The Boston Celtics pick up their first victory of the 2019-2020 NBA season, defeating the Toronto Raptors 112-106 in Boston. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum both lead the way for the Celtics scoring 25 a piece, while Kemba Walker scored 22 points in his first Boston home game. For the Raptors who suffered their first loss on the year was lead by Pascal Siakam who poured in 33 points on the night, while Kyle Lowry scored 29 points respectively.

My Thoughts

I had a feeling that the Celtics were going to win tonight, I just had that feeling inside of me the whole day thinking that the Celtics were going to bounce back tonight after a disappointing loss. Everyone came into this game wanting to prove a point. Jaylen Brown wanting prove to Celtics fans that he is worth the money after playing with foul trouble and scoring 8 points in the loss to the Sixers, Kemba who. shot poorly in his first game, wanting to prove to Celtics fans that he is the real deal, and the whole Celtics team wanting to pick up their first win to prove that they are a team to compete with in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics I thought played poorly on defense tonight, and they got a little bit lucky pulling out this win tonight. The 4th quarter was huge for them, the intensity went up, the crowd was getting loud, and it was just enough to get by the defending NBA champions the Toronto Raptors. I will admit though, the Raptors are still going to be a really good team this season without Kawhi Leonard. Pascal Siakam I think will be an All-Star this year, as he has scored over 30 points these past two games.

But the Celtics got the win so it ended my Friday on a good note, BUT there was some negatives that happened in the game.

Negatives

The poor defense guarding the 3 point arc

Ok not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting the Raptors to be shooting a lot of 3’s tonight. I thought they would use their size to dominate down low on the Celtics, but they didn’t. Instead the Raptors made 18 three pointers tonight, shooting 50% from downtown. It was very frustrating to see this for the Celtics, because their defense guarding the three point arc was awful. It was what the Raptors did all game, and the Celtics were barely playing any defense and. never put a hand up when they were shooting the ball. All I can say is thankfully they picked it up the defensive intensity at the end of the game to pick up the victory.

Chucking up bad shots

There was a time in the game where the Celtics were taking really bad shots. Jayson Tatum took a lot of bad shots in the beginning of the game, before he started to heat up. Not just him, but a lot of the Celtics players weren’t attacking the basket at all, and just throwing up bad three pointers on the offensive end. The 4th quarter was a whole different story with these guys, but they were starting to show signs of last season where they would take bad shots and the other would go down the other end and extend the lead. That team last year would’ve just gave up, but this team this year stuck with it and kept fighting. So I’m hoping that new mentality will be that way the whole season.

Yes there were negatives, but they were positives this game!

Positives

Boston star players shined

The Boston Celtics star players bounced back after that loss to Philadelphia Wednesday. Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker both struggled shooting from the start of the game once again, but the second half, they really came alive. Jayson Tatum poured in 25 points, while. Kemba Walker scored 22 points, including I think 17 points in the second half. Jaylen Brown had a monster bounce back game scoring 25 points including 9 rebounds on the night. Gordon Hayward, who didn’t score as many points like he did in Philly, but finished with 15 points, shooting well from the field. If the Celtics stars stay like this consistently, they will be tough to beat in the East.

Rebounding and Free Throws were MUCH better

The Celtics did SO much better tonight rebounding and making free throws. The Celtics went 15/16 from the free throw line after missing 14 free throws Wednesday night, that was very peaceful to see. The rebounding shocked me because the Celtics out-rebounded the Raptors 56-46, including 21-5 on the offensive glass. That is outstanding considering the Celtics are smaller than the Raptors in height wise and the Celtics didn’t have Enes Kanter tonight. I was really impressed with that stat, and showed how bad the Celtics wanted to win tonight.

Grant Williams

Celtics rookie stepped up big time in the game. Grant Williams had to play the 5 tonight, when Enes Kanter was out and Daniel Theis left during a good portion of the game with a sprained ankle. He looked like a veteran defender guarding Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Pascal Siakam. He reminded me a lot of a younger Al Horford. A team player, will guard the toughest players when asked, and will do anything to help the team win. He took 2 big charges in the 4th quarter that really changed the momentum of the game. He might’ve not scored a lot of points, but he was a big reason why they won the game.

Im just really glad that. the Celtics were able to pick up their first win, it is always nice to pick up your first victory as it takes off stress and nerves. Next on the calendar for the Celtics is the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden as. they will face former Celtics forward Marcus Morris. The Knicks are 0-2 on the year after falling the Brooklyn Nets last night, so they will be hungry.

I’m hoping for another Celtics victory to complete a good weekend!

HEY HEY HEY

Go Celtics!

The Philadelphia 76ers picks up their first regular season win over the Boston Celtics, 107-93. Ben Simmons led the way for the Sixers as he scored 24 points, while his teammate Josh Richardson put in 17. For The Celtics, it was Gordon Hayward looking like his old self scoring 25 points in the loss. His teammate Jayson Tatum, who struggled shooting, also had 21 in the loss.

My Thoughts

I know that this is a disappointing way to start your season, but I thought the Celtics played decently well. You can tell that both teams had rust after a long offseason, but this was still a good game to watch. It was different seeing Al Horford on the opposite side, but I don’t really care about him anymore. Enes Kanter honestly played just as well as he did tonight, and we have him for a lot cheaper contract.

But still the Celtics lost, so it sucks, especially losing to the Sixers. The Celtics played a good first half, but played an ok second half. The Celtics could’ve had a chance to win this game I thought, but the reason why they lost were these three things rebounding, offense struggling, and FREE THROWS………..Holy cow did they miss a lot of free throws. Here is why these three things hurt The Celtics tonight.

Rebounding

The Sixers out rebounded the Celtics 62-41 in the game, which was expected as the Sixers are a taller team. The Sixers only had two more offensive rebounds than The Celtics(12-10), but those offensive rebounds hurt as the Sixers converted on those plays. The Sixers did grab a lot of those rebounds from The Celtics misses, but the Celtics need to crash the glass a little bit more. It wasn’t awful for the Celtics, but could always be better.

Offensive struggles

The Celtics really struggled shooting the ball, but it is the first game of the year, so let’s not forget that. The Celtics shot about 37% from the field, including shooting 27% from the three point arc. The Celtics couldn’t really find a groove out there. Kemba only scored 12 points, Marcus Smart scored 4 off the bench, and Jayson Tatum scored 21, but he shot 8-22 from the field. I am not worried about that at all since it is the first game, but it just hurt tonight for The Celtics as they had many chances to convert. I also think that the bench hurt them as well as the bench only scored 15 points tonight. In the future the Celtics needs to provide some more scoring.

Free Throws

The free throws hurt this game the most tonight for the Celtics. They missed a total of 14 free throws (20 for 34) shooting 58% from the line……Ouch. The reason why it hurt the most is say the Celtics made about 8-10 more free throws, they are right there back in the game. In the game, there was many times in the game The Celtics could’ve brought the lead even closer with their runs, but they couldn’t convert from the line. The one that hurt the most was Enes Kanter missing two free throws after getting Joel Embiid’s flagrant one foul. It could’ve been a momentum changer in the game, but the momentum went right back to the Sixers after that play. But it wasn’t just him, it was everyone. I’m sure The Celtics will be working on free throws tomorrow in practice.

Positives

Gordan Hayward

Gordon Hayward played awesome tonight, as he scored 25 points. He really looked like his old All-Star self when he use to play for Utah. He had a lot of nice drives to the rim, and had a few nice pull-up jump shots at the rim. He is the X-Factor this year for the Celtics if they want to go far this year. His confidence is back and isn’t afraid to go up strong on a drive anymore. He looked good tonight and hopefully we will see some more amazing plays from him this season.

Enes Kanter

People thought tonight that Joel Embiid would toast Kanter in the post tonight, but Enes really held his own down there. Joel Embiid only finished with 15 points, which is not bad considering how points he scores a night. He made it really difficult for Embiid and Kanter had some nice moves on him in the post. Kanter finished with 12 points, he could’ve had around 16-18 points tonight with the missed free throws, but all in all, he played well for the Celtics in his first start for The Celtics after not starting one preseason game.

Robert Williams

Robert Williams didn’t play a whole lot, but when he did play he provided for them. He had a few nice plays off the screen and role, and had some sweet blocks. Especially his one block on Ben Simmons. I kinda yelled out “Oh yeah!” while my roommate looked at me weirdly. He did some nice things and hopefully we will see more minutes out of him.

Final Thoughts

The Celtics struggled offensively, but all in all it was still not a bad night for them. I hope people realize that this was only the first game of the year, and I guarantee Kemba and Tatum won’t have a rough shooting night like tonight in Friday’s game against the Raptors. I think the Sixers are very beatable, they aren’t like what everyone says they are. I personally think that if the Celtics made their free throws, Kemba made a few more baskets, and Jaylen Brown didn’t get in foul trouble, the outcome is a whole different story. The Sixers are a little overrated and I don’t get why people say they. got better in the offseason. Yes they added Al Horford, but their bench is weak and no three point shooters. Losing JJ Redick and Jimmy Butler is going to hurt more than they think.

The Celtics will bounce back from this and I think the Celtics will be electric in front of the TD Garden crowd on Friday night against the Raptors. It should be fun to watch.

Also one more thing……

Yeah yeah I know, Kyrie Irving scored 50 points against the Timberwolves tonight.

People are saying “Don’t you wish Kyrie was still on The Celtics!?” I say ABSOLUTELY……….NOT!!!!!! I don’t care that he scored 50 points, because it is one game. This guy hurt ruined the Celtics last season, that still makes me mad to this day. He hurt the Celtics in the second round, when he kept shooting the ball instead of running the offense. I have a same feeling that he will do the same thing with the Nets because he shot 33 times tonight. Oh and guess what the Nets lost in overtime tonight LOL. If the Nets want be a serious threat in the East, Kyrie needs to learn to be more of a team player. Kemba is NOT better than Kyrie, but Kemba will run Brad Stevens offense, he won’t throw up bad shot, and he won’t be a locker room cancer. Even though The Celtics lost tonight, I didn’t rage and turn off my TV and do something else. Kemba and the Celtics kept going at the Sixers unlike what Kyrie did when he played against the Bucks last year.

It was actually fun to watch the Celtics tonight without getting angry and rage quitting to watch something else on TV like last year. There is 81 games left and the NBA Season is. back!

Go Celtics!

Jaylen Brown has signed a huge contract extension to stay with the Boston Celtics for the next 4 years for $115 million. Brown was going to be a restricted free agent this upcoming summer if the Celtics decided not to extend his contract. When the contract extension deadline was coming to an end, both sides agreed to sign the extension.

This is INSANE! $115 MILLION!?!? Are The Celtics kind of crazy!?

Ok I do like Jaylen Brown a lot, he is a good player and a good defender, but I would not have pulled the trigger to sign this guy for this much. He has not been an All-Star yet and he didn’t have the numbers last year to be worth this kind of money.

We all saw today that Buddy Hield signed a contract extension with the Sacramento Kings that was worth 4 years/$86 million, which was fair deal. But with this Celtics contract with Brown, I disagree with the money he is worth.

I’m not saying that I don’t believe in Jaylen Brown, but I just think that he shouldn’t have received a big contract like that when he hasn’t proven to be an All-Star yet, and he might not be an All-Star with the certain talent on the Celtics team.

Brown has big shoes he has to fill, but I still believe in him and he is still very young. With this contract extension, there is a lot of concerns and questions about what the Celtics might do for the trade deadline or the summer of 2020 for free agency.

What could happen now?

Hayward could be gone?

This year is a big year for Gordon Hayward, didn’t have the season like he wanted to and he has to prove himself and to the organization that he can get back to the former All-Star self from when played for Utah. But say that Hayward doesn’t play like his old self by the trade deadline, you could see him being traded. I saw something that a possible trade that could happen is sending him and some other young players to Oklahoma City for Steven Adams and Dennis Schroder. I would be a fan of that trade as we get some good assets in return, but we have to wait and see how the season progresses. Another possibility is the Celtics might ask Hayward to opt out to sign for less money, but we all saw what happened when the Celtics ask Al Horford to take less money. If Hayward decides to opt in, then I feel like they will trade away or let Hayward go, so they can sign Jayson Tatum to the big contract.

Brown signs the money, but doesn’t mean he will stay in Boston?

Just because he signed the big extension, doesn’t mean that he will stay with Boston. The Celtics could trade Brown to get some good key players in return. Now the Celtics signed him to the extension, if The Celtics wanted to trade him, teams have to be fair with the trade to try and come close to his contract. So this could open up to getting important assets by trading him. If the Celtics decided they wanted to keep Hayward, and want to trade Brown so they can get a important team need, they could get a lot of options. People are going to want to go after Brown because of his potential, him being so young, and if teams trade for him, they get him for FOUR years. That is why I thought the Paul George trade was genius because now the Clippers have him and Kawhi Leonard for the next 3-4 years. This could be a possibility.

The Celtics season starts in two days which I am super excited for. They have a tough first game in Philadelphia vs the Sixers, but I think the Celtics can win this game. They have the offense that can light put points, but is going to come down to defense with guarding Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. If the Celtics really lock up defensively, I could see the Celtics sneak out an opening night win. This season should be really fun, this Jaylen Brown signing is interesting, but it should still make this season really fun to watch. After watching the preseason and the Celtics went 4-0, they could be a team that teams sleep on.

I know it was only the preseason that the Celtics went 4-0, but I don’t care I have high hopes for this team.

TACKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Celtics!

The Celtics have officially closed the book on last years terrible season after opening up their season vs the Charlotte Hornets in preseason action. The Celtics have had a busy summer after losing many key players including Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. The Celtics have plenty of new rookies, a new point guard Kemba Walker, and a few returning players hoping to prove something on the court.

NEW TEAM………………..NEW YEAR

Jayson Tatum lead the way for the Celtics as they picked up a fun preseason win over the Charlotte Hornets 107-106. Jayson Tatum scored 20 points in 23 minutes of action tonight. For the Charlotte Hornets, they were lead by rookie PJ Washington as he scored 16 points in his NBA preseason debut, while Terry Rozier, who made his Charlotte Hornets debut and return to Boston, scored 9 points and dished out 9 assists. Charlotte built their lead up to 15 in the third quarter, but the Celtics rookies and second team unit brought the Celtics back in the game to pick up the victory over the Hornets.

My Impressions of the game

I was so excited for this game, last year was so rough with how everything went. Kyrie caused a lot of drama, Tatum and Brown had a down year, Hayward came back not healthy and struggled, too many selfish players, and got slapped in the face by the Bucks by losing four games in a row in the second round. I hated last year so much as it was the first time I didn’t have fun watching the Celtics. The. Celtics made lots of changes this offseason by letting go of key members of the roster. Kyrie left the Celtics to join the Nets, and Al Horford decided to pull a “Ray Allen” move and join the rival team, The Philadelphia 76ers (which I am still salty about). It looked like it was a look of rebuild, but the Celtics brought in All-Star Kemba Walker and big man Enes Kanter to fill in their shoes. With also drafting many new and fun young rookies, The Celtics were looking ready to put the past behind, and focus on a new fresh start with a new team.

The Celtics started Walker, Brown, Hayward, Tatum, and Williams. I actually love that starting lineup, I was expecting Enes Kanter to be in the starting lineup, but I think that the Celtics will be using him to bring in some energy off the bench like Marcus Smart does. This lineup I think provides lots of athleticism and lots of scoring, with a very young energized bench. The first play of the game was a Gordon Hayward lob to Robert Williams which brought the crowd to their feet, including myself…..and it was a preseason game……

The Celtics offense was really clicking in the first half, they looked good with shooting the outside shot and getting up and down the floor. The start of the second half was really shaky as they looked like last year with missing shots and no good defense, but the bench and rookies brought the game back and got the win. The bench bringing the game back was so awesome, it got me so excited watching it all unfold and it was only a preseason game.

I am impressed with many players on the team. Here is who impressed me tonight.

Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum had a very disappointing year last year, and tonight seemed like there was hope that this year will be a change. He scored 20 points tonight in 23 minutes, which was very impressive. His shots looked good tonight, knocking down 3’s and didn’t miss many shots. There was a time in the third quarter, where he was throwing up bad shots like he did last year, but he composed himself, knocked down a few shots to help start the comeback for the rookies before sitting out the rest of the night. I know it is one game, but I hope that with him getting experience playing for Team USA this summer has helped make him a better player for this season.

Gordon Hayward

Gordon Hayward was not pleased with his season last year. He came back not 100% healthy and could not find a groove in the season. He spent his whole summer working at the Celtics practice facility to work on getting back to his old self like his days in Utah. Hayward looked so much more confident and aggressive in the preseason opener. I remember last season that he didn’t have the explosion to drive by players, and always looked to pass out when driving to the rim. In the game, Hayward showed a lot of improvement from last season. I saw the guy that the Celtics signed back in the off season of 2017. I was really impressed of how much more confident and aggressiveness he showed compared to last year. I really like him and this is a huge year for him because if he struggles again, I don’t think the Celtics will keep him on the roster.

Kemba Walker

The new guy made his Celtics debut vs his old team, and he did very well for his first game in Celtic green and white. He scored 12 points in 21 minutes of play. He is going to be a great fit in Boston and I think Celtics fans will love him. He can really score the ball well and his presence on the floor is so much more enjoyable. He was very encouraging to his teammates and was laughing and smiling on the floor. That was something I never saw Kyrie do, Kyrie always was very demanding of teammates and never looked like he was enjoying playing basketball when he was on the floor. Kemba is going to be a good fit for the Celtics and he could have a really big year in Brad Stevens offense.

Carsen Edwards

Guys I am a new huge fan of this guy. Carson Edwards NEEDS to get a lot of minutes this year, because this guy is one of the most underrated rookies in the NBA right now. Edwards is a really good shooter as I remember watching him score 40+ points in one of the NCAA tournament games last year. He scored 11 points in 18 minutes with 3 three pointers. When he came into the game, he showed no nerves by knocking down his first 2 3’s nothing but net. I can expect him to get a lot of minutes. He is very small, but he can get hot in a hurry and is so good with creating his shot. I am really hoping to see more of this guy in the future, because he is impressive.

Tacko Fall

Everyone in the whole gym was going crazy for Tacko Fall. He did well for the very limited playing time he got. He scored 5 points in 8 minutes with like 2 or 3 blocks. I really hope the Celtics keep this guy because one he is a crowd favorite, two he is 7’6, and three if you continue to work with him, he could be something special in the league. My mom had no idea who this guy was until tonight, I think this is my mom’s new favorite Celtic player because no matter how many times a player came in the lane, Tacko would just block the shot. He really impressed me tonight.

The negatives of the game

The Defense

I thought the defense was very poor tonight, but it is the first game of the season, so I will give them time. The pick and roll defense was really bad, and they gave a lot of points in the paint. Enes Kanter I heard was not a good defender, but after seeing it, it is very true. That is what hurts about losing Al Horford. Horford was very good on defense and was always guarding the best player every night. With losing him, it hurts the Celtics big time as Kanter is not a good defender at all. I still have hope that Kanter will get better, but he is going to have to work hard at it as Joel Embiid will light him up when it comes to opening night in Philadelphia.

Turnovers

Like I said it is the first preseason game of the season, but the Celtics looked a little bit sloppy with travels and making bad passes. The Celtics are very young and new, so we might be seeing a lot of turnovers in the early going, but hopefully once when everyone gets used to each other.

I think that the Celtics had a good preseason start. Lots of things to work on, but lots of potential for the team. I realized tonight watching the Celtics, that I had joy watching them again. These young guys making the comeback made it so much fun to watch Celtics basketball again and it was only the first game of the year. I really think that this could be a sleeper team if things come together right.

One more thing, The Hornets are a decent team, but they won’t be a playoff team. They will probably finish higher than the Knicks and the Cavs, but they won’t be completely awful.

Terry Rozier will be the best player on the Hornets this year. I still think he is overpaid, but he will be the best player for the Hornets this year. He was a fun Celtic to watch when Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart went out in the 2018 Playoffs. I will never forget that Game 7 vs the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, where he was on fire!!!!!

4 points, 36 minutes, 2-14 shooting, 0-10 from the 3 point arc………….. 😦 (this game still hurts to the day btw)

The Hornets got a keeper! 😉

Excited for the season!

Go Celtics!

It was announced Saturday that Andrew Luck has decided that he is going to retire playing the game of Football. Luck, who is 29 years old, played seven short seasons with the Indianapolis Colts with dealing with many injuries. He has decided to walk away from the game because he is mentally worn down from all the injuries. He had an ankle/calf issue that was sitting him down for a good portion of the preseason, but during his time while he was sitting out, he must’ve been thinking about retirement.

A lot of people are really shocked and did not see this coming, but after thinking about it, it is not crazy to be shocked about. I saw a tweet from Zak Keefer that Luck has been through a torn cartilage in 2 ribs, partially torn abdomen, a lacerated kidney, a concussion, a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, and this calf/ankle injury. That is a lot to take in and I’m sure it’s not fun to keep playing when you are continually getting hurt. I don’t blame him at all for wanting to get done playing the game.

Andrew Luck was a pretty good quarterback for the Colts as he was a four time Pro Bowler and lead his team to the playoffs four times including leading them to the AFC Championship Game vs the Patriots or also known as the “Deflate Gate” game. I’m sure that this was a hard decision for him as this something he loves to do and that he is a very young player, but it is best for him to prevent any damages in the future to himself.

For the Colts, Jason Brissett (former Patriots back up quarterback ;)) will most likely take over the reign as the starting quarterback. He was the starting quarterback a few times for the Colts when Luck was out with injuries. We will see if he remains the starting quarterback. If he seems to struggle we could possibly be seeing the Colts picking up a new starting quarterback or trading for a new one.

People were expecting big things out of the Colts this season, but with Luck retiring, we don’t know what is going to happen now for the Colts. They might be that team that could shock a lot of people, or this could be a team that will not be a team to worry about.

Either way, if they are good or not this season. They will have to go through Tom Brady and the New England Patriots as Tom Brady will be looking to seek for his 7th NFL Championship. We will have to wait and see how this affects the AFC.

BTW, no matter if the “Deflate Gate” game was on purpose to deflate the footballs or not (I think it wasn’t on purpose), The Colts would’ve still got their butts kicked by the Pats that game. #facts

Tom Brady is the GOAT.

Go Pats!

The NBA 2k20 demo dropped today on August 21st, and many people including myself got to try to see what NBA 2k20 was like with building your MyPlayer and game play with the MyPlayer. I have to say that there was some good little improvements in the game, not a whole lot of big changes, but so far the game has been looking good.

After I finished eating my pop tart and chocolate milk when I woke up, I looked on Twitter to see that the NBA 2k20 demo was ready for download, so I ran upstairs to try and download the game. Well as I was trying to download the game, it was taking forever (as suspected with so many people downloading it…..). So I went to Subway to eat lunch while the game was downloading. When I came back, the demo was ready to go.

I turned on the demo and I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t just be the MyPlayer building, I was hoping that I could have some just normal gameplay between the Raptors vs Warriors without my MyPlayer being involved. Unfortunately it was the MyPlayer building and then they would join on the game play, which I was willing to accept.

Anyways, the MyPlayer building is SO much easier to choose which options you want to build your player that made me think that 2k20 stepped up their game.

Apparently they made like 50 new badges in the game, and they gave you a certain amount of points if you wanted to up your badges at the beginning so your player isn’t too bad at the beginning, where in the past you would start with no badges at all. As you see in the photo above, those are basically the four badges that you can choose from, Finishing, Shooting, Playmaking, and Defensive/Rebounding. I chose the shooting build as I personally think that is the best one to choose from. They gave me a certain amount in each of the four badges in where I could up my player. I think that this was a great thing that NBA 2k did this so that your player can be somewhat decent when you first start off, not have to pay a ton of money tp get your MyPlayer good in the beginning, and instead of a slow 60 overall that can’t shoot or make layups. I also made sure when I built my MyPlayer that I didn’t make the mistake of making my guy a short 6’0 point guard slasher. I made sure my guy was a lot taller and could be a good shooter….. LOL.

The gameplay I could tell that there was some good improvements. For one, I think that the players are getting closer and closer to looking real. All of their faces look so much a like. People say that all 2k did was add more sweat, well I think they are making the players look more real. I also saw that when the other team shoots the ball, you can tell if they made a green release or not. So it helps knowing that when you are playing MyPark and they pull from half court, you can see that they are making the shot on a green release. The passing is much more improve and smoother with making nice fancy passes. I had Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol score a lot of nice layups from my smooth passes ;). If you play the demo, you will play on the Raptors and not the Warriors, so I obviously lost considering the Raptors aren’t that good anymore without Kawhi, but I scored 26 points if that helps 😉

All and all I liked what I saw so far with the NBA 2k20 demo, lots of small changes and I’m sure I see some more improvements when I buy the game. I’m not sure what people will think of this game, but I think this could be a fun game to see. If you want to see the storyline videos of the MyCareer then go to Chris Smoove’s Youtube channel. I am excited to buy this game as this will be a game that will keep me busy at college.

R.I.P NBA 2K19

New Lakers Center Demarcus Cousins can’t catch a break as he has suffered another injury by tearing his ACL during a workout. This is 3rd big significant injury in the past two years. With Demarcus Cousins tearing his ACL, this will mean that he is going to be sitting out a big majority of the season, if not the whole season.

TMZ posted a video of Demarcus Cousin’s injury as it looked like they were playing 5 on 5, he went up to go to the basket, but when he went up, he hurt his knee and it was the news that he didn’t want to hear it was a torn ACL. This guy really can’t catch a break. Back when he played for the Pelicans, he had a torn left achilles that ruled him out for the rest of the season and playoffs. A lot of people didn’t really expect him to leave New Orleans, but he ended up leaving to join the Golden State Warriors for a one year, $5 million dollar deal as he was not offered a good contract, and plus he wanted to win a ring. (That didn’t really work out for him). When he was with Golden State, he sat out the first half of the year recovering from his injury, but he came back in time for the second half and playoffs. Then bad luck happened again as in the first round series against the Clippers, he tore his left quad and missed a chunk of the playoffs. He came back for the Finals, but it didn’t matter as he wasn’t 100% healthy and the Warriors lost to the Raptors.

He signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on a one year deal, hoping to prove himself to get a max contract spot somewhere with another team in the future, but with this injury it looks like he most likely won’t get that max contract spot somewhere else.

This was why teams weren’t willing to offer Demarcus Cousins a max contract, because after his left Achilles injury, teams. didn’t think he would play the same or won’t stay very healthy throughout the season. I think he should’ve never went to the Warriors as he could’ve had the chance to probably get more money somewhere else, but his numbers went down, he was injured basically the whole year, and he didn’t win the ring. He basically wasted a whole season and made things worse for him. The Lakers deal was a good chance for him to possibly redeem his career, but with this ACL tear, things are. going further and further downhill.

What does this mean for the Lakers?

This does hurt the chances for the Lakers to make a deep run in the playoffs, but they can still be a good team. But more pressure I think is now added to the season as this HAS to be a good season or the Lakers could lose Anthony Davis in free agency. Losing Demarcus Cousins means it is one less guy that teams have to not worry about and now teams focus is on Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Cousins was going to be the starting center or sixth man, but now they will have to look to Javale McGee to carry the load at the center spot.

I still don’t think that the Lakers are title contenders with or without Cousins, I have never thought once that the Lakers would be title contenders when they acquired Anthony Davis, or when they got Lebron James in 2018. I think that this will be a good team in the Western Conference, but the Lakers seeding my guess will be a 4th or 5th spot in the West with a first or second round exit. With losing Cousins this hurts their chance a little bit more, but they will still get in the playoffs.

Maybe this could be like the 2012-13 season for the Lakers, back when the Lakers got Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the off season.

Tell me if this reminds you or possibly hint at a possible similarity between the 2012-13 Lakers vs the 2019-20 Lakers.

Lots of high hopes going into the season like the Lakers this season, Kobe Bryant hoping to make a run at an NBA Championship before he retires like Lebron James is doing in LA. The Lakers trade away draft picks for an old Steve Nash hoping to play like an All Star before he gets done or like the Lakers bringing in Rajon Rondo hoping he would have some talent in the tank like he did in Boston. Traded away key players for Dwight Howard who had one year left on his contract like Anthony Davis was traded to the Lakers with one year left on his contract with the Lakers trading away key players for Davis. Pau Gasol was out for a good part of the season with an injury like Demarcus Cousins will be this season for the Lakers.

Does this sound like a bunch of similarities between the two squads or is it just me?

Could we possibly be seeing Lebron and Davis fighting with each other? Or the players not liking the new head coach? Or fighting for a playoff spot? Or lots of injuries? Or getting swept in the first round?

We will have to wait and find out when the season comes. I wouldn’t be mad if it happens as it is the Lakers and who wants to see the Lakers win? LOL.

But in all seriousness, hopefully Demarcus Cousins gets healthy quickly so he can get back on the court playing the game he loves. It would suck to be getting hurt all the time and not being able to play.

Pray that Cousins gets healthy, and that the Lakers lose.

Go Celtics!

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees are currently tied for the best record in the MLB with 79 wins on the season. They have been currently the favorites in the National League and the American League, but could there be other teams that could be creeping up behind them to take their spot away from the World Series?

As we can see so far the Boston Red Sox are 62-58, and it looks like they aren’t going to be making another trip to the World Series once again. So that means we will be seeing a new MLB champion this October. As a Red Sox fan, this stinks knowing that the Red Sox are probably not going to be making the playoffs this season, but I think it will be nice for someone else to win the World Series.

So…. Who do I think will win have a really good shot in winning the World Series?

Los Angeles Dodgers

Third times the charm? The past two years the Los Angeles Dodgers have made the World Series, but have came up just short, but could this be the year that the Dodgers finally get over the hump and win the World Series? Corey Bellinger right now is having the season of his life as he is batting .317 with 38 home runs and 89 RBI’s. The pitching for the Dodgers has been really good so far, Hyun Jin-Ryu has been at the top of his game this season and the Dodgers are looking like they could be on their way back to the World Series. It’s going to have to take the whole team on their A game if they want to be holding the World Series trophy in October. (I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing the Dodgers winning the World Series, it would be good redemption story.)

New York Yankees

Not only the Dodgers have been rolling, but the Yankees have been rolling looking to win the World Series. (I know…gross….lol). The Yankees have been playing really goos baseball as many players for the Yankees have been playing really good this season, guys like Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu, Gio Urshela, and many others. The big thing for the Yankees if they want to add on to their many championship collection is the pitching. They have very strong hitters in a good lineup, it just depends on the pitching if they can step up and do their job in the playoffs. If the pitching steps, the Yankees will be looking very good on possibly winning the World Series. I really hope they don’t win the whole thing, but right now the Yankees are looking strong on possibly winning the World Series this season.

The Houston Astros

The Astros are slowly starting to make some noise in the MLB as they are looking to make a trip back to the World Series after losing to the Boston Red Sox last season in the American League Championship Series. They are 77-41 on the season and they could be a team that could be looking to take down the New York Yankees in the American League. Lead by a dominant trio in Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, and George Springer, the bats could be looking hot in the playoffs. With Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and new asset Zack Greinke on the mound, the Astros could make some noise going into the playoffs this season. The Astros are a good team and this could be a shot at redeeming themselves from last year.

The Chicago Cubs

Yes, the Chicago Cubs record hasn’t really been the very best record, but they are winning their division. They could be looking once again at some postseason baseball this fall, but I don’t think people realize that the Cubs might be flying under the radar as a possible favorite to win the World Series like they did in 2016. There is something about the Cubs that gives me a feeling that they could win the whole thing this year. I mean look Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez has been batting just a little under .300 this season, but if they can really get going in the playoffs, it is going to be hard for teams to pitch against them. If the hitting and pitching really gets going in the playoffs, don’t be surprised if the Cubs could be an underdog making a deep run in the playoffs this season.

The Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins could be making the postseason this year and the Twins could possibly be a dream story and could win the World Series. Their past three playoff appearances they have lost to the New York Yankees, but maybe if the Twins avoid the Yankees maybe they can see to go far. I mean maybe an uspet happens with either the Astros or the Yankees and the Twins could possibly have to beat one tough team to get into an American League Championship or World Series. I know that the Twins aren’t that good, but I could see maybe a Cinderella run by the Minnesota Twins.

Those Five teams could be teams to possibly win the World Series, but there could be other teams that maybe might prove my predictions wrong. Teams like the Tampa Bay Rays, The Milwaukee Brewers, and the St Louis Cardinals could possibly be some contenders to not sleep on.

I would love to see for a World Series matchup is the Houston Astros vs the Chicago Cubs. I think that the series would be a super fun series to watch. The Cubs and The Astros have big name players on their rosters and this could be a series that can go very far as seven games. But I really do think that if they want to make the World Series, they have to get by the Yankees and the Dodgers as they are the hottest teams in baseball.

Anything can happen in baseball, it’s not really like basketball, soccer, or football. In basketball, soccer, and football, if a team is better than another team, it always shows that the better team always wins about 70-80% of the time. With baseball you can have a really good team, but it can always go 50-50 either way with the final scores. For example the Red Sox could beat the Yankees by 6 runs one night, and then the next night the Yankees can win by 3 runs. That can happen by depending the pitchers on the mound, they could be facing either the best pitcher in the rotation or you could be facing the fifth guy in the pitching rotation. A good team can hit really well one night or really bad the other night.

That is what I think that baseball is like compared to the other sports. The Red Sox I personally think has the best rosters in the MLB, but the Red Sox this year has been having a lot of bad nights. I’ve seen teams that won the World Series, bring back almost the exact same roster the next season, and not even make the playoffs the next season. In the MLB you have to basically have a lot of good nights and wins in order to make the playoffs and I think that it is very hard to do. Because once when you get in the playoffs, anything can happen because you have two or three bad nights, you are out of the playoffs. The Red Sox have had a lot bad nights this season and that is why they aren’t doing so well. But I think that if the Red Sox can bring back the same team next year, they could be a team to contend with in the AL with a brand new start at 0-0.

Btw, The Red Sox are still the reigning champions no matter how their season is going this season.

As we saw today, The Red Sox lost their sixth straight game in a row losing to the Yankees in a first game of a double-header. They have another game going on right now, but if they lose the game, they could be on a seven game losing streak at the end of the night. Before this losing streak, the Red Sox were gaining on the Rays for the second Wild Card spot, but now they are slipping away once again. as they are now 4.5 games behind the Rays. This is not the vision that the Red Sox had in mind for this season, but maybe they can still have a little bit of hope and luck to get in the Playoffs.

This season has been reminding me of the season the Celtics had. There isn’t locker room drama, players fighting, or anything like that, but the Red Sox have a lot of talent on their roster and yet they aren’t able to string together some wins. There has been times the Red Sox have been playing awful and there has been times the Red Sox have started to play good like before their losing streak. Like before this the Red Sox were playing really good and were putting up some big time runs, but things have seem to be falling a part again. Like the Celtics, there was times were they played awful and then good and then awful again. That is how it’s been lately for the Red Sox.

The another thing in common that the Red Sox and the Celtics did in their most recent season was….THEY TRADED FOR NOBODY!! The Red Sox who have been struggling in the bullpen this year and could use an extra solid bat in the lineup, made NO TRADES at the trade deadline. This was a very stupid move on the Red Sox part I think. The Red Sox did acquire pitcher Andrew Cashner and designated Eduardo Nunez, but besides that the Red Sox didn’t even make a splash this trade deadline. The Astros got Zack Greinke, Twins got Sergio Romo, Reds got Trevor Bauer, many teams got good deals and players that could help the team.

The Red Sox has been horrible this season I think, like it has been in the years past. Losing Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbral in the offseason has really hurt the Red Sox this season. They were both key members to the championship team last season has they pitched well. Joe Kelly was outstanding in the World Series, and Craig Kimbral was a solid closer for the Red Sox. It wasn’t worth signing Kimbral to that huge contract, but it’s been hurting not having him this season. I haven’t really heard who in the bullpen that has had a good season, but I just know the Red Sox bull pen has been giving up a lot of runs.

I’m not just going to blame the bullpen though, the starters haven’t been that amazing as well this season. Chris Sale after coming off one of the best season’s of his career is 5-10 this season, and Rick Porcello has been 9-8 this season and 5.74 ERA. They haven’t been having the best season, but they could probably have some more wins if it weren’t for the bull pen or if the Red Sox could provide some more runs. David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez so far have been playing the best for pitchers I think for the Red Sox. They have had a decent record so far and throws consistently, but it has been amazing.

Now the hitting this season hasn’t been great this year for the Red Sox as well. J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts are still hitting the ball pretty good, Rafael Devers and Michael Chavis has been having a decent year, but Jackie Bradley Jr and Andrew Benintendi has been struggling this year with batting average. I think they should’ve made the move and should’ve sent one of the two out the door for a pitcher in the bull pen or at least a very good solid hitter. I think they have had their time in Boston and their chances, but I think it is time to let them go to find a good power hitter or a good bull pen pitcher.

As of right now the Red Sox are 4.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card spot in the American League, they are not “out of the race” by any chance, but they are really needing to pick it up here soon. They just need to focus on one game at a time, and not on the Wild Card Race. Anything can happen, I mean remember back in 2011, when the Rays were 9 games behind the Red Sox and came all the way back to knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs on the last night of baseball…………. ;(

I hate to bring up this moment as it brings back childhood nightmares, but maybe the Rays can go 6-18 in September and the Red Sox can snatch the Wild Card spot?…..We can dream?

Btw that season was going to be a championship season that year for the Red Sox, they were rolling that year before that month.

ANYWAY, the Red Sox need to pick up or else they will be watching the playoffs from home this season. But say the Red Sox don’t get in, I will basically be hoping that the Yankees don’t win the World Series.

One thing I will admit that I was the glad the Red Sox didn’t do this at the trade deadline like they did at the 2014 trade deadline.

The Red Sox won the World Series in 2013, after some how turning it around after an absolute terrible season in 2012. Going into the next year they lost Jacoby Ellsbury and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but the Red Sox were still going to have a good season. Things weren’t going as great for the Red Sox that season, and do you know what the Red Sox did at the deadline? THEY BLEW EVERYTHING UP! They got rid of almost the starting rotation from the World Series championship team! They got rid of Jon Lester, Jake Peavy, John Lackey, Felix Doubront, and bullpen pitcher Andrew Miller. I was so mad at the Red Sox when they made these trades because I believed the Red Sox still had a good team, but there was plenty of time to get better and that season just wasn’t the season they wanted it to start. It took a few years for the Red Sox to get back to a playoff team including ugly signees like Rusney Castillo, Pablo Sandoval, and Hanley Ramirez, but the Red Sox eventually got back to a championship team in 2018…. 😉

I still got faith in the Red Sox, but still got a lot of work to do!

Go Red Sox!

A lot of roster moves were made this off season as the Celtics fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, after sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the first round. The season was such a huge disappointment after having big expectations going into the season. The Celtics last year came into the season with high hopes after making the Eastern Conference Finals the season before without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the playoffs, but things didn’t turn out that way. When Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward were thrown in the mix, it really shook up the Celtics players. Kyrie was getting frustrated a lot, Gordon Hayward wasn’t to his full health and wasn’t playing like the player he was in Utah, some guys. like Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum had to step down their roles to let Kyrie and Hayward play their game, but it didn’t sell to well for them. After a huge disaster of a season the Celtics made some moves.

The off season started as trying to bring in Anthony Davis to form a big 3 in Boston with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. But his agent told Boston that if they wanted him, it would only be a one year rental. The Celtics decided not to pursue the deal and Anthony Davis to the Lakers. After that, Kyrie Irving apparently said to the Boston Celtics that he was going to be leaving to join the Nets, and Al Horford decided to opt out of his contract and was planning on leaving as the Celtics couldn’t agree to a contract with him. Aron Baynes was traded to the Suns on draft night. and it looked like the Celtics were possibly looking to rebuild a new team. Or were they having something up their sleeve?

The Celtics brought in Charlotte Hornets All-Star point guard Kemba Walker in a sign-and-trade deal for Terry Rozier, and they brought in a solid role player in Enes Kanter. The Celtics might’ve lost two good players, but they brought in a very good replacement for Kyrie Irving, and a guy who put up almost similar numbers as Horford for a lot cheaper contract.

Is Kyrie and Horford better than Kemba and Kanter? No. But they are both guys that will keep the Celtics as a contender in Eastern Conference, and they will be guys that will have a lot of fun and get along with their teammates. How are the Celtics going to be a top team in the East? It’s going to be a harder task as we see a new team with a lot of young players, but this team can be a lot of fun to watch and can be a good team this year. This is what they need to make this Celtics team a contender.

Give Gordon Hayward a starting spot back, more touches, and more minutes

Last year Gordon Hayward entered the lineup at the beginning of the season, but he ended going to the bench and being the sixth man. He wasn’t fully healthy, didn’t fit in with the group of starters, and wasn’t playing like the way he was suppose to. People say that he had a disastrous season, but he wasn’t fully 100% healthy. He had some ankle pain and to be honest, I didn’t feel like Stevens didn’t let him play to his full potential. I mean when he was out there on the floor, it was a lot of ISO ball for Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward standing in the corner. We all saw very good potential and confidence in Gordon Hayward at the end of the season as he was starting to shoot the ball well and put up some big numbers. He saw a lot of minutes and a lot of touches which opened up his game a ton for the Celtics. If the Celtics want to get Gordon Hayward back to his All-Star self, they need to start him and let him be a top priority scorer for the team. I think Hayward still has it and I think that Coach Stevens needs to continue to give him more chances. Paul George took a whole season to get back to his full potential, and he just came off one of the best seasons of his life. I feel like that can happen with Gordon Hayward.

Kemba, Tatum, and Hayward need to be the Top 3 scoring options for the Celtics…NO ONE ELSE!!!

Last year, a lot of the Celtics players played selfish and a lot of them wanted to be the go to guys for team. Normally every team has three scoring options to go to. Like for the Warriors last season, it would go Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson, no one else and the rest did their jobs whether it was defense or rebounding or anything. For the Celtics, it felt like it was six players that were just wanting to score baskets instead of doing their jobs. Like last year I personally thought the scoring options should’ve been Kyrie, Tatum, and then Hayward. But instead, it was other guys fighting to be in the mix like Marcus Morris, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Smart. They all wanted to shoot the ball instead of doing their job for the team, that was of the biggest issues for the Celtics failures last season, they ALL played selfish. The Celtics need to just let Kemba, Tatum, and Hayward be the only scoring options. Jaylen Brown and Marcus need to stick with defense and I wouldn’t recommend them taking many outside shots. If the Celtics can establish those scoring options, the Celtics can be a tough team to guard and we could see some players go to their potential.

Defense is a huge factor this year

Losing Al Horford hurts a lot for the Celtics as he was the guy that normally guarded the best player on the team like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, but now the Celtics defense needs to really step up this year. We could be seeing Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart really stepping up on their defense roles this year. They will definitely be guarding the best players on every team, and they will have to be the vocal leaders on defense. The Celtics need to have a strong defense core or else they will not be contenders. I think that they have the players to score a lot of points, but it comes down the team’s defense if they want to be a team contender. Last year, the Celtics played horrible defense vs the Bucks and they got whatever they wanted against the Celtics. The Celtics need to play solid on defense or else they will get stomped on.

Have fun, play together, and get along with each other

The Celtics had way too much drama last season with the media and certain players unhappy with their roles on the team. The Celtics need to just need to have fun, ignore the media, and play ball. The Celtics made the Eastern Conference Finals without Kyrie or Hayward and almost took down Lebron and the Cavs, they did that with proving. the media wrong, playing together, and having fun. I don’t think I saw that once last year with the team. The Celtics have gotten rid of the players that were a problem to the team, brought in some rookies who get a long great together, and we could possibly have fun watching the Celtics again.

The Celtics are going to be young and might not be as good of a team like they were last year, but they can be a fun group to watch and could be a contender in the East if everything goes right. I mean a lot of people had fun watching the Summer League Celtics this season with Carsen Edwards lighting it up and 7’6 Tacko Falls being a strong force at the Center spot.

I love Kyrie as a basketball player as he is a guy that can score the ball whenever he wants, but he caused way too much problems last season and I am glad that he left. Kemba Walker I think will fit in with Brad Stevens game plan like Isaiah Thomas did. I was a little bit mad about the Celtics draft picks, but after watching them in the Summer League, they can ball it up. Carsen Edwards I think was one of the steals in the draft, the guy can shoot really the ball and can create his shot well, He could be something scary. Tacko Falls might not have the skill set down, but the guy is 7’6 and can be a good rim protector for the Celtics, I really hope he makes the roster. Brown, Tatum, Smart, and Kemba all got invited to the USA Men’s Basketball Training Camp and this is great for team chemistry. Hayward was also invited, but decided not to as his main focus is working on his game for next season.

I think that the Celtics can be a contender in the Eastern Conference and they can be really fun to watch this season. The Celtics have pieces to do as long as they put it all together.

Imagine this dream scenario, The Celtics take down the Kyrie Irving and the Nets in the first round, Al Horford and the Sixers in the second round, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the Conference Finals, and then Lebron James and the Lakers in the Finals.

I know its the Skills Challenge Trophy, but can we imagine just for a minute that it is Jayson Tatum holding up the NBA Championship trophy….LOL

I am excited for the season to start!

Go Celtics!