Loyal RedsArmy.com readers likely remember last year when we had two tournaments seeding top plays from each half of the season against each other. The tournament returns albeit a more condensed version this time. For the next month or so, we will have a matchup every other day at noon for everyone to vote for, eventually choosing the best play from the 2012 Celtics season. Before we get to the first matchup, let’s go over some of the logic that went behind the seeding and selections. Some great, great plays were omitted unfortunately, but I re-watched each game several times to make sure I caught the majority of the truly best plays from the season, including the playoffs.
- Plays that occur during the playoffs, especially at crucial times in the playoffs clearly carry far more importance. For example, while a three-pointer on the break capping a 15-2 run during a random Wednesday night game against the Nets is exciting, it’s not nearly as great as a single, clutch three during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
- The “HOLY SHIT DID YOU SEE THAT??!?!” factor is very important.
- I tried to limit it to a single play, but as you will see, sometimes there was a quick sequence of 2-3 plays in the span of less than a minute that just had to be there
- You’ll have roughly 48 hours to vote on each set of plays
- This bracket was decided by a committee of one: me. If you have issues with it, address them to me.
Today’s Matchup: #1 Seed: Rondo’s Sick Spinning Pass vs Warriors vs. #32 Seed: Bass’ Heads-Up Steal @ LA Lakers
#1 Seed: Rondo’s Sick Spinning Pass vs Warriors: In the midst of a season-long west coast road trip, Rajon Rondo executed perhaps one of the most amazing plays of the entire NBA season, let alone the Celtics season. As he gets into the lane, he spins and tosses a perfect around-the-back pass out to Ray Allen who drills a three-pointer. Obviously Ray helps make this play by hitting the three which is an ironic microcosm of their reported in-the-locker-room turmoil. Throughout their 5 years together here, Rondo and Ray have been involved in so many of these type of plays. Their play on the court never suffered from their apparent head-butting off of it, and they often gave us so many memorable moments. This one is a perfect way to symbolize that.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igFInByVs_o]
#32 Seed: Bass’ Heads-Up Steal @ LA Lakers: After winning 6 of their last 7 games following the All-Star break, the Celtics were trying to salvage a terrible start to the lockout shortened season. Although they were playing well, most still wanted Ainge to blow the team up. The long west coast trip would be a great litmus test for the C’s and what better exam to take than against the biggest rival in the league, the Los Angeles Lakers. LA is always a tough matchup for the C’s, especially with their huge advantage with bigs. It was the toughest test for KG’s newly adopted spot at center as he struggled with Andrew Bynum most of the afternoon. Brandon Bass played an excellent game, save for his final missed jumper that would have given them a late lead (he had barely missed all day prior to that). However, his heads-up steal on this inbounds pass and subsequent pass to Rondo for the lay-up was a great way to continue the second half as well as they ended the first half. So it’s not quite Bird-to-DJ, but these plays are always impressive, showing hustle and effort. Oh and it doesn’t hurt that it came against the hated Lakers.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaODhg1yQqw]
Rondo’s Pass vs Warriors or Bass’ Steal @ LAL?
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<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6443432/”>Rondo’s Pass vs Warriors or Bass’ Steal vs LAL?</a>
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