Celtics Stuff Live

Celtics Stuff Live welcomed back old friend Marc Spears the show and he did not disappoint, bringing loads of insight about Rajon Rondo's elevated play and his candidacy for the All-Star team. Spears also broke down the chemistry issues in Orlando and the passion of Leon Powe. Wrapping up the interview, Spears provided an update on the movie in production that is based on his script about the harrowing experience of those in the Superdome in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As always, Marc was entertaining, insightful and more laid back than a fully reclined chair. Later in the show, Justin and Kevin fielded a call from the Scottsman, bashed some refs, reflected on the team's perseverance in the face of continued injury woes and then debated the merits of Paul Pierce's recent comments about his teammates in the latest piece by Scott Souza. Give the show a listen and join us again tomorrow night as we do a wrap on the Celtics-Mavericks tilt.

Alas, the injury-depleted Celtics dropped another one, this time to the Chicago Bulls, to the tune of 96-83. Luol Deng dug out his time machine and dropped in 25 points while menacing Paul Pierce on defense. Justin and Kevin broke down the game, fielded a great call from one of the regulars and widened the scope to discuss the what, where and why of recent performances as well as where the team might be headed. Also, Doug Collins was ridiculed for his shameless love for the Bulls.

Celtics Stuff Live was pleased to welcome back WEEI.com's Jessica Camerato back to the show and our pal Jess came loaded with information following a conversation she had with Lester Hudson last night. The Celtics' release of Hudson last week came as a bit of a shock, but while Hudson relayed to Jess that he was "sad" to go, it seems the entire stay in Boston was a positive one. Jess also talked with Jon and Justin about her recent article comemorating the injury to Tony Allen's knee some three years ago today. While a number of hills and valleys have littered that three year period, Tony has performed well of late. The guys wrapped up discussing Jack Jemsek's latest for CSL detailing the tremendous season Ray Allen is having without many of us realizing it. Plenty more coming where Jack left off this weekend as Mark Rayburn and Scott Souza posted great work this week.

The Celtics are still dealing with injuries and illness, but it was effort and focus that got the best of the Celtics tonight against the Hawks 93-85. Jon, Justin, and Kevin sat down following the game to point fingers at the lackluster Celtics defense through the fourth quarter and continued carelessness with the basketball. The Hawks continue to have absolutely no fear in facing the championship aimed C's and as a result they eager at taking it to their elderly opponents.

A tumultous week of Celtics news came to a close on Sunday night as Jon and Justin kicked off the latest edition of Celtics Stuff Live. Scott Souza from the MetroWest Daily News and Celtics Stuff Live chatted with the CSL guys on the injuries to KG, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo as well as expounding on his most recent CSL article on Doc's use of "The Kids." Following Scott's interview, Justin and Jon delved into the sticky watters surrounding the initial reports regarding Garnett's knee injury and how the ambiguity with how these reports were crafted by some sources and then cravenly reported in others left Celtics fans guessing. Thanks to Steve Bulpett's work at the Herald, all doubt was removed.

It was a Turd in the Punchbowl kind of night of the Celtics. A 116-98 loss to the Phoenix Suns was only the topper as Kevin Garnett was ruled out due to a "hyperextension in his right knee," Glen Davis missed action due to a turned ankle, and Rajon Rondo's balky hamstring gave him fits all night long. This string of injuries isn't meant as an excuse for the loss, rather it set up the bulk of the coversation for the most recent Gold Rarities Postgame Show as Jon and Kevin tried to make sense of it all. From the inability for four major media outlets to tell the same story regarding Garnett's knee (and the ensuing hubbub created on the internet) to Doc Rivers continued refusal to play Giddens, Walker, and/or Hudson despite a very thing bench; there was plenty of ammo for jumping up on the Soapbox.

Jon, Kevin and Justin took calls from listeners and praised the play of the Celtics on the Christmas day win against the Orlando Magic.

Justin and Kevin broke down the 103-94 Celtics victory over the Indiana Pacers last night, concluding that the first half was a stinkbomb worthy of the quote "Happy Birthday, Jesus. Here's crap!" (thank you, Norm MacDonald) whereas Boston was back in the saddle to lay a righteous smackdown on Indiana. A couple calls were taken from the usual suspects and a wide variety of topics were discussed, including Tony Allen's future prospects with the team, why Nate Nobinson is a bad fit in Beantown and how Festivus is relevant to the NBA. The upcoming Christmas Day game against the Orlando Magic was also previewed indetail, including the prediction that the Magic's new superstar would eventually morph back into "Vince being Vince".

Kelly "The Cobra" Dwyer from the Yahoo Sports Blog, Ball Don't Lie, joined Celtics Stuff Live to look around the league and provide a national perspective on our hometown Celtics. Kelly is wearing his CSL nickname with pride and put Celtic fans fears to rest in terms of the recent officiating, stating that Bill Kennedy could have Lakers bedsheets for all he knows, but that it is unlikely to be a major factor in the outcome of the season over the long haul. We picked up from last week's interview and asked if Paul Pierce deserved MVP consideration for his unselfish play this year (commonly felt to be the best of his career in these parts) and Kelly did not feel that Paul was at the top of his list. Kelly felt that Boston still has a lot to prove and should be motivated for the Christmas day bout against Orlando. His sense was that Orlando did not have that same sense of urgency, which might result in a C's victory on the upcoming ABC holiday broadcast. In ranking the eastern contenders, he has Boston, Orlando, and Cleveland in that order but reminded that a lot can change between now and April. He felt that Cleveland should put Lebron at the 4 and use Lebron to push the tempo more often to help pull that team together, and that possibly they had missed a window of opportunity in losing to Orlando last season in the ECF's. We also previewed the February trade deadline and the impact this summer's impending free agency bonanza might have on a potentially bizarre outcome. Join us on Tuesday night after the game against the Pacers for the Gold Rarities Postgame Show!

Join us tonight after the game against the Grizzlies!A tough battle against one of the NBA's up and coming teams in the Memphis Grizzlies was almost too much for the Celtics tonight, but thankfully they were up to the task with a 110-105 win. Rajon Rondo's 18 points and 9 assists set the stage for yet another well rounded offensive effort, but the inability for the Celtics' perimeter defense to keep Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, and Co. in front of them put Boston's bigs in early foul trouble and wreaked havoc. Kevin Henkin joined Jon Duke to chat about tonight's game, the unpredictability of what Tony Allen will do on a given trip down the court, Lester Hudson's future trip to the Pine Tree State, and Lebron's Front Running Turds Cavs. Also, Sean Grande contacted us today to let us know that the barbeque at Miss Polly's Soul City Cafe was great and Grande Approved. So there ya go. When you're down in Memphis tell Miss Polly that Sean sent ya!

Celtics Stuff Live grabbed legendary Celtics play by play man, Mike Gorman, before hitting the sights and sounds of Beale Street as the Celtics prepared to face the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. Since Mike had not been on the program since Training Camp, Jon and Justin took a look back through the early weeks of this season and caputred Mike's opinions on the Celtics turnaround. In particular, talk zeroed in on the play of Eddie House and his increased and amended role in the aftermath of Marquise Daniels thumb injury. Justin had a few opportunities to bask in the strong glow of Kendrick Perkins' great start and you can imagine Jon's thoughts as Mike effusively praised a certain former Kentucky point guard. Just before wrapping up the show, Jon asked Mike his thoughts on Lebron James' "RiverdanceGate" and his response was two fold: it was "immature" and the Cavs are beatable. Sounds good in this corner.

A very entertaining, though a tad frustrating, contest against the Wizards turned into a win for the Celtics this evening, but the real story was Wolf Blitzer's mind numbing tweets from courtside. Jon spent a fair amount of the game parrying tweets with the CNN's newsman (@wolfblitzercnn), while Justin tried to talk basketball strategy. How ridiculous! In all seriousness, Jon, Justin, and Kevin got into some of the Tim Donaghy interview with "The Scottsman" and made a plea for Bill Walker to get some of the minutes Marquise Daniels will be relinquishing during his convalescence from thumb surgery.

The Head Coach of the Maine Red Claws, Austin Ainge, joined CSL to check in following the Red Claws home opener in Portland on Friday night, and one would imagine Ainge has to be feeling very good about a 4-1 start to his coaching career. Jon, Justin, and Kevin asked Austin about his early season goals for himself and the team, how he has adjusted to the addition of very talented players following his team's training camp, and his reaction to the sold out Portland Expo crowd at Friday night's contest.

Following a very nice win against another championship caliber team in the San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics continued to make headway toward returning to their early season form. However, significant deficiencies on the boards came to light thanks to DaJuan "I have no ACLs" Blair, and the second unit, in general, struggled to find any sort of rhythm against the quicker and more athletic 2nd unit Spurs. Jon, Justin and Kevin had a handful of callers ranging from new regular caller KWAPT to a new caller "Sam in San Diego" to our old friend "Mike from Melbourne" and thats the real Melbourne, not that faux Melborne, FL buisness.

Paul Flannery of WEEI.com came aboard and ran down where this team has been and where they might be heading. Paul and the CSL guy spent a lot of time talking about the Celtics wings from Paul Pierce's stupendous early efforts this season to Tony Allen's ability to help this squad (yes, that Tony Allen) to what chances exist Danny Ainge trades Ray Allen this season. As Paul's time on the show wrapped, he and Jon spent a fair amount of time taking turns being even bigger fans of Rajon Rondo.