"Never Could Do It Pruitt" Joins Maine Red Claws

Former Boston Celtics guard Gabriel Michael "Gabe" Pruitt is returning to New England to recapture his former...uhh..his former...ummm...ahhh, that is, his former...proximity, yeah, that's it...Proximity...joining the NBA Developmental League's Maine Red Claws following a trade from his former team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. 

A 2nd round pick by the Celtics in the 2007 draft, "That's-Not-How-We-Do-It, Pruitt" was a minor disappointment for the team during his brief stay. I say "minor" because there weren't really any great expectations placed on the former University of Southern California player by the Celtics, who at the time were in desperate need for even a just-slightly-competent playmaker/shooter. Instead, despite numerous opportunities and resulting boneheaded decisions both on and off the court (see the 3am DUI he received out in L.A.), the Celtics were treated to averages of 2 points per game on .321 shooting (.283 from Threeland), and 0.8 assists over 62 games at 7.4 minutes a clip. 


"You only get THIS many chances, Gabe!!"

Eventually passing the point of desperation into Marburyation, the Celtics parted ways with their unsharpened point, but not before "Made-In-The-Shade-Gabe" blissfully rode the bench to an NBA Championship ring with the 2008 Celtics.

Only catching brief glimpses of the NBA life following his cut from the C's, "Aww-Screw-It Pruitt" found a home with the NBADL, most recently with the Sioux Falls Skyforce for whom he was averaging a Jordan-esque (noooo, not Michael Jordan...Jordan Eglseder ) 6.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per-game in 21.7 minutes.

The NBADL described the deal to bring the former Celtics guard to the Claws and send forward James Mays to the Skyforce as a "Blockbuster," but I'm trying to decide whether they mean that James is a building "block" and "Just-Get-Through-It Pruitt" is a "buster," or the NBADL is just really hurting for some kind of news. ANY kind of news.

Now, if you think I'm being a little too hard on a former Greenteamer (a shallow and reportedly cocky-beyond-his-talent Greenteamer, though he may be), allow me to bring in another "raving fan" to help me rest my defense.

The Boston Globe summed up "I-Need-A-Babe Gabe's" questionable character thusly:

"It's fair to say Gabe Pruitt didn't distinguish himself as a member of the Celtics, and he isn't winning many fans with his boorish behavior on "Bad Girls Club." Pruitt, whom the Celts wisely cut before the season, appeared on this week's episode and was even more obnoxious, if that's possible, than the stars of the show."
 

-- Boston Globe, 2010, The Names Blog

For the...ahhh, shall we say less-than-charming details about "Gameless Gabe," click on the link to the full Globe story here.

In any case...welcome back to New England, Gabe...I guess.

Melo Claws His Way To Absolutely Fab-ulous Night

Well, it certainly has been too long since our last update on the "Claws. I blame that on the fact that there was an abundance of Celtics news recently and the fact that I am completely full of sh**.

No, I have shirked my duty as a reporter of all things Celtic and let the rooks toil in obscurity (at least on this site!), but...SNAPPING SEA CRUSTACEANS!! Fab Melo has really forced the issue here!

Playing a rather innocuous game against the Erie BayHawks (6-4), the Maine Red Claws (7-4) started the game like many others...introductions, jump ball...and then IT happened. Fab Melo went crazy Bananaramas (hmmm, is there a new expression afoot?) all over the 'Hawks, recording 15 points, 16 rebounds and an epic 14 (FOURTEEN!!!) blocks!! This, needless to say, is a record for the NBADL.

Though he tried to make the 'Hawks have a Cruel Winter (nahhhh...not only not a new expression, I will heretofore pretend it never happened and strongly and aggressively deny it if ever it returns to haunt me like Jacob Marley...), but the 'Claws fell short 78-85.

I don't know about you guys, but I am waiting with some seriously baited breath for the moment when Doc proclaims, "Fab Melo's gonna win a game for us...I guarantee you that."

Oh, yeah...and the other Celtics rook Kris Joseph had a busy stat line for himself with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. Joseph is averaging a hearty 19.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists during his time up north.

Check out a brief clip, or watch the entirety of the game and check out the stats here.

Maine Claws It's Way Back From 17-point Deficit Against Canton Charge Riding The Tail Of Celtic's Joseph: 123-115

Aaaaand, the Red Claws are off and pinching!

The crusty crustaceans from Maine got off to a snappy start to the 2012-13 season, beating the Canton Charge on their home court in Ohio after rallying from a first half 17-point deficit.

Leading the way (surprise, surprise) was Boston Celtic draft pick and Syracuse alum Kris Joseph, who posted a dominant line of 28 points, 8 rebounds 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Celtics co-draftee Fab Melo checked in with 4 blocks to go along with two points in 20 minutes of play. Celtic training camp finalist Micah Downs put up 13 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Box Score

Next up, the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants.
Sunday, November 25 at 5:00 pm

You can follow the Claws live on their YouTube Channel Here, and you can download their schedule for the 2012-13 season by clicking this link.

For the official website of the NBADL Maine Red Claws, click here.

Introducing: GreenHeadz On Red Claws

I can almost see the quizzical looks on the faces of anyone reading this post (granted, that may not amount to more than two or three faces, but I digress...

"Why is this guy wasting his time writing about D-League Basketball when there are a whole slew of rumors about Marcin Gortat heating up and we have the NBA Finals runner-up Oklahoma City Thunder coming to town with our old pal Perk?

 

"Well, first of all, the speculative angle of the "Gortat Is Hot" story has been pretty(*)...well(*)...covered(*). There's nothing more concrete to talk about until we get some actual offers being made at some point, and that doesn't look to happen before December 15th at the earliest.

Secondly, what can you say about OKC coming in to play? They're a great team and the C's are still finding themselves, though they're becoming a pretty competitive bunch by the day. It should be a good contest, provided the Guyz in Green have their respective heads on straight and aren't tripping on the tryptophan from yesterday's family festivities.

The reason that I am introducing the "GreenHeadz on Red Claws" segment is threefold:

 

1- The Celtics have two draftees on the squad (at least for now...Fab Melo may be called back sooner than later for regular minutes with the departure of this year's benchbeast Darko Milicic) and I think, as basketball fans, we might enjoy tracking the progress of two players who may play a significant role on the team in a year or two, if not sooner. Plus, Kris Joseph is pretty entertaining to watch. We also have camp invitee Micah Downs running for the Claws, so there's that.

 

2- I think the NBDL doesn't get as much attention as it should, seeing as how most NBA teams have prospects toiling away in obscurity in the hopes of making it back to the big leagues and earning some valuable playing time on the varsity team.

 

3) I love Crusher, the crustacean mascot of the Maine Red Claws, and I want to use the logo every chance I get!

Seriously, though, the intention is to shed some light on the work that Fab and Kris are doing and track their development while giving an occasional shout out to the League's official minor league outfit. You never know...you could be watching the formative steps of the next baby Stiem-Roller!

Tonight's game will feature the Maine Red Claws against the Canton Charge (of Ohio, I believe...). The game tips off at 7:30 pm and you can watch it live-streamed on youtube here.

To learn more about the Maine Red Claws, visit their home website here, and you can click to download their schedule for the 2012-13 season. And, finally, you can visit the NBADL website here to check in on the other teams that the Claws will be playing throughout the season.