wrote a rather reflective piece, thanking his fans for all their support and waxing poetic about his run as a big league pitcher. While leaving the door open to a comeback if all goes well, it sure read like a goodbye statement. As of 9:15pm Friday, there were already 313 comments to blog post.

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Pat Venditte

This was the craziest at bats I have ever seen. A twenty minute at bat! It was even number one on espn’s Not Top Ten Plays. From Jays.com: In case you haven’t seen it all over SportsCenter, The Today Show, and other networks, former Creighton star pitcher Pat Venditte made his minor league debut last night for the Staten Island Yankees.

The reason he’s all over the national networks is because of the seven-minute delay caused when a switch-hitter came up against Venditte, professional baseball’s only switch-pitcher.

Kevin Garnett Talks After Celtics’ Championship - ESPN Video

WOW!

That was the best Celtics game I ever watched. Coby Bryant had a really bad game and that helped us. But the best part is that we came back down by 24 points.From sports talk: WOW! Talk about driving a stake through the opposition’s heart!What a game! What a comeback! What a night for the Boston Celtics, coming back from 24-points down, on the road, against the best of the West. Total team effort, as Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were immense (did you realize Jesus Shuttlesworth played the entire game?). Kevin Garnett was steady, if not spectacular. Doc Rivers made the right adjustment, going with a small lineup to fuel the comeback. And what can you say about James Posey, except what my cousin Yianni says…”He does EVERYTHING right!”For all intents and purposes, the NBA Finals are over. Whether the C’s close it out Sunday in Los Angeles or next Tuesday in Boston, it’s time to start embroidering banner #17. Just one short year after one of the lowest points in franchise history, the Boston Celtics are about to become NBA Champions once again.Pinch me to make sure this is all really happening!!!

Hulu - Comeback Kids: Pierce and Allen: NBA

There Can Only Be One: Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett

Team Chemistry

How crazy can one game get? A fight and Manny and Yooooouuuuuuk going at it. We are now like the Cubs.

From MLB.com: BOSTON — A couple of innings after being involved in a fracas with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox were suddenly fighting each other. Well, at least two of them were.

Just as the bottom of the fourth inning came to an end and the Red Sox were about to go play defense, first baseman Kevin Youkilis and star slugger Manny Ramirez had to be separated after a heated dugout exchange in Thursday’s eventual 7-1 win over the Rays.

Television replays showed Ramirez and Youkilis yelling at each other and Ramirez then being escorted to the tunnel by trainer Paul Lessard.

Another camera shot — taken from a background angle — had grainy footage in which Ramirez could be seen taking a swing at Youkilis.

Youkilis and Ramirez were both unavailable for comment after the game. Nobody in the confines of the clubhouse revealed any details.

Ramirez and Youkilis have had a good relationship. In fact, the two players, along with second baseman Dustin Pedroia, worked out together in Arizona nearly every day last winter.

“I really didn’t see it,” Pedroia said. “I was already running out, I didn’t know what happened. We’re around each other a lot, but we love each other. We’re a team. We’ll be fine.”

It was a chaotic night for the Red Sox. Coco Crisp charged the mound after being hit by James Shields in the bottom of the second and an altercation ensued.

Perhaps the overall tension caused the sudden friction between Youkilis and Ramirez.

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