Every Celtic fan I know had (at least) a little man crush on Bill Walker when he played for the C’s. Every Celtic fan I know also had beef with Doc Rivers for never giving Walker his shot.

Not that we ever had any real evidence for our opinion. Almost a year after Walker was traded away in the Eddie House-Nate Robinson swap, Walker still hasn’t accomplished anything substantial in his career. His numbers so far this year (4.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, 15.6 minutes) do nothing to support the notion that Rivers should have played Walker at all. But then Walker goes and does something like this, and we remember when we salivated in unison and chanted for him to enter the game.

With hops like that, we Celtics fans wondered, why couldn’t Walker have filled in for Paul Pierce or Ray Allen when the C’s starting wings were both playing 55 minutes per game? (Wait, they can’t play that many minutes — there’s only 42 minutes in a game. Right, Zach Randolph?) Why didn’t Walker deserve at least a few shifts here and there? We clamored for Doc to play Walker every day. Never mind the fact that he wasn’t ready, that he was raw. He could dunk!

Even now, many months since Walker has been my worry, I still complain that Doc Rivers never played the youngin’. But I wrote this post to tell Doc one thing: you were right, we were wrong. Walker wasn’t ready to contribute, back when Doc kept him stapled to the bench. Even with dunks like these, dunks that cause a Twitter earthquake, he still isn’t. If we weren’t so blinded by his superhuman springs, we would have realized that too.

On second thought, Doc, maybe he should have played a few minutes here and there? That’s the way to develop, no?

Oh man. Even now, I remain confused and angered and bedazzled by Bill Walker. Maybe I should just let his memory go and simply enjoy his dunks from now on.

P.S. – Happy 26th birthday, Perk. I don’t believe there’s a much better present than seeing your arch-nemesis get crammed on.

After the jump, Paul Millsap picks the world up and drops it on its head. Read more »

Should the Miami Heat tank tonight’s game against the New Jersey Nets in order to escape playing the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs? The Miami Sun-Sentinel’s Ira Winderman seems to think so.

Should the Heat defeat the visiting Nets on Wednesday night, then the Heat would lock itself into a No. 5-vs.-No. 4 series against the Celtics. However, should the Heat lose to New Jersey, then Boston would be in position to determine its first-round opponent. Should the Heat lose to the Nets, then Boston with a home victory over Milwaukee would find itself in that No. 4-vs.-No. 5 matchup against the Heat. However, with a Heat loss, Boston could leave Milwaukee as its first-round opponent should it lose (tank?) to the Bucks. Common sense says the Heat and Celtics will not play many of their regulars Wednesday. But falling to No. 6, the Heat would not only position itself to possibly meet Atlanta in the opening round, having won that season series 3-1, but also would not be in the Cavaliers’ bracket in the second round. By making Milwaukee its first-round opponent, Boston would avoid Dwyane Wade in that first round and instead get a Bucks team lacking sidelined center Andrew Bogut. It would make little sense for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra not to sit Wade, Jermaine O’Neal and Udonis Haslem, all of whom have been banged up recently.

It seems weird, a team wanting to play the Hawks, but the Heat have had Atlanta’s number this season and pushed them to the brink in last season’s first round. Plus, there’s the whole rest thing, but just don’t tell Tim Povtak Dwyane Wade might get rest. He might go Tonya Harding on Wade’s leg.

(Rant time: For those of you who don’t know, Povtak wrote that Lebron James lost Povtak’s MVP vote by sitting out the Orlando Magic game, that sitting out is the reason Lebron will never get the respect granted Michael Jordan, and that Lebron sitting out for rest was “arrogance at the NBA’s worst.” Really, Tim, sitting out a basketball game to rest for the playoffs — when your team already has the number one seed in hand — is “arrogance at the NBA’s worst?” There’s nothing more arrogant than getting some rest, eh Tim? Shut the f*ck up and get off your high horse. Sure, it would have been nice for the fans if Lebron had played, but people who bought a ticket for one of the final games knew it would be likely Lebron would sit out. I’d hate to hear what Povtak thought about Peyton Manning. Manning probably won’t get his Hall of Fame vote. Which brings me back to the point I wanted to make about Povtak: If he really does have an MVP vote, can we take it away? Like, now?)

Anyway, back to the Celtics, they should be able to beat either Miami or Milwaukee, so none of this should really matter to them.

As the playoffs draw near, it’s now more likely than ever that the Celtics play the Miami Heat in the first round. Here’s how Celtics Hub’s Zach Lowe put it:

Let’s review: The Bucks and Heat are tied at 45-35, but Milwaukee owns the tie-breaker. Still, the Heat have the inside track for the 5th seed because of their schedule. Their two remaining games are at Philly and a home finale against the Nets. The Heat should win out and finish 47-35.

The Bucks, meanwhile, host Atlanta tonight and finish up at Boston on Wednesday. That’s a much tougher schedule, and the Hawks, if they care about the 3rd seed, will play to win tonight against the Bucks.

And if Atlanta does win at Milwaukee? The Bucks will likely finish 6th and face Atlanta in the first round.

Lowe prefers the Bucks, mostly because they are a different team without injured center Andrew Bogut (is injured even the right word for the decimation that happened to his arm?). Their offensive rebounding has gone down, way down, their defense isn’t as staunch, and their offense has become a perimeter-fest.

John from Red’s Army prefers to play the Bucks, too:

The Heat don’t scare me… but it’ll be a tougher series than the Bucks will be. And any time Dwyane Wade is in the mix, then you’ve got a fight on your hands.

Me? Call me crazy, but I want the Bucks. Neither team scares me, and I don’t think even Dwyane Wade is enough to beat the Celtics. A couple games, sure. But not a whole series. Because of Wade, it’s easier to say you want Milwaukee: they’ve got no stars, an injured best player, and start Kurt Thomas. And they don’t have Wade.

But a series against Milwaukee would be so physically demanding. I fully expect the Celtics would beat either Miami or Milwaukee, but the Bucks would take more out of them. The Bucks get after you. When you play them, there are no easy layups, no open jumpers. They throw elbows. They push you to the floor. They’ll throw their hips into you on a screen, toss their shoulder into you on a drive to the bucket. I’m not insulting them at all: In my eyes, that toughness is a great quality to have. That toughness would leave the Celtics wiped out, even if the series only went five games.

That toughness is also why I want Miami, and not Milwaukee, in the first round. Give me the softer team any day of the week. Just make sure you double-team the hell out of Wade. That man is a killer.

And, if Boston loses to either of them in the first round, don’t forget to blame my overconfidence.

Quickness, quickness, and more quickness at the point guard position tonight.

Just a brief preview today, guys. Sorry there won’t be an extensive column.

The Celtics and Bucks meet tonight, in what will likely be a preview of a first-round playoff matchup. With three games to play, the Celtics are in the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed, one game back of Atlanta for third place (the Celtics hold the tie-breaker). The Bucks are in fifth, one game ahead of Miami (the Bucks hold the tie-breaker). If things stay the same, Boston will play Milwaukee in the first round.

Here are a few bullet points about tonight’s game and the potential playoff matchup:

1. When Andrew Bogut went down with a freak injury, it was assumed his loss would end Milwaukee’s run as a “team nobody wants to play in the playoffs.”  Instead, the Bucks have rattled off four straight wins, including the game in which Bogut got injured. 
2. On his reaction to Bogut’s injury, Tony Allen said, “I said, ‘God bless him. Please Lord, bless him.’ I wouldn’t want that for nobody. Me being a person that’s torn my ACL, I just wouldn’t wish that upon nobody.”
3. Kurt Thomas has started in Bogut’s absence.  In Milwaukee’s last game, he played 37 minutes but registered only 2 points and 8 rebounds.  Not exactly the 25 and 15.5 Bogut averaged against Boston this season, but Thomas is a solid pro who plays good defense.
4. For all those Celtic fans upset at Kevin Garnett for his comments about the boos (“The don’t come to the f**king games” being one of them), know he did it in part because he was upset about another heart-wrenching loss and his own worst performance in weeks.  Flip Saunders tried to explain some of Garnett’s competitiveness: “It’s like pulling teeth trying to get him off the floor,” Saunders said. It’s like pulling teeth trying to pull him off the practice court. Everyone talks about the amount of minutes that you play on the court but as hard as he played in games, he played that hard in practice. He probably wish he would have given up when I told him to sit down and he wouldn’t sit, he probably wishes he would have sat now in the latter part of his career. But that’s just kind of who he is. He loves to play the game, he loves to compete. Sometimes he’s right on that border as far as how much he talks to opponents and everything else, but he’s an unbelievable competitor.”

The Eastern Conference playoff field has experienced a number of ill-timed injuries lately, a couple of which could benefit the Celtics greatly. (Boston Globe)

The Milwaukee Bucks took a blow to their potential playoff run when Andrew Bogut dislocated his arm, sprained his wrist and broke his right hand in a nasty fall against the Suns. The Hawks are uncertain about their leading scorer Joe Johnson, who sprained his thumb and is listed as day to day. Toronto just watched an stray elbow down their most important piece Chris Bosh as they try to fight off the Chicago Bulls for the last playoff spot in the East.

Bosh was found to have fractures on the right side of his nose and face, so he will miss tonight’s game against the Celtics.  But it is the injuries to Joe Johnson and Andrew Bogut that could really help the C’s.  They are attempting to pass Atlanta for the Eastern Conference’s third seed (they are one game back), while Milwaukee looms as a potential first-round playoff foe.

It’s not a nice thing to be happy about someone’s injury, but I’m not too worked up about all the injuries decimating potential playoff foes.  In addition to the Johnson and Bogut injuries, Cleveland is still missing Shaquille O’Neal and just got Anderson Varejao off the injured list.  The Celtics, as badly as they looked last night in New York, are as healthy as they have been all year and looking to capitalize on their bill of good health.  For the first time in the past couple years, the injury see-saw is leaning Boston’s way.

Please join me in a very large knock on wood.

Bogut's injury was more disgusting than Andris Biedrin's jumper. (Credit Image: © Wendy/Color China Photos/ZUMA Press)

I just watched Andrew Bogut’s injury for the first time, and I don’t know whether to gasp, cry, puke, or rejoice. 

Why rejoice?  Because the Celtics could very well play Bogut’s Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, and the Bucks just got a whole lot less formidable.

ESPN reports that Bogut will likely be out for the remainder of the season.

Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut’s season is likely over.

Bogut suffered a dislocated right elbow, sprained wrist and broken right hand after an awkward fall in a victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, the team announced late Saturday.

“Andrew was examined at the Bradley Center by team orthopaedic physician Dr. Michael Gordon and then taken to Aurora Sinai Medical Center by ambulance for more tests,” Bucks GM John Hammond said in a statement.

“Further testing and imaging at Aurora Sinai showed that Andrew sustained a dislocated right elbow, a sprained right wrist and a broken right hand. He was released from the hospital and no timetable has been determined for his return.”

After watching the video of his fall, my inner doctor (aka blatant common sense) tells me Bogut won’t be returning to basketball any time soon. If you are in any way squeamish, normal, or pregnant, I’d recommend you don’t watch the video. It is disgustingly gross.

Since my diagnosis is that Bogut will miss the rest of the season, the Bucks now go from a team to fear in the postseason to a team you desperately want to play. With the Celtics and Hawks jostling for the third seed, and the Heat and Bucks battling for the fifth seed, the Celtics will almost positively play either Miami or Milwaukee in the first round. Now, let’s hope it’s Milwaukee.

Bogut’s loss will be entirely detrimental to a Milwaukee team that had harbored hopes of advancing in the playoffs. Without Bogut, and with an already-thin frontcourt, the Bucks will be forced to rely on a cast of fill-ins to fill Bogut’s shoes.  Knowing Bogut won’t play, I betcha Kendrick Perkins will be able to get some more sleep before the potential Milwaukee series.  Perk always gets murdered by Bogut, but backup Kurt Thomas doesn’t exactly have the same effect. 

It’s sad, but these are the things I think about when an opponent goes down with a horrific injury: How will it affect the Boston Celtics?