Can YOU play for the Maine Red Claws? (Photo by Matt Boutwell, Co-host/Producer, Big Jab 96.3)

According to OurSportsCentral, the Maine Red Claws have announced open tryouts for 2010.  For all of you with a dream and a spare $150, the Red Claws will be at UMass-Boston September 11-12.  It is unclear from the announcement if this will be the Claws’ only open tryout in 2010 – last year they also held one in Charlotte, home of their other NBA affiliate.

Red Claws Head Coach Austin Ainge (who is currently barnstorming Maine with youth basketball clinics) will be on hand to evaluate players.  For their inaugural season the Red Claws found three players through the open tryouts: Mike Williams, Stanley Thomas and Abdulai Jalloh all played in the season opener.

Thomas only played with the Claws for two games; Williams and Jalloh lasted eight and nine games before leaving the team.  Jalloh was the only one of the three to stay in the D-League for most of the season, landing with the Springfield Armor just three days after being waived by Maine.  Jalloh did well in Springfield, averaging almost 12PPG for the Armor for the rest of the season.

                          

Maine Red Claws head coach Austin Ainge is coaching the Celtics summer league team.

According to the Boston Herald, it’s not just because he’s Danny’s son, either:

“He’s the coach because Doc (Rivers) chose him to be the coach,” Danny Ainge said last night after the first of the group’s three practices. “Not me.”

He added with a smile, “I don’t know if it was in the whole transition when Doc didn’t know if he was going to be back here and didn’t know if he’d have any staff. And he knew Austin would be around for sure.

“It’ll be a good experience for Austin. I think he told Austin maybe 10 days or two weeks ago that he’d like him to coach in the summer league.”

I like this move a lot. It’s not uncommon for D-League coaches to work in the summer league, but in this case it works especially well and we’re lucky to have Austin working with the youngsters this summer.

Over the winter Austin led the ever-changing Maine Red Claws to a 27-23 record. While they fell just short of the playoffs, they tied the record for wins by an expansion team in the D-League. This on-the-court success led to off-the-court success as well, with the Claws selling out every home game and President/GM Jon Jennings being named D-League Executive of the Year. In fact, Jennings said, “We are exceedingly proud of Austin. He has worked very hard for us and we are very happy he will be returning to coach the Red Claws.” The Celtics should be happy to have him coaching for them in Orlando as well.

This fits on a number of levels. Obviously a number of the Celtics’ summer league players are likely to see D-League time next year.  Draft picks Luke Harangody and Semih Erden (2008) will almost certainly be spending some time in Portland one way or another. If Boston’s unable to land a big man free agent with their mid-level exception, it may not be a lot of time, but we’ll see. Oliver Lafayette and Tony Gaffney, the end-of-the-season signings, are also probably headed to Maine. Note that first-round pick Avery Bradley is not on the summer league roster due to his injury, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Maine as well.

So this gives Austin some familiarity with players he may be seeing a lot of this winter. It also gives him even more familiarity with Doc Rivers’ system and the Celtics coaching staff. In short, this move further demonstrates that the close relationship between Maine and Boston is working out well for the Celtics, and should be a good thing for the Red Claws, Austin, and the players.

                          

Brad Miller gets along even worse with Shaq than he does with Rondo.

Sheed’s retiring, Perk’s hurt and Shelden Williams may not be walking through that door next season. As such, the Celtics will need to use free agency to bolster a frontcourt unit that — if the season were to start tomorrow — would have Luke Harangody as the first big off the bench.

Let’s just say the C’s need some frontcourt help pretty badly. And by “they need some frontcourt help pretty badly,” I mean “if the Celtics don’t pick up at least one legitimate big man in free agency, they have as much chance of winning next year’s NBA title as Brian Scalabrine does of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

Here’s a list of veterans the Celtics could use to bolster their size for next year (young blood coming tomorrow or the next day):

Brad Miller (Note: Miller is reportedly the C’s number one target)
I know, I know: Celtics fans hate Brad Miller. I also know that Miller graduated first in his class from the Zydrunas Ilgauskas Academy of Speed. But he knows how to play, he’s a tough dude, and he’s got the size and skill to be a legitimate backup for Perk next season.

Shaquille O’Neal
Shaq-tis wasn’t the answer in Cleveland, but the Celtics wouldn’t need him to be a starter (at least, not once Kendrick Perkins returns from his injury… whenever that may be). The Big Diesel can still score and rebound, but his pick-and-roll defense is somewhere between miserable and destructive.

Udonis Haslem
There’s not a lot to dislike about Haslem: He knows his role, splashes midrange jumpers, and crashes the glass. My only qualm with a potential Haslem signing is that the Celtics may need more size. In the NBA, length kills. As of right now, the C’s have a backup power forward but no backup center.

Brendan Haywood
Physically, a perfect backup center. Seven feet tall, strong as an ox, and pretty mobile to boot. Listen to The Two Man Game’s description of Haywood (that’s a Mavericks blog, for those who don’t know): “Haywood is a franchise center. He’s a capable big that can catch and finish, he’s a top-notch interior defender, and he helps well.” Sounds good to me. The only problem is, the Celtics might not be able to get Hayward, even if they want to use their full mid-level exception on him: Mark Cuban is known to pay his centers a little more than market value.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Slow, slower, slowest. Still, despite footspeed that even Michael Sweetney frowns upon, Ilgauskas can play. He can stroke the basketball, he knows his limitations, and he’s a solid positional defender. But does he have anything left in the tank?

Jermaine O’Neal
Two words: The playoffs. Another two words: Walking corpse. Last two words: Please, no.

Matt Bonner
The perfect Scal replacement, except with a little more game… and a less pear-shaped body.

Drew Gooden
Gooden is still a solid player, stats-wise. But there’s just something about him that gives me pause. He was always beefing with Lebron and other teammates in Cleveland, is a bit selfish offensively and, as the Cleveland sports blog Waiting for Next Year put it, “His defensive lapses are legendary in this city.” I want 10 points and 8 boards a game, but not if it comes with the term “his defensive lapses are legendary in this city.”

Kwame Brown
Just in case Danny Ainge wants to sign one of the biggest busts in NBA history.

Rasho Nesterovic
Any time the best argument you can make to sign a player is “he’s not THAT bad,” you would hope not to sign him to anything more than the veteran’s minimum.

Joe Smith
Smith is washed up and no longer capable of playing a supporting role on a contender… and that was a year and a half ago.

Channing Frye
Frye has a player option at $2.1 million, but one would have to assume he’ll opt out. If he does, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. What Frye lacks in toughness, he makes up for in three-point shooting ability.

Patrick O’Bryant
If you’re Wyc Grousbeck, is it worth it to spend the veteran’s minimum just to play a prank on your entire fanbase?

Darko Milicic
Can’t Ainge sign Kwame, O’Bryant and Milicic and — once they all pan out like everyone KNEW they were going to — the Celtics will have the best frontcourt on earth?

Ben Wallace
Wallace is a former Defensive Player of the Year. He has also lost at least a couple dozen steps and couldn’t score 10 points if you left him alone, in a gym, for 20 hours.

D.J. Mbenga
If the Celtics want to kick some judo ass, they’ll sign Mbenga to a max contract. If they want to win basketball games, not so much.

Juwan Howard
Older than my grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother but, somehow, still effective.

Kurt Thomas
The only player on this list who might be as old as Juwan Howard. Still, you get the feeling Kurt will be able to defend the post even when he’s in a wheelchair. Which would kinda give new meaning to the term “pull the chair.”

Tim Thomas
Not only has he underperformed his entire career, but he’s now the old underacheiver who isn’t as talented as he one was and also spewed racial slurs that began a chair-tossing brawl at Denny’s (yes, that Denny’s). Whew, that was a mouthful.

Fabricio Oberto
Threatening to buy the naming right to the Zydrunas Ilgauskas Academy of Speed.

For a list of all free agents, and to see if I missed any, click here.

                          

The Maine Red Claws fell to the Erie BayHawks, ending their playoff hopes and season.

Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn addresses the Expo Crowd

After going 0-4 on the recent road trip, then losing to a team they’ve struggled against all year on Friday, the Claws must have had high hopes for their Saturday matchup. After all, they’d been 7-0 against the BayHawks so far this season, and all they needed was a win and a loss from either of two teams to sneak into the playoffs. Of course, they shouldn’t have had to sneak in – they had plenty of opportunities to decisively grab a playoff spot for themselves.

This season it was not to be. The evening started with a moving pregame ceremony, where the Red Claws retired the number “1″ in honor of their fans, showing appreciation for the best fans in the D-League. Tommy Heinsohn addressed the crowd, thanking us for our dedication all season.

Unfortunately, all of that was not enough to motivate the players. The Red Claws started slowly, and ended up trailing for most of the first half. The Claws struggled to a four-point deficit at the half, with Blake Ahearn of the BayHawks and Maine’s Morris Almond leading their teams in the close game. The Claws were again missing Paul Davis and T.J. Cummings, both of whom had been major contributors.

Wearing Celtics green on Friday may have gotten in the players’ heads, because Maine fell apart in the third quarter. A nearly-even halftime game turned into a double-digit deficit for the home team. Maine mounted a comeback in the fourth – helped along by Almond’s 33 points, Mo Ager‘s 22 points, and Russell Robinson‘s 23 – but it wasn’t enough. As have the Celtics so often this season, they had dug themselves in far too deep a hole by the time they mounted their furious rally, and they could not overcome it in the fourth quarter.

Just when things started to again get close, and it looked like Maine might pull out a somewhat-miraculous comeback, they reverted to the poor decision-making that had got them behind in the first place. This included what was, at times, remarkably bad shot selection. The Red Claws were 28% from downtown all night, and they shot just 24-38 from the foul line.

Kurt Looby, starting in place of Paul Davis, put in an impressive effort on Saturday. Although he only had 6 points, he had a double-double with 10 blocked shots and 11 rebounds on his way to breaking the D-League record for blocked shots in a season. This kind of defensive effort is always impressive, but doubly so in the offensive-minded D-League.

All in all, the Red Claws had a remarkable season, especially for an expansion franchise. They firmly planted themselves in the hearts and minds of Mainers on the way to becoming the first D-League team to sell out every home game. Bill Ryan, Jon Jennings, and Austin Ainge deserve praise for their efforts in their inaugural campaign. Ryan and Jennings did very well with the business side of things, from ticket sales to customer service to marketing, and Ainge acquitted himself well in his first season as coach.

Despite the disappointing finish, all three of them – and everyone else on the staff – should be proud of an enormously successful first season. To paraphrase Hoosiers, regardless of the standings at the end of the season, in my book the Red Claws are winners.

                          

The Maine Red Claws fell to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants 105-92 while in their Celtics uniforms, but are still chasing that elusive final playoff spot.
The Maine Red Claws played a disappointing game in the Expo last night, again struggling against the mediocre Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Maine finished the year 2-5 against the Mad Ants, who have nearly the opposite record as the Red Claws. Struggling against mediocre teams has been a problem for Maine all season (remember Springfield), as has an inability to step it up during big games. Friday night was no exception.

The Claws weren’t helped by T.J. Cummings and Paul Davis both being in street clothes. Since coming to Maine, Cummings and Davis have become key parts of the team.  Without them, they were overly-dependent on Russell Robinson, Mo Ager, and Morris Almond, all of whom played more than forty minutes last night – a rarity for the Red Claws. They acquitted themselves well, especially Robinson, who finished the night with 27 points and carried the team on his back in the first half, when he was the only Red Claw in double digits.

They could not overcome the outstanding efforts of Oliver Lafayette, who again did well against Red Claws, with a 32-point double-double. Most of his points came in the second half, when the home team looked tired. This led to some especially sloppy defense, when at times it looked like the Mad Ants were running the floor at will. Four Mad Ants reached double digits, and the others were all in the neighborhood. Although absences clearly hurt the Red Claws, Maine’s earlier struggles against Fort Wayne suggest this would have been a struggle regardless.

There were certainly moments of brilliance from the home team last night. Some inspired play kept the Red Claws in the running all night, but whenever things got close, the Mad Ants would go on another run and build up the lead again. Frustration at the inconsistent play was felt throughout the building; hopefully they will use it as a motivator in their match-up against Erie tonight – another mediocre team, but one they’ve fared better against this season. We’ll see if they can continue that success. Hopefully on Fan Appreciation Night they give the fans something to appreciate.

Maine is still in the playoff hunt despite the loss, although now it has definitely come down to the actions of others. Even with a loss tonight, Maine could still make the playoffs, but they’d need Reno to lose their last two games. With a win tonight, Maine needs a loss from either Reno or Utah. If Maine does become the first expansion team since 2006 to make the D-League playoffs, it will be very interesting to see if they can manage to step it up and make a run.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Russell Robinson

NOTES: Danny Ainge was in the building yesterday…Tommy Heinsohn is attending the game tonight…the Red Claws are the first team in D-League history to sell out every home game.

                          

Maine Red Claws (27-21) vs. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (21-28) 7:30 PM Friday, April 2, at the Portland Expo
Maine Red Claws (27-21) vs. Erie BayHawks (19-29) 7:30 PM Saturday, April 3, at the Portland Expo

By dropping four straight on a road trip, the Maine Red Claws have backed themselves into a corner.

After being one of the top teams in the league for most of the season, they’ve struggled of late, and their “magic number” has been stuck at two. Any combination of Red Claws wins and losses from the Reno BigHorns equaling that number will clinch a playoff spot for the Red Claws. They’re bringing in a bit of Team Green magic this weekend to help – tonight is Celtics Affiliate Night, so they’ll be wearing Celts uniforms, and Saturday is Fan Appreciation Day, with Tommy Heinsohn making the trek to Maine for the game.

Although the Red Claws are somewhat fortunate in that they are playing two mediocre teams with losing records this weekend, they have struggled against the Mad Ants this year, going 2-4 against the Pacers affiliate.  The last loss was 94-108 in Indiana just two weeks ago, but Maine has also destroyed the Mad Ants in both the Expo and Indiana. Morris Almond had 25 points in that loss while Paul Davis added 20, but the real problems were in the defense. Maine was unable to contain Oliver Lafayette, who went on a tear with 34 points. Moreover, the Claws bench had an off night, providing little assistance to the starters. Fortunately, while Maine hasn’t played since Saturday, the Mad Ants just played in Springfield last night, destroying the Armor.

The results have been better against the BayHawks. Maine is 7-0 against the BayHawks this season, though two of those games – one at the Expo and one in the Keystone State – were close games. The big threat from Erie is guard Mike Gansey, who’s knocked in 20 against the Claws before. Cedric Jackson, who’s been averaging 16 points per game and has stepped it up this month, would be a concern, but he just earned a ten-day contract with the Washington Wizards. Apparently they needed another shooter (sorry, couldn’t resist).

The Red Claws, of course, can’t count on what anyone else does, so they need to win both of these games. Hopefully the superb home atmosphere of the Expo will help them in the playoff push. Regardless, Bill Ryan, Jon Jennings, and Austin Ainge should be proud of their accomplishments this season, as they’ve set a new standard for the D-League with their efforts in their inaugural season.

                          

Mo Almond, back in his Utah Jazz days. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Celtics need an influx of young talent.  Watching the creaky bodies Doc Rivers sends on the floor each night, it is clear the C’s will need new, younger players with whom to move into the future.

One route the Celtics haven’t yet chosen to go, when picking up players, is signing a D-Leaguer.  The C’s have assigned their own players to the D-League, but when it comes to signing their own free agents they prefer old, past-their-primers recently bought out of a contract another team no longer desired.

The D-League Digest’s Steve Weinman, who you may know from his fantastic work on CelticsBlog, wrote two callups he’d make if he were Danny Ainge.  One of them, I didn’t agree with: Greg Stiesma.  Stiesma is the big, white goon who played collegiately for Wisconsin and looks like he should be out bailing hay rather than down low swatting shots.  He’s simply too limited for me to see him ever playing minutes in Boston.

But Weinman’s other choice, I would like.  It was the Maine Red Claw most ready for a callup: Morris Almond, D-League scoring machine. I’ll let Weinman take it away:

Enter Almond. The man is a scorer, plain and simple. He can shoot the three (40.1 percent this season, 38.2 percent in 88 career D-League games), get to the rim off the dribble, pull-up in traffic, finish with contact and convert at the foul line (81.1 percent from the stripe this season, 81.9 percent for his D-League career). Almond scores in bunches (24.5 points per game this season) and can play the two and the three. While unspectacular in other aspects of the game, he won’t be a fatal liability either. For a team that ranks 17th in offensive efficiency and second at the defensive end, an added scoring option for the second unit could hardly hurt at this point.

It doesn’t hurt that Almond has spent the last month and a half playing for Austin Ainge (recognize the last name?) for the Celtics’ affiliate in Maine. He managed to get his points rather efficiently while leading the league in scoring for a struggling Springfield team, but playing for the stronger Red Claws has really showcased how sharp Almond can be: Though he plays six fewer minutes and scores five fewer points per game in Maine than he did in Springfield, Almond’s effective field-goal percentage has jumped from 53.9 with the Armor to 59.3 percent with the Claws. When the Celtics’ bench is struggling to generate offense, it might help to have a guy like Almond to toss out on the floor for couple-minute bursts at a time.

Almond can score, in bunches, and do it efficiently. He’s fairly athletic, can shoot from outside, and excels in transition. Plus, he’s not on the wrong side of 30. On the Celtics, that can’t hurt.

He’d be cheap, and he’s talented, so why not? Oh, you mean Doc Rivers never plays youngsters, regardless how talented they may be?

Sorry, I’d almost forgotten.

                          

Ever wondered about the D-League’s quality of play?  You know the players are good — they ARE professional basketball players, after all — but how good, exactly?

Good enough to play in the NBA.  A lot of them, at least, according to Maine Red Claws coach Austin Ainge, son of Danny. (Paul Flannery, WEEI)

This becomes very important when you consider the second thing to understand about the D-League: Every player in the league feels like they can play in the NBA, if only they got the right opportunity.

“It’s a very honest statement,” said 34-year-old veteran Billy Thomas, who has had four stints in the NBA during his career. “You have to be lucky in this game. That boils down to a lot of factors.”

The most common refrain you will hear around the D-League is that there is little difference between the top players in the D and the end-of-the-bench players in the NBA.

“There’s no difference,” said first-year Red Claws coach Austin Ainge, the son of the Celtics president and general manager. “You can see it by the guys that get sent down. Some of the guys that get sent down here aren’t very good players in this league. Other guys are really good. That doesn’t mean there’s a lot of rotation players in the D-League. The difference between the top eight and the 13th man can be pretty significant.”

Ainge later said one of the biggest hurdles for D-Leaguers to overcome is a belief that NBA call-ups are determined solely by statistics.

“The hardest thing to get them to understand is that the people who evaluate them are coaches and basketball people,” Ainge said. “They are going to look at more than the box score. You have to play to win. Othyus Jeffers didn’t have the best stats. He got called up by the Jazz. Play to win. That’s the message. At every level, people think you just look at the box score, but that’s not how it is. Garrett Temple has been signed by two different teams. He averaged nine points a game in college and 13 points a game in the D-League. It’s not just points.”

In the second part of Flannery’s soon-to-be four-part series, he discusses the Maine Red Claws organization.  One of the best-run organizations in professional basketball, the Red Claws manage to maintain sell-out crowds in a league where sellouts are few and far between

“It’s been a fever pitch, man,” said veteran swingman Billy Thomas. “From the beginning, the fans have been amped about it. There’s been a buzz around the city. It’s been that way every home game. They really have a passion for the Red Claws and what we’ve been able to accomplish. It’s a nice fit for our league to have a 3,000-seat building.” [...]

“By far this has been the best D-League situation I’ve ever been in, as far as the fans, the organization, the coaches,” [Maurice] Ager said. “It’s exciting to go to the games and know we’ve got a sold-out house.”

Be it ever so humble, the Expo has become home.

“It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, and quite frankly, we don’t care,” Jennings said. “What we care about is that it is by far the best home environment in the D-League. We have a raucous crowd.”

If you care anything at all about the D-League, check out Flannery’s series.

                          

Marcus Landry is best-known among Celtics fans as “the throw-in to the Nate Robinson trade.”  As the throw-ins to the Knicks from the same trade (Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens) have been tossed into action and actually made an impact in the NBA, Landry was assigned to the D-League’s Maine Red Claws.

While his first few games with Maine displayed nothing special (Landry didn’t even reach double figures in any of his first four games), Landry has started to show signs of being an NBA talent.  He has now scored in double figures in each of his last three games, including a 34-point breakout performance (featuring 8-10 shooting behind the arc) in yesterday’s win over the Springfield Armor.

Gino’s Jungle was in Maine to cover the game, and had a few good quotes about Landry.

Red Claws coach Austin Ainge said the following about Landry’s performance following the game, “Marcus was huge. We were sluggish, lethargic, (and played) horrible defense in the first half, all those things. He carried us, kept us in, and made a lot of big plays.”

Ainge later commented on Landry’s style of play, “He’s a very good three point shooter. That’s one of his best attributes, but he plays at a good pace so you don’t always see his athleticism until you see him go dunk on somebody. My favorite aspect of Marcus is his passing. He is one of the best passers we have and that makes him hard to guard.”

With all of this being said, Landry would be the last person to brag about his performance in today’s game. He commented on his performance after the game by stating, “Today’s a good day. Anytime you can get a win, and anytime you can see your work paying off, it’s a good day.”

Landry won’t make anyone forget Bill Walker yet, but he is at least flashing some talent while in Maine.  Of course, for an NBA player playing in the D-League, perhaps scoring explosions like Landry’s yesterday should be expected, rather than coming as a surprise.  Landry is still averaging only 11.9 points in the D-League, well below what you’d hope to see from an NBA assignee.

                          

Despite trailing early, the Maine Red Claws came back against Springfield, defeating the Armor 118-107 and extending the Armor’s road losing streak to 0-and-forever.

Things did not start off well for the Red Claws, who came out behind early and often as this game got going. At first, it seemed as though everything that could go wrong was, as the Claws struggled to even stay within sight of the Armor initially. Somehow, though, Maine managed to keep it relatively close, mainly behind the shooting of Marcus Landry, who knocked in 14 points in the first half alone. Tonight was Landry’s night, as he wouldn’t let up in the second half, either. However, Maine still limped along to a 58-52 deficit at halftime, trailing the worst team in the D-League.

However, that wouldn’t last for long. Coming out of the gate behind a rejuvenated Paul Davis, the Red Claws roared back into the game, turning a six-point deficit into a three-point advantage. Davis only had five points in the first half, but finished with 19, with 10 of those coming in the third quarter. He was certainly one of the leaders fighting to keep the Red Claws in this game, taking control of the game in the third quarter.

While it may have been Davis who got them a narrow lead, it would be Landry who put the Armor away in the fourth. Despite a weak third, where he scored just 3 points, Landry bounced back in the final stretches, finishing the day with an astounding 34 points. He was running all over the Armor in the fourth quarter, doing his best to single-handedly turn a hard-fought battle into a rout. Although he couldn’t quite put away the Armor by himself, Landry tonight showed why he was in the NBA with an epic performance.

Landry, even with his brilliance, couldn’t do it alone, of course. After starting slow, Davis finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds, while Morris Almond added in another sixteen. Even during Landry’s dominance, every starter save one had double-digit points, putting in a solid effort to support the day’s star. With this effort, Landry may have broken in to the starting rotation; we shall see. He played more time than one starter today already. Not only did he lead the team in points, but it seemed as though everyone was better when he was on the floor, just as with Davis’s brilliant game last Wednesday. Good players not only get the stats, they inspire others.

At any rate, it’s very good for the Red Claws to have inspiring performance from a variety of players in the same week. While it would be nice to see some others step up as well, this team looks well-positioned heading into a difficult home stretch.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Marcus Landry

NEXT THREE: Monday, March 22, 8:00PM @ Dakota Wizards….Wednesday, March 24, 8:00PM @ Sioux Falls SkyForce…Friday, March 26, 10:00PM @ Reno Bighorns.