The Celtics held an open practice for season ticket holders last night at Tsongas Arena in Lowell. Even though I'm not a season ticket holder, I was able to attend (thanks to Steve C.).
After getting autographs from Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, Cedric Maxwell and some lovely Celtics dancers (we had VIP passes), I settled into my seat three rows from the court.
Conditioning guy Brian Doo lead the team through various stretches at the beginning. Kevin Garnett was already sweating profusely at this point. Next was a series of offensive drills lead by Doc and Armand Hill.
Tom Thibodeau lead the defensive drills and this is where the players cranked up the intensity. The guys also got loud (see above video). I could here them calling out picks and hollering at open guys.
The team didn't hold an all-out scrimmage which was disappointing. But they did run a series of full-court drills.
Paul Pierce took a hard spill and got up holding his back. He was OK and continued practicing. Rasheed Wallace did not seem to be bothered by his sprained ankle.
A couple of other observations – Rondo is lighting quick, especially in person. And the dude can throw a football. He was playing catch with some guys after practice, hurling tight spirals with ease.
I took a bunch of videos and will be posting them throughout next week. If you really want to see them now, just search "bigmck redsarmy" on youtube. I also took a bunch of photographs. Click here to view them.
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