Bill Burt of the Eagle Tribune recently spent 30 minutes with Doc Rivers.
Here's Doc on the bench:
Q: The one thing the Celtics hit on last year was bench guys you
brought in, including James Posey, P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell. Is it
safe to assume that the Celtics have to do a better job at filling
those roles in 2009-10?
DOC: "Absolutely. We have to hit on backup
positions. That's the key to our season, the subtle moves we make. One
mistake we made was our locker room and our bench got too young too
quickly. I think it made Rondo and Perkins younger. When guys had
questions in the locker room, you had Sam, P.J. and Posey, plus the Big
Three.
"It's more difficult when nobody is there in the second group. And when
Kevin (Garnett) went down it really came down to the Big Two and now
those are the two old guys, minus Scal (Brian Scalabrine). That's way
too young."
On the playoff series with the Magic:
Q: What was most frustrating about the loss to Orlando?
DOC: "Game 6 was the game we gave away. We had it won. Game 7 Orlando
simply played better. You could argue they were the better team and let
it go pretty easy. But it was frustrating at the time."
Doc also talks about KG, Ray and Danny Ainge. There are no surprises in the interview, but it's worth your time.
The Globe's Marc Spears has the following tidbits in his column:
Despite rumors to the contrary, an NBA executive said there has been "zero" trade discussion regarding Ray Allen,
who will be a free agent in 2010, and that such talk is "preposterous."
Another NBA executive said, "I'm not really hearing that. But I would
expect that kind of rumor. They didn't win without KG [Kevin Garnett], he was hot and cold in the [playoffs], and he's a last-year guy. Upgrade if you can. It would make some type of sense."
An NBA source said ex-Celtics forward Antoine Walker is
in his best shape in years, as he hopes to return to the NBA after
being cut by the Grizzlies last season without playing a game. The
source also said veteran free agent Tim Thomas, 32, is quietly expressing interest in the Celtics.
I'd say there's zero chance Antoine returns to Boston, and I'm praying Danny can do better than Tim Thomas.
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