Celtics Beat | Covering The Nba & Boston Celtics | Clns Media Network

One week to go: The Boston Celtics are entering their final week of the pre-season.  It is just the exhibition NBA season, but thus far, the Celts have looked good and the fans (those who watched) have to be pleased with what they see.  How will this translate to the regular season which begins in ten days? The returning Larry H. Russell tries to answer this question the best he can while also giving his own player outlook for this season. Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe returns to the featured guest chair once again and takes some rapid fire questions from LHR.  Questions include: What’s the best and worst case with Boston in 2017? Is there a concrete definition to what is and what is not a successful season? What are the team’s biggest and least of concerns? Which teams, save for the Cleveland Cavaliers present the most problems with the Celts in the East? With the season just days a week, LHR and Bob give an entire individual and team rundown on the coming 2016-17 NBA campaign. It’s all on this week’s Celti

Three NBA pre-season games are in the books for the Boston Celtics, and there have been some decent takeaways.  So much so that we actually have a mailbag this week on Celtics Beat.  Justin Poulin of Celtics Stuff Live, sits in this week for Larry H. Russell to discuss the opening slate of pre-season basketball. Jeff Clark, founder of CelticsBlog joins Justin in Suday’s featured segment to talk about what they’ve seen thus far in the pre-season.  Such as how the floor spacing created by Horford has really benefited Jaylen Brown and Isaiah Thomas, the battle for the final roster spot and whether or not the Celtics can beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the regular season. And that’s not all.  Justin and Bobby Manning of CelticsBlog run through the mailbag and answer (almost) all of your questions! It’s all on this week’s Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, October 9th 2016.  Po

Check off Media Day, first day of training camp and Open Practice.  The Boston Celtics are now one full week into training camp and things are beginning to take shape.  Jared Weiss, host of the Garden Report and Michael Pina of Bleacher Report discuss the entire outlook on the Celtics as we head into their first patch of pre-season games. Marcus Smart also joins the program in an exclusive interview with CelticsBlog’s Jared Weiss.  They dive deep into Smart’s work to fix his jump shot this summer and how that will change the dynamic for not just Smart himself, but the entire Celtics offense both for the starting and second units. TIMESTAMPS 4:00 Covering Kobe’s Final year 8:03 Pina on Kobe’s final game and stealing Kanye West’s spotlight 10:15 Jared discusses his interactions with KG 16:00 General state of Celtics entering season 25:45 Al Horford’s as a passing hub 33:34 Jaylen Brown’s role 41:05 Gerald Green’s role as 3 and D guy 42:40 Tyler Zeller role 46:20 Pina’s unique approach to coverage 51:00 Marcus

Every year on Celtics Beat, we delve into the history of the NBA’s most legendary franchise...the Boston Celtics! This year, during the off-season, we individually profile a player rather than a specific game.   Jo Jo White returns to the airwaves to talk about his career as a Celtic, how hard it was to come to a team that just lost Bill Russell and going about to establish its own championship pedigree of its own.  How relevant is that to today as this current group of Celtics, where after the departure of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, Boston is now clearly on a similar upward path?   And speaking of KG, it goes about saying there will be some reflection on his career following his retirement.   It’s all on this week’s Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, September 25th 2016.  Powered by CLNS Radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The end of the primer series marks the end of the NBA off-season.  With the Boston Celtics training camp set to open next week, it’s is the last show of the summer of Celtics Beat.  And we wrap up the primer series with the Atlanta Hawks with Chris Vivlamore.  There’s been a lot of talk about what the addition of Al Horford will do for the Celtics.  But what about his loss to the Hawks? That has gone under the radar, but safe to say, it won’t this week. Kevin Pelton of ESPN also returns to the airwaves.  With the conclusion of the primer series of Boston’s most relevant foes, but what about everyone else.  KP gives the rundown of the entire conference in today’s featured guest segment. It’s all on this week’s Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, September 18th 2016.  Powered by CLNS Radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NFL Kickoff Weekend means that we’re one week closer to the start of the NBA season.  And we continue our Boston Celtics primer series, this week not looking at an NBA Playoffs foe, but rather a supplier of highly valued first round selections in the NBA Draft: Our Yearly Preview of the Brooklyn Nets. Ian Eagle, Nets play-by-play announcer for the YES Network, stops by for his annual September appearance on Celtics Beat.  Brooklyn cleaned house this off-season, new GM, new coach, new players.  So, it goes without saying: How will it work out? What are the philosophies of Sean Marks and their rookie head coach Kenny Atkinson? Are they going to put an emphasis on player development and not worry about the repercussions of sending more high lottery picks Boston’s way.  And yes, we’ll do it.  Point blank: Will the Nets be the worst team in the NBA? And if not, what is their best case scenario for 2016-17? And while this is a Celtics-centric show, most are well aware of Ian’s role as one of the NFL on CBS top pl

Happy Labor Day! Summer is now officially over here on the East Coast.  The NBA season is now just weeks away and the Boston Celtics are counting down the days to training camp and the 2016-17 campaign.  And in doing so, we continue our primers of the Celtics premiere competition in the NBA’s Eastern Conference here on Celtics Beat. Stephanie Ready, color commentator for the Charlotte Hornets on FOX Sports South is first up.  The Hornets were one of the surprise teams in the league last year and are generally regarded to be one of the best coached teams in the league.  What makes this band of castaways go? Last year, they rode productive seasons from many free-agents-to-be such as Al Jefferson, Courtney Lee, Jeremy Lin, Marvin Williams and Nic Batum.  Lin, Lee and Jefferson are gone and weren’t really replaced.  Will these losses drop Charlotte from being a team to be taken seriously? And if not, how will they be replaced? Despite finishing with identical records last year, can we get Stephanie to admit that

Training camp is now less than a month away and Labor Day is next week.  The summer is winding down which means the NBA season is right around the corner.  Which gives Celtics Beat ample opportunity to preview some conference rivals for the Boston Celtics in 2016-17. Quinn Buckner, longtime NBA veteran, former Celtic, and current Indiana Pacers color commentator on FOX Sports Indiana is back on the CLNS Radio airwaves once again to give a primer on the Pacers and their off-season.  No team outside of Oakland added more talent to their roster this season than Indiana. What kind of challenges will there be to get all these pieces to mesh? What other weaknesses do the Pacers have that the Celtics could exploit? And would Paul George, being the best player in a potential playoff series, knock off teams like the Celtics and God forbid, the Cleveland Cavaliers? It doesn’t end there.  Coach Jack Armstrong of TSN also stops by to talk about the Toronto Raptors, and their quiet summer which was highlighted by retain

Turn the page: We are now well into August and everything is in the bank for the Boston Celtics and the NBA.  Last season is now last season and this past summer is now last summer.  The NBA schedule has now been released and it’s now about looking forward to the 2016-17 NBA season. Kristen Ledlow of NBAtv and Turner Sports is back on the broadcast to talk about the biggest takeaway from the new schedule: The Boston Celtics are featured on national TV 22 times.  Wow! That certainly provides plenty of discussion for the show.  Does that Al Horford addition really make that much of a difference? Can the Celtics really be considered as a (gulp!) dark-horse title contender? Kristen also gives a rundown of which games she is most looking forward to for the 2017 NBA’s regular season. It’s all on this wee’s Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, August 21st 2016.  Powered by CLNS Radi

Cherry on top: The 2016 Boston Celtics Off-Season is now likely over and the countdown to NBA Training Camp is officially on.  The Celtics had a very busy NBA Draft, made a major splash with Al Horford, almost lured Kevin Durant, and were quiet again on the trade front.  Unquestionably a better team for 2017, the Celts are rapidly rising in the NBA ranks. Austin Ainge, Boston Celtics Director of Player Personnel returns to CLNS Radio to recap the entire Off-Season with Larry H. Russell in this week’s very special Summer in Review show.  Starting from the immediate fallout of the playoff defeat, Austin provides exclusive insight into how the team planned to approach the summer then; what the brass felt would be the best pathways to immediately improve the roster while maintaining long-term flexibility. LHR and Austin review the transpirings of the summer in chronological order: Did the NBA Draft go as well as the team planned? What did they get out of it? Why weren’t the able to get any potential moves done?

Summer Forecast 2016: How much will our predictions for the 2016-17 Boston Celtics change in the immediate aftermath of their off-season until the eve of the 2017 NBA campaign at the end of October? Well, we’ll find out on episode #169 of Celtics Beat. Chris Forsberg has been conducting the Summer Forecasts with various members of the Boston media over on ESPN.com for the past six summers.  And this year, the expectations are the highest for the Celts as they have been in years. Is 50 wins the bare minimum? How many games will Boston win? Who’s starting at center on Opening Night to complete the starting five? And will that be the same come mid January? How about the back-end of the roster, who gets the final two spots? Does it matter? And how about this: Can the Boston Celtics have the #1 defense in the NBA in 2017? Find out who says Hell Yes and a whole lot more. It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network

July 31, 2007: The nine year anniversary of Kevin Garnett being traded to the Boston Celtics. Many have drawn today's date as the "line in the sand" for potential trades to occur. Today, Jimmy Toscano of the Boston Metro joins Nick Gelso to fill the host duties for Larry H. Russell. A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE is today's featured guest.  With Doc Rivers recently back in the news for his candid interview on The Vertical Podcast, Toscano, Gelso and Blakely discuss everything nostalgic from the Kevin Garnett Era, Paul Pierce retiring with the Boston Celtics.  Heck, even Dennis Johnson's name creeps into the conversation. In current Celtics news, Sherrod discusses Jae Crowder taking exception to his 2017 Free Agents Article on Twitter, who will make the roster, Marcus Smart's potential and they even go cliche and give their win predictions if the season were to start today.   It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Far

Are things beginning to quiet down? That’s been the case on Twitter.  Does that mean it is in the real world for the Boston Celtics and the rest of the NBA? CLNS Radio and Celtics Beat presents two people who may have the answers: The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach and The Vertical at Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Lee.  They’ll stop by to provide the answers to the following questions: How close are the Celts on a deal for Blake Griffin? Is Jahlil Okafor a potential option or is that just media day dreaming? While there’s seemingly zero talk for Russell Westbrook now, what about during the season when the Oklahoma City Thunder will likely struggle? And most importantly, should the Celtics bother going for it with how good the Golden State Warriors will be this season? Oh, and we have major groundbreaking roster news: Gerald Green has signed with the Celtics and Tyler Zeller is back! It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Far

The NBA off-season is still red hot, both in the rumor mill and on the court in NBA Summer League out in Las Vegas.  Are the Boston Celtics on the verge of something massive? Could their next super team feature Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook to go along with Al Horford? Who would go and who would stay on this current Celtics roster? Michael Smith, former Celtics and current Los Angeles Clippers color commentator goes over it all on the Blake Griffin trade front.  Are the Clips really interested in breaking up their team? If so, what would it cost on Boston’s end? Is it worth it for the Celts? Would a Griffin-Westbrook-Horford group be a title team? And that’s not all.  Brian Robb was in Las Vegas and chatted up with CLNS Radio’s own Jared Weiss to give the lowdown on the NBA Summer League and what to make of many of the young Celtics’ performance. It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available

Kevin Durant has spurned the Boston Celtics, dumped the Oklahoma City Thunder and has decided to join the powerhouse Golden State Warriors.  It still stings and it’s utterly flabbergasting.  How could someone be so hell-bent on taking the easy way out to win a championship and join a bitter rival to meet an end goal? Danny Leroux of realGMRadio will stop by to attempt to answer those questions.  At the very least, it should be a lot of fun.  But will it be as fun unless the Warriors come out like gangbusters next year and 2007-Patriots the league? Or will they cruise to make sure they win the NBA championship? That’s not all there.  Abby Chin of CSNNE will stop by to talk about...yes, the Boston Celtics.  They who just signed Al Horford and introduced him this past Friday afternoon.  Is the off-season still good enough for the Celts and should they be more aggressive or lay low for the next few years knowing the Dubs will likely dominate the NBA? It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to

Al Horford to the Boston Celtics - yay! Well, the big fallacy that the Celts have never signed a major free agent is over.  And it’s more than just that.  The Celts added a major piece.  How much does Horford improve the team? What kind of repercussions does it have in the rest of the Eastern Conference? And will the Celts get Kevin Durant?! Justin Poulin is up early to provide instant analysis to the mayhem. Howard Beck will also stop by for a few brief moments to rundown the rest of NBA Free Agency.  There’s a ton of money being thrown around, and outside of maybe Horford, a lot of it is on lesser players.  Will a lot of teams regret many of these players signed to these deals? What type of long term impact will it have for the NBA not just on the court, but off? Is a labor crisis looming or is the league just so healthy that nothing will stop the train from rolling along?  It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farme

Was it a clunker? There was a lot of hype and anticipation heading into the 2016 NBA Draft for the Boston Celtics, but universal sentiment has everyone from fans, media and possibly those within the organization far from enamored about the night the Celtics had back on Thursday evening.  Sure they didn’t make a big move, but what about the rest of the night? Did anything go right? Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com and NBAtv will check into Celtics Beat first to give a rundown on the six selections the Celts utilized.  Let’s cut right to the chase: What can Jaylen Brown do? Does he seriously have the highest bust potential of all the top players? How fearful should people be of his lack of production at Cal? Is he even better to last year’s top target, Justise Winslow? And what about the other players, including the three second round selections? What are their strengths and do any of them have futures in the NBA? That’s not all there.  There was plenty of fallout from the NBA Draft.  Where does Thursday leave

Double duty this week: After last week’s impromptu interview with free agent-to-be Jared Dudley, we’re going to have to double up this week on Celtics Beat with a 2016 NBA Draft Preview as well as a Boston Celtics trade primer...all in one show!   Chris Forsberg of ESPN will take care of the trade primer with LHR.  It’s all about possibilities here.  We know it’s a lock people would be more than willing to part with lottery selections for Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Love.  But what about rolling the dice on some aging and pricier players like Carmelo Anthony and Marc Gasol? And what about Jahlil Okafor? What should Boston consider in a potential package for him? And who are some other names that fans aren’t hearing about who the Celts could target beginning on Draft Night?   And FINALLY...a Draft Preview.  Nicole Auerbach of USA Today tags in after Chris to give the Celtics Beat audience an in-depth look at the college talent incoming to the NBA, running all the way down the l

There are few teams in the NBA more appealing than the Boston Celtics.  Don’t take it from us, take it from today’s featured guest. Jared Dudley, veteran NBA swingman and current free agent wants in on the Boston Celtics.  Dudley discusses the reasons as to why, from everything to the stability of the organization, to how good of a coach Brad Stevens is, and the fans of Boston.  He is talks about why his skills such as his versatility and outside shooting would help fill some deficiencies that the Celts have as of now.  Jared also believes his leadership skills and veteran presence would be essential to a young, up-and-coming team like the Celtics. He doesn’t stop there.  With the new salary cap, he won’t exactly come cheap.  Tune in to find out the price, and to also hear Jared discuss his future after the NBA, his relationship with the media, and the massive influx of analytics and advanced data into the NBA since the new decade. It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apr

Continuing in the spirit of special edition shows, this week will take an in-depth look at free agency this summer in the NBA...for the Boston Celtics of course. Sean Deveney, NBA Insider for the Sporting News is back once again for appearance number six.  He and LHR will list out what they believe are the Celts top five free agent targets this summer.  Who Boston probably wants; who they should want; who they should stay away from.  What free agents will get a deal that teams will regret some ten months from now? It’s everything and anything.  And before looking at what the Celts can add in the off-season, they first have to keep.  So what are the odds on return for Jared Sullinger, Evan Turner, Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko? What would it take to keep them? It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, June 5th 2016.  Powered by CLNS Radio. Learn