June 28, 2014

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 2 comments

Me and the internet just haven't been getting along well with each other of late. Went to TD Garden Thursday night for the Celtics' Draft Party with the hope I could comment as the draft went along. Alas, TD Garden's wireless sucks, couldn't get my wife's tablet to work, so no luck. Today I'm up in the mountains (Lincoln, NH), and the wireless here in the place where we're staying is just a little bit slower than dial-up. Mostly the wireless routers don't have a very strong signal where we are, so it's touch and go.

The good news is that wife and I have just returned from the New England Brewfest, an annual event where craft brewers from New England and elsewhere come to pass out samples. It's amazing how much drinking can be packed into a 5 ounce glass and 4 hours. There were some really good things here.

Back to the NBA draft, Philadelphia taking Embiid at #3 was greeted with some sighs of disappointment in Boston. There had been hope that Ainge might trade up or that Embiid could have fallen to #6. Alas, it was not to be. When Marcus Smart was announced as the Celtics' pick, there was a bit of WTF? followed by bye bye Rondo commentary. Looking at it after a day or 2, it does not seem to be that strange a pick. To start with, Avery Bradley likely will not be tendered for his restricted free agent status. Smart will swing between the point and 2 guard positions, and if he shows that he can handle the point, Rondo is gone at the trading deadline or before. Smart's size alone makes him better than either Rondo or Bradley as a defender. His shooting is questionable, but so was Rondo's when he came into the league. Bradley is a better shooter, but is not able to get his own shot, and while he is a good defender, his size limits what he can do against a shooting guard who runs more than 6"4" or so. The nickname Mahcus "Wicked" Smaht has already been applied to him.

Being able to get Young at #17 is a real plus. This kid will be a scorer in the NBA. It might take a year or 2, but he is big enough to post up most 2 guards and quick enough to handle a lot of small forwards. The kid is about 6'8", so he could be a real problem for people to handle.

Many are saying that unless something big happens over the summer months, this season will be a repeat of last year's futility. It may be so, but last year produced some fun, if losing, basketball. It will be an interesting time to watch the team try to build around the 2 new guys plus the youngsters like Olynyk and a finally healthy Sullinger.

posted by Howard_T at 07:31 PM on June 28, 2014

The NBA did a cool thing for Isaiah Austin during the first round of the draft.

posted by rcade at 09:30 PM on June 28, 2014

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