I admit to being an early skeptic about the Kevin Garnett trade. It took a few days but I finally warmed up to it. http://philgallagher.blogspot.com/2007/07/garnett-for-half-team-two-draft-choices.html Additionally, my early concerns about Doc Rivers being an able coach of this team seems unwarranted as we see that he has guided this club to the most impressive last to first turn around in NBA history. Additionally, he has achieved the third best record in Celtic team history and has done it by keeping Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen fresh and injury free as well giving his young bench players plenty of time to integrate themselves into meaningful minutes in the rotation.
The overall team attitude would seem to have taken on the Garnett persona. In a league that has common questions about regular season intensity, Garnett has served as a shining beacon of night in and night out workman like performances. This guy is at or near the top of the entire league in both his physical conditioning as well as his game intensity and he makes no bones about demonstrating it..
We knew they were going to be good but who could have predicted that the club would be the number one defensive team in all of the NBA? To understand this you need only to put the spotlight camera on Garnett for a few minutes during the game. He is waiting in the paint to back up his team mates on every play. Once the ball changes his hands he is on his way at full speed to the offensive end. It has been a long time since we have seen a Celtic big man who is finishing with dunks off the wing on the break.
Garnett is the "Big Ticket" but unlike his years in Minnesota, on this club he has some other weapons. Paul Pierce has led the club in scoring this year and it has come off of the flow of the offense. In past years when options were few we were used to seeing Pierce in isolation moves trying to back down the other teams top defender. Now it is Pierce getting clean looks on the wing or slashing moves to the hoop off the break.
Ray Allen is the last of the big three and arguably has sacrificed most this year. For most of his career, Ray was a number one option averaging over 21 points. Like Garnett and Pierce, Ray's scoring average is almost four points below his career norm this year. He has settled in as a number three scoring option while he has come back from off season ankle surgery. All that may change as we get deep into the playoffs as Pierce and Garnett are likely to see very intense defensive coverage. It is comforting to know that an entry pass to Garnett or Pierce which results in as defensive player doubling down on either player will result in Ray getting open perimeter shots.
The Celtics can win championship number 17 but they will have to rely on more than just the big three. Credit Danny Ainge with putting together a club much deeper than the three aging superstars. The point guard position has turned into one of the deepest in the NBA. Not only has Rajon Rondo developed into a superior defender and assist man but he has also been hard at work developing a mid range jump shot that will make opposing defenses pay for letting him roam free. His speed on the break and in penetration off the set offense makes him a very difficult match up. Add to this the late season acquisition of 14 years and two NBA championships veteran Sam Cassell coming off the bench and you can see that point guard is in able hands.
Other players who will impact this championship run are James Posey who brings shut down defense to the guard or small forward spot and Kendrick Perkins who has done yeoman defensive and board work on opposing centers.
The bench offers Rivers a number of options with Tony Allen, Leon Powe, Glen Davis and shot maker Eddie House for situational match ups.
It has been a long time since we have had a collection of speed defense and scoring that this team represents. Even more importantly is the fact that the club is led by a core group of seasoned players that are hungry for a championship. Garnett has not gone very deep in the play offs in his career having only played in a total of 47 games and has only a few years left to make his mark in NBA lore. He has nothing left to prove in the NBA except that he is a champion. Never before has he had a surrounding cast to mesh with his awesome talent, this time it is different.
Boston and the rest of the country are in for a treat. Garnett, Pierce and Allen are at the peak of their careers and they are coming into these playoffs rested, well prepared and extremely motivated. They are not a Cinderella team or a surprise to anyone. They are 15 point favorites in game one against first round opponent Atlanta so you can see what the book makers are thinking.
The road to a championship is not going to be easy. They will have to get by Detroit at some point to come out of the East. If they can manage that however they will only have to face only one of the many great Western conference teams. Those teams will all have faced very difficult opponents in all of their preliminary rounds to get to the finals. Let's sit back and enjoy this.
