News 1/6

[FLCeltsFan]

Oh, Baby, what a win
Davis, C’s fell Pistons

By Steve Bulpett | Sunday, January 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by AP
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - And a child shall lead them.

Make that a Big Baby.

Glen Davis scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in a fourth-quarter sneak attack that dumbfounded Detroit and lifted the Celtics [team stats] to a 92-85 victory in the return match of the best two teams in the Eastern Conference.

Baby battered the Pistons with six buckets in as many attempts in the period, avenging the Celts’ loss on Dec. 19. He was a major part of an attack that outscored Detroit 26-0 in the paint in the second half.

“He played super,” Kevin Garnett said of Davis. “It’s good to see him mature. From Day 1, me having to pull him in and say what I got to say to him and staying on his (butt), he’s responded well. He works his butt off every day. Doc (Rivers) is having the confidence to put him out there, but he meshes with the veteran groups real well.”

Meshing last night meant taking advantage of Detroit’s attention to Garnett, Paul Pierce [stats] and Ray Allen.

“They collapsed on me,” said Pierce. “They stepped up to Garnett and they stepped up to Ray, and that left Baby open underneath every time. We just exploited it and he did a great job of finishing the plays. He was right there where I needed him to be. He was just aggressive. You’ve got to understand teams are not going to show any respect when you have me, Kevin and Ray out there. I don’t think they respected Baby out there, but when Baby gets his opportunity, he definitely shows he can play.”

The kid wasn’t letting anything go to his head afterward.

“It feels good,” said Davis, who had 10 total points and two DNPs in his previous seven games. “It feels real good to come out here and contribute in a big game. But this isn’t the last time we’re going to see these guys. This is just one game. It’s a journey to where we want to be at.”

Gone is Detroit’s 11-game winning streak, while the Celts won their ninth in a row and improved to a league-best 29-3. And they’ve now beaten all three of their conquerors the second time around.

Pierce added 19 points, and Garnett had 15 in a defensive struggle that saw the Celts shoot 42 percent and the Pistons 39 percent.

The value of Garnett was abundantly clear in the first half when the Celts managed to get away with just a 43-41 deficit. When the foul-troubled Garnett was on the floor, the visitors outscored Detroit by 14 points.

The C’s got the lead back briefly in the third quarter, but two technicals - one to Rivers near the end of the period and another to Kendrick Perkins [stats] after the buzzer - had the Pistons up 66-63 when play resumed for the fourth.

Sent in to deal defensively with Rasheed Wallace and the wide, active Jason Maxiell, Davis began to assert himself on the other end of the floor, as well. When he took a Garnett feed and powered inside for a three-point play midway through the final frame, the Celts had a five-point lead.

The margin remained when Pierce followed a Richard Hamilton turnaround with a steal and fast-break dunk, and, after a Pistons free throw, the C’s messed up three chances to expand on that edge before Hamilton drilled a trey from the right corner with 2:36 left.

Davis then drove lefty past Wallace and was fouled while scoring. He completed the three-point play, and Tony Allen added two free throws on the next possession.

The Pistons did have a chance to tie in the final seconds, but Chauncey Billups airballed a trey. And the normally automatic Billups, who made two free throws with a tenth of a second left for the win in Boston, missed 3-of-4 in the last four minutes.

Rivers held his breath whenever Billups had the ball, but he went with his gut on Davis, saying he needed energy and size.

“You never know,” when asked if what he got could have been expected from Davis. “But you can expect him to make layups when we move the ball. That’s how he got them. And he made some tough ones, but it was because of ball movement. The biggest play for him was the rebound. That was phenomenal.”

Rivers was referring to Davis’ track-down of a Pierce miss in a two-point game with a minute left - a sequence that ended with the rookie scoring inside.

Bottom line: Baby was big.

Article URL: www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064879

[FLCeltsFan]

Pierce fired up following showdown

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook | Sunday, January 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by AP
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Paul Pierce [stats] showed respect to the Pistons when he spoke after the Celtics [team stats]’ 92-85 victory last night. But according to reports, he was caught up in the hoopla and proclaiming his squad the best team in the league as he left the Palace floor.

That would make Pierce at least numerically correct, in that the Celts are a league-best 29-3 while Detroit is second in the East at 26-8. But the Pistons took a little shot back.

“They were a little more happy than I know we were when we beat them out there (in Boston),” Chauncey Billups said. “When we won, it was just another game for us. They kind of played it like it was the Super Bowl. It’s just a regular game, man, with two good teams playing. This probably means a little more to them and their psyche than it was for us. But they won, man, they won.”

In the calm of the dressing room, Pierce passed out the props. After saying he felt the Celts “let one get away” when they lost at the end to the Pistons on Dec. 19, he added, “You can’t take anything away from Detroit. They’re a great team. They’re a champion. We’re still learning from them what it’s like to be in these type of games. Today was a big step.”

The game was indeed more important to the Celts than Detroit.

“It is a big win because you come here and you return the favor,” said coach Doc Rivers. “They beat us on our floor and we beat them on theirs, and unfortunately we only play three times this year (next at the Garden on March 5). Our guys need this. This is good for our team. (The Pistons) are used to it. We don’t know if we are or not because we’re so new to each other. But I thought we handled it great.”

Pistons officials were describing the game as the toughest regular-season ticket since 1991, when Michael Jordan and the Bulls came in.

Quiet guests

The Celtics’ trip here didn’t go as planned. The team went to Hanscom Field late Friday night but couldn’t take off because of a mechanical problem with the plane. The C’s left at 9:30 yesterday morning instead.

“It wasn’t a problem,” said Ray Allen. “We still got sleep. That was the good thing. We got an extra night of regular rest. If we had taken off (Friday) night, we would have gotten in at 1:30-2 in the morning and then got into bed possibly by 3. So we at least got a good night’s rest. I woke up not really tired.”

The team checked into its hotel around noon and was out the door a few hours later.

“We’re the kind of guests that the hotels like,” said Allen. “We don’t really turn the sheets over that much. The maids loved us. They didn’t have to do much cleaning. And the hotel still got their money. Everybody was happy.”

He’s no Fred Garvin

Scot Pollard clearly wasn’t fazed by the alleged enormity of the game. Prior to tipoff he was sitting in the dressing room wearing a knit cap that read “Male Escort.”

“My wife got me this,” Pollard said. “She has a sick sense of humor.” . . .

With the Celts and Pistons playing last night, you’d have thought the game would be the main topic in these parts. But on the drive from the airport here, the discussion on Detroit’s sports radio station was where the Patriots [team stats] rank among the best teams of all time. No kidding.

Eyes shouldn’t leak

Rajon Rondo [stats] was looking at possibly a stitch or two above his left eye after an early collision.

“I don’t even remember when it happened,” he said. “It was a play in the first quarter. I’d been through some traffic and Chauncey had posted me up, and the next thing I knew it was leaking. I could feel it, but I didn’t know what play it was.” . . .

James Posey was getting into it with the crowd as the game wound down. The folks who had been on the Celts got a smiling Posey woofing back.

“It was just one of those moments taking advantage of the opportunity - a couple of hecklers,” Posey said. “But it was all in the fun of the game. There’s tough love everywhere I go.”

Article URL: www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064880

[FLCeltsFan]

Ex marks the spot
Fates of former C’s pale in contrast to new Green

By Mark Murphy / NBA Notes | Sunday, January 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics
They met on Dec. 17 in Minneapolis, each group in its new garb, assembled for the first time since the summer - Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak as Sonics, and Al Jefferson [stats], Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair [stats] and Gerald Green as Timberwolves.

Some things also remained the same: Theo Ratliff [stats] was seeking either his second or third opinion on a knee injury, and wasn’t in uniform.

The Celtics [team stats] were 21-2 at the time.

It was a little hard not to notice.

“It sticks in everyone’s mind like, wow, look what happened,” West said. “Last year we were one of the worst teams in basketball, and we all went to two teams that are still struggling.”

Heading into Friday’s games, Seattle and Minnesota had a combined winning percentage of .260 (13-50), with the Timberwolves anchoring the NBA at 4-27, and the Sonics one place above in the Western Conference.

The T’wolves’ record is so bad that some in the Twin Cities are already referencing the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers [team stats], that nine-win team that is still on the books as the NBA’s all-time worst.

Believe it or not, some still see merit in the trade, especially where Jefferson is concerned.

And West and Szczerbiak - when both aren’t dealing with that familiar injury curse - can actually see a little sunlight with Kevin Durant in the house.

“I can say that (in Seattle) we’re pulling it together,” said West. “It’s too early to see what we have yet.”

As a result, all of these former Celtics are living by a familiar script - wait until next year . . . and the year after that, and the year after that.

For those who miss this spirited group, we offer a look at where the former Celtics are - geographically and athletically - at the start of the new year:

Settled in Seattle

Delonte West - Celtics coach Doc Rivers has long lamented West as someone who plays with such abandon, he can’t escape the one tag he truly hates: A player who can’t escape injury. He has already missed nine games to plantar fasciitis this season.

But when active, this combo guard has been predictably dynamic. He returned from the injury to his old team with 19 points and eight assists on Dec. 27. He will also be a restricted free agent this summer, which may secretly be making some Celtics execs go hmmmm.

“Del, if he’s a player (the Sonics) decide to sign, is someone they’ll love for a long time,” said Rivers, who obviously still has the same feeling.

Wally Szczerbiak - Though injury truncated his training camp, Szczerbiak has been one of the most resilient Sonics during the regular season. He’s third on the team in scoring (12.2 points per game, 39.0 percent 3-point shooting) behind Durant and Chris Wilcox, and as evidenced by his 12-point second quarter against the Celtics, is still capable of heating up to a molten level.

He also took advantage of his former Celtics teammates on the Timberwolves, combining with West for a 24-point second quarter on Dec. 29 - a stretch similar to the burst the two put on the C’s two nights earlier. Who knew this pair had such good chemistry?

Lost in Minnesota

Al Jefferson - They’re beating the drum, and rightly so, over the fact that Big Al didn’t get any love from All-Star voters.

Had he remained in the East, there might not have been a problem. He and Orlando’s Dwight Howard are the only two players in the league averaging more than 20 points and 12 rebounds - Jefferson with 20.6 points and 12.2 boards per game.

Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman said he is doing his best to lobby coaches on his young star’s behalf for when it’s time to pick the All-Star reserves.

“You put seeds in people’s minds about what he’s doing on a consistent basis,” Wittman said. “An All-Star in this league does it on a consistent basis, and he’s been pretty consistent.”

Jefferson also became the second player in franchise history to post a 30-20 game with 32 points and 20 rebounds during what was a true blip on the schedule: a 100-93 win over the vaunted Suns on Dec. 8. The other player to work that combination for the Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett, hardly needs an introduction.

Kevin McHale may not be a revered name in Minnesota sports right now, but the trade may actually have won a few people over. Consider this recent observation by Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Jim Souhan:

“As well as Garnett has played for a dominant Celtics team, and as badly as these Wolves have played most of the season, the Garnett deal remains sound because of Jefferson and the two first-round draft picks the Wolves received, and perhaps even point guard Sebastian Telfair, who might turn into a decent backup.”

Sebastian Telfair - Life as a backup might actually not be good enough for Telfair, the square peg in Rivers’ scheme last year. Telfair and Marko Jaric had to be separated following a minor dust-up in practice Thursday.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Telfair is outscoring (9.9 ppg-8.9 ppg) and outdishing (team-high 5.8 apg-4.0 apg) his high-priced teammate. He’s certainly showing the fire necessary to keep the starting job. Telfair has 21 starts and Jaric 17.

“It’s not acceptable,” Telfair said of the Timberwolves’ losing ways. “If someone wants to accept that, then it’s on them. I’m not going to allow myself to accept the losses. We’re going to go out there and fight.

“It’s beginning to get a lot more frustrating because it seems the last couple of games we haven’t had that much fight.”

Ryan Gomes - The former Providence star ranks second to Jefferson in starts on the team at 23, which is a sure sign that Wittman has already figured out Gomes is more valuable to him than the rapidly aging Antoine Walker - the latter supremely distressed by his declining minutes. Like West, Gomes will be a restricted free agent this summer. Whether he maintains McHale’s interest will depend on development of his best weapons: the medium-range jumper and the 3-pointer that was starting to blossom near the end of his Celtics tenure.

Gerald Green - He’s averaging just 12 minutes per game, has only appeared in 17, and was so distraught at one stage that he expressed doubt that he would defend his NBA dunk title next month in New Orleans. McHale has told him to wait and his time will come. Just not here, perhaps.

Theo Ratliff - Just as he courted numerous doctors and opinions before having back surgery last spring, Ratliff has sought at least three opinions on his sore knee. He’s played six games, which is four more than he played as a Celtic.

Article URL: www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064851

[FLCeltsFan]

Big baby’s end zone?

By Mark Murphy | Sunday, January 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics
It’s difficult to imagine a player who slides to the 36th pick in the draft having such an intriguing collection of skills, but that is essentially the case with Glen Davis.

The Celtics [team stats] rookie finishes better than most first-year players, and he also has footwork that takes others years -- if ever -- to develop.

“I liken it to guys like Rodney Harrison [stats] and Tedy Bruschi [stats],” said Danny Ainge. “These are guys who didn’t fit the length everyone was looking for, or the proper vertical jump, or had the prototypical size for the position. But there’s a lot of guys who have succeeded without fitting that guideline.

“All Glen Davis has done his whole career has been to be a good basketball player and overcome what people saw as his physical limitations.”

There was, however, a sport where Davis fit every standard there was, with the exception of the running back position he played on a state championship high school team.

Instead, college scouts from across the country thought they saw -- because of those soft hands -- a tight end, or -- because of his quick, coordinated feet -- a left tackle.

As someone who was well over 300 pounds at the time, he certainly fit the size requirements for both spots.

“I heard from all over the country,” Davis said of football recruiters.

Collis Temple, the former Louisiana State University star who helped raise Davis, oversaw the recruitment process.

“The Notre Dame coach at the time came down to look at him,” Temple said of Tyrone Willingham. “Every football coach in the country wanted this boy. He was a freak. We’re talking about a senior in high school who weighed 340 pounds and could run a 4.9 40. He’s a freak, man.”

Included in that crowd was Nick Saban, who was just down the street at LSU at the time. Thanks to Temple’s LSU’s ties, Saban also figured to have an inside track -- if Davis chose football, anyway.

“Glen decided not to play football his senior year, but I remember taking Glen to meet Nick Saban, anyway,” said Temple. “Nick said, ’Look, if you don’t want to play football your senior year then that’s fine. But I want you to come to LSU regardless of what you play, and then we’ll see.’

“Nick was planning to talk Glen into playing football when he got there,” he said. “He was comparing Glen to Antonio Gates, another basketball player who became quite a football player. But it’s just not what Glen wanted.”

Asked last week if he felt he made the right choice, Big Baby broke into a slow, self-satisfied smile. He never did answer the question. He didn’t have to.

Article URL: www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064798

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/06/davis_carries_a_big_load?mode=PF

Davis carries a big load
Rookie helps end Pistons' win streak
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | January 6, 2008

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - At the beginning of the season, the big question about the Celtics was whether their star trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen could play together.

After they proved they could, the next thing questioned was Boston's schedule. After they went 4-0 on a recent West Coast road trip, skeptics pondered whether the Celtics could beat Detroit, the longtime Eastern Conference power, on the road after losing to the Pistons at home?

Now, after getting a huge 92-85 revenge win at The Palace of Auburn Hills last night, the Celtics want to know if there are any more questions.

"More than anything we were able to prove something to ourselves, coming out here, despite anything that happened leading up to this game," Allen said. "We were playing arguably one of the best teams in the NBA and beat them. We heard a lot over the last couple of weeks about our schedule and who we haven't played. So you feel good about it for ourselves . . . It was a great win just for ourselves. We can always look back at it and learn from it."

Rookie forward Glen Davis scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the fourth quarter by making all six field goal attempts to spark the Celtics, who own an NBA-best 29-3 record and have won nine straight on the road and an NBA-best nine straight overall.

Detroit (26-8) had its NBA-best 11-game winning streak and seven-game home winning streak end.

"This was a test game," Pierce said. "We needed to find a lot about ourselves in this game. It was on the road. Detroit's the hottest team in the league. There were all kinds of excuses you could have about losing this game. We still are growing up as a team. We're still learning about ourselves. But this is a character win. This is a look-deep-inside-you-and-see-what-you're-about type of win."

Sparked by Davis, the Celtics outscored the Pistons, 29-19, in the fourth quarter. Pierce had 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists while Garnett added 15 points. Boston limited Detroit to 39.2 percent shooting and scored 27 second-chance points.

"They're a really good defensive team, especially strong inside," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.

The Celtics entered last night's game still bitter over an 87-85 loss to the Pistons Dec. 19 at TD Banknorth Garden. It is Boston's only home loss this season - and it hasn't lost since.

"We felt like we let one get away," Pierce said about the previous Detroit meeting.

Said Allen: "We were definitely looking forward to it."

The Pistons didn't really need to make much of a statement as they won a 2004 NBA championship and have been the Eastern Conference's top team this decade. But for these new and improved Celtics, getting a win in Detroit proved that they are more than for real.

"It was a nice win," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We came back and returned the favor. They beat us on our floor and we came back and beat them on theirs. Unfortunately, there are quirks in the schedule and we only play them three times this year.

"But it was a fun game and we got excited. Our team needed it and it was good for our team."

The Celtics were down as many as 12 points (24-12) in the first half before ending with a 31-17 run to go into the half trailing, 43-41. Garnett scored only 3 points in the first half after being limited by three fouls. The Celtics' 10 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points in the first half kept them in the game.

"We weren't being aggressive," Pierce said. "Detroit was really being aggressive with the defense. We had to pick up our pressure. So we picked up our pressure full court."

Detroit outscored the Celtics, 23-22, in the third quarter to take a 66-63 lead. Allen joined Garnett in foul trouble by picking up his fourth in the third quarter. Ex-Celtic Chauncey Billups scored 11 of his 17 points and nailed two 3-pointers in the third to spark Detroit.

In need of a spark in the fourth quarter, Davis surprisingly provided it.

The 6-foot-9-inch, 289-pounder entered the game averaging 4.2 points and had scored a combined 10 points in the previous five games.

But Davis scored 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting, converted 3 of 4 3-point play opportunities, and grabbed a key late offensive rebound to push Boston to the big win.

Davis's lay-in with 56.9 seconds left gave Boston an 88-84 lead. Billups made 1 of 2 free throws with 47.5 seconds left to slice Detroit's deficit to 88-86. But Davis fittingly sealed the game with a lay-in with 8.5 seconds left to push Boston up, 90-86.

"[Davis] came up big [against] us," Billups said. "He got a lot of [3-point plays] and finished well around the basket. He was an unlikely hero, but you got to give him credit. He played good and they just outplayed us."

Said Davis: "I just know to be ready to play. You never know when [Rivers] is going to call your number. You got to set your mind to feel like you're ready to play every game."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/06/baby_shows_off_his_mature_side?mode=PF

Baby shows off his mature side
By Peter May | January 6, 2008

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - How fitting it was that a rookie, a second-round draft pick, no less, was the difference-maker down the stretch last night in a game between teams stocked with veterans, and one of them oozing in playoff experience.

Glen Davis may never have another impact game like this one for the rest of the season, but he'll always have Auburn Hills.

The rook from LSU played in the fourth quarter like he was going up against Vanderbilt at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. To wit: 16 points (on 6-of-6 shooting, all layups) and one gargantuan rebound in the Celtics' nerve-racking 92-85 conquest of the Pistons last night at The Palace.

The total numbers: a career-best 20 points (high for either team) and four rebounds (three offensive). He and Paul Pierce were the only Celtics to play the entire fourth quarter and, when the game ended, Davis turned for what he thought would be a rewarding walk to the locker room. He was delayed.

Kevin Garnett stopped him, patted him on the head, and told him, "You came to play." Then it was over to broadcast row for an interview.

"It feels good, real good, to go out there and make a contribution," Davis said. "But this won't be the last time we see these guys."

No, it won't, and, for now, it's been point-counterpoint. Detroit won in Boston. Boston won here. Three wins and five losses separate the behemoths.

That may change soon, for in a cruel twist of NBA scheduling, the Pistons start a stretch of four road games in five days Wednesday in Dallas, followed the next night at San Antonio.

The Celtics don't play until Wednesday when they host the, ahem, Bobcats.

But getting back to Big Baby, he was, well, big. He defended Rasheed Wallace as well as anyone can, forcing the motormouth Piston to take jumpers. Earlier in the evening, Wallace muscled his way in for layups when he wasn't hoisting threes. But the Pistons stopped going to the hoop in the second half. And Davis found a way to be, as they say, available, when the Celtics ran their high pick-and-roll offense and the Pistons collapsed on the usual suspects. Davis isn't one of them.

"We didn't handle that extremely well," understated Detroit coach Flip Saunders.

Pierce, who assisted on four of Davis's six hoops in the fourth, said, "He got to the right spots and he was open every time and he did a great job of finishing."

Four of Davis's baskets in the fourth resulted in 3-point-play opportunities. He converted three of them. (He was 4 of 5 from the line.) He basically was the Celtics' offense in the fourth; he nearly outscored the Pistons all by himself as Detroit had 19 points.

In a seven-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, the Celtics' offense was either Big Baby or nothing.

But as big as his point production was, it was his sole rebound of the fourth that may have been the game's biggest play. Detroit had reduced an 86-80 lead to 86-84 with 1:25 left and Pierce missed a pull-up jumper. Davis positioned himself well, outmaneuvered three Pistons, and got the rebound. He sent it back out to Pierce and it led to a Davis basket (from Pierce) with 56.9 seconds left. That was the real backbreaker of the night. The Celtics had 27 second-chance points and an overall 50-36 rebounding advantage.

"He is growing and tonight his energy was tremendous, and even infectious in some ways," said coach Doc Rivers, who is slow to slobber over rookies. "You can expect him to make layups when we move the ball.

"I expect all of my players to make layups when we move the ball. It was because of ball movement."

The 23 minutes Davis logged almost doubled his season average of 11.9 a game. His minutes chart looks something like the stock market: He had played only 28 minutes in the previous seven games, two of which (Sacramento, Seattle) he never bothered to take off the warm-ups.

"He's up and down. He's a rookie," Rivers said. "But we understand that and are patient with that."

Davis said he had no inkling he would even play last night, let alone play as much as he did. He said he never knows from game to game, which is part of the rookie life.

Another part is being mature enough to accept that and be ready to play when your number is called.

Glen Davis did that last night.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/06/singer_amused_by_fans_call_for_a_t?mode=PF

Singer amused by fans' call for a 'T'
Vannelli just wants to stop illegal sales
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | January 6, 2008

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The real Gino behind the Gino T-shirt is excited about the Gino craze at Celtics home games but is concerned about T-shirt sales.

When the Celtics have a home win in hand and a timeout arrives, an old video from "American Bandstand" is often shown on the Jumbotron at TD Banknorth Garden. Of all the dancers shown, fans get most excited about a bearded man who is grooving slowly while wearing a tight shirt that reads "Gino."

The shirt refers to Gino Vannelli, an Italian-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and composer, and it is from one of his 1970s concert tours.

On Friday, Vannelli said he recently saw the "Gino" video on YouTube and is excited that Celtics fans are getting joy from it.

"It's almost as if when I look at that YouTube thing that I was standing out of my body and I wasn't on the planet anymore, just sort of looking back on the grave," said Vannelli in a phone interview. "I remember that T-shirt from the '70s from a tour from my 'Gemini' album.

"The main thing is the Celtics are doing really good. Whatever inspires people . . . It is a totally bizarre thing. Perhaps I ought to make an appearance to sing the national anthem to set the record straight on who the real Gino is.

"I heard about it [two weeks] ago. I heard about it in Holland. People sent me the YouTube link. I gawked and chuckled about it."

Gino-style T-shirts are being worn by fans and even being sold online at cafepress.com. One reads, "Kevin & Paul & Ray & Gino," another says, "The Big Three," with a picture of triplet Ginos and the replica Vannelli concert T-shirt. "I want to buy one of those," said brawny Celtics rookie Glen Davis. "I'm going to get a 2XL so my [muscles] will show."

Vannelli, however, said that the website has not received permission to sell his old concert T-shirt.

"I have no connection with that," said Vannelli, who splits time living in Holland and Oregon. "I believe that they have to get the permission from the record company and my permission. I want to make sure it's on the up and up."

An e-mail from the website in response to a Globe inquiry said, "CafePress is an automated service that allows independent users to upload art and sell merchandise featuring that art. During this process our users agree to terms and conditions and ultimately they are responsible for the content they upload. We looked into the images in question and have decided they should be removed from the system. You will notice that the products are no longer available for sale, and as our site reindexes the images will disappear from search."

As of yesterday afternoon, however, the Vannelli T-shirts in question were still being sold.

No keeping them down

The Celtics were supposed to fly to Detroit following a 100-96 win at TD Banknorth Garden Friday night. But because of mechanical problems with their charter plane, the flight was canceled at about 11:45 p.m. The Celtics ended up departing yesterday around 10 a.m. and arriving in Detroit around noon.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said before the game that his team wouldn't use the plane issue as an excuse. Following a big 92-85 win over the Pistons, it didn't seem like much of a factor.

"We had a back-to-back and flew in on the same day," Celtics forward Paul Pierce said. "This team is showing a lot of character."

On the trail

Celtics guard Ray Allen said he will vote for president in Massachusetts but won't tip his hand on whom he likes. He said he wants the best candidate, regardless of political party.

Even so, Allen acknowledged that he was impressed by how Illinois Senator Barack Obama won Iowa's Democratic caucus.

"People in this country want change," said Allen. "He seems like a candidate that is for the people. He seems trustworthy. It's hard to say if most people are looking at it from a race point of view, because he knows what he's talking about and he's very confident when he stands in front of anybody in any room.

"One of the things that he said that I'm with all day long is he's going to start attacking lobbyists, change government. For him to say that before he got into government, knowing he's government, changing how the government thinks, and trying to change the whole country, that's how it starts.

"With his campaign, people have to love that because there is a lot of things that people know in this country that need to change. Foreign policy, health care, immigration. There are so many different issues we have in this country that I don't think sit well with anybody. We are literally on the fence with every issue."

Like Obama, Rivers is from Chicago; they spoke in 2004.

"I never shook hands with him, but we've actually talked on the phone once," Rivers said. "It was for something I was doing for the Democratic campaign when [John ] Kerry and [John ] Edwards were running and Barack was involved.

"By the time he was running, I'd been out of Chicago for 15 years. It's good to see a Chicago man do well, though."

On Barack winning the caucus, Rivers said, "It was terrific. I always say let that process work itself out. We'll see. It still was nice. A good story. "A small state like Iowa, it says a lot about our country."

Not in running The Grizzlies aren't expected to buy out the contract of veteran point guard Damon Stoudamire, who wants out because of a lack of playing time. Regardless of whether Stoudamire is bought out or traded, the Celtics aren't expected to get in the mix for him . . . The Celtics will take today off and practice in Waltham tomorrow.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/06/better_than_a_lottery_hit?mode=PF

Better than a lottery hit
Celtics came up with winning combination
By Peter May | January 6, 2008

As 2007 turns into 2008, and with the Celtics winning with such proficiency and ease, it is time to salute Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, and the team's owners. I know they haven't won anything yet. But so far, to borrow a phrase from Mike Huckabee . . . shazam!

Looking back, it's impossible to have seen this coming. Can you imagine what the reaction would have been on the evening of May 22 if Ainge had stood up and said, "Well, we're disappointed we didn't get the first or second pick. But we're going to use that fifth pick and we're going to use several of the players we have from our 24-win team to get Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Oh, and by the way, we're not giving up Paul Pierce." Even Ainge himself didn't see that one, although there was a method to his madness.

When the original Garnett deal fell apart because KG didn't want to come here, Ainge went out and got Allen from Seattle. Left alone, the deal made a little sense, but not much, although Ainge says now, "I think a team led by Ray, Paul, and Al Jefferson would have been good. Maybe very good."

Still, it seemed more like a sideways move, designed as much to keep Pierce from jumping off the Zakim Bridge as anything else. In reality, Ainge said he made the deal to help Pierce, get a veteran in the locker room - and improve his chances of landing Garnett.

"Oh yeah," Ainge said. "That's because the real key components to the Garnett deal were still there - Theo's contract and Al Jefferson. Even though Minnesota wanted that fifth pick [included in the Allen trade], I still thought there would be a way.

"But I also knew there was no way we were going to get KG if we didn't do the [Allen] deal. I felt like the Kevin Garnett element was definitely going to be satisfied by getting Ray. Whether the Minnesota element could be satisfied was still in question."

But, as we know, Kevin McHale caved, accepting Theo Ratliff, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Jefferson, and two first-rounders (one of them being the one McHale had sent to Boston in the Wally Szczerbiak-Ricky Davis deal) for a first-ballot Hall of Famer and, as we now sit, this season's leader for Most Valuable Player. It has to rank as one of the best trades since Jack Warner pried Ingrid Bergman away from David O. Selznick for six weeks to film "Casablanca" - and agreed to exchange the services of Olivia de Havilland. As Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry accurately said, "Danny Ainge embarrassed us all." (Most of all his buddy, McHale.)

Ainge said even after the initial Garnett rejection, and before the acquisition of Allen, he never really felt the KG deal was dead. But, he said, "Some things had to fall in place.

"Trades are sometimes not just a matter of desire, but of having the pieces to make it work," Ainge said. "We've always wanted Kevin Garnett. Who hasn't? But you've got to have the contracts, elements, and assets that the other team wants. And we had to satisfy Kevin Garnett as well with a contract extension. It's not that Dallas, Phoenix, or the Lakers didn't want him. They wanted him as badly as we did."

Ainge said he feels no sense of vindication, especially since a lot of people (including yours truly) never, ever thought he could put those kids together and get what he got.

"I don't pay much attention to what people say to me on the street," he said. "They were the same people saying different things a few years ago, and I understand both sentiments."

As for Rivers, well, we know Doc has his legion of bashers, but how can anyone quibble with what the coach has done so far? Ainge was always in Rivers's corner, helped Doc get an extension, and said he never doubted his coach's ability.

"First, his presence here was a big factor in getting Kevin to come," Ainge said. "When I went out there to visit him, Tyronn Lue was staying at his house. He and KG are best friends. And that was key, because Tyronn had played for Doc and told KG that Doc was good to play for. Even though we won 24 games, Doc's reputation as a coach with KG's best friend was a factor.

"But there was a never a doubt to me that, if we had the talent, that Doc would win. That's never been an issue. It's just hard to convince people or fans who think they can coach, that don't see that it's not a game of chess, that there are people and emotions involved. If you were sitting where I had been sitting, and watching practice all the time, you would have tried to keep Doc Rivers, too."

None of this would have been possible, however, had not ownership agreed to cross the Luxury Tax Rubicon. You could say that any ownership group that wouldn't do so under these circumstances doesn't deserve to be in the NBA. But a lot of deals get killed because of luxury tax concerns. Garnett was worth the price (and the string of sellouts and the home playoff dates will help ease the pain).

But it wasn't just KG. Ownership signed off on a deal for James Posey for more than $3 million, which, because of the luxury tax, basically makes it a $6 million deal. Ainge and Rivers lobbied hard for Posey. Ownership agreed.

"It's a lot of good fortune and good ownership," Ainge said. "The owners were well aware of what we're doing. Even after the [Garnett] trade, they went a little further in the Posey deal. Doc and I felt it was a big deal. We were missing a guy like that. They stepped up and did that, too. There are a lot of teams whose owners won't do that."

So, gentlemen, kudos all around. If nothing else, you've made the Celtics relevant again. And, we suspect, brought back basketball in May. Possibly even June.


On the road to a dead end

Attention Celtics season ticket-holders: If you forgot the mail carrier for Christmas, tickets to Wednesday night's game would be an ideal gift. (Unless, of course, you're in the Jared Dudley Fan Club.)

The Charlotte Bobcats may not qualify statistically as the Eastern Conference's worst team, but, by season's end, they should be firmly entrenched in the cellar.

Where to begin? They've had one road win all season, and that was back on Nov. 4 in Miami. They've dropped 11 straight roadies and still have yet to play a single Western Conference road game.

They are winless against the five teams in the East that went into the weekend with winning records, one of those losses coming Nov. 24, when they couldn't execute a simple inbounds pass in the waning seconds against the Celtics. (Coach Sam Vincent had a Stage 5 Brain Cramp.) The ball was stolen, ended up in the hands of Ray Allen, and, well, you already know that story.

They are 0-6 on the second night of back-to-back games, and No. 7 should come Wednesday, as the Celtics will be well-rested (having last played yesterday) while the Bobcats host the Nets Tuesday.

All this has come with arguably the league's easiest schedule (19 of the first 31 at home, no game played farther than the Central Time Zone). In other words, these are the good old days.

The Bobcats have only 10 home games after the All-Star break and play 25 of their last 38 on the road.


Scola has excelled in transition game

The newest NBA import from Argentina, the Rockets' Luis Scola, is gradually settling in to his new life in the United States.

Scola was one of the few "name" Argentines to play last summer in the Olympic qualifier, but he played well enough to get Argentina to Beijing and was named the tournament's MVP. Now he's playing 19-plus minutes a game for Rick Adelman, averaging around 7 points and 5 rebounds.

"He's been learning the game. He's been learning about our league," Adelman said. "He's had some real big games. He's still learning how to play without getting fouls. Offensively, he's going to be a very good player in this league. One thing you love about him - he plays so hard, every night, every minute."

Scola was thought to be the designated starter at power forward next to Yao Ming, but that job has remained with Chuckie Hayes. Scola has not missed a game this season, but said his biggest adjustments have come off the court.

"I knew it was going to be hard for me," he said. "You're changing everything - your way of life, the way you play, your teammates, your coaches, the city, the food, everything. And there's a bunch of stuff that you have to do when you move to another country. It's tricky if you don't know."

You'll see plenty of Scola next summer in the Olympics. He was a big part of Argentina's 2002 team that nearly won the Worlds and the 2004 gold medalists in Athens. But he said it's too early to know how good Argentina will be in Beijing.

"We don't know who's going to play," he said, although he and everyone expects the Argentine A team to show up. "We don't know how people are going to feel in six months. It's going to be different. Everyone is a year older. But I know I will be there."


Etc.

K-Mart spares no expense
So how was your New Year's Eve? Bet it didn't top the bash that Kenyon Martin threw, which doubled as a 30th birthday party (Dec. 30) for the Nuggets forward. Martin flew his teammates on three private jets to Miami and put them up at the Four Seasons Hotel. (Allen Iverson was a no-show because of family considerations.) The party was held at a private mansion in South Beach (duh!) and featured a red carpet entrance, Moroccan decor, ice sculptures, fountains, an open bar (duh!), and free hors d'oeuvres (duh!). The guests were entertained by dancers, music from the famed DJ Clue, and, to top it off, numerous fauna, including cobras, mongooses (to keep the cobras occupied, no doubt), pelicans, black swans, and turtles. Others on the guest list: rapper Trina, fashionista Toccara, actress Keisha Knight Pulliam (Rudy Huxtable from "The Cosby Show"), comedienne Sommore and NFL players Edgerrin James and Willis McGahee. Apparently, the Nuggets behaved themselves because they returned to Denver and beat the Spurs Thursday night.

Straight shooter
In the 1979-80 season, Utah center Rich Kelley shot 81.4 percent from the line. The team trumpeted the achievement as Kelley being the first 7-footer in NBA history to shoot 80 percent from the line. This story came to mind last week when the Rockets were in town with the remarkable Yao Ming. First off, Yao has shot 80 percent from the line in four of his five seasons and this year is shooting a career-best 86.5 percent. Against the Celtics, Yao did miss one - snapping a string of 21 consecutive makes. Three times this season Yao has had free throw streaks of 20 or more, including one in which he made 35 in a row from Nov. 9-14. He also made 27 in a row from Nov. 26-Dec. 5.

Sun down
You may have missed the second half of the TNT doubleheader last Thursday (Seattle at Phoenix) but commentator Reggie Miller came up with a beauty. Watching the Sonics' Jeff Green move to double-team the Suns' Boris Diaw, Miller cracked, "That's a rookie mistake on Green. Doesn't he look at the box score? Boris Diaw hasn't played in a year and a half. Why would anyone need to double him?" Unfortunately for the Suns, Miller is right. Diaw has been a big disappointment basically since he signed his contract extension ($45 million over five years, starting this year) after his stellar 2005-06 season saw him win Most Improved Player. His numbers that year: 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game. This year? 6.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. He's also shooting 41 percent from the field. Diaw also took a lot of heat back home in France for his underwhelming play in last summer's European Championships.

Salt in the wound
In one of those delightful quirks in the schedule, Gordan Giricek, traded by the Jazz to the Sixers Dec. 29, played his second game for Philadelphia against - yup - Utah. Even worse for the unfortunate Giricek, who had warred with coach Jerry Sloan, the game was in Salt Lake City. He ended up playing 13 minutes, scoring 4 points - and getting booed every time he touched the ball. (Derek Fisher, inexplicably, received the same treatment. He left the Jazz to be in a city where his daughter could get treatment for her eye cancer.) "I've played in worse situations than this," Giricek told reporters afterward. Hey, he's played in Zagreb and Moscow and other exotic ports of call, so he's probably right. While the Jazz like their part of the deal (Kyle Korver), the Sixers get salary relief (Korver was owed more than $9 million for the next two years while Giricek's contract is up at the end of the year) and a first-round pick.

Thursday is payday
Yesterday was the first day NBA teams could sign players to 10-day contracts, so expect to see a lot of strange names on the transactions list. The bigger date for fringe players is Thursday. As of Jan. 10, all contracts are guaranteed for the rest of the season. So any player on a make-good deal won't have to sweat it out if he's still on the roster. The only Celtic in that boat is Leon Powe, who already has had $200,000 of his $687,456 guaranteed by being on the team as of Oct. 1. Assuming he stays (and he's not going anywhere), Powe's third-year salary ($797,581) becomes fully guaranteed if he has not been waived before July 15.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x1305391784

Courtside View: Ainge's patience a virtue for Celtics

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By Scott Souza/Daily News staff
GHS
Sat Jan 05, 2008, 08:26 PM EST

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Story Tools: Email This | Print This
It would have been a lot easier for Danny Ainge to go for the quick fix.

When he swept in as Celtics executive director of basketball operations in May of 2003, he inherited a playoff team a year removed from an Eastern Conference Finals appearance and just days removed from an upset of the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. In the win-now world of the NBA, the conservative play would have been to try to extend that window as long as possible and perhaps have the fortune of adding one or two more pieces to the core of Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker and Eric Williams to get the once-storied franchise back to the top of a receding Eastern Conference.

But Ainge looked down the road and didn't see it happening with the current corps. So the next fall he traded the enigmatic Walker. Months later, he dealt the likable Williams in a swap for lightning rod Ricky Davis. Weeks after that, he lost his coach when Jim O'Brien - whose skepticism of Ainge's long-term vision was never more than thinly veiled - abruptly quit.

Still, the Celtics managed to crawl into the playoffs that year, and by the next spring were atop the Atlantic Division with a new coach in Doc Rivers, a name point guard in Gary Payton and an old friend in Walker. The Celtics were relevant again, yet Ainge remained unconvinced that the run was any more than a climb back to where he started two years earlier. So he rebuilt again - even younger this time - and watched as the team dropped into the lottery two straight seasons while his coach drew increasing fire and his star player grew increasingly restless.

Ainge preached patience in a league where everything seems to have an expiration date.

"I always hoped it would go faster and I tried to make it go faster," he reflected this week while the Celtics sat with the best record in the NBA. "But I couldn't do deals just to do deals. I couldn't do things just for the here and now. I would have never predicted that we could have gone from where we were to where we are now so fast, but that's what we were working toward every day."

This summer, the work brought in 17 years worth of All-Stars in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, as well as an apparent playoff-caliber supporting cast that includes respected veterans James Posey, Eddie House and Scot Pollard.

The goal was not necessarily the 28-3 record the Celtics brought into last night's showdown in Detroit, but what happens when the two teams perhaps meet again this spring.

And as anxious fans gaze toward the playoffs, many now look at Ainge in a dramatically different light than they did just a few months ago. Just like that, he has gone from the caretaker of a meandering franchise to the mastermind of its resurrection.

Virtue of Patience

There were days, Ainge admits, when it was hard to sit tight and watch his immature roster lose game after game. He had drafted well considering his picks in the middle of the first round and in the second, but he felt the offers he received for his young talent would have merely landed the team back in the same middling, salary cap-strapped spot he had already seen twice before.

He asked for patience, and he mostly got it.

It wasn't always easy.

"Are you kidding me?" Ainge said. "It's difficult to get owners, players and coaches on the same page any time. When things aren't going well, it is the most difficult. Even winning organizations are disjointed, never mind losing ones.

"There were heated days," he verified, "when we were involved with it there were times when people in the organization felt like we were right back in the beginning even though there were mostly opinions we shared. In the end, I felt it always came down to the fact that we were on the same page and that got us through it. I think that was one of the organization's greatest accomplishments."

"It was obviously difficult," agreed Celtics managing partner Stephen Pagliuca, "but Danny believed in what he was doing. He may have been frustrated on the inside, but on the outside it was just another day. The nice thing about Danny is that he doesn't really manage for public accolades."

Partners in crime

It's unusual enough for a management team to make it through a pair of lottery seasons, but it's almost unheard of for a coaching staff to remain along for the treacherous ride. Yet, as many daggers as Rivers took following the playoff loss to the Pacers in his first year and the progressively worse seasons that followed, Ainge remained publicly firm in his corner.

"I think our relationship helped get us through that," said Rivers, now the reigning NBA Coach of the Month. "I don't know if it would have worked had Danny and I not had a great relationship. Both parties were frustrated, clearly. You wanted to win. Danny has been a Celtic almost his whole life and to see the franchise the way it was it had to be painful for him. I was the coach sitting there taking it and it was painful for me. Neither one of us, through it all ... blamed each other. We were in it together."

Ainge never wavered in his support of Rivers, and defending Rivers at every turn made some question Ainge's judgment. When the Celtics rewarded Rivers with a contract extension coming off a 24-win season, Ainge noted that something like that had probably never before happened in the NBA.

"I am just happy that Doc has a chance to succeed now," Ainge said this week. "I watched practice every day and I had listened to Doc talk about the game. I knew that if Doc had been given the opportunity to succeed then he would succeed. Doc is a leader and that was the most important thing about him to me. We are not playing with chess pieces. Doc is a manager of people."

Rivers said, while confident in his own abilities despite the team's overall struggles, he did appreciate Ainge's continuous public support and that the pair provided a support system for others at times over trying two years.

"Danny just came to me a lot telling me to keep my head up and things are going to work out," Rivers recalled. "Then there were times last year when we had a couple of deals and I just said, 'Don't panic. I'm in it now.' That was the attitude I adopted after a while. If I were going to go through this pain, I didn't want to make a trade to make us win four more games. I just thought that would be silly."

Star treatment

If his coach was understanding, his star player may not have always been.

As Pierce grew increasingly tired of being "a great player on a bad team," Ainge resisted the ultimate TNT job of trading his one marquee player in a complete rebuild. Ainge persuaded management to give Pierce a maximum-salary contact extension coming off a 33-win season two years ago, and tried to keep him in the loop as much as possible both about what he was doing to improve the team and why he couldn't do it faster.

"It was a lot of times me and him talked - not only in the summer but also during the year when I was hurt - and it made me understand that it's a hard business being a GM," Pierce acknowledged. "You are trying to acquire the right players. But with the cap situation, and trade clauses, so many different things come into play.

"I didn't understand how difficult it was to acquire different veterans. It's not easy to just go out and say, 'We are going to get these veterans.' You look at the Boston Celtics situation and we were not exactly a free-agent hot spot."

Leading up to draft day, Ainge sensed a crossroads nearing with Pierce. Had the Celtics gotten Greg Oden in the lottery, he might have shown Pierce that the process was nearing fruition. Had they drafted Kevin Durant or Yi Jianlian, Ainge has admitted that the next move might have been to move Pierce to where he had a better chance to win in the prime of his career.

"I knew Paul's patience was wearing thin," Ainge said. "He was under so much pressure, and players' careers are so short, I thought he was patient with me under the circumstances."

Now that Pierce is alongside Garnett and Allen, his play is clearly invigorated.

"It was funny that even when it we thought we were going to KG, Paul stayed out of it so he wouldn't get his hopes up," Ainge said. "At that point, he didn't wanted to be included until it actually happened."

Not satisfied

The reason the Celtics exceeded their win total from all of last year in the first two months of the season is because Ainge didn't stop at bringing in the two stars to go with Pierce. It has become apparent the signings of Posey, House and Pollard may be what carry this team from being a very good one to possibly a championship team.

"Danny had a map of players who he thought would help the franchise and he basically accomplished getting the top guys on that map," Pagliuca said.

The last major addition was Posey. An NBA champion with the Heat two years ago, Posey agreed that Boston went from a destination he would have almost never considered a year ago to one he sought late this summer.

"It was really having the opportunity to win a championship," he reiterated Friday night. "Getting KG was a big thing. But then you look at them believing that what they have going on here was special enough to help that process (with more additions). It lets you know that their direction was about now and getting it done. It was not about the next couple of years. It was about this year."

No longer primed for disappointment, Pierce said he rejoined Ainge in the planning stages of the club following the Allen and Garnett deals.

"When you bring a group like me, KG and Ray together, those next group of guys you have to be real careful who else you bring in here," the captain said. "You don't want more egos on the team. You want the perfect role guys who can complement the talent you have."

Ainge said he will continue to keep that in mind as the trade deadline looms. With two roster spots open, there is room to add and now no shortage of unemployed veterans who would relish the chance to don the green and white. But just as he was patient with the rebuilding process through the very tough times, he plans to be patient with any further moves as to not sabotage the good times.

"It's not just about talent now but how any players would fit into the team that we have," he determined. "Because the talent on our team is higher, so the bar for who would really help us is set higher. There are a lot of things that will factor into anything we do, and team chemistry is one of them. It's very important right now to do the right things and not just do something just to do something."

That has become Ainge's mantra over the past three years. Sticking to it has finally paid off.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080106/NEWS/801060650/1009/SPORTS

Lady Luck has smiled on Celts’ Perkins

Celtics’ stars shine like they haven’t in years ...

BILL DOYLE’S NBA NOTES




Lucky the Leprechaun isn’t the luckiest Celtic.

Kendrick Perkins is.

The fifth-year center could easily be in Minnesota suffering through another miserable season with several of his former Celtics teammates. Instead, he’s still in Boston, starting for the NBA’s best team.


The Celtics refused to part with point guard Rajon Rondo in deals last summer to acquire Ray Allen from Seattle and Kevin Garnett from Minnesota, instead including Delonte West in the Sonics trade and Sebastian Telfair in the Timberwolves swap.

But the Celtics did not insist upon keeping Perkins. It just worked out that way.

“They didn’t want me,” Perkins said.

The Timberwolves set their sights on acquiring power forward Al Jefferson and the Celtics sweetened the deal by including veteran center Theo Ratliff along with Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green and two draft picks. Fortunately for Perkins, Minnesota did not hold up the deal by insisting that he be included.

“It never came up,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “but we knew the lineup we wanted to keep intact if we could and it’s the starting lineup that we have now.”

The Celtics wanted to keep Perkins because he was their only center, but had the Timberwolves demanded Perkins instead of Gomes or Green, rest assured they would have sent him along in order to acquire Garnett.

Although Jefferson has excelled for the Timberwolves, they own the NBA’s worst record. Perkins feels bad for his former teammates. Minnesota makes its only visit to Boston on Jan. 25.

“They’re a bunch of good guys,” Perkins said. “They want to win. They’ve got talent, but they don’t understand what it takes to win just yet. In the long term, I think they’ll be good.”

Perkins was especially close with Jefferson. The two call each other once in a while.

“I’ve been watching him the last few games,” Perkins said. “His defense has picked up a lot.”

Perkins, 23, probably wouldn’t have made any difference in Minnesota, but he has played a vital role in Boston.

“It feels pretty good to be a part of this,” Perkins said. “I just try to go out every day and compete as hard as I can and not try to take the situation for granted.”

Starting alongside Garnett, Perkins is averaging career highs in points (6.9), field-goal percentage (59.3, up from 49.1 last season) and minutes (24.7).

“KG’s an older, veteran guy,” Perkins said, “that knows the game, that’s been through it all. He approaches things a little bit different. As far as talent, there’s not that much of a separation, but they’re two different types of players. KG is a more defensive player, way better. If Al learned from him, he could be on his level.”

His 5.5 rebounds rank second in his five-year career to the 5.9 he averaged two years ago. Among NBA centers who have started 15 or more games, Perkins ranks only 22nd in scoring and 25th in rebounding.

“Offensively,” Rivers said, “he is what he is, but defensively when he plays with that type of energy and that type of focus, Perk is really good for your basketball team.”

Last Sunday, Perkins limited Andrew Bynum to 8 points and 2 rebounds in 22 minutes before the Lakers center fouled out. Rivers called it Perkins’ best game of the season.

“I thought he guarded Bynum as well as you can guard him,” Rivers said. “Not only did he just guard Bynum, he kept getting back to help shrinking the floor so we could show Kobe (Bryant) five. That was our message going into the game, showing him five defenders every time he touched the ball.”

On Wednesday, Perkins went up against Yao Ming, who at 7-foot-6 is eight inches taller, and held him to 2-of-12 shooting in the first half.

“He’s the best center in the league,” Perkins said. “So it’s a challenge. I think I did a pretty good job on him. Contest his shots — that was the key coming in.”

Friday, Perkins helped hold Memphis center Darko Milicic to 3-of-10 shooting. Perkins provides the Celtics with one of their few physical players. With opponents becoming more physical of late to try to knock the Celtics off their game, Perkins’ style figures to grow even more important.

“Perk obviously fits that bill,” Rivers said, “as long as he keeps his emotions in check. When teams attack us, we have to have great composure. That’s still a test for us. I don’t think we’ve passed that test yet.”

Perkins ranks second to Garnett on the team in blocks and leads the team in blocks per 48 minutes.

“He’s got great timing,” teammate Scot Pollard said. “He’s got long arms so he blocks shots and he bothers a lot of shots. Any shot blocker bothers a lot more shots than he blocks. Sometimes they don’t get credit for that.”

Most of Perkins’ baskets are uncontested dunks after defenses sag away from him and on Garnett, Pierce or some other Celtic down low. He’d have even more slams if he didn’t take so long to bring the ball up to the rim. His weight has dropped from 320 his rookie year to 267 this season, but he’s still slow with the ball.

“He’s improved a little on it,” Rivers said. “Clearly, we would like for him to get it up and over his head quicker and not bring it down. It’s not getting it up, it’s that he brings it back down. He’s a gatherer. He has to gather himself before he goes up. We would love for him to catch and go up in the same motion. That’s been very difficult.”

Opponents whack Perkins as soon as he brings the ball down because they’d rather put him on the foul line where he shoots only 56.5 percent. Perkins has never shot well from the foul line, but incredibly his free-throw shooting percentage has worsened in each of his five NBA seasons, from 66.7 to 63.8 to 61.5 to 60.0 to 56.5. He’s a streaky foul shooter, making 18 of 22 in a six-game stretch in November, but only 12 of his last 29 entering last night.

“I think it’s all mental,” Perkins said. “You’re shooting three or four a game, you can’t get any rhythm at the line.”

Perkins has had his moments of brilliance, collecting 21 points and 9 rebounds against the Lakers on Nov. 23, but the Celtics don’t need him to be a star, not with Garnett, Pierce and Allen around.

They do need him to play defense, be physical and rebound.

Most importantly, they need him to stay healthy. If the plantar fasciitis in his left foot returned, the Celtics would be in deep trouble. They’re thin at center. Pollard is the team’s only other true center, but he averages only 2.0 points and 1.8 rebounds.

“I did what I do,” Pollard said. “I go around and push people. Points are a bonus.”

When Perkins missed a game last month after his bed fell on his big toe, Garnett shifted from power forward to start at center. The Celtics clearly don’t want to have to make that move very often.

This time last season, Perkins returned from sitting out 10 games with plantar fasciitis just in time to suffer alongside his Celtics teammates through a franchise-record 18-game losing streak.

“It was terrible,” Perkins said. “It felt like a rock was at the bottom of your shoe. I’m just glad it’s over with.”

Perkins said his foot is much better, but still not 100 percent.

Perkins became a father for the first time in September when Kendrick Jr. was born. He’s embraced fatherhood because his father wasn’t around much. Perkins was raised by his grandparents after his mother was shot to death when he was five. So his own son means a great deal to him.

“He looks just like me,” Perkins said. “I just want to raise him right.”

Yeah, he’s a lucky guy — in more ways than one.

Kevin Garnett leads the NBA All-Star voting, thanks mostly to the Celtics’ amazing success and to a lesser extent the team’s improved attendance.

Garnett’s 1,527,963 votes so far easily outdistance LeBron James, whose 1,294,019 rank second. Garnett has helped the Celtics post the NBA’s best record. The 7-foot forward has played in 10 All-Star games in his 12 NBA seasons.

Paul Pierce ranks fourth among Eastern Conference forwards behind Garnett, James and Chris Bosh and has little chance of being voted in as a starter, but Ray Allen has moved up to third among Eastern Conference guards with 617,123 votes and could pass Jason Kidd (743,683) with a late rush. Doc Rivers would coach the Eastern Conference team if the Celtics own the conference’s best record as of Feb. 3. Chris Ford was the last Celtics coach to coach in the All-Star Game, in 1991.

Fans can vote at NBA arenas and T-Mobile-owned retail locations through next Sunday and online at NBA.com through Jan. 20. Coaches will vote on All-Star reserves.

The NBA All-Star Game will take place in New Orleans on Feb. 17.

No Celtics were voted as All-Stars last year by the fans or coaches. Pierce, who had a stress reaction in his left foot last year, was voted a reserve in each of the previous five years. No Celtic other than Pierce has been voted to play in the All-Star Game since Antoine Walker in 2003. The Celtics haven’t had three players voted in since the original Big Three — Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish — in 1991. Bird didn’t play because of injury.

Four Celtics played in 1953 (Bob Cousy, Ed Macauley, Bill Sharman and Don Barksdale), 1962 (Cousy, Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn and Sam Jones) and 1975 (John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, JoJo White and Paul Silas). The NBA has many more teams now so it would be a far greater accomplishment to get three All-Stars.

Season sellout likely
The Celtics have sold out all 17 of their home games so far and expect to sell out all 41 of them this season.

In their previous 12 years of playing at the new Garden, the Celtics sold out more than 17 games only three times: 28 in Rick Pitino’s first year with the team in 1997-98, 19 in 2002-2003, the year after they reached the Eastern Conference finals; and 18 in 2005-2006, the year after they won the Atlantic Division for the first time in 13 years. They sold out only nine games last season.

The Celtics join Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Detroit, Orlando and San Antonio as the only NBA teams to sell out every home game so far. The Celtics are the third-best draw on the road in terms of percentage of tickets sold (95.9) behind Denver (96.8) and the Lakers (96.0.) Fans obviously love to see opposing stars visit, such as Boston’s Big Three, Denver’s Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080106/COLUMN51/801060504/1009/SPORTS

C’s have come far in one year


Paul Jarvey



Celtics coach Doc Rivers is visibly upset after a first-half foul call. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Enlarge photo


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BOSTON— The difference between last season and this one was apparent on Friday when the Celtics came out with what coach Doc Rivers thought was “our worst focus of the season” and still won.

The four-point victory over the lowly Memphis Grizzlies gave the C’s their third eight-game winning streak of the season, but there wasn’t much celebration on the Boston side, just acknowledgement that the team needs to keep improving.

“Against the good teams we know we can’t play like this,” Paul Pierce said. “We’re preparing ourselves for something bigger than the regular season.”


Such a statement would’ve been laughable last season.

A year ago tomorrow, the Celtics fell at Orlando, the start of a franchise-worst 18-game losing streak that, as the rest of the dreary season played out, left fans debating whether it was better to root for their team to win or to lose.

The Celtics finished on top just 24 times, so no victory was ever reduced in value because the team didn’t play up to expectations. Indeed, the team had little hope of winning if it wasn’t on top of its game on all fronts.

That has all changed in a season in which the Celtics’ hot start — 29-3 after last night’s win in Detroit — is being measured against the best in NBA history.

So pulling out a narrow victory over Memphis, the only team to have a worse record than Celtics last season, was hardly a reason to get excited — either for the club or its fans who have quickly become accustomed to not only winning, but seeing the C’s blow out opponents at home.

Yes, they stood up when the scoreboard master ordered them on their feet late in the game (next command: “Pass your wallets to the usher”), but on the whole the capacity crowd at the Garden was rather sedate. The team wasn’t much different.

Rivers agreed that last night’s matchup might have been on the minds of his players and diverted their attention from the business at hand. He also pointed out that the same wasn’t the case with Detroit, which was blowing out Toronto as his club was struggling with Memphis.

“They don’t get too excited,” Rivers said of the Pistons. “They’ve been through everything.”

Although the league standings might tell a different story, Rivers believes the Celtics are chasing the Pistons and even the Cleveland Cavaliers, who made the NBA Finals last season.

The Celtics, though, have closed the gap faster than anyone could’ve reasonably predicted, answering every challenge along the way.

When Danny Ainge traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett over the summer to form a new Big Three along with Pierce, the question was whether these superstars would be able to share the spotlight and the basketball.

The answer to that may have come Wednesday when Pierce jumped on Garnett’s back and rode him to the bench like Jerry Bailey, KG having totally taken over a game that had looked very much in jeopardy with six minutes left.

Garnett later talked about how much fun he was having playing in Boston, an opinion that was obvious given the way the club has been playing, but welcome news nonetheless.

There was no doubt going into the season that Garnett, Pierce and Allen were superior offensive players, but there were serious questions about whether the Celtics would be able to stop anyone.

The C’s have answered that by leading the NBA in fewest points allowed — 87.3 going into last night.

Allen pointed out on Friday that he, Garnett and Pierce have always had to take the most shots on their teams, but now that the offensive responsibilities are more equally divided they’re free to expend more energy on the defensive end.

With Tony Allen coming off knee reconstruction surgery and the Celtics shipping most of last year’s bench to Minnesota in the trade for KG, there were also concerns about the cast surrounding the three stars.

The reserves have turned into one of the Celtics’ strengths. The bench contributed 42 points against Memphis, with Tony Allen, who seems to be moving better every game, pumping in a season-high 20.

Rivers said the bench is playing better than even a month ago.

“They just have more confidence,” he said.

For all the questions the Celtics have answered and the challenges they’ve conquered, Rivers says his team still has work to do.

He would like to see improvement in the offense with the guards pushing the ball up floor more and turning over easy baskets. He wants Tony Allen to develop into “a great player” by the end of the regular season.

That will also be the time for the team to answer its biggest question of 2007-08: how it will fare in the playoffs.

That it hasn’t been a question since the Garnett trade whether the Celtics would make the playoffs, but only how deep he would carry them, shows how amazingly far the team has come since being lost in the NBA wilderness last winter.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080106/SPORTS03/801060687/1051

BIG BABY BREAKOUT: Celtics rookie Davis gives big lift late off the bench
January 6, 2008

BY CHRIS SILVA

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Sure, Doc Rivers was surprised.

Rookies usually don't play as big as Glen Davis did on Saturday night.


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Then again, when you have a clear path to the lane as Davis did, what he accomplished shouldn't come as such a shock.
Davis, nicknamed the Big Baby from his one year at Louisiana State, showed against the Pistons that while still raw, he can be a big-time player in a game's biggest moments.

The 6-9, 289-pound Davis was a cut -- and a step -- above the rest in the fourth quarter, where he scored 16 of his 20 points to lead the Celtics to a 92-85 win over the Pistons.

Davis went back to the basics in the fourth, as all but five of his 16 points came off lay-ups. A lay-up is one of the oldest fundamentals in the game of basketball, and Davis looked like he had mastered it.

"You can expect him to make lay-ups when you move the ball," Rivers said of his work-in-progress rookie. "But the biggest part for him tonight was the rebounds."

Davis used every ounce of his bulky frame to get to the paint and crash the boards. He finished with only four rebounds, but one in particular was a game-changer.

With the Celtics clinging to a 86-84 lead with 1:25 left, Davis grabbed an offensive rebound off a Paul Pierce missed running jumper. That enabled the Celtics to reset their offense, and the play ended with a Davis lay-up. Then, with 8.5 seconds left and the Celtics up three, Davis sealed the win with, yes, another lay-up.

And to think that of the Celtics heralded Big Three, it was Davis, who came to Boston on a draft-day trade with Ray Allen, making the largest impact on Saturday. Davis, whose minutes have fluctuated off the bench this season, took it all in stride.

"I just know to be ready to play; you never know when he (Rivers) is going to call your number," Davis said. "You have to set your mind to feel like you're going to play every game. I can't worry about if he takes me out. I just got to go out there and help."

But with All-Star forward Kevin Garnett playing with three fouls in the second half, there was no way Davis was coming out. Rivers used Davis to spell Garnett in defending Rasheed Wallace during a stretch in the second half, and the rookie held his own.

"He's growing," Rivers said. "Tonight his energy was tremendous. It was infectious in some ways. ... But, you know, he's up and down. He's a rookie and we understand that and we're very patient with that."

[FLCeltsFan]

ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2008/01/05/sports/sports05.txt

CELTICS NOTEBOOK - Scalabrine’s play reduced to a waiting game


Brian Scalabrine - Minutes dwindling (File photo)
By MIKE FINE
The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON - Brian Scalabrine is out of the Celtics’ rotation, and there’s not a whole lot he can do about it. But that doesn’t mean the forward is hanging his head.

‘‘As a player you want to be in there,’’ he said before Friday’s meeting with the Memphis Grizzlies, ‘‘but you can’t argue with what’s going on. What are we?’’ Told that his team had a 27-3 record, he said, ‘‘You can’t argue with that.’’

The decision has been made easy for coach Doc Rivers. Where last season Scalabrine was counted upon as a defensive specialist with 3-point capabilities, he has been supplanted by James Posey this year - and Glen Davis and Scot Pollard, too. Rivers is no longer searching for players who can do the job for him.

Scalabrine is averaging only 1.9 points in 9.4 minutes per game. His DNP Wednesday against Houston was his fourth of the season, all with the last -eight games. He played 3:56 Sunday at Los Angeles, but was coming off two straight sub-one-minute games. He hasn’t seen double-figure minutes since Dec. 12, when he played almost 11 minutes against Sacramento.

In the first four games of the season he averaged about 18 minutes before suffering a concussion and missing a game. His playing time began to plummet, with a few exceptions, after that.

Rivers did talk to Scalabrine.

‘‘He said, ‘don’t ever get discouraged. You can always help us in different ways’’’ said the veteran. ‘‘The way I look at it is always be prepared if anything goes wrong. If someone goes down then you’ve gotta be ready to step in, and the only way to do that is to work.

‘‘You hope nothing does happen, but you’ve got to be prepared. It’s part of your responsibility.’’

Around the rim

Last Jan. 5 the Celtics knocked off the Grizzlies in Memphis. Two days later they lost at Orlando, the first in a string of 18 straight losses that ended on Valentine’s Day over Milwaukee. ‘‘And no one gave me any flowers,’’ cracked Rivers. ‘‘That’s left me speechless, and that’s not easy to do.’’ A win over Memphis would have given the Celtics 18 wins in their last 19 games ... Prior to Friday’s game, the Celtics had absolutely no thoughts about playing Saturday night at Detroit, even though the Pistons had handed them their only home loss to the season. ‘‘For us, it’s hard to do,’’ said Ray Allen. ‘‘It’s just like in our daily lives. Somebody will ask me something about next week and I’m thinking, when the time comes, let me know because over the course of the next week we might have played four games. It’s hard to think about next week or tomorrow. By the time 12 o’clock hits, there’s a lot to do. And win or lose against Detroit, we still have to pick up for the next game.’’ The Pistons played Friday at Toronto ... Rivers says he’s still wrestling with the inconsistency of Tony Allen. ‘‘I’ve got to do a better job,’’ the coach said. ‘‘We need Tony. He has to be great by the end of the year. I have to do a better job of keeping him involved.’’

[FLCeltsFan]

enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2008/01/03/news/sports/sports03.txt

Garnett makes MVP pitch



By Jim Fenton, Enterprise staff writer

BOSTON— When the midway point of the NBA season arrives this month, there will be discussions about the leading candidates for most valuable player.

Front and center in all of those chats will be a power forward named Kevin Garnett.

Thirty games into a new chapter in his career, Garnett has clearly been the best player on the team with the league's best record.

If Garnett and his Boston Celtics continue at their current pace, he will be picking up a second MVP award next spring.

The latest piece of evidence in Garnett's favor was delivered on Wednesday night when he lifted the road-weary Celtics past the Houston Rockets, 97-93, at the TD Banknorth Garden.

It wasn't just the 16 points and five rebounds Garnett registered in the fourth quarter or the shutdown defense on 7-foot-6 center Yao Ming.

It was also the energy and the emotion Garnett brought to his teammates and the capacity crowd, which was brought to its feet to help get the Celtics over the hump.

Garnett put on a crunch-time show, finishing with 26 points on 11 of 15 shooting to go with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

“That's why he is KG,” said Houston forward Bonzi Wells. “That's why he gets paid the big bucks — to make the big buckets, and that's what he did.”

Without Garnett's sensational performance, the Celtics would not have improved to 27-3, the best 30-game start in franchise history.

Without Garnett dominating at both ends in the final nine minutes, the Celtics would have been upset by a Houston team playing without the injured Tracy McGrady.

“My gas was high,” said Garnett, who hit 7 of 10 shots in the last quarter. “You play the best in the league, you can't go in with low gas.

“You've got to have very high octane and I fed off this building. These fans in here were like a spark plug and I just plugged in. I didn't think about anything I was doing. In the fourth quarter, I just went for it.”

The Celtics, who returned home after a 4-0 trip out west, built a 20-point lead during the first half and were in front by as many as 16 in the third quarter.

The sluggishness that comes from being on the other side of the country caught up with the Celtics in the second half, though, and they faced a three-point deficit with less than seven minutes to play.

Making matters worse was the fact that centers Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard had already fouled out, leaving Boston without a true center to deal with Yao.

Enter Garnett, who limited Yao to only three field goal attempts in the last eight minutes, and the only one he made was on a put-back with 2.4 seconds remaining.

At the other end of the floor, Garnett drew Yao outside and kept hitting jumpers with Paul Pierce setting him up three times.

On top of that, Garnett stood on the floor following a timeout and pointed to fans in the balcony, urging them to voice their support down the stretch.

“He did a great job,” said Celtics forward James Posey. “It was superstar on superstar, and you don't get that in this league anymore.

“That's one thing about Kevin. He always accepts any challenge, and that was a big challenge. He's very emotional. He took it to a different level tonight and carried us to a win.”

Said Perkins, “It's great being around him. He's a guy that leads by example. You've got to respect that. He works hard every day, plays both ends of the court. You don't find too many guys like him.”

Garnett scored seven straight Celtics' points when the game was on the line, sealing their 15th home win in 16 games with a 19-footer with 22 seconds to go.

It was another case of Garnett doing what needed to be done to get the Celtics a win. His scoring average is down this season as Garnett is being unselfish on offense and being the catalyst for the league's best defense.

“I've played against Yao for some odd years in the West,” said Garnett. “You can't really stop him. You just have to make him take tough shots and put him in a position to do some of the things that he doesn't really want to do. You try to meet him early, keep a body on him, contest his shots.”

It was a performance that will serve as an impressive entry for Garnett as he is building an MVP portfolio.

The Hall-of-Fame-bound player obtained from the Minnesota Timberwolves in late July has exceeded all expectations.

“It's been cool,” Garnett said of his start with the Celtics. “It's been a lot of hard work, but it's been fun. This is one of the best groups of guys I've been with. It's not even a challenge. It's fun coming into practice every day.

“Every day has a new challenge and it stays interesting. I'm enjoying it. Obviously, winning makes it a lot better, but it's fun.”