You know for a Lakers fan, Don over at With-Malice has some pretty good ideas. One of them is unsung player day. It’s a day for the guy who doesn’t get any real attention otherwise. He’s a role player who flies under the radar. Ideally, it’s a guy who gets only about 10 minutes a game, but I’m gonna bend the rules a little here to give some well deserved credit to a man who has come off the bench to flat-out carry the Celtics at times: Eddie House.
I don’t think people are purposely ignoring what Eddie has done for the Celtics this year. I think he’s a victim of circumstance. Obviously the Big 3 split a big share of the spotlight. Then Rondo gets some. And now with KG hurt, guys like Leon Powe and Glen Davis have stepped up and become big story lines.
But throughout it all, Eddie has been there, drilling three after three. He’s been unconcious. He’s never hit this many threes in his career. With the Celtics down 12 with 6 minutes to go, Eddie House banged a couple of threes to cut the lead to single digits. He hit another jumper with less than a minute to go to cut it to 2. In the overtime, when Charlotte came out and took a lead, Eddie hit another three to take that lead right back.
And that, in a nutshell, is what Eddie does for the Celtics. It almost feels like they’re never out of a game. Even if you’re down 20, Eddie can get hot, hit a few threes, and next thing you know, you’re down 11 and within striking distance. If you’re nursing a single-digit lead, Eddie turn it into a comfortable lead in just about a single minute of play.
There are 5 games left in the season, and if Eddie can just get a little bit hotter, he can replace his boss’ name in the Celtics record book. In 1986-87, Danny Ainge hit 44.3% of his three pointers. Eddie is at 43.8%. But what makes it really impressive is that Eddie is currently 139 of 317. Danny was 85 of 192.
We all know that Eddie has been awesome for the Celtics this year. He’s had some unreal games. And without him, the Celtics might have lost a few more games this year. And without him, some of the blowouts the Celtics have had would have been closer games… forcing our stars to play even more minutes. Eddie’s had a huge impact on the team this year, and he deserves much more credit than he’s getting.
Herald: Celtics center’s game Perk-olates | Bird: Ticket will get torn | Globe: Spring break for Celtics | Souza: Rondo steadying aim | CSN: Danny on Celtics Now | Cleveland Plain Dealer: No need for Cavs to worry, right? Yeah, right. | LA Times: Sky falls in Boston, no one notices | Patriot Ledger: Celtics catch a break | 76’ers clinch playoff spot | Orlando wins
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