Boston Celtics preview by Brendan Sullivan and Benjamin Peisch (BP)
1. What can the Celtics learn from the 2006-07 season to help them improve their 2007-08 campaign?
The Boston Celtics would do better to NOT learn a thing from the 2006-2007 season. In fact, it would behoove the Celtics to FORGET everything that happened in 2006-2007. Their record was abysmal; their coaching was dreadful; their injuries were frequent, serious, and untimely; their losing streaks were record-breaking; their dancers were so bad that they may have killed Red Auerbach; and the players that improved the most have been shipped out of town. It would be better for this year's team to start from scratch.
Obviously, the Celtics have a completely new look and they will have to learn how to incorporate three bonafide stars into a cohesive offense, and perhaps more importantly, a cohesive defense. It doesn’t matter if Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen are putting up 20 points each if they don’t get Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, and Tony Allen involved. An automatic sixty points is nice, but won’t keep a lead past halftime. The good news is that Allen is smart, Garnett is passionate, and Pierce is a Celtics veteran. With those three at the helm, we won’t have to rely on Doc Rivers' imbalanced coaching to squeak out the close games.
2. What was the Celtics' best and/or worst move during the offseason, either by free agency, trade, or draft?
The Scott Pollard pickup was the key to the summer for the Celtics. Sure, Allen and KG are big names, but every Celtics championship team has had an uncoordinated white oaf on the sideline with a funny haircut. Pollard fills that role.
All Pollards aside, we guess we will just state the obvious. Acquiring KG was huge for Boston. It got a deflated fan base excited and brought one of the best players in the league to the Celtics. It came at a heavy cost, though, sending Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, and the mercilessly underrated Ryan Gomes to the carnivorous wood dwellers, the Minnesota Timberwolves. But that’s why it was a trade, not a "steal" as some Garnett-lovers called it. As a Celtics fan, we're thrilled to have him (and Allen). But as a recent New York Times article pointed out, you can’t keep home fans interested purely with starpower. You need to win. This trade was a desperate plea to get the fans back in it, so there is really only one option: win.
3. Who is the Most Important Player on the Celtics? The MIP is not necessarily the most talented, but the one that makes the biggest difference in his team doing well each game.
The MIP for the Celtics will change every night, but the Celtics are banking on Rajon Rondo to pilot the team. Judging from Rondo's blogs, he has spent the summer visiting people, playing cards, and using the word "coo." However, he was a stud when he got minutes last year and he will have the luxury of being able to distribute the ball to three of the best scorers of the last two decades. He doesn't need to be spectacular. He just needs to be good enough to keep Eddie House on the bench.
Otherwise, Pierce’s play is going to be a big barometer for this team. Not counting Antoine "Why do I shoot so many threes? Cuz there ain’t no such thing as fours" Walker, Pierce has never really had to (or for that matter, had a good reason to) share the ball. Even though Pierce is as good as anybody at scoring in bunches, I think a balanced attack allowing him to move without the ball and without being double-teamed is huge. Pierce has always had one role: to be the backbone of the team. Now, he can create his own role. Allen is here for his perimeter game. Garnett is here to cover the post. Rondo is here to feed the ball to the scorers and defend, and Perk is here to break people’s limbs and dine on shattered glass. Pierce is the only true wild card in the starting five. He is a jack-of-all-trades, an asset which he can put to amazing use if he so chooses. But he has to realize that even stars have roles. What Pierce makes of his role will be the decisive factor of this season.
