There seems to be some consternation over the value that the Celtics were able to get out of their 52nd pick in this year's draft.  I find it fairly laughable that people are debating over if Luke Harangody was a good enough value with that pick.  He very well may not be and he may not even make the team next year but keep in mind that there were only eight other players drafted after him last night, so any value squeezed from this guy is gravy.

The second round is a very funny thing when it comes to projecting NBA talent.  90% (rough guesstimate) of the guys picked in the second round never make an impact in the NBA.  However, there have been some guys that have gone on to have all-star careers.  Rashard Lewis, Gilbert Arenas and Dennis Rodman were all second round guys. 

Many of the guys that do make it fall into a couple different categories.  1) Low risk - Low reward guys - These are the guys that played three or four years in college and were solid but they don't have freakish athleticism and aren't oozing with potential.  They pretty much are what they are at this point and there won’t be much upside.  2)  Unknown international players and undeveloped early entry players - These guys aren't the big named players with huge upside that often get taken way too early.  These guys are most likely going to be stashed on a roster or overseas with hopes of future development like Rashard Lewis and Manu Ginobili were.  3) Undersized big men or players overcoming an injury -  Dujuan Blair fits neatly both sides of this category.  The second round boasts a long line of undersized power forwards that scouts figured were too short to make an impact.

Danny Ainge and the Celtics have created an art form out of plucking contributors out of the second round of the draft.  They have gotten solid role players out of the 50th, 49th, 35th and 47th picks over the last couple years.  Why isn’t it possible that they could get a contributor out of the 52nd pick?

Here is a little exercise to test your virtual scouting and drafting skills.  I will give you some stats and a brief scouting report of two players that would be readily available in the middle of the second round and you tell me which player you would draft.

Player 1 is a 6’7” forward that mostly played the PF position for four years at a Big East school.  He was regarded by most as one of the (if not the) top performer in the conference.  His draft stock has plummeted into the second round because he is too slow to guard small forwards and too small to guard power forwards.  He isn’t an explosive athlete and there isn’t much upside with this guy.  He has a solid back to the basket game but may not be able to exploit it in the NBA.  He has a reliable midrange shot but will have to improve it even more, as he won’t be able to physically dominate players like he did in college.

4-year college stats

Year                                PPG                                RPG                                APG                                FG%

Year 1                            13.8                                7.8                                  1.5                                  .559%

Year 2                            18.4                                9.7                                  2.4                                  .537%

Year 3                            18.9                                9.4                                  2.6                                  .507%

Year 4                            21.6                                8.2                                  2.5                                  .496%

Would you want this guy on the Celtics?  He’s not Luke Harangody.  He is another guy that was projected to not be able to get his shot off in the NBA.  He was also going to have to adjust because he wasn’t going to be able to dominate like he did against smaller players in the Big East.  He is Ryan Gomes.  Gomes, a guy that guys around Celtics Blog often pine over, found his place in the NBA and performed very admirably for the Celtics for two years.  He, like Harangody, was a very decorated Big East performer but that didn’t stop his draft stock from sliding him down to the 50th pick.

Harangody was picked at 52 and had, arguably, as good or a better college career than Gomes.  You’ll hear all of the same knocks on Harangody that you heard about Gomes.  Too slow.  Not athletic enough.  Not big enough.  No upside.  Won’t be able to create his own shot.  Can’t play NBA defense.  Those things may all be true but, like Gomes, Harangody is a winner and he loves the game of basketball.  You could see it during his time at Notre Dame.  You may just buy into the criticisms a bit more with Harangody because he is a goofy looking white guy.  Let’s let him prove to us otherwise before we write him off.

Just for fun, here are Harangody’s college stats.  Compare them to Gomes and then tell me if you think that he was a waste of a late second round pick.

4-year college stats

Year                                PPG                                RPG                                APG                                FG%

Year 1                            11.2                                6.2                                  1.2                                  .459%

Year 2                            20.4                                10.6                                1.7                                  .500%

Year 3                            23.3                                11.8                                2.1                                  .459%

Year 4                            21.8                                9.1                                  1.6                                  .481%

If you are looking for any further reasons to believe in Luke Harangody, take a minute to look at Leon Powe’s college stats.  Maybe Harangody has a chance of turning into a productive role player for the Celtics in the next couple years.

Keep the Faith,

DRJMAN

It's amazing what a four-game win streak can do for the psychology of a fanbase.  The Garden gatherers have gone from lining up on the Zakim to lining up pints of Sam Adams at The Boston Sports Grille, as they discuss what a steal the Nate Robinson trade was.

A little shift in perspective and a couple Ray Allen 3-point daggers can temporarily remedy all that ails a panicking fanbase.  There wasn't anything pretty about the first 42 minutes of the Celtics' 86-83 victory over the recently reconstructed Washington Wizards.  This should have been a runaway victory.  KG, Pierce and Ray Allen all should have been watching Scalabrine launch threes while the crowd roared with approval.

Well, that didn't happen but the C's did valiantly fight their way back from the brink of embarrassment.  They staved off the Fellowship of the Miserable (hat tip to Rick Pitino) for yet another day and silenced the whispers and conjecture temporarily.

Thankfully, the Celtics' starters woke up and suffocated a young and inexperienced Wizards squad in those last eight minutes.  We were a KG floor burn and timeout away from having to read columns in the Globe and Herald that would make you want to cut yourself.  Instead of the blowhards on sports radio ranting about how the Patriots and Bruins' personnel moves, you would be hearing about the Celtics' consecutive Bloody Sunday performances.

However, Ray Allen buried those threes and Rajon Rondo came alive and spurred a 20-4 run.  Instead of enduring an ego crippling loss, the Celtics are on a 4-game win streak.  That win streak could potentially stretch out to seven games when the Celtics arrive in Cleveland next Sunday.  That is a nice scenario to hope for.

Optimism can be found anywhere you look for it.  While this year's team is old and injury-prone, there are still reasons to be optimistic everwhere you look.  Let me give you 10 reasons to be optimistic about the Celtics.  Maybe this will help you to stay clear of the Zakim if the C's happen to blow it against the Bucks on Tuesday.

10 reasons why Celtics fans should remain optimistic

10. The Celtics were able to sign Michael Finley for only the prorated veteran's minimum.  They didn't have to give up any young talent or future draft picks to acquire him.  This is a very solid pickup.  Nobody expects Finley to score 20 points per game like he did during his prime years with Dallas.  The good news is that the Celtics don't need him to score 20 ppg.  Finley was signed to be the ninth or tenth guy off of the bench and provide veteran stability and leadership to the bench.  He may be a 37-year-old former all-star but what do you expect from a guy that the Celtics were able to sign as a free agent in March.  Finley is gravy and anything he adds is a bonus.  He must feel that the Celtics have legitimate championship chances if he is accepting a reduced role.

9.  Our bench is Mariana Trench deep.  Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis, Marquise Daniels, Nate Robinson, Michael Finley and Tony Allen comprise the deepest bench rotation in the NBA.  Many of these guys could still find starting roles in the NBA.  They just need more time and practices to get used to playing with each other.  We've seen flashes already where they have bailed out the starters and there is certainly better things to come from this group.

8. Who is that guy wearing No. 34?  He certainly hasn't looked like Paul Pierce recently.  He has only averaged 12.2 ppg through February and the early days of March.  There has only been one game where he scored over 20 points during that stretch.  He has been nagged by knee and thumb injuries and is trying to round himself back into all-star form.  Pierce's game didn't just drop off a cliff.  He has scored over 20 points in 20 games this season and that is without having to dominate the ball like LeBron, Kevin Durant or Dwayne Wade.  Now more than ever, Pierce picks and chooses his spots.  He knows that he has at least three other teammates that can carry the team on any given night.  Pierce, however, knows that it is his job to carry the Celtics on the nights of the biggest games.

7. Say what you will about Rasheed Wallace.  He hasn't quite been what every Boston fan dreamt of when they immediately placed him on their NBA 2K9 roster shortly after Gary Tanguay first leaked info on the acquisition.  Rasheed has been just about what he was for the Pistons last season if you consider that he is playing 10 less minutes per game this year.  His shooting percentages are down because of his struggling from behind the 3-point line but Rasheed Wallace has otherwise provided what he has contributed in each of the last three seasons.  One positive development has been Rasheed's return to the post.  Wallace has been successful when he has initiated his own offense from the blocks.  Now he just needs to continue to park himself on the block and punish his defender.

6. Nate Robinson has been better than advertised.  Most people were looking for any reason to disparage Nate and the trade that send Eddie House, Bill Walker and that other guy out of town (just kidding J.R.).  Robinson gives the second unit a creative force.  Robinson is somebody that can push the tempo and collapse a defense.  Before the trade, the second unit would often become stagnant and rely on perimeter jumpers.  Nobody could create on offense or take the ball to the rim.  Tony Allen was the only player that has any success with driving to the rim but he was always liable to turn the ball over.  Nate gives the second unit another dynamic that defenses have to respect.  The early bonus that the Celtics have gained from the trade is the fact that Robinson has shot the 3-pointer at an Eddie House-ian clip.

5. The rumors of Ray Allen's demise had been greatly exaggerated.  Much has been made about Ray Allen's performance since the trade deadline has passed.  Ray has rediscovered the shooting touch that was so much fun to watch in the playoffs last spring.  Allen has connected on eight of his fifteen 3-pointers so far this month.  If he can maintain any semblance of that shooting stroke, then the Celtics will be a tough team to beat.  Watching Ray Allen play basketball on the offensive end of the floor is an absolute treat.  Let's just hope that he continues to put on the clinic that he began teaching shortly after the trade deadline passed.

4. We may be seeing the return of the defense.  The Celtics have not given up over 86 points in any of their last three games.  Each team that Celtics played had been able to score at least 100 points in in their five games prior to these last wins.  One sure sign that the defense may indeed have returned to form is the increased amount of blocked shots by KG and Perk.  The paint is starting to become a "no fly zone" again.  Opponents have not feared the Celtics' defense at all this season but KG is starting to get that spring back in his step on defense, so this may change. 

3.  The swagger and mean streak seem to be back.  Kendrick Perkins has been talking about how the Celtics can't be friendly with other teams anymore.  He doesn't want to shake hands anymore.  Paul Pierce had a minor dust-up with Steven Jackson and said that he thought that the Celtics could use a little more of that kind of stuff in the post game press conference.  When push came to shove last night against Washington, KG and the Celtics became the instigators.  KG got into Andre Blatche's face and reduced the previously hot young power forward into a turnover prone player that was looking to only shoot fadeaway jumpers.  KG got up in Blatche's face and beat everyone on the Wizards to the floorboards when the Celtics needed to gain possession of a loose ball.  Can you remember another time this season when any Celtic has had a crucial sequence like that?

2. It is March and every Bostonian knows what that means.  With the return of spring comes hope renewed.  Well, who am I kidding.  March is renowned for one thing in Boston and that is St. Patrick's day.  You have to figure that the luck of the Irish will rub off on their namesake basketball franchise this season and carry them through the regular season and playoffs.  May the road rise to meet the Celtics and the wind always be at their backs...

1. Enough of all of this decline business.  The Celtics have some older players but let's not act like they are all finished.  You hear a lot about how pretty much everyone on the Celtics is performing below their career averages and this must, of course, mean that every player is toast.  When you assemble a team like the Celtics with multiple star players, there aren't enough shots available for everyone to average 20 ppg.  There aren't enough rebounds available for everyone to grab 10 per game.  If everyone of the Celtics' 11 rotation players were scoring at their career average, that would mean that the Celtics would be scoring 145 points per game.  There are not enough shots available for everyone to score, so many of the Celtics have had to adapt and find other ways to help the team.  Consider this the next time you criticize Sheed, Daniels, KG or Pierce for being half the player that they used to be.  These guys will be fine.  They are still figuring out how to play with each other seeing that many of their key players have either missed extended time or are new to the team.  Things will click with some practice and a few more games under their belts.  I just can't wait to see it.

The 2009-2010 "Reloaded" edition of the Boston Celtics have been limping and by their own admission, snoozing through the regular season.  They don't seem to be inspired nor do they inspire the confidence that the 2007-2008 Ubuntu-driven championship team imparted in their fanbase.  

Their recond currently stands at 37-21 (that is a .638 winning percentage) with 24 games left to play.  If they are even able to play .500 ball the reast of the way, they will wind down the season at 49-33.  That would, of course, be 17 wins less than they had during the last championship season and 13 less wins than last season.

Would finishing with a 49-33 record be the end of the world for this year's team?  History tells us that it doesn't have to be.

The last Celtics team team that entered the playoffs with 49 wins was the 2001-2002 Celtics.  These guys were the darlings of Boston that brought playoff basketball back to the city and to the then Fleet Center for the first time.  This was Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce's team.  There were some great role players on the roster like Kenny Anderson, Eric Williams, Rodney Rogers, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty and Tony Battie. Let's be clear though, this team belonged to it's two stars. 

Welcome to the Jungle roared through speakers all over Massachusetts as these overachievers stormed all the way to an epic showdown with the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals.  This version of the Celtics clearly wasn't of championship caliber but they certainly fought like hell.  If this season's Celtics played with that kind of fire in their bellies, then they probably wouldn't meet the same fate as the 2001-2002 Celtics.

While the 2001-2002 Celtics didn't make the finals, finishing the season with 49 wins and the third seed in the East doesn't have to be a death sentence.  There is still hope for this year's team and history will back that up.

The first ever Boston Celtics team to win an NBA Championship was the 1956-1957 Boston Celtics and they entered the playoffs with a 44-28 record and .611 win percentage (They only played 72 games back then).  This team famously featured Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tommy Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, Jungle Jim Loscutoff and Bill Russell.  The 44 wins may reflect the fact that Russell only played in 48 games that season because he reported to the Celtics late into the regular season. 

The 1956-1957 team probably isn't a good comp for this season's squad because they were a young team (Heinsohn and Russ were both rookies.) that hit their stride entering the playoffs.  All of their major contributors were at the top of their game and Red was a coaching maestro.

A team that parallels the current squad in many facets is the 1968-1969 championship squad.  This was the last edition of the Bill Russell era dynasty.  They finished the regular season with a 48-34 record and were limping  through the regular season.  This was a team that everyone in the NBA thought was vulnerable and past their prime.  Maybe they were but they had experience and heart.  The Celtics battled their way to the NBA finals and the stage was set for another showdown with the Lakers.

Something was different this time though.  This time around the Lakers were so confident that they were going to knock the Celtics, who had tormented them so much over the years, off that they planned a huge celebration for the conclusion of Game 7. Tommy always references how L.A. had balloons strapped up in the raftersand were poised to drop them as soon as the Lakers finished off the Celtics.  The great irony was that the Celtics would those balloons as a sign of disrespect.  This fueled the veteran team and motivated them to defeat their rival.

What the rest of the NBA and the Lakers didn't know was that this Celtics team was like a wounded animal, backed into the corner.  They knew that this was their last hurrah.  Player coach Bill Russell and Sam Jones each were poised to retire at the conclusion of the NBA Finals and were considered a step slower at this point in their career.  Sound familiar?  Despite being an extremely long in the tooth veteran team, these Celtics came together and percevered all the way to a championship.

Something doesn't feel quite right about comparing today's Celtics to the last great team of the original Celtics' dynasty.  However, the point still remains.  These Celtics are not dead in the water.  They may not be the world beaters that they were when they were crowned champs in 2008 but they are also not as terrible as last weekend's loss to the hapless Nets would leave you to believe.  This team can still make an impact in the playoff and potentially win a championship. 

One of the most important characteristics of a champion is the experience of knowing how to win a championship.  This team knows how to win and teams like Cleveland and Orlando have not figured that out yet.  Don't count these guys out.

I just saw this on RealGM.com's NFL Headline site.  Hilarious!

Urlacher Questions Cutler's Manhood

30th July, 2009 - 11:04 am

Chicago Sun-Times - Minnesota wide receiver Bobby Wade shared an alleged conversation he had with Brian Urlacher about Jay Cutler. "Jay Cutler is a good player," Wade said. "Obviously, it's a much different environment going from Denver to play in Chicago. Chicago is a tough club to play for. What is so funny, I actually saw Brian Urlacher this past weekend in Las Vegas, and we had a long conversation. I don't want to get him in trouble, but it wasn't what [the Bears] expected. Pretty much [Urlacher] said Jay Cutler was a [deleted], for the most part." The deleted word begins with the letter 'P'. Urlacher told the Tribune: "That's just Bobby being Bobby. That's just stirring it up before camp." [READ]

If Pierce scores all of the 42 points tonight that he needs to tie The Chief on the all-time Celtics scoring list, then I beleive that we will beat the Cleveland LeBrons.

How many games to you all think it will take PP to surpass Robert and do you think it is possible for him to ever overtake Bird?

Pierce has been legitimizing Tommy's claim that PP is the greatest Celtics scorer in the history of the franchise.  Many people scoffed at the time that Tommy made that comment but now that Pierce has a ring and is closing in on Parish, it should bring this topic back out for discussion.

I would really love to see Paul have a classic game on par with Game 7 from the Cleveland series last spring.  It would just make this milestone in Paul's career that much more memorable.

Any season that starts out at 29-7 is pretty good in my book and the fact that we are still one game in front of the 1986 Celtics’ pace (They were 28-8 ) is even more comforting during these recent days of hysteria amongst all of us Boston fans.

The warm glow of the 2008 championship banner and memories of what we used to panic over in the post-Pitino era are what keep me sane in the harsh, cold days of the post-Christmas Celtics schedule.  What this team needs to do to restore the collective buzz amongst Celtics fans is take a page from the ’86 Celtics and do what they did best -  beat on the Houston Rockets.  The Larry Bird led Celtics took the Rockets down twice in the regular season before conquering them four games to two in the 1986 NBA Finals.  What better way to right this ship than to honor the ’86 champs by laying a symbolic beating on the Rockets tonight?

While beating the Rockets for a second time this season would be very therapeutic and temporarily assuage the pains that ail this team, it has become evident that this team is in need of some tweaking.  There are some fundamental flaws that render us vulnerable against certain teams (read: teams that are young, athletic and long).  Reading the rants on the message boards make it abundantly clear that Joe Public is aware of our team’s needs, so you can rest assured that Danny Ainge and his staff are aware of them also.

What can we do to counter these vulnerabilities?  I will pitch ideas of what the missing ingredients may be to our already award-winning recipe.

Matching up with dynamic, versatile, long small forwards

The Boston Celtics had been looking for an athletic, long/tall small forward for years and until James Posey, they were never able to acquire somebody that could fit that bill.  Stay with me here.  This isn’t a bring back Posey or a we screwed up by not bringing Posey back rant.  However, the Celtics find themselves back in the market for that lanky small forward that can come off of the bench and provide a dynamic versatility to the second unit’s attack.  This player is also needed to address matchup problems when forwards like Josh Smith, Al Harrington, Wilson Chandler, Luol Deng and company are giving us fits.

Paul Pierce is clearly our starting small forward but he is also our only pure small forward on the active roster right now.  Tony Allen (I know he is hurt right now) is a shooting guard and cannot matchup with the tall small forward crowd.  Brian Scalabrine can play some small forward but his foot speed precludes him from consistently matching up with guys like Deng, Harrington and Smith.  However, he did play some good defense in the Knicks game the other night.  Other than those two guys, there isn’t anyone on the active roster that can step in and play small forward.  The only two guys left on the roster at all that could physically play that position are both steadily producing in the Developmental League.  Are Giddens or Walker ready to contribute yet?  We don’t know if they could do it consistently but it may be worth our while to give one of them a shot in limited minutes.

There may be some external candidates worth looking at and I am sure that Danny Ainge is doing just that.  Austin Chroshere was recently cut by the Milwaukee Bucks and if he is healthy, he could be serviceable.  In seven minutes per game, he scored 3.3 ppg and grabbed 2.2 boards.  He is a consistent outside shooter and can finish around the basket.  You have to wonder how healthy he is or what other problems he may have, seeing as it was the 17-19 Bucks just released him outright.  In fairness to Chroshere, the Bucks are loaded with long small forward types and he wouldn’t see the court with guys like Richard Jefferson, Charlie Villanueva, Joe Alexander and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in front of him.

Another team with a glut of versatile small forwards is the New York Knicks.  They have Al Harrington, Wilson Chandler, Tim Thomas and the 6’10’’ Danilo Gallinari, who will be returning to the court soon, all clamoring for minutes at the small forward position.  I know that it is rare that you are able to successfully trade with a division rival but wouldn’t it be nice to land Tim Thomas (the Knicks aren’t giving up any of the other three guys) and have him come off of our bench?  A package of friendly contracts like Brian Scalabrine, Tony Allen and J.R. Giddens /Gabe Pruitt (Knicks’ choice) would be feasible and open up some roster spots for the Celtics.  The only question would be if the Knicks would be willing to make that deal.  You’ve got to throw the pasta against the wall to see if it sticks.   

Length in the paint and on the block

Glen Davis has done an admirable job trying to play the role of backup center.  The man is listed as being 6’9’’ and that is a very generous measurement.  Sometime he is great with his defensive rotations and glasswork and other nights he barely shows a pulse.  His length leaves him overmatched in matchups with almost any true backup center.  Never mind the world of trouble that we would be in if Perk were to go down for an extended period of time.

We do have Patrick O’Bryant, a true seven-foot center, on the roster but we only get to see him throw down a few dunks and hook shots during garbage time.  Could he hold his own if he were to play a couple minutes a game backing up Perk?  I guess we won’t know because it doesn’t look like he is going to get the chance.

This weakness is most perplexing because of how unlikely it is that we will be able to get someone with the size that we need to back up Perk.  Teams just don’t cut 6’10’’ – 7’1’’ players that have the ability to put one foot in front of the other and get up and down the court.  If they decide to trade them, you better believe that they are going to come with a large price tag.  That is why Joe Smith will most likely not become a Boston Celtic this season.  We don’t have the chits to trade for him and he has said that he would like to play in Cleveland if he to be cut and become a free agent.  Smith and KG have a solid relationship from their days in Minnesota, so maybe The Big Ticket could pull some strings.  That would be our only hope at getting Joe Smith.

I hate to say it but I think that Patrick O’Bryant getting minutes and using his length may be the most likely scenario for the Celtics this season.

Ball Handling and Playmaking

Our second unit is in dire need of a ball handler and somebody to initiate the offense.  Eddie House is a valuable commodity and his shooting will come in handy later this season but we all know that he is not a point guard.  Gabe Pruitt may someday be able to play a passable point guard but he is not going to play significant minutes at the backup point guard this season, if we want to win another championship.  He is just to unseasoned and untested.  The Celtics need a veteran to backup their young starter at point guard because the second unit is full of youngsters that are in need of leadership.

I don’t know what the story is with Sam Cassell.  I don’t know why we resigned him if he is unable or unfit to play.  He has been in uniform a couple of times this season but hasn’t been more than an extra coach on the bench all year.

Could Starbury be the answer?  I hate to say it but if he gets bought out by the Knicks, he may just be our best option.  He may be a maniacal, mercurial, evil genius (Ha!) but he can break a press, get the ball to the rim and dish it off underneath to guys like Powe that need to be set up better this year.  He could also be brought in when teams are playing the “leave Rondo on an island and triple team KG” defense.  If teams sagged off of Marbury like they that, he would be more than happy to drill mid-range jumpers all the way to a championship ring.

The only downfall of being the Boston Celtics is that you don’t have the kind of flexibility to make personnel changes like other teams because of the three large contracts at the top of your salary cap.  Of course, you take that problem every day of the week and twice on Sunday but now we have to become opportunists if we want to add dynamic players that can help Garnett, Pierce and Allen win another championship.

Send out a S.O.S!  Throw out the life preservers and lower the lifeboats!  Women and children first!

Perspective is always a useful tool to utilize when you need to battle the onset of mania following a post-championship, two-game  losing streak.  This perspective stuff is particularly valuable when those two losses have come to the “this is our championship game on Christmas Day” Lakers and the now 9-22 Warriors.  Did I mention that Golden State was without multiple starters?

These are currently the darkest days of the 2008-2009 Boston Celtics’ season.  Can you imagine that?  What now stands as a two-game losing streak has shaken a large faction of Celtics fans because we now live in a world where the Celtics are the reigning champs, have set an NBA record with the best start to a season with only two losses, and had just won 19 games in a row.  It is hard to be pessimistic in the face of those accomplishments but there still seems to be doubts surfacing.

The Celtics are now 27-4 and still hold the best record in the NBA (Cleveland has a lower win % with their 25-4 record).  At this point last season, the Big 3 plus James Posey were 28-3, however, they were just about to lose three of their next five games.  Two of those losses would come to Washington and the other was at the hands of the lowly Charlotte Bobcats.  This just goes to illustrate that even great teams struggle and can lose games that they should win on paper.

A little bit more perspective to help you break out of these post-holiday and two-game losing streak doldrums is the fact that the 1986 Celtics, who are widely considered one of the greatest teams of all-time, were only 24-7 after 31 games.  That team was bulletproof and we currently have three more wins than they had at this point in their championship season.

You also have to take into account that the Celtics may just be a bit tired.  They have played 31 games to this point in the season and only Utah and Golden State have played as many games as the Champs.  The C’s have also played seven back-to-back games this season and none of them have been back-to-back home games.  The Celtics have been able to sweep all but two of those back-to-back sets.  The Cleveland LeBrons have also been able to sweep five of their seven back-to-back sets, so the Celtics are keeping up the pace in this area with the other top team in the Eastern Conference.

This year’s Celtics team has also proven that they can win on the road.  They, along with the Orlando Magic, have the best road winning marks and currently stand with a road 10-3 record.  The Lakers and Cavaliers have each lost four games on the road to this point.  One of Cleveland’s losses was the 90-85 loss to the Celtics on opening night at the Boston Garden. 

Despite these last two road losses, this iteration of the Boston Celtics have been pretty spectacular.  Both of these losses were blown in the 4th quarter and could have been won if the Celtics had made one or two more plays. 

This team, rightfully so, has s target on their back and are walking into haymakers each and every time they step on the court.  Every team in the NBA is lining up to take their best shot at the 2008 NBA Champions and the Celtics have been able to send the contender to the mat 0.871% of the time this season.  If the Celtics can maintain that winning percentage this season, then we will have won more games than the 2008 and 1986 championship teams.

How is that for some perspective?

Things to watch out for:   

Paul Pierce is 733 points away from passing Robert Parish on the all-time Celtics’ scoring list.  If Pierce keeps up his current scoring average, he is due to pass The Chief midway through the second half of the season.  That would put Pierce behind only John Havlicek and Larry Bird on that list.  Pierce currently only sits behind Bird’s 24.29 ppg on the all-time Celtics’ scoring list with his career 22.95 ppg.  That is some lofty company to be sitting in.

Keep the Faith,

DRJMAN

Antoine Walker, in the opinion of Celtics fans, is a lot like beer that is flavored with fruit additives.  You either love the idea of him/it being added to one of your favorite things or you hate it.  He either perfects it for you or he totally destroys it for you.

Now that Antoine is officially an unrestricted free agent, I feel obligated to chime in and support a true Celtic that deserves a return engagement.  I am a huge fan of Blueberry Beer (Wachusett Blueberry to be exact) and I am a huge proponent of Antoine's return to where he belongs - on the Boston Celtics.  I have read the debates in the Celtics Blog and Real GM forums and have listened to my friends and fellow Celtics fans fall on both sides of the issue.  After considering every viewpoint and thinking it over a lot, I have come to the conclusion that nobody will ever be able to have their opinion on this issue swayed.  You are what you are and I want to employ Employee #8.

Since I have already concluded that people’s opinions cannot be changed (I am a glutton for punishment), here is how I justify another Antoine Walker return to this franchise:

1) Antoine is fat and a shadow of the player that he thought he used to be

Everyone on the side that argues that Antoine should not be allowed within the borders of New England unless he is wearing the laundry of another NBA team argues that 'Toine is no longer the difference maker that he used to be.  He can no longer carry a team and has lost whatever athletic ability that he used to have (save the he can't jump over a phone book jokes).

Antoine isn't the player that lead us on a 10-game win streak in his last return anymore and he also isn't the same player that used to demolish a young Chris Webber when we would beat the Washington Bullets.  He definitely isn't the "veteran all-star" that he once thought he was and he isn't even as good as he was in Miami's run to the NBA Championship.  He is an older, less athletic version of himself at this point.

However, he doesn't have to be all of that for his return to the Celtics to make sense.  All that he has to be is a contributing member of the second unit.  His role would be small and specific but important to this roster.  Antoine's skill set and predicament lend themselves perfectly to what this team needs right now.  He is a championship proven veteran leader that won’t cost us much at all.  We could snag him for minimal cost and solve a few problems that our second unit has run into this season.  Antoine could be the answer to the “Eddie House cannot handle presses,” conundrum.  Antoine’s dribbling and playmaking ability from the small forward or power forward position would allow the second unit flexibility that it doesn’t currently have.  He would also be a player that can facilitate the offense when the second unit starts growing stagnant.  He has always been a viable create and dish type player and he can also facilitate the offense from the block when needed.  He may no longer be a great scorer, outside shooter or rebounder but there will be times when he sprinkles flashes of those proficiencies into game scenarios.  Even this version or edition of Antoine Walker would greatly help our second unit if he gave us numbers like he provided in Minnesota just last season – 8 points, 4 rebounds and an assist in 20 minutes (not that he would play 20 minutes per game).

2) There are plenty of players that would be better to add to this roster than Antoine

One of my good friends, who happens to be an active Celtics Blog member, thinks that there is no shot that Antoine returns to Boston.  He says that he is holding out hope for Dikembe Mutombo or another seven-foot big to come in and solidify our bench.  While Dikembe has his merits, he also has as many questions the most ardent Antoine detractor could come up with while trying to cleverly disparage the greatest purveyor of the wiggle this side of Memphis.

 Dikemebe isn’t currently being paid by another team, so he would probably want a bit more money for his services.  He is over 40 year old according to his NBA bio and that is a very conservative estimate considering that nobody can confirm his birth date.  At this phase in his career, he could be injury-prone and be a waste of a roster move and cap penalty, while Antoine has been very durable during his career and is coming off of a lot of rest.  Mutombo offers no offensive advantage to our offensively challenged second unit and would clog up the one area where Lean Powe, our only offensive threat on the second unit, prefers to set up.

If the Celtics were to miss out on Mutombo, like Doc Rivers seems to think they will, then what will they do?  If Mutombo goes to Houston, then who do we turn to?  There aren’t seven-foot defensive stoppers waiting on the open market and there really aren’t any other free agents that would fill our needs the way that ‘Toine could. 

Spare me all of the talk about Stephon Marbury.  The Celtics very well may be looking at bringing him aboard but would you actually be willing to swallow having him on our roster over a player that has lived and breathed Celtics basketball?  The addition of Marbury would also further bury Gabe Pruitt, who is starting to make an argument  for playing time that cannot be denied.  We do not need a point guard added to this roster.

3) You think that we don’t need to add another PG but want to add another PF?

That is correct and I will explain why it makes sense.  Our bench may be littered with players that can play power forward but nobody can bring what Walker can bring to our second unit.  Leon Powe is a legit power forward and scoring option for the second unit, there is no arguing that.  However, Glen Davis plays center for the Celtics and has ever since he got her last season.  He rarely if ever mans the power forward position.  Do you ever see him and Perk on the floor at the same time?  The addition of Antoine wouldn’t necessarily effect Davis’ role at all.  Brian Scalabrine can play power forward but at this point the Celtics need to start weeding him out of the rotation.  He is a serviceable player but cannot add what ‘Toine can add to that unit.

Will somebody please wake Patrick O’Bryant up?

Antoine can handle the basketball and help facilitate an offense that he is already familiar with.  He wouldn’t even be the focal point of this unit!  He could help to make sure that Powe keeps getting the ball on the block and when that doesn’t work, he could drive and dish out to House in the corner.

4) What if we sign him and it just doesn’t work out?

The best thing about completing the Antoine Walker trilogy is that it comes a such little expense.  If things don’t work out and he proves to be a bad fit, have a negative hold on the locker room or even jack up way too many 3-pointers, then we just cut him loose.  He would be coming in on a minimal salary because he is already subsidized by Memphis.  If things are working and PJ Brown is still sitting at home waiting for the Celtics, then we make that change and bring PJ back.

We would have only lost minimal money (by NBA standards) and a body that we are going to have to cut in any acquisition scenario.  It would be the easiest breakup that I could imagine.  It is the same scenario that everyone paints if we were to sign Marbury.  “If he is still a cancer, just cut him!”.

5) You’ll never convince me but give me 10 good reasons why we should sign Antoine

1) I’ve said this before but his ball handling and playmaking abilities would be perfect for our mechanical second unit.

2) Antoine’s presence on the second unit would give Doc the ability to cut back Paul and Ray’s minutes and rest them because they wouldn’t always be needed to bail out the second unit’s offense.

3) Wouldn’t it be great seeing Antoine and Paul hugging after the Celtics won their second straight NBA title? 

4) Antoine knew that Rick Pitino was bad news for the Celtics before we all did.  He was bummed about have to play of Pitino again and that should count for something.

5) Nobody is currently wearing #8 on our roster.

6) Antoine has the chance to surpass Danny Ainge in both career assists with the Celtics and could double the amount of points Ainge scored in a Celtics uniform.

7) What team could match the caliber of veteran leadership that the Celtics would have if they added Antoine to a roster that boasts Pierce, Garnett, Ray Allen and Cassell?

8) Walker would be an additional six fouls for the C’s to use when they face future perennial all-star Andrew Bynum in the NBA Finals.

9) I asked Michael Holley at this year’s Celtics vs. Nuggets game if he would like to see Antoine back and he said no.  Don’t you want to see this guy be wrong for once?

10) Everyone condemns Antoine for the Celtics’ collapse during his last playoff run in Boston but I seem to remember him carrying us while Pierce was on the verge of a meltdown.  Doesn’t that entitle him to enjoy some time to enjoy the current and winning incarnation of the Celtics?

I know that people gag each time they have to read about this scenario but I would be remised if I didn’t chime in with my support for Antoine.  Danny, please do the right thing and bring Antoine back to the one and only place where he belongs.  Let’s watch him ‘em up and play with three all-stars, while we are on our way to a second title in two years.  I love the idea of that.

Still keeping the faith,

DRJMAN