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It’s NEVER going to happen. But you have to love the braggadocios nature of what he brings to this team. The reason they have NO SHOT at winning 70 games has nothing to do with their core structure and everything to do with how thin they are in the backcourt. You simply can’t be a historically dominant team with your backup point guard options being Eddie House, Tony Allen, and Marquis Daniels. Eddie House has a mental hiccup in his game that he doesn’t take more than one dribble successfully. He’s conditioned to shoot the ball almost instantly because that’s the reason he’s in the NBA. Tony Allen may be the worst decision-maker in the history of sports. He makes Yinka Dare look like Magic Johnson. Having him try to bring the ball up against guys like Delonte West is like playing Russian roulette. And it’s not in Marquis Daniels game to bring the ball up the court as a point-forward. He may be able to do it on occasion but he’s not the long-term solution to the backup point guard problem this season.
This problem doesn’t preclude them from being successful this season. They could definitely still win the East and even the NBA title. But you won’t see a truly dominant team on the court that challenges history this year. Guaran-Sheed.
Record Last Year: 62-20
Players Welcomed: Rasheed Wallace, Shelden Williams, Marquis Daniels, Lester Hudson
Players Kicked to the Curb: Leon Powe, Gabe Pruitt, Mikki Moore, Stephon Marbury
Five Questions
1. Where does Rajon Rondo stand?
Rajon Rondo has quickly become one of the top point guards in the NBA and both sides of this contract extension negotiation know it. He wants either max money or close to max money and during all of this process, he wants to feel as much respect as KG, Pierce, and Ray get. They weren’t the only ones on the court when the Celtics won banner number 17 and he wants to get something better than the treatment Tony Parker got when he was the starting point guard of the world champion Spurs at age 19 and his team kicked around the idea of acquiring Jason Kidd. But here’s the problem with a young player like Rondo – Danny Ainge is negotiating with him on this potential extension and it’s his job to keep the price as low as possible.
There was plenty of controversy this summer when Ainge was “shopping Rondo around.” Obviously, Rondo felt disrespected because he was coming off a ridiculous post-season performance of nearly averaging a triple double. But how far is he willing to take this feeling of being slighted? While we’ll never know if Rondo would become this good without the veteran leadership of the three HOFers, we do that he is actually this good now and will want to be compensated fairly for it. Ultimately, Danny Ainge will probably pull off this situation. He can’t give Rondo a max contract because he’s not a max player. But he can’t get away with anything under eight figures per season. He’ll allow the market to be set in restricted free agency, bump up that value a little, and retain Rondo. Hopefully for Celtics fans, Rajon will be able to put the business side behind him and aim for banner number 18.
2. Is Kevin Garnett healthy?
We honestly have no way of knowing if he is healthy or not. One day, he’s limping all over the practice court. The next day, he’s cramming unbelievable alley-oops. Then he’s suffering from shin splints and completely under conditioned. And after that, he’s playing well in preseason games and looking like he’s ready for the 82-game campaign. So what do we make out of his knee injury? Is it healed? Has he overcompensated for his injured knee and put the rest of his lower extremities at risk of suffering from injury?
Here’s the real issue with KG – it doesn’t matter if he’s healthy right now. What matters is can he stay healthy over the course of a 100-game campaign? His value isn’t in winning the Celtics games in November and December. They need KG to be ready for the playoff push and the post-season. Over his last couple of seasons in Minnesota, towards the end of the season he was experiencing knee issues and sitting out games. Now even with this mysterious knee injury supposedly healed, you have to wonder if he can survive a full season.
Personally, I don’t think he’ll be healthy enough for the entire season plus playoffs. The Celtics would be better off bringing him along slowly. But KG is incapable of allowing himself to take things slowly. So…
3. If not, can Rasheed Wallace fill in seamlessly?
How well can Rasheed Wallace fill KG’s role if Garnett’s knee doesn’t allow him to be on the court every night? In theory, Sheed fits in perfectly. He’s still a very good defender, especially one-on-one. He can step back and knock down the jumper. He’s an excellent passer and he can play extremely effectively in the post. But here’s where he doesn’t fill the shoes of KG – pick-and-roll defense.
Garnett is amazing in defending the pick-and-roll. His lateral quickness helps him jump out on screens and his length helps him cut off any passes from the trap that could break down the rest of the defense. Rasheed Wallace doesn’t have that same lateral quickness. So while Sheed is capable of filling in for KG in most aspects of the game and give them 80% of the normal power forward production, he won’t be able to fill in with the greatest strength KG gives Boston in defending the P&R.
4. Is the bench any better?
Yes, the bench is absolutely better this year than it was last season. They’ve added Marquis Daniels, Rasheed Wallace, and Shelden Williams. And don’t laugh at that mention of Shelden Williams, either. He adds some much-needed beef (remember how much Mikki Moore was dominated last year?) to the interior and is a good enough rebounder when needed. And maybe you can even throw in guys like Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens as possible role players because they’re a year more experienced and perhaps ready to fill a defensive role off the bench at the wing positions.
But as I mentioned above, they still sorely lack a backup ball-handler. They have to find a way to acquire a competent backup point guard or they rest their hopes of another title on the dribbling (in)ability of Eddie House for 15 minutes per game. So even though the bench is better, they aren’t better in a way that makes you completely comfortable.
5. Should they coast in the regular season?
Ab-So-Lutely. Nearly every season of this decade, we’ve wondered what was wrong with the Spurs early in the season as they coast through, losing games they shouldn’t, and then kicking it into gear right as they leave town for the rodeo and begin to impose their will on every other team in the league. The Celtics should follow this model and try to take it easy over the first two months of the season. Nobody cares what your record is on January 1st if it means you fade away due to poor depth or injuries in May. The Celtics won’t do this because they’re far too competitive and seem to get off on destroying team’s wills early and often (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). But with their team age, they more than anybody should be conscious of not blowing their load early in the season long campaign.
Hopefully for them, they can avoid the injuries and find a way to stay true to their style in-season while being prepared for the extra 20+ games in the playoffs.
Prediction: 2nd in East, 1st in Atlantic
Maybe it’s my complete biased for everything KG-related but I do actually love the way this team is constructed outside of the backup point guard issues. People can make fun of Paul Pierce all they want when he says he’s the best player in the world but how many people do you want trying to score in the fourth quarter besides him? Throw in the fact that KG is still the best defensive big man on the planet (knee or no knee) and Ray Allen is still the best shooter in basketball and you’ve got a solid foundation, no matter what their age is. But wait, there’s more! Rajon Rondo is probably a top five point guard in the league with the way he’s blossomed over the past two years, Kendrick Perkins is one of the best post defenders in basketball and Rasheed Wallace leads a great bench frontcourt unit.
But health and backup ball-handlers are huge concerns for this team. Getting past Orlando will be much easier with a healthy KG than without but the Celtics still have matchup problems in dealing with this team’s shooters. And having enough firepower in the fourth will be huge in trying to stop a motivated LeBron James in the playoffs. This Celtics team will go as far as they let themselves go this season.
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