image from espn.com
The Celtics were so bad last season that they made the Hawks look good.
That's pretty bad.
With the worst record in basketball, it appeared the Celtics had hit rock bottom. But most Celtic fans would argue no rock in existence could stop Doc Rivers from dragging them down ever further. If that was his plan, Danny Ainge sure put a damper on it.
For those of you that spent your entire summer locked in your basement trying to beat Guitar Hero's Psychobilly Freakout on the hardest level, let me explain what happened.
Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are now Celtics. Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, and Theo Ratliff are not. Oh, and the Celtic's 3 first round picks, including the number 5 overall, have gone the way of the broken whammy bar.
A boatload of players and draft rights are a small price to pay for an NBA Championship. And if Bean Town takes the NBA, NFL, and MLB this year, we'll never hear the end of it. The horror!
But can the Green really go from worst to first? Absolutely.
...
According to NBA Live, the Celtics will finish 49 and 33 in the East, earning them top honors. They will advance to the NBA Finals and then lose to the Suns in game 7. Garnett will have a monster season and earn All NBA 2nd Team. Shooting 49.9% from the floor, he'd finish with 25.9 points per game, adding 11.8 boards and 1.7 swats. Allen would light it up from deep, shooting 39.2% from behind the arc on his way to 19.4 points, and would also add 5.1 assists a night. Pierce would add 20.2 points per game, proving he's still lethal with less touches.
According to the game, T. Allen successful recovered from his ACL injury to spell Pierce and R. Allen, and House provided a nice spark off the bench with about 8 points a night filling in for Rondo. He did have a 32 point night against Atlanta early in Virtual March, and I'm pretty sure I spotted his Arizona State shorts under his green uni.
As for the bigs, Kendrick Perkins, who started at the 5 spot, turned in decent numbers at roughly 6 points and 6 boards a night. Brian Scalabrine was able to take time away from his mascot duties to fill in for 17 minutes a game, offering around 6 points and 3 boards.
I also found the end of the article to be intriguing:
I don't see this being the same as the 03'-04' Lakers, despite the comparisons. That group was more like an episode of Real World than it was a Championship Team. And with that said, if Karl Malone wasn't hurt for the Finals, they would all be wearing Detroit's rings.
Likewise, if the Celtics can stay healthy, I expect big things. There is just too much talent and too much will power. And if there is any playing around, expect KG to go Rick Rickert on someone's face, as he, along with Allen, certainly didn't come to Boston to play around.
With that said, unlike the Lakers, they all seem to like each other. Just look at Mr. Negative, Paul Pierce. He's got the summer perma-grin going like he just received a double shot of Botox.
But they better get started now. I know Allen surely isn't getting any younger.
Although from what I can tell, KG ages like a fine Tuscan Chianti.
"Mr. Negative"?
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