Super 7

Posted by Mike Giardi April 29, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Just getting ready to head off to Celtics practice. This should be interesting. To the “Super 7.”

1) All this talk about possible suspensions, and I neglected to mention two things that I found annoying and concerning about the Green team. Both revolve around Paul Pierce. Didn’t he learn his lesson from that Indiana playoff meltdown a few seasons ago? He went over the top in Game’s 3 loss. I won’t speculate on the nature of his gesture. Only Paul really knows what he was doing there. But bottom line is, he let his emotion get the best of him, and it didn’t help matters.

As for the other Pierce related issue, the man’s back is bothering him. He rarely attacked the basket, and that is a sure sign. That certainly complicates matters as we head into tomorrow’s Game 5.

2) Who knows how well Jerod Maro and Shawn Crable adapt to pro ball and to the complicated Bill Belichick defensive system, but the one thing that really stands out to me, is that both were incredibly productive collegiate players at elite schools. I hate combine warriors, so I think these two get a moderate thumbs up. I can’t give ‘em any better than that in April.

3) I wonder if we’re seeing the end of Mike Timlin. His numbers are frightening at this point, but then again, didn’t we feel that way last year? And the year before? If history has taught us anything with this guy, is that he is awfully resilient. Can he still be that way at 42? If he can’t, Craig Hansen will get another crack, and probably sooner than later.

4) Imagine how the San Francisco Giants feel right now? Barry Zito and his 126-million dollar deal to the bullpen. That signing was dicey at the time, and now it looks like it could be one of the worst in baseball history, rivaling Mike Hampton, Kevin Brown, Darren Dreifort and Denny Neagle.

5) I would appreciate Doc Rivers giving James Posey a chance to guard Joe Johnson.

6)  I think Matt Ryan can have success in Atlanta, but only if the franchise has hired the right coach. If Mike Smith is a mistake, then Ryan will have to start from scratch. That’s the QB killer. Ryan also goes into a situation where his receivers aren’t even average, and cut their best target, tight end Alge Crumpler. Actually, Matty Ice is used to that. He played with a suspect group at BC.

7) Mike Jordan hiring the ancient Larry Brown to coach his Bobcats. Jordan was a great player. Maybe the best of all-time. But he’s been no more of a success in his next career as Isiah Thomas has, and Ike gets killed for it.