Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“I didn’t see it, but that’s his opinion, you gotta respect it,” Horford said on Monday after Hawks practice when told of what Heinsohn said. “I do [respect his opinion]. That’s his opinion and that’s how he feels.”
“The fact that [the Celtics] turned it around shows what kind of heart this basketball team has,” Heinsohn said of Boston erasing a 19-point first-half deficit, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “… The additional encouraging part is if they can go out and stay aggressive at both ends of the floor, they can beat this team because Horford, as much as you think he’s a great player, he’s not a great player. Get a man on him and he has trouble scoring.”
Horford, a four-time All-Star center, had 24 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks against the Celtics in Game 1.
“Oh, wow, I’m sure Al is going to come out and prove something,” teammate Kent Bazemore said when told what Heinsohn believes. “You know Al’s a great player and he’s extended his range. He can shoot it now, he can protect the rim and blocks shots and he’s a great leader. I could go on all day about all the accolades he has. Al’s a great teammate.
“There’s always someone that’s going to say a guy’s not a good player. [Even] Jesus Christ had haters. What can you say?”
Tommy’s wrong on this one. Al Horford is a great player (a player we’d love to have in green next season but I digress). Where I think Tommy was going with his comment is that Horford isn’t an unstoppable force like Steph, LeBron, Westbrook, etc. If you focus your defense on Horford, he can be limited.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get to Isaiah Thomas’ subtle diss on Kent Bazemore.
Isaiah Thomas on Kent Bazemore: “Guys like that, we gotta try to limit them. We can’t have guys like that having big games.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 18, 2016
More IT: “That hurts us if we have guys like Teague and those guys going off and then a guy like Bazemore going off as well”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 18, 2016
Bazemore torched the Cs for 23 points in Game 1. That’s double his season average. Isaiah is right. You can’t let a team’s 3rd leading scorer double his production. That applies to any player on any team.
I think comments like this carry some weight. They might have fired up the Hawks a bit before practice yesterday, resulting in a more focused session. And come game time, Bazemore might yap a bit in Isaiah’s direction. Aside from that, I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to impact the series.
On Page 2, the battle of the curses: black trim vs Bieber
Call it the Curse of the Black Trim. During the 2005-06 season, the Celtics introduced an alternate road jersey that featured the typical green jersey with black trim and black numbers with “Boston” emblazoned on the front. The team has worn them eight times in the playoffs since their introduction and have lost every time, including Saturday’s Game 1 against the Hawks.
Informed of Boston’s struggles with those jerseys, Thomas said he already had green-lighted a swap to the traditional green jerseys with white trim that features “Celtics” on the front. The Celtics brought both shirts to Atlanta for the start of the series.
#TrueBelieber@justinbieber‘s jersey c̷ame just in time for the Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/nm3tI17YFF
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 18, 2016
Now, many Hawks fans were dismayed, because of the so-called Bieber curse,which has caused some teams to experience bad luck when the Grammy winner has been in attendance or visited a team for a game. But things might be turning around for the former NBA All-Star Celebrity Game MVP. NBA teams are 6-4 in their first home game following a stop on Bieber’s current “Purpose World Tour” — and that includes the Hawks, who won Game 1 after Bieber took over Philips Arena on April 12 and 13.
While it still bothers me the tradition rich Celtics have alternate jerseys, I like the black trim uniforms 1000x more than our grey sleeved monstrosities.
But, and I’m no mathematician, an 0-8 playoff record should not be ignored.
As for the Hawks dismissing the mighty Bieber curse, they’ll be sorry.
The rest of the links
Herald – Expect Isaiah to take best shot in Gm 2 | CSNNE – Going big, might be answer for Cs | Globe – Hunter prepared to play a role | Cs need more from complimentary players | Mass Live – Turner discusses impending free agency
