Boston 88, Portland 78

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics kicked off a four-game road trip with a chippy, sloppy win over injury-depleted Portland.

The Blazers, playing without Brandon Roy, Marcus Camby, and (of course) Greg Oden decided from the opening tip that they weren't going to be intimidated or pushed around by Boston, and Boston, for its part, seems to relish the opportunity. The result was a physical, ugly contest for three quarters. But some solid work on both ends of the floor from the second unit gave the Celtics a 15-point lead with 4:22 remaining, which proved to be enough of a cushion to protect against missed free throws and Portland suddenly getting hot from three-point range.

Things actually got really dicey when Marquis Daniels stepped to the line with Boston up 82-77 with 42 seconds left and promptly missed both free throws. But Kevin Garnett simply outworked LaMarcus Aldridge for the rebound, and Glen Davis was able to knock down a pair from the line to seal the victory. It was the final stamp on a terrific all-around night from KG, who put up a Rondo-esque ten points, nine boards, and nine assists.

Kendrick Perkins looked great again, with ten points and nine boards in nearly 21 minutes, a little bit more floor time than what we've been told Perk will be playing at this stage. Von Wafer also had a strong game off the bench, and I have to admit I'm starting to talk myself into him. He replaced Nate Robinson in the rotation in the second half and had a couple of nice buckets and a steal. I still think Nate's our guy at the backup 2 when Delonte West returns, but for now, as Nate continues to struggle to define his role, we may see more Wafer.

Boston 96, Minnesota 93

[recap] [box score]

I caught this one with my cousin and a good friend at the Dominion Brew Pub in DC, over many Oak Barrel Stouts. I was watching the game, but also talking and eating and drinking, so I have only a few thoughts:

• As expected, Kevin Love was a handful, scoring 12 points to go with 24 rebounds. I couldn't hear the sound at the bar, but I checked the stats on my phone at halftime and at the break, Love had 15 rebounds. Boston as a team had 14.
• Rajon Rondo had 16 assists against just three turnovers, but even bigger was the 14-foot jumper he hit to put the Celtics by three with 44 seconds left. It's not a shot we want him taking all the time (indeed, he missed a 17-footer with 11 ticks left on the next possession after Michael Beasley had cut it to one), but I do like to see him growing more and more confident with the jumper.
• Von Wafer played really well, scoring ten points and tying for the team lead in boards (with Paul Pierce) with six. I still don't see where he fits into the healthy rotation, but the least I can do is give the man his due when he comes up big in the interim. With Delonte West out and Nate Robinson continuing to struggle, Wafer's contributions on Monday were invaluable.
• Shaquille O'Neal scored nine points in 30 minutes, but also grabbed just two rebounds (though to be fair, Love made it so that no Celtic's rebounding numbers were impressive). Jermaine O'Neal looked decent off the bench and blocked four shots. So far, it seems clear that he's better at protecting the rim than Shaq, when healthy.
• Glen Davis continued to emerge from a shooting slump, making seven of 15 shots. A little more consistency would be nice, but at least he's got a somewhat reliable offensive weapon in his arsenal now.

Boston 93, Toronto 79

[recap] [box score]

Bullets tonight (and lots of 'em):

• Rajon Rondo returned from his ankle injury. He picked up two fouls in the first six minutes, and didn't really have too big of a direct impact on the game. Jose Calderon got the better of him on both ends of the court, but it was good to see number 9 back in action.
• Rondo's return freed Paul Pierce to move out of the facilitator role he's been playing the last several games and into the cold-blooded assassin role he's more accustomed to on offense. Pierce led the way with 30 points, including 20 in a first half in which all of his fellow starters struggled. His second-half buckets included a ferocious dunk on the entire Raptors frontcourt and a breakaway jam inside the final two minutes in which he appeared to tweak his ankle when he landed. We can't afford an injury to another starter, even with Rondo back, so hopefully it's not serious and The Truth will be in uniform Monday night against Minnesota.
• Glen Davis had a fairly miserable first half shooting the ball, which is in line with his last several games, in which (it goes without saying) he's been fairly miserable shooting the ball. He picked it up in the second half, however, and was just two assists shy of logging one of the more unlikely triple doubles in NBA history.
• Shaquille O'Neal had a subpar game, two days after a subpar game against New Orleans, four days after a subpar game against Detroit, five days after a subpar game against Indiana, and eight days after a subpar game against Orlando. Actually, compared to the previous four, Sunday was a pretty good game for Shaq: he had six rebounds, compared to five combined against the Magic, Pacers, Pistons, and Hornets. And yet Joey Dorsey kicked his butt most of the game. I thought at first that O'Neal might have been dogging it, but he challenged shots when they were in his area and even dove for a loose ball at one point. Dorsey is young, athletic, and energetic, the kind of guy who is going to make Shaq look bad, but I wonder if Shaq isn't completely healthy.
• Fortunately, Jermaine O'Neal looks healthy enough to fill in, should he need to. This was Jermaine's fifth game back. He didn't do much against Orlando and I hadn't seen any of the three games previous to Sunday's, but I was encouraged by the way he moved around. I hope he gets a bit stronger on the boards and finishes better on offense as the season progresses, but the good sign is that he's not moving cautiously or with an obvious limp.
• Marquis Daniels was basically a complete no-show, which I could have predicted because he'd had a couple of good games in a row. If Daniels could be consistent, he'd be such a valuable player, but right now, I just don't trust him as much as I would like.
• Von Wafer actually did a couple of nice things in 14 minutes of action. What I liked most was that both of his shot attempts were at the rim, and I remember at least one nice wraparound pass on another drive that I think led to a foul. He's a good three-point shooter and I don't mind it if he takes those shots when he's in the game, but it's good to see flashes of a more complete player. He'll hopefully be mostly irrelevant when Delonte West gets back, but as an insurance policy, any development is good.
• Luke Harangody works hard, hustles, and isn't afraid to bang, but he is just overmatched against other NBA post players right now. Even fellow rookie Ed Davis, who has gotten burn of late with the Raps' frontcourt injuries and is thus slightly less green than Harangody, pushed him around quite a bit. When he was drafted, everyone thought that Harangody, a power forward in college, would need to become a small forward to crack the rotation this year, because Boston had so much depth in the pivot. Now, it seems that he may need to play the wing because he's not big or strong enough to play inside. It will be interesting to see which way his career goes.
• DeMar DeRozan again led the Raptors, this time with 27 points. His explosion (recall that he had 37 Friday night against the Rockets) coincides with Andrea Bargnani's absence from the lineup, and can be attributed to the offense now running through him, and not Il Mago. I assume this is a temporary state of affairs, and things will go back to the way they were when Bargs gets healthy, but DeRozan is showing that he is capable of carrying more of a load offensively. This development surprises me: I saw DeRozan in person a couple of times when he was at USC, and have followed his brief career somewhat closely, and while he's always good for a couple drives and/or jumpers per game, he lacked the aggressive disposition and consistency you need to be a real scorer at this level. Frankly, he just didn't seem good enough to get "hot" and take over a game the way he took over in the second half against Houston and for stretches against Boston. But he apparently is. What's interesting about DeRozan is that he's the rare NBA shooting guard for whom the three-pointer isn't really a weapon; he does almost all of his scoring at the rim, at the line, and with the mid-range jumper. Fortunately, he hits that mid-range J at a good enough rate that his efficiency isn't terrible, and he knows the limit of his range (that is, he doesn't take a bunch of threes even though he can't hit them). Anyway, it will be interesting to keep an eye on DeRozan when Bargnani returns. Can he emerge as a consistent second banana, or is he an all-or-nothing guy who needs to be the first option?

Boston 84, Philadelphia 80

To call Boston's 14th consecutive win a struggle would be an understatement.

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics battled two things all game Wednesday night (in addition to the Sixers): poor shooting and the officiating.

To the former point, you could tell from the get-go it was just one of those nights. Several early shots -- particularly off the fingertips of Paul Pierce -- rattled in and out, and after serious foul trouble hitting the starting unit and the bench came out cold*, it was only the excellence of Ray Allen that allowed the Cs to score even the 38 points they did score in the first half. The team got it going for brief stretches in the second half, but shot 38.8 percent from the floor for the game -- which I'm fairly sure is a season low.

To the latter point -- the officiating -- the box score doesn't tell the entire story. Philadelphia had 31 free throw attempts to Boston's 21, but until the late stages of the game, the discrepancy was much larger. In fact, the Celtics shot the game's final 12 free throws, which means that after Tony Battie missed an and-one with 4:48 remaining in the game, the Sixers had taken 31 shots from the line to Boston's nine. Some of that differential was justified, but it's a peculiar circumstance, indeed, where one team deserves 22 more free throw attempts than its opponent.

For their part, the Celtics did a nice job down the stretch of forcing the refs to give Boston the calls they had been giving Philly all night. The officials had been calling it close, and the Celts really looked to create contact in the final five minutes or so. After the aforementioned Battie miss it was 74-70, Sixers; Boston closed on a 14-6 run, getting ten points from the line. (The two lone misses from the line in the waning moments came courtesy of Shaquille O'Neal. I was surprised to see him in the game late for precisely this reason, and even more surprised to see the team use him in the screen-and-roll on a couple of late possessions.)

Boston won this game because of excellent defense and because of a champion's knack for winning close games on its less-than-great nights -- the second time in a couple of weeks Boston's pulled this latter trick on Philadelphia. Of course, so many of these games went the other way last season, and it was around this time that last year's regular season started to become disappointing. I heard tonight that Boston is now 94-14 in pre-Christmas games over the past four seasons. The post-Christmas (well, post-pre-Christmas) portion of the schedule begins Saturday, and it says here that Boston continues its winning ways in January and beyond.

*To be fair to the bench, they actually played pretty well -- other than scoring. Glen Davis shot 2-for-9 but had seven rebounds; Marquis Daniels shot 2-for-7 but had four boards and five assists. Semih Erden grabbed five boards. Von Wafer actually hit a couple of shots, and Avery Bradley had a big steal and basket early in the second quarter. Pressed into a little bit of extra duty as three starters were hit with three fouls apiece in the first half, the second unit held things together -- especially on the defensive end -- to keep the game winnable.

The Celtics Should Be Talking to Erick Dampier

There's been an interesting discussion over at Celtics Hub regarding whether the Celtics should release Von Wafer (who has done nothing so far and is unlikey to do anything moving forward) and sign another big. The pros for such a move are summed up here; the cons are here.

I have no idea if the team has reached out to Erick Dampier, nor do I know if Dampier is even remotely interested in joining the team as an insurance policy. And make no mistake, that's all Dampier would be -- an insurance policy. The offseason signings of Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal were supposed to make center a position of strength for the Celtics, especially when Kendrick Perkins returns from ACL surgery, which presumably will be some time in February. If any two of those three guys are healthy, whatever big the Celtics may add is superfluous and won't see the floor much.

But Shaq has already missed six of the team's first ten games, and Jermaine is having some problems with his knees and may miss the next few weeks. It's irrational to think that the O'Neals' nagging injuries will just disappear as the season goes on. Plus, even when Perk gets back, it's not like he'll be his old self right away.

Dampier, the 14-year veteran who was cut by the Bobcats after going to Charlotte from Dallas in the Tyson Chandler trade, is the option that makes the most sense.

One option that has been suggested is that Boston bring back Stephane Lasme, the journeyman who came oh-so-close to making the team out of training camp. But at 6-8, Lasme isn't big enough to play center. While big minutes for Kevin Garnett (35 mpg) and Glen Davis (31 mpg) are an ancillary concern about the lack of center depth, Davis also isn't big enough to play center. Signing Lasme would thus only cut into Davis' minutes, and Davis is both young enough to handle his increased workload and effective enough that his being on the court a lot is not a major problem. With Lasme, KG would still have to play big minutes, and would still have to play out of position at center.

Adding a guy like Magnum Rolle isn't an attractive option because he's a rookie and lacks the experience to be a major contributor, even if Doc trusts him with substantial playing time, which he won't. The other D-League possibility being bandied about, Tiny Gallon, is both too small to play center (like Lasme) and too raw to be a contributor (like Rolle). The Celtics already have a young big man on their roster, Semih Erden. While Erden hasn't been spectacular, he's shown that he's capable enough to play an emergency role, and he has the size to play center. It's unreasonable to expect that Rolle or Lasme or Gallon would be even as effective as Erden has been in the early going.

I don't think rookie Luke Harangody, already on the Celtics roster, is the answer, either. He suffers from the same inexperience and size issues that the young guys listed above have. While he was something of a rebounding machine in college, he's shown a preference for playing the wing -- though perhaps that's in part because it looked like he might need to be able to play small forward in order to get minutes with the team.

To be sure, Dampier has his limitations. He's close to a non-factor offensively and turns the ball over a lot for a player with those limitations. But he's a decent defender, and has NBA size and experience. If the Celtics are going to cut Wafer (their last non-guaranteed contract) and thus hamper their roster flexibility, then Dampier is the only guy who makes sense.

And time is of the essence. Dampier's situation is kind of curious; he was rumored to be signing with the Rockets, but didn't, and it's unclear to me why he hasn't hooked up with Miami, where he'd be an obvious improvement over Joel Anthony. As the Heat continue to struggle on the interior, I imagine they'll make another, stronger push for Dampier, and I don't expect that Dampier will be on the market too much longer.

As far as roster flexibility goes, while it's true that Danny and Doc would be hamstrung by cutting Wafer and giving Dampier a guaranteed contract, I'm not sure for what the team would need that roster flexibility, other than another big. Delonte West's return gives the Celtics three solid backup wing players (West, Marquis Daniels, and Nate Robinson), and rookie Avery Bradley, if forced into duty due to injury, would probably be at least as effective as the young project bigs mentioned earlier. And I haven't heard of any veteran centers that are likely to become available via trade later in the season -- at least not any that could be had for Wafer's modest contract.

A bigger concern for me, if the Celtics signed Dampier, would be what happens if the O'Neals and Perkins do stay (read: get) healthy late into the season. Then they'd have a situation where they'd have four veteran centers and not nearly enough minutes to go around. For that reason, as mentioned above, I'm not sure Dampier is interested in signing with Boston. But it's a conversation worth having. It appears that center is a position that needs to be addressed, and the time for addressing it is now.

Boston 109, Detroit 86

For the first time in this young season, Boston played pretty well on both ends of the court.

[recap] [box score]

Shaquille O'Neal didn't play tonight, which means we got our first extended look at two Celtics newcomers in the post: veteran Jermaine O'Neal and rookie Semih Erden.

Offensively, Jermaine is a known quantity. He got a couple dunks rolling to the basket -- a good sign the Celtics offense was clicking -- but at this point in his career, he's a jump shooter. His shot wasn't falling at first, but came around in the second half. His line, 5-for-8 for 12 points, is probably around what we can hope for from him.

It was at the defensive end where I noticed Jermaine the most, probably because he's such an improvement over Shaq at that end. Twice in the first quarter, JON helped as Austin Daye blew past Kevin Garnett. On the first, Daye crashed into Jermaine, getting away with the charge while scoring, but on the second, JON registered the block.

I still think that Jermaine should (and will) start at center even when Shaq is healthy. His help defense is a much better fit with what the starting unit is used to playing alongside Kendrick Perkins. Even if he doesn't start, however, I'd expect to see him on the floor in crunch time a fair amount -- mostly because of his defense, but also because he's not a liability at the free throw line. He needs to rebound better than he did against the Pistons, but that's my only real criticism.

The defensive end is also where I most noticed Erden. The Turkish rookie wasn't always in the right spot, but often recovered in time to challenge the shot. The best example came at the end of the first quarter, just a few minutes after Erden entered the game and blocked a Jason Maxiell shot on his very first defensive possession. On this trip, the Pistons ran a pick-and-roll with Rodney Stuckey dribbling left over the screen at the top of the key. Erden jumped out to hedge, but jumped too far, giving Stuckey the daylight he needed to cross over and drive to the basket. But Erden stuck out his long left arm and jarred the ball loose momentarily. Stuckey recovered and continued his drive, but Erden recovered and blocked the shot out of bounds.

Offensively, Erden showed flashes of his ability. His lone basket -- his lone attempt -- came on a breakaway dunk after a Von Wafer steal (the first positive thing Wafer has done as a Celtic, by the way). Erden took off down the court as soon as Wafer had the ball, corralled a long pass, took one dribble, and dunked relatively smoothly. Then, late in the game, Erden was in the left corner when an offense rebound came to him. He turned to back his man down, but saw Marquis Daniels cutting toward the basket. Erden fired a quick pass over his right shoulder that hit Daniels in the perfect spot, a spot where only he could catch the ball. Layup.

On the whole, I thought Erden acquitted himself well. He certainly looked less lost than you'd expect from a foreign rookie center playing his first NBA game. All he needs to do is get rid of those white sneakers he was wearing, and he'll be on his way.

Bullets:

• Not only did Wafer assist on the first basket of Erden's career, he also assisted on the first basket of Luke Harangody's career, a fast break layup that came after Daniels stripped Daye on the other end. Wafer also assisted on Harangody's other basket, a 17-foot jumper.
• Seventeen more assists for Rajon Rondo, and a much smarter floor game this time out: He had zero turnovers. As a team, Boston coughed it up only eight times, and assisted on 33 of its 42 field goals.
• Boston had the ball at the end of the second and third quarters, and I don't have too much of a problem with either play, though neither was spectacular. At the end of the first half, Rondo fed Pierce posting up at the foul line. Pierce drew the double and kicked to Rondo for the three at the horn. That's not necessarily the shot we're looking for, but Rondo nailed it. At the end of the third quarter, Pierce took a three. Not the best shot in the world, but we didn't have a lot of time to develop anything and I think the Captain was feeling it a little bit.
• Speaking of Rondo and shooting, on one first-half possession, he dribbled upcourt, casually went around a screen on the wing, and buried a soft 17-footer that looked oh-so-comfortable. There's a decent shot hiding in that kid somewhere, I know it.
• The one downside about this game was that Doc Rivers had to play the starters a bit more than could have been necessary had the second team taken care of business to start the fourth quarter. Boston was ahead by 20 after three, but a quick 8-2 Piston run brought Ray Allen and Garnett off the bench. (Pierce and Rondo followed shortly thereafter.) The minutes weren't out of control -- 36 for Rondo, 34 for Allen, 33 for Garnett, 32 for Pierce -- but the Celtics play again Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday and the fourth quarter added 3-5 minutes on the starters' odometers.
• Part of the reason Doc had to re-insert the starters was because the second team lacked organization on offense. When Nate Robinson tries to take on that role, he subordinates his offense too much, and the bench mob needs Nate's scoring ability. Marquis Daniels tried to do it against Detroit, but he forced a bunch of shots. Hopefully, when Delonte West gets back, we'll see the second unit really gel.

Links of the Day (October 29, 2010)

• The Celtics aren't cutting Delonte West. If you're at all interested in the Von Wafer-West stuff, read this excellent post from Jay King at Celtics Town. I agree with just about everything in there, and would also have no problem if the Cs decided to get rid of Wafer instead.
• I only caught a few moments of Miami's big win over Orlando tonight, but it was enough to notice that there was something funky going on with LeBron James' mouthguard. I couldn't quite tell at the time, but it appears that James was simply getting into the Halloween, uh, spirit.
• Speaking of the Magic and the Heat, something of a statement by Miami, no? I'm not surprised they won, even as well as Orlando had played in the preseason, because the Magic were on the second game of a back-to-back, having destroyed Washington in the season-opener the night before. But win by 26 while holding Orlando to just 70 points? Can't say I expected that. I'm not ready to say it tells us anything new about either team, though. This was a close game at halftime, with Miami up just six points. That changed quickly in the third quarter, during which period Orlando made two of 20 shots. We knew that Miami was a good defensive team, but no defense is ever completely responsible for 2-for-20 in the NBA. Part of this was Orlando having one of the games they have occasionally had over the last few seasons, where they can't throw it into the ocean. That's a risk you run as a jumpshooting team.
• I don't know if the game eventually sold out, but the morning of the Heat's home opener (against in-state rival and co-title contender Orlando), tickets were still available. More fuel for the argument that the Miami fans don't deserve the caliber of team they've been given. Laker fans might show up to games late, but at least they sell out their games.
• Free agent center Erick Dampier has chosen to sign a one-year deal with the Rockets. Houston already has Yao Ming, Brad Miller, and Chuck Hayes at center. Yao's limited to 24 minutes per game, and he's not playing back-to-backs this year, so they certainly can use the depth. The Celtics were never in the conversation for Dampier's services as far as I know, but the Houston situation is a good illustration of the value of frontcourt depth. When Boston signed Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal this offseason, there was a lot of talk about how deep they had gotten in the post. But with Kendrick Perkins out for several months and both O'Neals already hampered by nagging injuries, we're reminded how easily a point of strength can become a point of weakness.

Links of the Day (October 24, 2010)

• Ever wondered what, exactly, a flex offense is? Wonder no more.
• I was never a big comic book fan as a kid, but I'm sure some of you were. ESPN.com's NBA preview last week had a Marvel superhero theme to it. It's (of course) available for ESPN Insiders only, but Celtics Life had the most comprehensive look at the artwork that I saw.
• Pick and Scroll simulated a season on NBA 2k11. The end result: Celtics in six (over the Spurs).
• The top ten dunks of the preseason.
• Celtics links: Celtics Hub breaks down Rajon Rondo's jumper, Celtics Blog's Greg Payne gives his thoughts on the preseason, and Von Wafer gets into it with Delonte West, perhaps illustrating why Wafer has the reputation he has.
• I'm not sure whether the argument between West and Wafer stemmed from this game, but here's a minute-long clip of West and Semih Erden playing two-on-two against Wafer and Luke Harangody. I link to it separately because it reminds me of the two-on-two games between the garbage time players on my team my junior year in high school. My coach always had a "roll the ball out and let 'em play" philosophy, and the result was a lot of five-on-five in practice, with no burn for the end of the bench. Those four guys would play intense games of twos on a side court while the other ten scrimmaged. The day before the state championship game, at the end of practice, our coach had us gather round and watch one final two-on-two game at one of the main baskets, a liter of Pepsi to each winner. Maybe it's because I just turned 30, but these are the memories I seem to be cherishing lately.

Preseason: Boston 107, New Jersey 92

[recap] [box score] [highlights from Red's Army]

I haven't had time to read the recaps from all the Celtics blogs, but it looks like a fairly solid all-around performance, as the Cs got contributions from just about everyone who suited up. That closes the preseason slate, and the Celtics' next game counts: the season opener next Tuesday against Miami.

Recaps: Celtics Blog; Celtics Town

Other Celtics links:

• Looks like Von Wafer's the 15th man for now. Stephane Lasme and Mario West have been cut. Apparently, Lasme's headed to Maine to play with the D-League Red Claws.
• More good news about Kevin Garnett's improved knee.

Preseason: Boston 97, New York 84

[recap] [box score] [highlights from Red's Army]

I'm sick of writing about games I can't watch, so just a few brief bullets:

• All the chatter after this one is about Kevin Garnett: 20 points on 9-for-11 from the field in just 20 minutes (though I should note that Amare' Stoudemire didn't play for the Knicks).
• A night after talking about being more aggressive offensively, Rajon Rondo scored two points on three shot attempts and didn't get to the line. Yet he led the team in rebounding (with eight) and committed just one turnover. He also had nine assists, including this beauty to Semih Erden. (If you watch that clip long enough, Tommy Heinsohn exclaims during the replay that Rondo has invented a new "gender" of passing. I'm assuming he meant "genre.")
• I'm close to declaring the battle for the 15th roster spot over. Von Wafer played another good game, and while Stephane Lasme made all three of his shots and also grabbed four rebounds, he committed five turnovers. As I said yesterday, Wafer basically just needed to show Doc he wasn't going to throw up on himself every time out to get a job. These last two games, he's done that.
• Nagging injuries kept the following players out: Marquis Daniels (sore shoulder); Jermaine O'Neal (hand bruise); and Delonte West (back spasms).
• Rookie Avery Bradley's ankle, the one that was surgically repaired over the summer, hasn't healed the way the team would like, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the shelf for a while. It's a shame he missed Summer League and most of the preseason, but he wasn't going to be a contributor this year anyway and his long-term health is important.

Here are a couple other recaps, if you want to read people who watched the game: Celtics Blog and Red's Army. There's some more detail about KG's night in there.

Preseason: Boston 117, Toronto 112

[recap] [box score] [highlights from Red's Army]

From what I understand, Boston had this one in the bag through three quarters before our bench (basically the third-string plus Nate Robinson) gave up most of a 28-point lead to many of Toronto's starters plus, incredibly, Marcus Banks.

The best nugget from the box score is 12-of-15 from the free throw line from Rajon Rondo. I take nothing from the 15 attempts, even though he says he's looking to get to the line more; it's preseason, it's the defensively-challenged Raptors, his career-high is 16 attempts, and he's only reached double-digits in attempts 14 times in his career. The 12 makes raise eyebrows, though. I'm not holding my breath, but if Rondo could become just a decent free throw shooter, it'd be huge for this team.

For what it's worth, Rondo's a 69 percent free throw shooter when he takes ten or more free throws in a game in his career (he hits at 61.6 percent in other games). I don't know if this is common, and, either way, what the explanation is: confidence, rhythm, statistically insignificant sample size are all possibilities. Just something I noticed when I was looking up Rondo's free throw stats.

Now, a few bullets:

• Marquis Daniels has apparently been working on his three-point range, which would be huge for a second unit that already has Nate Robinson and Delonte West as long-distance shooters. The box score shows 2-for-2 from range for Daniels last night, but one of them was a 45-footer just before the halftime horn. That's probably not the shot he's been working on.
• There's some talk that KG went up with two hands and finished an alley-oop from Rondo (see around 25 seconds into that link, although the footage before it is worth watching for a vicious jam from Toronto's DeMar DeRozan). Probably because the Rondo-to-KG alley-oop was kind of a signature play prior to Garnett's knee injury, it's something of a measuring stick for Celtics fans re: Garnett's health, and so this is an encouraging sign. Talk as camp broke was that Garnett was back to pre-injury form, but we haven't seen too much of that yet.
• Shaq and Delonte sat out as they continue to rest nagging injuries, and Pierce missed this one with a stomach bug. Doc Rivers told Stephane Lasme, a Gabon native, to stay home due to some sort of potential issue with his visa. That's kind of a rough thing for a guy who's fighting to make an NBA roster.
• It's especially harsh because his competition, Von Wafer, finally had a good game, or at least a good shooting night (he did have three turnovers and was a -15 on the game). Given Lasme's limited skill set, the team's frontcourt depth, and the need for a backup small forward, there is probably nothing Lasme can do to win the job if Wafer plays merely reasonably well. He hadn't done even that -- until last night, with Lasme sitting at home.

Preseason: Philadelphia 103, Boston 92

[recap] [box score]

Bullets gleaned from the box score and recaps around the Web:

• Pierce, KG, Ray, and Rondo all sat this game out to rest, and Shaq and Delonte were out to rest some nagging injuries. Even so, the Cs hung in until the fourth quarter, despite the fact that Philly played their starters most of the game.
• Jermaine O'Neal had a poor shooting night (1-of-6) but grabbed 12 rebounds in 19 minutes. I still think he's gotta run with the first team while Perk is out.
• First run for rookie Avery Bradley. An inauspicious start offensively (two points on 1-of-6 shooting and three turnovers), but reportedly a good showing defensively against Sixers starting point guard Jrue Holiday. Good to see the kid get his feet wet.
• Doc seems to be giving Von Wafer every opportunity to win a job. Wafer got the start and played 39 minutes, but his stat line isn't impressive, and neither are the reviews from Celtics bloggers who were able to watch the game. Stephane Lasme, on the other hand, seems to have made the most of his 28 minutes. He didn't put up gaudy numbers, either, but is being praised for his strong defense on Andre Iguodala.
• Mario West seems to be the odd man out of the battle for the last spot, playing just seven minutes. Oddly, I randomly came upon a two-year-old link earlier today, which indicates that this shouldn't be a surprise.
• Luke Harangody had 11 points, including eight in a row in the second quarter. He also went 2-of-2 from deep, his three-point shot being a surprise development from Summer League.

Recaps from other bloggers: Celtics Town, Celtics Hub

Preseason: Boston 91, Toronto 87

[recap] [box score] [highlights at Red's Army]

This one wasn't televised here in Los Angeles (shocking), so just a bullet or two based on what I can glean from what I've read.

• Jermaine O'Neal made his Celtics debut on Sunday, recording three rebounds and two blocked shots in about seven-and-a-half minutes. He did not attempt a shot. With Doc resting Shaq on Tuesday, JON should get some reps with the first team.
• It's only preseason, and it's only Toronto, but I can't help but point out that our bench closed this one out against what is more or less the Raptors' first team. The Celtics were up three heading into the fourth quarter, and didn't play a single starter for the final 12 minutes. Toronto, on the other hand, brought in Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan, and Joey Dorsey with 6:20 remaining and the score 79-78, Boston. That trio finished the game alongside Jarrett Jack and Leandro Barbosa, who came in later for Jose Calderon and Sonny Weems, respectively. Our second unit is pretty good, folks.
• Continuing the 15th man watch: Mario West got the DNP-CD, Von Wafer did nothing notable in 4:12 of playing time, and Stephane Lasme's only real contribution in 9:35 was this jam over Bargnani.
• More on the 15th man: Jay King over at Celtics Town proposes cutting Luke Harangody to make room for Lasme in addition to Wafer or West. As King himself acknowledges, it's highly unlikely for financial reasons (Harangody's salary is guaranteed). That aside, I don't really agree with the idea. Sure, Harangody's been unimpressive in camp and in preseason and his Summer League performance may have been meaningless, but he's inexperienced. The other guys aren't exactly hardened vets, but Wafer and West have played full NBA seasons, and Lasme's kicked around in a few training camps. I haven't seen anything that suggests that those three are more likely to improve than Harangody is. Moreover, Doc has shown time and again that he's not going to play guys he doesn't trust. I recognize that Wafer and West "fill a need" and they and Lasme may be more ready to contribute now than Harangody is, but the likelihood that any of them play meaningful minutes is so small that it would be foolish to make room for them by cutting a rookie who has shown some potential, however short-lived that potential was.

Celtics Blog has some more bullets, if you're interested.

Burn for Semih Erden (In The First Preseason Game)

Preseason Game 1: Celtics 93, Sixers 65 [recap|box score]

I don't normally link to game recaps from other Celtics fan blogs, since I figure people who come here generally want my thoughts and know where to get others'. However, I can't watch the preseason games, whereas I think bloggers in Boston can. So if you're interested in the details of this meaningless game, check out these posts from Celtics Hub, Celtics Town, Red's Army, and Celtics Blog. Also, Celtics Life snagged some highlights from NBA.com.

Some of those posts focus on Semih Erden, as does this one, and I'm going to, too, because the one thing that struck me, looking at the box score before I read anything, was that the Turkish newcomer played nearly 24 minutes. That's an awful lot, and it got me thinking about the possible reasons why:

• Necessity. With Kendrick Perkins out until at least February and Jermaine O'Neal sitting due to a sore hamstring, Doc Rivers was a bit shorthanded last night. Given the mileage on and injury history of Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O'Neal, it makes sense to give Erden extended run.
• Evaluation. Erden's been overseas since Boston drafted him, so Doc hasn't had a lot of time with him. Watching him with the Turkish national team is one thing, and working with him in practice is another, but the best way to see what he's got is to get him in a game situation. But if that was Doc's objective, why not play some of the other unknown quantities fighting for roster spots, namely Von Wafer and Mario West, more than 12 and seven minutes, respectively?
• Precaution. The general consensus is that there isn't room for Erden in the rotation this year, and that he'll spend most of the season in Maine with the D-League Red Claws. And it's true, if JON, Shaq, KG, and Big Baby are healthy, there's no room for Erden in the rotation -- particularly when Perk gets back. But that group is old and injury prone, and if Erden is ready to contribute, he could be an insurance policy. Knowing whether he can play could also come in handy if we decide to make a personnel move at the trade deadline, the way we have the last two years; if he's ready, we could address an area other than the post.

My hunch is that it's the first reason, but the third on intrigues me.

A few other quick thoughts on the guys competing to make the roster. It appears that Wafer played the entire final quarter, scoring no points on a very un-Waferlike zero shots, amassing two turnovers as his only stats. The guy he's apparently competing with for the final roster spot, Mario West, played the final seven minutes. It appears from the box score that West, similarly, had no impact on the game. But Stephane Lasme, who entered the game with West, had 12 points and four boards in his playing time, going 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Like the recently cut Tony Gaffney, Lasme -- mostly a shotblocker and defender -- is a UMass product. I haven't heard any rumbling that Lasme has a shot at the roster this season, but if he keeps this up, he'll stay on Boston's radar, for sure.

Second preseason game is tonight against the Nets, and is being broadcast on NBATV, for those of you who get that channel. Tip's at 7 Eastern.

Update on the 15th Man

This is why I try not to blog too much about day-to-day events in the offseason.

After reading all camp that it was Tony Gaffney vs. Von Wafer for the 15th spot, Gaffney gets cut (he's off to Turkey), and the current thought is that it's Wafer vs. Mario West for the last roster spot. Read this if you care about such things.

Headlines From Day One Of Camp

I've never intended this space to be a place for Celtics news; it's more of a place for readers to find my analysis and hopefully contribute some of their own. If you're interested in that sort of thing, I invite you to check out -- as I do -- any of the excellent links listed on the right-hand side of this page.

With that said, there are a few things from the first day of training camp that I think are worth mentioning:

First, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Kevin Garnett is back in form, looking as healthy as he did before the knee injury that ended his 2008-09 season. According to Washburn, there's no tape on Garnett's knee, and he's not running with the limp in his gait we so often saw last year.

Second, there's a little bit of controversy regarding Glen Davis. During Monday's media day, Big Baby sounded a bit frustrated. Yesterday, Doc and Danny responded.

Personally, I think this is a non-story, and an illustration of the dangers of discussing these sorts of things in the media. The first part of Baby's statement reveals that he thinks he's more valuable than most other people do, but that's hardly a unique attribute among NBA players. With the second part of his statement, Baby seems to acknowledge that he's a role player, and notes that the things he's been asked to do to carry out that role on the basketball court have changed over the years, and may change again this year.

Doc's response seems more focused on the first part of the statement, which is not surprising, because he didn't read or hear Baby's comments (he was told about them by a reporter) and that's the part of the statement that is most controversial and therefore fodder for the media.

Something to keep an eye on, I guess, but this is hardly the first time something like this has happened with Davis and I can't imagine it's suddenly going to blow up.

Finally, in my third offseason review post, I didn't mention Tony Gaffney, mainly because I didn't think he had much of a shot of making the team. However, rumor is that the last roster spot is a tossup between him and Von Wafer, so a few words are called for.

Gaffney is a journeyman out of UMass who the Celtics signed toward the end of last season (you may have noticed him on the bench in civilian clothes during the playoffs). He's long and athletic, a hard worker whose forte is defense. That makes his battle with Wafer an interesting one, since Wafer has been something of a malcontent in his young career and is known for his offense.

To me, Gaffney fills the bigger need. But he's also the unknown quantity, having never played an NBA minute. In theory, at 6-8, he can guard both forward positions -- he's considered a three but unless memory fails me, he played four in college -- and the 6-6 Marquis Daniels is the only guy currently on the bench who can guard small forwards. Additionally, we've got a lot of guards in the bench mix, so Wafer is kind of duplicative (though he's the biggest of the bunch at 6-5). But we don't yet have any indication that Gaffney can play at this level, and we know that Wafer can. Ultimately, particularly with Boston's emphasis on defense, if Gaffney loses out to Wafer, it will be because -- like Darius Miles in camp before the 2008-09 season -- the staff doesn't think the kid can contribute at this level.

Wafer, by the way, hurt his ankle on Tuesday, though it doesn't sound particularly serious.