Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“[Rondo] lets us know that anything is possible,” said Bradley. “If we come out strong [in the second half of the season], we have a chance to break off a run and win eight games straight if we play harder than everybody else.”
Is this true, captain?
“We have an easy month [of February] as far as scheduling wise,” said Rondo. “I think we only play 11 games this month of February. A lot of winnable games, so I don’t think we could use the excuse of beating ourselves anymore. I think we need to come out and execute and try to get some wins. We’re not too far out of the playoffs. Keep hope alive.”
Yep, Rondo is invoking Jesse Jackson in Boston’s playoff quest. Listen, we all know Rondo’s pretty good at numbers, he understands the long odds against his team. He also knows full well that he alone can’t rescue a flawed team.
Rondo knows that the odds of a playoff spot this season are slimmer than him losing consecutive games of Connect Four, but it’s still encouraging to see Boston’s new leader trying to rally the troops and keep them playing hard at a time when mounting losses might have encouraged young guys to just go through the motions the rest of the way.
Playoffs? Let’s take a closer look at the schedule in February.
Just kidding.
While it’s Rajon Rondo’s job to keep his teammates working hard, it’s my job to tell you the playoffs are not happening.
Boston sneaking into the 8th seed is as likely as me sneaking into Kate Upton’s… oh never mind.
Related: Herald – Back in form, Rondo a big boost
On Page 2, why Chris Johnson may be out of work on Thursday.
As much as the Celtics like what Johnson has done so far, there’s a very real chance his contract won’t be picked up for the rest of the year when his current 10-day deal expires on Thursday.
You can count Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, among those pleased with Johnson’s play with the Celtics.
“But it’s a complicated time of the year for us with the trade deadline coming up,” Ainge told CSNNE.com. “We like everything about Chris. We’re hoping to keep him around, but there’s a lot more that prevents that from happening or could prevent that from happening.”
The Celtics have maintained all season that they will not be luxury tax payers this season.
Boston is around $2 million below the $71.7 million luxury tax line now. And while signing Johnson wouldn’t put them past that threshold, it would significantly cut into their already-limited flexibility if they were to engineer a trade between now and the Feb. 20 trade deadline.
If the Celtics stand pat or do little at the trade deadline, Boston may look to sign Johnson for the remainder of the season after the Feb. 20 trade deadline passes. But until then, Johnson will continue to work at making the most of his time with the Celtics.
I’d like to believe the Celtics could let Johnson’s deal expire and re-sign him once the trade deadline dust clears, but it’s highly possible another team will snatch the high energy swingman.
And finally, Vitor Faverani delivers a facial in Maine.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgpUGuC7Nfc]Vitor like dunk.
The rest of the links:
Globe – Celtics still have many questions to answer | CSNNE – Green not suited for current Cs role | Bass still doing his thing for Celtics | ESPN Boston – Bradley diary: SB and more | Power rankings: Cs drop to 27
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