Celtics Take A Flyer on Jared Sullinger, Bulging Dicks And All

In last Thursday's NBA Draft the Celtics went big grabbing Ohio State's Jared Sullinger and Syracuse's Fab(ulously bad student)Melo. Im a fan of both these picks by the Green and really love the fact that they got top 10 talent in the form of Sullinger with the 21st overall pick. How did Sullinger go from a sure fire top 7 pick to number 21 you ask? Being diagnosed with herniated discs (or bulging dicks right Andy Katz?) a few weeks before the draft will do that to you as will an inability to elevate more than 3 inches off the ground. Why am I excited about an undersized big with bulging discs in his back? Because the guy has a legit low post game that he honed at OSU and in the words of Jay Bilas, 'he flat out knows how to play and win.'

Though I'm all aboard the Sullinger bandwagon I'm not too blinded by elation to admit that yes Sullinger has some flaws in his game. For one thing his style of play is better suited for domination in the collegiate game than the NBA game. Due to his lack of vertical ups Sullinger had to, out of necessity, develop a strong inside game with a nice repertoire of moves that would make Kevin 'The Slippery Eel' McHale proud. Sullinger was able to use brute strength to power through college defenders in the NBA that's not an option because there are 2 or 3 guys stronger than him on every team. Sullinger's a tad undersized (6'9"), a little soft in the belly (something I noticed watching his pre draft workout videos. You can see his shirt jiggle a little when he runs around), and he has health concerns. What Sullinger does have going for him is that in 2 years at Ohio State he was a two-time first time All American so he knows how to play the game of basketball a little bit. He knows how to put the ball in the hoop and for 2 years in college he learned how to do it against taller opponents, albeit not stronger, but taller guys with more ups and longer wingspan than he brings to the party. Those are the attributes along with his ability to bring toughness to the interior are why the Celtics did the right thing in taking a flyer on him at the 21st overall pick.

With the NBA being a star driven league most picks outside of the lottery don't end up making too much of a difference so if the Celtics are lucky enough to have Sullinger's back stay healthy and get a good 20 minutes out of him a game where he scoops up some boards and plays tough defense then I consider that a win in my book. If Sullinger can come along nicely during 'accelerated rookie camp' and show that he can contribute right away it allows the Celtics to look into moving another undersized forward who can rebound like an animal in Brandon Bass for a draft pick or possibly another piece to the puzzle.

One last thing on Sullinger, I don't think the comparisons to Kevin Love are inaccurate in any way shape or form. The basis being that coming out of college people though that Kevin Love looked better than he was against inferior college opponents and that he was too unathletic to make it in the league. Kevin Love is a stud and he's always been a stud just watch him play the game of basketball and you can see he's thinking two or three plays ahead of everyone else. Sullinger is no where near that level of player and though I like the kid I'm not putting him in the same ballpark as Love.

After selecting Sullinger out of Ohio State with the 21st pick in the draft the Celtics were fortunate enough to also possess the 22nd pick and grabbed Syracuse big man and academic failure Fab Melo. You know the guy who rose to prominence by flunking off the Orange right before the NCAA tournament sending them from tourney favorite to Elite Eight participant? Yeah, that guy. Fortunately for the Celtics they could care less about his grades and much more about the fact that he's a legit 7 footer who can protect the rim night in and night out. Personally, I'm always a fan of taking a big guy with the potential to be a legitimate shot blocker for years to come.

Last year at Syracuse, Fabricio Paulino de Melo of Brazil averaged 7.8 pts, 5.8 rebounds, and the number that concerns the Celtics 2.9 blocks. Offensively, Melo is far from polished but remember this is a guy who's only been playing basketball since he moved to the States 4 years ago. Plus the Celtics don't need him to score points all they need from him is the ability to guard the 5 and allow Garnett to go back to his comfort zone at the 4. The C's have been looking for someone to take pressure off of Garnett and let him slide back to the 4 for a couple years now with the failed experiments being namely Shaq and Jermaine O'Neal. As long as Melo can adjust to playing man to man defense instead of camping out in the paint Syracuse style I think the Celtics have found themselves a big competent of playing 15-20 minutes a game while collecting a few rebounds and turning away a few shots on the weak side.

Having numbers 21 and 22 in the NBA Draft reeks of guys who never pan out in the league but Mr. Danny Ainge has a pretty good track record of hitting on more than he misses when it comes to late first and early secound round picks. I liked that the Celtics took a good look at themselves in the mirror and realized that their best chance to win and win now was to draft big guys with the potential to play some minutes off the bench right from the get go. I don't know if Sullinger and Melo have enough power to hoist the Celtics to the top of the NBA heap but I do know that I like their odds better than the likes of Jermaine Cunningham and others drafted in the 20's.

For your viewing pleasure Andy Katz affectionately referring to Jared Sullinger's 'herniated discs' diagnosis as a diagnosis of 'bulging dicks' for the big fella.

Geoff Jablonski

Celtics Fry Up Some Grit In The ATL

"We all grit, all grit and balls man, that's what it is." -Kevin Garnett after the Celtics game 2 win in Atlanta sans Rajon Rondo

Kevin Garnett you hit the nail squarely on the head. The 2012 playoff Celtics are made up of exactly that: grit and balls. Last night’s game reinforced to me after a laying stink bomb in Game 1 vs. the Hawks that this latest version of the Celtics has one more run left in their aging legs. Now I’m not going to take for granted the fact that the Celtics gutted out this latest playoff win against an Atlanta Hawks bunch that is soft, overrated, and in general has no clue how to win big games.

If you’re like me then when you saw Rajon Rondo bump the official and subsequently get ejected near the end of Game 1 you were resigned to the fact that Game 2 wasn’t likely going to go the Celtics way. I figured it would take a huge game from Paul Pierce, KG, and a host of role players to steal home court advantage from the Hawks. Paul Pierce did exactly that racking up 36 points (13 in the first quarter to set the tempo and 13 points in the fourth quarter when the Celtics needed a leader) and, in my eyes, even more impressively 14 rebounds. KG didn’t really show up early but he was there late and finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Guys like Marquise Daniels, Keyon Dooling, and Sasha Pavlovic did a great job of picking up the slack with the Celtics, and the NBA’s, assists leader sitting out the game due to a suspension.

This year Rajon Rondo has probably been the Celtics most indispensible player after he averaged 11.9/11.7/4.8 and 1.79 steals a game and was a key cog in the Celtics ability to pick up the pace on occasion. We all know if he had it his way he’d be breaking out with Avery Bradley by his side every play but when you’re made up of older, slower players that can’t always be the case. In Game 1 against the Hawks Rondo again delivered by pouring in 20 points and dishing out 11 assists but for the most part the Celtics looked old, sluggish, and disinterested. With Rondo out for Game 2 the Celtics did what this team needs to do to win and that’s not rely on Rondo to create every single shot but grind out games with tough defense and put together strings of good offensive sets that result in easy baskets or open jumpers. The Celtics did a great job of getting back to basics. That’s what the Celtics did down the stretch of the regular season when they beat the Heat twice, once with a full supporting cast once without, and showed the league that they still have enough heart and guts to hang with anyone.

The Celtics found themselves down 11 in the 3^rd quarter last night but they didn’t blink and came back to steal the game away from a Hawks team that is too immature to win big games, and honestly I don’t know if the team as currently constituted even with a healthy Al Horford will ever have the mental toughness to make a deep playoff run. The Celtics are exactly the team that the Hawks wish they could become: smart, full of guile, and unafraid. I loved watching the Celtics show the Hawks last night that they aren’t quite down yet while sending a message to the Heat who had the night off. With the Magic sans Dwight Howard and the Bulls getting blown out by the 76ers without D Rose it looks like the Celtics may have a date with destiny in the form of the Miami Heat.

Game 2 was a microcosm of what the Celtics need to do if they plan on raising banner 18 in the Garden. They aren’t going to out talent the Heat or even the Bulls in the East but they can out guile and out balls them. I’m going to say that the Hawks series is going the Celtics way the bigger question is whether it’ll be in 5 or 6 games. I’m not going to waste your time and talk about the Hawks at all because they are a soft team without the balls to take a series when it’s handed to them on a silver platter. The Celtics were in position to be put down 0-2 and the Hawks couldn’t finish them off. Hawks time to blow it up and realize you can’t build a championship team around Josh Smith and Joe Johnson.

With the fear of being redundant I’m going to say it one more time: the Celtics outclassed the Hawks in Game 2 and with Rajon Rondo coming back for Game 3 and beyond the Celtics might have the opportunity to form a lethal combination of grit and talent. If Ray Allen can come back healthy sometime before the Celtics second round series I think the Celtics will have a legitimate shot at getting to the Eastern Conference Finals and beyond. Pierce showed he could still dominate a game when he needs to do, which is always a nice ace in the hole to have if you’re Doc Rivers. Game 3 is tomorrow night in Boston tune in boys and girls it should be fun. 

Have fun watching Paul Pierce Tebow after drilling a free throw late

Geoff Jablonski