FanHouse Preview: Boston Celtics

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Celtics are a good team. This is, by most accounts, an understatement.

Boston finished with a record of 62-20 last season, despite the fact that the heart and soul of its defense, Kevin Garnett, missed 22 of the team's final 26 games with a knee injury.

Garnett missed the playoffs as well, but that didn't stop the Celtics from taking the eventual Eastern Conference champions to seven games in the second round, before their title defense ended two rounds earlier than they had expected for most of the season.

As mentioned before: good team. But whether or not they can once again make that leap to championship team will depend largely on the health of Garnett, and the prospect of the new additions to the club adding some depth and increased production that the team lacked last season.

Besides the return of Garnett -- which, in all reality, might be all that Boston needs to get back to the Finals -- the Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace to add some depth at the four, and Marquis Daniels, who will attempt to provide more of a spark in the backcourt than the late-season pickup of one Stephon Marbury was able to do a year ago.

The Wallace pickup has its pluses and minuses, but the bottom line is, Sheed is a veteran who should fit in well with the other vets on the squad, and he'll be yet another emotional player on a Boston team that seems to thrive on intensity.

As for the familiar faces, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are as rock-solid as they come, and Rajon Rondo should be even better after a postseason filled with heroics and highlight plays.

On paper, the Celtics appear to be stacked to start the season, and well-equipped to handle the challenges that the Cavaliers or the Magic may present in a seven-game series. But the playoffs are an eternity from now, and whether or not Boston can enter the postseason with its aging roster 100 percent intact will likely determine which team will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

Because if the Celtics are healthy come playoff time, the other teams in the East will likely have very little to say in the matter.

Last Season By the Numbers

Record: 62-20. Finished first in the Atlantic Division, second in the Eastern Conference. Eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the conference semifinals in seven games.

Offense: 110.5 points per 100 possessions, tied for 5th in the NBA. 2nd in shooting, 29th in turnover rate, 7th in offensive rebounding, 7th in free throw rate.

Defense: 102.3 points allowed per 100 possessions, 2nd in the NBA. 3rd in shooting defense, 9th in opponent turnover rate, 3rd in defensive rebounding, 23rd in opponent free throw rate.

Top Performers: Paul Pierce led the team in scoring with 20.5 points per game, and Ray Allen wasn't far behind with his average of 18.2. Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins led the team in rebounding with respective averages of 8.5 and 8.1 per game, while Perkins led the club in blocks per game with his 2.0 average. Rajon Rondo was the dominant assist man, and dished out a team-leading 8.2 per game. He also paced his team in steals, with 1.9 per game.

All statistics via Basketball-Reference.com.

Player to Watch

FanHouse's Matt Moore and Tom Ziller preview one player to watch from each team. Here's a snippet of Moore's post on Marquis Daniels.

The Boston Celtics have tried some different things in building their bench during their very successful resurgence. Bringing in Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown as locker-room leaders was a win. Using Leon Powe, Glen Davis, and Kendrick Perkins as a three-headed big-reserve system? Another win. Stephon Marbury ... yeah, well, you can't be right all the time.

The Marquis Daniels signing, though, looks like a complete win. Daniels represented a unique opportunity for the C's. He's a player that has enough experience to mesh with the above-30 core (and whom Doc Rivers doesn't have to develop), but, unlike some previous additions to the bench, he's young enough to contribute all season without running out of gas by the playoffs.

See Matt Moore's full post on Marquis Daniels.

Offseason Tracker

IN: Lester Hudson (draft), Rasheed Wallace (free agency), Marquis Daniels (free agency), Shelden Williams (free agency).

OUT: Leon Powe (free agency).

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-21-2009 @ 10:37AM

FLOW said...

Brett said "Because if the Celtics are healthy come playoff time, the other teams in the East will likely have very little to say in the matter. " God, stop whining about the Celts health. You chose to roll with an older squad, that's what happens when your core is aging. And during a long season, old players wear down. To think that the Magic with Vince Carter added, and Jameer Nelson (who by the way was also injured), and the Cavs who had the best regular season record, added athleticism and Shaq, are'nt just as stacked and ready to roll, is shortsighted. Hell the Lakers added Ron Artest, and people seem to forget that Andrew Bynum was one of the most dominant young centers in the league before his injury, but none of these teams are whining about injuries. The Rockets were decimated by the loss of Tracy Mcgrady and now Yao Ming. The Spurs lost Manu Ginobili, bottom line is injuries are part of the game, they just don't happen to the Celts, stop making excuses, and know that older players weardown, tire out and limp into the playoffs.

10-21-2009 @ 3:04PM

Glenn20 said...

Brett probably feels pretty good about the comment by FLOW, because it indicates that objectivity was used in his analysis. Brett is a Lakers fan and definitely not a Celtics fan. He has no interest in making excuses for them. He is simply stating the facts. Good job, Brett.

My only question is -- when you preview the Lakers, will you call them a "good" team or a "great" team?

See you in the finals!

10-21-2009 @ 7:21PM

Giles said...

Chances are, if all the teams are healthy, Cleveland will beat the Lakers for the championship, having beaten Orlando in the east finals. So, no, I don`t think Boston will run away with the east and the other teams will have nothing to say about it. Boston has mainly added a 6 pts. a game in the playoffs last year has been. Both Cleveland and Orlando may take a while to get up to peak efficiency, because they both more seriously restructured. Boston should be third in the east, unless age/injuries bring them even lower. San Antonio could be back up to second in the west, ahead of Denver. Please, let the guys decide in on the court, rather than just making predictions a season in advance. A lot, including unbalanced trades and injuries, can happen between now and then. Remember when the media thought sure Len Bias would be rookie of the year? How about Hank Gathers? What matters is who does it on the court, not who fans, like me, or media, think would do it if it were on paper.

10-22-2009 @ 12:42AM

Giles, What Boston "added" was Kevin Garnett. They didn't have him when they lost to Orlando (4 games to 3). This addition alone would probably be enough. As for Rasheed, there's no way you can take his farewell numbers in Detroit and say that's what he'll do in Boston. He has now been reborn. Also, he's a strong defender and a strong rebounder. An equally big addition is Marquis Daniels. He looks tremendous in this pre-season. If someone watched a game without knowing any of the players, they might think that Marquis is the best player on the team. Additionally, Rajon Rondo has developed into one of the top point guards in the league and Big Baby Davis proved himself in the playoffs as someone who can contribute solid minutes.

10-22-2009 @ 12:45AM

Meanwhile, Orlando has lost more than they gained. Vince Carter is not the answer for that team. And in Cleveland, Shaq is going to negatively impact Lebron's game by clogging up the middle and turning Lebron into more of an outside shooter. That fact was pretty obvious in tonight's final pre-season game in Cleveland, where the Celtic's subs easily beat the Cav's starters and outplayed them the whole game.

I think that both Cleveland and Orlando are going to finish with worse records than they had last year. The only team that is probably better than the Celtics would be the Lakers. I think that 2010 will be a rematch of the 2008 finals.

10-22-2009 @ 12:27AM

jmgair said...

Unfortunately for the Celtics, the 2010 Finals will have to go through Los Angeles and the Celtics cannot win that 7 game series, if they can get to the finals to begin with.

10-22-2009 @ 12:56AM

That's what everyone said in 2008. Let's not forget that the Lakers are jinxed when they play the Celtics. I'm not superstitious and I don't believe in that, but I do think the Lakers feel more pressure when they play Boston, and once again it will come down to whether the Lakers have any guts. If not, they'll beat themselves.

10-22-2009 @ 11:44AM

I actually think the Celts have a great, talented team. I just don't think you can discount Orlando or Cleveland. Cleveland had the best record and not only added Shaq but two athletic wingmen, and didn't lose anything. They had the best record without Shaq, and did'nt lose anything for him. Orlando brings back Jameer Nelson to compensate for Hedo's loss of ballhandling skills, and brings in Vince Carter which finally gives the Magic a guy who can get his own shot. They also picked up Matt Barnes-a ferocious defender. The Lakers beat Boston twice last year both times they had Kevin Garnett, even if it was overtime, they still won in Boston. The Lakers are'nt that same scared, young team back in 2008. You don't win 15 Championships by being "chokers". Adding Ron Artest and guys just growing up makes them definitely better, and at least as tough as anybody. The Celts added talent, but older talent. After an 82 game season, it'll be interesting to see how Garnett's knee, Rasheed coming off the bench, which I think will eventually be an issue, lack of a true backup point guard and an overall tougher Eastern conference, impact their play. No disrespect Celts fans, my original point was to say "Because if the Celtics are healthy come playoff time, the other teams in the East will likely have very little to say in the matter. " is just ridiculous. They may or may not win it-but the Eastern conference will be a dogfight.

10-22-2009 @ 3:55PM

Agreed, the Celtics, if they stay healthy, will be better than they were last season after they lost Garnett, though I think they also will not be as good as they were the season before, despite the lose last season to motivate them all of this season. And I like Big Gentleman, Davis. He doesn`t rebound at all well, yet, at least, but he reminds me of Coach Thompson, way back when he was a Celtic, and I liked coach. And yes, no offense intened to Stephon Marbury, but I think Daniels will fit in better than Starbury did. But the fact Wallace played so far below his former capacities in the playoffs is an indication that while he`ll be fired up in the easy going in the playoffs this season, I wouldn`t want to have to count on him, even off the bench, when the going gets tough this playoff, probably against Orlando in the east semis. I don`t think the Magic will be a good as they were last season before they lost Nelson, but he was gone, and only semi back before they beat the Cavs. And yes, James` lack of perimeter shooting will be a problem if the Lakers can keep Bynum on the floor with Gasol. Fisher has slowed, and Bynum never was a power forward, and Gasol has become a legit center. If Varajao has to be on the court instead of Hickson, the Cavs will indeed have a chemistry problem. Shaq is not El Zyd. He shouldn`t drift out to the high post like Z can. And we don`t know what`ll happen with Wild West. I think he`ll be fine, but he may not, we`ll see. All three teams have all season to fine tune, and adjustments can even be made game to game in the playoffs, much less in the course of the season. There are things I don`t like about Doug Collins, but among the things he is right about, the Nba season is a marathon, not a sprint. I think the Nba office felt it guaranteed Cleveland home court advantage in the east by suspending Lewis for ten games. It may not turn out that way. Nevil and Kuz, waived by Cleveland, might help Orlando off the bench, especially those first ten games, particularly with Foyle out injured. But the biggest question mark for Cleveland ironically is James. As Detroit learned a couple of seasons ago, he can heat up outside, you just can`t count on it, and if he does that in a road game, like in the Championship against the Lakers, a 4/3 series which would have otherwise maybe gone the other way can go for Cleveland. Detriot was the better team a couple of seasons ago, just unlucky when James got hot. Like the Lakers were the better team when Detroit won its championship, but then Malone`s knee locked up and he retired, Coach Jackson suffered heart troubles, temporarily retired, and Fox never recovered from his injuries, but the LA hope he had caused them to waive Pargo, and they needed him in a small ball line up when Fox failed to produce. The big three in the east are way too close to each other, the big two in the east have changed way too much, to do more than guess at this point, though so far, it looks like it`ll be the match up the media wanted last season, delayed one season, resulting from Phoenix nobly sacrificing an all star center in exchange for two guys they waived. What do you think they were paid under the table for that? Hope it was huge, but the bettors know about it enough in advance they aren`t complaining, and Shaq isn`t young, so maybe not everyone in Phoenix is complaining either.

10-22-2009 @ 10:23PM

Good points and nice commentary by Flow and Giles. It's so refreshing and interesting to have some civil intelligent discussion, instead of the sophomoric mudslinging and "your team stinks" mentality that is all too common on these boards.