Boston Herald Photo
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.
Rondo and Goliath have found a groove.
“He’s definitely adding assists to my game, and that’s going to increase,” said Rondo. “If his man’s off his body, all you’ve got to do is throw it toward the rim. He’s going to finish it.”
O’Neal returns the salute, saying, “All I have to do is work to get space and he’ll find me. I play my game and he gets me the ball.”
“Yeah, it goes both ways,” said Rondo. “I love playing with him, and vice versa. I think he enjoys playing with me, as well.”
Herald: Rondo and Goliath finding their groove
Things are pretty slow on the Celtics link front since yesterday was an off day... which happened to fall on a big Pats-Steelers games (how'd that go, Chuck?). So this link isn't much different than yesterday's dump other than the photo that the Herald used for it. I know Rondo is getting up off the floor... but it just looks funny.
Meanwhile, I'll just continue my thought from yesterday and add that this chemistry between Rondo and Shaq is already pretty good and only going to get better. It'll be interesting to see if Rondo gets Perk to start playing a little more like Shaq when he returns because this is an element that can easily be added to Perk's game.
That's really the one spot where we haven't seen Shaq's influence: How is he going to help Kendrick Perkins? We all assume he will. But it should be interesting to see how much of this stuff Perk will emulate when he returns.
On Page 2: The issue with Delonte coming back
Celtics coach Doc Rivers deemed West in full health, having worked through the glutes/back issue that sidelined him for part of the eight-game exhibition slate. But Rivers does anticipate some bumps with West's return and says he doesn't quite know how it will affect his team.
"It'll be nice. It's good to have a body and another guy who kind of knows what we're doing," said Rivers. "But it will be interesting. We have a really good rhythm right now, so we'll bring him back and that will upset our rhythm a little bit."
Yet again, it's a boat worth rocking.
"Obviously, Delonte is going to help us, but I don't know exactly how yet," Rivers said. "We're playing pretty well now. We have a pretty good rhythm and [West is] going to change our rhythm a little bit. So we're going to have to get used to that. Having said that, I'd rather have that than not. We'll see. I think Delonte will help Nate [Robinson] the most, but we'll wait and see. He'll help us."
ESPN Boston: Addition problem?
As Chris Forsberg says... this is no different than adding someone via trade or free agency except that Delonte has been around the team and practicing with those guys. He's not totally unfamiliar with the system. And they're only 10 games in, so it's best to get the bumps out of the way now.
But the second unit has, in fact, jelled pretty well. The Nate/Baby/Semih combo has gotten a nice little groove together. But that doesn't have to end just because Delonte is coming back. You can incorporate him into those sets.
Bottom line: You can rarely go wrong adding a good player to your team.
The rest of the links:
Globe: Injuries haven't hurt the C's yet | NESN: Von Wafer will have to fight for playing time with the return of Delonte | ProBasketballTalk: Suns bury Lakers with 22 threes