Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying a good morning dump.
“Today was a good day,” [Tony Allen] said. “I just want to see how my ankle responds. If it doesn’t swell and it doesn’t ache, then I know I’m building. During training camp, during one practice, I just felt that I couldn’t even walk.
“But with the trainers and massage I’ve been able to get some good days,” Allen said. “Today was a good day. I’m good. I just want to play, get on the floor with these guys, and get on the road to (win another championship). Just watching the games I get excited.
“It’s a building experience with this obstacle that hit me - the ankle - but I’m not looking back.”
Herald: Sore Marquis Daniels to sit out for Celtics
I'm trying to convince myself that Tony Allen will come in and help. I'm not going to get into a big analysis because (a) that's been done to death and (b) that's not going to change what people say about him in the comments. Theoretically, he should be able to provide what Marquis Daniels does.
Theoretically.
The only things I would say is don't expect much out of him early on. He's going to struggle... maybe more than you expect. He hasn't played in a while. So if you expect bad out of Tony Allen... then he's going to be worse than that. At least to start. I hope.
Thanks "Nolan Ryan Rondo" for nearly ripping Quis' thumb off with a pass.
Up next, Page 2... where Tim Donaghy acting alone is worse for the NBA than the alternative
"You told the FBI, this is a quote, 'You don't realize how easy this was for me knowing what I knew,'" Simon said. "What exactly did you know?"
"I knew that there were certain relationships that existed between referees and players, referees and coaches, and referees and owners that influence the point spreads in games," Donaghy explained.
60 Minutes: Tim Donagy's personal foul
Donaghy sounded believable to me... to a point. But that quote right there... I totally believe that. There's no doubt in my mind that it's true. Referees have biases that they build over time and they carry them in to games.
The best story was about Allen Iverson... after he threatened a referee and got fined but not suspended. Donaghy and crew decided to teach him a lesson. It was a concerted effort to have every marginal call go against him. He got murdered on his way to the basket and got nothing. Denver lost the game. Donaghy, of course, won his bet against the Nuggets.
Was Donaghy alone in his gambling? The NBA and the FBI say he was... as hard as that might be to believe. But listening to him last night... I can see how he'd be able to do it alone... which might be even worse for the NBA than a full-scale effort. At least with that, you can say people conspired to influence games that otherwise were on the up-and-up. But with Donaghy, he took advantage of biases that already exist. The system is already broken enough to the point where one guy can take advantage of it. That needs more fixing than any group of corrupt referees would.
The rest of the links:
Globe: Daniels will sit | Cheap talk | CSNNE: C's grade out well | South Coast Today: Celts get good lessons from the road, no matter the foes | CelticsBlog: Answering the Twitter mailbag
