Boston Celtics 2018-19

Preview

After a 55-27 regular season finish and a heartbreaking game 7 ECF loss to future Lakers forward LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics look to recover post a season full of overachievements & injuries.

Teams to Look Out For

In the East the Boston Celtics’ biggest threats (as of August 9, 2018) include:

Toronto Raptors, who flipped one of their all-time franchise players in DeMar DeRozan, who once again performed rather poorly in the playoffs, for a disgruntled superstar out of San Antonio in Kawhi Leonard, packaged with a solid 3-and-D player in Danny Green. These two paired with English sophomore OG Anunoby and Congolese veteran Serge Ibaka, have the potential to cause significant problems for the Boston Celtics on the offensive side of the ball. This isn’t necessarily to say that the Celtics don’t have a defensive stud themselves in Marcus Smart, who just signed an extension for 4yrs/$52m (total), and leads the Celtics in DWS (Defensive Win Shares) with .056, followed by Jaylen Brown (.054), Jayson Tatum (.053), and Al Horford (.052), according to NBA.com.

Philadelphia 76ers, who went 52-30, having their first season over .500 since the 2004-05 season with Allen Iverson leading the way, and their first season winning 50 games since 2000-01. That being said, they will be bringing back Markelle Fultz, who suffered Broken Jumpshot Syndrome over the entirety of the 2017-18 season, and is ready to comeback for a strong sophomore(ish) season. With additions such as former Nuggets veteran Wilson Chandler, as well as acquiring rookies Landry Shamet and Zhaire Smith in the draft.

The 76ers combination of skilled playmaking, shooting, and just all-around versatility could be a headache for the Boston Celtics defensively, combine that with the defensive prowess of Joel Embiid and Robert Covington, the 76ers definitely will test the C’s depth and coaching for this upcoming season.

Indiana Pacers, who, after trading dissatisfied All-Star to the OKC Thunder to play along side Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony in the western conference, added what would become not only the Most Improved Player, but also would average first-class stats of 23/5/4 and nearly 40.0% from downtown. Couple this with the addition of 20-point scorer Tyreke Evans, who realized his finest season since his rookie year, if the Celtics don’t perform on the defensive end like the team that was 3rd in least PAPG, they could really have trouble with them once they get to the rim.

Key Additions

Robert Williams III: An undersized, but nonetheless effective rim-roller and solid defensive big. Acquired at the draft, the 6’9”, Williams III will unquivocally have something to prove after dropping from a potential lottery pick to going #27, nearly out of the first round altogether, possibly because of work ethic issues, combined with his lack of size, something that will likely be more exposed at the NBA level. Despite this, I believe the 20-year-old center will have a solid season, and certainly career under Brad Stevens’ coaching, though we haven’t seen him since play extensive minutes since college, considering he was injured during his 1st summer league showing.

Gordon Hayward: Okay, I’m probably cheating here, as Hayward played 5 minutes in the first game before his leg just said ‘we’re not doing this again’ when trying to catch an alley-oop from Kyrie Irving, also his first game as a member of the Celtics. Ergo, I am including him on this list. Hayward is a 6’8” scoring machine, with a great combination of athleticism, shooting, and defense. Gordon Hayward, in his last full season, averaged 22/3/5 on 53% effective FG% with the Jazz, I forsee him making only his 2nd All-Star appearance in 2019 (if he can remain healthy, a question for many players in the NBA, in general), pairing his best season with the aforementioned 2017 one.

Key Losses

Greg Monroe: Not a ton to say here, though Monroe’s loss isn’t defined as necessarily desolating to the team, or anything quite to that impact, Monroe was still a solid bench piece on the offensive side of the ball, contributing decent post play and playmaking abilities, though was a certain liability on the defensive end, and provided no true spacing whatsoever. At only 28 years of age, a somehow aging Monroe had played for 3 teams (Bucks, Suns, Celtics) in 2018, and signed for a 1yr/$2.1m deal with the Toronto Raptors up north, who will be, say, a differing piece to the Raptors’ defensive-minded puzzle.

Conclusion

The Boston Celtics seem primed to not only improve their win/loss record, but are also the favorites to make it out of the East this upcoming season, considering LeBron James moved into the Western conference, after 8 straight finals appearances. This season is ring or bust, or at least finals or bust, as star PG Kyrie Irving is set to become a free agent in the summer of 2019, and with many reports circulating that Irving plans to, along with Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler, sign with the up-and-coming New York Knicks, and pair with Kristaps Porzingis, even more emphisizing, this could be one of the most influential Boston Celtic seasons in a very long time.

Painting of The Day "Arum Lily"

Arum Lily

The Arum Lily is the first in a series of floweral paintings that i intend to paint. 



Red Barn in Autumn

Red Barn in Autumn was done in water colour, it was my first painting on canvas.

Painting of The Day

 

Red Barn in Winter

Red Barn in Winter is a commissioned oil painting, however prints are available in different sizes by clicking on the link in the upper left corner.



Painting of The Day

On The Green

 On The Green is an extension of Dream Field ,I wanted to add some depth to the middle ground, so I added mountain peaks rising above the clouds. It gives me the feeling of been on the green, hence the name.


                                                                                 

                                                                              

Painting of the Day

                                                     Painted this landscape for a friend .











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Theoryof Evolution vs The second Law of Thermodynamics.

The theory of evolution verses the second law of thermodynamics.

The theory of evolution states that all life started spontaneously in one direction through a process of variation and natural selection, that is, over time a simple form of life will evolve into one that is irreducible and complex.  The second law of thermodynamics states, that for any natural process that occurs in an isolated system, the final state of the system is more disordered than the initial state. What is important here is the direction of the process. Each process points in the opposite direction and is considered irreversible, hence the term ‘irreducible complexity’, and increase randomness. Entropy is quantitative measure of randomness or disorder and the total entropy of the universe increases in the same direction over time. It increases.  The second law is also a statement of impossibility, meaning that, it is impossible for any spontaneous natural process to proceed in the opposite direction, from disordered to ordered.  At the same time there is no denying irreducible complexity, the eye, ear, brain and also species found at the microscopic levels are examples of irreducible complexity. How is this possible? Can nature through variation and natural selection assemble itself? Can nature violate its own laws? Or is this a process of purpose, designed by intelligence leading to specification?

We can see the effects of the second law in our every day lives, both socially and physically. Consider the following processes, old houses, marriages, heat flow, and a new deck of card. My experience with an old house shows me that, its present state is worse now than before, it randomly deteriorated over time. As a result of this, I’m constantly working on it, doing repairs to restore some order and keeping it from falling apart. This effect can be observed in all material objects, without maintenance it deteriorates, well man made objects, even the atom does. Assuming that all marriages started out as a perfect union, then why does fifty percent end in divorce? This breakdown can be explained using the second law of thermodynamics, over time couples drift part proceeding to a lower state in the relationship, sometime to a state of irreconcilable differences. It can also argue that even at the coming together of the union, the total entropy increases because two systems coming together increases its total entropy.   Only unions where both parties are willing to work together will survive the effects of the second law and restore order.

Consider a new deck of cards that is sorted out by suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades) and number. Shuffling the cards increases its disorder into a random arrangement, shuffling the cards back into its original order is highly unlikely, however someone who understands the information on the card could put them back in the correct order, suit and number. Also consider two particles moving in a uniform and organized motion towards each other, assuming they have an inelastic collision, the ordered motion is then transformed into random motion, from an orderly state to a random state. Heat flows in one direction, from a warm to a cooler source. As a result, the internal energy of the colder body, such as ice, increases and its molecules gain random motion, this water can be can be collected and be refrozen, reversing the process. What do all of these processes have in common? They have all obeyed the second law of thermodynamics, proceeding in the same direction from a higher state to one that is lower: an increase of randomness.

So what chance does evolution have in the face of the second law? The chance of nature assembling itself must be billions and billions to one, I’m not sure what the cut off point is, but it is highly improbable.  The inverse relationship between randomness and probability shows that as randomness increases probability decreases, so as randomness approaches infinity probability approaches zero.  Therefore evolution as a process of variation and natural selection spawning life into existence has zero chance, by the scientific definition, in the face of the second law.

Getting back to the earlier considerations, to prevent my old house from falling apart, I had to put some work into, a little bit of energy will restore some order. It won’t happen by itself. Also you may not be able to shuffle the cards back into its original state, but if you know about a deck of cards, you can place them in the order of suit and number, you could also collect the melted water and refreeze it. Again, what is common here is that for these processes to point in the same direction as evolution, they required work or the energy of an intervention, they cannot spontaneously reverse direction.  So it is safe to assume, that reassembling order from randomness requires work, with a purpose, to perform this task. Hence, purpose must be taken into consideration and where there is purpose you have design, where there is design, you have information and education, where you have information and education you have intelligence.

  This implies that the entire universe is a product of design, and that the only way for any spontaneous natural processes to point in the opposite direction from that of the second law, requires intervention from an outside source. So, wherever we perceive order in randomness, that is, irreducible complexities, regularities and all the laws of nature that can be formulated and theorized; the perception of order itself is recognition of intelligence and design.