The Celtic Response

Now that the "Super Team" has been created in Miami, what have the Boston Celtics done and what will they do to stay in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference? At this point in the off season the Celtics have been able to bring back head coach Doc Rivers, small forward Paul Pierce, and shooting guard Ray Allen. Boston also welcomed a new member to the team with the signing of center Jermaine O'neal. This is a good move for the C's who are desperate for big man help with the pending retirement of Rasheed Wallace and the serious injury to Kendrick Perkins (keeping him out 5-6 months).

Last season with the Miami Heat O'neal averaged 13.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, but was dreadful in the postseason against the Celtics. Perhaps he was not motivated in a series that did not believe could be won or perhaps he is just not cut out to be the number two option on his team anymore. The knock on O'neal is that he cannot stay healthy and that he does not work hard at his craft. Last season he did miss twelve games due to injury, but played well during his time on the court. As far as his work ethic is concerned the Big Four and Doc will handle that, not to worry. It will prove to be a better signing than the acquisition of Sheed, because O'neal will actually give you a strong regular season performance by helping the Celtics with the consistency issue (that plagued them last year). O'neal still has great post moves that allow him to score in double figures and at 6'11 is able to rebound and block shots. He is a great fit here in Boston because he does not have to be the # 2 go to guy on the team and he adds much needed depth to the center/power forward position.

The good news of the summer is that Rivers, Pierce, and Allen are all returning and Jermaine O'neal has been added. The bad news is that there are still many holes to fill on this team and Tony Allen is no longer a Boston Celtic. This is a terrible move by Danny Ainge and the Celtic ownership because T.A. was the best one on one defender on the team. He played great defense on Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and many other top level opponents, along with bringing energy and athleticism off the bench. The Celtics need to get younger as a team and deeper on the bench, this loss of Tony Allen hurts you on all fronts, not a good move. What will be the Celtic response to the influx and repositinoing of talent that has occurred in Eastern Conference? We will all have to just wait and see, but to stay in the running for a championship, Boston will need to add more pieces.

Info + Photos:

www.espn.com

www.si.com

www.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/basketball/nba/

www.weei.com

Picking up the Pieces

“This team was crazy close” said Doc Rivers, in what was the aftermath reflection of his team’s Game 7 defeat. "We had to keep subbing him for one minute and two minutes, and I thought the reason we got up early was because of Rasheed Wallace. We got in the low post, he started scoring, and I thought what happend was late in the game he got tired and had the injuries and we couldn't go down anymore, and I think that had a huge impact on how we were playing. We had to go away from the post almost because of fatigue. It's the first time all year that you can actually say, at the end of the day, we were old at the end of the game because we didn't have enough bodies. I thought it hurt us" (Doc Rivers). There is no quote that could more accurately sum up the devastating championship loss, as the Celtics just didn't have enough horses at the end.

  In the Championship season of 2007/2008 the Boston Celtics were able to attain Banner 17 because they had contributions from a whole host of players on the roster. P.J. Brown, Leon Powe, Sam Cassell, Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Eddie House, and James Posey gave the Celtics a team that was twelve men deep. In this year's playoff run the bench contributions came from Nate Robinson, Glen Davis, Rasheed Wallace, and Tony Allen. Marquis Daniels and Michael Finley were capable contributors, but were never truly intregrated into the team. There is no way for me to say that they would have won Game 7 with these men playing, but this lack of depth truly hurt the Celtics.


  With Rasheed coming off the bench Boston had enough depth, but this was no longer true when Kendrick Perkins went down with a season ending injury. When Sheed was forced to become a starter the depth of the team and bench suffered severely. The bench was now only three players deep with Nate, Tony, and Baby and as Doc Rivers said without  Perkins available, Rasheed grew fatigued. As we all saw in 2008, to win a title you need star players, but you also need a roster that can delve down into the depth chart for contributions. That year the NBA Title went to the team that was twelve men deep, the Boston Celtics.This true team depth is needed even more so if you are trying to defeat a younger, bigger, and more talented team such as the Lakers.


  In Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals the Celtics were only eight men deep and they were unable to win. Doc's lack of trust in Nate Robinson and Tony Allen (only giving them nine minutes combined) was evident. Also, there were no true back ups at the center or power forward positions with Perkins being hurt. His absecne and the absecne of the starting five is what lost the game. "I told our guys this, the starting lineup still hasn't lost. It was a shame we didn't have that starting lineup tonight. But I told them, you're still yet to have a true chance to defend your title because Perk wasn't there." (Doc Rivers). How do you pick up the pieces from this loss and move on? Bring back the starting lineup of the Big Four and Perkins, add some new pieces to the bench, and embark on another title quest.

       
                                                                        www.espn.com

www.si.com

www.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/basketball/nba/

www.weei.com