The Celtics Start Melding in New Pieces Tonight. Welcome to the 2009-10 NBA season.
Tonight the Celtics open the exhibition season by playing the Houston Rockets in Hidalgo, Texas at 7:30 pm.
Doc starts to add his new toys, Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, in this game. After thinking it over and listening to Doc, getting Rasheed Wallace comfortable on the court as a bench player and playing at a high level will be job one….of course after any starter concerns that is, meaning Kevin Garnett. It may mean experimenting around a bit.
Doc will play the first quarter pretty much with the starters according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald….
“Everybody will play. We don’t know how many minutes yet. We haven’t even gotten into that as a staff. The first quarter we’ll play almost traditional minutes. The tough thing about preseason games is you don’t know who the other team is going to play, so you have to be careful with who they have on the floor, as well.”
Getting a rhythm coming off the bench for Wallace will be the preseason goal. It will take a little time before something consistent is established. Marquis Daniels will be tried at a few positions as well.
Bulpett/Herald….
“I’m interested to see how Marquis handles the point with the second unit and what other teams do,” Rivers said. “If they keep the 3 (small forward) on him then there’s no cause to worry.
“I wouldn’t be shocked to see some teams actually put their point on Marquis and try to pressure him up the floor. If they do that, we’re going to post Marquis. That would put the ball back in Eddie (House’s) hands, but then Eddie has the 3 on him and he won’t have any pressure. So that’s what will be interesting, to see how teams play that lineup.” . . .
This will be Kevin Garnett’s first live game action since his surgery so Doc will watch him closely, I’m sure.
The Houston Rockets will be a team with a new look without Yao Ming (injury) and Ron Artest (signed by Lakers). Houston is coming off a preseason win over the Spurs last night,99-85.
With Yao Ming out Luis Scola will see a lot of time at center, while new comer, (and former Laker champion) Trevor Ariza will try to take up the slack of the departure of Ron Artest. Aaron Brooks once again runs point, with Kyle Lowry backing him up. Forward Carl Landry had a big game off the bench last night with 19 points in 25 minutes. Second rounders (SF) Chase Budinger, who had 15 points in his NBA opener and (G) Jermaine Taylor (6 pts.) both hope to make the team.
Tracy McGrady and Shane Battier did not play in the Rocket’s opener. Houston will struggle this season as they try to find a winning formula playing an uptempo game. Uptempo is a Rick Adleman trade mark, though he did a terrific job of going defensive and half court with the Rocket roster last season.
The Celtics get to uncork some pent up frustration from last season’s finish. With a healthy team they would have had a great opportunity to defend their title. They seem ready to take off and make up for a season considered lost because Garnett was out injured for the playoffs, ending their dreams of two in a row.
All Celtics are healthy except Bill Walker who is recovering from minor surgery and should be ready in 6 weeks, and Tony Allen, who is listed as day-to-day with a sore ankle due to recovering from June surgery. Tony will not play tonight, according to Greg Dickerson of csnne.com
I’ll bring you the results and highlights.
