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The Lazy Award Originally called the Do Nothing With No Ramifications or Criticism Award but that is just way too long. Danny Ainge is your winner. After his busy draft night (which involved dealing an overpaid center, a point guard who barely played and the number seven pick for another overpaid center, a scoring point guard who couldn’t score and a second rounder, as well as getting trading up to get Rajon Rondo) Danny didn’t do much to help the team. With all the injuries there wasn’t much he could do, but the team he built had possibly one of the worst seasons in Celtic history. Anytime the word “Tank” comes up, it’s a bad year. Danny decided not to trade for Allen Iverson, was quiet during the trade deadline, and his biggest move was calling up Kevinn Pinkney for 6 games. His science project failed in everyway possible. His paper Mache volcano never erupted, and neither did a lot of the fans. I have a feeling one more year like this, and Danny won’t be around to win any more Matty G’s. But at least he has this one for his shelf. |
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So the Red Sox are playing well and the Patriots seem to be making every great move they can. It’s the perfect remedy for Celtics fans to forget about last season. Until now… It’s the first ever Matty G’s, an award show that doesn’t discriminate between the greatness and the suckness of the passed Celtics season. Since these were the first ever Matty G’s, it was held in an alley by the Garden and no one showed up (which was good because we never made any of the awards). Plus Tommy Heinsohn backed out from emceeing after he found out what it was. So without further adieu… |
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Team MVP The first ever Matty G goes to Al Jefferson. Big Al finally stayed healthy and broke through, averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds for the season. He had plenty of monster games including a 31 point, 16 rebound performance against the Sonics. The only guy that was completely consistent through the year, he dropped in 38 double doubles. It’s tough giving out an MVP because the team played so poorly this season, but with Al in the lineup the team had a shot. He matched up with Tim Duncan well in a 95-91 St. Patrick’s Day win in San Antonio. Big Al has finally arrived and could be the big guy that determines the future. |
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Least Valuable Player On a team that only won 24, it should be easy picking out the guy that was least valuable. It was easy, but only because he was completely terrible. I’m talking about Sebastian Telfair. He played 78 games this year averaging 20.3 minutes per game, but did anyone notice him out there (Other than the terrible bricks and turnovers that is)? He had career lows in shooting percentage (37%), points per game (6.1) and assists (2.8). For a guy that was supposed to start at point guard, those are pretty bad. He never did anything to help this team win and it’s a good thing his days in Boston are over. |
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Best Moment This is like when some random guy runs for some random town position unopposed, there really is only one choice. The one shining moment of hope and happiness came on February 17 in Las Vegas (where else?). That night, Gerald Green opened the eyes of Celtic and NBA fans alike with four amazing dunks en route to becoming the Dunk Champion of 2007. But the moment I’m talking about is when he ripped off his #5 to sport a Dee Brown Jersey, pumped up his kicks, and then did a (semi) no-look dunk over Nate Robinson. On paper the contest still continued, but it was over right then and there. Gerald had an up and down season, but for one night he was the talk of sports. Not to mention, the Celtics won something that night. |
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Worst Moment This was easier than I thought because it can all be summed up in one word: Tank. The Celtics had an 18 point lead in the 3rd quarter, but lost 92-84 to the Bobcats. In the 4th, Al Jefferson and Paul Pierce sat on the bench, both with “injuries” while names like Allen Ray and Sebastian Telfair were on the floor while the lead slipped away. To be fair, guys like Gerald Green, Rajon Rondo and Ryan Gomes were also out there. But Gomes was just coming back from sprained foot, and it was pretty obvious the Celtics were going to lose if the big names didn’t get back in. That didn’t matter, because Doc Rivers didn’t budge until it was too late. It was a terrible display of basketball, and an obvious tank job. But I said it before and I’ll say it again: We were asking for it. Not everyone, but most. And once I realized how bad it was, I never wanted to see it again. (Doc Rivers would have accepted this one) |
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Bonehead Award Had the Matty G’s been held April 19th; Tony Allen would have won for his after the whistle dunk that blew out his knee. Instead, it goes to the LVP Sebastian Telfair (winning twice is unusual for him) for his arrest in New York. In a car (that was his girlfriends), Bassy and a friend were going 77 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. In the car, was a gun (also his girlfriends). To cap it all off, all Telfair had was an expired Florida license. In New York? Does any of this make sense? One would think Telfair would have grown up a little after his first gun charge in 2006 (that gun also belonged to his girlfriend) but I guess he is just a lost cause. Some good does come out of this, as Telfair won’t play another game in green. And now for something I’ve been waiting to say: For someone with two gun charges he sure can’t shoot (BAAAAZINGGGGGGGGGG). |
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Quiet Contributor This goes to the guy that always seems to do what’s best for the team. He’s the one that always shows up ready to play and hustle, but doesn’t put up the huge numbers like the big names. This guy is Ryan Gomes. The funny thing about Gomes is he really doesn’t have a position. At 6-7, he is a small power forward but can also be a powerful small forward. He really took his game to another level this year by inducting a three point shot (38% isn’t bad for his first year trying it), something he had when playing at Providence. The bottom line is I love Gomes, and love the heart he puts into every game. He doesn’t always fill up the stat sheets (he did average 12.1 points and 5.6 rebounds a game) but he does the intangibles like hustle, set screens and passes the ball. These are the reasons he has a bobble head and is taking home a nice little statue… (Oh right, this didn’t actually happen)… Moving along… |
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Gomes 2007 Speaking of Ryan Gomes, does everyone remember when it took Doc Rivers until January of his rookie season to actually play him in meaningful minutes, and then he started to play extremely well. Unfortunately that didn’t happen again this year with another rookie. But Leon Powe always seemed to play hard in the minutes he played, whether fighting for an offensive board, making a tip in surrounded by guys 4 inches taller than he is (Powe stands at 6-8), or muscling it out on defense. Much like Gomes of 05-06, there was little to no expectations for the undersized power forward. But Leon proved he earned those 11 minutes he averaged. Let’s just hope he somehow gets some more next season. |
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Best Teammate What is a teammate? It’s not just someone you play the game with. It’s someone who always has your back, on and off the court. Someone who will make you laugh when you are sad, bring you down to earth when you get cocky, and tell you when the chick in the front row is really a guy. Did Brian Scalabrine do any of these things? I’m not sure. But I do know he drove Tony Allen to the hospital after he blew out his knee, with a bad knee of his own. The Boston Globe had the best recollection of it: "His mom was concerned about my driving," said Scalabrine. "She was asking for the ambulance. Tony was like, 'No, man, this is better than the ambulance.' It's Scal.” Now let’s not forget that Scal also plays the intangibles of the game. He won’t light up the scoreboard but he helps the team (he sets great picks among other things). They didn’t do much winning last year, so it’s hard to say he helps them win. But for his impression of an ambulance, he gets the Matty G. |
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Best Quote “I was not throwing the game, or anything like that….” -Doc Rivers, March 21, 2007 What sealed this as the best quote (the one above was a close second) was that fact that those were the first words out of Doc’s mouth after the Tank Game BEFORE anyone asked him a question. Come on Doc, you’re better than that. Of course you threw the game. I won’t go over the details again because it hurts to talk about it, but can I get a raise of hands of those who thought it was a tank job? Oh right, no one showed up… |
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Best Opposing Performance Even the people that hate Kobe Bryant have to admit what he did to the Celtics January 31st was the best performance the Garden saw this season. He took the game over and got MVP chants from fans that normally bring back his little mishap in Denver (we all know how Boston loves insulting T-Shirts). Kobe nearly had a triple double with eight rebounds and assists to go with an amazing 43 points. It was really just another day at the office for #24. He had an awesome dunk in the final two minutes and drained a 30 footer to end the third. Both were amazing shots, but the long three stood out the most. I had a perfect angle from where I was sitting, and saw how deep the shot actually was. It was like watching poetry on the court. It’s a shame everyone hates him now. |
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Best Shot As much as I loved Kobe’s 30 footer, Lebron’s 80-footer destroyed it. It was just like his commercial a few years ago. It was tough to give this award to a non-Celtic, but a shot like this doesn’t happen often. This is one of the shots that leaves you smiling and shaking your head. And lets not forget it gave the Cavs an 82-76 lead at the end of the third. They won the game 107-104. |
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Best Win Streak OK this really doesn’t make all that much sense because it isn’t really a streak, but then again the whole concept of these awards doesn’t make much sense either. The best win streak of the season was the single win the Celts mustarded on Valentines Day against the Bucks. The green won by 20, 117-97, but the great part about it was it broke that dreaded 18 game losing streak. Had the C’s not won, they would have ended up with a 23 game skid. That makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. So that one win, although it was the only one in the streak, was a biggie. Granted by this point of the season was in the gutter and many people were asking for loses, but losing 23 in a row is embarrassing. Luckily, Celtic Nation was spared the embarrassment. |
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Biggest Hospital Bill I think the Celtics as a team had the biggest hospital bill in the NBA. From Theo Ratliff playing in just two games (and getting $11 million for it) to Paul Pierce missing 35 games, the Celts ran up quiet the tab at Mass General. But with Wally Szczerbiak spraining his ankle nearly every other game he played, he had to have had the highest bill. He sprained ankles twice in December, and over the next few months missed 17 games because of it. Then when he came back, he tripped over Leon Powe’s foot, who was sitting on the bench. After playing in just two of the next four games, Wally World was shut down for repairs. Granted sprained ankles don’t cost that much, but think of all the ace bandages he used. |
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Survivor of the Year Some how through it all, the 18 game losing streak, the tank jobs, the poor rotations, Doc Rivers owned the floor for the Celtics. He managed to coach the team SO bad the team kept him because it wasn’t worth paying someone else to do it. The team even gave him a mulligan by giving him a one year extension for the same money. Who knows, if the team gets off to a terrible start, Doc could have a chance to win this award again! |
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So that concludes (the transcript of) this year’s award show. Had it been a real award show there would have been a tribute video to Red Auerbach between Best Teammate and Best Quote. Thank you everyone for your time and for Sebastian Telfair’s parole officer for letting him accept his awards. He was a real sport. Everyone drive safe and be sure to tip your waitress. |
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Get ready for the first ever “Matty G” awards for Outstanding Achievement In the Field of Excellence… or something like that. |
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Matt Geagan is a sports producer at WBZ-TV… which means he’s not just into basketball. You can catch MattyG’s thoughts on all things sports on his FoxSports.com blog. You can email him at MattyG@RedsArmy.com |