Boston Celtics Rebuilding Plan, Version 4.9.2.4824...
Let me begin by saying one thing: I'm not much for using my imagination any more than I have to. I prefer to have things cut and dried, laid out before me. I choose what I like or don't like, and that's that.
Which is why last night's NBA draft threw me a complete curveball. For the past week or so, all Celtics' fans have heard about was "We're getting KG... no, Marion... no, Jermaine O'Neal... wait, maybe Kobe?" Then, for awhile, it looked like the C's were going to package Paul Pierce up and start from scratch. Again. Which probably would have made me cut the last shred of a tie that I have with the team.
Then came yesterday. The news started crawling along that a package was in the works with Seattle, basically centering around Ray Allen for the #5 overall pick in the draft, with contracts to be added. When I first heard about it, I was not a fan. Ray Allen, though a great scorer when his shot is on, is essentially a better outside shooting version of Paul Pierce, or worse yet, Antoine Walker. Plus, he's coming off of double-ankle surgery this offseason - not exactly a gold star for someone who relies on a jump shot. And naturally, he's on a max contract.
Not to mention my assumption that any trade offer for a guy with Allen's reputation would probably have to include either Gerald Green, Al Jefferson or the only real trading chip the C's had, Theo Ratliff's contract.
But then the reports started trickling in - Ray Allen and the Sonics' 2nd round pick for the #5, Delonte West and Wally Szcerbiak's yearly knee injury. Well hey now, that's a whole different story. Somehow, Danny Ainge managed to pull off what, on the surface, looks like a no-brainer trade. They gave away a the #5 draft pick in a 2-man draft (3 if you count Horford), a 1/2 hybrid player in WEst who, though he improved immensly last year, will probably never be able to handle PG or SG duties exclusively in the NBA, and a major contract for a very good shooter who can't play defense or stay on the floor.
What they got in return was a major contract for a very good shooter who can't play defense or stay on the floor and a hugely underrated big man in the second round ("Big Baby" Davis), assuming he can get his weight in check. Plus, Davis should have a chip on his shoulder, since he was expecting to go in the teens and somehow slipped to #35 overall.
Right now, the C's have an Opening Night starting five of Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Al Jefferson and either Davis or Kedrick Perkins. That's not too bad - two max veterans with something left to prove in pursuit of a ring, and a handful of very good, very affordable young guys. Plus they managed to hold on to their only real tradeable contract, and the player with the most "Imagination potential" in Gerald Green.
Sure, they might give up 115 points a night, since Ray Allen has never played defense well, and Paul Pierce has slipped lately (in fact, that could be a real problem since players will drive the lane and draw contact calls on Jefferson, Perkins and Davis), but if they can score 120, the numbers will even out.
They probably don't win the East next year - I'll settle for an Atlantic Division title and a Top-4 playoff seed, preferrably advancing at least one round. But they just got a hell of a lot better than the team that was desperate to land a top-2 draft pick three months ago.
Lata.
Labels: Celtics, Draft, NBA, NBA Draft, Playoffs here we come, Trade
Thoughts on copyright infringement
Is it technically plagiarism if you're copying yourself? I don't know. That's one of those philosophical questions that can never be answered like "If a tree falls in the woods and squashes a squirrel, but no one is around to hear the thing get splattered, does it make a sound", or "If a pitcher stands on the mound but refuses to throw the ball, how does the game progress?" (Thanks for that one Matt)...
Anyway, this is a direct copy from my "
Personal Blog" a couple days ago. Thought it was relevant here too:
/begin personal plagiarism
June 25th, 2007: "...For those of you that know me fairly well, you know that back in the Summer of 2005 I created a "World Series Tribute Video" for the '04 Red Sox. I made a DVD out of it, posted it on my personal website, and also put it up on YouTube. As of this past weekend, it had gotten over 50,000 page views, was listed as a favorite video by over 500 users, and had been linked to in over 150 other websites (mostly MySpace, but not all).
I'd post a YouTube link to it for everyone to enjoy (for the first time, or all over again), but there's a slight problem. This morning, I opened
my Gmail account, and found the following e-mail from the good people at YouTube:
Subject - Video Removed: Copyright InfringementDear Member:This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by MLB Advanced Media claiming that this material is infringing:2004 World Series Champions Tribute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDc_AZ7WCPU (That link obviously no longer works)Please Note: Repeat incidents of copyright infringement will result in the deletion of your account and all videos uploaded to that account. In order to avoid future strikes against your account, please delete any videos to which you do not own the rights, and refrain from uploading additional videos that infringe on the copyrights of others. For more information about YouTube's copyright policy, please read the Copyright Tips guide.If you elect to send us a counter notice, please go to our Help Center to access the instructions.Be aware that there may be adverse legal consequences in your country if you make a false or bad faith allegation of copyright infringement by using this process.Sincerely,YouTube, Inc.Now, when I made the video, I made very certain to list all of the sources from which I culled still photos, audio & video clips, and listed all of the information in the video itself at the end - you know, where the credits for most videos are found. I thought this would be sufficient to make sure that everyone knew that I had taken none of the photos, filmed none of the video, and recorded none of the audio myself, but had instead compiled other people's work into my own video. The key is, I made very sure to give credit to the original owners - I even put "Credit Where Credit Is Due" as the title of my end credits. Not to mention I wasn't selling the video for any type of monetary gain - it was posted freely for anyone to watch and enjoy without cost.
I'm no copyright lawyer, but I truly thought I was covered. Guess not. Meh. If you want to see the video (it's about thirteen-and-a-half minutes long), leave a comment or
send an e-mail and I'll direct you to where you can find it. All I ask is that you save it to your computer and don't stream it from my webserver - it will kill the bandwidth and make my web host extremely unhappy. Oh, and that if you repost it or show other people, you tell them where it came from. Who knows - maybe I'll get an offer from Hollywood!..."
/end personal plagiarism
As for sports updates, I think I'll try to get on here tomorrow with some thoughts about the NBA Draft (!?!?) and all the trade rumors heading up to it. Looks like my "
Random Trade Rumor" might actually happen now, or something close to it...
Lata.
Labels: copyright infringement, NBA Draft, plagiarism, Trade Rumors, Youtube
