Celtics Title Town

I have to say, I'm worried about the way this Jason Terry situation is dragging out.  I wonder if this is Bad Danny rearing up again, too-much-coffee Danny, manic Danny?   Danny, you are scaring me.  I think that when Ainge tries too hard to squeeze water out of a stone, and becomes obsessive about it, he ends up making horrible deals.   It sounds like we could really use Courtney Lee, but maybe we just can't get there, and maybe if we try too hard we end up losing some good things we already have?

Maybe Ainge is about to pull off a miracle deal, but I wonder if it's time to begin to leave well enough alone.  I'm not saying just forget about any possible deals;  keep talking and looking.  But let's focus on what we have now.  I think that what Danny has already done has made us a much stronger team than we were last year.   Here's the team I envision:

 5 -  KG, Wilcox, Melo

4 -   Bass, Sully, JJJ

3 -  Pierce, Green, Joseph

2 -  Bradley, Terry, Pietrus, Moore

1-  Rondo, Dooling

Of course, many of those players can play multiple positions.  Melo is probably the only Big who can't go back and forth between 4 and 5.   Green can play 3 or 4.  Joseph seems to be able to play 2 or 3.    All of the guards can play either one or two, except for Pietrus, who can play 3, and Rondo, who would has an irrepressible urge to play the five!!!    In short, we have a team that is surprisingly young, very flexible, and very, very deep.  Our weakest first  backup is Dooling (I know, I know, I'm assuming we will add him and Pietrus), and he's pretty solid, and he's not the only guy we have to can play the point.   We have three others who can do it.

It's kind of amazing to contemplate where we seem to be at!   It looks to me like our first guys off the bench during the playoffs last year (after Stiemsma), Dooling and Pietrus, will barely get off the bench at all this year, unless disaster strikes.  Admittedly, there's no Josh Smith on our roster, nor is there a Dwight Howard, so it's not a fulfillment of the fantasies that have filled the heads of Celtics fans for several years, but I think it's a roster that looks powerful and deep.  I think we are going to be awfully good this year.  In fact, I FEEL that this team is going to be great.  Do you feel that too?  I feel that something amazing is coming, like the vibrations in a railway line, or rumblings of thunder.

A lot depends on health, of course, as always.  Already we are starting the season without Bradley.  If KG goes down, or Rondo,  well, that's going to hurt a lot.  This coming season, like last year, could turn into a lottery disaster if things go badly.  But it could be great too.  I think it could REALLY be great.  And what team wouldn't be hurt if a key guy went down?

Which brings us to happenings around the league.   Yes, we seem to be getting better, but so are other teams, obviously.   The Heat have upgraded with the additions of Allen and Lewis.  Sheesh, imagine Allen knocking down threes all game long, game after game.  All he has to do is spot up and wait for Lebron and Wade to kick the ball out to him.   The Knicks have improved their point guard situation.  The Nets should be a lot better.  The Lakers should be a LOT stronger with Nash at the point.  Maybe we should be shaking in our boots, but I still think we have the best point guard in the league, and if Rondo continues to improve as he has done in past seasons, maybe the best player in the league.