The Start of Something Good?

This originally appeared on the FSN webpage

For the Celtics, the first week after the All Star break has to be considered a success. Things weren’t looking so hot at the onset of their second West coast trip of the season as both Kendrick Perkins and Al Jefferson continued to be sidelined with injuries, and then to start the trip, Wally Szczerbiak came down with an injury three minutes into the trip in a game at Utah and was lost for the rest of the night and the next night in Phoenix. Despite the adversity, the Celtics ploughed though and managed their most successful swing to the left coast in recent memory going 3-1 with wins over Utah, Portland and Sunday night on national television against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. The lone loss on the trip came on Wednesday night in Phoenix, on the second night of a road back-to-back and on the night that Shawn Marion went off for a career high 44 points.

The week saw several Celtics step up and make the most of increased playing time. Ryan Gomes has to lead the pack in this category as the rookie step in at power forward and averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds per game on the four stop trip. Impressive indeed, considering that the Providence college product had barely seen the floor for much of the first half of the season. With Szczerbiak ailing in the first two games of the trip, Delonte West scored 22 and 30 points in the games against Utah and Phoenix. Then after a down night in Portland, West then had 19 points and 10 assists against the Lakers before fouling out.

While Gomes and West were the most noticeable as far as stepping up, a couple of other Celtics had their moments during the week as well. Michael Olowokandi had 12 points and 11 rebounds against the Jazz, and rookie Gerald Green made the most of his first significant playing time of the season in the game against Phoenix, as the high school product was on the floor for 23 minutes, including some crunch time, and contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds in that time. It was perhaps a brief window to the future for Celtics fans, who glimpsed for the first time, the type of skills that the youngster possesses.

While we’re heaping praise on the supporting cast for playing well, we cannot overlook the continued excellence of Paul Pierce. Despite an off shooting night in Phoenix, the captain averaged 31.5 points a game on the trip. This was actually a little down from what he had done so far in the month, in which he is averaging 32.9 points a game, tops in the entire NBA. As Mike Gorman pointed out in our Q&A session last week, Pierce seems to be underrated and misunderstood nationally, and when it comes to getting to the basket, he has no peer in the league.

There is much to be encouraged about with this team, which continues to make small strides in their development. We’re still a ways off from having a contender, but people are noticing that things seem to be looking up for the green. Even noted Celtics critic Glenn Ordway noted this week that for the first time he is really starting to feel that there is something good being built here. Over the last two months of the season, we can hope that Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins can get back on the court, and along with Gomes, make up a formidable and flexible young frontcourt and that Delonte West Tony Allen and Orien Greene can make progress on the perimeter to help take some of the load off of Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak. If those young players can continue to get experience while the team stays competitive, (The Celtics rarely get blown out) a potential playoff chase, even if unsuccessful in the end, can still reap great benefits for the future. Perhaps we might also get to see a little more of Gerald Green and his obvious offensive gifts as the year goes on. This week was encouraging, lets hope for more like it as this 2005-2006 regular season for the Boston Celtics moves into its final eight weeks.