Savvy Skates as B's Prepare for LA

It was a reassuring sight for Bruins fans this weekend as star center Marc Savard began skating with the team again. When talking to reporters, Savard reiterated that he still has a lot of work to do in order to get himself back up to game speed so that he can play at a high level once again. Still, seeing one of their emotional and physical leaders getting back to par with the rest of the squad is a promising development, even if it means that Peter Chiarelli will need to decide on a roster solution in the near future.

11/19 NBA Recap: GOAT Preview

Russel Westbrook put on a scoring clinic and there was anything but defense being played in the Bay Area. Here's today's NBA recap.

-The Boston Celtics were handed their third loss of the season from the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were without Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. Thunder PG Russell Westrbook put up 31 points, taking the leadership role and leading OKC to victory. Westbrook also defended hot-guard Rajon Rondo very well, containing him to a season-low 7 assists. KG also had a season-low 2 boards. Does this show signs that the Celtics aren't as good as people thought? Not at all, for two reasons: A) There are 82-games in the NBA regular season, so you won't win them all and B) We played a hot Russell Westbrook and a very good defense. Most pundits would start raising red-flags because the Thunder were Durant-less, but they also did so after the Celtics loss to Cleveland, and the Celtics are 8-2 since that game. Was the game a letdown? No doubt. But a cause for panic? Hell no.

Who Dat? The Answer

Who cashed in big on today's Who Dat? There were some solid guesses as usual, but only one person can win.

11/18 NBA Recap: Blazers Talk

Only three games from last night to talk about, so let's not doddle. Here's today's NBA recap.

- The Portland Trailblazers defeated the Denver Nuggets, despite shooting 40% from the field and missing 50% of free-throws taken. Portland made up for poor shooting with solid defense and even more solid reboudning, lead by Marcus Camby, who had 14 rebounds (but he shot 20%.) Wes Matthews also added 20 points and 10 rebounds filling in for star guard Brandon Roy. LaMarcus Aldridge also put up 10 boards and 24 points. LaMarcus Aldridge is really turning it on this season, averaging 18 points and a career-high 8 boards. Along with Camby, the Blazers have a dominant front-court. Aldridge is steadily improving on defense, while Camby has also been a defensive specialist. Add Joel Pryzbilla, another beast on the boards off the bench, they have the front-court to make a push. And no one is questioning the duo of Andre Miller and Brandon Roy in the back-court (if Roy's knees can healproperly. If not, I take evreything I wrote after this back.)

Doesn't This Motivate You?

This came in the mail for me the other day. How cool. My own Ultimate Boston t-shirt. Unfortunately, this particular design was taken down due to potential copyright violations. But guess what? I still have the shirt. The only one of this shirt in the world that exists. Granted, you can't get yourself one just like this with the athletes pictured on the shirt. But doesn't it motivate you to meander over to the UB Pro Shop and take a look at some of our sizzling sexy apparel? I know it would motivate me if I wasn't the one running the blog.

  

Who Dat? Take a Guess

What's good? There was no Who Dat yesterday, so it's time to score big today. The scoreboard is below so that you have a little added motivation. Steal the show.

Bruce	8 points
Ed B	3 points
Fitch	3 points
Magz	3 points
Enahs	2 points
Kshep	2 points
Mikey Diggs	2 points
Craig89	1 point
Hink	1 point
T-Money	1 point

Sox Conversing With Several Agents

First of all, you may notice that it has been a slow day at UB this afternoon. Only one post and no Who Dat. My apologies. Busy schedule. Still tune into the Beantown Breakdown tonight, though. Of course. Now, without further adieu...

The Sox are talking. After the recent winter meetings for general managers in Orlando, sources report that Boston has been in conversation with the agents of free agents Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, and Adrian Beltre. Crawford's agent is Greg Genske, while Werth and Beltre are both represented by Scott Boras (how does that guy handle like 500 clients in professional sports?). Additionally, reports indicate that the Red Sox have potentially been in conversation with the Arizona Diamondbacks over budding superstar outfielder Justin Upton. Any transaction, however, seems far-fetched at this stage of the offseason. Initial rumors suggested the Sox would have to give up a combination of several players, including potentially Daniel Bard and Jacoby Ellsbury. Don't get your hopes up with Upton.

Obviously, it would be nice to see the Sox bring back Beltre and still land one of the other outfielders mentioned. I won't completely dismiss the injury factor as a reason for the failure that 2010 was, but I also won't use it as an excuse. The outfield is one thing that needs to be bolstered with some star power. These guys bring it. Time to stop worrying about foreign soccer clubs and start worrying about getting this baseball team back to its former championship caliber.
 

11/17 NBA Recap: Hollinger Rant

The Celtics notched another win and two of my favorite non-Celtics players battled. Here's today's NBA recap.

- The Celtics crushed the Washington Wizards. Every single Celtics player who was dressed for the game scored at least once. The Celtics also saw Delonte West return to the team after a three-year stint away from the team. West impressed in his first game back, putting up 12 points off the bench. The Celtics shot an outstanding 65% from the field, while Washington shot 38%. it should be noted that Washington was without rookie PG John Wall.

-This was an awesome victory, to say the least. Everybody got into the action (coughdepthcough), and it seemed like the Celtics were having some fun, as Rondo alley-ooped the ball to Kevin Garnett at least 3 times in the game (Rondo had 13 assists.) This is the team I love to see; role players chipping in, centers going for each rebound with ferocity (Erden/Davis combined for 11 boards off the bench), and scoring all-around.

B's Power Past Rangers, 3-2

I mean, if Tim Thomas wants to win 91% of his games for the rest of his career, I'd be perfectly fine with that. The Bruins' early-season Vezina candidate improved his record to 10-1-0 tonight with a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

After surrendering a power play goal to Brandon Dubinsky midway through the second period, the Bruins picked up their offensive game and never let go of their grasp. Milan Lucic got Boston on the board just four minutes later when he buried a feed from Nathan Horton, beating goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in the slot. Five minutes later, it was time for our chosen rookie to shine.

Who Dat? The Answer

I'll be straight with you here. These were two tough days in a row. Eye shots were tricky. There were some great guesses. If anyone got it right, they made an impressive performance. Who, if anyone, was impressive today?