Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason | Roster
Last year: 36-46, fifth in Atlantic, ninth in conference
Coach/GM: Jim O'Brien/Chris Wallace
Arena, first game: FleetCenter (18,624); Nov. 3, 1995
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 2,563-1,702/16
Notable: Losing record for eighth straight season
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The Celtics finished well last year; they were .500 under Jim O'Brien at 24-24. To improve and make a run at the playoffs, they need all the pieces to come together. The critical areas are at center and point guard. The other spots are solid. Kenny Anderson seems to be returning to his best game and could provide a big lift. The three centers -- Mark Blount, Tony Battie and Vitaly Potapenko -- must combine to put together adequate numbers for both offense and defense. Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker are outstanding all-around players. Their team defense will be improved under Dick Harter. The Celtics must defend better, keep their turnovers to 15 a game and get significant play from Anderson and backup Milt Palacio. It's too hard to predict how the three rookies -- Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joseph Forte -- will perform. |
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By Peter May
Special to ESPN.com
It's been six long, dry, occasionally tumultuous
years for the Celtics. That's the last time this
onetime presumptive contender graced the NBA playoffs.
It's been a decade since this 16-time NBA champion has
won a playoff series -- and 13 years since it won
anything more than a best-of-fiver.
Will that change this year? The Celtics think so.
But they thought so for the last few years under Rick
Pitino, who, incredibly, left a team in worst shape
than the one he inherited. And that team won 15 games.
Here's the basis for the Celtics' optimism:
player appreciation of low-key coach Jim O'Brien, who
quickly figured out that the players, not the coach,
covet the attention. His style is much more conducive
to the pros than the manic Pitino's. The Celtics
finished 24-24 under the steady hand of O'Brien and
the feeling is that 48 games is much longer than any
honeymoon or rebound affair. In other words, it was
more than just the elation of being freed from the
Pitino Gulag.
So, they figure they start the year at .500 and
go from there. In addition, only one player from last
year's team who had any meaningful role, Bryant Stith,
has gone. Meanwhile, the Celtics count six people who
had no part in the 24-24 finish and figure two or
three have to help. Five are players: the three first
round picks and Kenny Anderson and Tony Battie, both
of whom were injured for most of last year. (The
Celtics prefer not to think that perhaps the absence
of the two might have enabled others to step up and
play better.) The sixth is new assistant Dick Harter,
who has the reputation of being an excellent defensive
coach. The Celtics need help there.
In short, the Celtics are content to rest on the
laurels of last season's 9th place finish. But they
don't see a 36-46 team. They see a 24-24 team with
talented youngsters in a wide-open division. They'll
still rely heavily on Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce,
who were the second best 1-2 scoring punch in the
league last season (after Shaq and Kobe.)
Who's Who
The Celtics' major additions are all rookies and
none spent more than two years in college. The Celtics
took Arkansas' Joe Johnson with the 10th pick and are
very high on the kid. They envision him as a starter
in the backcourt with ball-handling capabilities. They
used the 11th pick on raw but robust Kedrick Brown,
who came from junior college. He has incredible
athleticism, but is still learning. Joseph Forte, the
North Carolina guard, was taken with the 21st pick. He
may be groomed for point guard duty, but, for now, he
will mostly watch. The one problem with the picks:
they are all small forwards or big guards, something
the Celtics have in abundance. Boston did nothing to
address the two big problems on its team: reliable
play at point and some interior toughness.
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FANTASY SLEEPER
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Kenny Anderson, PG -- He entered camp healthy and in a positive frame of mind, which is a major hurdle cleared. Surrounded by Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker, Anderson has the horses to get the ball down court and in the hole in a hurry. Health permitting, a return to the 13-14 points and 5-6 assist norm of a few years ago seems reasonable, while his career 1.6 steals per game is expected.
--Brandon Funston
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The Big Question
If this was a league for 6-8 and under, the
Celtics would be a playoff lock. But any time you plan
on getting big contributions from rookies, you're
running the risk of delayed gratification at best.
That's basically it. The Celtics are pretty much the
same group of players, plus the rookies, who O'Brien
thinks will make a big difference. They will continue
to shoot treys with impunity; Walker led the league in
attempts last year with an astonishing 603 but wasn't
even in the top 30 in percentage. He also was the only
player in the league to finish in the top 20 in
scoring, rebounding, steals and assists. Pierce and
Walker both were healthy all last season; the Celtics
have little wiggle room if one goes down for any
protracted stretch.
Best Case Scenario
Pierce continues to improve
and becomes an All-Star and Walker finally sheds his
image as a great Rotisserie leaguer and the team wins
43-45 games and makes the playoffs. This also means
Kenny Anderson somehow regains his touch from several
years ago, that the rookies play and contribute, that
the defensive woes from last year are dramatically
reduced by the presence of Harter and that the Celtics
succeed in becoming Milwaukee East.
Worst Case Scenario
Thirty to 35 wins and
another year in dry dock. Boston hasn't won as many as
40 games since 1994. It's hard to make a case for them
supplanting anyone who made the playoffs last season
while Atlanta, New Jersey and, yes, even Washington
could not only press them, but pass them. Anytime you
live by the sword, you die by it. The Celtics are
going to shoot threes all year and lots of them. Most
of those shots miss, which will present problems for
one of their biggest weaknesses -- transition defense.
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OVERRATED
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UNDERRATED
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TEAM MVP
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Vitaly Potapenko. Was he worth Andre Miller? Um, no! |
Antoine Walker. If he shot fewer threes and posted more he'd get 25 ppg. |
Paul Pierce. Amazing how he slipped to the 10th pick in draft. |
