Boston Celtics
Coach: Doc Rivers, 3rd Season (78-86)
General Manager: Danny Ainge
’05-’06 Record: 33-49; 3rd in Atlantic Division
Projected Starting Lineup (’05-’06 Stats)
PG – Sebastian Telfair (w/POR: 9.5 ppg., 1.8 rpg., 3.6 apg.)
SG – Paul Pierce (26.8 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 4.7 rpg.)
SF – Wally Szczerbiak (32 gms w/BOS: 17.5 ppg., 3.9 rpg., 3.2 apg.)
PF – Al Jefferson (7.9 ppg., 5.1 rpg., 0.5 apg.)
C – Kendrick Perkins (5.2 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 1.0 apg.)
Key Additions: PG Sebastian Telfair (trade – POR); C/F Theo Ratliff (trade – POR)
Key Subtractions: PG Dan Dickau (trade – POR); C Raef LaFrentz (trade – POR); C Michael Olowokandi (UFA)
2006 NBA Draft
Round 1 – PG Rajon Rondo (21st overall); University of Kentucky (from PHO)
Round 2 – F Leon Powe (49th overall); University of California – Berkeley (from DEN)
Positional Breakdowns
Guards
The Boston Celtics have made another move in order to try and match perennial All-Pro Paul Pierce with a good supporting cast. It begun with an off-season trade involving Portland where the Celtics acquired PG Sebastian Telfair and C/F Theo Ratliff from Portland for G Dan Dickau and F/C Raef LaFrentz. The Celtics were immediately happy that they were able to get Telfair to run the offense with Pierce. In Telfair, they get a guard who is amazingly quick with the ball in his hands and can get into the lane and penetrate. Nor is he afraid to do just that, regardless of his smaller frame. Telfair was known as a scorer out of Lincoln High in New York, but he had the hype of being the ‘next big New York point guard’ behind him. The pressure seemed too much for him in Portland. Most importantly, I don’t believe he was 100% ready for the rigors of the NBA season. You go from playing 20-30 games in high school against mostly inferior players to the world’s best every night. Look for Telfair to settle into a comfort zone with the Celtics, and this could definitely be his breakout year.
It doesn’t hurt having Paul Pierce playing with you. Pierce is one of the better players in the league and he is coming off surviving another season of some turmoil and trade rumors to remain in the green and white. Pierce can do it all. He’s a good offensive player who can create for himself and for others. He’ll pull up in your face with full confidence and hit a mid to long range jumper without hesitation. Pierce has a big frame which allows him to mix it up inside with nice drives and rebound effectively. Something which has never been lauded is his solid defensive skills. You won’t mistake him for an All-Defensive player, but he can definitely hold his own against smaller, quicker guards and the bigger, physical guards.
The youth is very interesting for the Celtics. They’ve got a number of young players who could see some time this season and develop into some solid NBA role-players, if not for them then for another team. Names like Ryan Gomes, Allen Ray, and Rajon Rondo are probably very familiar to college basketball fans. They were solid NCAA players who can develop with the right amount of playing time and coaching.
Forwards
Lost in the mix in the problems that Minnesota had this past season was Wally Szczerbiak. This was good for the Celtics, who were able to acquire the forward from the Timberwolves in the middle of last season in a trade. It appears as though he’s finally ready to have a productive season once again without the problems that have plagued him in the past. He should benefit from most defenses giving Paul Pierce extra attention and could be a 20 point/game player. Wally is a good shooter and possesses a jumper that has a tendency to get streaky. But don’t mistake that for him being a streaky player in general, because Szczerbiak is a solid offensive talent fairly consistently. Think of the effect Antoine Walker had on Pierce, without the ego and the weird dribbling style. He’s flat-footed on defense, but Doc Rivers has proven to be a good coach in disguising the defensive shortcomings of his players throughout his coaching career.
People, media and team officials alike, have all been raving about the improvement they are seeing out of power forward Al Jefferson. They are all raving about his improvement in the inside aspect of his game, something that could help this undersized Celtics team in the long run. The Celtics did expect Jefferson, as well as C Kendrick Perkins, to make contributions in rebounding and in post play, and although Jefferson has slimmed down, it has helped him be more agile inside and actually more solid defensively. He’s still very young and raw, so you have to expect some more problems, but he’s got the ability to make more good plays than bad ones.
Their bench is mostly unproven, save for some veterans. Brian Scalabrine and Brian Grant are their two most tenured NBA players, but Grant is nearing the end of his career and Scalabrine is at best a role-player who can’t be counted on for a nightly contribution. The key is the young players. Ryan Gomes, who should also see time as a guard, has the body and mentality that make him a good forward, so he could see time playing there. Gerald Green is expected to see some more time as well. Look out for rookie Leon Powe from Cal, who has impressed many with his high energy. Powe came out early expecting to be a first round pick, but dropped and is now not guaranteed to make the squad. However, he’s been working hard and has made the Celtics take more than a backwards glance at his ability.
Centers
The Celtics look to be young in this area as well, at least on the front line. Not many expect Theo Ratliff to start, mostly because he’s been in and out of the lineup in Portland for the past few seasons because of injury. His acquisition was more of a throw-in than anything in that trade to even out the salaries, but he could see some time. The focus of the Celtics should be with Kendrick Perkins. Perkins does have the kind of bulk that many bigger players don’t have coming out of high school, but it really hasn’t translated to much so far in the NBA. Perkins isn’t much of a scoring threat for Boston, but he is solid on the boards and provides them a big body that stands almost 7 feet and goes upwards of 280 pounds. Expect the Celtics to give Perkins the majority of the time, much like Jefferson, because they want to gauge exactly where these two young big men are in their maturation process.
Team Overview
As much as I would like to say that this could be a year where they could conceivably sneak into the postseason, my head is telling me that it’s not going to happen. While the Eastern Conference is a bit top-heavy, I don’t think that the Celtics have enough to challenge with even the lower teams who have just a little more consistent ability to win. With players like Sebastian Telfair, Al Jefferson, and Kendrick Perkins, this is a Celtics team that could be great in two seasons, but they look to suffer more growing pains in this upcoming season.
What could sway this team into the postseason is if they get quality minutes from Telfair on a nightly basis. Telfair is a playmaker who can score and also distribute the ball, and he’ll need to do both. If he’s able to get into the lane, look for his to open up the shooting lanes for Wally Szczerbiak and Paul Pierce. Telfair is so quick and slippery that he can cause havoc in opposing defenses when he wants to, it was just that his opportunities were limited in Portland due to the gluttony at point. Pierce and Szczerbiak are the clear 1-2 scoring options, but if Telfair can find away to get involved himself and provide sparks for some of the other players, than it’s feasible that they sneak in as a bottom seed (6th – 8th.)
Predictions
Record: 36-46
Leading Scorer: Paul Pierce
MVP: Paul Pierce
Postseason: Will Not Qualify
Reference:
- www.nba.com/celtics – Official Team Site
