BOLTON, Mass. -- Quick hits following Celtics head coach Doc Rivers' pre-round press conference at the Celtics' Shamrock Classic golf tournament on Tuesday.
On expectations for Darko Milicic: "I don't know. But I like that he has size. What we want Darko to be is just to come in and fit a role for us, and not push all these expectations that he's had on him his whole career. I think his first concern should be our team instead of trying to establish himself as the second pick in the draft thing. I think that probably hurt him over his career."
On whether Kevin Garnett will help Milicic: "I think [the "KG effect"] can either make you great or crush you. It's going to be one of the two. It's not really an in-between with Kevin, and in a good way. I like how he goes about his work, obviously, and how he approaches the game. I think if you're willing to learn, you can only get better playing with Kevin."
On Rondo taking another big step in his development: "Yeah, I'm all for it. I'm all for it. He's gotten better and better, obviously, and now he's one of the better point guards in the league. I think what he wants to be is more consistent all the time, just a guy that is a dominant player every night. I think that's his next big step."
On Jared Sullinger potentially finding a role in the rotation: "Well I'm hoping. I always say, they all look good when they play against each other, the young guys. Then when the old veterans come in, that tends to change a little bit. But I'm anticipating for him to play. Now, whether he earns it or not, that'll be up to him."
On why Jason Terry was such an important offseason target: "We wanted a scorer off the dribble. We do it every year, right after the season, I always sit down and write Danny a long letter about needs, and that was my number one need. I didn't think we had enough guys who could score off the dribble. Rondo can score off the dribble, but we needed a guy who can score and be a knockdown shooter at the same time. Courtney Lee is very similar as well, so that was very important for us."
On having a strong core of guards: Obviously we won't talk about [Avery Bradley] for a while, but when he comes back, I don't know if anyone has a better guard core than us. We're going to have to wait for that. But in the meantime, it'll be those [Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, and Courtney Lee] that can all play multiple positions, which is great. I've always thought that's the way I would love to coach and I'm going to have the opportunity to do that."
On Kevin Garnett playing center this season: "He'll still be a five. I don't think Kevin cares as much as he says. I think Kevin just wants to win. If I told him he had to play point and we would win the title by him doing that, he would give it a try. I just think that's who Kevin is.