Cakes are Cooking for the Celtics - a Random Thoughts Thinkpiece

By Matt Richardson

Wow. There certainly is a lot going on, isn’t there? First, with regards to my previous post, in the immortal words of .38 Special, “please forgive me, and forget it, I was wrong and I admit it”. I speculated that the C’s were not committed to making another impact move after the Ray Allen trade. I wasn’t exactly, ummm, on target with that one. And you know what? I couldn’t be happier. I very much wanted to be wrong (and to think I only had my sights set on Marcus Camby). Anyway, the C’s have made a very bold move and have re-energized an entire fan base. I for one am tremendously excited to see how this will all play out, and I’m certainly not going to pull a Borges and pick apart the Garnett trade to validate my previous position. Kudos to the C’s brass for making it happen.

Second, a couple of thoughts on Rondo and Perkins. What a position to suddenly find themselves in, default starters on a team variously ticketed to the playoffs, the Eastern Conference Finals, and even the NBA finals. The way I see it though, these guys are in very different situations. Perk, to me, is in a no lose situation. His name was never bandied about in trade talks, and certainly no trades that I’m aware of broke down or hit a snag due to the Celtics unwillingness to part with their “Center of the future”. Heading into his 5th year, Perk is faced with extremely low expectations. Rebound. Play defense. Throw his body around. That is pretty much it. The upside there is huge. He should be able to do the above, but in addition to that, can you imagine how many easy looks he is going to get down low when the defense collapses on Garnett in the post or Pierce and Rondo on drives? How many uncontested dunks is he looking at a game? 4? 7? Not to mention easy offensive rebounds/putbacks. I would not be surprised at all to be reading a “Kendrick Perkins: The Overnight Success” feature come January.

Rondo, on the other hand, faces considerably tougher sledding. First, he was declared all but untouchable by Danny Ainge. No pressure there. Second, while Perk is flying very much under the radar, Rondo enjoys no such anonymity. It’s up to him to make sure the offense hums along efficiently, and oh by the way live up to his reputation as a defensive stopper on the other end of the floor. If this team isn’t clicking offensively after 3-4 weeks, a lot of people are going to be looking at Rondo and suggesting he isn’t up to the task; shades of Dustin Pedroia during the first 3-4 weeks of the Sox season. Turned out OK for Pedroia, lets hope for the same from Rondo.

Finally, with the recent spate of oldsters coming back or considering comebacks (Penny Hardaway, Reggie Miller, Allan Houston), I’ve been busy chasing down some rumors:

Rumor has it that Glenn Robinson would like to ply his wares with the C’s. He purportedly is working out in Indiana and feels his potent mid-range jumper could be a big help to the team. Unfortunately his workouts at this point consist entirely of him trying to dunk over Greg Ostertag. I’m told progress is slow, and until he puts one down over his former Jayhawk poster boy he can’t deem himself ready for a return.

With the well documented need for a veteran PG, several guys think they may be the right man for the job. Charlie Ward, for example, can’t do any of the things that Rondo can’t do, but he is experienced and could double as the Patriots emergency QB if Gutierrez doesn’t work out and Testaverde gets diagnosed with osteoporosis. Nick Van Exel has been quoted as saying he’s 10 times better than Eddie House and his intangibles (leadership, unselfishness, emotional stability) are off the charts. Edgar Padilla would like to remind everyone that he was the PG for the “best backcourt in the country” the year after Camby left UMass. Come to think of it, maybe Carmelo Travieso could push Tony Allen for backup SG minutes.

And one last thought: Any veteran team with playoff aspirations needs glue guys, veterans who do the little things, know their roles and foster good team chemistry. Danny Ainge clearly foresaw the developments of 2007 when he signed Brian Scalabrine in 2005. Scal is the ultimate glue guy, useless on a bad team but (hopefully) invaluable on a good team. And who knows if he would’ve been available again, so Danny looks awfully savvy locking him up long term 2 years ago when he had the chance. At the time I had no idea why Ainge made this move, but it looks positively inspired now. Yet another reason why Danny Ainge is an NBA executive and I am not.