Doc: Michael Finley will be active tonight

Doc Rivers said Michael Finley will be active tonight in Milwaukee, but it remains unsure how much he’ll play. (Boston Globe)

Finley’s activation means one Celtic will have to be deactivated, as only 12 players can be active for any given game. ESPNBoston’s Chris Forsberg half-heartedly nominated Tony Allen, at least for the time-being. Allen played only two minutes against Washington while nursing an injured hip.

My vote? As much as it hurts me to say, I’d have to deactivate Shelden Williams. With the Celtics holding a solid four-man rotation, Williams is the odd man out and has been just about all season. He’s a pro’s pro, but will never crack the rotation as long as everyone stays healthy.

Why not deactivate Scal? Because he’s a bit more versatile than Williams. And he also has one hell of a spray tan.

Throwing some dimes: Gerald Green’s a moron

Once in a while, someone else’s article catches my eye. Sometimes, it’s because the article is so spot-on I wish I’d written it myself. Other times, it’s because the article enlightens me with something I never knew. Still other times, it’s because I disagree with whatever’s written. No matter what the reason, I dish it off to another writer to make his/her point. You know, throwing some dimes.

1. Celtics Hub’s Zach Lowe went to the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

Cuban: “Some guys in our sport are morons. You want to dump them on another team.” Cuban said teams try to conceal the fact that some of their guys are “morons” in a scheme he called “protect the moron.” He suggested that teams should “out the morons.”

Cuban returned to this theme later in discussing Gerald Green: “Oh my God,” he said. He then talked about Green’s athleticism before concluding that Green “just doesn’t understand the game of basketball.”

The crowd laughed.

I wonder what Cuban thinks of Tony Allen?

2. Celtics die-hard KWAPT had the day of his life. It included watching Rajon Rondo tear Scal apart in a game of one-on-one.

3. CelticsBlog’s Jeff Clark compares following the Celtics to marriage.

This doesn’t mean that you love each other any less. Just the opposite.

What develops is a more mature love. A more unconditional love. When you can look at someone and really know them top to bottom, knowing everything imperfect about them and still truly love them without hesitation, that’s mature love. When you’ve been through many, many tough times together, you know that you can get through the next one together and you find a deeper respect for each other because of it.

4. ESPNBoston’s Chris Forsberg had a nice quote from Kevin Garnett.

And Garnett might as well have been talking about the season as a whole when he noted, “It’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. Obviously, we’d like to have had more energy in the first half. You look, we shot 41 percent [for the game], we really didn’t play well. But when it came down to getting stops, it was in our favor.”

Far too often, the Celtics’ have flipped the switch a minute or two too late, leaving too little time for a comeback to be completed. For once, they started a comeback and had enough time to finish the job. It doesn’t get rid of the first 42 minutes, but it sure feels better to win, especially the way Boston won: With defense.

5. Rasheed Wallace has a combined three attempted three-pointers in his last three games. That happens about as often as the Minnesota Timberwolves win the NBA championship.

Wanna throw your own dime, and get someone’s article recognized? Email me at jayking@celticstown.com or follow me on Twitter.

Marbury wants more cash from Chinese team

Apparently, life in China is tougher than Stephon Marbury thought it would be. (WEEI)

Former Celtic Stephon Marbury is demanding an additional $2 million to return to the Chinese team Shanxi Zhongyu, according to The Hoops Market (via Sina).

Marbury reportedly is unhappy with the cold weather and is asking for more money, a huge jump from the $25,000 a month he signed for in January. Just a month ago, Brave Dragons coach Wu Qinglong praised Marbury for being easy to get along with.

“People say this and that about him, but let me tell you, I had dinner with him last night and it was so simple, chicken fried rice. That’s it,” he said. “He was happy. He said it was really good. He didn’t even want anything to drink, just some bottled water.”

You mean he didn’t want any vaseline? And his sneaker sales aren’t paying him enough to make the cold weather worth it?

Thank God the Celtics got a new Knicks backup point guard this season. Marbury’s a constant circus. Although, to be fair, he was on his best behavior while in Beantown.

(h/t Red’s Army)

Highlight Reel: Where, when, why, how?

Remember earlier in the season, when Paul Pierce kneed Chris Bosh a little, then dunked on him in a way that hurt Bosh far more than his knee ever could?

Some guy — I don’t know who — playing some team  — I don’t know where — took Pierce’s dunk to another level, kicking his opponent, propelling himself up in the air and far above the defender.  Sadly, I don’t know when it happened either.

But, no matter where, when why or how, this highlight is a doozy.

(h/t Talk Hoops)

Glen Davis and fiancee to have child

Glen Davis will soon be holding a child, rather than the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Hopefully, hell be holding both.

Wouldn’t you know it: Just hours after bashing him, I found out that Glen Davis is going to have a child. Well, not him personally, but his fiancee. (Although Davis sure looks like he could be pregnant.)(Boston Herald)

That the Boston Celtics’ Glen “Big Baby” Davis is going to be a daddy! The Green Teamer wouldn’t blab about the Little Baby deets – in fact, he got a little colicky when our source asked him about it. But he did confirm that his fiancee, Jenna Gomez, was having a Baby.

I’d hate to ruin this moment with the obligatory, “Wait, Davis is way too immature to be a father” joke, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll say nothing but congratulations to the man I mercilessly tore apart for his lack of efficient scoring.

Let’s hope fatherhood treats Davis well, and may he have a happy and healthy child.

Davis ‘coming into his own’? Ehh…

Is Glen Davis coming into his own? Rasheed Wallace certainly seems to think so. (Boston Globe)

“Big Baby’s coming into his own,’’ Wallace said. “It’s something that he’s always been capable of doing. Now it’s just a matter of getting the minutes and he’s going out there and producing.’’

Coming into his own? If that’s true, count me as forever off the Glen Davis bandwagon. Davis is shooting 22-60 during his last nine games. That’s a whopping 36.7%, for all of you who aren’t Good Will Hunting and didn’t immediately know what that percentage was. If 36.7% is Glen Davis’ own, his own sucks.

Maybe Rasheed meant to say, “Big Baby’s coming into my own.” You know, Rasheed’s own world of missing about 60% of his shots. That would make more sense. Wallace is shooting only 40.4%, so it’s probably nice for him to have some company from another bricklayer.

I hate to be too hard on Davis. He plays harder than anyone else on the team. He throws his body around, keeps offensive possessions alive with offensive rebounds, and has probably taken more charges than any other Celtic. But he gets blocked three-quarters of the time he shoots it (just an approximation), and misses his fair share of bunnies that don’t get blocked.

For a big man to shoot 36.7% is downright awful. That’s just a hair worse than Brandon Jennings, who has slowed down from his sizzling start to post a disgusting 36.6% from the floor.

Then again, the Celtics probably don’t have any better options. Shelden Williams doesn’t bring too much to the table, and Scal’s been worse than either Davis or Williams this season. But with Davis now barely ahead of Wallace’s 40.4% at 42.4% shooting, I would be shocked if the Celtics don’t have the single worst-shooting backup big-man tandem in the entire NBA. Shit, even Ben Wallace shoots 53.3%.

Davis is getting boards and sacrificing his body, but doing little else to help his team win.

Poor Antoine Walker… literally

After eating his way out of the NBA, Antoine Walker went dead broke, wasting more than $100 million of career earnings. After not being able to secure another spot on an NBA roster this season, he ended up in Puerto Rico playing for the Guaynabo Mets. From the major leagues, to the minor leagues. From filthy rich, to deep in debt. Employee Number Eight became Employee Numero Ocho.

Peter May examined the depths of Walker’s fall, and unearthed a startling fact. Walker is making only $7,000 per month. (Yahoo! Sports)

According to reports coming out of the island, Walker’s deal with the Guaynabo Mets is for one month, guaranteed, as they want to see what kind of shape he’s in. He is reportedly being paid $7,000 a week. Another former NBA player, Marcus Fizer, also joined the Mets at the same time. They started the season 4-0 according to the standings posted on Latinbasket.com.

For a normal person, $7,000 a month to play basketball would be great. But for a man who probably spends more than $7,000 each time he goes to Ben and Jerry’s, that contract is miserable. Especially when he still owes over $800,000.

On the bright side? I bet he gets to fire a whole lot of three-pointers in the Puerto Rican leagues. Walker Wiggle to that.

Trash talk a good sign for Celtics?

When most good teams play well, it’s because off effort and execution. When the Celtics play well, it’s because of… trash talk? (A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE)

Four wins over four not-so-good teams isn’t reason enough for the Boston Celtics to rejoice about their recent success.

But there’s another reason why this stretch should excite Celtic Nation.

The C’s are back to talking trash, as clear a sign as any that they’re inching closer to regaining that championship-caliber swagger we’ve come to know and opponents have come to loathe.

Of course, the trash talk is only good because it is symbolic of everything the Celtics are at their best: Bold, brave, confident, tough, and swaggerific. Once upon a time, Boston was ten points ahead at the start of games because of its tough-guy reputation. The Celtics would rub people the wrong way, talk and shove other teams out of their game, and back up all the bush-league stunts with great play. For Boston, trash talking isn’t just a bunch of annoying words strung together; it’s a weapon designed to help the C’s play their ‘A’ game and opponents to lose focus.

Guys like Stephen Jackson and Andray Blatche may feel “disrespected as men” by all the smack coming from the Celtics, but I’m with Blakely: Boston is a better team when it has an us-against-the-world mentality and plays the part of the evil villain.

Highlight Reel: Kobe, Matt Barnes scuffle

Is it just me, or does everybody else think Matt Barnes looks like a psycho too?  Between the tats all over him, an always-angry face and that little hunch in his back, Barnes looks as much like a Shutter Island patient as an NBA player.

But I loved what he did to Kobe Bryant yesterday.  With the two talking junk, Barnes decided to try to get under Mr. Bryant’s skin. 

Kobe, for his part, didn’t flinch. But he DID finish only 12-30 from the field, missing a potentially game-tying jumper and pissing off a lot of Lakers teammates in the meantime.

Glen Davis almost starred in ‘Blind Side’… seriously

Those are some serious photo-shopping skills, huh?

[*Bad joke alert*]

This news really blind-sided me.

[*End of bad joke*]

Glen Davis almost played Michael Oher in ‘Blind Side’?  What the hell? (Jessica Camerato, WEEI)

Back in 2007, Davis was a top candidate for the lead role of Michael Oher in “The Blind Side.” [...]

“I’ve always wanted to act,” he explained. “I knew about the football player, he played at Ole Miss, and I heard there was a book out about that. So I said, ‘Sure, I’ll try out.’ ”

Davis was sent a three-page script and asked to record a video audition. After hours of practice, he performed the scene in which Oher discusses selecting a college, ultimately deciding on the University of Mississippi.[...]

After submitting his tape, Davis learned he was one of the top three candidates for the role. Because of the NBA schedule, however, he never met with film’s executives. Regardless of the opportunity to act, Davis had priorities.

“I never flew out because I didn’t have time,” he said. “I was playing, it was at the beginning of the season. That would’ve been tough. I would’ve had to shoot during the summer time, and that was a really important time.”

(Read the rest of the story here.)

Davis’ wide list of talents keeps revealing new, hidden skills.  First, he said he wanted to play in the NFL.  That one wasn’t too much of a secret; he’s a 300-pounder with agility and explosiveness.  It only made sense.

His talents got more eclectic, though. Next was MMA.  Davis trained over the summer, and his trainer could only imagine how great Davis could have been as a fighter if he didn’t have such a serious commitment to basketball.

Then came ultimate frisbee.  Wait, ultimate frisbee?  A 6′9″, 300-pounder flicking a little flying disc?  I thought only hippies and high-schoolers played that sport, right?

Along with his frisbee admittance, we learned that Davis was also — at least by his own admission — quite good at soccer.

Now, he was one of three finalists to play Michael Oher in ‘Blind Side’? Is there anything the man can’t do?

Sadly, there are some things. Shooting over the long arms of JaVale McGee, for one.

Morning Walkthrough: Wizards piss down their legs

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The rest of the way, Blatche, who was killing the Celtics with 23 points, fell into the trap of talking trash to Garnett rather than playing. Wizards coach Flip Saunders said that was costly. ‘We choked … We got young guys, they don’t know what it’s like to be in a situation. We start talking to Garnett, start talking trash and everything else. Got Garnett and those guys juiced up and we just pissed down our leg the last six minutes. You have a veteran team that knows how to close out games, against a young team that hasn’t been there and instead of just letting a sleeping dog lie we juiced up their energies. We had plays coming off timeouts and we had guys going to the wrong side of the floor, we were so discombobulated.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “But while openly admitting that there are no excuses for their play over the first 42 minutes of Sunday’s game, the Celtics viewed the glass as decidedly half-full after rallying from a 13-point deficit for an 86-83 triumph at TD Garden. ‘You could probably say, in a small way, we did [get away with one], but we fought for it,” said Ray Allen, who scored 18 of his game-high 25 points after the intermission, including a pair of pivotal 3-pointers in the final two minutes. ‘We never gave up or thought it was over. I compare my feeling now opposed to if we lost that game. It definitely makes my food later taste a lot better. We just keep building, keep building. I have been reflecting on the championship year — losing to Washington three times, Charlotte beat us a couple times, and we were just so dejected because of it. But sometimes it’s just matchups, guys get hot. I think [Andray] Blatche and [Al] Thornton got hot tonight. We just have to move forward and continue working on our defense.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics can strike fear in an opponent at the most important moments, a quality Paul Pierce hadn’t seen in a while. ‘A lot of these games, this year, we’ve let go,’ said Pierce, who scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. ‘Tonight, we saw something that I like to see at this point in the season. Especially coming down the stretch. We saw the Celtics that I’m used to seeing.’”

Jimmy Toscano, CelticsBlog – “‘I don’t even know man, that was a bar fight,’ Garnett said with Pierce laughing in agreement. ‘Chairs were thrown, bottles were breaking. You had to get your back to something and just swing. So that’s what that was, all grit.’ Throughout his career, Allen has been one of the best in utilizing screens and picks to get open. This was no different tonight, as Doc drew up the play in the timeout that worked exactly as planned. Ray Allen did a nice job in summing up how it all went down. ‘Sam (Cassell) was over there heckling on the sideline when I walked down and he was trying to talk to me, and you know how Sam is. He looked at me and was like, ‘You’re getting the ball, you’re getting the ball, I know you’re getting the ball!’ So, you know I tried to shrug it off, so when I went to fake to Rondo I just cut out and Mike Miller is riding me and he’s kind of riding me making sure I don’t get the ball and he’s pushing me (the opposite) way so I just kind of lazily cut through to the basket and Perk and Kevin were coming up. And the minute he thought I was going that way I just cut hard and they got him. I was sitting there wide open.’”

Celtics Insider, Boston Herald – “But a great screen is nothing without a great shot. Allen took a pass from Rondo and rose for one of his picture-perfect jumpers. Though he was leaning slightly to the left, his form was solid and the shot was pure, ripping through the net to put the C’s in control. From start-to-finish, it was precisely what Rivers envisioned. ‘It was exactly the play,’ Allen said. ‘The bigs, Kevin and Perk, set a great screen and I came off. I think I even had more time, but that’s the one thing about shooting the ball – I don’t like to sit there and wait on the 3-point line. Once I come off, if the ball comes, I’m up in the air with it.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Finley said he would try to ease his way in. His role with the Spurs diminishing, he asked to be waived, leading Boston to swoop in and sign him. But Finley said he knew he’d have to simply fit in on a team full of veterans and clearly defined roles. ‘Coach was pretty honest with me, which I can respect, that he doesn’t know how he’s going to use me,’ Finley said. ‘I have to respect that. I’m coming to a team that’s already established. They’ve put in X amount of games here, so for me to come in and try to establish a role right away would be crazy for me to even think that. But Coach has put me at ease. Just when my situation comes, go out there and play hard.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘You know, it was good to win a game like this as far as I was concerned,” director Doc Rivers said. “We’ve lost so many of these where we’ve played poorly and lost. It’s nice every once in a while to play poorly and win.’ The Celts were looking at 37,248 thumbs down (based on the sellout crowd of 18,624) when Washington opened the last quarter with a 13-4 run. But after a timeout at 6:10, during which Rivers told his team it pretty much had to pitch a shutout on defense, the C’s arose.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “It certainly was in the fourth quarter, which is when Allen scored six of Boston’s last seven points to extend its winning streak to four in a row – the team’s longest since December. And Allen’s big game came on a night when most of the Celtics struggled. Garnett had eight points, but he was 0-for-7 from the field. His backup, Rasheed Wallace, was marginally better. He (only) missed six of his seven shot attempts. And maybe the most telling statistic about Boston’s troubles, in the first half at least, could be seen in Rajon Rondo having just one assist. But down the stretch, Boston made all the big shots from the field and the line. And defensively, the Celtics limited the Wizards to 38.9 percent shooting in the fourth in addition to getting 10 points off of Washington turnovers.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Pierce hasn’t been healthy enough to carry the Celtics for long stretches, while Garnett is focusing on defense and rebounding. [Ray] Allen’s resurgence has been the biggest difference with the Celtics since the All-Star break, after which they are 8-3 and nearing Orlando in the Eastern Conference standings. ‘You guys don’t know, but [Allen] deals with a lot of different things with injuries. We all deal with different types of physical stuff,’ Garnett said. ‘He is no different than that. At the same time, he had talks of business, about where he was going to be in his future and stuff. I can just tell that he is a lot healthier. Everything that he is doing is a lot more fluid. He is not thinking a lot, he is just reacting and it’s beautiful basketball.’ Beautiful enough for two more years? The answer is no longer a resounding no. It’s now more like a maybe.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘He never had any balance offensively,’ said coach Doc Rivers. ‘But there was something I liked and Armond (Hill, assistant coach) said it in the game. I said, ‘Boy, Kevin’s struggling a little bit out there.’ And he said, ‘But not on defense. He looks active. He looks great defensively. He’s just out of whack right now offensively. Let’s not worry about that. The fact that he has it on the other end, if we’ve got to take one or the other, we would take that.’ ‘ Wizards coach Flip Saunders also credited Garnett for getting Andray Blatche into a loud discussion that had both buzzing even after the game. ‘Dray had terrible decisions,’ Saunders said. ‘Dray is woofing the whole time to Kevin Garnett. You can’t do those things. It’s a learning process. You don’t take a guy who’s been defensive player of the year three times, probably the best power forward, and all of a sudden get that guy juiced up to play against you. You got no chance.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Marcus Landry assigned to the D-League

Marcus Landry, the other player involved in the Nate Robinson-Knicks trade, has been assigned to the D-League to play for the Maine Red Claws, according to the Boston Celtics Twitter page.

Celtics defeat 76ers, 96-86

Everyone had trouble staying with Lou tonight.

The Celtics rode great play from Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo and came away with their third straight win, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 96-86.

Boston shot well throughout the game, but 12 first half turnovers kepts the game close. The Celtics controlled the action for most of the game, except for a few flurries by Andre Iguodala, who had 14 points and 9 assists, and Louis Williams, who led Philadelphia with 22 points.

Playing one of his most complete games since returning from injury, Garnett lead the way for the Celtics with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assist, and three steals.  Slowly but surely, Garnett is regaining his lateral quickness and, once again, becoming a disruptive force on defense.  Offensively, Garnett was getting out on the fast-break and finishing  lay-ups. When healthy, Garnett can beat any big man downcourt.

Rondo had another great game – the kind to which Celtics fans are becoming accostomed. He had 16 points and 11 assists and,at times, made Philadelphia’s defense  look foolish.  Rondo’s game just keeps getting better: there is not a point guard in the league who can stay in front of him, and he’s starting to trust himself  completely.

Allen hit only one of three three-point field goals attempted, but continued his post-all star break hot streak , hitting 7 of 14 field goals and scoring 16 points. Allen remains a constant three-point threat and, even on off days,  draws defenders away from the basket leaving the lane open for Garnett and others.  Tonight, Allen  hit the short ones and really took the load off  Rondo and KG. When Allen is on, the Celtics are a completely different team.

With another convincing win, the Celtics are seemingly getting  hot at just the right time. But momentum can be fickle.

A few wins in June and the hysteria is laughable overkill from short-sighted analysts. A few losses in June, and the pundits were right all along.

For now, Boston focuses- or doesn’t focus- on the next opponent: The Washington Wizards on Sunday at 8 PM.

Boston faces familar foe