Boston Celtics

Doc Rivers has not made up his mind about returning to coach the team, according to a report.Doc Rivers, as he has a history of doing, left the door open for his retirement following the Boston Celtics elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the New York Knicks.Despite GM Danny Ainge going on record to say that Rivers will be returning, Doc has not come forward to confirm that he will coach the team next season and, according to a report from Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, Rivers has not made up his mind yet.There is still the possibility — stress possibility — Rivers will choose to walk away from his contract to coach the Celts. A source close to the situation, however, insists it remains far more likely he will return.The word as expressed to us is that it is “90-10” that Rivers will continue on a contract that has three years and $21 million remaining. If he leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team.In all likelihood, Rivers will return to the Celtics sideline, but perhaps the uncertainty of the roster situation has got him thinking twice. If nothing else, Rivers is loyal to Celtic veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and the idea that one–or both–of them may be somewhere else next season could weigh into his decision.Rivers, however, is a basketball lifer and seemingly as passionate about the sport as he was when he played. The Celtics have a solid young core of players 28-and-under and, according to Bulpett’s reporting,  ”If [Rivers] leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team.”Given that Rivers is only 51-years-old and his children are growing up and leaving the nest, it seems inevitable that he resumes his role with the organization. Let’s hope he makes a statement soon, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief, knowing the guys in green are in good hands.

Rondo is fully into fashion as we saw from last year's internship with GQ in the off season and last night he guest starred on the Fashion Police with Joan Rivers. He is surprisingly good on these shows. One feature on the show is where the guest brings an item from their closet that others on the show decide to stash or trash. Rondo brought his zebra Rondo wore that jacket in an infamous incident after a loss to the Hawks last season. The incident was described on The Sports Session. With less than 15 seconds to go Rondo made a great defensive play and stole the ball on a pass, and immediately started pushing the ball the other way. With the final seconds ticking away Rondo decided to make a baseline move to hopefully kick out a pass for the winning shot, but the Hawks Al Horford was to quick and Rondo lost control of the ball as time ran off the clock. Rondo was upset, but it was difficult to see how upset until a post game incident with a reporter showed what frame of mind he was in. Rondo was getting ready for his postgame news conference when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that he was being recorded. The Celtics point guard pointed at the camera, and then took it upon himself to confront the cameraman. “I told you to quit filming,” Rondo said while being restrained. “Do not film me. I’m not doing an interview right now.” Rondo briefly accosted the cameraman before being pulled away be a security staff member who was asking Rondo to keep his cool the entire time. It appeared that Rondo was also talking to some family members or friends when he felt stalked by the camera man, and maybe that is what set him off to the extent that it did. The comedy of it all is that Rondo was wearing a Zebra/Prison striped jacket that did not make the best of fashion statements. The TNT Inside the NBA Crew of Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal had some fun at the expense of Rondo and his fashion choice. They did say that Rondo was upset about the play and just lost his cool, but there is probably a very good chance we won’t be seeing Rondo wear that jacket anytime soon. The verdict on The Fashion Police was to trash the jacket. Happily we won't be seeing that one again. Although I'm pretty sure he never wears the same outfit twice anyway. My favorite comment on the show came from Joan Rivers as she was describing the jacket: "It's too old and not accomplishing anything. I'm surprised it doesn't play for the Lakers!" I love it! Get to see Rondo and hear the Lakers trashed on the same show. Good stuff!! [Discuss on CG Forums!]

I wouldn't be a good Celtics fan if I didn't take immense pleasure in the Heat losing or in the misery of their bandwagon fans. It's interesting to see after all the "We got Ray" chants to begin the year they seem to be having some buyer's remorse. Excuse me if I chuckle a bit. And I love how they end up trashing all their players. It's one thing to be upset when players don't play well, but it's another to call them total garbage. It's also hilarious to see Heat fans complaining about the officiating when they have gotten the benefit of the officiating more than any team in the league. Also funny to see them call any player dirty when they have Dwyane Wade on their team. Enough of my rant.... Enjoy today's comments ..... We played bad in the first game, to many turnovers, didn't make our ft, Battier and Ray missed to many wide-open 3p shots and ......and refs tried in all ways to help Idiana Pacers, but but we won! Think we blowout them out now.. If you guys think the officiating has been bad already, buckle your seatbelts because it will only get worse in Indiana. Indy was a terrible road team so lets hope that comes out tonight. Go Heat, beat this big mouthed, talkative team badly!!! I really get tired of seeing battier on the floor... Every possession David west makes you want to punch him Stop letting ray Allen f***ing shoot hes off with EVERYTHING Allen, straight up sucks Ray Allen needs to be benched. **** making Hibbert look like Kareem I'm already tired of Chalmers Can Chalmers just sit down please? He's a net negative at this point. Hasn't had a good game offensively or defensively in a long long time Chalmers and halsem do not deserve to start... I rather go without a pg, than have Rio out there Here comes Battier - Get ready for a run!!! Name another PF who gets more touch calls than David West Chalmers and Battier are complete SH#T right now Omg, lebron NEVER **** FOULS, HE'S GONE 2-3 game stretches without a foul, suddenly against the pacers, he's gonna average 4 fouls a game Man we suck. Mario, Ray, Shane, UD kills this team Did wade just trip over NOTHING? If I had a dollar for everytime Shane misses a shot AND falls on the floor Everything is a foul... Ft disparity? IND 18-21 MIA 13-20 We need a substitution/rotation coach. How about a substitution on coach Spo?!? Hibbert got 19 points We need more of Battier hitting Hubert’s “mid section” It seems like every player on the pacers is over 6'6" I want the ball in lebron's hands every time down Besides LeBron, team playing like a bunch of idiots. Wade gets fouled, no call... Hibbert gets touched foul.. Foul!?!??! Every time we gain momemtum its a foul!! I give the Pacers credit, they don't back down. Everytime Miami throws a punch they hit back. But eventually, the Pacers will regress to who they are. The quicker the better How in the world did we blew out this team on our last regular season meeting lol...? God I hate Ray Allen isos We basically need lebron to do everything. Everyone else sucks Remember when Shane Battier was an NBA player? **** you Ray Lebron totally trolled Shaw into that tech Ray Allen can't do anything right anymore. All right, get UD in there to punk Tyler. Let Andersen shoot free throws. Not Allen.. Atleast Battier isn't in... But Ray.... BIRDMAN CAN ATLEAST MAKE HIS FT'S Bench ray Allen He is done Ray Allen forgot how to play basketball Ray Allen is singlehandedly costing us this game Allen has money on the Pacers tonight Stephenson looks like a mix between bosh and westbrook... And we look like **** again.

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump. There is still the possibility — stress possibility — Rivers will choose to walk away from his contract to coach the Celts. A source close to the situation, however, insists it remains far more likely he will return. The word as expressed to us is that it is “90-10” that Rivers will continue on a contract that has three years and $21 million remaining. If he leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team. Some involved winced when Danny Ainge told reporters last week that Rivers was definitely coming back to coach the 2013-14 Celts, knowing the coach had yet to make his final call. But Ainge said at the time that it was the indication he was getting in every conversation with his coach as they discussed what had happened with the C’s and how they evaluate the players on hand as they proceed into the offseason. Yet the Rivers question continues, and clearly this has become, at least to some degree, a distraction for a team that is about to make some heavy and expensive decisions about its future. It will go away only when Rivers, who flew to Boston yesterday, steps up and lets his intentions be known. Herald As if the dreary New England weather forecast for the holiday weekend isn’t depressing enough, now we have to read about Doc Rivers’ uncertainty about returning to Boston. I’m going to chalk this up to coaching burnout. Phil Jackson pulled this stuff after nearly every season with the Lakers. If Doc needs a break from the job, I’ll understand. But if he’s bailing because he doesn’t want to stick around for a rebuild, I’ll be pissed.  That makes him a quitter. In other news, Rajon Rondo appeared on the E! show Fashion Police: It’s a mildly entertaining segment, if you can stomach looking at Joan Rivers’ mangled face. The rest of the links: ESPN Boston – Report card: C’s brain trust | Mass Live – C’s to work out Steven Adams… |

For a man who is known for his outrageous suits, Craig Sager may have just outdone himself with this one. Here are a few of the comments about it from Twitter. Whoever makes Craig Sager's suits should be sued — Trip Lee (@TripLee116) May 25, 2013 Craig Sager has some really bad suits, but this Neapolitan ice cream looking one is the worst. — Danielle Hobeika (@dhobeika) May 25, 2013 Craig Sager's jacket tonight appears to have been selected from the Patch Adams collection. Whoa. — Matt Winer (@matt_winer) May 25, 2013 "@enjoyy0self: RT @king_omar_: Lmaoo Craig sager don't give a f*ck" lookin like a big piece of peppermint ribbon candy — Truth4Life (@CGLoyalist) May 25, 2013 When TNT executives told Craig Sager to go H.A.M. on the sidelines, I don't think they meant for him to dress like he's at an Easter pageant — Not Bill Walton (@NotBillWalton) May 25, 2013 Craig Sager looks like one of those backgammon tables in casinos. — Rey-Rey (@TheNoLookPass) May 25, 2013 And now a word from KG: [Discuss on CG Forums!]

It has been widely reported that the Celtics are working out possible draft picks this week. The workouts scheduled for Friday and Saturday feature mostly point guards and centers, two positions the Celtics could use some help. The Celtics never really had a back up point guard for Rondo last season and after he went down, it was point guard by committee of assorted shooting guards. Doc and Danny both expressed hopes that Terrence Williams could be that back up point guard that they were lacking, but his legal problems this off season will definitely put his status for next season into question. The Celtics have just one pick in this draft, the 16th pick in the first round. However, Danny has said that he's open to all options including trading up, trading down and trading out. He's also been known to buy picks like when the Celtics got Rondo and Bill Walker. So, it's not surprising that he has interviewed players like Nerlens Noel who will be one of the top picks and that he is working out players who aren't expected to go in the first round. Here's a look at some of the players reported to be working out for the Celtics this week. Point Guards Myck Kabongo Point Guard 6'-3", 180 lbs College: Texas Age: 20 Hometown: Toronto, Canada Class: Sophomore Reach: 8'-2" Wingspan: 6'-6 Max Vert: 33.5 Chad Ford has Kabongo at #48 on his big board and projects that he will go late second round to undrafted. According to Draft Express, Kabongo is first and foremost a pass first point guard. He has very good natural point guard instincts, displays a consistently high basketball IQ, and is extremely unselfish. Combine that with his excellent court vision and these are extremely promising qualities for a point guard prospect to have, particularly one at such a young age. Positives: Pure point guard Excellent floor vision/leadership Makes very few mistakes Good athlete with quick first step Great first step to the basket Good shooter with range out to the 3-point line Committed defender Great kid Negatives: A bit undersized Sat out most of the year because of NCAA sanctions Shane Larkin Point Guard 6'-0", 171 lbs College: Miami Age: 20 Hometown: Orlando, FL Class: Sophomore Reach: 7'-6" Wingspan: 5'-11" Max Vert: 44 Larkin is ranked #19 by Chad Ford and projected to go in the mid first round. Larkin's claim to fame in the combine was the fact that he came in with the second highest max vertical leap in the history of the combine. He goes #21 to the Jazz on Ford's mock draft 3.0. Positives: Super quick point guard Excellent shooter with range Pesky defender who racks up steals Sees the floor well Aggressive Negatives: Undersized for his position Rarely gets to the free throw line Struggles as a finisher Phil Pressey Point Guard 6'-0", 177 lbs College: Missouri Age: 22 Hometown: Dallas, TX Class: Junior Reach: 7'-8" Wingspan: 6'-2" Max Vert: 38.5 Ranked #46 on Ford's Big Board and projected to go late second round to undrafted. Positives: Pass first point guard Very quick Super high motor Very confident Excellent leader Negatives: Undersized for his position Needs to improve his jump shot Pierre Jackson Point Guard 5'-11", 176 lbs College: Baylor Age: 21 Hometown: Las Vegas, NV Class: Senior Reach: 7'-6" Wingspan: 5'-10" Max Vert: 42 Jackson is ranked #30 on Ford's Big Board and is a projected late first round pick. Jackson was the best player at the recent New Jersey workouts. Not only did he show off his elite quickness and athletic ability, but he also showed off his floor general skills. He goes #25 to the Clippers on Ford's mock draft 3.0 Positives: Quick, speedy guard Good scoring instincts Explosive leaper, 44-inch vertical Solid shooter, with 3-point range Pesky defender Negatives: Can be prone to turnovers Undersized for his position Is he a

Doc is coming back until he says he's not coming back, but what if he says he's not coming back? Well, it sounds like there's a reason why neither Doc nor anyone on the team would come right out and say with authority that he's coming back next season. Because he still has to make up his mind. Sources: Doc’s return to Celts no sure thing | Boston Herald There still is the possibility — stress possibility — Rivers will choose to walk away from his contract to coach the Celts. A source close to the situation, however, insists it remains far more likely he will return. The word as expressed to us is that it is "90-10" that Rivers will continue on a contract that has three years and $21 million remaining. If he leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team. Sounds like he won't be coaching for anyone else next year, and the odds are still that he'll be back, but we just don't know until we know for sure. At this point I have to wonder what's holding back his decision. Is it purely a personal preference thing? Or is it more situational? Like for instance, if Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are not on the team next year, does that make Doc less likely to return? If so, why on Earth did he sign a 5 year extension? And if Doc wanted to sit out a year or more, who would replace him at the helm? I've watched other teams flounder around with coaching searches and I have to say I do not want to jump into that kiddie pool filled with who-knows-what. So now we can officially add Doc to the "will he be back" watch - if he wasn't already on there before.

Well, it sounds like there's a reason why neither Doc nor anyone on the team would come right out and say with authority that he's coming back next season. Because he still has to make up his mind. Sources: Doc’s return to Celts no sure thing | Boston Herald There still is the possibility — stress possibility — Rivers will choose to walk away from his contract to coach the Celts. A source close to the situation, however, insists it remains far more likely he will return. The word as expressed to us is that it is "90-10" that Rivers will continue on a contract that has three years and $21 million remaining. If he leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team. Sounds like he won't be coaching for anyone else next year, and the odds are still that he'll be back, but we just don't know until we know for sure. At this point I have to wonder what's holding back his decision. Is it purely a personal preference thing? Or is it more situational? Like for instance, if Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are not on the team next year, does that make Doc less likely to return? If so, why on Earth did he sign a 5 year extension? And if Doc wanted to sit out a year or more, who would replace him at the helm? I've watched other teams flounder around with coaching searches and I have to say I do not want to jump into that kiddie pool filled with who-knows-what. So now we can officially add Doc to the "will he be back" watch - if he wasn't already on there before.

Much of the Celtics talk this off season so far has been centered on whether Doc will return. As he does every year, he left the question open after the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs so that he could take time off to unwind and consider his options. Doc's absence at the draft combine last week caused a stir and led to more than a few rumors. Danny explained to those asking that Doc had injured his hamstring and so was unable to come to the combine. As the questions continued, Danny finally said outright that Doc was coming back. Speaking to Gary Washburn of the Globe, Danny confirmed that Doc would return for his 10th season as Celtics coach. "Yeah (he'll be back), Doc and I are talking about our team next year," Ainge said. "(No suspense) from my perspective. We've got a great coach. We've got a coach everybody would love to have and he's got three years left on his contract and I think Doc likes Boston, too.Coaches get tired, though. It's a hard job. "You guys are the only one (who made it an issue)." Danny wasn't kidding that everyone would love to have Doc. There were the rumors early that the Clippers were making a play to get him. This week, the rumor was that the Nets asked for permission to talk to Doc and were refused permission according to Jackie MacMullan on ESPN Boston. In the same article Danny also reiterated his belief that Doc was returning to coach the Celtics. Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge denied the Brooklyn Nets permission to speak to Doc Rivers about their vacant coaching position, team and league sources confirmed to ESPNBoston.com. Reached late Thursday, Ainge refused to comment on the Nets' interest in Rivers and reiterated that he expects him back on the Celtics' bench next season. "Doc has told me he's coming back," Ainge said bluntly. "I talk to him almost every day about our team and what we are going to do moving forward." Jackie Mac's article also mentioned an offer that Doc received last season that he briefly considered for obvious reasons. Doc started his coaching career with the Magic. His home is in Orlando and that had to be tempting. But, again, he chose to remain with the Celtics as their coach. Last season, the Orlando Magic offered Rivers the job of team president, which would have entailed everything from schmoozing with corporate sponsors to running the front office. Though he had previously insisted he had "little to no interest" in running a franchise, the financial windfall and unilateral power that would come with such a position (not to mention the proximity to his home base) gave him some brief pause. Ultimately, Rivers rebuffed the Magic and determined he wasn't done coaching. This week, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck was on with Felger and Mazz and he also expressed his thoughts that he expects Doc to return for this season. "Our indications are that Doc's coming back," Grousbeck said. "Everybody gets time to unwind and decompress," Grousbeck said. "And I expect Doc is gonna help Danny with draft workouts, I expect he'll be in the war room June 27 when all the draft and trades, if any, are made, and the over the free agency period a week after that." Ok, Danny and Wyc seem certain that Doc is coming back, but there is one problem. We haven't heard it from Doc and that leaves some questions. And, it brings us to the article in today's Herald where they quote sources saying that Doc's return isn't a sure thing. Despite the Celtics’ strong desire to put the matter behind them, Doc Rivers’ immediate future with the club has still not been decided. The word as expressed to us is that it is “90-10” that Rivers will continue on a contract that has three years and $21 million remaining. If he leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team. Doc is now in Boston. Hopefully he puts an end to all the speculation that is swirling around wheth

Cap space and draft picks is everyone's favorite answer but how do you trade the heart and soul of your team away and get little to no value in return ? well you don't. you have to find the right combination of teams that want to win now with decent draft picks. Larry Sanders is the closest thing to KG anyone is going to find for the next 20 years and the bucks are facing a lot of very difficult and daunting questions. The clippers will do anything to please Chris Paul (can't really blame them there) and the Pelicans (formerly known as the hornets) have a high draft pick that can't really help them contend for a title so the ideal situation would be for them to trade it for a building block to couple with Anthony Davis which leads me to this : http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=nlerp6c with the Pelicans giving Boston their #6 overall pick it gives the C's 2 first round draft picks to go along with a little bit of cap relief and some decent pieces to build around PG: Rondo/ Dennis Schroeder (# 16 pick)/ Jet SG: Avery Bradly/ Victor Oladipo (# 6 pick)/ C Lee SF: Jeff Green/ Brandon Bass/ T-will PF: Ryan Anderson/ Jared Sullinger C: Larry Sanders/ S. Randolf / C Wilcox/ Fab Melo Cap space and draft picks is everyone's favorite answer but how do you trade the heart and soul of your team away and get little to no value in return ? well you don't. you have to find the right combination of teams that want to win now with decent draft picks. Larry Sanders is the closest thing to KG anyone is going to find for the next 20 years and the bucks are facing a lot of very difficult and daunting questions. The clippers will do anything to please Chris Paul (can't really blame them there) and the Pelicans (formerly known as the hornets) have a high draft pick that can't really help them contend for a title so the ideal situation would be for them to trade it for a building block to couple with Anthony Davis which leads me to this : http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=nlerp6c with the Pelicans giving Boston their #6 overall pick it gives the C's 2 first round draft picks to go along with a little bit of cap relief and some decent pieces to build around PG: Rondo/ Dennis Schroeder (# 16 pick)/ Jet SG: Avery Bradly/ Victor Oladipo (# 6 pick)/ C Lee SF: Jeff Green/ Brandon Bass/ T-will PF: Ryan Anderson/ Jared Sullinger C: Larry Sanders/ S. Randolf / C Wilcox/ Fab Melo