Youk vs. Ray… Letters to Boston Faceoff

Both Ray Allen and Kevin Youkilis were Boston sports icons for the last several years.  Youkilis spent about 8 and a half years with the Boston Red Sox while Ray Allen spent 5 years with the Boston Celtics. As I’m sure most of you know, neither Youk nor Ray are with their former Boston organizations anymore.  Ray went to the Miami Heat (still not entirely forgiven) and Youkilis was traded to the Chicago White Sox.  Both players wrote letters to their respective Boston fan-bases.  I just wanted to take a moment to share these letters with you guys and see what you think.  

I’ll start with Ray’s because it’s… well quite brief:

Keepin' it brief

“Dear Celtics Fans,

For the past five years, my family and I took great pride in calling Boston Home.  We have loved living in this city, being members of the Celtics family and being part of your community.  These memories will be cherished forever.

From my heart, THANK YOU Boston for this incredible Journey.

Ray Allen #20”

Is this kind of half-hearted or is it just me?  Nowhere does he take time to talk about the Boston Celtics fan base or the organization.  Just ‘Ray Allen #20.’  Yeah I’m still mad that he signed with the Heat but this is pretty lame… isn’t it? 

To put things into perspective, let me show you the final paragraph of Youkilis’ page-long letter to the Red Sox organization and Red Sox Nation.  Keep in mind; this is after several thank you paragraphs and well wishes.

“And, last but no means least, to all the Red Sox Nation, the home of the most dedicated and knowledgeable fans in baseball, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  That final game at Fenway was the most emotional day of my life on the baseball field.  It could not have been scripted any better.  And to all those kids out there in Red Sox Nation, I can give you my Dad’s advice.  ‘Life is like a throw to first base, always aim high.’

I love you all, and thanks,

Kevin Youkilis”

His last game at Fenway

Man what a classy way to address the fans and the city of Boston.  I won’t lie; I had never been a tremendous Youk fan.  But I gained so much respect for this guy and wish him all the best.  The guy is a class act.  His last paragraph was longer than Ray Allen’s entire ‘letter’ to Boston!  And as you read the letter from Youk, you can just tell how much heart he poured into it.  Seriously, kudos to Youk for being extremely classy towards the city of Boston despite all of the problems he had with Bobby V and the organization in his last year. He was one of the Red Sox most scrutinized players this year and you can see that he still had his heart in Boston.  If you want to read the full letter, and I highly recommend you do, click here.

So Ray vs. Youk… I think Youk wins by unanimous decision with a TKO.  I really thought Ray loved playing in Boston but with all of the recent events and this letter, I’m beginning to doubt that.  I’m sure he enjoyed it, but I’m just seeing a lack of heart right now.  Am I being too critical on Ray?  Perhaps.  But when you compare these two guys and how much they loved playing for their city, Youk takes it no questions asked. 

I mean… how can you not love this city?

Ray Allen is Officially the New Johnny Damon

I got back from vacation yesterday and obviously the biggest story in the New England sports world in the past week is the Miami Heat’s acquisition of shooting guard Ray Allen.  He decided to sign with the Heat for a 3 year, $9.7M deal (less than half of what the Celtics offered him) citing that he wanted to win another NBA Championship and work on his golf swing heading into retirement.  He demanded a 3-year, $27M contract from the Celtics, which was not met.  The all-time 3 point shot leader shot 14.2 points per game with 46% field goal percentage last season and can still make those big threes despite injury problems. 

People have been talking about Ray’s relationship with Rondo and how that may have impacted Ray’s decision to leave, but I’m not really buying that.  I think Ray just wants to play with the Heat because he wants to be carried to a Championship.  The Heat are backed up by the NBA and have freakish athletes (I won’t say his name) who can win Championships.  I guess for Ray Allen the potential for success far outweighs any sense of loyalty or camaraderie. 

He is the new Johnny Damon of Boston.  Johnny Damon, of course, went to the New York Yankees after winning the World Series with the Red Sox in 2004.  After being an elite icon and symbol of Boston, he’s going to the one franchise we hate most. The Miami Cheat… er I mean, the Miami Heat.  Now they got two hairless dudes to shoot threes in Miami.

I reported earlier that Terry is coming to Boston, and as of right now he has the starting shooting guard position without a doubt.  Guard E’Twaun Moore and Avery Bradley will also have to step up their shooting games in the absence of Ray Allen. 

I’ve lost a lot of respect for Ray Allen.  It’d be one thing if he went to ANY other team in the NBA other than the Miami Heat… but he had to go there.  Good luck with your golf handicap, Ray, you’re no longer welcome here in Boston.  I really hope the Miami Heat don't win another NBA Championship in the next 10 years. But when David Stern has your back, who knows?

The Heat's Secret Weapon

I present to you all Pat Riley, the evil Sith Lord of the NBA:

YEESH

Yes. This evil playoff conspiracy is beginning to make sense now. Pat Riley, president and head executive of the Miami Heat, may very well be using the Dark Side to corrupt the minds of the officials.    And if you don't think that's amusing… the dude looks evil regardless.  Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder begins tonight at 9 PM ET on ABC.  The Heat lead the series 3-1 (with the help of the Dark Side, of course) and have a chance to close it out tonight.  I hope that Liam Neeson is hiding somewhere with a lightsaber at the game tonight. This series needs to be brought to justice!

Go OKC!

I Hate Joey Crawford, NBA Finals Game 3 Blog

Thunder 85              Heat 91

Yeah you, I hate you.

The Oklahoma City Heat lost because of two things.  First, OKC could not hit free throws.  They were 15-24 (.625) from the free throw line.  The Heat, on the other hand, were shooting nearly 90% from the free thrown line going 31-35.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, more than a third of the Heat’s points last night came from free throws.  This leads me to my second reason why OKC lost.  The refereeing was terrible.  Like, Game 2 ECF bad.  I’ve been frantically searching for LeBron’s throw in off the back of the backboard, which led to a bucket last night, but so far no luck.  Maybe David Stern personally made sure that any videos or pictures of the play were taken off the internet.  The play was clearly out of bounds.  It was just that kind of night for OKC.

At least 1 ESPN analyst isn't stupid.

The Heat big 3 scored 64 of the Heat’s 91 points, lead by a great LeBron James performance in which he scored 29 points and added 14 rebounds.  So, 64 points for the big 3 and 35 free throw attempts… I guess that’s the whole plan for the Heat. 

The Thunder big 3 had 53 of the team’s 85 points, led by Durant’s 25.  Harden only had 9 points, and he will absolutely need to step up in game 4 if OKC wants to get back into this series.  Kendrick Perkins did his best to make a positive impact for the Thunder with 10 points and 12 rebounds.  I would make the argument that he was actually the most important player on the floor other than Durant/Westbrook last night.  That kind of play can absolutely be the difference in close games later on in the series. 

This is a charge, not a blocking foul.

One mistake that the Thunder made, in my opinion, was using Harden and Durant to defend James as opposed to Sefolosha.  I keep reiterating that Sefolosha’s defense and ability to keep OKC’s big 3 on the floor is the key to OKC’s success.  Am I the only one who can see that, or am I missing something?

When Oklahoma City had a 60-54 lead in the third quarter, both Durant and Westbrook were forced out of the game because of foul trouble.  Durant’s fourth foul, by the way, was absolutely ridiculous.  And his first foul was also a horrible call… it pisses me right off.  OKC actually shot better from the field than the Heat did, going 33-77 (.429).  But in today’s NBA, you don’t have to shoot well!  All you need is David Stern’s blessing.

How does Joey Crawford miss that out of bounds call when LeBron threw the ball off the back of the backboard?  How does that happen? Like earlier in the game when the Heat actually deflected it out and Thunder got called for it.  The call was eventually reversed, but coach Scott Brooks got a technical foul for lobbying for the right call.  HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?  How do these stupid fouls and missed calls happen and why are they always in favor of the Heat?  Something is wrong here. 

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.  Although it was awfully close and the Thunder actually shot better than the Heat, foul trouble (again) and free throw shooting led to the demise of the Thunder in game 3.  Durant gets 5 fouls (at least 3 bad calls) and Harden gets 4.  Some of the fouls were absolutely ridiculous calls that made me hate Joey Crawford just as much as David Stern.  Also, off the back of the backboard is in bounds for the Heat.  Oh, and if the refs make a wrong call and anyone says anything about it, they’ll hand out technical fouls… unless it’s someone from the Heat organization.  Are there NBA gods?  For some reason I’m beginning to doubt it.  The Miami Heat lead the series 2-1 going into game 4 on Tuesday.  

Your Friday Moment of Zen

If Snoop Dogg, an Ostrich and a Raptor……

Does this make me a terrible person?  I know you were all thinking it anyways. Have a good Friday night everyone.  Don't forget to follow me @bearbluni for the most entertaining tweets you'll ever see.
GO OKC!

I Hate David Stern, NBA Finals Game 2 Blog

 Heat 100         Thunder 96

Okay so last night was Game 2 of the finals and it honestly pained me to watch it.  Not just because the Heat won and LeBron had success, but Oklahoma City did not make the defensive adjustments they needed to make in order to win.  I’m absolutely talking about leaving Durant to cover LeBron James.  When I blogged about Game 1 one of the things I reiterated was how successful Thabo Sefolosha was in limiting LeBron James in the field and holding him to a mere 29% shooting.  I guess, for whatever reason, Thunder coach Scott Brooks felt it would be fine to keep Durant on James from the start of the game.  In my opinion this decision led to the loss. 

For those of you who haven’t been religiously watching Heat basketball, you might not know that LeBron James is the untouchable man of the NBA.  Part of the reason for his success, and I’d like to think I’m not exaggerating here, can be attributed to the fact that defenders are afraid to make any contact with him for fear of foul trouble.  That’s exactly what happened to Kevin Durant.  LeBron James drew 2 Durant fouls in the first quarter, forcing him to sit in the beginning of the second quarter where the Heat were able to build a substantial lead over the Thunder.  NBA referees are not afraid to call fouls for any contact they see LeBron James take.  This has been established during the regular season and even more so in the postseason.  The Heat went on to carry a 15-point lead into the second half while Westbrook and Durant's minutes were more limited due to foul trouble. 

I’m not going to go ahead and say the only reason that the Heat won was because of foul trouble.  LeBron had a good night, 32 points with 8 rebounds and 5 assists.  Dwayne Wade finally showed up to play with 24 points.  The Boshtrich had 16 points and 15 rebounds.  And I think the most surprising story for the Heat, on the offensive end, was Shane Battier with 17 points.  He went 6/8 from the field, including 5/7 from 3-point range. 

Cue the Evil Empire Music

The big 3 from OKC scored 80 points, led by Kevin Durant’s 32 points.  However, the role-player contributions were not nearly as good as they were in Game 1.  Nick Collison and Old Man Fisher were nonfactors.  Collison had no points and only 3 defensive rebounds while Fisher went 1/5 from the field, including 0/4 from 3-point range.  Ibaka was also quiet, only putting up 7 points and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

 

Yeah the Heat played well, and yeah the Thunder didn’t play as well as they did in Game 1.  Do I still blame David Stern a little? Absolutely.  When Jeff Van Gundy keeps looking at the replays and continues to say, “Well, from that angle that foul looks a little iffy,” or “That was absolutely a foul on LeBron James,” you know something’s up.  I could go on and on about the stupid calls on the Thunder or the non-calls for the Heat, but what really sticks out in my mind was Kevin Durant’s pull-up jumper in the last 10 seconds of regulation time.  If you didn’t watch it, LeBron CLEARLY fouls Durant's potentially game tying play at least 4 times.  Those calls would’ve gone LeBron’s way if he were on the receiving end of the contact for sure.  After all, he is the golden boy that David Stern needs to protect.  TV ratings have been doing exceptionally well this year for LeBron James and the Heat.  Ever since he made a villain out of himself by leaving Cleveland, LeBron James has attracted record-breaking television ratings.  Those ratings are fat paychecks for the Commish.

Let's play a little game called, "Can You Spot The Foul?" This isn’t the crazed Boston fan in me speaking – but just take a look:

Call me crazy…

No Call?

Where’s the call here?  This could’ve tied the game up for OKC and led to an overtime period where the Thunder had the momentum!  This stuff makes me sick.  I hope the Basketball Gods, (and refs) are just in Game 3.  We can all see this, Commissioner Stern.  This is worse than the Pacquiao decision.  This pisses me right off.  

I Hate LeBron James, NBA Finals Game 1 Blog

Heat 94           Thunder 105

I’m going to tell you all straight up, I hate LeBron James.  I loathe and disdain everything about him.  His interviews, his demeanor, his stupid hipster glasses.  The only thing I enjoy about LBJ is watching him try to hide his receding hairline.  Yes, the Boston Celtics were eliminated by LeBron James with the help of the NBA Commissioner, David Stern… but I think it’s only appropriate that I share with you my thoughts on the NBA Finals.  It’s personal for Boston fans now.  I am rooting for OKC just as much as I was rooting for the Celtics because I hate the Miami Heat that much.  And I still miss Kendrick Perkins, of course.  Okay, got that outta my system… here are some observations from game 1. 

The Heat came out shooting in the first half.  Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers and even Chris Bosh had success shooting beyond the arch.  LBJ and Dwayne Wade were able to take advantage of the defensive attention they were receiving from the Thunder and dish it out for wide-open shots from the field.  Shane Battier scored a postseason high 17 points on 6/9 shooting, including 4/6 3-point shots.  The Heat were so successful that they were able to establish themselves with a 13 point lead going into the second half. 

However, as we all know, LeBron can’t finish.  Oklahoma City made adjustments in the second half, giving Thabo Sefolosha the responsibility of guarding LBJ.  This was extremely successful, as LeBron only had 7 points on 29 FG% against him.  When Kevin Durant covered him, he was seemingly able to score at will.

In addition to this adjustment, OKC was able to speed up the tempo of the game, outscoring the Heat 58-40 with 11 fast break points.  Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant outscored the Heat Big Three alone 63-59.  The Thunder clearly grew throughout the game and made adjustments where adjustments needed to be made.  With great role-playing performances by Nick Collison, Thabo Sefolosha, and Old Man Derek Fisher, the Thunder were able to put the Heat in its place.  Now that they’ve seen what it takes to win against the Heat, I expect this series to be all Durant and Westbrook.  Kevin Durant is the best player in this series, not LeBron James.  I hope I don't get slapped with a Technical Foul for saying that… #davidstern.  I’m hoping and praying for OKC in 5. 

Instead of taking accountability for his inability to finish, LeBron James claimed it was just a “feel out game.”  I hope he enjoys the feel of his finger without a ring this summer.