News 10/28 Game Day!

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1128324&format=text
NBA season opens amid economic concerns

By David Boyce / McClatchy Newspapers | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | NBA Coverage
Just the NBA’s luck. As the new season opens without any of the image-tainting controversies that has plagued the league in past years, something more ominous - the nation’s flagging economy - looms overhead.

The 2008-09 NBA season opens Tuesday night with three games. All of them will probably sell out.

LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers play at Boston, the defending champions. Top pick Derrick Rose makes his debut for Chicago at home against Milwaukee. And Portland travels to Los Angeles to take on the defending Western Conference champion Lakers.

Those are intriguing openers that fans will find a few extra $20s to pay for their seats.

But the way the economy is declining, will enough NBA fans find those $20 s to pay for $30, $50, $60 or $100 seats to see Milwaukee at Atlanta on Jan. 23?

There is a real possibility that many NBA arenas will be half-empty if the economy stays in its present state or gets worse. It’s something of which the league is aware.

In his annual preseason teleconference, NBA commissioner David Stern addressed the economic concerns .

"We did spend a fair amount of time sharing ideas and talking about the state of the economy, looking for ways to keep our game relevant," Stern said.

What the economy could do to erode the resurgent popularity of the NBA, makes preseason issues of the previous three years seem almost trivial.

Before the start of the 2005-06 season, Stern enforced a dress code, in part, to clean up the image of NBA players. The following season the NBA was quicker to call technical fouls on players for complaining about fouls.

And last year, Stern had to assure the public that referee Tim Donaghy was the only one involved in a point-shaving scam to cover his betting on NBA games.

The credibility of the NBA was definitely at stake last year, but the league got through it just fine and ended with a dream finals matchup between two storied franchises.

The economy is a far scarier issue for the NBA. If basketball fans are struggling to pay for basic needs like food, gas and a home mortgage, they certainly won’t have money for NBA tickets.

Stern said about 1,000 tickets per team will cost $10 or less for every game. As the season progresses, the $10, nose-bleed tickets might creep further down in the arena.

When Portland played Atlanta in a preseason game at the Sprint Center the several hundred $10 tickets were quickly snapped up. There were plenty of $50 and $90 tickets available.

It proved there was a market for NBA basketball in Kansas City for $10, but at $50?

Stern is optimistic the current economic climate will not hurt the NBA too much.

"From a business perspective, we are going to be about flat in attendance, which is good news, and our sponsor renewals and presentations are very strong," he said.

Stern, though, is not taking a Pollyanna view of the upcoming season. He’s aware of these troubling times.

"I think that if you are alive in this world and you have access to that ancient form of communication, the newspaper, you can’t help but read the headlines of what’s going on," Stern said. "Company after company is announcing large layoffs.

"So if you’re having a business discussion you just have to understand what’s going on in the world around you, and we did that."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/10/28/ring_in_the_new?mode=PF
Ring in the new
Celtics out to defend the title, starting tonight
By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff | October 28, 2008

WALTHAM - Accomplishing a goal often is a prelude to complacency. But not for the Celtics, judging by Paul Pierce's hunger for more NBA championships.

Pierce exemplifies the Celtics' intention to become the franchise's first repeat titlist since 1969, taking the concept of being hungry in literal terms. Instead of a lengthy postseason celebration, Pierce accelerated his workout schedule and went on a diet, losing seven pounds by the time he returned to training camp.

"Most guys come in full of champagne and caviar after a season like that," coach Doc Rivers said. "Paul realized winning feels good and said, 'I want to do it again.'

"He's quicker and faster this year. He's probably at the age now where he does have to focus on weight and all that other stuff, but it's great to see him come back like this."

Pierce's intent on taking up where he left off symbolizes the Celtics' attitude. They are neither fat nor happy, nor do they seem satisfied.

But don't the Celtics deserve to be allowed to come back a little out of shape, or at least a little relaxed?

"I don't know why people say that," said guard Sam Cassell, the only member of the team to have played for a back-to-back titlist. "When you win a professional championship, you always try reach that goal again. You do things to get your weight down, you do everything you can to get ready for the season, to do it again."

The Celtics might be feeling their mortality, as well. Certainly, they are motivated by the "uneasy sits the crown" theory of succession. Usurpers are lurking, with the Cleveland Cavaliers the first to invade in tonight's season opener.

The previous Celtics championship team, from 1986, seemed capable of contending for titles for many years. But by the next season, Robert Parish would turn 33, Dennis Johnson 32, Larry Bird 31, Kevin McHale 29, Danny Ainge 28. Draft choice Len Bias would not reach his 23d birthday. The last gasp of greatness was stifled by the Los Angeles Lakers in the '87 Finals.

That championship feeling did not return until last year, when Ainge made blockbuster deals that would have made Red Auerbach proud.

But the Celtics are old and wise enough to realize their reign will not last forever.

Pierce turned 31 this month, and he is the youngest of the Big Three - Kevin Garnett is 32, Ray Allen 33. Garnett talks of "two more summers as short as this one was."

They are clearly going all-out this season.

"I'm not saying they are more ready this year, but we know every night is going to be a dogfight," Cassell said. "We know teams are going to attack us, and we have to attack them, too."

A year ago, these Celtics were learning each other's tendencies and the meaning of motivation. Most of the banners at TD Banknorth Garden had been hanging since before they were born.

Now, they have established their own identity. But the past dangles over them like the banners that tell them the 1969 team was the last one to repeat.

"Historically, when you make the trades we made, it doesn't work," Rivers said. "Last year we had nine guys I didn't know. But we played as a team. We had a bunch of star players and they played together. The idea stars don't play together, we proved that was not true. The Olympic team played as a team and won also, and both things were good for league."

The turning point

The framework for the Celtics' strategy was set up five years ago, when Rivers was named coach and changed the team's offense.

"My first year, [Pierce] was used to the ball touching his hands and the action stops," Rivers recalled. "Everything stops, and he took his time. I told him that first day that that day was over. There would be spots for that but the ball had to move, everyone had to touch the ball. That didn't mean his shots would get curbed, though they did.

"And he was good at that, even though the guys on the team he was looking at were not going to be very good. But by midseason, he was trying to do it. He struggled to do it early on, but once he got it, and you could clearly see it, he just needed to get some help.

"I thought one reason it worked last year was because of Paul, because he had changed his game to format that, before we got the other guys. So it was easy for him to give up the rock and trust that he could get it back."

The immediate goal is to gain home-court advantage for the playoffs.

"We are not thinking about repeating so much as we are thinking about we want to win the first game," Allen said, "and somewhere along the line, get a 10- or 15-game winning streak, never lose two games in a row.

"We focus on that stuff and the next thing you know, you look up and it's Game 1 of the Finals. The big stuff takes care of itself.

"It's a whole process - the first day of training, the first game, then the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, then the All-Star break. We are looking forward to the year, because this is our life. It's our family, our teammates, the organization - all the while we work and then you get to the point where the weather gets better and we are still playing basketball."

Taking it personally

Preseason games signify little, the Celtics using their eight-game schedule as a laboratory for breaking in new players and trying combinations of reserves. Rivers started Allen, Garnett, Pierce, and point guard Rajon Rondo with center Patrick O'Bryant in the preseason opener against Philadelphia in Amherst, the Celtics scoring on seven of their first eight possessions. They had taken up where they left off in a 131-92 victory over the Lakers in Game 6 of the Finals. The Big Three were on the same page.

"Our No. 1 goal is to be better as a team overall," Rivers said. "A lot of teams will be better than last year. Our mind-set has to be that everyone is trying to take it away from us. Last year, our mind-set was we were taking it away from someone else.

"You have to take it personally. We have to understand how much we are going to be attacked every night, all year. I don't think you can mentally prepare for that. You have go through it as a team, look forward to it, get fired up, and concentrate.

"We should be better than last year. We should know each other better, have better chemistry. We need to get to the point where we get our timing back, to the point where we are game-ready instead of preseason-ready.

"We have to understand it's 82 games of being attacked every night, and that'll be a good thing for us in the long run. Other teams will be better this year and we know we have to be a better team to win it."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/10/28/glorious_way_to_get_it_going?mode=PF
Glorious way to get it going
By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist | October 28, 2008

We interrupt this increasingly interesting NFL season to inform you that the Los Angeles Lakers begin defense - what? The Celtics won? I think that's going to come as news to some of the pundits. So scratch that. The World's Greatest Basketball League begins its 62d season tonight, and the Boston Celtics are the defending champions, you betcha.

The commissioner will be here to dole out the rings to the champs, and he will be able to hold his head higher than in the past few years since the American-born players from the league over which he presides have actually won a major international championship for the first time since 2000. Of course, as the Big Cheese of the NBA, David Stern can take great general pride in the fact that 26 of the 36 players who stood on the podium in Beijing to receive their golds, silvers, and bronzes perform in the National Basketball Association.

But about those Lakers. They are indeed the chic pick to win the 2008-09 title. The only rotation loss from the team that reached the 2008 NBA Finals was Ronny Turiaf, who sought more playing time in Sacramento. And to that mix they welcome back 21-year-old center Andrew Bynum, who, when you weren't looking, was quietly inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in a private ceremony last September.

Just kidding!

But there are many NBA folks who are making it seem that way. They keep pointing to how well he was playing when he sustained a season-ending kneecap injury last January, and they say that he, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, and Luke Walton will constitute the NBA's No. 1 frontcourt this season.

I grant you, the Bynum numbers are impressive, even more than I thought. I've been going around telling people his entire reputation was based on six games played just prior to his injury. Mea culpa. That's just not so. It's more like 17 games, during which the Lakers went 14-3 and in which he averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 68 percent from the floor. And he just tossed in 23 points during a 29-minute exhibition outing against the Oklahoma City Thunder (nee Seattle SuperSonics, which is another story we'll get to) the other night.

The league's general managers overwhelmingly selected the Lakers to dethrone the Celtics, and all I can say is that among them are people who have made some drafting decisions that do not exactly qualify them for a basketball Mensa chapter, so take that for what it's worth.

But it's great to have the Lakers in the championship discussion, just as it's great for the NBA to have the Boston Celtics back on top. History is history, after all, and between them these two franchises have created a disproportionate amount of the league's highlights while providing the world with a disproportionate amount of the league's greatest stars. And I am including, of course, the glorious run of the Minneapolis Lakers, the dominant team of pro basketball's first decade.

There are three reasons why someone would doubt the Celtics' chances to repeat, and only two of them are valid. The first reason is injury. Ray Allen is 33. Kevin Garnett is 32. Paul Pierce is 31. You've got to be realistic. Something could happen.

The second reason is the loss of James Posey to the New Orleans Hornets. He is a unique auxiliary force. There just isn't anyone like him. There is no other midsized player who not only can guard a variety of star players but who also enjoys it, and who makes big threes and who thrives in playoff situations, and who has no problem coming off the bench. If James Posey were still here, does anyone doubt the Celtics would be something approaching overwhelming favorites to repeat?

The final reason is motivation, the possibility that the Celtics could adopt a been-there-done-that mentality.

With Kevin Garnett as the team's spiritual guide? Next question.

On paper, this should be a great year for the league. The West remains strong, with Portland and Houston perhaps moving up, even as Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver begin to slip. It's not going to happen for any of these three teams, not as currently constituted. Dallas coulda/woulda/absolutely shoulda won in 2006 when it was up on Miami, 2-0, and in possession of a nice lead in Game 3. Sorry, Mavs. It's over. It's likewise over in Phoenix. Mike D'Antoni is gone, Steve Nash is getting up there, and Shaquille O'Neal is a toothless lion whose roars are ignored. Denver? Traded away Marcus Camby. The Nuggets plumb gave up.

Don't ignore those San Antonio Spurs. As long as they have Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili (assuming he recovers from ankle surgery), they'll win 50 and they will be the proverbial tough out next spring.

The East is getting better and the Celtics know very well there are a couple of feisty foxes in the henhouse in Philadelphia and Toronto. The aggressive, athletic 76ers lost no one who mattered and added Elton Brand, a 20-10 machine. The Raptors picked up a newly motivated Jermaine O'Neal to go with Jose Calderon and the sinfully underappreciated Chris Bosh. Any questions about how good he is should be addressed to "K, Coach," in care of Durham, N.C. It'll get there.

Detroit is not winning any more titles with that group, either, and no one knows it better than that wily Joe Dumars, who is remaking the Pistons as a younger, springier bunch behind future star Rodney Stuckey. But attention must still be paid.

The great soap opera that is the Knicks will take on a new look with D'Antoni as coach. The Knicks will not make the playoffs, but they will score points and every once in a while they'll nail a biggie. Come on, we need the Knicks to be good. It quadruples the fun.

Now, for the first time since the 1966-67 season, there will be no team in Seattle. This is a sordid tale that all comes down to one thing: luxury boxes. Key Arena isn't plush enough for the swells who are the only ones of import as far as modern owners are concerned. The NBA has abandoned one of the five best cities in America because of an unsatisfactory arena, not because Joe Fan didn't care.

The King County taxpayers built palaces for the Mariners and Seahawks, and now they're tapped out. It's totally understandable. But the NBA should feel ashamed. This league entered the Pacific Northwest amid great fanfare in 1967, and this has been a very substantial franchise. Don't ask me what, but something should have been done and I mean no disrespect to Oklahoma City, which rallied around the relocated Hornets in the awful post-Katrina days and deserves a shot at the major leagues. This is a bad exchange for the league.

Where were we? Oh, the Cavaliers are here tonight. That means LeBron James is in town and he is the most riveting player in basketball. Can't think of a better way to start a season myself.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/10/28/to_the_players_its_won_and_done?mode=PF
To the players, it's won and done
By Marc J. Spears | October 28, 2008

An NBA championship ring is beautiful, not only for its appearance but for what it represents. Most players never own one. So Larry Bird probably stares at his three gorgeous rings all the time, right?

"They're, uh, I think they're in a barn somewhere," the Hall of Famer said. "I haven't seen them in, I don't know. I think my wife can find them. But I know we have a cabinet somewhere in the garage.

"Eventually I'm going to give them to the Hall of Fame or something because they're just like old pieces of stuff. It's nice to see them sometimes. But after you get 'em, they're kind of a pain to keep up with."

Thirteen Celtics will receive their first NBA championship rings prior to tonight's season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Banknorth Garden. The team's league-best 17th championship banner will be raised to the rafters before a sold-out crowd in ceremonies expected to last about 15 minutes.

After the Celtics disposed of the Lakers to win the title last June, Kevin Garnett cried, Paul Pierce screamed in satisfaction while holding his MVP trophy, and Ray Allen held his young son, Walker, on the postgame stage. Sure, the ring ceremony will be nice, but the Big Three & Co. will be antsy for the game to start, and the emotions won't be nearly what they were when they hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy last spring.

The players surely will be thinking, "Thanks for coming, Commissioner Stern, but please take your seat because it's time to play." The fact that LeBron James has decided that his team will stay in the locker room while the ceremony takes place will just add to KG's already extremely high intensity level.

"I really didn't care about [the ring ceremony]," Bird said. "My whole thing was to win it and the feeling you get right after you win it. Then you go all through the summer and have that first game at home and get your rings.

"The ring really didn't mean much to me. It's the idea that we won a championship. After it's all over, after the game, even after you eat and go home, you finally sit down and say, 'Why did I get up and get all worked up about this?' You didn't sleep for days. You're worn out.

"But the feeling you get right after the horn sounds, that's better than any ring that you'll ever put on your finger."

Celtics guard Sam Cassell spoke in sentimental fashion when asked about receiving his third championship ring tonight.

"I've been through it twice," said Cassell, who won his first two titles with Houston in 1994 and '95. "But Ray, Paul, Ticket [Garnett] - especially Ticket - Leon [Powe], guys like that get a ring. It's something that money can't buy. I'm pretty sure some people can afford it. But you can't buy it. You have to earn this."

So as special as those rings are for Cassell, where are they now? In a safety deposit box in Baltimore. And come Thursday, those rings will have some new company and some fresh air for the first time in 13 years.

"I will wear it Tuesday when I get it and it will be in a safety deposit box Thursday morning back in Baltimore," Cassell said. "The last time I saw my rings was 13 years ago when I put the second one in the safety deposit box. I haven't seen them since.

"I'm still playing. So once I'm retired, I'll take them out of my safety deposit box and put them in a safe in my house."

Don't be surprised if Garnett, Allen, and Pierce enjoy their rings only briefly before locking them away. Last season, the only time ex-Celtic James Posey wore his 2006 championship ring from the Heat was at his introductory press conference and when Boston played at Miami.

NBA players have numerous reasons to put their rings away quickly. There is a fear that it could be stolen. They may not want to invite attention or questions by wearing such eye-catching bling, bling. Maybe they couldn't care less about them, like Bird.

Or maybe it's because everyone from Garnett to Gabe Pruitt won't need that ring to prove they're a champion. Ring or no ring, they'll always be remembered for being on that team, whether a star or bench warmer.

Asked if the ceremony is a distraction, Bird said, "It is. There are a lot of people there. A lot of old Celtics. The raising of the banner. There's still a game. You've still got to perform. The ring ceremony was really not that much [fun]. Winning was pretty good."

On the contrary, there are numerous Celtics employees - ones who didn't score a basket, design a play, or tape an ankle - who can't wait to get their rings. They're people like longtime vice president of media relations Jeff Twiss, who is getting his fourth ring; Francis O'Bryant, a former ballboy from the early 1970s turned operations liaison; coach Doc Rivers's secretary, DonnaMarie Laughlin, who was there for the bad times when he was fired in Orlando; and there are many countless others, including 16 ballboys.

Tonight is truly their celebration. The rings are a testament that they, too, had a hand in getting that banner put up in the rafters. They will have a sense of appreciation every time they slip that ring on their finger.

As for the players, they're ready for tip-off and King James, so make it snappy.

"Being in the job I am in now, I see it in a different perspective than as a player," said Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, whose two championship rings with the franchise are in a safety deposit box. "There are so many people that help you win and play a part in the organization. We now have a perspective how many people live and die with every shot and game and how many people invest their souls in the team.

"From the players' perspective, they want to play the game. They have to play the Cavs, who want to take their head off. From my perspective, it's a reflection on how many people play a part of the team.

"Quite honestly, from a basketball player's and coach's mind, let's play basketball now and get it over with."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/10/28/unflagging_efforts_to_get_it_right?mode=PF
Unflagging efforts to get it right
By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff | October 28, 2008

WALTHAM - A couple of days before the Celtics' 17th NBA championship banner was to be raised at TD Banknorth Garden, it was being watched over at New England Flag and Banner, which has been producing them since the team's first NBA title, in 1957. And doing so the old-fashioned way, according to owner Ned Flynn.

"There are not many handmade things left," Flynn said from the company's Waltham office. "But this one is hand-sewn and hand-cut. That hasn't changed at all. The stencils are made by digital plotters, and that's the only technology that has changed. Otherwise, a woman sits at a sewing machine and uses regular scissors to make it."

Flynn said this one required 20 hours to complete, the work concluding two weeks ago. The banner was then sent to North Carolina to be flame-treated.

"It's out back right now being stretched so the wrinkles will be minimized," Flynn said.

The first title banners were made from cotton. Now, nylon is used.

Actually, Flynn already provided a 2008 banner to the Celtics for their HealthPoint gym in Waltham. That one is 8 feet by 12 feet, matching the size of the previous 16. The banners at the Garden are 10 feet by 15 feet - the originals are hanging at the practice facility.

"When the new Garden opened, the problem was the facility was so much larger than the old Garden, and the Celtics wanted to make the banners bigger," Flynn said.

Flynn's firm produces thousands of flags and pennants.

"There are 2,100 intercollegiate athletic programs, and we do them for 1,700," Flynn said.

But the Celtics' set the standard.

"Maybe because I grew up here, but I look at the Celtics' in a category of its own," Flynn said. "It's very special. Obviously, more care goes into it in the sense we want to make sure it's perfect."

Banner trivia:
"NBA" is stenciled over a white background if the championship was clinched at home; "NBA" is stenciled over a green background if the title was won away. Some do not accurately reflect this, however, because of mistakes made when replacing banners either damaged by water or stolen.

A penny reflecting the year of the banner is sewn into the label.

And according to Flynn, tonight's banner-raising might have a new twist.

"Let's just say it's going to be interesting," he said.

Start without them
LeBron James said during Cavaliers practice yesterday he has decided the team will remain in the locker room during the ring ceremony. "We don't need to watch that," James said. "We need to get ready for the game. Congratulations to them. But we're not a fan of Boston. We don't need to be out there clapping." James also didn't think opening against the Celtics was more special than opening against any other team. "They're getting their rings and the ceremony," James said. "But it doesn't matter who we play. We have to approach it the same way." . . . Asked about being projected among the top teams in the East this season, James said, "We've been in this position for the last few years. So we know we can't sneak up on any teams no more. We're looking forward to the challenge." . . . The former Celtics expected to attend tonight's ceremony include M.L. Carr, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, Cedric Maxwell, Satch Sanders, and JoJo White.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2008/10/player_profile_14.html
Player profile: Kevin Garnett
Email|Link|Comments (4) Posted by Gary Dzen, Boston.com Staff October 27, 2008 12:59 PM
We saved the best for last. This is the last in a series of profiles for all 15 players on the Celtics roster. The season opener is tomorrow night. Let the games begin.

Kevin Garnett


Kevin Garnett pounds his chest just before the opening tip-off against the Houston Rockets in a preseason basketball game in Manchester, N.H. (AP)
Born: May 19, 1976
Height: 6 feet 11 inches. Weight: 253
College: None (Farragut Academy HS (Ill.))
Years pro: 13
Acquired: In a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 first round draft pick.
2008/2009 salary: $24.8 million
Signed through: 2011-2012
Last year's numbers: 18.8 ppg, 3.4 apg, 9.2 rpg

Strengths: Where do you start? Garnett is widely acknowledged to be the most intense player in the league, a trait spread to his teammates last season. I mean, can you think of a single New England athlete who so drastically changed the culture of his sport as quickly and dramatically as Garnett did with the Celtics last season? But intangibles aside, Garnett is impossibly lanky and freakishly athletic. He's a ferocious rebounder, has a great outside touch, and might be the best help defender in the league.

Weaknesses: Can we even talk about late-game disappearing acts anymore? Was that ever really an issue, when in reality the sample size of "big games" Garnett played in Minnesota was very small? If you're looking really hard for a fault, you can say that Garnett played second fiddle to Paul Pierce during the playoffs. Pierce was clearly the team's MVP during the postseason, but maybe it was supposed to be that way. Everything worked out alright, anyways.

What to expect: Garnett is the heart and soul of this Celtics team. He's the team's best player on the court, and his box office appeal, as well as the way he is marketed, makes him the face of the franchise off the court. Will he be as freakishly motivated as ever now that he's won it all? The guess here is that he's been playing that way for so long, he doesn't know any other way.

That's it! The season begins tomorrow night, and I for one cannot wait. I know I'm going to wake up tomorrow with that "Christmas morning" feeling. Give us your expectations for Garnett in our comments section, and check back tomorrow night for complete coverage of the season-opener at the Garden.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/pros_and_colleges/x15881090/Celtics-Season-ready-to-begin
Celtics: Season ready to begin
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By Scott Souza/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News
Posted Oct 28, 2008 @ 12:50 AM
Last update Oct 28, 2008 @ 01:57 AM

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WALTHAM — The event before the game centers around the last time the Celtics played on the parquet.

A 131-92 blowout of the Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, which became more coronation than competitive playoff game, sealed the championship the Celtics will celebrate tonight with a banner raising and ring ceremony about 30 minutes prior to the season opener.

Then comes the event that centers around the last time tonight's opponent played on the parquet. The afternoon of May 18, which stands as probably the single greatest game in the 13-year history of the new building, ended with Paul Pierce's 41 points being good enough to top LeBron James and his 45 in a heart-pounding Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

It just so happens that the Cavaliers will be courtside tonight in what could be the ultimate boiling brew of envy and motivation.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of bad tastes in their mouths and a lot of bad blood," said Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. "We went seven with those guys and I'm sure they'll be excited to go right at us."

Given how the Celtics systematically broke down the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals, and in many ways ran roughshod over the Lakers to secure the NBA title, the Cavs can't help but sense how close they came to having their own flag-and-diamond festival on NBA's opening night. A P.J. Brown 15-footer, a Pierce snatch of a loose jump ball and a fortuitous bounce of a Pierce free throw that seemed guided from above were about all that separated the Cavaliers from winning the series.

Now, with the addition of a talented offensive point guard in Mo Williams to go with a team a year removed from the blockbuster trade that brought Ben Wallace, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak to Cleveland, the Cavs would seem to be the foremost contender for Boston's title.

"The first thing is that their best player is a young player who keeps getting better," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers of James, still two months shy of his 24th birthday. "Then they got better with some of their transactions in the offseason. Mo Williams is a big pickup for them. That gives them another guy who can create his own shot.

"Then there's the fact that they've been together. Having the training camp together will help them be a better basketball team."

Rondo agreed, but noted the Cavs aren't the only ones in position to take a swipe at the Shamrock's throne.

"I don't look at any one particular team," he claimed. "Any team can step up and challenge us this season. Orlando is a great matchup for us - we lost to them twice last year. The Sixers added Elton Brand and they were already tough. In their last 25 games (last year), they played excellent. Still, Detroit's a tough team. I don't want to pinpoint Cleveland, but they will be a tough team for us as well."

As much as the thought of it would make TNT executives drool, Pierce said not to expect a repeat of the May 18 epic tonight. But he was plenty willing to give James the Cavs their due as one of the teams to beat in the East.

"You expect LeBron's best every night," the captain said. "He's been an MVP candidate since he came into the league. He is probably one of the most consistent players in the league, one of the more feared players in the league.

"But I don't really get caught up in the mano-a-mano thing," he dismissed unconvincingly. "It turns out to be that way some days. I try to do my best just to help my team win."

Rondo boldly stated his personal goal was "just be the best point guard in the league" and that the experience he gained last year as a first-year starter should allow him to guide the team even better this time around with most of the squad returning.

"I am more confident in my teammates - hopefully they're more confident in me," he determined. "When you have one year under your belt with a lot of individuals, then you'll be a lot more comfortable going out there fighting for each other."

Pierce said he's sensed that as well across the roster.

"We know what we want to accomplish now," he said. "A year ago we were trying to figure it out. Now we know what we're trying to accomplish. We know what to expect out of one another. Our practice habits seem to have gone up another gear because we know what it takes."

Tonight, the Celtics will begin the task of proving they have what it takes to turn one title into a dynasty for a franchise steeped in them.

The team watching and stewing from across the arena will be first in line to try to take that away.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.nba.com/celtics/news/feature102808-celtics-eye-repeat.html
With Banner 17 Hung, Celtics Eye Repeat
Looking To Be Grouped with the Greats in Franchise History, Pierce and Co. Intend to Defend Crown
By Peter F. Stringer
Parquet Magazine
October 28, 2008

Hours after the Celtics won their 17th World Championship, a banner was hoisted to the ceiling in place of the spotlight that shone 24 hours a day at the Celtics' training facility in Waltham.

That new banner, 22 years younger than its nearest relative, glows in stark contrast to the 16 flags hung by your father's Celtics, most recently in 1986, 1984 and 1981. Dating as far back as 1957, they all line the walls in Waltham. Some are replicas, others the decaying originals from the eras long since passed, but until June, all of them were showing their age.

Burning white and glossy, the 2008 banner jumps off the wall at the Sports Authority Training Center at HealthPoint. It's sheen makes it awfully conspicuous, especially if you're one of the guys chiefly responsible for hanging it. However, what really catches the eye of Paul Pierce, the Celtics captain and NBA Finals MVP, isn't the banner that he finally helped to hang after 10 long years.

Instead, it's a series of dingy old banners stained from years of decorating the rafters of the old Boston Garden. They're downright dirty, but that's part of their charm. With the Garden gone and Red Auerbach's passing, those banners are among the few remaining vestiges of a dynasty.

So after spending most of a short summer celebrating the title at a parade through the streets of Boston in front of scores of Celtics fans, back home in Los Angeles among his family and friends (many of whom are admittedly Lakers fans) and in Vegas nightclubs surrounded by his NBA peers, a raspy Pierce, fighting laryngitis, told reporters about the next chapter in the Celtics' journey.

"You ask yourself, 'what's the next challenge?' And as I asked myself, I looked at all of the banners, and I said to myself, all the great players, all the great teams that have been here, they did it more than once," Pierce said during the team's media day. "That's what I thought about during the summer."
"You ask yourself, 'what's the next challenge?' And as I asked myself, I looked at all of the banners, and I said to myself, all the great players, all the great teams that have been here, they did it more than once," Pierce said during the team's media day. "That's what I thought about during the summer."

Those aging banners, hung by the sons of Red, they're artifacts of Johnny Most's gravel-voiced bedtime stories. They starred John Havlicek, Tommy Heinsohn, Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, and given the state of the franchise during the 24-win 2006-07 season, it was getting harder and harder to believe this was the same team. Pierce had heard Tommy, Cooz, Hondo and Russ retell these stories in person at the start of training camp for years.

He'd even heard them from Auerbach himself.

Finally, Pierce has his own story to tell. Carried off the floor in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, it looked like curtains for the captain and the Celtics' title hopes. But he'd return to the floor that night and inspire a Game 1 win that helped lift the Celtics to a six-win NBA Finals victory, and etch his name into the annals of NBA history.

For eight straight years, from 1959-1966, the Celtics won consecutive championships and dominated the NBA. And as much as Pierce is proud of what he and his mates accomplished last season, he knows that to be truly great in the eyes of Celtics fans and the legends who came before him, they have to do it again.

"Once you get a taste of it, you don't want to let it go," Pierce said. On the day the team sized players for rings, Pierce laughed about finally having his own jewelry to show off among his peers after gazing at his friends' hardware. "I've seen Antoine's, I've seen Sam's, and I've seen Posey's. I'm tired of looking at everybody else's ring in the summer."

He wasn't the only one. When they came together in Rome a year ago for training camp, Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were three stars who all had the same whole in their resume: None had won an NBA Championship. So the obvious question, one they heard all summer, was where they'd find motivation with their lifelong goal accomplished. And how would things change now that the Celtics were the proverbial hunters-turned-hunted?

"The bulls-eye is huge. But it's not like we're going to back down from that," Garnett said before the team left for training camp.

Rather than jetting overseas, the team bused about 70 miles down the coast to Salve Regina University in Newport, RI at the end of September, just as the New England foliage was starting to turn and tourist season was winding down. Newport was deserted through most of the week, so the team was felt free to roam town with few intrusions.

Aside from the wide-eyed students who lined up outside the gym waiting to catch a glimpse of the champs as they boarded the bus, there were few distractions during camp. The five-minute bus ride from the team hotel to the campus gym was a welcome change from the hour-plus police-escort voyage through Rome last fall. And without the international media horde that tailed them in Europe, the wonder of the ancient city just begging to be explored and a bevy of league-sponsored appearances that were sprinkled into last year's camp, the focus in Newport was all basketball, all the time.

For those who doubted last year that three superstars could check egos at the door and unite for a common goal, the Celtics had everything to prove and the burden of overwhelming hype. They were media darlings nationwide at the beginning of the season, gracing just about every magazine cover on the rack. The Big Three -- Coach Doc Rivers finally allows himself to call them that -- even had their own media day last fall to handle the influx of media requests that dwarfed anything the organization had ever seen.

"I thought we were the anointed champs all last year. We were on every magazine cover you could ever be on without having done anything. That actually bothered me a lot last year," Rivers said on media day on the eve of training camp. "At least this year, if we are on one, we can say we've done something. And now we have to try to do it again."

Their desire certainly hasn't waned. Much like last season, almost the entire roster was in Waltham a month early staging informal workouts and pick-up games. Rajon Rondo placed calls to many of his teammates, while Pierce took rookies Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens under his wing, leading them through a demanding workout regiment. According to Pierce, "this is the same commitment we had a year ago when everybody got in early."

Ray Allen, who keeps himself in top shape year round, made it clear that the Celtics refuse to settle for being a one-hit wonder.

"Just having a chance to repeat is the most important thing. This season, for us, it's not different than starting off last season," Allen said after a workout this summer. "I don't think we need to do anything different from what we've been doing. We know what the formula was, and we've gotta stick to that."

With that in mind, the team voted to once again carry "Ubuntu" as their motto, and when it comes to goals, the mission is essentially the same. They're looking to win an NBA title and hang another banner.

The early returns are encouraging. Pierce's knee has healed, and Allen, who played just under 36 minutes a game last season, is in top form for preseason. Garnett is as intense as he's ever been, running the length of the floor in one preseason game to block a layup from behind. Rondo says he's added seven pounds of muscle in the offseason, and his backup Eddie House was draining everything in camp.

Tony Allen is showing signs of returning to his pre-injury form. Kendrick Perkins, who had offseason shoulder surgery, returned to the lineup in mid-October. Meanwhile, rookie Bill Walker opened eyes in training camp for attacking the basket and had a pair of huge slams back-to-back in the team's first exhibition game. And tough-as-nails Leon Powe is still doing all the dirty work that made him famous last year.

Does all of this add up to a repeat? We're about to find out, but with the season upon us, Rivers and company are certainly headed in the right direction. The Celtics will officially raise their 17th banner in the TD Banknorth Garden and hand out their rings on Opening Night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Once the ceremony ends, the journey begins anew.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.nba.com/celtics/game_preview/preview102808-cavaliers.html
Game Preview: Cavaliers at Celtics
Couper Moorhead
Celtics.com
October 28, 2008

Half an hour before tomorrow's 8 p.m. tip off, the Boston Celtics will gather on the parquet to receive the rings of NBA Champions. NBA Commissioner David Stern will call out the names, some tears may be shed and the crowd will offer its due ovation. But as quickly as the house lights come back up in T.D. Banknorth Garden, the final moment for celebration will end and whistles will herald the 2008-09 season.

Enter the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The league opener, reserved for the reigning champions, will be billed as a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Semifinals, which the Celtics clinched after a classic shootout between LeBron James and Paul Pierce in Game 7. The uniforms are the same, yes, but every new year brings a new story.

For starters, there's been a role reversal. When the new-look Celtics began last season, the Cavaliers were the Conference champs, having lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals the year before. Now the pack chases Boston.

"Last season, in the East, our target was Cleveland," Doc Rivers said. "Our mindset has to be: we have to take it personal. They want to take it from us."

The personnel of "they" and "us" has changed. The Celtics will be without one of their top defensive weapons, James Posey (now with New Orleans), who helped limit James to just 20-of-78 (25.6 percent) shooting through the first four games of their playoff series in May. James is young and improves every offseason -- five times better, he told the AP this preseason -- but the Cavs have some extra, non-LeBron punch this year.

"Mo Williams, that's a big move for them," Rivers said of the Cavaliers' major offseason acquisition. "He can create his own shot."

After averaging 17.2 points and 6.3 assists last season for the Milwaukee Bucks, Williams was traded to Cleveland in a three-team deal that cost Cleveland veteran forward Joe Smith and point guard Damon Jones. The deal gave James the most dynamic backcourt mate of his young career and a slightly smaller demand for his playmaking ability. The preseason results have displayed an increased tempo for the previously half-court oriented Cavs.

With the shooting threat of Williams, the pressure should increase on third-year point guard Rajon Rondo to stick his defensive assignment while the rest of the team focuses on helping off on James.

"Mo gives them more scoring," Rondo said. "I'm more confident in my team and my team is more confident in me."

Confidence is never lacking on a championship team, but in excess it can lead to problems. Of the two things they are concerned about, Rivers said, there's the other team, and then there is focus. Not some buzzword like hunger, just plain focus, which can easily waver after a ring ceremony.

Of the last five NBA Champions before the Celtics, all won their season openers, with one glaring exception. Referencing the game specifically, Pierce said the team does not want to experience what happened to the Miami Heat in 2006-07 when they lost to the Chicago Bulls by 42 points in their home opener.

Maybe facing one of the Eastern Conference's best teams and one of the league's premier players with friends and family looking on will prove to be a boon.

"We don't want to get blown out like [Miami] did," Pierce said. "You're going to face challenges all year, so why not start with Day One?"

And so, the Celtics quest to repeat as champions for the first time since the Bill Russell era begins. But the immediate goal, according to Rivers, is just to be a better basketball team from last year. The Cavs appear to have improved already, and they'll be on hand for the dispersal of the league's most coveted rings, readying their sights on the new champs in Boston.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20081028/NEWS/810280673/1120/RSS01&source=rss
Auerbach misses 1st rafter party

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
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The Celtics’ Leon Powe, left, shares a laugh with Paul Pierce during practice yesterday in Waltham. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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WALTHAM— When the Celtics ring in the new year tonight at the Garden, Celtics players, coaches, staff, owners and legends will be on hand.

But the greatest Celtic of them all will be missing.

For the first time, the Celtics will raise a championship banner to the rafters and hand out title rings without Red Auerbach.


Auerbach served as coach, general manager or team president for the Celtics’ first 16 championships — all of them at the old Garden — but the crusty, cigar-chomping genius will be on hand in spirit only this time around. Auerbach died at age 89 two years ago tonight.

Auerbach would have especially enjoyed tonight’s championship ceremony prior to the season opener against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers because the Celtics beat the Lakers in last season’s NBA Finals. If the Lakers had won, L.A. coach Phil Jackson would have earned his 10th coaching title and broken a tie with Auerbach.

“He’s in my mind every time opening night is here,” Celtics captain Paul Pierce said yesterday after practice at HealthPoint, “because I’m used to him being here handing me a cigar before the game. Definitely, he’ll be in my thoughts.”

Pierce and NBA commissioner David Stern are scheduled to address the crowd, and the Celtics plan a tribute to Auerbach during the pregame ceremony, which is scheduled to begin at 7:38 p.m. on the Garden’s Red Auerbach Court. The game is set to tip off at 8:02 p.m. (TNT, 1440 AM).

Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, John Havlicek, Tom Sanders, Cedric Maxwell, Jo Jo White and M.L. Carr are among the former Celtics greats who are scheduled to be in attendance. Scot Pollard, who was injured for much of last season and isn’t in the league this year, will be on hand to collect his ring. P.J. Brown, who retired after last season, and James Posey, who signed with New Orleans, were invited but aren’t expected to be at the game.

After the rings are handed out and the banner is raised, the Celtics must flip a mental switch and take on James and the Cavs. They certainly won’t be able to dribble and dunk while wearing those gaudy rings so they might as well put them away for the rest of the season.

“The two things you’re concerned about,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “is the other team will be watching and waiting, and this is what they want as well and they’ll get fired up over it, and it’s a festive thing and you just hope you can keep your focus.”

The Cavaliers have added point guard Mo Williams to the team that took the Celtics to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last year. The players the Cavs acquired last February, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Ben Wallace, have now gone through a training camp to better learn coach Mike Brown’s system.

“The No. 1 thing,” Rivers said, “is their best player (James) is so young so he improves a lot every year. So just without making changes, he’s better and that’s scary in its right.”

“We’re going to face challenges all year,” Pierce said, “so why not from day one?”

“I’m sure there’s going to be a bad taste in their mouths, a lot of bad blood,” Rondo said. “We went seven with those guys and I’m sure they’ll be excited to play us and go at us.”

The only time that Pierce watched an opening-night ring ceremony on television, Miami raised its banner two years ago then got blown by Chicago, 108-66.

“There’s no way that will happen to us,” Rajon Rondo said.

“It’s a tough night in a lot of ways in terms of focus,” Rivers said. “We know that, but I’d rather have this distraction. This is the best distraction that I could come up with for this team and I hope we keep having distractions like this for the first game of the year. It would be terrific.”

Last year, the Celtics blew away Washington, 103-83, in their season opener, ruining a guarantee by Gilbert Arenas that his Wizards would win.

The Celtics enter the season healthy. Rondo said the sprained ankle that sidelined him for the last two preseason games is 100 percent.

“The No. 1 goal for us is to be better than last year as a team,” Rivers said. “Where that takes you, we don’t know because a lot of teams are going to be better than last year.”

Sam Cassell took part in ring ceremonies after each of his first two NBA seasons with Houston in the mid-1990s. Cassell joked that those ceremonies took place so long ago, the Rockets’ arena has been turned into a church.

“It was electric in the building,” Cassell said. “Everybody was excited that we won the championship. The players were excited coming to the arena and couldn’t wait for the game to start.”

Houston won on both of those opening nights.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.patriotledger.com/sports/x1498978214/THE-DRIVE-FOR-18
THE DRIVE FOR 18
Celtics in great shape to repeat and claim an 18th NBA title
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AMELIA KUNHARDT/The Patriot Ledger
Celtics in their final exhibition game before start of 2006-2007 season. Tony Allen. photo: Amelia Kunhardt

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By Mike Fine
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Oct 28, 2008 @ 07:39 AM
Last update Oct 28, 2008 @ 07:47 AM

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BOSTON — Sure, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are the Celtics most likely to succeed this season, but Tony Allen might be the one with a target on his back – and that target has been placed there by the team’s coaching staff.

The younger Allen has been something of an enigma for the Celtics and now their chances of repeating their championship, something that hasn’t happened since the Lakers did it from 2000-02 (and the Celtics last did from 1968-69), may rest on his shoulders – or knee, or whatever it is that’s kept him from becoming the defensive presence he was two years ago.

If Allen can get over the physical and mental roadblocks that seem to have held him back, the Celtics will be in prime position for the repeat, and if the preseason is any gauge, they seem to be in great shape. When Celtics director of operations Danny Ainge decided that James Posey’s contract demands were simply too steep, he was taking a huge chance, because Posey (who signed with new Orleans) was the type of emotional and defensive leader that was invaluable last season. The emotional aspect is one thing, but Posey’s defensive abilities could barely be duplicated by anybody. Allen is being counted upon to pick up that slack.

Likewise, losing P.J. Brown with his length and knowledge will sound a blow for the team’s defensive stance, which made them the second-best defensive team (by a slight margin behind Detroit) during the championship season.

Yet, the Celtics might find themselves in even better shape this season because Leon Powe came into his own last season, and because Glen Davis made some great strides during his rookie season and figures to be even better this year. Granted, these are not now the defensive players that Brown was, but the Celtics can, they hope, also count on offseason acquisition Patrick O’Bryant, who gives them the body of Brown in a younger package.

The one thing that will not concern Doc Rivers is the play of Garnett, Ray Allen and Pierce, and the coach will be equally comforted by the fact that Rajon Rondo became a top-flight point guard in his second season. Rondo’s game management abilities greatly improved through the guidance of Garnett and Ray Allen, in particular, and his shooting from the perimeter has improved as well.

Kendrick Perkins also improved significantly. For reasons that are hard to understand, he’s rarely given credit for his defense, but Perkins has become a master at defensive rotations. Like Rondo and his perimeter shooting, Perkins has cleaned up his inside offensive act.

Depthwise, the Celtics might also be improved. Eddie House is no point guard, but he’s there in a pinch. This year, though, the maturation of Gabe Pruitt seems tangible, at least if the preseason is an indication. Rivers gave him ample opportunity to prove himself and he came through, at least offensively. The assumption would be, too, that Sam Cassell will give the Celtics at least a little something, which would be more than pretty much nothing, than he gave last season.

The biggest problem facing the Celtics, of course, is the rest of the league. In their own Atlantic Division the Sixers have added Elton Brand to a quick, young, athletic team. The Raptors have added another former All-Star, Jermaine O’Neal, to a team that already includes Chris Bosh. Neither of these teams, though, has enough depth or experience to be able to beat out the Celtics.

The real problem could be the Cavs, who took the Celtics to seven games (who didn’t?) in the Eastern semis, and the Pistons, who faced the Celtics in the Eastern Finals. Still, the Cavs possess neither the defense nor the depth to be able to match up to the Celtics, and the Pistons just don’t seem to have that championship mentality any longer, not with Rasheed Wallace weighing on them like an anchor, although they have added a couple of impressive youngsters in Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell.

Expect to see the Celtics back to the NBA Finals. Expect to see a rematch with the Lakers, who figure to be strengthened with the return of a healthy Andrew Bynum at center.

It’s not going to be easy. Because of the improvements made by so many other teams, and perhaps by the hardships created by a short summer, the Celts will not win 66 games again. They won’t win the Atlantic by 25 games and they might not even run through Texas unscathed. If they stay as healthy as last year, that would be something of a surprise, too. But this is a team that’s built not to fail, a team that will follow Garnett’s unmatched, intense lead, a team that will be together both on and off the court.

If the Celtics don’t win it all again, now that would be an upset.

And then maybe we could just blame it on Tony Allen.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.patriotledger.com/sports/x1196571746/Rondo-no-longer-point-of-contention-for-Celts
Rondo no longer point of contention for Celts
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Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, center, drives between New York Knicks guard Chris Duhon, left, and guard Quentin Richardson during a preseason game in Boston.

By Jim Fenton
GateHouse News Service
Posted Oct 27, 2008 @ 01:08 AM

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WALTHAM — He heard the same question all the way through the Boston Celtics’ sensational regular season and into the playoffs.

Can the Celtics win a championship with an inexperienced second-year point guard like Rajon Rondo?

The answer turned out to be “yes” as Rondo was part of the franchise’s first title team in 22 years last season.

Three months after the Celtics took care of the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, Rondo reported to training camp and was greeted with a tongue-in-cheek inquiry from a reporter.

“So, can the Celtics win a championship with a third-year starting point guard?’’ was the question.

“It’s going to be tough for a third-year starting point guard,’’ replied Rondo, trying to keep a straight face. “He doesn’t know much, and he’s kind of inexperienced. But I think they’ll have a chance.’’

Rondo laughed, knowing he won’t have to deal with the questions of inexperience after helping the Celtics climb to the top of the NBA.

There were rough patches that he hit along the way, sometimes in the postseason, but the 22-year-old Rondo made more than enough strides to be a quality contributor.

He averaged 10.6 points, 5.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 77 regular-season games, then 10.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.7 steals in the playoffs.

More important than the numbers was the fact Rondo grew up as a point guard and learned how to play alongside All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

The improvement of Rondo should continue in the 2008-09 season, which begins Tuesday night when the Celtics host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Confidence-wise, I think he’s better,’’ said Garnett. “I think he knows what to expect out of the guys on the floor with him.

“He’s very comfortable with the players now. He’s giving directions. He’s a lot more comfortable with his role being the point guard and telling guys what to do.

“I think we respect him more for speaking up and telling us what spots to be in and just direction. If anything I can pick out that stands out about Rondo is that he’s become more mature and more of a leader, and you need that from your point guard.’’

Having a year like the 2007-08 season under his belt qualifies as an education that few young players receive.

Rondo, who started 25 games as a rookie, was put in the lineup with the three All-Stars and had to keep the ball moving. Like most young players, Rondo had his dips, and he struggled on the road in the playoffs.

For the most part, though, it was a highly successful season for a player who has a bright future in the NBA.

“I think it’s all confidence,’’ said Allen. “His talent has been there, but now he knows what is expected of him on the floor.

“Most of his questions have always been what’s going to happen in the playoffs, how are the referees going to be, what are the crowds going to be like. That was always an unknown.

“He’s been through it now and he knows what to expect. He knows all the players in the league. He knows what he needs to do to get better. Knowing that gives him all the confidence in the world.’’

Rondo carries himself with a quiet confidence, and he is now driven to build on the championship season and make the most of the remaining years he’ll be with Garnett, Pierce and Allen.

“I’m still hungry,’’ he said. “I want to be the best point guard in the league one day. My coaching staff believes in me and the Big Three believes in me and the rest of my teammates believe in me.

“I am going to keep working hard, regardless of what I have accomplished so far. I can’t say enough about hard work pays off, and I’m not going to stop working hard.’’

The lessons that were learned throughout the regular season and the playoffs will come in handy as Rondo looks to bring his game up another notch.

Teams challenged Rondo to hit open shots, and sometimes he struggled. Making sure he is not a liability on offense in that regard is a top priority.

“I’m just going to continue to learn,’’ said Rondo. “I learned about composure and being consistent in the playoffs, that each game you have to come out mentally ready to play.

“I have to be mature on the road, have better road games. Going through all that probably helps me a lot. I’ve been there, done that now. There’s still things to learn. You don’t learn everything in one playoff, even though I won a championship. I’m still a young guy.’’

[FLCeltsFan]

www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081028/SPORTS/810280345/-1/SPORTS
CELTICS PREVIEW: Rebuilding the bench top priority
October 28, 2008 6:00 AM
Joni Mitchell sang it, and the Boston Celtics can tell you she couldn't have been more right. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til its gone?

They didn't pave paradise in Boston to put up a parking lot — just demolish a Garden and replace it with the players' lot — but the Celtics did let James Posey, the sixth man extraordinaire, take a big yellow taxi to New Orleans.

And the hard part of it is, unlike in Mitchell's song, they knew what they had before he left. Posey averaged 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game last season, but his contributions went so much further. He was the kind of Celtic who earns a spot in the rafters, or at the very least in the legend and lore. But now he's gone, having signed a four-year, $25 million deal to perform the same role for the Hornets after the Celtics balked at going beyond three years.

The player who will get the most opportunity to step into Posey's role is Tony Allen. Finally recovered from knee surgery and playing without a brace, Allen appears finally ready to emerge into the player the Celtics have longed hoped he could be.

There's no question Allen can provide a lot of the defense Posey did, but offensive consistency is something he's struggled with when not getting regular playing time. Allen was the second-leading scorer in the exhibition games (11.8 ppg) while leading the team in minutes (26.8), but most impressive was his 48 percent shooting from the field.

He's no longer launching the prayers he once did, back to slashing to the hoop with effectiveness, but he knows offense is just one part of what he's expected to bring.

"We've got our scorers," Allen said. "It's all about making yourself a part of the puzzle, and that's what I'm looking to do."

Being a part of the puzzle is what it's all about for the Boston bench.

"Your role players ... you have to push and get them back to being role players," head coach Doc Rivers said. "We won last year because we played like a team. We moved the ball, (and) everybody played within their limits. We'll win again this year if that happens."

But there is a caveat to championship success.

"They played their role last year, but now they've been on all the parade tours," Rivers said. "Will they think they're a role player anymore, or will they think they're one of the Big Four?"

Even with the loss of Posey and big man P.J. Brown, who joined the team for the playoff run and retired again at season's end, there's still plenty of talent and potential on the pine. Another year of experience for young bangers Leon Powe and Glen "Big Baby" Davis will help elevate their game, and center Patrick O'Bryant is hoping he can fit into the mix better than he did with Golden State. Brian Scalabrine is still, well, Brian Scalabrine.

Unlike last season, the Celtics enter the new campaign stronger at point guard, with veteran Sam Cassell on board from day one. Coming in behind starter Rajon Rondo, he'll free up Eddie House to play more 2-guard, where his scoring skills can be better utilized. Second-year point guard Gabe Pruitt will likely spend more time in the NBDL, but his play in the preseason showed he is an up-and-comer.

Joining the mix are rookies J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker, the latter of which already a YouTube regular with his dominating dunks. Giddens, meanwhile, is a first-round pick that could either help fill the Posey void or just as easily spend the season toiling in the D-League.

While the pieces appear to be there, how they fit remains to be seen, especially when Rivers is hoping he can curb the minutes of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett more than he did last year.

"We don't have that confidence yet," Ray Allen said in regards to the bench. "That's one thing we're working continually towards."

The coach doesn't mind that the reserve rotation will be a work in progress. He has no problem playing all 12 guys on any given night, but he's already got at least some semblance of a rotation together.

"I saw them enough," Rivers said. "We know who we want to play, at least now. As the season goes on, that doesn't mean that someone doesn't take another guy's spot. It is always competitive."

But until the Celtics can develop a true reserve leader, the questions will continue. Someone, or multiple someones, may replace Posey's scoring off the bench. Someone may even step in his shoes as a tenacious defender, but it'll be hard to find anyone who can step into the leadership role he performed for the reserves or the voice of conscience he brought the entire team.

"We had a guy that did that," Rivers said. "He's in New Orleans now."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.courant.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sports/hc-celtics1028.artoct28,0,1348859.story
NBA Preview: Celtics Eye Their Place In History
By PAUL DOYLE
October 28, 2008

Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen lead the Celtics in their title defense. (ELISE AMENDOLA / ASSOCIATED PRESS / September 29, 2008)



WALTHAM, Mass. - After making his hoops home under the championship banners for 10 seasons, Paul Pierce is something of an expert on Celtics lore.

He understands that winning his first title last season was his pass into the club. Tonight, Pierce will receive his NBA championship ring and watch as the 17th banner is lifted to the rafters at TD Banknorth Garden.

But to get preferred seating among the Celtics legends, Pierce knows he needs multiple titles. No Celtics team has repeated as NBA champion since 1969, a piece of history that has been pondered and discussed by this team.

"That's actually one of the first things we said coming into this year," Pierce said. "Doc [Rivers] said it, too. We want to be remembered as a great Celtics team. We want to be talked about as one of the great Celtics teams."



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Teams To Watch In NBA The defense of the title begins against LeBron James and the Cavaliers tonight. When they opened a year ago, the Celtics were a curiosity. NBA analysts wondered how Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen would co-exist.

As they start their second season together, the Big Three have answered all questions. They meshed from preseason on last season, winning an NBA-best 66 games before marching to the franchise's first title in 22 years.

It was also the first title for Pierce, Allen and Garnett. As three potential Hall of Famers, they enhanced their resumes. For Garnett — one of the game's best players for a decade — the title changed life as he knew it.

"Like living in an apartment and finally getting that home," Garnett, 32, said last week. "You defend that apartment, but you didn't really own it. Now you get that home and it's nice. You've got grass. You've got to cut it — front, back, sides. You have a lawn system. It's yours. ... You give a little more when it's yours. That's my attitude."

The starting lineup is the same, with point guard Rajon Rondo and center Kendrick Perkins joining the Big Three. Rondo, a standout in the playoffs, has been called a future All-Star by Pierce.

Gone is sixth man James Posey, who provided defense and clutch scoring in the playoffs. He signed a four-year, $25 million contract with the Hornets, leaving a hole on the bench.

Tony Allen, 21 months removed from reconstructive knee surgery, is expected to play a more prominent role. Also returning are veteran guards Eddie House and Sam Cassell, and forwards Glen Davis and Leon Powe.

The Celtics have replaced veteran P.J. Brown with free agent addition Patrick O'Bryant, who was the ninth pick in the 2006 draft.

They are also intrigued by 6-foot-6 rookie swingman Bill Walker, drafted in the second round by the Wizards, then traded to the Celtics. Walker ruptured an ACL during his freshman year at Kansas State and his draft stock fell after having knee surgery in June.

Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen have each said the young role players are still learning what it takes to maintain intensity for 82 games and the playoffs. But unlike last year, the core of veterans is secure.

"I like our maturity and our togetherness," Pierce said. "We know what we want to accomplish. A year ago today, we were trying to figure it all out."

Most prognosticators have the Celtics contending but not repeating.

"We pick us," Rivers said. "We picked us last year, too. The bottom line is, we have to be a better team than we were last year to win it. We believe that."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.dailynewstribune.com/news/x15880994/Pierce-runs-on-Dunkin
Pierce runs on Dunkin'
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Lisa Cassidy/Daily News staff
Paul Pierce laughs as Chris Nicolas of Waltham is interviewed by the media after winning opening day Celtics tickets when Pierce drew his number in a raffle at the Lexington Street Dunkin' Donuts.

By Richard Conn/Daily News Staff
GHS
Posted Oct 28, 2008 @ 12:38 AM

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WALTHAM — He's a veteran NBA player, but Paul Pierce had to shake off some rookie nerves yesterday for his temporary day job - Dunkin' Donuts cashier.

"First day on the job, so work with me," the Celtics All-Star forward said smiling to a crowd of customers at the Dunkin' Donuts at 130 Lexington St.

Pierce's visit was part of Dunkin' Donuts' promotional celebration of the Celtics hoisting their 17th championship banner tonight at TD Banknorth Garden. Customers were offered a 17-cent doughnut with the purchase of any coffee.

Pierce was there to help sell some doughnuts and coffee, taking money from customers and taking lessons from staff on how to work the cash register. Pierce also helped select the winner of tickets to tonight's opening night clash between the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, along with a year's supply of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

Pierce drew from a number of ticket stubs in raffle-like fashion, and selected a stub that matched the one belonging to Christopher Nicolas, who lives on Amherst Avenue in Waltham.

"I don't know what to say," said a visually stunned Nicolas, as he stared into a phalanx of television cameras. "Thanks to Paul Pierce.

"I'd like to thank my mom for having me."

Along with the location in Waltham, Pierce also visited Dunkin' Donuts stores in Foxboro and Franklin yesterday as part of the promotion.

Waltham resident Erik Simonsen, a die-hard Celtics fan, walked up to the counter yesterday and bought a bagel from Pierce.

It's a highlight in a week full of them for Simonsen.

He got Celtics center Kendrick Perkins' autograph Sunday at Burlington Mall and has tickets to the Celtics game on Friday - which will also be his 16th birthday.

"It's been a big birthday week for me," Simonsen said.

Pierce took questions about the upcoming season and talked about the importance of bringing back the glory to a franchise that had been without a title since 1986.

Pierce was already thinking about banner number 18.

"We gotta finish off the 2000s right," Pierce said.