great read on celtics from Yahoo!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnPcxTcQxFET_xbAFqUjJ3q8vLYF?slug=aw-celticsheat093010


.... and im back a few days early!

Hooter,

Nice read. Wojo gets it right so often he's one of the very few writers I'll read and give the benefit of the doubt to. The rest are a bunch of pandering fawns.

I didn't realize Shaq disdains Bosh so much. Expect to see a "lay out" the first time Bosh drives to the hoop with Shaq there.

bob

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Great article. Three points, IMHBAO:

1) River's respect towards/overall down toning with Miami. What a great, smart coach!

2) Auerbach - "Fill your roster with agitators!" That one's off the charts. Red's got his eye on this year's team.

3) Slow and steady wins the race. Miami = The Hare. Celtics = Tortoise. We all know how that one turned out.

Where's my GD League Pass?!!

dbrown4 wrote:Great article. Three points, IMHBAO:

1) River's respect towards/overall down toning with Miami. What a great, smart coach!

2) Auerbach - "Fill your roster with agitators!" That one's off the charts. Red's got his eye on this year's team.

3) Slow and steady wins the race. Miami = The Hare. Celtics = Tortoise. We all know how that one turned out.

Where's my GD League Pass?!!

dbrown,

Happy, complacent players never won fair championship...

bob

.

Bob,

That's why I love the choice of Danny as GM. He's always reminded me of the perfect person to serve as a bridge to the past (60's), playing with the next great run of Celtic teams (80's) and finally to the present and future being GM. He was definitely one of Red's agitators, make no mistake about it.

I think Miami expects to win a championship. It's owed to them. Boston knows better. Knows what it takes.

dbrown4 wrote:Bob,

That's why I love the choice of Danny as GM. He's always reminded me of the perfect person to serve as a bridge to the past (60's), playing with the next great run of Celtic teams (80's) and finally to the present and future being GM. He was definitely one of Red's agitators, make no mistake about it.

I think Miami expects to win a championship. It's owed to them. Boston knows better. Knows what it takes.

dbrown,

It cracks me up when I read writers talking about Doc's frustration with Davis' comments and how Danny (of all people!) takes a "grandfatherly" approach to it.

Maybe if your grandfather was the type of guy who'd tell you to "pull his finger".

bob

.

good read - thanks, Matty. my favorite part is this: " Boston believes it can beat the Heat, and here’s the most important reason why: Everyone has been mesmerized with what they’re seeing out of Garnett. “Explosive again,” Rivers marveled.
In practice on Wednesday, the Celtics watched Garnett do things they hadn’t seen in two years. Once, he grabbed a rebound, fired the outlet pass and recovered to still beat every big man down the floor. No one witnessed that a year ago. Not once. He’s been fantastic for the Celtics and that can change everything. Boston can go back to guards Rajon Rondo and Delonte West pressuring the ball again because they know Garnett has the quickness to shadow the ball on the backline.

The Celtics believe they're equipped to challenge for another title after assembling their most talented roster in years.
The ability of Garnett to come all the way back from his knee issues of the past two years will, Rivers says, “make or break us.” "

i mean, don't you LOVE the KG news coming out everywhere this fall ? !!! recently Doc said "He's got his hops back", which we didn't see at all last year, not even in the playoffs, really. i remember lots of times he went for a lay up or tip in instead of a stuff, because he seemingly couldn't get lift. great, great news for all of us C's fans !

Michael

bigpygme wrote:good read - thanks, Matty. my favorite part is this: " Boston believes it can beat the Heat, and here’s the most important reason why: Everyone has been mesmerized with what they’re seeing out of Garnett. “Explosive again,” Rivers marveled.
In practice on Wednesday, the Celtics watched Garnett do things they hadn’t seen in two years. Once, he grabbed a rebound, fired the outlet pass and recovered to still beat every big man down the floor. No one witnessed that a year ago. Not once. He’s been fantastic for the Celtics and that can change everything. Boston can go back to guards Rajon Rondo and Delonte West pressuring the ball again because they know Garnett has the quickness to shadow the ball on the backline.

The Celtics believe they're equipped to challenge for another title after assembling their most talented roster in years.
The ability of Garnett to come all the way back from his knee issues of the past two years will, Rivers says, “make or break us.” "

i mean, don't you LOVE the KG news coming out everywhere this fall ? !!! recently Doc said "He's got his hops back", which we didn't see at all last year, not even in the playoffs, really. i remember lots of times he went for a lay up or tip in instead of a stuff, because he seemingly couldn't get lift. great, great news for all of us C's fans !

Michael

michael,

With the addition of Shaq and JO, our frontcourt has gotten almost too deep. I mean, for Pete's sake, in the second half of this season we could have JO coming off the bench as a 4!! Add to that a KG that's "got it back" and we have the best and deepest frontcourt in the league, bar none.

We're thin at 3, everybody knows that, which is why Gaffney's got a shot. Other than that, Holy Cow!

After West serves his 10 game suspension for being a meathead, we'll have the starting guard from the team with the best regular season record in the NBA just last year coming off our bench!

bob

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you are so right, bob. JO off the bench, West the Meathead off the bench - heck, we had a pretty darned good bench LAST year, lots of energy, and mostly the key pieces are back .... but now .....
it is almost an embarassment of riches, and a great great time to be a tuned-in celtics fan. bring em ALL on !!

Michael

Bob,

i can definetly see J/O being our backup at the 4, he's spent some time there in the past and i think in many ways could be more productive at the 4 than the 5 at this point anyways..

our depth,, just wow, i dont think any team can compete with our leval of depth this season, once we got perk & 'Lonte back the options we got coming off the bench are dern near limitless. I dont mind our age a bit this season as with such a large contingent of guys capable of being productive members of the squad could and will likely keep everyones minutes low. Low minutes can allow us to go into the playoffs hopefully with less nagging injuries and a bit rested than say some teams which will rely on their starters for just about everything 48 minutes a game 82 times in the reguler and untill their playoffs take them to a series against Boston.

Big,
KG's explosiveness is indeed exciting, im pumped to see him in action finely back to 100%. two stats i think we're going to see truely impressive compared to last season will be our teams blocks per game and rebounds.. with our front court if we dont lead or find ourselves in the top 3 in both catoagories somethign huge is wrong....

Matty wrote:Bob,

i can definetly see J/O being our backup at the 4, he's spent some time there in the past and i think in many ways could be more productive at the 4 than the 5 at this point anyways..

our depth,, just wow, i dont think any team can compete with our leval of depth this season, once we got perk & 'Lonte back the options we got coming off the bench are dern near limitless. I dont mind our age a bit this season as with such a large contingent of guys capable of being productive members of the squad could and will likely keep everyones minutes low. Low minutes can allow us to go into the playoffs hopefully with less nagging injuries and a bit rested than say some teams which will rely on their starters for just about everything 48 minutes a game 82 times in the reguler and untill their playoffs take them to a series against Boston.

Big,
KG's explosiveness is indeed exciting, im pumped to see him in action finely back to 100%. two stats i think we're going to see truely impressive compared to last season will be our teams blocks per game and rebounds.. with our front court if we dont lead or find ourselves in the top 3 in both catoagories somethign huge is wrong....

Hooter,

At this point in his career JO might be far more effective at 4 than at 5. He was always undersized for that position but made it work by working hard and using his quickness versus bigger centers. At 4, he'll have size and strength. He's 32, 6'11", 255# and has played his entire career against players bigger and stronger than him. How many PFs can match up with that?

bob

.

Matty,

I hope you had a great trip. If you didn't see my reply when you left you were up near my old college stomping grounds in Northern Wisconsin. Made me think of some of my duck-hunting and fishing days. My friends and I used to love to go for Northern and Walleye up there. Northern Minnesota into that part of Canada is as beautiful as it is remote.

I agree that when we're back to full strength JO might be a good option behind KG at the 4. He might not be around for that long, but I think he can still score.

The question then becomes do you keep Davis and Harangody around. To me one of those two looks increasingly likely to be available to help us swap for a more reliable 3 behind Pierce. Someone with some size and mobility to defend the other big 3's we will see especially come playoff time.

We've certainly got options, which is a very good thing.

Regards

NYCelt wrote:Matty,

I hope you had a great trip. If you didn't see my reply when you left you were up near my old college stomping grounds in Northern Wisconsin. Made me think of some of my duck-hunting and fishing days. My friends and I used to love to go for Northern and Walleye up there. Northern Minnesota into that part of Canada is as beautiful as it is remote.

I agree that when we're back to full strength JO might be a good option behind KG at the 4. He might not be around for that long, but I think he can still score.

The question then becomes do you keep Davis and Harangody around. To me one of those two looks increasingly likely to be available to help us swap for a more reliable 3 behind Pierce. Someone with some size and mobility to defend the other big 3's we will see especially come playoff time.

We've certainly got options, which is a very good thing.

Regards

NYCelt,

Considering that it is starting to look like Doc is becoming increasingly irritated and less patient with Baby's "baby-ness" and that Davis is in his contract year, I wouldn't be surprised for us to trade him for a 3 at some point this season.

bob

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n.y.

yup i read that message yesterday, and replied to it!

one of the features i loved most about that trip was its remoteness, our last 3 full days north of the border we never saw a person... and the beauty,, wow!!!

on the basketball side of thingy's yup, our options are almost limitless, but u do raise a good point about Davis and Harongody, the latter i've not seen play at all yet though, though from others on the board it seems like mostly good reveiws. If one has to go though, Baby i'd think might be the keeper, if what they provide is similer, Baby is a known product, he's got the edge in chemistry, knows the system and is well liked already.

im always leary of guys like Harongody, Erden and the like untill i've seen them and how they can make the team better for myself, usualy up till then i usualy find myself thinking.. "ok trade them and one of our future firsts for a prospective higher pick..."

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:Matty,

I hope you had a great trip. If you didn't see my reply when you left you were up near my old college stomping grounds in Northern Wisconsin. Made me think of some of my duck-hunting and fishing days. My friends and I used to love to go for Northern and Walleye up there. Northern Minnesota into that part of Canada is as beautiful as it is remote.

I agree that when we're back to full strength JO might be a good option behind KG at the 4. He might not be around for that long, but I think he can still score.

The question then becomes do you keep Davis and Harangody around. To me one of those two looks increasingly likely to be available to help us swap for a more reliable 3 behind Pierce. Someone with some size and mobility to defend the other big 3's we will see especially come playoff time.

We've certainly got options, which is a very good thing.

Regards

NYCelt,

Considering that it is starting to look like Doc is becoming increasingly irritated and less patient with Baby's "baby-ness" and that Davis is in his contract year, I wouldn't be surprised for us to trade him for a 3 at some point this season.

bob

.

Davis brought a lot of hustle to the second squad last year - a real energizer, and too often about the only offensive rebounder we had. of course, once he had the reb he also often got stuffed, sometimes repeatedly in the same sequence. much as i like him on the second unit, i guess his limitations might outweigh his value. if we could get value in trade, it's worht the shot - we need HELP AT 3 !

Dbrown,

I'm not trying to attack your choice of words when I say that I don't believe a team knows how to expect to win a championship until they've won at least one together. Only then can the realize the degree of commitment and sacrifice must accompany their collective talents in order to win a championship. It may seem a minor point, but I don't believe so.

There have been other "loaded" teams that expected to win. But I believe the word "expect" is too often hope in disguise. The more they build up their hopes (without that commitment), the easier it is for a misstep (a losing streak, the loss of the first two games in a playoff series, whatever) can pierce the false armor of invincibility. I suspect they're at the point where they feel their collective ability will be overpowering. If so, they've got a lot to learn about what consistently winning basketball is all about.

Just based on the few things I've read in the media, it almost seems as though the Celtics are exuding almost a secretive exultation—sort of like the cat that swallowed the canary. I've seen that kind of understated, collective attitude before, and it's often a symptom of the kind of expectations I'm talking about.

And the way to distinguish between the Celtics' apparent expectations' and the Heat's apparent hopes is that the team that's mouthing off is invariably the hopeful bunch and the more circumspect team is usually harboring more genuine expectations. I haven't seen anything coming out of Lakerland, but I suspect they're also being professional and avoiding boasts.)

It's going to be a very interesting season.

Sam

Finally, we are nearing the beginning of the season. I am quite excited about
this year, hopefully health with stay with all the "stars" and we won't catch
the Red Sox bug. Reading and hearing the guys on line and in the news, you
can tell they are really ready to get the season under way. So am I!

Sam,

good point on expectations and the diffrence between the Celtics and the Heat. Another point to consider is the ability to understand how those hopes can be turned into realizations. The Celtics starting 5 has already done this, Shaq has done this many times over.

All them skills down south have yeilded uh, umm, ah, like 1 guy with a ring?

while no one really knows what the end of may will offer us in terms of seeing which team from the East will be meeting the lakers (i just dont see anyone beating them next yr from west of the mississippi) hearing all the jabber from Miami puts me in mind of a newspaper clipping from yesteryear that is now famous, one in which Harry Truman is holding up the paper announcing dewey had beat him..

come june 2011 though, i got a feeling celtic fans will be just as excited as truman was while holding up that paper.

Great article. The only part Idon,t give any credibility is KG being explosive again. Do you remember in the begining of last season when Doc and the front office said KG would be playing pain free for the first time in many years?????? Boy were they wrong. It was painful to watch KG draging his leg up and down the court and now being a year older I,m not expecting much from KG this year. I do expect a championship out of the C'S. GO CELTS...

Matty,

Great analogy using Harry Truman. If the Heat can't stand it, they'll have to get out of the Celtics' kitchen. Is that the way it goes.

Rich Johnson, welcome to the board. It was one thing for Doc and the front office to be fending off the media about KG's recovery. It seemed like a different experience, a couple of days ago, to read that Doc VOLUNTARILY raved about how KG was "unguardable" in practice to the point where he (Doc) nearly took the unprecedented step of trapping KG with a double during a practice. Also the fact that KG seems much more anxious to go down low on offense. That doesn't sound like a guy who's being tentative. But we'll see once the real action starts.

Hope to hear much more from you. Enjoy the season.

Sam

Having been through knee surgery myself I have very high hopes for KG this year. In fact I think he will be back to full prowess especially on d. If he does that and that alone we have an excellent chance at winning it all. But giminy did we get oh so much better and deeper outside KG. Jeeze can we start already! So excited!

Thank you very much Sam Jones. I have been reading some of the old post and you have some great Celtics info that has been very helpful and great. Later when I have more time I will explain the reason for my name Rich Johnson 1968 a very special human being and Celtic that no one knows how much he helps the community behind the scenes with no cameras around. As I said I will give more details when I have more time. Thanks and GO CELTTS.


Rich Johnson 1968

Rich,
If you remember, KG did play well the first part of the season before he hyperextended his knee. He never really recovered fromt that, IMO. Let's hope that all the talk is true, it sure looks like it, and KG will have a "breakout" season. LOL

My favorite part of the article:

"Rivers has kept it civil with the Heat, but he knows his players hate most of them"

I love the way Woj just flat out said it and put it into the open. No political correctness, etc. You know these guys absolutely hate the Heat.


Not that the Cs and Lakers players are best friends or anything, but at least there is a mutual respect there amidst the mutual disdain.

With the Heat, you know the Cs are bristling over the way the Heat have been anointed and the Cs have been counted out by the mindless media horde.

Rich,

I look forward to your insights about Rich. With the Celtics, he was very shy and had difficulty expressing himself. At the team party after the '69 final victory in LA, the players made him stand on a coffee table to say a few words,and he couldn't come up with anything. And that was after Russell made Rich (and a couple of others who weren't going to play in the game) dribble around the perimeter of the court during the entirety of their last practice.

But guess who sat with Russell on the plane trip back to Boston? Rich Johnson.

Sam