Making A Statement

Shank does a column on the Celtics' Game 2 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals:

Celtics got the message, then went out and made a statement in Game 2 win over Bucks

The Celtics were in need of a statement game. All the feel-good momentum from their sweep of the No No (Nan) Nets went away with Sunday’s Game 1 Garden smackdown at the hands of the defending world champion Milwaukee Bucks.

The national narrative seemed to be turning away from Boston as a dangerous team, bound for the NBA Finals. Marcus Smart was hurt, and pundits were calling out Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, both of whom underperformed in the series opener.

With this negativity in their heads and Smart (bruised thigh) on the shelf, the Celtics responded with one of their better games of the season, bolting to a 65-40 halftime lead, and playing smash-mouth defense in a 109-86, wire-to-wire Game 2 victory over the Bucks at the Garden. Brown (seven turnovers and 4-for-13 shooting in Game 1) scored 30, hit 6 of 10 from international waters.

Back On The Bandwagon, A Continuing Series

This is the very definition of a fair-weather fan:

Celtics could end our championship ‘drought,’ and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while thinking how much Xander Bogaerts reminds me of Patrice Bergeron …

▪ We are spoiled, for sure, but we are also officially in a championship drought. After 12 duck boat parades in this century, we haven’t seen confetti in three long years. The last New England major sports team to win a title was the 2018-19 Patriots. Remember them? They had a quarterback named Tom Brady and they beat the Rams, 13-3, in Atlanta in the first week of February 2019.

We thought the parades would last forever. And we almost got another one in 2019 when the Bruins played a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 on a perfect June night at the Garden after smoking the St. Louis Blues, 5-1, in Game 6. Alas, Brad Marchand skated off the ice too soon at the end of the first period, the Bruins fell behind, 2-0, and never recovered.

Getting His (Jack The) Shot Off

Now that the unpleasant visual's out of the way, Shank tells a nice story about a Holy Cross / Boston Celtics basketball player who wasn't long for the latter:

Holy Cross legend Jack ‘The Shot’ Foley was aptly nicknamed

Jack “The Shot” Foley was a legend much longer than he was a basketball player.

Jack The Shot died of Parkinson’s disease Sunday in Barre at the age of 81.

Foley was raised in Worcester and set scoring records at Assumption Prep and Holy Cross. A skinny 6-foot-3-inch leaper, Jack The Shot was so good that Red Auerbach picked him in the second round of the 1962 NBA Draft, one round after selecting a kid from Ohio State named John Havlicek.

Bob Cousy, another Holy Cross man, was in the final year of his Hall of Fame career when Jack The Shot reported for duty with the world champion Celtics in December of 1962 (fulfillment of a Coast Guard obligation delayed Foley’s arrival in Boston). Cooz and fellow Crusader Tommy Heinsohn were happy to have another Cross man in the fold, but it was clear that Jack The Shot’s single skill would not be enough in the NBA.

Two Dan Shaughnessys In One!

Shank, before the NBA Finals started:

Take it from someone who is wrong all the time: I LOVE the underdog Cavaliers in these NBA Finals.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) June 1, 2017

Shank, after Game 2 (Warriors lead the series, 2-0):

Hate to punish them for being great but like UConn women, warriors are ruining NBA playoffs.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) June 5, 2017

Followers are all over his trolling efforts:

Totally disagree. This is some really fantastic basketball we're watching. Highly entertaining.Thegame may have never been played this well

— Dan Sears (@the_searsy) June 5, 2017

You ruin journalism

— calibos (@bradyfan1975) June 5, 2017

Literally a year ago they won Game 2 by 30 to go up 2-0. Lets see what happens In Cleveland

— Jim Flynn (@jmflynn74) June 5, 2017

Just remember - this 'journalist' used to be the Celtics beat writer for about a decade, yet he's walking away from the series already. You'd think he'd know better than to drop uninformed tweets like this one on us. If he's trying to be a smartass, it comes across poorly.

Fearless Predictions, By Dan Shaughnessy

Did he choose... poorly?

Take it from someone who is wrong all the time: I LOVE the underdog Cavaliers in these NBA Finals.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) June 1, 2017

Columnist Republishes Column / Contradiction Watch

Dan Shaughnessy, May 11, 2016:

He is one of the top 10 talents in the history of the league. He still has some trouble closing and has won championships only twice in six appearances in the NBA Finals, but I can’t believe there’s a coach out there who would not take LeBron first if all players were available for an open draft to assemble a team for this year’s playoffs.

I will never understand the irrational LeBron hate that pollutes the sports landscape. Certainly “The Decision” was odious, and LeBron is a bit of a poseur, but he has done little to earn the hate that is showered on his huge head nightly.

Dan Shaughnessy, about two hours ago:

Another story line is the myth that LeBron doesn’t show up in big games (you were saying? - ed). It’s a big part of the irrational LeBron hate that infects most of the non-Cleveland world.

I love watching James play basketball and have never really understood all the LeBron hate. Sure, he was offensive with “The Decision,’’ and the “not one, not two” smokeshow in Miami. That was a long time ago. He can be something of a poser and sometimes hurts himself when he talks. He’s been known to launch himself into the baseline camera row for effect. He whines to the refs. He can be a coach killer. But the amount of hate and anger he generates is way out of proportion.

Shit like this ought to get you suspended or fired. Instead, we'll just have to settle for mocking him for epic laziness.

A 'Hidden' Gem

This Shank column from Saturday just sort of came out of hibernation from the Globe's website. Naturally, Shank doesn't like the Warriors and contradicts himself while complaining about it:

This series is supposed to be about the new and future brand of basketball played by the Splash Brothers.
...
I want the Cavaliers to win because I think it would be better for basketball. This is not Warrior-hating.
...
No one loves long-range shooting more than me (Larry Bird loves your long range shooting! - ed.), but I don’t want the Warriors’ game to be celebrated as the future of basketball. What they do flies in the face of more than a century of pick-and-rolls, give-and-gos, and three-man weaves. The fact is, Curry and Splash-mate Klay Thompson are legitimate freaks, able to do things that had never been done. They can create space and arc shots from international waters over 7-foot defenders. But this is not how the next generation of teams should be built. It is simply not sustainable.

Last night's Game 2 was more or less a repeat of Game 1.

So, to recap - Shank states that this series is about some 'new and future brand of basketball', compliments Curry & Thompson, then laments said new and future brand of basketball by going off on a half 'get off my lawn' tirade because the game of professional basketball may or may not be changing. The pick & roll and give & go cited by Shank (and ignoring the fast break for whatever reason) are not by themselves what defines professional basketball. It has always been changing - the implementation of the shot clock, the three-point line, the introduction of flagrant fouls (partly because of this epic Kevin McHale clothesline) and other tweaks & refinements more or less render Shank's arguments moot. I suspect he's just butthurt because Cleveland does not have the starting five and bench to compete against the Golden State Warriors, something that has been bloody fucking obvious to anyone (excluding Shank, apparently) who bothered to watch NBA basketball in recent months.

The Great Unraveling

Just one more thought on Shank's hot take from last night:

No team unravels like Thunder

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) May 31, 2016

Did OKC unravel in the playoffs against the team with the second best regular season record in the NBA? Naturally, Shank won't discuss that angle. It doesn't fit his narrative.

It would be more intellectually honest (if I can be allowed to use 'intellect' and 'Dan Shaughnessy' in an unironic sense in the same sentence) to say OKC simply ran into a buzzsaw when they engaged Golden State in the Western Conference finals. Once again, that would require a bit more honesty and a bit less hyperbole in his tweets, which Shank is either unwilling or unable to do.