Haven't seen 'Quis looking this happy in a while.

via gochitchat.com

Remember last year when the Celtics signed Marquis Daniels? I'm sure like me, everyone rushed and immediately searched him on YouTube, and saw what a unique player he was and is. But I never expected how well he would fit with the Celtics. He seemed to fit in perfectly with the second unit, as a 6'6 point forward he could handle the ball which left Eddie House free to roam and get open shots, and he would slash to the basket smoothly and completely under control putting up strange looking shots that always seemed to find their way into the basket. The thing that surprised me most about Daniels was his defense. He was not extremely quick or athletic, but Doc always trusted him guarding the other teams best player, and it worked. Everything seemed to be going great for Marquis Daniels, he got a fresh start on a championship caliber team, he was getting good minutes and performing well, but it wouldn't last. Marquis Daniels suffered and injury to his thumb and wouldn't bounce back all season.

People seem to forget how good Daniels was for us because of how good Tony Allen performed. I'm not saying Tony Allen's comeback wasn't great, but the bottom line is that Tony Allen is no longer part of the Celtics, but Marquis Daniels is. 

I don't know what to expect from Marquis Daniels this season, but here are a few possible scenarios.

1) Marquis returns to full form and becomes a great bench player.

I'm really hoping this will happen. I think he would fit great with the second unit this year. He can be the slasher and defender that we need at the back up SF. I don't think he will be our scoring leader off the bench, but I think he can be a solid 5-7ppg. guy who can handle the ball when Nate wants to shoot (ala last year with Eddie House). Marquis Daniels also has an extremely high basketball IQ, he always seems to make the right decisions whether it be making the right pass, or cutting to the basket at exactly the right time.

2) Marquis becomes slightly(yet noticeably) less affective. 

Daniels won't have as many opportunities to score and be as affective as he was at the beginning of last season now that the Celtics have a stronger bench (Shaq or Jermaine, Nate, Glen Davis, Von Wafer). To me, Marquis Daniels is more affective with the ball in his hands, last year he was the 2nd option off the bench when he played (remember, we didn't have Nate, and Davis was injured) so he might just be a spot up mid range shooter, and slightly above average defender.

3) Marquis completely falls out of the rotation. (knocking on wood as I type)

Whether it be because of a free agent pick up, trades, or just lack of production, Marquis might just not be able to crack the rotation this year, his thumb might still be injured, or he may re injure it (once again, I am knocking on wood as I type). I hope this does not happen because he has shown he can be a productive member of the Celtics, and he is a great guy who just wants to win.

So what do you think about Marquis Daniels? Leave your comments, be polite.

via www.dailythunder.com

Anyone else just get excited?

As we know the Celtics have the 19th pick in this years draft. Now considering the last few years we have been in the draft pick dump, this is a golden opportunity for the Celtics to start looking ahead to the future. The Celtics need to do a good job drafting if they want to make sure they don't want to that team that wins a championship with veterans, then they lose their veterans, then they are a crap team for the next 6 years.

You might be thinking "Were not going to get anything good, we have the 19th pick" but that's not true. Some notable players drafted at 19 are Zach Randolph and Jamaal Magloire. Not to mention countless players who have been drafted after 19 that end up as great NBA players. It's not all about just getting lucky and getting the steal of the draft, it's about working hard to find good players. The Celtics need to work out players that they think can be part of the teams future.

If you think about it, the Celtics really haven't done a good job drafting over the last couple of years. We traded away Randy Foye in 06, we were obsessed with Gerald Green's athleticism in 05 ( Now he's playing in Russia ), Joe Johnson was traded away in 02. Realistically, I would say our best recent draft pick was Glen Davis in the second round. 

The Celtics should look for a future SF or SG perferably a swingman, because in a few years the Big Three will be gone and our starting line up will look like this.

PG- Rajon Rondo

SG- ?

SF- ?

PF- Glen Davis

C- Kendrick Perkins

We really don't have any prospects to fill in once Ray and Paul leave. We can make sure we don't end up as a team who just keeps looking forward to next years draft, but we have to start making the right decisions starting now.

So let me know what you think! Any draft ideas? Leave comments and be respectful.

Glen has come a long way

via media.masslive.com

So all this year I've been reading comments about how Glen Davis is doing awful and that he is lazy and that we should have traded him. I'm just wondering if were all watching the same player.

I think we all need to remember a few things. First this is only his THIRD year, he still has a lot of time to become a great player and he is already a solid seventh man. Second, the guy was out for practically half of the year and he is still playing great, and I know a lot of people were angry on the reason Glen broke his thumb and I agree it was stupid of him. But once again he is young and still slightly immature.

Now on to "The Eleventh Hour" ' s ( No disrespect but I still like Big Baby)  play this year. It's obvious that his mid range game isn't all the way back, but he can still hit it and he's getting there. I have noticed that he has improved his post offense and footwork. He just seems a lot more comfortable in the paint now. Davis is also one of if not the best offense rebounders the C's have. I also like that he can play more mobile PF's and keep up with them, like we saw with Thaddeus Young against the 76ers. I don't understand why people say Sheldon should get minutes ahead of Glen, I will agree Sheldon is a better rebounder and his mid range game is almost equal to Davis, but Williams has hands of brick and can't guard mobile PF's. 

So what do you guys think? Leave comments but please be respectful.

via sportscrzy.files.wordpress.com

^ Rasheed just saw his numbers for this season ^

I've been hearing a lot about how people are mad about Rasheed's play. We all know the guy is a great player, he is a four time All-Star for goodness sake!

Sheed is most valuable when he put's his 6'11 self down on the post and shows off his ridiculous wingspan. He seems to know every trick in the book down low. He clears space with his hips, he gets guys guessing with pump fakes, and if a double team comes he can pass over about 90% of all players.

Wallace has been a legitimate 3 point threat, throughout his career he has been one of those guys who buries a 3 when you think your favorite team has come up with the game winning defensive stop. You'd say to yourself "We've got this in the bag! Wait why are they passing out there......CLOSE OUT CLOSE OUT CLOSE OUT!!!!!"  *Rasheed knocks down a 3 and you punch a hole in your drywall while your team calls a timeout down by 3 with one second left.*

So that's what Rasheed can be, but I'm going to explain what he's been lately.

Although the crafty veteran has calmed down on the T's he is still not focused. You'll find Sheed in the paint about as much as you'll see Kwame Brown signing a new contract. He settles for 3's and a lot of the time rushes them. He is lackadaisical AT BEST on defense, when he needs to step up to be the 2nd or 3rd man on the rotation you'll see him staring as Dwight Howard slams down a dunk.

I'm not saying signing Sheed was a mistake but he needs to pick up his game. Someone needs to tell him, Doc, KG, Ray, I don't care it just needs to e said. The guy is a great player and would be a huge piece to getting that ever so desirable banner 18, he just needs to get him game face on.

Comment, I'd like to hear what everyone thinks. Please no crazy trade ideas though, I personally think this team has all the pieces they just need to focus.

Hi everyone! Like most of you I'm upset about tonight's loss. But there's always one thing I can look forward to after these types of games!

Don't you just love reading the comments and posts about how "The Celtics suck so bad now!?!?!?" or "We need a whole new bench NOW" or even "RAY ALLEN DIDN'T DO WELL TONIGHT, TRADE HIM!!!!!!!"

I just hope those types of things brighten up your night like they do with mine. It's just hilarious to me seeing how upset and frantic people get when the Celtics lose. I can understand were not doing well lately but I mean seriously I've read things about people wanting to basically trade away the whole team.

Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow CelticsBlog!

So toward the last few minutes of the nets last night, Doc decided two play both our young guys.

Both J.R Giddens and Billy Walker had some nice dunks.

J.R had a nice slam where he seemed to get up in the air without any effort and then finished nicely with the reverse.

Billy on the other hand used the "power dunker" strategy and just pushed through the lane to finish hard in Josh Boone's face.

So which dunk was nicer and why? I want to hear your opinion.

Oh and Scal had a very nice dance.

via multimedia.heraldinteractive.com

Okay so I know that there are a LOT of Bill Walker fans out there, he's fun to watch and no disrespect to him here but I'm a J.R Giddens fan.

The way I see it is J.R is a great perimeter defender, I've never been upset with him going for fakes or letting his man blow him by. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Now on to my next topic of praise, Giddens is a GREAT rebounder! For a 6'5 guy he can really get up there and snatch rebounds away from big guys, thanks to his athleticism. Now onto his offense, he's really quick on the first step and can get around defenders easily. I've also heard Tommy say he DRAINS 3's in warm ups before the game. I'd like to think of him as a Tony Allen if Tony were very young and had good knees, ankle, and head on his shoulders.

I'd like to see J.R get minutes over Tony just like you Billy fans would like to see Walker get minutes over Scal ( I'm with you on that one ) I just think he's great on D and at crashing the boards, he could also be a great energy guy on offense and with more development he could have a very solid offensive repertoire.

So who wants to jump on the J.R Giddens band-wagon with me?

In the upcoming season, Bill Walker and J.R Giddens will have some more experience. I see a lot of promise from Walker, he has great driving ability and don't forget to vote for him in the dunk contest he is sure to be in sooner or later. If he can get a good jump shot and hit the occasion 3, he will be a great addition to the team. Probably backing up Paul Pierce.

As for Giddens, he hardly saw playing time but I hear he's a great defender, amazingly athletic ( like Walker ) and has a decent jumper already. I say give him a chance if Eddie doesn't come back. See how he does and if he could back up Ray.

Now, about Gabe. I really like his playing style. He's very quick, long, and he can shoot the 3 ball. Could he be rondo's back up?

What do you think about any or all of these guys?

As we all know, the Celtics are lacking in size. So the last thing we want to do is trade Perkins....right? Wrong. If we can trade Perkins and somebody else like T.A, Scal or Pruitt for a early round draft pick it would be a good move. Perk is a great defender, but ever since the shoulder injury he has been lacking on offense. So think of it this way, trading Perk and someone else we don't need. And getting a younger, more athletic center ( he'd have to be a big guy ). This would also free up some money so we could go searching for some back-up's.

What do you think?