Day One Round-Up (With Video)

Posted by Zach Lowe on Sep 29, 2009 33982 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F09%2F29%2Fday-one-round-up-with-video%2FDay+One+Round-Up+%28With+Video%292009-09-30+02%3A14%3A24Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D3398

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.

 

• The Globe has more on Pierce being happy about the arrival of Daniels and Wallace.

• SI’s take on Celtics media day focuses on Rajon Rondo’s contract status. Danny Ainge characterizes the Rondo “trade talks” like this:

“There were conversations,” Ainge acknowledged of trade talks involving Rondo, “because there are conversations with everybody. And why his conversations get brought up in the media and some other conversations don’t is an interesting thing. Maybe because there were some draft picks involved and it was around draft time and all that.”

While he was intrigued with several players at the top of the draft — includingHasheem Thabeet,James Harden,Tyreke EvansandStephen Curry– Ainge insists he hadn’t done enough research on any of them to zero in on one prospect, simply because he was not intent on trading Rondo.

• Did you know J.R. Giddens was stabbed during a brawl at the University of Kansas early in his college career? He reflects on the incident here.

• KG tells the Herald he felt OK considering his knee injury and the fact that he’s starting his FIFTEENTH training camp. Wow. Kevin Garnett has been in the league for 15 years. I am old. Here’s a video portion of that interview, via Celtics.com:

 

• Mike Sweetney tells Celtics.com he hopes to make a comeback in the NBA, if not with the Celtics. He says this of the Celtics: 

“I’ve never seen a brotherhood [like this before], how everybody’s together off the floor and on the floor,” Sweetney said. “On the floor, you see guys competing so hard, and when they leave the floor they don’t take it with them. I’ve just never seen anything like that. It’s a great organization to be in.”