Who’s Next
By RedsArmy.com’s
Matt Geagan
Don’t be surprised
if the following ad appears in the paper within the next few days:
“Looking for basketball players to
participate in 5 on 5 practice games. College experience
a plus, but any talent level
acceptable. Contact Danny at (617)854-8000. Practices held in
That’s right, the Celtics injury list has finally grown to the
point where the team can’t play a basic 5 on 5 game. After Tony Allen went down,
the Celtics had four players on their bench, one of them being Michael Olowokandi. The most action he’s seen in awhile was when he
carried Allen off the court. Losing Allen (as ridiculous and stupid as it was)
was a huge blow to the team, since he had been stepping up with 20 points per
game since Paul Pierce went down. Now he is lost for the rest of the season. Is
there anyone else that can keep the team afloat and the fans from getting
lottery fever? It may be easier to list people who can’t, but there are a few
names that come to mind.
Sebastian
Telfair
An
extremely disappointing first season for Telfair can be saved if he can turn it
around and help this team in some way. With Delonte West out Friday against the
Raptors, he gets another start. Telfair has shown he can score, but needs to
take better shots and pass the ball more often. His defense looks like a lost
cause right now, so even a slight improvement would be something. Telfair
looked good taking it to the basket against the Pacers, but needs to be more
consistent. Eight points a game isn’t enough for him. I know that’s more
negatives than positives, but Allen was having a terrible season before his
recent turnaround too.
Al
Jefferson
Big Al was
playing great with Pierce, but without him his offensive game has taking a blow.
He’s scored in the twenties only twice in the last ten games. It’s a shame
there are some out there in Celtic fandom who think Big Al was playing well
because of the Allen Iverson trade talks. Pure nonsense.
He is still a rebounding beast, which is a good sign. Once Pierce comes back
and demands more attention,
Gerald
Green
He is a
highlight a night guy in only his second year. The only problem is after that
highlight there isn’t much more. Always good for a fly by dunk on a rebound or
a running jam, Gerald needs to become more consistent in order to step it up.
His jumper is better than expected, but he needs to lay off the threes and
slash to the basket more. Last night Stephen Jackson absolutely abused Gerald
on defense. The good news was Gerald went back down the court, and answered
with a nice fade away in
The
Rookies
Both Celtic
rookies have shown some good flashes here and there, but it would be nice if
one of them stepped up. Everyone knows Rajon Rondo
can play defense and pass the ball, but he can also go to the basket pretty
well. He made some nice moves last night and got to the line 8 times. The other
rookie, Leon Powe, could be this years Ryan Gomes. Powe is always collecting rebounds, and showed he can score.
Gomes went on a tear last year when Doc finally found minutes for him. Let’s
just hope he can do the same for these two. Rondo has broken ten minutes only
twice in the last five games, and until last night Powe
had sat for six straight. Doc may have no choice but to play these two, so it
could be time for them to shine.
The wildest
thing about this all is the Celtics are at the maximum 15 players. Is it even
worth it to dump Kandi-Man and pay someone more money to finish out the season?
The Celtics have some decisions to make in the next few weeks, regardless when
Pierce comes back. Nearly halfway through the season it could already be time
to nail it in. That is unless one of the aforementioned names can step it up.
Literally, the ball is in their court.
Matt Geagan is a sports
producer at WBZ-TV… which means he’s not just into basketball. You can catch MattyG’s
thoughts on all things sports on his FoxSports.com blog. You can email him at MattyG@RedsArmy.com