Your Morning Dump... Where Sheed is tough, not dirty

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“In my younger days, it was to the point where I couldn’t do a lot of the dirty work because, you know, I was one of the main focal points on the team,” he said yesterday. “But here with me coming off the bench and having the Big Three, as y’all like to call them - or the Big Four, I should say - I’m not really needed to score. So I have to go in there and do the little things to help the team.

"If it’s fouling somebody hard, I’m going to foul your (butt) hard. If it’s screening, I’m going to screen you hard. Whatever. I know I’m not major no more.”

“The difference is, I’m clean with it,” he said. “You know, some guys who do that, they’re dirty with it. They’re like walking under you when you’re taking a jump shot. But I don’t dirty-play. It’s just all tough. I don’t do dirty play.”

Herald - Old hat to Rasheed

When it comes to fouling hacking, no one gets their money's worth like Rasheed Wallace.

His presence doesn't allow Howard to relax. Typically, when a starter with a defensive mindset leaves the game (i.e. Perk), his counterpart breathes a sigh of relief. No such luck for Howard.

Speaking of back-up centers, the Celtics cannot have a mental lapse on Marcin Gortat. He's proven that he can burn them.

On Page 2, Rondo and KG's staring contest in Game 1.

For all of their postseason success, the Celtics still can get lost in internal squabbles.

For example, take a brief but intense first-quarter disagreement between Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett on Sunday.

“I had two guys arguing over a play yesterday, and I had to call a timeout because they couldn’t move past it,” Rivers said. “Two plays later you could see them staring at each other - it was over a defensive rotation - and that’s something you can’t have. It’s all right to disagree, but then you have to move forward.”

Herald - Long schedule never gets old (Notebook)

I'm a bit surprised by this revelation. I realize a team like the Celtics has a lot of alpha males, but at some point you gotta let it go. Like that time I won the New England District IV Blogger of the Year in 2007. John was jealous, but he sucked it up and didn't let it affect our team goals.

The rest of the links:

Globe - Defensive rotation comes full circle | Focus on prevention is finally paying off | Magic give outside estimates | CSNNE - Cs at home on the road | Magic seek better play from Howard, Lewis | ESPN Boston - Glue guy (Doc) | Herald - Celtics success away from Garden a wonder | Ray Allen a man of resolve | Fox - Kobe, Lakers stomp Suns |