Cinco de Hose-O

Ok, so what if Richie showed up in a Gerald Green jersey to our lottery selection BBQ last night. And who cares that the first words out of his mouth upon arrival were "Watch, they'll probably get the 5th pick because I'm wearing this jersey." (for those who don't know, Gerald is #5 for the C's) And what of it that I didn't change my universal password of celtics05 before last night's ping-pong ball parade. It didn't really have an effect on the Green picking up the (gulp) fifth pick in the upcoming draft...did it?

I think the best quote from last night came from Russell, who said "Dammit, I was really excited about becoming a C's fan, too." Well played. There's nothing good that will come out of this occurrence, except maybe the inevitable Bill Simmons rampage that will soon hit Page 2 on ESPN.com.

The manifestation of season-long frustration unfolded in horrific fashion when the Celtics logo was so painfully unveiled as having received a pick that no one in their right mind imagined being slotted for Boston. I thought going in, worst-case scenario, we get the third pick. Even the fourth seemed remarkably unlikely. I suppose Memphis fans are singing the same tune this morning, a tune of woe and disgrace. All I've heard on the radio thus far today is about the supposed justice that was served in the lottery because the Grizzlies and the C's both tried to lose games to ensure they had the most balls in the lottery. Whether or not that's true, it makes no difference to me. The Celtics franchise took another step backwards with this turn of events.

This year's NBA draft promises to be one of deep proportions, with several top-tier college players coming out. The truth is, no one has the foggiest idea about how deep it really is or will be. It's not even guaranteed that Oden and Durant will be superstars. What is guaranteed is that those two guys are marketable athletes that will bring people to Portland and Seattle, two markets that could really use a lift as well. Seattle might not even have the Sonics for much longer since they can't build a new arena. It is justice for those two cities that they have the first two picks in this year's draft and could possibly drastically improve their teams in quick fashion. I cannot make sense of what the Celtics can do with that 5th pick.

The problem is the fact that, of the most talented players that are likely to be available at that 5th slot, there's nothing the the C's truly need, which is a legit post man. Most likely, you're looking at someone like a Corey Brewer or Al Horford. Horford player the 4 or 5 at time at Florida, but he's undersized to be a true big man at the pro level. Brewer is an athlete, a swingman and a scorer. Sound familiar? Mhm. We've got those guys in Paul Pierce and Gerald Green and there's no room on the roster for another one unless we dump either Paul or Gerald...which could end up happening. But again, we don't need that type of player. If this were the NFL, we'd be taking one of those two because they're the best available. The other big men in the draft are Joakim Noah, YI Jianlian, Roy Hibbert, Spencer Hawes and a few others that fall into the upper tier of centers and power forwards. Hawes is the best of these guys and Hibbert is close behind. Jianlian is a huge question mark and more of an outside guy and Noah isn't big enough up top to be effective in the NBA. I guess I can see Hibbert in a C's uniform and he might be my favorite guy in this draft. He's a very quick learner with a high basketball IQ and good fundamentals. But he's just not the athlete that Oden is, so he's more of a middle round kind of pick. But he might be necessary for the C's at 5 in my opinion.

We'll see what happens. Maybe they'll package some of our top guys together with the 5th pick to get a lower pick and a big name, superstar player to play with Pierce. Maybe they'll just trade down and get more picks. Who knows. The only certainty is that Boston fans like myself will be scratching our heads and envying Portland and Seattle for a while to come.

On a brighter note, the Sox buried the Yanks last night at Ruth's house. I absolutely love when Manny hits one of those home runs that cause Joe Castiglione to convulse and get overly excited. Manny's three-run shot in the first was a no-doubter and both Castiglione and the YES network play-by-play announcer called it as such, saying it was gone as soon as he hit the ball. Awesome. Mussina got booed, A-Rod made another glove-slap-like move when he elbowed Pedroia trying to break up a double play and Tavarez pitched really well for being our 5th starter. It was a nice win, and it sets up a very important rubber game tonight that I will be glued to. A-Rod will probably get drilled by Schilling. The Yankees REALLY need to win this game to avoid losing another series, and Torre REALLY needs to win this game to perhaps save his job. The Sox, on the other hand, need to win to keep the Yanks down and closer to out. 11.5 games back would be great, but moreover, all the turmoil that would result from a Yankee loss tonight would be far more valuable. I think tonight will be a lot closer than the last two games and it should be a very fun game to watch.

To conclude, I encourage all of you to print out some stories about the lottery last night, especially those highlighting the demise of Memphis and Boston. Read them, process what you've read and then proceed to the bathroom and wipe your ass with the pieces of paper. Might as well continue to smear shit on the Celtics' franchise and all that surrounds it.