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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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From ESPN: CelticsHub goes 5-on-5

The four of us at CelticsHub fielded five questions on the C’s for ESPN today (along with the esteemed Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston).

Here’s our answer to #1:

1. For which Celtics player is the 2011-12 season most important?

Hayes Davenport, CelticsHub: Rajon Rondo. He’s lived off potential for a long time, but probably not for much longer. If he doesn’t emerge as the team’s best player and cultural co-leader this season, he’s unlikely to be capable of carrying the Celtics beyond a low playoff seed in the post-Garnett era.

Ryan DeGama, CelticsHub: Rajon Rondo. Last season, the league’s view of Rondo seemed to shift away from his proficiencies as a defender and passer and toward his failings: consistency, willingness to attack the basket and free throw shooting. That’s problematic for the self-styled “best PG in the game.” Is he a franchise player or not? Time to sort that out.

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston: Kevin Garnett. He’ll turn 36 this season and there’s a ton of miles on those tires (the regular-season minutes odometer stands at 43,915, 15th-most in league history). Garnett has acknowledged the finish line might be near, but he’s still vital to the Celtics’ championship hopes, even as his body struggles to withstand the rigors.

Brendan Jackson, CelticsHub: Rajon Rondo. The Celtics’ point guard is the heir apparent and the only future of this team. If he doesn’t solidify himself as a top-tier player on his own (i.e., dishing to JaJuan Johnson and Jeff Green and not Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett), then his legacy (and trade value) will plummet.

Brian Robb, CelticsHub: Rajon Rondo. With an aging Big Three that can struggle to create its own offense, the C’s All-Star point guard will be instrumental in creating regular easy opportunities for his teammates. Consistency has always been the biggest issue for the up-and-down Rondo, and that problem must be overcome in order for the Celtics to remain a contender.

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Also, John Hollinger scouts the Celtics today (insider). An excerpt from his look at Kevin Garnett:

Where Garnett really shines is on defense. Opposing power forwards sometimes got numbers on him, but that was because KG was busy shutting down other players with his help defense.

The Celtics, already a great defensive team, gave up 6.19 points per 100 possessions fewer with Garnett on the floor, according to basketballvalue.com. His Synergy numbers sparkled (among power forwards, only Chicago’s Taj Gibson outrated him) and the more advanced “regularized” adjusted plus-minus metric estimated he was worth more than six points per 100 possessions to Boston’s defense — the most of any player in the NBA last season.

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Programming Note: beginning tomorrow, we’ll be looking at the holdovers on the roster, beginning with Avery Bradley.

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