Podcast: Keefe & Robb on Celtics

Rich Keefe joined the head writer for CelticsHub.com and contributor to the Daily Dime on ESPN.com, Brian Robb to discuss the Celtics. They talk the state of the C's, rehash the Perk deal, and look ahead to the playoffs.

CelticsHub.com Playoff Preview Podcast by BRobb7

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley Results

Strikeforce put together one of their best cards in organization history last night. The event featured a pair of title fights and numerous Top 10 fighters. Here is a quick look at how the action went down.

MAIN CARD:

• Champ Nick Diaz def. Paul Daley via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:57 - to retain Strikeforce welterweight title


• Champ Gilbert Melendez def. Tatsuya Kawajiri via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:14 - to retain Strikeforce lightweight title


• Gegard Mousasi and Keith Jardine fight to a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)


• Shinya Aoki def. Lyle Beerbohm via submission (neck crank) - Round 1, 1:32

UNDER CARD:

• Robert Peralta def. Hiroyuki Takaya via split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)


• Virgil Swicker def. Brett Albee via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 1:46


• Joe Duarte def. Saad Awad via submission (armbar) - Round 2, 2:45


• Herman Terrado de. A.J. Matthews via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 4:16


• Rolando Perez def. Edgar Cardenas via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)


• Casey Ryan def. Paul Song via submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 1:39

-Keefe

The (Green) Jacket

Many of you are probably in Masters pools and goodluck to you. The greatest golf tournament is well underway on Day 1 (it's 1:30 EST as I write this) yet the TV coverage does not begin for another 90 minutes. Weak.

Keep up with the guys from The Sports Brief's picks listed below...

BESSE:

Dustin Johnson

Martin Kaymer

Martin Laird

Hunter Mahan

Phil Mickelson

Nick Watney

Bubba Watson

Lee Westwood

Mark Wilson*

Tiger Woods

*May have let his boss pick a random 10th.

KEEFE:

Phil Mickelson

Tiger Woods

Lee Westwood

Martin Kaymer

Dustin Johnson

Rory McIlroy

Graeme McDowell

Bubba Watson

Ian Poulter

Matt Kuchar

NBA Awards Finalists

Before I unveil my NBA Awards for the 2010-11 season here are the finalists.

Coach of the Year:

-Doug Collins, 76ers

Did you think Philly would be the 6 seed in the East, let alone above .500? Of course you did.

-George Karl, Nuggets

Think about what George Karl has had to go through this season. Putting up with the whole will he, won’t he with his best player, only to get 80 cents on the dollar (at best), and turn it into an intriguing playoff team.

-Tom Thibodeau, Bulls

The defense-first former C’s assistant has his Bulls a top the East and fighting for the #1 overall seed heading into the playoffs. Any other year he would be a slam dunk, but Collins and Karl are stiff competition.

Defensive Player of the Year:

-Tyson Chandler, Mavericks

Much like Kevin Garnett did for the Celtics back in ’07-’08, Chandler has completely changed the defensive attitude for the Mavs this season. There’s a “D” in Dallas joke in there somewhere.

-Dwight Howard, Magic

If he wins it, he would become the 1^st player ever to be named D-Player of the Year in 3 consecutive seasons. His chances are strong, to very strong.

-Dwyane Wade, Heat

Miami was playing near .500 basketball for a good part of the beginning of the year. Their triumvirate started to get it together, having nights where they would score 90+ combined points, but perhaps the biggest change was D-Wade turning into the Glove on defense.

6^th Man of the Year:

-Jamal Crawford, Hawks

Crawford won this award last season and if he were to win it again, he would join Detlef Schrempf and Kevin McHale as the only back-to-back winners, and toss in Rickey Pierce as the only other 2-time recipient of the award.

-Lamar Odom, Lakers

Odom has basically split his time between coming off the bench and starting this season for LA. (34 starts, 42 games off the bench and counting). He probably has the biggest impact of any sub in the league.

-Jason Terry, Mavericks

JET won this award to years ago; so much the same historical significance applies from Crawford here. Terry has carved out a nice niche for himself in the NBA, great scorer off the bench. In fact he’s 2^nd on the team in scoring behind Dirk, and has allowed them to still be successful minus Caron Butler.

Rookie of the Year:

-DeMarcus Cousins, Kings

He has literally been everything the scouts thought he would be, for better or worse. 3^rd in points, 2^nd in rebounding, and 4^th in blocks among rookies, and got thrown off the team plane for fighting Donta Green and tossed out of practices for arguing with coaches. But did I mention the talent?

-Blake Griffin, Clippers

You can argue that he was technically in the league last year, but I still believe he should be eligible. He had a medical red shirt, get over it if you don’t think he’s a rookie.

-John Wall, Wizards

Terrible team, but Wall definitely showed flashes this year of why he was the #1 pick in the draft. 16.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists is nothing to sneeze at. I understand he does it in meaningless games, but those are solid numbers for anyone.

Most Improved Player Award:

-LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers

He is averaging 4 points and .6 rebounds more a game this year than last, but it’s more than just the numbers. If you watch Aldridge this year, he’s just better, no way around it. Of course I’ve always hated “Most Improved,” sounds like the guy sucked the year before. We would always make fun of the “Most Improved,” “winner” in high school and college.

-Kevin Love, Timberwolves

We all know about K-Love this year with his double-doubles and selection to the All-Star team despite being on one of the league’s worst clubs. In his 3^rd year (which would have been his senior season at UCLA), Love improved his ppg from 14 to 20.2 and his rpg from 11 to a league best 15.2. His shooting %’s are up across the board as well, making him pretty tough to beat for this “award.”

-DeMar DeRozan, Raptors

He’s also on a bad team, but DeMar improved his scoring from 8.6 points per game as a rookie to 16.8 this season. Let’s not forget he got jobbed at the dunk contest too, so maybe he deserves this as an I-O-U.

MVP:

-Kevin Durant, Thunder

The league’s leading scorer is not going to average 30 points per game like he did last season, but he deserves to be in this conversation. The Thunder are primed to host a 1^st round playoff series for the first time in franchise history.

-Dwight Howard, Magic

If there was any year for Howard to win the MVP, it’s this year. He will finish with a career high in points per game, he’s currently matching his best rebounding effort, career high in steals, all while shooting 60% from the field. Throw in adjusting to two separate supporting casts and likely another D-Player of the Year Award, and he could just do it.

-Derrick Rose, Bulls

He is about to set career highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, 3pt %, FT%, and minutes while doing it on the best team in the Eastern Conference. With all the talk about the Heat and Celtics, Derrick Rose has led his team (through injuries, see Noah, Joakim and Boozer, Carlos) to the best record, potentially in all of basketball.

Check back next week when I unveil all of the winners for these awards and many others.

-Keefe

Mullin Joins Dream Team(mates) in Hall

Former Golden State Warrior and St. John's star Chris Mullin has been named to the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2011 (along with Dennis Rodman and others.) The lefty joins 10 of his teammates from the 1992 Olympic Team.

The Dream Team or "The Greatest Team Ever Assembled For Any Sport Of All-Time," is further proving it's greatness with a ridiculous 11 out of 12 players being honored with a spot in the Hall of Fame. Just think if Shaquille O'Neal was the college kid taken instead of Christian Laettner... or if Isiah Thomas didn't get shutout by Jordan and they went with him instead of Laettner, bringing three point guards, or if they said let's get another rebounder in bring in Dennis Rodman... they could have, and really should have had 12 Hall of Famers on one team. It's the only thing the '92 Dream Team won't be able to accomplish.

Mullin may have been the last of the 11 to get in the Hall, but he was no slouch or token white guy on the team, he was 4th on the team in Barcelona scoring 12.9 points per game, behind Barkley, Jordan, and just .1 off of Malones 13 a game. Mullin led the team in 3-point shooting going 14-26 for 53.8%.

Mullin was always one of my favorite players growing up. He had a 5-year stretch with Golden State where he put up 25+ points per season. He was All-NBA 1st team in 91-92, when there was a ton of talent in the league.

He has been retired now for 10 years and I was starting to think he might not get in. But when you look back at his entire career, with Olympics (Gold in '84 & '92), and college ('85 Player of the Year) he is definitely deserving.

Congratulations Chris Mullin.

-Keefe

Keefe21 on Twitter During Wrestlemania XXVII

Follow @Keefe21 for live updates of Wrestlemania XXVII on Sunday starting at 7:00pm.

After attending the Royal Rumble a couple months back, I am on board for my first Wrestlemania in over a decade. Old faces, new faces, Snooki, whatever. I'm in.

The Rock, HHH, The Undertaker, Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels will all be involved in one way or another, so why not me? Let's do this. Follow along and interact throughout the Super Bowl of Sports Entertainment.

-Keefe

Keefe on 98.5 The Sports Hub Tonight

Rich Keefe will be hosting the DA Show tonight from 7pm-12am on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. You can listen online at www.cbsbostonsports.com. Call in at 617-779-0985 or text the show at 69985.

Topics will include: Red Sox opening day vs. Texas. Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford's Boston debuts. Jon Lester's 1st opening day start of his career. Celtics and Bruins getting closer to the playoffs and maybe even some Wrestlemania chatter.