Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Walter McCarty, who spent nearly eight seasons with the Boston Celtics during a 10-year playing career, confirmed to ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman on Tuesday that he will be an assistant coach on Brad Stevens’ staff.
The 39-year-old McCarty landed in Boston in October 1997 after being traded by the Knicks before his sophomore season. He emerged a fan favorite here and “I love Walter!” became a familiar catchphrase for television broadcaster Tommy Heinsohn. McCarty helped Boston to three playoff appearances from 2002-04 before being traded to Phoenix for a second-round pick midway through the 2004-05 season.
ESPN Boston: McCarty joins Stevens’ staff
That’s right… Walter McCarty, who once wrote three posts for us, has used the exposure gained here on Red’s Army to launch himself onto the bench as part of Brad Stevens’ assistant coaching staff.
We here at Red’s Army are proud that our influence was such an instrumental part of Walter’s success, and we’re sure that the influence here that shaped his values, ideals, and basketball acumen, will serve him well on his coaching path. We look forward to Walter reading our sophomoric knee-jerk reactions and implementing them in practices and games.
Congrats Walter!
Continuing our self-aggrandizing theme… A few of us continued our contributions to ESPN Boston’s Summer forecast by trying to figure out Kelly Olynyk’s rookie ceiling.
John Karalis, Red’s Army (All-Rookie): He’s got skills. He opened a lot of eyes in Orlando. And while that’s “just” summer league, the skills he displayed were instinctive things that go beyond “he just did that because the competition was bad.” He made the bad competition look bad. Of course he has deficiencies he’ll have to work on, but he’ll do enough to make the All-Rookie team.
Jay Ouellete, Red’s Army (Sullinger-like impact): Like Sully, Olynyk first proved he could play at the Orlando Summer League. And like Sullinger, I think he’ll have a similar impact.
The learning curve will be tough for Olynyk, but I think he’s not only got the skills, he’s got the smarts to figure out how to get himself to spots on the floor that will make him effective. Not only that, but he’ll have plenty of opportunities to do that on this team.
That’s not a knock on Doc, who perhaps unfairly gets the “he doesn’t play young guys” reputation. He did start Jared Sullinger after all, and he benched Ray Allen for Avery Bradley in AB’s second season (after injuries, and a failed experiment as the back up point guard). Doc never really had any other NBA-quality rookies.
No, what I’m actually saying is that with this team being in rebuilding mode, Olynyk will get plenty of minutes to prove his worth to the Celtics. I think that combination of skill and opportunity will open some eyes nationally, and land him on the All Rookie team.
The rest of the links:
CSNNE: McCarty joining Stevens’ staff | WEEI no longer airing Celtics games | Globe: McCarty rejoins Celtics as an assistant | Celtics games will no longer air on WEEI | Mailbag: gauging expectations
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