30 teams in 30 days: Celtics
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Sat Sep 1 11:09:56 CDT 2007
30 teams in 30 days: Celtics
Tim Chisholm
TSN.ca basketball columnist Tim Chisholm is looking at one NBA team each day
for the month of September.
Boston Celtics
In the waning days of summer Danny Ainge managed to pull off the savviest
free agent signing of his tenure running the Boston Celtics and, perhaps, the
most important free agent signing (as opposed to re-signing) of the entire
summer.
Before the NBA Draft this June I was quite unforgiving in my analysis of
Ainge and his term in office with the Boston Celtics, but there is no denying that
this summer will stand as among the most decisive and thorough rebuilding
projects in modern NBA history.
Ainge had become notorious for running a team without any kind of identity or
direction, on the one hand clinging to the aging _Paul Pierce_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=299) and his quest for a ring while at the
same time surrounding him with youth that was years away from reaching their
potential as NBA players. In one summer, however, all that changed. Ainge
acquired _Ray Allen_ (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=6) on draft
night and _Kevin Garnett_ (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=130)
a month later and he sacrificed everyone on his team but _Paul Pierce_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=299) to do it.
Which brings us back to the free agent signing. In the last days of August,
when most GM's are taking a brief vacation before the grind of the NBA season
kicks back in, Ainge went out and signed Miami free agent _James Posey_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=306) to a two-year deal.
Now, Posey was definitely not the best or most talented player on the market
this summer, but in terms of need and fit, this marriage is perfection. The
Celtics were in dire need of not only depth at all positions on their team after
giving away seven players and three draft picks to land Allen and Garnett,
but they were also in need of insurance should any of these players in their
thirties go down with injury.
Posey will now come off of the bench behind Allen and Pierce and also slide
easily into the starting five should either one be hit with an injury (Allen
missed 27 games last season, Pierce missed 36). Posey also brings with him
superior defensive skills on the wing as well as a career 35% shooting stroke from
behind the arc. Both are skills that make him much more than the kind of bench
players they had been signing previously like _Eddie House_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=166) and Scott Pollard.
Now, all this said, the Celtics aren't exactly deep by NBA contenders'
standards. Posey affords them a certain amount of breathing room now behind Allen
and Pierce, but the team still has no backup point guard, and their starting
point guard is second-year player _Rajon Rondo_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=1449) , who is known more for his skills as a defender than as
a playmaker. Couple that issue with the fact that Pollard is 32, broken down
and averaged 4.5 minutes per game last year and one could say that the Celtics
frontcourt depth isn't exactly shorn-up yet, either.
The bottom line on the Celtics is this: This team has one of the most - if
not the most - talented top-3 in the entire NBA. Garnett, Pierce and Allen run
the gamut in terms of what skills they bring to the court for this team. All
are hungry for a shot at an NBA title and history shows that most of the time
such a team is most dangerous in their first year together (just look at the
2006 Miami Heat). However, the Boston trio will probably find that their strength
up-top is not as important as their weakness down-low as teams with similarly
strong troikas trump the Celtics in overall depth. Teams like Dallas or
Phoenix or San Antonio will be able to go toe-to-toe with Garnett-Pierce-Allen and
still have players like _Jerry Stackhouse_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=347) or _Grant Hill_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=162) to throw back at the Celtics.
The unfair part about a team built like Boston is that it can only measure
its success by the number of titles they win. For this team to make the
Playoffs, win a Division or even a Conference is simply not good enough. These players
are all aging, they eat up almost all of Boston's salary-cap and so time to
grow and develop as a team doesn't really exist. There is no trade or signing
that is going to make this team appreciably better than they are now and so
what they have is what is going to have to get them to the Championship, and I'm
not sure that what they have is enough to get it done.
PROBABLE STARTING LINE-UP
PG - Rajon Rondo
Much of the trepidation surrounding the Celtics' potential success begins
right here, with Rondo as their starting point guard. Here we have a player who
had a typical rookie season, with its usual peaks and valleys, who is now being
asked to helm one of the most potent offenses in the NBA. It now falls on
Rondo's shoulders to distribute shots and run a team comprised of some of the
best players of this generation. And he's not a playmaker. Rondo is best compared
to a guard like _Brevin Knight_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=198) or _Earl Watson_ (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=449)
. He provides defense and a tempo change from a starting guard, but he
himself still has a lot to learn about the fundamentals of the position before he
can really be put in a class with Knight or Watson, let alone with the kind of
top-flight guard a team like this would theoretically dictate. Either way, as a
lead guard there is no reason to believe that he is ready to helm this
attack, and that could become especially true in the Playoffs when each round he'll
be facing off against an opponent savvier than him.
SG - Ray Allen
Just when it looked like Allen was doomed to slip into the NBA ether and be
forgotten as a player his career receives this much-needed shot in the arm.
Now, not only is Allen hugely relevant again as a pro, but he also doesn't have
to carry the entire load of a franchise like he was doing in Seattle, because
for all the talent of _Rashard Lewis_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=207) , it was always Allen who had to answer for that team's
shortcomings. Now Allen can confidently park himself behind the three-point arc and bomb
away with impunity when defenses collapse around _Paul Pierce_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=299) and _Kevin Garnett_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=130) . In fact, the only time he may even be
asked to stray from that position is when he'll be forced into playing some point
guard for this team (much like he did in Seattle in 03-04 when he split time
there with Brent Barry). Either way Allen gets to have it both ways in Boston;
he gets the lightest workload of his NBA career while also playing on his
most prominent team. Life is good.
SF - Paul Pierce
Do you think that _Paul Pierce_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=299) goes to sleep terrified every night that he'll wake up only to
discover that this summer has all been a dream? In the last four months this team
has been turned from a laughing stock that broke the NBA record for consecutive
losses into a legit Finals contender in many eyes and it has all happened
because the team decided that if it was going to build around Pierce they might as
well go all the way. Pierce, like Allen, has now seen his career revitalized
as a result of Ainge's efforts as he once again plays on a team of prominence,
a team that will play on national TV, a team that appears to be a shoo-in for
the Playoffs. Also like Allen, he has seen his workload plummet with the
arrival of Allen and Garnett. All he has to do now is stay injury-free, which to
be fair he usually does, and he can plan on playing well past April for the
first time since 2005.
PF - Kevin Garnett
While Allen and Pierce get to relish in the glow of playing on a team with
actual expectations, it will most likely fall on Garnett's shoulders to meet
those expectations. Garnett now represents the best player on the team, the best
player the Celtics franchise has employed since Larry Bird, and the player who
will have the greatest legacy beyond his retirement. More than Allen and
Pierce, Garnett needs this title. He needs it to prove that his career wasn't
wasted. He needs it to prove that he hasn't fallen so far behind _Tim Duncan_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=106) in stature. He needs it
because if he doesn't get it here, all his excuses about teammates and management
will fall on deaf ears and he alone will remain the constant in his inability
to nab a Championship. For some, like Charles Barkley, one's legacy can still
be ensured, but Garnett doesn't have the _Michael Jordan_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=488) excuse to fall back on. His generation has
represented what is perhaps the most wide-open in terms of Championship
aspirations that the league has ever seen, or at least equal to the dynasty-free
1970s. Allen and Pierce want this title. Garnett needs it.
C - Kendrick Perkins
If _Kendrick Perkins_ (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=953)
has one obligation this season it's to not get injured. This team cannot rely
on Scott Pollard to play starters minutes more than once or twice this season
and there is no one else to play centre on this team. That mean if Perkins gets
injured _Kevin Garnett_ (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=130)
will be playing centre. That means that either _James Posey_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=306) or Glenn Davis will be playing power
forward. All of this means that _Kendrick Perkins_
(http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=953) cannot get injured this year. Sure, it would help if
he could develop a modicum of consistency or could stay on the court longer
than twenty-minutes per game, but those are just secondary issues. _Kendrick
Perkins_ (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/player_bio.asp?player_id=953) cannot get injured
this season. It's just that simple.
Tim Chisholm can be reached at _timchisholm at telus.net_
(mailto:timchisholm at telus.net) .
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