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Celtics Champion Backs Boston’s ‘Great Hire’ Of Sam Cassell

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Celtics Champion Backs Boston’s ‘Great Hire’ Of Sam Cassell


The Boston Celtics didn’t wait too long before revamping their coaching staff ahead of next season.

Just weeks after the Miami Heat put an end to Boston’s playoff run in the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics added former guard Sam Cassell to head coach Joe Mazzulla’s staff. The flaws in Mazzulla’s coaching style were evident, most notably during the final stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs, arguably costing Boston a return to the NBA Finals. Now, with a trio of assistants reportedly out the door, joining Ime Udoka with the Houston Rockets, the C’s are under a slight rebuild on the coaching front.

Eddie House, who played alongside Cassell on Boston’s 2008 championship team, supported the team’s decision to bring the now-53-year-old on board.

“I think it’s a great hire for this reason,” Eddie House said, according to NBC Sports Boston. “He brings a sense of understanding what it takes to actually get over the hump and win the championship. And that last year he was (in Boston), he contributed to the team. But more so than that, he was very similar to what Udonis Haslem is to the Miami Heat, to where he was an ambassador of what the head coaching was saying, relaying that message down to us.”

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Cassell, who has plenty of years of playing experience in the NBA (15 years) plus the awareness of winning (three-time NBA champion), has also worked to gather plenty of coaching experience, having worked from the sidelines since first becoming an assistant for the Washington Wizards in 2009. He most recently worked under Doc Rivers’ staff with the Philadelphia 76ers (2020-23).

Having plenty of what Mazzulla lacks, adding Cassell should pay off as the Celtics have positioned themselves to work toward a response next season after miserably fumbling a clear path to the finals, falling apart against a Miami team that nearly missed playoff contention.

The dialect of being an individual who’s undergone the NBA journey, unlike Mazzulla, is a factor that House believes sits within the Celtics, while it doesn’t get vocalized.





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How to Watch: No. 14 Boston College Baseball vs No. 11 Notre Dame in ACC Tournament

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How to Watch: No. 14 Boston College Baseball vs No. 11 Notre Dame in ACC Tournament


The No. 14-seeded Boston College Eagles (26-28, 11-19 ACC) baseball team starts its run in the 2025 ACC Baseball Tournament against the No. 11-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish (32-20, 14-16 ACC) on Tuesday night. 

The Eagles are looking to bounce back and keep their season alive after a series loss to the Cal Golden Bears this weekend. Boston College dropped the opener 8-6 and finale 4-3, however took the middle game 10-9. 

The Fighting Irish are looking to continue the momentum from the weekend as it earned a series win over the Miami Hurricanes. Notre Dame won the first game 3-2 and the finale 12-2. The team dropped the middle game 15–1. 

This will be the fourth game played between the two teams this season. Earlier in the year, the pair played a three-game series from April 11-13 that Boston College won, dropping the first game 2-0 and winning the next two 6-5 and 4-3. 

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Below is all the information for the upcoming matchup. 

How to Watch: Boston College Baseball vs. Notre Dame in ACC Tournament: 

Who: Boston College Eagles and Notre Dame Fighting Irish 

When: Tuesday, May 20 at 9 p.m. ET 

Where: Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, N.C. 

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TV: ACC Network

Last Outing, Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish earned a series win over the Miami Hurricanes this weekend. Notre Dame took the opening game 3-2 and finale 12-2. The team dropped the middle game 15-1. 

Last Outing, Boston College: The Eagles suffered a series loss to the Cal Golden Bears this weekend, dropping the first game 8-6 and finale 4-3. Boston College took the middle game 10-9. 

Last Meeting: The last time these two teams met was for a series earlier in the season from April 11-13. Boston College won the set, dropping the first game 2-0 and winning the next two 6-5 and 4-3. 

2025 ACC Baseball Tournament Bracket. Photo Credit: theACC.com

theACC.com



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Alex Cora explains why Boston Red Sox’ Trevor Story has struggled

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Alex Cora explains why Boston Red Sox’ Trevor Story has struggled


BOSTON — Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story is on pace to play 151 games.

But will he hit enough to justify playing nearly every day for the rest of the season?

It hasn’t gone well for Story so far this year. Meanwhile, 22-year-old shortstop Marcelo Mayer, Baseball America‘s No. 8 overall prospect, is making a case at Triple-A Worcester with his OPS up to .819 after a slow start to the season.

Story entered Saturday with the 22nd worst OPS (.627) in the major leagues. He was batting .234 with a .276 on-base percentage and .351 slugging percentage in 44 games (181 plate appearances). He has only eight extra-base hits (six homers, two doubles).

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“Physically he feels great,” manager Alex Cora said before Boston’s game against the Braves on Saturday. “And he worked his (expletive) off in the offseason to get to this point. He wanted to play a lot of games, more than 150. And I think he’s on pace to do that. But obviously I gotta be smart, too. Not only with the production, but also the body.”

Saturday marked Story’s 45th game, the most games he has played in a season since 2022. He missed most of 2023 following elbow surgery, then was limited to 26 games last year after fracturing the glenoid bone in his left shoulder during the opening road trip.

“All the metrics, all the information that we have — the bat speed is there, his hands are where they’re supposed to be. Everything looks OK,” Cora said. “The only thing we’re not doing right now is hitting the ball forward.”

Story is the bottom 10th percentile among major league hitters in chase percentage (36.7%), strikeout percentage (30.9%), walk percentage (3.9%) and squared-up percentage (17.9%).

Cora said the Red Sox felt better about Story’s at-bats Friday when he went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the ninth. Story also has a walk and single in Saturday’s game so far.

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“Just missing his pitches,” Cora said. “That’s the bottom line. I know he’s swinging a lot but he’s getting pitches in the zone and he’s fouling them off. And after that, they (pitchers) get to work.”

Cora said Story also hasn’t taken advantage even after he gets ahead in the count.

“2-0, 3-1, misses his pitches and then they bury him,” Cora said. “Early on, he wasn’t doing that. He was actually connecting and hitting the ball hard. And lately it hasn’t happened.”

Story’s 47.8% hard hit percentage is in the 73rd percentile among major league hitters. He’s also been an above-average baserunner. But all his other advanced offensive stats on Baseball Savant are between the poor and average scale (mostly poor).

Cora said it’s important for Story to make in-game adjustments.

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 “When he’s really good, he’s hitting the fastball. We know that,” Cora said. “And one thing that he did his first year (with the Red Sox in 2022), he was driving the ball to right-center. And I always talk about hitting the ball hard the other way. And then whatever soft is in the zone, he was able to pull.”

Story has struggled mightily on fastballs this season, going 18-for-87 (.207) with a .218 slugging percentage and just one extra-base hit (double).

Story’s best years offensively were 2018-21 — and he was able to feast on fastballs each of those seasons.

vs. fastballs:

  • 2018: .306 batting average, .572 slugging percentage.
  • 2019: .298 batting average, .570 slugging percentage.
  • 2020: .304 batting average, .507 slugging percentage.
  • 2021: .273 batting average, .498 slugging percentage.

“Right now he’s fouled them (fastballs) off,” Cora said. “Yesterday was a good sign. He stayed on a good pitch by Chris (Sale). Fouled it off but he stayed with it. And then the base hit up the middle, that was good.”

As Cora mentioned, the Red Sox feel OK with Story’s bat speed — but he ranks in the 28th percentile in that category (70.6).

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Cora was asked how long the Red Sox can continue on this path with Story if he’s not producing.

“Right now, he’s not the only one struggling,” Cora said. “KC (Kristian Campbell) has struggled for 50 at-bats and we’re not talking about that. It’s a lot. Like right now, I think offensively we got some holes and it’s not because they’re bad players or bad hitters. They’re just going through a stretch right here. And we just have to get ‘em going. Start doing the little things, hit the ball the other way, get your walks. And if we start doing that as a group, we’re gonna be better.”



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Boston Celtics core should be remembered fondly after shakeup|Souichi Terada

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Boston Celtics core should be remembered fondly after shakeup|Souichi Terada


NEW YORK — The sting of this Celtics season is going to last a while, and not just because they were embarrassed by the Knicks in Game 6 to end their season. Jayson Tatum’s ruptured right Achilles tendon casts question marks on the organization going forward. Considering the C’s were already set for a transformational offseason, there’s a lot of uncertainty going forward.

But, for now, Celtics fans should reflect back on this two-year group. They were special. They accomplished their goal by winning the 2024 NBA title. They’re already immortalized for that. And, when looking back at this core, they should be remembered fondly and in a positive light.

Yes, there were frustrating moments. This probably isn’t even a conversation — at least for now — if the Celtics didn’t blow Games 1 and 2 to the Knicks. Old bad habits kicked in and the C’s didn’t look like reigning champions. That slimmed their margin for error, then once Tatum went down, this series was going to be difficult to win. Ultimately, the Celtics couldn’t accomplish their lofty goal of going back-to-back.

Most importantly, appreciate what this group did: They maximized their talent. That doesn’t always happen. There was no bickering or moaning about touches, playing time or whatever. Plenty of NBA teams are fractured because of individualistic motives. That’s part of being in the league. C’s fans are familiar with that when a promising 2018-19 season ended in a dud, also during the second round.

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There was none of that drama over the past two seasons — that should be appreciated, too. This group realized the opportunity in front of them with a loaded roster, so all they did was work toward getting better. All you can do in this league is to put yourself in a position to win, and the Celtics did that for two seasons.

“I just love playing with the guys that we have in that locker room,” Derrick White said. “Just a great group of guys that compete at a high level. Off the court, we just had a lot of fun. And I think that’s just what I’ll probably the most proud of: is just being able to say that I put on a Boston Celtics uniform with some amazing group of people.”

The Celtics weren’t perfect. They lost in the second round to a Knicks team that executed when it mattered, and for that, the C’s only have themselves to blame. Then their injury luck turned for the worst as Tatum going down like he did also took an emotional toll. But the Knicks deserved to win since that’s what they did, taking four out of six games against the heavily-favored Celtics.

So, the Celtics will process how this season went over the next few days ahead of the offseason. Then the front office will inevitably get to work, whether that’s the draft, free agency, trades or whatever tool they can muster to upgrade the roster. There will likely be departures to key guys since that’s how the salary cap works. But this group was special — Banner No. 18 is proof of that.

“I told the guys in the locker room, one of the honors of my life was to be able to coach this group of guys,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So you go down the list, every one of these guys is a champion, a warrior and they’ve done a lot of great things in this league. And it’s an honor to be able to share the locker room with them and be next to them on the court and be in the arena with them. So, I’m grateful for that.”

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