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15 hours ago

Rondo Replacing Johnson on All-Star Team

The Herald got it right from Rondo’s agent. According to his agent, Bill Duffy, the Celtics point guard has been named to the Eastern Conference All-star roster, presumably to replace Joe Johnson, the injured Atlanta Hawks guard. This would be Rondo’s third all-star appearance. Nice birthday present for RR, who probably should have been selected [...]

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3 days ago

Comments Deleting?

We apologize if your comments are being deleted (provided that they are not offensive). We are looking into why this is happening. We also want to apologize for the lack of a game thread for last night’s game.  We had a premonition that the Celtics would play that poorly and thought if we pretended the [...]

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7 days ago

5 Questions With Greg Monroe

I talked with Detroit star forward Greg Monroe prior to the Celtics-Pistons game on Wednesday night.  Here is what the 2nd year big man out of Georgetown, who is averaging 16.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game had to say. 1. Just your 2nd year in the league, but playing so well, were you disappointed [...]

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8 days ago

Call for Responses: 5-on-5

Readers! Last week’s responses to the 5-on-5 questions were really, really great. We had way more qualified answers than we were able to use. So we’re going to keep doing it! FOREVER. Here are this week’s questions: 1. Are you concerned about Rondo’s media boycott this week? 2. The trade deadline is less than a [...]

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11 days ago

5 Questions With Ronnie Brewer

I talked with Chicago starting guard Ronnie Brewer prior to the Celtics-Bulls game on Sunday.  Here is what the 6th year man out of Arkansas who is averaging 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists had to say. 1. You guys have a lot of the same players back from last year’s team which was [...]

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13 days ago

5 Questions With Josh McRoberts

I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden.  Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]

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TA’s 7 1/2 Minutes

Some quotes from a Globe piece on TA’s 7 1/2 minutes on the floor tonight:

TONY ALLEN: “I expected [the rust]. But I got to run up and down, got to look at a few defensive coverages. For the most part I had fun out there.”

TA, Part II: “I got in during the second half and got my rhythm,” Allen said afterwards. “I kind of knew what I wanted to do with the ball.”

TRUTH: “I thought he was a little uncomfortable when he first got out there. But he was able to get out there and get his feet wet.”

DOC: “He’s rusty, but he’s good. You could see it’s just going to take time.”

Interestingly, the Globe says Tony is facing competition for playing time:

That three-minute spell in the first quarter probably wasn’t a fair tryout for a player attempting to get comfortable after missing 22 games, but therein highlights one of Allen’s other problems: competition. 

The Celtics are paper-thin up front with injuries to Kevin Garnett, Leon Powe, and Brian Scalabrine, but Allen returns to a crowded backcourt.

My initial reaction is that I sort of disagree. A healthy TA, to me, has no competition. The second unit has no player like him–an athletic wing with enough size to defend bigger shooting guards and quick small forwards.

I remember Marbury’s second game with the team against Detroit. The Pistons inserted a big line-up for a stretch in the second quarter, and Marbury was forced to guard Walter Herrmann for a half-dozen possessions. Detroit exploited the mismatch on every possession.

Allen’s only 6’4”, so he’s not exactly Herrmann’s height (or, for playoff purposes, he’s not LeBron’s height or Hedo Turkoglu’s height), but he’s close to guys like Andre Iguodala and Kobe Bryant (both 6’6”) and he’s athletic enough to guard guys a bit taller than him. 

If he’s healthy–and he can get the rust off–the C’s will have to play him, even it means cutting minutes for the bench guards (mostly Marbury).

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