Archive for September, 2009

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KG, Walker Injury Updates

September 30th, 2009

Let’s see. James Harden got poked in the eye in Oklahoma City. Nick Collison missed the first day of camp with an injury.  Tony Parker’s going to sit out all or most of camp to rest up. Tyreke Evans isn’t practicing for some reason. Aaron Gray–a.k.a. The White Flag–broke his leg and will miss two months. Nobody can even find Delonte West.

But at least the Celtics, other than Tony Allen, are getting healt….oh, wait:

Bill Walker already hurt his knee and needs an MRI, according to the Globe. He’s had surgery on both knees already, so we’ve got to cross our fingers and hope this is minor.

And here’s the latest on KG via the C’s official Twitter:

celtics Today Garnett says he can’t really reach a full sprint yet but that he’s getting better every day. He ranked himself at about “85-90%”…

So this good? Bad? Neither?

Well, this is good—from a few minutes later:

celtics KG: “I’m most excited [about] defense. I’m able to move laterally; recover when a guy makes a strong move. I can respond and react to that.”

More as it comes in.

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Posted in Notebook

Danny Ainge: Team could still bring in another guard

September 30th, 2009

CELTICS PRESS CONFERENCEWith the start of training camp yesterday, the Celtics roster would appear to be settled for the time being. Not necessarily so, according to Danny Ainge after being questioned by Celtics Hub Monday afternoon. Lots amid the endless glut of throwaway quotes one would expect at media day, I asked Danny about the guard situation and got an interesting response. 

Celtics Hub: Any chance you guys might be bringing in another guard to training camp?

Danny Ainge: There is always that chance yeah, there is always that chance we bring in someone else but this is what we are going to camp with right now today and we will see what happens.

Sounds like someone is waiting on a call back or two from a veteran point. Another reporter proceeded to begin to ask Danny another question at this point, however after a few seconds, Danny felt the need to further clarify himself to the guard inquiry and turned back to me to finishing responding to the question:

Ainge: I don’t feel like we need to bring anyone else in, if that’s what your asking. Could we? Sure, but I don’t think we have a need for it.

Interesting statements by Danny here, as the door was definitely left ajar by him, perhaps a bit too much to his liking when he first answered my question.

He clearly did not want to make a statement that was an indictment on his current PG backup options of Eddie House, Marquis Daniels, and potentially Lester Hudson, as shown with his secondary response. However, the way he responded to the question initially makes me feel like the team is potentially waiting on a couple guards to make up their mind after giving them what likely would be non-guaranteed contract invite to camp. An understandable offer given the amount of money the team has committed for this season as is. 

There are certainly some candidates out there whose names have been thrown around here many a time (Tyronn Lue, Bobby Jackson, Carlos Arroyo) just to name a few. However, the longer the week goes, my guess the less likelihood we see another Celtics in uniform, since you would expect Doc to want to see them have some significant run with the team if they were to have any shot of making it. 

Curious to see what take on this is though.

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Posted in Notebook, Offseason

Kendrick Perkins: A man who knows his role

September 30th, 2009

perkoffenseEarlier this week at media day, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kendrick Perkins one on one to talk about the strides he made in his offensive game this past year, his role with the team and  his thoughts on this upcoming season.

Celtics Hub: You seemed to make a lot of strides in your offensive game last year, once KG went down. Is that something you want to see carry over into this year?

Kendrick Perkins: It’s not a focus….but you know obviously if Doc gives me a bigger role, I’m not afraid to take it on, but it’s not my focus, I’m just trying to play my role.

I’m part of a great situation right now, it’s a great ballclub, so I don’t want to get outside my role, I want to do what it takes to win. If KG not……if he has an off night they might have to go to me, but that’s not my concern, my concern is doing my role and going from there.

Celtics Hub: You started to take a few little jump shots towards the end of last year with some success….is that something you are going to try to work into your game more?

KP: You know, sometimes you get put into that situation where you have to take it. You know you’re going to have to miss it or make it. I put in enough work in my jump shot so I have a lot of confidence behind it, so I keep going behind it.

Celtics Hub: Describe how your summer has been. Have you been working out a lot or did you take some time off to rest up?

KP: I’ve been working out pretty much the whole summer, it’s been good. I came back early, worked out with the guys here. Got a chance to get up and down and play a little bit so everything’s been good.

Celtics Hub: Talk about the team’s new front court acquisitions in Rasheed Wallace and Shelden Williams and their style of play fitting in with the team

KP: As far as Rasheed, he is going to help us a lot, he’s a great defender. He knows the game and obviously we know he can shoot the ball. With Shelden, he gives us some more depth on the bench and is a great shot blocker so he will help a lot as well.

Notice the similarities in answers when I asked Danny Ainge about Kendrick Perkins’ game and role in with the team, after the jump. » More: Kendrick Perkins: A man who knows his role

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Posted in Features, Offseason

Meanwhile in L.A. …

September 30th, 2009

Media day resembled more of a circus-like atmosphere:

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Posted in Videos

Day One Round-Up (With Video)

September 29th, 2009

Around the InterWebs for Day 1 (updated as links come in).

• Comcast reports that KG participated in about 75 percent of practice today and plans to play in the preseason at some point. When? That’s unclear. Cross your fingers/toes/legs/arms/tonsils/lips/whatever.

• Here’s a 3-minute ‘Sheed interview on Celtics.com. Highlights include: ‘Sheed reminding everyone he’s old enough to have played against Doc; a quick mention of Rondo telling the new guys where to go on offense; and, of course, the clip ending in a profanity ‘Sheed doesn’t quite get all the way out before the (team-sanctioned) video cuts off.

 

• Here’s The Truth, discussing the bench and other topics on Celtics.com. Highlights: When he says the bench is so good it could serve as a starting line-up for several teams in the league. Hyperbole? Maybe. Good to hear? Yes. Also of note: Pierce mentions Sheed playing mostly with the second unit.

We’ll get to a couple more videos after the jump. For now, some links:

• CelticsBlog wonders whether Perkins or ‘Sheed should start. As I’ve written before, I agree that the most likely outcome is that Perk starts and Wallace plays the clutch fourth quarter minutes at center. Of course, all of these debates impose a simplicity on the game that isn’t quite there. For all the talk of “starters” and “second units,” there is never a hard and fast division between the two. Doc is loathe to put the bench out there alone without either Pierce or Allen to make sure things remain stable. 

That said, let me toss this fact into this sort-of-debate between Perk and ‘Sheed: Of the 20 most commonly used five-man line-ups the team featured last season, nine included just two (or one, or zero) of the Allen-Pierce-KG-Rondo core. Seven of those nine line-ups had offensive ratings below the team’s average of 110 points scored per 100 possessions, including the unit that got by far the most minutes of this bunch (Pierce-House-TA-Powe-Davis), according to 82games. 

Obviously, all of these line-ups will look different this season with ‘Sheed and Marquis Daniels around. But the bench struggled more on offense than on defense in 2008-09. I think that’s one (small) argument for starting Perk and playing ‘Sheed in the second unit during those spans at the end of the 1st quarter/start of the 2nd quarter and end of 3rd/start of 4th where the bench assumes more responsibility. 

After the jump, more links and more video.
» More: Day One Round-Up (With Video)

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Posted in Notebook