Celtics Central

For Rondo, the digital age arrives sooner…or later.

Any way you look at it, Rondo will become a very wealthy young man.

The player with long digits can score some big financial digits due to his ability to produce triple double digits.  But Rondo will need to get some other digits under control along the way. It is a digital world.

One of the bigger news items coming out of the early Celtic camp reports is that Danny Ainge is about to attempt to re-sign Rajon Rondo to a multi-year contract a year before he becomes a restricted free agent. The Celtics have until October 31st to do so, otherwise they can try again next year when he can test the waters as a restricted free agent.

Danny says that neither side knows exactly where the other stands and that conversation starts soon. Rajon Rondo says that he will work on his game this season and see what happens. In Dan Duggan’s Boston Herald article, Rondo specifically mentions…

improving my outside shot, ballhandling and my court awareness,” Rondo said. “The biggest thing for me probably is defense – getting over the pick-and-rolls on defense. You just have to play ball to get better at that.”

Ball handing? I didn’t know that was an issue. Court awareness? Another interesting comment. I thought that Rondo saw the court fairly well. As revealed in his break out playoff performance, there are still a few other offensive issues to iron out. More on that later.

Sports Math Question – does triple double = double digit average yearly contract?

He was on track for big dollars before the playoffs. But the sight of ‘triple doubles’ on his resume will work wonders with anyone. It also exponentially increases the attraction he will have to other teams.To say that Rondo stepped it up in the absence of Garnett and a shaky bench would be an understatement.

Rondo took the challenge that Derrick Rose presented him in the very first playoff game and ran with it… and passed with it… and scored with it… and even rebounded with it. The team needed him to play a much larger role with Garnett out, and he ‘tripled’ his production.

So…does Rajon let Danny lock him into a 5 year deal in the neighborhood of double digits? Or does he play out the year and see what will surface in the open market? Celts can still make an offer or match.

Duggan in the Boston Herald….

Though he was tight-lipped on the issue, Rondo said he wasn’t optimistic about signing a contract extension in the near future.

That implies that Rondo won’t be taking a home team discount, nor will Ainge be offering what Rondo believes his fair market value is.

If Rondo doesn’t seem optimistic for an early signing, then neither do I. He may do better to wait until this season ends anyhow.

What did the playoffs reveal, besides that Rondo can play at a very high level? Let’s call it….certain inefficiencies….or ‘foul’ shooting.

Many say that Rondo doesn’t need the Big Three to play well. Fair enough.

But playing with the Big Three does afford certain freedoms for their team mates that playing on other teams may not. So…. we actually got a little glimpse of what it may be like to play on another team when the Celtics played without Garnett. Certainly, they are another team without him.

Rondo’s playoffs numbers were astounding – 16.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.8 assists in the two series. He also was the only guy on the team consistently stealing the ball or causing turnovers. He had 35 steals total for a healthy 2.5 average. His rebounding was just crazy good – never mind that the guy is a skinny 171 lbs. and 6′ 1″.

Attaining Offensive Harmony

But a look at the totals reveal that he needed to take 223 shots to score 236 points. Not the model of efficiency, and here is why. His shooting percentage dropped to 41% (vs 50% on the season). He made just 65% of his free throws. His foul try attempts dropped significantly as the Magic series wore on. Save game 4, when he had eight attempts, he averaged just two attempts in the last 6 games.

After getting to the line 49 times for a robust 6 plus attempts in the first 8 games, he only took more than 3 free throws once in the final 6 games and had zero free throw attempts in game  5 in 28 minutes.  His final six games he averaged 3 attempts, and he compounds the problem by being a below average foul shooter.

He needed 18 shots to score 19 in game 2 Chicago, 22 attempts to score 28 in game 5, 17 shots to score 8 in game 6, 8 shots to score 7 in game 7.  In the Orlando series, he needed 19 shots to score 15 in game 2, 17 to score 15 in game 3, 12 to score 6 in game 5, 19 to score 19 in game 6, and 10 to score 10 in game 7.

Hurt, or tired, or both or Rondo just needs to improve in those areas to truly reach the elite level. Just making his foul shots would be a big help to his whole approach to scoring.

But teams with tall, solid interior defenders like Cleveland, Orlando, and the L.A. Lakers give Rondo trouble. They are teams the Celtics must go through to get another title.

The amount of other things that Rondo does well, and there are a number of them that show up in the stats, covers up and offsets those things in his game that work against each other.

The Rondo Challenge

His lack of a reliable jump shot (a weakness) can be offset by driving to score (a strength). Missing the shot but not getting fouled gives you zero points. Getting fouled and missing foul shots (weakness) is better, but far from ideal. By not having Garnett there to help draw interior defenders away, Rondo was seeing defenses that he might see if he played on another team . Teams can protect the paint more. When Rondo does draw a foul on a drive, it is not an automatic two points. That is a problem.

That he is so successful in spite of those things is a testament to his confidence, energy, competitiveness and all around effort. If he can get the logical progression of making outside shots, drawing fouls and making foul shots are a rate that punishes the other team, his offensive game moves up a huge notch. He has shown some improvement already.  The contract money he will be offered will go up as well.

One Last Thing

I read in the Herald article that the fatigue factor theory for last season was discounted. Then a few lines later, the importance of getting more rest for Ray and Paul with Daniels on board is mentioned.

Top Teams Get Stronger: Where are the weaknesses?

Fans in Boston, San Antonio, Cleveland, Orlando, and even L.A. can all make the case that their team is even stronger this year than last season.

The accumulation of talent into the very top teams has been impressive. Kind of like on a Risk board, teams traded in their victory cards from last season, adding ‘reinforcements’.

I’ve been calling them the new superteams. It is going to be quite a year. But are any of them perfectly balanced, nearly undefeatable squads? Every opponent will look for weaknesses.

Let’s look at the teams that are ‘all in’ this season, starting with the revived Spurs:

1) San Antonio is Singing a New Tune

Entering new territory, the fiscally disciplined Spurs are now at $78 million before adding Blair, Hairston and Haislip in.

Solid moves by a solid team. A team whose MO normally is to make role players into important contributors, this time they went for star power.

Gone:

Fabricio Alberto, Drew Gooden, Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, Ime Udoka, Jacques Vaughn

Additions:

New comer Richard Jefferson gives them four bonifide scorers, all with playoff experience. No doubt, he is an upgrade over 36 year old Michael Finley.

I love the Antonio McDyess pick up. The 35 year old power forward gives them depth at that position they haven’t had for a while. Whether he starts or Bonner does, Antonio gives the Spurs things they needed  – another capable scorer who pulls the opposing defender out, toughness, defense, and rebounding.

2nd rounder DeJuan Blair looks like a good rebounding pick-up. He scored well (16 pts) in the SL, too. The reason he dropped so low was a question whether the undersized (6′ 7″) Blair can continue that in the NBA. Early signs are positive.

24 year old rookie 2nd round draft choice, Jack McClinton can light it up from downtown. He shot 44% from the arc last season.

6’ 5” rookie guard, 2nd round draft choice Nando De Colo from France…stays there.

If McDyess starts, then 40% of the starting line-up is new.  Potentially, eight new players will make the Spurs roster. Two former starters (Finley and Bonner) will strengthen the bench.

From Yahoo Sports…

“We’re calling it ‘change the music,’” Popovich said. “We’ll come to camp with a few different faces, a different chemistry, a little bit different team personality. We’ll see how that comes together.”

When Coach Popovich says that adding Jefferson is adding talent and ‘youth’ by acquiring the 29 year old Jefferson, you know the team is getting on in years. But you can say the same about the Celtics. These could be the two most dangerous teams in the league this season.

Three Key Question marks:

1) Tim Duncan’s back up.

With Kurt Thomas, Drew Gooden, Fabricio Oberto gone, depth at center is now a question mark with oft injured 36 year old Theo Ratliff second on the depth chart.

2) Keeping Manu Ginobili healthy for the playoffs.

He played injured two years ago. He didn’t make the playoffs at all last season due to a stress fracture. He also played the lowest amount of regular season games (44) in his NBA career last season. Back up Roger Mason started strong, but disappointed down the stretch and in the playoffs. Having Finley coming off the bench helps, but neither comes close to replicating what Manu can do.

3) What do the Spurs do when Tony Parker is off the floor?

That may be the main question. Surprisingly, he had a bigger on court/off court difference than Tim Duncan did. Rookie George Hill showed some nice development during the season. But, at this point, Hill is still a big drop off from Parker.

I want to say that Matt Bonner is a weakness. But this is a great Popovich success story. He takes a soft, slow, but solid 6’ 10” three point shooter and makes him a cog in a 54 win team. Bonner was deadly from distance, shooting a Kerr-like 44%. Popovich can use him more ‘situation dependent’ now with McDyess on board. There is no doubt that Antonio is an upgrade.

I bet you didn’t know that the Spurs…..

(In spite of being one of the best defensive teams in the league – 2nd best in points allowed)

a) gave up the least free throws in the NBA.
b) fouled the least
c) opponents fouled them the least

Which means, of course, that their games had the least amount of fouls called on average all  season.

Summary

This team has strengthened the power forward and small forward positions, while weakening back up center.

Losing Bowen and dropping Udoka means that Richard Jefferson has to get his defensive chops up against those mega-star small forwards. Luckily, his scoring won’t have to be as important. That should allow him to expend energy at the other end of floor.

George Hill will continue to improve. Mason and Finley will fight for back up minutes. Theo Ratliff complained openly about the lack of discipline on the Sixers last season. He won’t have that issue here, but his better days are over.

When right, Ginobili attacks the basket with the abandon of a younger man. (See Rondo)  Last season, when I asked Coach P. if we will begin to see a change in Manu’s game, perhaps this season, to less contact in the middle, Gregg P’s patented sarcastically toned answer was (paraphrase) “Of course not.”

32 year old Manu’s game will have to change a bit as he ages, I predict. Otherwise, more 44 game seasons may be in his future.

Duncan, McDyess, R. Jefferson, Ginobili, and Parker will be a strong starting unit, once they get the new guys worked in. The abundance of talent should make things easier for Coach P to get them up to speed quickly.

They were only 11-16 against good teams last season. They may struggle against good teams with bigger frontlines this season. Not a lot of weaknesses, they will be in the ‘final’ conversations.

I got this up late, but late is better than never. Check out the show on pop-up or download it and play it when you are surfing the web.

Always a good listen!

Jon and Justin return to the microphones after a 3 week layoff to preview the upcoming season with training camp fast approaching.  While it feels as though there is little more to discuss this offseason, Michael Jordan’s controversial HOF acceptance speech ought to provide some fodder.  Also, if you can believe it, Marquise Daniels was finally signed and there are still questions around the web as to who will back up Paul Pierce if Daniels is backing Rondo.  We’ve given you the answer to the question already this summer, but we’ll do it again, and it will be up to you to decide if you like the idea.  Dan Dickau and Mike Taylor have been recently rumored as potential signings/training camp invitees as well.  Joining us in these final weeks before training camp to discuss all these things, is good friend Scott Souza from the MetroWest Daily News.  As always, we are broadcasting from 8-10pm and if you have a question for the show you call fill out the form on our homepage to send us an e-mail or you can call our toll free number (1-866-751-9649) to leave us a voicemail.  See you tonight in the chat room!

One of the most talented groups of players ever admitted to the Hall at one time are being inducted this week-end.

First…if you have never gone to Springfield, MA to the Hall, and you are a solid basketball fan, you owe yourself a real treat.It is a hop, skip, and a jump up Interstate 91.

I’ve taken my son twice and enjoyed it thoroughly both times. There are a few interactive things to do for kids, and of course there is a real gym area with many actual hoops to embarrass yourself in front of others.

The Hall is mostly full of pictures, mementos and data on the game and its best players from the beginning. I read that there is now a new, special Michael Jordan section. My son would love knowing that. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the Michael Jordan Air Time tape, vicariously most of the time, because my son would play it constantly.  My son was growing up when Jordan was carving out a career that became as iconic internationally as Muhammed Ali was in his time.

I could appreciate all that Jordan became and did. But as a Boston Celtic fan, crowning Jordan with the title of Greatest Player Who Ever Lived, as many are doing, is not something I could do or would do.

You see, we had the game’s biggest innovator in Bill Russell. He was also the game’s biggest winner. In fact, there isn’t anyone in any major sport who could come close to the winning record of Bill Russell – 11 championships in 13 years.

Russell never dominated a game offensively like Jordan did. Jordan never dominated a game defensively like Russell did. I find that comparing players from different eras becomes a futile exercise. So much has changed.

But I’ll share a few links that I think you might enjoy reading:

Michael Jordan

He actually got some negative press for appearing to be so….’revengeful’ in his acceptance speech. While Bill Russell enjoyed a uniquely special relationship with Red Auerbach, Jordan had no so thing with former GM Jerry Krause of Chicago.

Here is one of the more positive stories written about a Jordan speech that brought up and laid waste to a few remembered points of contention and competition. It was viewed as good natured to some…..

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times….

Michael Jordan approached the podium Friday night at Symphony Hall to thunderous applause with tears streaming down his face.

Jordan quickly regained his composure and talked about the competitive fire that fueled his accomplishments — and napalmed some of his former rivals — in a speech that was anything but sweet and sentimental.

Read the entire article, ‘Vintage Michael Jordan‘ here.

And not so good natured to others – Jordan’s Night Turns Petty.

Here is a good one from the Globe with a compliment from Larry Bird that Michael used as a turning point…

Yeah, [Bird] gave me the type of confidence that I needed at that level that you’re on the right track, keep working. That to me was the biggest compliment I had at that particular time.

Read it to see what Bird said about him.

John Stockton

The all time assists leader. Just as good at remaining humble, while throwing in a sense of humor, that included Michael Jordan…

From Jody Genessy of the Deseret News….

Stockton began his speech with a self-deprecating shot at his size, background and choice of uniform bottoms.

then the comedy came out…

he thought his family and friends really came to see Mr. Jordan…

“I almost started laughing there,” he said, “because I think they actually came to see Michael.”

The star-studded audience at Symphony Hall roared in laughter.

“He makes one big shot,” Stockton continued about Jordan, “and everybody thinks he’s kind of cool.”

Turns out, Stockton is almost as good at delivering jokes as he is timely assists.

perhaps a bit pessimistic and realistic, Stockton saved his first paycheck, down to the last penny. He rented a furnished one-room apartment, bought cans of chili at a discount grocery store, and made his mom’s lasagna and piled up leftovers in his fridge. Instead of living like an NBA player, he lived like a college freshman.”I thought they’d figure me out pretty quickly. I thought the Jazz would figure out that they had made a mistake, so I saved every cent,” Stockton recalled. “I was pretty sure I was a one-year-and-out guy.”

David Robinson

Here is a great article on David Robinson by Buck Harvey of mysanantonio.com called ‘Not Like Mike, Robinson Wins.’

Buck admits the competitive difference between the more laid back David Robinson and the ever competing and single focus drive of MJ for basketball brilliance. Yet, he believes the difference made Robinson a bigger winner.  Thoughful read.

A few excerpts…

But Stockton and Sloan were closer to Jordan in commitment to the sport. Robinson, in this group, was the outsider.

Jordan said, privately, he couldn’t understand why Robinson didn’t live for this as the others did. Jordan called Robinson “The Negotiator” then because Jordan thought he analyzed too much.

Robinson cared about basketball. He liked winning, too, which made for a faith-based joke Friday night. Then, he asked if anyone in the audience had ever gotten on his knees to really pray for something.

Jordan breathed it. “Take away that little, round ball,” Jordan said of this year’s class, “and we all would have struggled in life.”

Robinson wouldn’t have. He would have been content as a naval officer, or as a mathematician, or as a preacher.

That was evident as he stood on stage in Springfield’s Symphony Hall and spoke individually to his three sons. He didn’t tear up, perhaps because he understood; as great as this honor was, it was just an honor.

I won’t ruin it for you by revealing them, but the final lines of the article are worth the read.

Jerry Sloan

Remember being homesick your freshman year in college? Hard to believe that it happened to tough guy Jerry Sloan?

From Jody Genessy’s same article…

After playing high school ball, where he had to hitchhike to practices, Sloan earned a scholarship to Illinois. He didn’t last long his freshman season. In fact, he returned because of homesickness and began working a “tough job” in an oil field.

One day his mom asked him if that’s what he planned on doing the rest of his life.

From there, Sloan went to Evansville College and played for the….Purple Aces?

where he played for Hall of Fame coach Arad McCutchan. He loved the basketball part of that experience, playing for a coach he respected greatly. But he thought it was odd that the Purple Aces, the school’s official mascot, played in orange uniforms. His coach also made them wear boxing robes before the games.

“Everybody hated to wear ‘em,” he said to laughter. “To begin with, each of them were a different color.”

Maybe that’s where Sloan got his ‘boxer tough’ image. Sloan was most influenced in his coaching style by his former Bulls coach, Dick Motta…

Sloan credits Motta, the former Weber State coach, for instilling a coaching philosophy into him that he still uses three decades later.

“Dick was the coach for most of my career in Chicago. He’s a no-nonsense kind of guy, great teacher, a fundamentalist and a great teacher,” Sloan said. “His style of coaching seemed to fit with my style of play.”

For a real mind bender, Sloan almost was the coach for his former Evansville team. In a strange twist of fate, he took the job but quit 5 days later.  Little did he know what would happen to that team…

that team suffered a horrific tragedy. Months after he’d departed and joined Chicago’s staff, the Evansville team’s plane crashed, killing everybody on board.

“That incident on Dec. 13, 1977, made me realize there are a lot more things more important than basketball,” Sloan said, “even though I love this game, and I’ll always be grateful for what it’s given me.”

I’ve had the privilege to meet Jerry Sloan at Celtic games. He was one of the game’s personalities that I was curious about. Meeting him, simply through the pre/post game interviews did not let me down. There is a dignified formality about him, but he exudes integrity. You get the feeling that he tries to incorporate “the things more important than basketball”  he mentioned into basketball and all that surrounds it. I came away impressed with the man as well as the coach.

So that is it.  A great week end with four of the very best ever to be associated with the game.

I shared a few of the non-basketball stories that we normally don’t get from people who lives revolve around a small orange ball, and a bit more. Enjoy the day!

The Celtics are still considering adding a point guard with the 15th roster spot.

58th draft pick Lester Hudson will get a training camp look, as will former Celtic Dan Dickau. Marc Spears also mentions Celtic interest in Tyronn Lue and Mike Taylor.

Of the group, Tyronn Lue is the experienced veteran and a good friend of Kevin Garnett’s. The surprise invitee is Dan Dickau. He will be 31 in September, but played a bit overseas last season.

Dan Dickau

Dan has been an interesting player to watch, if only for his ability to stay in the NBA for so long. In six years he played for six different teams, one of them twice (Portland), and landed with the Boston Celtics in 2005-6, but played only 19 games after sustaining injury.

He wasn’t able to recreate his college success at the pro level and his NBA career was close to flat lining after New Orleans received him in a trade with Dallas. Coincidentally, Dickau was traded from the Mavericks along with a second round draft pick in 2005 for Darrell Armstrong.  That pick turned out to be 7′ 0″ Marcin Gortat, the Polish Hammer, and the man in demand this off season after backing up Dwight Howard so well this past year.

For some reason, Coach Byron Scott decided to keep Dickau and give him a real chance to play. Playing in 67 games, starting 45 of them, Dan averaged 31 minutes a game (more than double what he was able to earn anywhere else) and proved to be surprisingly productive. He averaged 13.2 points and 5.2 assists for a dysfunctional Hornets team that won just 18 games that year.

It was the year the unhappy Baron Davis was traded to Golden State after 18 games. It was an interesting team with Chris ‘Birdman’ Anderson (drug issues), 19 yr old JR Smith (attitude issues), Lonnie Baxter (later arrested for firing gun shots near the White House – ’06), Lee Nailon (attitude issues), among others. Having good guys like Darrell Armstrong and P.J. Brown just wasn’t enough to offset a toxic season.

But it did help Dickau resurrect his career. Dan was traded in that off season (’05) to the Celtics, but was never able to duplicate the success he had that season in New Orleans. A main drawback is that Dickau has a poor defensive reputation at the pro level. The Celtics’ defense has improved just a bit since he last put on a green jersey. If someone gets by him now, they run into big trouble.

He gets a chance to play twice for another NBA team, and if he makes the Celtics….what a team he will experience.

Mike Taylor

6′ 2″, 23 year old Mike Taylor was a rookie for the Clippers last season. He played in  just 51 games for them and averaged 5.7 points and 2.1 assists in 15 minutes. On his best night, Mike scored 35 points in one game against the Knicks and followed that up with 23 more against the Kings the following game.

He started 5 games and averaged 11 pts with 3.2 assist in 28 minutes in those games. After the All Star break, in 18 minutes he averaged 7.7 points and 2.4 assists in 27 games for the Clips, while shooting 39% from the arc. He only weighs 165 lbs. I haven’t really watched him play much, so I can’t offer too much more than that.

An Iowa State player, Taylor played for the Iowa Stampede of the NBA Development League before being drafted by the Portland Trailblazers.

This could be  a battle of late second round draft picks as Taylor was the 55th pick in ’08, and Hudson is the 58th pick in ’09.

Lester Hudson is solidly built and has been suggested as a potential poor man’s Nate Robinson by one writer.

Only after seeing each of the above players play will I be able to make a more informed judgment on them.

On a side note: Kevin Garnett is working out at Healthpoint center, though he isn’t able to play yet.

Three former national champion UConn Huskies are now playing together on the Detroit Pistons this season. All three are expected to lead the Pistons through a quick rebuilding phase. They will also change the personality of the team. More and easier scoring while continuing to play solid defense is expected.

Long time Piston, 6′ 7″ guard/forward Rip Hamilton was on UConn’s first ever NCAA national champion team in 1999.

6′ 2″ shooting guard Ben Gordon was on UConn’s 2004 NCAA Championship team.

6′ 11″ power forward Charlie Villanueva was also on the 2004 UConn championship team.

As the newest Pistons, Charlie and Ben are being given great opportunities to play bigger roles, elevate their games, and disprove the naysayers who view their games as ‘limited’, especially at the defensive end.

Rip Hamilton

Three time All Star, 31 year old Rip Hamilton has already added an NBA championship to his resume with the Pistons in 2004. Rip has developed into one of the league’s best mid range shooters, a solid three point shooter, and established himself as a gritty defender and money player. His constant motion and non-stop energy have reminded people of Celtic great Hondo Havicek.

Ben Gordon

Ben Gordon has been bred to be a clutch 4th quarter scorer. His performance in last season’s playoffs against Boston was eye opening for me. He has big confidence and is an alpha shooter. The degree of difficulty on some of his made shots in that series was jaw dropping. I just didn’t know he had the ability to get shots like that off, let alone make them. Inspiring, to say the least.

Though Ben played with an injury in that series for the ages, he has been incredibly durable, playing in 82, 80, 82, 72, and 82 games over his career. The knock on him is that he is one dimensional – a shooter. A 41% career three point shooter, he can drive at times and makes some wild looking lay-ups. Amazingly, he didn’t have any close or inside shots blocked last season. Even more amazing when you realize that his 6′ 2″ height listing is generous, to say the least.

They didn’t pay him all that money to come off the bench. He will start at the two spot while Rip moves to the three, most of the time, I’m guessing. Can Ben handle being the alpha scoring dog here? He certainly has the temperament for it. While his PER was better than his counterpart’s was last season, indicating good individual defense, the team was better defensively overall when Ben was off the court.

A lethal assassin, Joe Dumars and new coach Jon Kuesters must figure out how to minimize Ben’s defensive short comings.

Charlie Villanueva

After not getting Carlos Boozer, who opted to stay in Utah this season, Joe Dumars surprised many by signing Charlie Villanueva to a long term contract. Charlie was coming off a career year (16 pts. per game) at Milwaukee. Dumars’ thoughts from an interview with Keith Langlois of Pistons.com…

If you don’t have the strong, low-post, traditional four man that can score, if you don’t have one of those top guys, you certainly better have one of those guys we call a stretch four – that can stretch the defense, that’s versatile, that’s inside-out. You have to get one or the other. If you’re not going to get a traditional four guy, then today’s game requires you to have more versatile four men. Charlie is the prototypical guy that can play inside, play outside, average 7½ rebounds, can shoot the 3, can put it on the floor. That’s why a guy like him becomes really appealing to you.

Charlie Villanueva has always had a solid offensive game. He is a natural scorer. The knock has been his intensity and defense, even from his days with Coach Calhoun at UConn. Yet, he left college a champion. Will that change now that he is being given the biggest role of his NBA career?

Dumars thinks so. In the same interview, he compares the situation to the growth of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu….

…the examples I will use are a couple of guys who grew even after their first three or four years in the league. You saw Rashard Lewis get better and you saw Turkoglu get better. They became older, became more mature on the court, became better players. This notion that if a guy hasn’t shown great improvement in the first two or three years, then he’s not going to be … that’s not the case. Charlie can definitely get better and we’re going to ask him to do more. We’re going to ask him to be more than just a scorer. We love the fact he snagged 7½ rebounds a game. We’re going to ask him to continue to rebound like that. Obviously, we’re going to ask him to do a better job defensively.

Joe also wants Charlie to expand his offense to utilize a few things he noticed that he does well….

one of the things he can do, and it probably goes a little unnoticed – and we’ve studied a lot of him on film – is he puts the ball on the floor pretty good, too. He pump fakes and does a great job of driving that ball to the basket for a 6-10, 6-11 guy. So we’re going to ask him to do all of those things. Just as you saw Lewis and Turkoglu get better, as 6-10 guys, they got better as they got older – became more mature, more settled, stronger. Those guys settled in and became real versatile and that’s what we see Charlie as. A guy 25 years old, you can get better.

Okay fine. It is very possible that Charlie can grow.  But are these guys going to play defense?

Dumars….
Lest people forget, Chauncey and Rip didn’t come here as these great defenders. They came here as offensive players. Chauncey was talented offensively, Rip was a scorer. They won a championship because they made a commitment to try to defend people. Just because you address the need to score more, doesn’t change your mind-set to have to stop people. It won’t change our mind-set. Kuester and I have talked about that. We are committed to that and we’re going to be committed to that with these players, that you’ve got to stop somebody. I don’t care how talented you are offensively, you’ve still got to give a big-time effort defensively if you’re going to win in this league.

There you have it. For those things to occur, Charlie and Ben must commit to the defensive end. Ben has all the capabilities to carry a big offensive load. His defense will always require a lot of energy. A better passer than some think, he does have to get his turnovers down.

I have always said that it is up to Charlie as to how good he becomes in the NBA. The time is now. The place is Detroit. With the help of his UConn team mate and friend, Ben Gordon, and fellow UConn Husky Rip Hamilton, these guys can open some eyes if Detroit makes the playoffs and goes .500 or better.

The ESPN consensus prediction for Detroit is 38-44 and a lottery pick. Both Big Shot Ben and Chill Charlie have been signed for the long haul. They will be given every opportunity to grow as players and help Detroit rebuild.

Crickets outside. Crickets in Celtic News.

Call it a Mid Week Round Up….

A)     Great story on the Hall of Fame Inductions by Ken (Ham) Berger of CBS Sports.com

It’s stranger than fiction.

Isaiah Thomas and arch enemy Larry Brown will both be presenters, in the same room, at the Induction Ceremonies for the Basketball Hall of Fame in nearby Springfield, Ma.

Thomas will present John Stockton for induction, while Larry Brown will present David Robinson.

There is no truth to the rumor that the former point guards will engage in a cage wrestling match before the ceremonies. The combined efforts of the two, led primarily by Isaiah, could be part of a book called Bringing Down the House Knicks. I do understand that Stern will have a uniformed referee standing between them looking for non-incidental contact.

In another surprise move, Jerry Sloan will have Charles Barkley be his presenter. He says his wife came to love Barkley after she saw him standing for an hour signing autographs for kids.

Luckily, Michael Jordan will be inducted as well and get his own exhibit there. Jordan has a surprise presenter in David Thompson, his childhood basketball inspiration.

But this article by Berger is both funny and true.

two great one liners:

1) Only Jordan — who blocked the Knicks from numerous NBA titles during the ’90s — and Bernard Madoff have stolen more from New Yorkers than Larry and Isiah.

2) final line – So please, dignified, decorated and dysfunctional presenters: Play nice. Don’t let your egos get in the way. And repeat after me: It’s not about you.

Not that New York Knick fans want to relive that catastrophe. But still, quite a moment for a whole lot of reasons.

B)   Replacement Refs to start the season? Looks like it.

ESPN’s Marc Stein has it here.

David Stern called off latest talks with Zebra Union. As if we don’t complain about refereeing enough now. Hey, maybe things will get better. The replacements could actually call things by the rules.

C)    At NBA.com, Rick Barry says….

“Put this down and underline it: I’m a huge LeBron James fan. But he was never taught how to shoot properly, which isn’t his fault. He has a flaw in his shot. I want to see him become even better, and this guy is scary good. He just needs to become a better shooter, especially from the free throw line, where he’s less than 80 percent. I believe there were times when LeBron didn’t even want to get to the line.”

Just what we need, Lebron James shooting better.

D)    Nets will use Yi Jianlian in the low post more this season, Coach Lawrence Frank tells a Chinese website according to Nets Daily.

Will that make him the Low Mein Man this season? How about Beef Low Mein man after working out this summer? Or, are you thinking….. chicken low mein man? Don’t do that to the man. He is young and raw, but getting better. A little added muscle and a new baby hook shot should serve him well.

yawn. I need a nap.

If Marquis Daniels was a stock listed on NYSE, he would have just jumped from overpriced with ‘sell’ recommendations to ‘buy’ recommendations and into the undervalued portfolios of mutual fund managers.

Just a few months ago, Marquis was an Indiana Pacer. Bird said, ‘don’t come round here no more’. A team option for $7.5 million for this season was wisely declined, making Marquis a free agent.

We might argue over how much, but he is worth a sight more than the $1.99 million he agreed on to play with this team, even in this buyers’ market. After the waiting, Danny Ainge gets another player for discounted dollars.

Call it the championship card. Call it ‘the race’ card. Like Seinfeld, Danny doesn’t leave home without it. (I was going to use the Karl Malden original commersh, but Superman say Petty twice at 4 minutes in. No lie. Plus it’s funnier.)

You use it to attract a player who can get more money elsewhere.

Danny Ainge knows full well that ‘playing for a title’ has tremendous attraction for many players. Playing for Doc Rivers and with KG, Paul, Ray, and even Rondo just adds to the cache. Perkins and Wallace are teammates, too? Bonus.

When scouring the league for players, Danny can play the race card. That is…how would you like to be in the only race that matters, the race for the NBA Championship?  He leveraged that magnet with great skill in bringing James Posey, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell, and Eddie House into the fold in year one.

The Celtics payroll is rightly eaten up largely by a three horse power engine. Those three stallions will drive this team on a title run again this year. Danny knows he needs to leverage the chance to be a part of that special opportunity to get the best possible support players he can. Add something to your resume that few players get to add. Make it happen and be a part of NBA history forever.

A player that has averaged 58.5 games a season, Marquis Daniels took a big financial risk in signing for the one year BAE. He assuredly could have worked a multi year deal from someone for something in between the one year deal he signed for and that $7.5 million. Instead, he said this where I want to be – almost at any cost.

Injury is something that is always feared by player and organization alike. If the player has a long term contract, the organization takes the risk. Without that contract, the player is taking a big risk. To many players, those of high integrity, getting a chance to play on a team like the Celtics is worth it. Say hello to Marquis Daniels.

Daniels has made about $22 million in his career. Unless he has handled his money like Antoine Walker, he won’t go hungry if the worst happens. So it is about what is most important in his life.

Daniels’ Choice

Play for $2 million and a chance at real glory or get a 4 year deal with someone else for maybe 12-15 million? At least a 3 year deal for $9 million would be realistic, right? That $7 million difference is 33% of his total lifetime earnings to date.

Some players, like Corey Maggette, will opt for the big dollars every time. Championships don’t pay the bills. Some want a shot at the title. Others are happy with a one way ticket to Palookaville.

But a solid year as a significant cog in a title contender will increase your value and league wide attraction, as James Posey discovered. And that is after you get a special ride and incredible experience that only 3-4 teams can offer in any given season. You just might fulfill your ultimate basketball dream.

Playing for the Celtics now is like playing for the Yankees. The winning tradition is always there. You fill other teams arenas for them. Calendar dates are circled in every NBA city. Tickets are sold out early for those games. The house be a rockin’, baby. Many will come to see this special Celtic team perform, not their own team. Bring your ‘A’ game. You will need it most every night.

But the real reason is a true shot at a title. You don’t want to be questioning yourself years later saying,

“You don’t understand. I coulda had class. I could have been a contender. I coulda been somebody.”

On the waterfront. Celtic Nation. The Beantown Ballers. National attention, every play counts intensity, the chance at being The Champion. Is it worth it?

Just ask Marquis Daniels.

With this salary structure, Danny knows he must look for players like this every year. Posey was underpaid and both he and Danny knew it. Posey already had one championship. He was going to sign with New Jersey. Eddie House and Doc Rivers convinced him he was wanted and needed by the Celtics to help accomplish something special here.

Daniels has never won a title, but he has experienced the playoffs. No convincing phone calls needed.

Whatever happens this season, Marquis can go for a multi-year deal next season, perhaps with the Celtics. If he helps the Celtics achieve that dream, he most likely won’t get an offer like Posey got, but he will certainly get a better deal next season.

Danny was looking for a Posey. Daniels was the man…..and a man of his word. Daniels decided to listen to his heart. Looking for a chance to do something special, Marquis wants to be somebody. Marquis is…. running down a dream.