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I am not in a place where I can discuss the recent Celtics slide in a rational manner, so I am doing the courageous thing and moving on. Specifically, we'll be moving on to what might be the worst blunder in the history of the NBA draft. Bowie over Jordan? No, I think this one tops it. Oden over Durant? Bigger. By the way Oden mentioned 4 times in a 3 sentence statement that those photos were taken a year and a half ago, as if that was somehow a more intelligent decision back in August of 2008. Anyway, this is the draft blunder to end all draft blunders and may have changed the operations of most NBA franchises to the draft. Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 NBA draft.

Let's harken back quickly to June 2003: Martha Stewart was indicted for doing some stock thing that any sentient being would have done, 2Fast 2 Furious kept us at the edge of our cinema seats, and Lebron James was the consensus #1 pick in the NBA draft. The Detroit Pistons, coming off a 50 win season and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals, owned the #2 pick thanks to a trade 6 years earlier for Otis Thorpe. No really, they waited long enough for Otis Thorpe to become valuable. The Detroit roster was a mix of young players like Chauncey Billups, Mehmet Okur, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince and fossils like Jon Barry, Cliff Robinson and Danny Manning. Detroit was a team on the way up, and was in a rare opportunity to rapidly make themselves a much better team through the draft.

A couple weeks back, as the Celtics wrapped up a Christmas Day win in Orlando on a nationally televised game the future looked great.    A game won without the Celtics best all around player and Captain Paul Pierce (I have to write an article on how Pierce is playing one of the worst statistical seasons while simultaneously playing the best ball of his career).  Sure, there was a short West Coast road trip coming up where some helpful soul in the league office scheduled 3 games in 4 nights, but how hard can that be?

Well two weeks and 4 losses (which easily could be 5) later, the outlook is not as rosy.  We don’t quite know what is going on with Kevin Garnett’s knee.  My understanding is that hyperextension can mean a lot of things.  The team’s spin is good, KG could play today if this was the playoffs but the Celtics clearly need the leadership and physical play of Garnett.  Rasheed Wallace has performed well, but is clearly not the rebounder that Garnett is.

I’ve wanted to write this article for a week, but unfortunately the Holidays and those pesky personal issues got in the way.  Anyway, it’s the day after Christmas and we’re back on track here at CelticsStuffLive.  Before we get into Rasheed Wallace, Happy Holidays to you and yours from the Rayburn clan, and a big thank you and a shout out to our troops (and our allies’ troops) here and abroad.

I don’t know about you, but one of the best gifts I received this Christmas was the win over the Magic, in Orlando yesterday.  Without Paul Pierce, on the road, against the team who ended your playoff run the year before, and in the glare of the national spotlight….it doesn’t get a whole lot bigger.  The Celtics wouldn’t win that game without Rasheed.  The stat sheet might not be all that impressive (11 points, 8 boards, 2 steals and 1 block) but as I have said loudly and to anyone who will listen, it’s not always about the numbers.

The late, great Gilbert Gottfried (wait, he’s still alive?) used to do an impression of the even later, slightly less great Arthur Godfrey that somehow seemed an appropriate way to start my initial posting on Celtics Stuff Live.   In the first of what I hope are many posts here, I would like to briefly introduce myself, talk about the state of the Celtics with a little look at the upcoming schedule, and then talk more in depth about one of my true passions……Amway. I do have to start by thanking the crew here at Celtics Stuff Live for giving me this opportunity.  A great bunch of guys who love Celtics basketball, and love to talk Celtics basketball intelligently.

Thirty some odd years ago, I was born in the post industrial city of Rochester, NY.   Unlike some of the CSL crew, I didn’t play organized hoops but I grew up as a big Syracuse University fan (how could you not be in 1987 Western NY?) and generally a big NBA fan.  This was in the late 80s, and I naturally became a huge Celtics fan.  I have always loved teams that play fluid, unselfish team basketball and while those championship teams may not have been the most athletic group ever assembled, they played team basketball night in and night out.

I no longer listen to sports talk radio (except for NFL Radio on Sirius) because I found they weren’t talking much about sports, and the talking mostly consisted of 3 idiots stammering (or yelling) over each other.  The final straw for me was tuning into WEEI and hearing a former play-by-play guy and two well concussed retired athletes discussing military strategy.