News 4/6

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1085270&format=text
C’s can do as they please
Stars sit, but team still clinches homecourt

By Mark Murphy | Sunday, April 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by AP
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - When the Celtics [team stats] placed a premium on winning homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, no one promised they would do so by conventional means.

So on a night when the New Three became the Missing Three - with Paul Pierce [stats] in Boston celebrating the birth of his daughter, and Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen given the night off - the Celtics still managed to blow past two significant checkpoints.

Last night’s 101-78 win over Charlotte was the Celtics’ 61st of the season. It not only guaranteed them the best record in the league and homecourt advantage into June, but also gave them an NBA-record 37-win improvement over last year’s 24-win team, breaking the record set by San Antonio in 1997-98.

The aforementioned trio may not have been in uniform, but the tone they have set all year remained.

“Their presence was definitely felt,” Brian Scalabrine said. “What they’ve all done is what the team’s personality has become.”

Every number now associated with this team is a reflection of how just much the collaboration of Pierce, Garnett and Allen has turned around what had been a culture of losing.

Though the Celtics - and especially coach Doc Rivers - have routinely downplayed the significance of such numbers, the achievements are the greatest illustration of how far this team has come in a year.

“It’s the right time and the right spot for me,” Rivers said, as if he were merely the beneficiary of good fortune. “Again, there’s nothing we do right now (numbers-wise) that we’re trying to do.

“The guys did know that if we won tonight we would get homecourt throughout the playoffs. If we get to a Game 7 in one of these rounds, I’d rather for it to be in Boston.”

But lest anyone think Rivers’ bench crew was even slightly carried away by last night’s 23-point win, the players are just as levelheaded as their coach.

“Whatever. When the time comes, and we actually get to play in something like a Game 7, that’s when we’ll appreciate it,” James Posey said. “But not until then.”

Posey, in his first start as a Celtic, certainly helped the C’s take the first step in that direction. He opened with a 13-point first quarter that included three 3-pointers, and finished with 19 points - his most with the C’s.

Leon Powe made his fourth start of the season, and given the rare opportunity to become the focal point down low, the second-year power forward muscled his way to a team-high 22 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 12-of-13 from the line. Powe also had nine rebounds.

Late in the fourth quarter - with most Charlotte fans having departed to watch North Carolina take on Kansas in the NCAA tournament - the C’s band of subs, piloted by Sam Cassell, was flirting with a 20-point lead - which had to be as discouraging for the Bobcats as it was affirming for the Celtics bench.

“I don’t know if we’re proving anything to people, but that doesn’t matter as long as we keep steady, be productive, and play hard,” Powe said.

Those words aren’t going to soothe the wounded Bobcat egos that left the building last night.

“We’ve played this team a lot tougher than we played them tonight,” Charlotte coach Sam Vincent said. “To find out that (Pierce, Garnett and Allen) were not playing could have been a little bit of a letdown.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1085299&format=text
Doc orders stars to rest

By Mark Murphy | Sunday, April 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The decision probably wasn’t considered fair by the fans who gathered outside Charlotte Bobcats Arena two hours before last night’s game, but coach Doc Rivers decided the time was right to give his biggest stars a pre-playoff rest.

With Paul Pierce [stats] back in Boston tending to his fiancee and newborn daughter, and the next game not until Tuesday in Milwaukee, Rivers held Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen out against the Bobcats.

“Whatever Doc wants, man,” said Garnett, who still went through all his pregame routines. “I’m not going to go back and forth. I don’t like to miss games. But Doc is doing what he thinks is best for the team, and that is what I’m going to support.”

Unfortunately, the fans get a bit of a raw deal.

“They bought tickets to see the Celtics [team stats] play, so I can understand how they might feel,” Rivers said. “I’d want to see Kevin Garnett, too. But unfortunately this is what we feel has to be done.”

Allen also understands the public’s pain.

“Any time I’m out of the lineup I hate the fact that I’m not playing, because people do come to see you play,” he said. “Sometimes there are things that you just can’t control.”

Rivers may hand out more time off in Milwaukee, where Pierce is expected to rejoin the team and Rajon Rondo [stats] becomes a candidate for a breather.

But Rivers doesn’t want to derail his team’s momentum.

That’s why Garnett and Allen both went through their full pregame routines yesterday, with Allen showing up three hours before the game for his usual shooting work.

But he also feels remarkably fresh for a 32-year-old NBA veteran.

“I will say that this season has moved so quickly that it’s probably the quickest 82 games I’ve played in my entire career,” Allen said. “Of course, when you win like this, it just slides by.

“But (Rivers) has been pretty consistent with how he has handled things. In practice he’s given us time when we’ve needed it. So from that vantage point Doc is running the ship, so I’ll sit and let these other guys get their time in.”

For Sam Cassell - who stood to benefit the most from Allen’s absence - the opportunity to get work in was invaluable.

“It goes for them all,” Rivers said. “I told the guys on the bench that this is like a training camp for the playoffs, starting today. It will give us a chance to see how (the backup) five play together. . . . Our bench has been great at times, but this is a chance to see if we can get more consistency.

“We actually started thinking about doing this a month ago,” he said, pointing to the C’s being able to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a win last night. “We had hoped to clinch homecourt before we did this, and I told the coaches this wouldn’t happen until we clinched.

“But with the schedule, if we didn’t do it now, it wasn’t going to be possible.”

Listen up, captain

Kendrick Perkins [stats] was in the unusual situation yesterday of actually being able to offer Pierce - a first-time father - some advice.

As one of six other Celtics who became fathers during the last year, he has a leg up on the C’s captain in terms of experience.

“My first words of advice to him would be, ‘Don’t make the woman do everything,’ ” said Perkins, whose son is now 7 months old. “It’s your child, too.

“This is big for P. . . .He’ll be a real good father, because he’s a nice guy.” . . .

Jared Dudley continues to have an impact on the Bobcats and should be in a good position heading into next season.

“It’s like at BC,” the former Eagles star said. “Now I know the spots I’ll have to score from, and that’s good knowledge to have going into next year. The first year is a feel-out year, anyway, so things are going good.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1085300&format=text
Kedrick eyes his biggest rebound

By Steve Bulpett | Sunday, April 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics
Six years ago in February, Kedrick Brown took the Staples Center floor as a starter for the Celtics [team stats] against the Lakers. He guarded Kobe Bryant tightly and stuck a trey in his face at the other end of the floor in the C’s win.

This February, Brown was back on the Staples Center floor, this time as a starter for the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League. He had an uninspiring 13 points (5-of-15 from the floor) in an afternoon loss to the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

By the end of the game, Bryant was in the Lakers’ dressing room preparing to play Portland that night.

The contrasts were almost eerie. After two full seasons out of the game, Brown, a former first-round draft pick of the Celtics, is trying to play his way back into the NBA. How he regressed from Point A to Point B is quite a tale. Actually two of them.

While there are a number of sources who will say that issues with alcohol precipitated his departure from the league, the 27-year-old swingman, wanting to set the record straight, swears that wasn’t what sent him away and caused his weight to balloon. But before Brown was traded to the Celts in the Ricky Davis deal, the Cavaliers were reportedly warned that he may have a problem.

Back in LA, Brown shook his head.

“It wasn’t a problem at all,” he said. “It was more just rumors. So I just put that behind me. It never was a problem.

“I heard multiple rumors about the weight gain and that I had an alcohol problem. It was none of that. During the summer I did gain weight, but who doesn’t if they’re not playing? I just put that behind me. All that is (expletive). I don’t know who started it. I don’t know where it came from. But it never was a problem.”

Out on the floor, Brown shows flashes of his old self, picking off a pass and gliding in for a layup. But the explosiveness is largely absent, and he seems too casual for a guy who is trying to impress his way back into the bigs. In the ever changing D-League, however, he is a rock.

“Kedrick, he’s been our pro,” Arsenal coach Reggie Geary said. “He comes in and he does the additional work. You know, I knew a little bit of his past, but when we called around last summer and found out that his weight was down, we knew he was serious about trying to get back into the league. Since he’s been with us, he’s been fantastic. He’s the guy we count on night in and night out. We feel he deserves a shot in summer league to get back in.

“We have a lot of guys here who’ve been through a lot of changes, but I use Kedrick as an example every day. Here’s a guy who has a setback, but here he is being a professional.”

As for the alleged partying past, Geary said, “We see no glimpses of it.”

Glimpses of talent - some of them spectacular - are all Celtics fans got to see before Brown moved down the line to Cleveland and Philadelphia. Soon after that game against the Lakers, he was out of the rotation. The Celts kept him and dealt Joe Johnson away, but the acquisitions of Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk parked Brown on the bench. A severe ankle sprain the next year kept him in reserve.

“It’s easy to see now that we made a mistake putting Joe Johnson into that trade,” said then-Celtics general manager Chris Wallace, now the Memphis GM. “But at the time it wasn’t such a simple call. Joe wasn’t playing and his confidence was shot. Kedrick was playing, and Obie (then-coach Jim O’Brien) liked him. It looked like Kedrick’s role was going to expand. But with the trade he went from starting to not playing.

“The next year he was looking really good in camp, but he came down in the bench area in a game at Mohegan Sun and really hurt his ankle badly. When he came back, his 3-ball wasn’t falling (3-for-39), and Obie went away from him.

“You know, as a guy coming out of junior college, I don’t know that he was ever extremely confident. I don’t think he had a great confidence in himself to fall back on.”

Said an exec on one of Brown’s other NBA teams: “I just don’t think he had the confidence in himself that you need. He was down on himself when things weren’t going well, but even when he was playing, I’m not sure he believed in himself.”

Again Brown shook his head.

“I just think the Celtics expected more out of me at the time, and some players take longer than others,” he said. “I’m just one of those players. I was on the bench and then on the injured list. I just felt like the long-forgotten son. So I just put all that behind me now. When you’re in the NBA, you learn that it’s all political anyway. If you have a name, you have a name. If not, then you’re out.

“By the end (with Philadelphia), I was just mentally and physically out of it. I didn’t have a backbone. I didn’t have nobody leading me and telling me what to do. So I just took a little time off, and over the last two years I think I have grown mentally. I’m just out there having fun.

“Back then it was more the frustration that comes when you know you’re better than people you’re playing behind, and it’s just because of their name and the money they’re making. I just took a little time off. Two years really did pass by fast. I didn’t want to take that much time off, but I just was at home.”

Now he’s in the D-League hoping for a chance to get into an NBA camp. Interest has been tepid, but he will no doubt get a look.

“I would consider it a success that he took the necessary steps to try to get his life in order,” said Wallace, who drafted Brown No. 11 overall after a tip from a coaching friend. “He’s shed the excess weight and he’s back playing. I think that says good things about Kedrick.”

As Brown finished speaking in the Staples Center hallway, the Trail Blazers filed in and out of the NBA visitors dressing room that he once used.

“That was a different time,” he said. “I’m just enjoying myself now and trying to get back.”

Oden can’t wait

The Trail Blazers weren’t too happy to learn that Greg Oden was playing in pickup games recently. Coach Nate McMillan said he was surprised and shocked that the 2007 No. 1 overall pick would ignore medical directives and try out his surgically repaired knee.

“But upset?” McMillan said. “It’s like your kids. You think they know certain things until they go out and do something.”

The issue for Oden is that he tends to stand out in a crowd.

“He wants to be normal, but we have made him aware he’s not the guy who came in here a year ago,” McMillan said. “You’re such a huge part of the franchise. You can’t do certain things, because people look at you differently. They’re watching your every move. They’re listening to what you say. Your life has changed forever.” . . .

Trivia: Why is the Cavaliers’ mascot named Moondog? Answer below.


Basketball Jones

Congratulations to Bobby Jones. The 6-foot-7 second-year forward out of the University of Washington set an NBA record last week when he played for his fifth team in one season.

Jones began the year with Denver, and after being waived in January he signed 10-day contracts with Memphis, Houston, Miami and San Antonio. . . .

If Dwight Howard wins the NBA rebounding title, he’ll be, at 22 years and 130 days at regular season’s end, the youngest player in league history to do it. Dolph Schayes was 22 years, 226 days old. . . .

The Mavericks went 7-8 in March, their first losing month since going 7-9 in March of 2000. . . .

LeBron James picked up a technical after a no-call during a game against the Pistons. “I didn’t think I was fouled,” James said. “I was fouled.”

Asked about it later, Rasheed Wallace said, “Hell, yeah. I fouled the (expletive) out of him.”

Can we start the conference finals now?

Trivia answer: The mascot is so named because Cleveland is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Alan Freed, the disc jockey who coined the term “rock and roll,” was nicknamed Moondog. . . .

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1085301&format=text
Walsh has a Knick knack

By Steve Bulpett | Sunday, April 6, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | NBA Coverage
If you’re a Bostonian who just doesn’t like , you should be unhappy. If you’re a fan who longs for the days of the Celtics [team stats]-Knicks rivalry, it is good news.

Donnie Walsh is walking into a train wreck with the Knickerbockers, but he will put the thing back on track because: a) he knows the game; and b) he won’t let ego - his or anyone else’s - get in the way.

Word out of New York is that Walsh made sure he had the needed autonomy before agreeing to take over the Knicks’ basketball operation, but that’s not because he is power hungry. It’s because he knows that there cannot be competing agendas if things are to work properly.

Some think it was telling that owner James Dolan read a statement and then left the staging at the press conference introducing Walsh. He will report to Dolan, but this is Walsh’s show.

Asked by reporters what would happen if Dolan wants Isiah Thomas to stay on as coach, Walsh said, “He’s more or less left this up to me.”

Then Walsh added, “I’m not coming in here and cleaning out people because I’m here. That’s not the object. The object is to see if the combinations are right.”

There is almost no one who expects Thomas to remain on the bench. Regardless of what Walsh thinks of the man he once hired to coach the Pacers, it would almost cruel to the battered fan base to keep Thomas in a visible position. Even with Walsh saying he believed Isiah was “on his way to being” a good coach in Indiana.

“Coaching is an acquired art,” Walsh added. “The more you do the better you get.”

On that, he would get an argument in Manhattan.

For now, Knicks followers are seeing a ray of sunshine.

“I’m not the great new hope,” Walsh said. “I’m just a guy coming in to try to create a team, and it’s not going to happen overnight so I don’t want any illusions. But I think it’s got to get better right away. The people in this city are paying money to go to games and they’ve got to see a competitive team.”

Given time - even with the Knicks’ bad contracts - they will.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/06/celtics_shine_without_stars?mode=PF
Celtics shine without stars
Easy win clinches playoff advantage
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | April 6, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - With Kevin Garnett watching from the locker room, Ray Allen watching from the bench (while wearing a suit), and proud papa Paul Pierce back in Boston, the Celtics still were able to finalize their postseason plans last night.

Even without the All-Star trio, the Celtics were still able to beat the Charlotte Bobcats in front of a sold-out crowd, 101-78, and clinch home-court advantage throughout the postseason.

The Celtics also secured the honor of largest turnaround in NBA history. With six games to play, the Celtics (61-15) are a plus-37, improving from 24 wins last season.

"Confidence coming from here tonight has got to be great," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "To come out here and play a team that is very difficult to beat at home and win this game . . . For our guys, if you could write a script on how to clinch home court, this would probably be it."

In winning their sixth straight game, the Celtics received a season-high 19 points from forward James Posey, and Leon Powe added 22 points (making 12 of 13 free throws) and nine rebounds.

"It's an opportunity to play," Posey said. "We're still working on things with guys on the bench. We're trying to finish out the season and get ready for the playoffs."

Said Powe: "We moved the ball, got some open looks, got some loose balls, and we came out there ready to fight to get a win. That's all."

Although Rivers said recently that he didn't plan on sitting his key guys during the final stretch of the regular season, he switched gears last Wednesday. Last night, Rivers did as Detroit did recently with its three stars (Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace), sidelining the trio together for the first time this season.

Rivers added that although Garnett, Pierce, and Allen could get more time off in the final regular-season games, it won't be as a trio again, and it could take the form of lessened minutes.

Pierce, who was still in Boston after the birth of his daughter Friday, is slated to join the team in Milwaukee tomorrow. Garnett and Allen both made the trip.

"Right now at this stage of the game it's not a 'me' situation. It's an 'us' situation," Allen said. "We earned the position that we are in. In the sake of allowing this team to get better, Doc feels we need some rest."

Garnett, who stayed in the locker room as he usually does when he misses a game, said, "Whatever Doc wants, man. I'm not going to go back and forth. I don't like to miss games, but Doc is doing what he thinks is best for this team and that's what I'm going to support."

Rivers said the strategy would get his bench more playing time, although no Celtic player clocked more than 30 minutes in the Bobcats blowout. It's possible that point guard Rajon Rondo could also miss a game or get fewer minutes, too. Center Kendrick Perkins, however, is expected to play similar minutes.

"This is a great opportunity for them, overall, just the whole bench," Rivers said.

The reason Rivers felt comfortable making the move was because his team entered last night needing just one win (or one Detroit loss) to earn home-court advantage.

But on the flip side, Rivers also wants his key players to be in rhythm when the postseason begins, too.

"You got to keep your rhythm," said Rivers, whose team doesn't play again until Tuesday at Milwaukee. "I'd usually keep on playing them. But because of this long extended break, this quirky schedule, we could take advantage of it."

Posey made his first start of the season in place of Pierce, Powe made his fourth in place of Garnett, and Tony Allen made his 10th in place of Ray Allen. Yet, the Celtics didn't seem to miss a beat as they finished the first quarter with a 37-25 lead.

Boston was just 1 point shy of tying a season high for points in the first quarter, a mark set against Denver Nov. 7.

Posey scored 13 points in the first quarter while Allen added 11. The team shot 59.1 percent from the field and nailed four 3-pointers.

Rivers called the first quarter "the whole key" to the win.

"We sprinted the ball up the floor," Rivers said. "We got into our [offense] early.

"We did [three] things that I liked the first quarter: We established the break, we established the low-post game with Leon, and we established the pick-and-roll game . . .

"No matter if the 'Big Three' are playing or not, that's how you start the game."

Boston took a 64-50 halftime lead. Powe had 16 points and six rebounds at halftime while Posey added 15 points.

Said Bobcats coach Sam Vincent: "To find out [Garnett, Allen, and Pierce] were not playing could have been a little bit of a letdown."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/06/pruitt_returns_from_d_league?mode=PF
Pruitt returns from D-League
Guard needed for stretch run
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | April 6, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The minor league stint of rookie point guard Gabe Pruitt has officially ended, and he will be back in green soon.

Pruitt is expected to practice with the team here tomorrow after completing his third and final stint in the NBA Development League with the Utah Flash last night. The Celtics originally wanted the 2007 second-round pick back before last night's game against Charlotte, but Pruitt wanted to play with the Flash Friday in Anaheim and last night in Bakersfield.

"We are getting ready for the playoffs," said Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. "We need practice bodies in case somebody does get hurt and need to give him some minutes to see what kind of progress he's made."

With point guards Rajon Rondo, Eddie House, and Sam Cassell on the roster, the inexperienced Pruitt isn't likely to be activated during the postseason. Coach Doc Rivers, however, said Rondo is expected to get some time off during the final six regular-season games, which could open up some playing time.

"I'm definitely looking forward to the playoff experience and seeing what that's like," said Pruitt in a recent phone interview.

"That would be nice to get a couple games in before the playoff starts."

Pruitt was averaging 20.5 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.2 steals in his third stint with Utah (11 games) entering last night's contest. Flash general manager David Fredman said recently that Pruitt has a chance to be special.

"I'm a lot more comfortable," Pruitt said. "I'm getting up a lot of shots. I make 100 shots before I leave the gym. I've been pleased with that. I've been trying to mix things up and not just be a scorer. I'm looking to create more and do things Danny wants to see.

"I do think I'm a way better player now.

"I'm playing steady."

Ainge has been watching video of Pruitt and calling him to give encouragement and constructive criticism. Rivers has been corresponding via e-mail. Pruitt also talks regularly to fellow rookie Glen Davis and spoke recently to Tony Allen.

"He's going to be a player someday and he's got to believe that," Rivers said. "When you're down there, you think that we forget about you, but we don't. We know you're there. We're still counting on him."


Dad stays home
Paul Pierce had the pleasure of holding his newborn daughter in his hands yesterday instead of a basketball.

Pierce didn't travel with the Celtics to play against the Bobcats, staying in Boston after his daughter, Prianna Lee, was born Friday evening. Julie Landrum, the mother and Pierce's fiancée, may be discharged from the hospital as early as today.

A team release said Pierce was "amazed and psyched" at being a father.

Since 2007, Pierce, Rondo, Brian Scalabrine, Kendrick Perkins, James Posey, and Leon Powe have all become fathers. Kevin Garnett's wife, Brandi, is also pregnant.

"I'd like to give him some space and room and let him breathe a little bit," said Ray Allen, who has three children and plans on calling Pierce today.

Rivers said Pierce will join the team in Milwaukee tomorrow prior to Tuesday's game against the Bucks, which means he'll miss tomorrow's practice here.

"I'm leaving him alone," said Rivers, who sent Pierce a congratulatory text message. "I don't think he needs somebody bothering him right now."

Pierce, Allen, and Garnett all took last night's game off - it was the first one this season Pierce has missed - and will be available on a game-by-game basis the rest of the regular season.


Beating Sox traffic
The Bobcats learned before their 105-100 triumph at Toronto Friday night that if they got caught in traffic with the sold-out and nearby Red Sox-Blue Jays game, it would take them a long time to get to the airport for their flight home. The Bobcats whisked through postgame interviews and were on their way to the Toronto airport 50 minutes after the final buzzer. Bobcats center Emeka Okafor, a former UConn star, was convinced not to do his usual lengthy postgame stretching.


Summer plans
Bobcats rookie forward Jared Dudley, the former Boston College star, is averaging 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds. He had a career-high 17 points against Toronto March 2. Dudley plans on spending most of the offseason in Las Vegas working with renowned athletic trainer Joe Abunassar and playing summer ball with the Bobcats, in Las Vegas or Orlando. "I'm right on cue with what I wanted to do," Dudley said. "I want the fans and the organization to know that I'm ready for the next level. I played well throughout the whole [season]. I can only remember one stretch of two or three games where I played bad. Besides that, I've had a real good feel out here."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2008/04/06/the_races_are_too_close_to_call?mode=PF
The races are too close to call
Playoff spots, awards go right to the finish
By Peter May, Globe Staff | April 6, 2008

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have nothing on the NBA. You think the Democratic nominating process is convoluted and will take forever to solve? Try making sense of the Western Conference, some of the Eastern Conference, and a host of postseason awards that are still up in the air.

For the NBA, the Pennsylvania primary comes April 16. That is the last day of the regular season, when, (we think) everything will be resolved. But right now it's utter madness in the West and, to a lesser extent, the East, where three teams are trying like the dickens not to finish seventh (where Detroit awaits) or fifth (where Cleveland awaits).

The race in the West continues to amaze. Heading into the first weekend of April, nine teams were at least 15 games over . 500 - and no one had mathematically clinched a playoff berth! That's because ninth-place Golden State (for now) was only 7 1/2 games behind first place (for now) New Orleans. The Rockets, winners of 22 straight games, were lodged in sixth place.

It was fun to listen to Jamal Mashburn and Jalen Rose on ESPN the other night talk about potential Western Conference finalists. They basically threw up their hands. How could one predict a Phoenix-San Antonio final when the teams might meet in the first round? Or one of them (unlikely) might not make it at all?

"It's fun, it's competitive," said the Mavericks' Jason Kidd, whose team finally beat a club with a winning record (the Warriors) since he was traded to Dallas over All-Star weekend. (It certainly didn't hurt that Dirk Nowitzki returned after missing four games with a high ankle sprain.)

"As a professional, you want to be competitive, and I got everything that I want. It's nothing but competitive each night and we are fighting for our lives just like everybody else is, first seed to the eighth or even the ninth and 10th."

(Um, Jason, Nos. 9 and 10 are no good.)

Trying to make sense of the West race is like trying to make sense of the superdelegates for the Democrats. There actually are two races in one, or that is how it appears now. There's the three-way race for the seventh and eighth spots, which means either the Mavs, Nuggets, or Warriors will wind up with the unwanted designation of being the Best Team To Not Make the Playoffs.

Then there's the race among the top five teams for positioning, seeding, divisional titles, etc. The Lakers and Suns are fighting it out for the Pacific crown. The Spurs, Hornets, and Rockets are fighting for the Southwest crown. Utah entered the weekend 3 1/2 games ahead of Denver in the Northwest with six to play. Think that's safe?

In the East, there are three teams - Washington, Toronto, and surprising Philadelphia - competing for spots 5, 6, and 7. Atlanta appears to have nailed down the No. 8 spot - the Hawks had a four-game lead in the loss column over Indiana and New Jersey heading into the weekend. That means one and done against Boston, but it also means a team is going to end the league's longest playoff drought for the second straight season. (Golden State did it last year.) But the desirable spot in the East is No. 6, which means a first-round date with Orlando, somehow deemed less formidable than No. 4 Cleveland, despite having six fewer losses. Hey, LeBron is LeBron.

The Sixers have had a nice run since the All-Star break and could be deemed the Team No One Wants to Play. Then again, they're awfully young. Washington and Cleveland could be on track to have a repeat of last year. The difference this time is that Washington may be healthy, or close to it, instead of missing Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler.

The individual awards also promise to be among the most hotly contested in years. Who's your MVP? Any one of four guys could get it, unless Shaq has a vote; then we include Amare Stoudemire (who, we admit, is playing as well as anyone in the league since Shaq arrived in Phoenix). Coach of the Year? Same thing. Does Kevin Durant still have a lock on Rookie of the Year, even as the Rockets exploded when Luis Scola was inserted as a starter?

Voters have until the last day of the season to make their choices. It may take that long for everything to sort itself out, meaning April looms to be the most exciting month the NBA has seen in some time.



Reappearing act by Wizard
Agent Zero has, for him anyway, made a reasonably understated reentry to the NBA.

Gilbert Arenas decided to play last Wednesday against Milwaukee, his first game since missing 66 following left knee surgery, which apparently was a well-kept secret to everyone but Arenas.

He stayed in the locker room as the game began, then jogged out to the bench midway through the first quarter. He then checked into the game, got the obligatory standing O, and proceeded to hit his first four shots.

Afterward, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said he hadn't been told of Arenas's availability.

"I found out," Jordan said. "Let's say it wasn't normal, proper channels."

Arenas then came off the bench Friday night against Miami and added 13 points as the Wizards clinched their fourth straight playoff appearance, something that had last happened in the 1980s.

It will be interesting to see how the Wizards utilize Arenas the rest of the way. They've become a much better defensive team this season. They had two players not named Arenas on the All-Star team (Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison). And, for now, he's on a 20- to 25-minute leash.

But there's no denying his explosive offense and, well, there's always the Gilbertisms that flow freely from his mouth without an edit button.

We may have to wait a while for some of those, however.

Arenas is not talking to reporters - which has to be the biggest sacrifice he's made in some time - and his last blog entry on nba.com was March 25, when he talked about being unable to work out at the Verizon Center because the NCAA Tournament was being played and Duke was "getting smashed on."


Under Karl, Nuggets seem to spring into action in April
The Denver Nuggets resumed action last night against the Kings at the Pepsi Center. The team had not played since last Tuesday, which, coach George Karl noted, was a welcome break amid all the craziness that's become the way of life in the wild West.

"I am tired of being stressed, tired, and worried," Karl said before the Nuggets took their brief respite.

Actually, things look promising for Karl, since Denver appears to be on its spring surge again.

In Karl's first season with the Nuggets, he won 32 of 40 games after coming aboard in midseason (2004-05) and that included a 10-2 record in April. The run gave Denver a 49-33 record but it also resulted in a first-round matchup with the Spurs. Oh, well.

The following year, the Nuggets had a losing April, but won their division. The reward was a first-round matchup with the Clippers, who, despite being the No. 6 seed, had the better record and home-court advantage. Oh, well.

Last year, the Nuggets went 10-1 in April, but again were rewarded with a first-round date with the Spurs. You already know this story.

Heading into last night's game, Denver had won six of seven and faced a not-so-grueling April, with three of its remaining seven against lottery teams.

"If we win all our home games, that could be the key to making the playoffs," Karl said.

Getting there is one thing. But Denver has yet to get out of the first round under Karl and has been bounced in five games in each of the last three years. Then again, you have to go back to 1994 to find the last time Denver won a playoff series.

The team it beat? Seattle, coached by, you guessed it, George Karl.


Etc.
Bypassing the Bucks
Milwaukee was waiting at the altar in the event the Knicks and former Pacers czar Donnie Walsh couldn't come to an agreement. But Walsh took the job that most everyone figured he was destined to get, and the Bucks are now back to square one. The problem for Milwaukee: Who's out there that makes a lot of sense? Milwaukee has interviewed longtime league exec Rick Sund and also is interested in talking to the Suns' David Griffin, who was on Memphis's short list last year before the Grizz went for Chris Wallace. Mark Warkentien, the titular head of basketball ops in Denver, is a name that's out there, and don't be shocked if former Sixers boss Billy King resurfaces. (Just keep him away from the checkbook.) Walsh, meanwhile, said all the right things about Isiah Thomas, but if he doesn't send Thomas packing, and soon, he's going to have a real credibility problem.

Get out the vote
Someone in the Lakers' marketing department has too much time on his or her hands. It's not uncommon at this time of year to start promoting a certain player for this or that award. (We'll never get over the iPod Nano that Portland sent out to promote Brandon Roy for the All-Star Game; more than 70 went out to coaches and writers.) But the Lakers' campaign for Kobe Bryant for MVP is, well, a campaign. Included in the mailing were three bumper stickers ("Who else? Bryant 08") as well as a large pair of red suspenders with 12 campaign buttons, six on each side.

Minuteman, Millrat . . . MVP
Former University of Massachusetts guard Anthony Anderson was named Most Valuable Player of the recently concluded American Basketball Association season. He is the brother of University of Memphis swingman Antonio Anderson, who hails from Lynn but attended prep school in North Carolina before landing with Coach Cal. Anthony played for the ABA's Manchester Millrats and averaged 23.2 points. For the second straight year, the ABA crown was won by the Vermont Frost Heaves, who, if nothing else, might have the best team nickname in pro sports.

Don't go there
Here's a first-round matchup that at least one team would like to avoid: Golden State-San Antonio. Last Tuesday, the Spurs ripped the Warriors for their 20th straight home win over Golden State, a run that goes back to 1997. (And we always fretted about the Celtics' inability to win in San Antonio. They only play there once a season.) The 20-game home winning streak matches the longest in the league, as Phoenix has beaten Milwaukee 20 straight in the Valley of the Suns. The Bucks' last win in Phoenix came in the old Veterans Coliseum in 1987. Actually, a Phoenix-Milwaukee matchup has been bad for the Bucks wherever the game is played; the Suns swept them this year and have won 30 of the last 34 meetings.

Bobbing and weaving
Rookie Bobcats coach Sam Vincent, who before the season opined that his team had every right to shoot for home court in the playoffs, has suddenly found religion. His job unquestionably on the line, Vincent suggested it wasn't as if he were supposed to win 50 games or anything. Well, no. And managing boss Michael Jordan emerged from his classified undisclosed location to tell the Charlotte Observer, "Looking at what Sam has done, it's a good job. But I won't say he hasn't made mistakes. We'll have to make our considerations at the end of the [season]. I would not say we are in a drastic mode of trying to change our coaching staff or our roster." But here's one of the many disconnects in Charlotte's season: The Bobcats have wins over the Celtics (in Boston) and Lakers (in Los Angeles) as well as home wins over the Cavs, Jazz, Nuggets, Magic, and Warriors. They're on a pace to win 30-32 games, which is where most people figured they'd be after losing Sean May and Adam Morrison for the season.

Clocked in Atlanta
If you're job hunting in the Atlanta area, you might want to check out what are sure to be openings in the Hawks' stat crew. Remember earlier this year, the crew gave Shaquille O'Neal one more foul than he had, so commissioner David Stern ordered the last 51.9 seconds of that Miami-Atlanta game to be replayed, something he had never had to do. (The last such replay was in 1982, two years before Stern took over.) Now, we have another, er, incident: Did the game clock start too early on the final play of last Wednesday's game against the Raptors? With the game tied and a half-second left, Toronto executed a perfect alley-oop pass with T.J. Ford on the receiving end. Ford did not get his hands off the ball in time - that is clear from replays - but the reason, the Raptors contend, is that the game clock started too soon. Toronto hoops boss Bryan Colangelo told the Toronto Star, "The clock clearly started before he touched it. The fact that this happened in Atlanta . . . it's just absolutely inexcusable." No official word yet from north of the border regarding a protest.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x2128180666

Courtside View: The man in charge
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By Scott Souza/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Apr 05, 2008 @ 08:43 PM
Last update Apr 05, 2008 @ 08:47 PM

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Seven months ago, Rajon Rondo stood in a gym full of basketball campers in Waltham and for the first time fielded some of the questions he would get over and over again until he made people believe his answers with his play.

The proverbial "keys to the car" were in his hands following one of the most dramatic transformations of any professional sports team in recent memory. There were many who thought the idea of trusting a second-year point guard with a suspect jump shot and a mere 25 career starts was like flipping the keys of a shiny new Corvette to a teenager fresh off his learner's permit.

If the Celtics were to have a fatal flaw this season, the consensus - especially among national media, but among plenty in the local press as well - was that Rondo was going to be it.

No pressure, kid. Just don't screw this whole thing up.

Seven months later, the point guard many predicted would be in way over his head has not only accepted the monumental challenge, but has tackled it with a command that few predicted. He's grabbed the reins of what could have been a mustang stampede of mega-personalities and steered the herd to the greatest single-season turnaround in franchise history. He has mostly held his own - especially in the second half of the season - in his individual matchups against the best point guards in the game.

All the talent around him helps, but the way a player who nearly fell out of the first round of the NBA draft two years ago has quickly risen to become one of the league's most dynamic young talents is as big a reason for Boston's gaudy record as any not named Kevin Garnett.

Rondo may not win the award as the NBA's Most Improved Player this season. Yet given what the Celtics are among the favorites to accomplish this year under his guidance, his development may be among the league's most significant storylines.

Straight to the point

By the time the regular season rolled around, Rondo must have been asked a thousand variations on the query: Are you up to the task?

Up to the task of running an offense with, at the time, 22 years of All-Stars (now 25) in Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen? Up to the task of directing three players who combined to average 74 points per game last year and who this year would be asked to sacrifice statistically all the way around? Up to the task of being the player opposing teams dared to shoot while they doubled the primary options?

"When the spotlight is on he has had to make sure he steps up and he's accountable for who he is on this team," Allen said. "A lot of people want to say that he is the guy they can attack. He's had to step up and show that 'I can play.' "

Rondo has done that both figuratively and literally this season. His statistics are up across the board with averages of 10.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game in 30 minutes a night entering last night's game. Last year as a rookie he averaged 6.4, 3.7 and 3.8 in those categories, respectively, in 23 minutes.

Perhaps most impressive is what he's done in the categories of turnovers and shooting. Despite playing seven more minutes per game this year, his turnovers-per-game are virtually the same at 1.9. And that much-maligned shot? After hitting at only 41.8 percent his rookie year, he is up to 48.9 percent as a sophomore.

Yet his development goes well beyond statistics. Quiet to the point of reclusive around the media - and often even around his teammates - last year, he has opened up both on and off the court. When it comes to running the show, Rondo has taken bold steps to make even the trio of $15 million-plus men he often shares the court with know who is boss.

"His swagger is up," said second-year teammate Leon Powe. "It went from like a three last year to like a 29 (on a scale of 30) this year.

"He knows what he wants to run out there. He knows what he wants to do. When he calls a play, that's what he expects. He ain't a Hall of Famer, but what he calls is what we've got to run because he's the point. He's taken control of that position."

Rondo says he had no choice. When all those questions came about how he would handle being a 21-year-old point guard (he turned 22 six weeks ago) surrounded by such a cast of celebrated veterans, he exuded a quiet confidence about his ability to handle it.

Out on the court, he generally has not been so quiet.

In the past three weeks, he has had sharp words with both Allen and Pierce - as well as a spirited give and take with 340-pound Shaquille O'Neal - and has rarely backed down from anyone.

"You have to be like that playing with those guys," he rationalized. "Especially, being the point guard and being the coach out on the floor, playing with those three guys you have to orchestrate things."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he felt prior to the season that would be one of Rondo's biggest challenges, though he had a sense his young point guard would respond.

"That's part of what we talked about," the coach said. "You are going to have to tell Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce 'No!' Sometimes, you don't even have to say it. You have to ignore them. That's not easy to do. That's tough to do. But you have to do it.

"I thought he had that in him. That part of it he's always had in him."

If anything, Rivers said, part of Rondo's maturation has been harnessing his own belief, at times, that he knows more about the game than those around him.

"That's an issue that we are trying to correct more because there's a way to do it," Rivers said. "That's where he got in trouble with (former Kentucky coach) Tubby (Smith) a lot. He was answering the question before the question was asked, and it wasn't the right answer sometimes.

"He has improved his listening skills a lot and that has made him a better basketball player. He bristles some, but that's normal."

Highlight package

Rondo caught the attention of a nationally televised audience two weeks ago with an ankle-breaking crossover move on Suns point guard Steve Nash that drew gasps from the sellout Garden crowd. Two nights later, he called for a clear out while Hornets guard Chris Paul guarded him and proceeded to stick a 20-footer in the MVP candidate's mug as the shot clock expired.

Then there is what has become his patented move - a drive to the lane where he shows the ball and fakes a spin away from the defender, only to snap back strong to the basket if, and usually when, defender bites.

"I used it a little bit in college," he said of that one. "I used to always just try to jump over people in college, but now when you are going up against a 7-footer who is athletic, it's a lot more difficult to get your shot off inside the paint. So I used it a couple of times in college, but it's really working for me in the NBA."

For a player roundly criticized for his reluctance to take shots - especially jump shots - as a rookie, Rondo no longer shies away from those chances. In the final possession of a quarter, he's generally more likely to drive to the basket and take the last shot as teams still shade away from him to guard Allen and Pierce on the wings.

"He's got that little walk where he knows he can go out there and do certain things and do it every night," Powe said. "That's how he's going to play. He's going to go out there and find people, penetrate and make his team better."

"Some of the plays are instinct," Rondo said. "I don't try to get too fancy because bad things can happen. Every once in a while, I have to create some tricks just to get my shot off. I don't want to do too much and turn the ball over, but I want to bring some excitement to the game. As a rookie, you don't want to do anything out there except make the right decisions. I'm still trying to do that now, but I feel I have a little more cushion."

Leading Man

Entering the season, the talk was that the Celtics needed to find a veteran point guard if they were to contend for a title. Even as recently as last month, there was speculation that free agent pickup Sam Cassell would put a considerable dent in Rondo's minutes.

But Rivers declared Rondo the undisputed starter as he has apparently proven his worthiness to both his coaches and teammates.

"You can tell he's really trying to lead the team," Kendrick Perkins said. "It starts from him. If he gets it going, we all get it going."

Perhaps the biggest question facing this team in preseason appears to have its answer as the playoffs near.

"Half the battle is confidence - believing that you can control the situation you are in regardless of the position you are put into," offered Allen. "You can be in control of your moment, your responsibilities, your time."

Even at age 22, Rondo's time seems to have already arrived.