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Red was going to draft Ray at #6

Ray Allen returned to UConn last night, championship ring in tow. In this short clip, filmed by a student, he talks about how Red Auerbach was going to draft him with the 6th pick, and the anxiety of Draft Night back in 1996. Ray also spoke with the media about the lockout, working out at UConn and the possibilty of the Huskies leaving the Big East.

 

Looking Back with New Stats: 2008 Finals Game Four

Without basketball to watch, I must resort to old game tapes to get my NBA fix.  Like most addicts, I can’t stay away.  I decided to start this new segment with the 2008 NBA Finals, my first NBA Finals as a Celtics fan (I was 1 when the 1986 banner went up). I picked game four of this series because this was the turning point in the series. The Celtics were up 2-1 going into game four.  Los Angeles led for the majority of the game including a lead of 24 points in the third quarter.  If the Lakers win game four, we would be looking at a best of three, but instead Boston pulled off one of the best comebacks in Finals history, almost as good as their New Jersey come back.  Well this one meant more, so this was probably better.

I will be trying out a “new” box score.  I am currently reading The Book of Basketball by Boston’s own Bill Simmons (whether you love or hate him, he knows his stuff).  I got the idea to create a box score showing intangibles that don’t get measured in the original box score with the help of Simmons’ suggestions in the book.  Here's a break down:

Clutch - Shooting stats with 5 minutes left in each quarter with the score within 3 points. For this game, these stats weren’t accumulated until the 4^th quarter when the game became close.

Super Clutch – Shooting stats with 2 minutes left in each quarter with the score within 3 points. Again, this wasn’t collected until the 4^th quarter in this game.  

Nittys – Actual term is Nitty-Gritties, but for formatting purpose, I stuck to Nittys. These are hustle plays, or more famously for Celtic fans, Tommy Points, except you have to actually continue the play opposed to just hustling. A tipped rebound, saving a long rebound, saving the ball from going out of bounce, diving and getting the loose ball.

The Ceremony

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Anyone else break out in tears like the Truth? Wow....

This ceremony deserved to be on Comcast. The fans deserved to see the proper coverage. TNT did not show Paul Pierce addressing the home crowd. F-U David Stern and TNT.

More pictures after the jump...

  

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="409" caption="Courtesy: AP"][/caption]