SB Nation User Blog: Roy_Hobbs

Goodbye, J.R.: C's Decline Contract Option For 2010-11

Roy_Hobbs — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:17:49 -0000

The only other player [besides Joe Alexander] from the first-round class of 2008 to have their third year option declined was the Celtics' J.R. Giddens.

For clarification, this means that J.R.'s contract won't be renewed for next season. He'll be an unrestricted free agent, and can still sign with the Celtics. He'll still be on the roster until the end of the year, barring some sort of trade.

Baby Suspended, Rondo Still Talking

Roy_Hobbs — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:17:20 -0000

Rondo and Davis are the center of attention for a lot of Celtics fans right now...

View full size photo »

ESPN.com reports that BBD has been suspended a minimum of two games:

Davis is expected to miss at least six weeks, and the Celtics said he will be suspended for his behavior.

"We'll suspend Glen for the game [Tuesday] and [Wednesday] night, and we'll have further discussions on how long that suspension [will last]," Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. "We'll probably keep it more internal, but we will suspend him.

"It's very disappointing and very unfortunate. He's a big part of our plans right now and, in a game like tonight, we'd love to have him. I think he let his team down by making a bad decision."

Meanwhile, for those hoping that Rondo signs an extension, don't lose hope yet:

It appears Rajon Rondo and the Celtics could still get a contract extension hammered out this week, after all.

Rondo’s agent, Bill Duffy, flew to Cleveland for the Celtics’ season opener against the Cavaliers tonight and was expected to meet with C’s general manager Danny Ainge.

Duffy declined comment, but team and league sources disputed a Yahoo! Sports report that had Duffy saying negotiations on Rondo’s extension are done and that the point guard would become a restricted free agent next summer.

"We still have until Halloween," said a Celtics source.

Rondo, who appeared to be surprised by Duffy’s comments in the report, said "I don’t know what he’s saying. Right now I’m just focused on Cleveland.

"I would like to get (an extension) done. It is what it is, but it’s not like I’m worried about it. ... The contract will take care of itself.

"It’s interesting," Rondo added. "Guys warned me what it was going to be like, but everyone has to go through it for themselves."

Antoine Walker, A Cautionary Tale

Roy_Hobbs — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:20:05 -0000

Sadly, Antoine doesn't have much to wiggle about these days...

View full size photo »

Blessed with tremendous physical gifts, Antoine Walker drew criticism from Celtics fans because he never seemed to make the smart play. Rather than focusing on making fundamentally sound decisions, Antoine always seemed to go for the high-risk, high-reward plays. Instead of posting up his man, Antoine would go for the dagger three-pointer. Rather than making smart passes, Antoine would attempt to make a spectacular play. While this style of play earned Antoine three all-star births, it also resulted in him being seen as one of the least efficient players in the entire league. In short, Antoine Walker was a player that no fan, coach, or GM would want a young player to emulate.

Sadly, it appears that Antoine is proving to be a negative role model for his off-the-court activities, as well. Of course, even in his Celtics days, Antoine was not immune to trouble off of the court. However, since leaving the team, Antoine's life seems to be in free fall. In Miami, Antoine was deactivated for failing to meet team conditioning goals. Shortly thereafter, he was robbed at gunpoint in his Chicago home. In January of this year, Antoine was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving, followed by another arrest for passing bad checks in excess of $1 million.

Now comes word from Shira Springer that Antoine has squandered nearly all of the $110 million+ he has earned over the course of his career. How does somebody blow through that type of money? Springer offers some of the details:

He liked to move in an outsized entourage; his mother estimates that, during his playing days, he was supporting 70 friends and family members in one way or another. And speaking of his mother, he built her a mansion in the Chicago suburbs, complete with an indoor pool, 10 bathrooms, and a full-size basketball court.

Living at the Bishops Forest condominium complex in Waltham during the Celtics season, Walker turned the pavement surrounding his home into a virtual luxury car lot - two Bentleys, two Mercedes, a Range Rover, a Cadillac Escalade, a bright red Hummer. Often, the vehicles were tricked out with custom paint jobs, rims, and sound systems at considerable added expense. He also collected top-line watches - Rolexes and diamond-encrusted Cartiers.

He also rewarded loyal family members and friends with expensive gifts. Shortly after being drafted, he gave his best friend a new car. A Mercedes sport utility vehicle parked in the driveway of his mother’s home was a gift from Antoine to his younger sister. And early in his NBA career, he paid off the debt his mother accumulated sending him to Catholic schools. He finally received his high school diploma when he took care of his overdue tuition.

Sadly, even as he's approaching a forced retirement, Antoine has found it impossible to make the fundamentally sound decisions that would be in his best interest. Instead, his non-playing days have been marked by the same "high risk, high reward" style that marked his time on the court. Unfortunately, as many fans would tell you, such high risk gambles rarely pay off in the long run.

(More details about Antoine's financial ruin below the fold.)

A Globe review found that, during the last seven months, Walker has been pursued by multiple financial institutions for unpaid debts totaling more than $4 million. Court documents filed in Illinois and Florida reveal Walker was named a defendant in three recent debt-related civil cases, in addition to the ongoing check-kiting case. His former agent is also after him, citing a heap of unpaid fees.

A default was entered in the American Express case with $53,321.71 in overdue credit card charges at stake, including some that fit the picture of a free-spending star - an $1,843.45 dinner, with a $350 tip, for instance. Or, two nights at the Mandarin Oriental in Miami for $2,198.04. And Walker, remarkably, appears to have authorized five people to make charges on his card, not a strategy most personal finance professionals would recommend. Many of the charges appear to have been rung up by another individual, but Walker is on the hook.

Then, there were the custom-tailored suits - closets full of them, including the set he ordered for his first playoff run in 2002, enough so he wouldn’t wear a suit more than once during the postseason run. When the Celtics officially hired Jim O’Brien as head coach in 2001, Walker had his tailor make three suits and presented them to O’Brien.

When it came to his Celtics teammates, Walker took good care of them on the road. It wasn’t uncommon for Walker to hire limos to take out groups of teammates. And Walker always paid for the big dinner bills.

Bad investments and gambling losses may be to blame for draining away much of Walker’s remaining bankroll.

Gambling has long been a favorite form of entertainment for Walker. After a 2001 exhibition game at Mohegan Sun, Walker once reportedly played $15,000 hands with Michael Jordan during an all-night gambling session where estimates of money lost and won totaled several hundred thousand dollars. Prior to the 2003-04 season, when Celtics general manager Danny Ainge called Walker to tell him he had been traded, Walker was engrossed in a high-stakes blackjack game at Mohegan Sun.

It's hard, seeing a former Celtic fall to such depths. Love Antoine or hate him, I'm sure none of us would wish this upon his. He's become a victim of his own excess, as well as the greed of others. Let's hope that the new generation of current Celtics learns a lesson from Antoine. Sadly, that has become Antoine's NBA legacy: a shining example of what not to do.

Welcome Our Newest Assistant Coach... Tyronn Lue?

Roy_Hobbs — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:13:48 -0000

WEEI reports:

The Celtics hired NBA former point guard Tyronn Lue as their Director of Basketball Development on Friday. He will assist the coaching staff and observe practices.

He made his debut on Friday in Waltham as the Celtics prepare for their season opener on Tuesday in Cleveland. Lue played 11 seasons with seven different teams, including last year with Orlando. He won NBA titles in 2000 and ‘01 with the Lakers.

I'd be very surprised if Lue isn't practicing with the team. My guess is that this move is to orient him with the team's plays and to allow him to develop chemistry with the players, in case we need a point guard later in the season.

Update from Boston.com:

Tyronn Lue had already been in the league five years and won a pair of championship rings with the Lakers when he arrived in Orlando in 2003, Doc Rivers' last season as head coach of the Magic.

Rivers only lasted 11 games as head coach that season, but point guard-to-point guard he and Lue saw things the same way.

Two years ago, when Rivers was winning a championship in Boston and Lue was a veteran reserve with the Magic, Rivers had talked to Lue.

"There's guys you coach all the time that you say, 'He'll be a coach.' And Ty Lue was on the top of that list," Rivers said. "I told him when you're ready to stop trying to play basketball and you want to come sit on the bench and join us, we'll create it," Rivers said. "No matter how many coaches we have, I'll get you a job."

Lue took him up on the offer, joining Rivers' staff as director of basketball development. He was at practice today in Waltham. He'll be Rivers' fifth assistant.

Big Baby Is Making A Big Adjustment

Roy_Hobbs — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:27:47 -0000

Is BBD worried about his end of game minutes?

View full size photo »

There's no doubt that some Celtics fans are fed up with the theme of "the kids aren't alright". However, ever since Doc noted that team chemistry was less than perfect last season, any comment regarding a player's potential unhappiness in his role is going to be scrutinized. As such, Mark Murphy's article this morning regarding Glen Davis sent up some red flags:

Davis’ biggest change - and this is strictly a work in progress - is the need to contain his ego.

Kevin Garnett’s return from knee surgery means Davis’ prime-time role will be reduced. He’s back to being a reserve and sometimes envisions the worst possible result from it.

"It’s real difficult to go back, from playing 30 minutes or even 35 on a good night, to playing 12 or 15 on a good night," Davis said. "There’s a lot of great players on this team."

Surely, he’s being hard on himself. Surely, there’s more playing time in store.

"I hope so," he said.

As a result, Davis now faces a significant mental challenge. He must accept a smaller role.

"I don’t know how to accept that yet," he said. "I don’t know how to do it yet. It’s not as if we’ve gone over it. Nobody tells me nothing."

The above doesn't sound like a happy player. Davis notes in the article that if another team had offered him a position as a starter, he would have readily left the team. Davis came so close to leaving that, according to him, he told his girlfriend to pack their bags, before ultimately deciding to resign with the Celts.

Is this a concern? Possibly. First, there's no doubt that Glen Davis is an emotional player. One wonders whether concerns about his role will fester, especially in light of yesterday's article that there were some tensions between the veterans and the young guys on the team. Certainly, it would have been better to hear BBD simply echo the words from earlier this summer, when he said "The Celtics organization is a great thing to be a part of . . . For me to come in here and fill out my role - whatever that might be - it's an exciting time." Maybe "ubuntu" was just a slogan from the championship season, but I miss hearing it.

On the other hand, I think BBD's frustrations are normal. It's clear that he thinks he earned a larger role with the team, and from his past comments, it's also pretty likely that he wants minutes so he can earn a larger contract. For better or for worse, BBD has always made it clear that this is a business, and it's pretty clear that he wants to maximize that business opportunity. While that certainly sounds anti-ubuntu, it also means that BBD will be doing everything in his power to perform when he does see minutes, not only to earn more time on the floor, but to get the notice of opposing general managers. Indeed, BBD wasn't happy when he slipped to the second round, but rather than sulk, he put together strong rookie and sophomore campaigns to earn himself a nice contract. There's no reason to doubt that he won't put the same effort in next year.

While it may have been better if BBD had avoided the topic altogether, it's important to remember how he left things:

"That’s great, to have the chance to be a part of something this great," Davis said. "I’m here now - a part of it. So I have to roll with the shot I’ve got. I’m here until they don’t want me anymore."

I think that's the right attitude to have, and let's hope that this is the mind set that ultimately wins out. BBD will have enough problems dealing with his new interior / rebounding role; there's no need to let ego and pride complicate things even further.

Rondo's Maturity Revisited

Roy_Hobbs — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:30:02 -0000

Does Rondo have the right focus this season? Time will tell.

View full size photo »

Remember this quote from Doc?

I thought we had a lot of different agendas. Guys were looking out for their own situations more than the team situation. That came through all year. It was never anything really big, but it was there all year. You could see it in little things, and I think when you take it as a whole it really had an effect on our season.

It seems like Adrian Wojnarowski has shed at least some light on what some of Doc's concern was about:

Rondo appeared to want his teammates to air out complaints in the early evening of April 14, but it rapidly deteriorated into a grievance session that had the uncomfortable vibe of the young guys against the Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. For some Celtics, there was a sense that Rondo had prodded the younger teammates to speak out on the tough-love tactics of the vets.

Rondo never vented, but one teammate who had challenged K.G. later confessed privately that he wished he had never spoken up, that he didn’t even believe the whiny words tumbling out of his mouth. Rondo insists he had the best of intentions, and yet there’s no mistaking the fact the meeting served to widen a gulf between him and his older teammates.

Doc goes on to say that the meeting was a mistake, serving little purpose other than negatively affecting team chemistry. However, Doc says that this pre-season, Rondo has been "phenomenal" in terms of both his play and leadership. Still, one wonders if its events like the one above that caused Doc and Danny to both call Rondo out this off-season.

The team has been reluctant to give Rondo an extension this off-season, reportedly worried that he wouldn't handle a big extension well. Wojo reports that there was a sense that Rondo wanted it to be the "Big 4", and that both front office personnel and teammates had an issue with his attitude. That leaves Celtics fans with a question: is Rondo too concerned about being "the man"? Was his recent admission that he gave up proper defensive position and allowed his man to get by him so that he could gets steals a sign that he cared more about statistics and making flashy plays than he cared about making the smart play?

The good thing is that Rondo is saying all the right things this pre-season, and he has responded to Doc's and Danny's criticism well. In order for this team to get back to the Finals, they're going to need a full commitment from every player to put the team first. Rondo admits "I’ve got to mature a little more." Let's hope that process accelerates, for the good of the team.

UPDATE: For an extensive further look at some of these issues -- including Rondo's problems last season with his teammates -- see Ric Bucher's Insider article.

Editor's Note: Jeff wrote about this maturity issue back in June (just in case you can't get enough of this Rondo talk)

Celtics Cut Michael Sweetney

Roy_Hobbs — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:20:47 -0000

See you around, big fella...

View full size photo »

Well, it didn't take long for Jeff to get an answer to his question. Per the the Celtics.com twitter:

The C's have requested waivers on F Michael Sweetney. He averaged 3.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5 games. Roster stands at 15.

I can't say this comes as a surprise. Still, it won't shock me if the team keeps tabs on Sweetney, in case a roster spot opens up later in the year.

Tony Allen Won't Play Tonight

Roy_Hobbs — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:05:19 -0000

Tony Allen Won't Play Tonight

It will be interesting to see if Giddens gets any run.

Obligatory KG Update

Roy_Hobbs — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:50:10 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

Browse more photos »

Scott Souza reports:

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he expects Garnett to start tonight's preseason opener against the Rockets in Hidalgo, Texas, but that his movement will be monitored closely throughout the exhibition and early season schedule.

"Today, I thought [the leg issues] bothered him more than the other days. . . . He went through the practice. But I didn't think he was great today."

"I just think it's from not playing. You take the time off that he took off. Then you get on the floor. Then you go through a camp that is live and hard. I think your injury is okay, but the stuff around the injury starts to affect you, and I think that's what's happening." . . .

While to some extent that's disappointing news, nobody could realistically believe that KG wasn't going to have the occasional bad day. Despite the fact that he had minor surgery, it was still surgery. I think we're all looking forward to seeing him back in action tonight.

Goodbye, J.R.?

Roy_Hobbs — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:15:30 -0000

Outside of Kevin Garnett, it's possible that no player has more riding on this pre-season than J.R. Giddens. Why? Because October 31 marks the date by which the Celtics must determine whether they want to pick up Giddens $1,100,640 contract for next season. If the team declines the option, Giddens would become an unrestricted free agent next year. While the team has not commented on Giddens' future publicly, it's likely that J.R. will not be having a happy Halloween.

When Giddens was drafted, there was speculation that he would immediately find a role on the team, due to his size, athleticism, and allegedly NBA-ready defense. However, that never materialized. Giddens declined to participate in the Celtics' summer camp, a decision that, according to Danny Ainge, set him back. Next, Giddens couldn't earn a spot on the active roster coming out of the pre-season, followed by his name appearing in trade rumors. Giddens was quickly sent to Utah to play in the D-League, where he performed well -- 17.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists with a 57.8 FG% -- leading his team to the D-League Finals. However, despite injuries to Tony Allen and the fatigue of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, he never made much of a contribution in Boston; in six games played, he totaled 4 points in 8 minutes played.

This season appears to be more of the same. Despite early injuries to Tony Allen and Bill Walker, Giddens hasn't been seeing a lot of minutes with either the first or second team in training camp. Indeed, while speculating on who could guard shooting guards when five bench players are in the game at the same time, Doc's mind wandered to Brian Scalabrine, rather than to Giddens. When asked to assess Giddens' future, Doc responded this way:

But it’s going to be tough right now for [Walker or Giddens] to get on the floor. We’re pretty deep. We have good depth, great veterans. So it will be tough or them to get on the floor. I’m hoping they do. J.R. has a chance to be a terrific defender. He has to improve his offensive skills. He has to improve how to play with his offensive skills with other players. So that’s something he’s improving on. I think he’s much better than he was last year.

In other words, don't expect him to play. The writing appears to be on the wall. Giddens isn't a 19 year old still learning the game; he'll be 25 years old this season, older than Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis, and only three months younger than Kendrick Perkins. The most exciting news concerning Giddens this summer has come from his twitter page, where he talks about still doing "rookie runs" to CVS and states that he feels like he's behind "invisible prison bars" due to the number of meetings he's been attending. There's no reason to pay Giddens $1.1 million next season, when the team can sign a more experienced veteran to an $850k minimum contract. Furthermore, by declining Gidden's option, he becomes an expiring contract, which makes him nice salary filler in any deal.

Based upon the above, I simply can't see Giddens in Boston beyond this season. There's no spot in the rotation for him, and he's simply more valuable as an expiring contract than he is as a player. I wish him all the best in the future, but I can't help but feel that this season is the J.R. Giddens farewell tour.

Update: For more on Giddens, see today's article in the Globe.