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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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Celtics May Land Mickael Pietrus


Mickael Pietrus is “leaning heavily” towards signing with the Celtics according to CSNNE’s A. Sherrod Blakely. Pietrus was just waived by the Phoenix Suns and if, as expected, he clears league-wide waivers Saturday, he’ll be free to join the C’s before their opener on Christmas Day.

Pietrus, who turns 30 in February, was actually moved to the Toronto Raptors earlier this month but the Raptors rescinded the trade after Pietrus experienced some knee-swelling and an irregular MRI result (the specifics of the MRI are unreported, from what I can tell).

Pietrus has a reputation as a strong wing defender and a three-point threat although both of those claims come with caveats

His defensive rep is based in part on his athleticism and physicality. It’s also based on some of his high-profile defensive assignments in the playoffs, including his work checking LeBron James in 2009. But Pietrus also has a reputation as a player whose focus can drift and whose defensive effort can slip as a result. Boston’s cultural intensity could quickly cure him of that habit, a gamble Danny Ainge may be willing to take (Ainge has reportedly eyed Pietrus in the past).

Pietrus’ three-point pedigree marks him more as a high class mongrel than a purebred. Last season, he shot .391 for the Magic, a team that prioritizes spot-up threes off Dwight Howard double-teams but slipped to .342 after being traded to Phoenix. For his career, he’s a 36% shooter behind-the-arc. Credible, but unspectacular.

For the Celtics, Pietrus isn’t a sure thing. His overall productivity numbers are poor (his last three years in PER: 9.87, 11.96 and 11.69) so he’s going to add little offensive punch (what the team really needs) but he’s a good finisher at the rim and could be the kind of player who benefits from running with Rajon Rondo. He’d also be another bench guy on the right side of age 30 (if only barely). Plus, with Jeff Green out for the year, Paul Pierce battling heel problems and Marquis Daniels a perpetual threat to go down with an injury, Pietrus could also sop up some minutes at the backup-3 as the Celtics’ schedule gets hectic.

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