For the first time ever, I'll be forced to root for the Celtics
JJ and Smooge spoke with the press together outside of Boston about playing together again and looking ahead to next season. There were a few interesting tidbits I took from the presser.
-Since the Celtics have more retired numbers than any team in the league, the former #25 & #33 don't have a ton of options for next season.
-JJ will be number 12 to honor his Mom who wore that number in high school.
-Moore will sport 55...as he used to be a fan of Jason Williams a few years ago. But a few people on the message board think it's more because he was #22 in HS and #33 in college (add 'em up, Einstein).
-The two didn't have any tryouts together prior to the draft in spite of both making multiple stops at common teams.
JJ will learn under the capable, but aging (he's 35), Kevin Garnett...and Moore will will have to fight and scratch and claw his way onto the roster...but we all know what he's capable of. And in my opinion, he's always reminded me of Ben Gordon who surprised a few people a few years ago by making noise for the Bulls early in his career.
Keady Court Revamp
Back when I was at Purdue in the mid/late 90s, I had a chance to play on Mackey's hardwood a few times...and I was simply amazed at how many deadspots the old wood surface had. A few years later, the athletic department replaced the wood and gave the court a new paint job...a few years after that, it was re-named Keady Court.
Due to the sheer pounding college courts take, they need to be replaced every 10 or 15 years, so a change was imminent. But, hard rain and on-going construction have combined to form a destructive force that sped up the replacement calendar for Keady Court.
A concept of something I'd like to see on the new surface
Looking Ahead
This summer has gone pretty slowly (from a sports standpoint). The Indy Car season, paltry recruiting morsels and classic games on different networks can only tide us over so long...so in the coming weeks we'll take a look at Hope's squad...what to look forward to, what has us concerned and what flat-out scares us to death.
Stay tuned.