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.
I’m here to tell you that he is refreshed, he is excited, and he is ready to go. I’m also here to tell you that you are not reading the words of an unbiased observer. I really don’t see how anyone can spend any period of time around this man and not come away a fan.
[…] Replacing the great Ray Allen with Jason Terry and Courtney Lee has him very fired up.“The great thing about Jason is that he wants to come off the bench,” Rivers explains. “He loves that instant offense role.”
He is equally enthused about Lee.
“He can really shoot it,” said Rivers, “and he may be second only to Ray as a pure corner shooter.”
And then there’s Jared Sullinger.
“I’m not kidding when I say we sat there on draft night and kept watching team after team pass on him,” said Rivers, “and we’re saying to ourselves, ‘What’s going on?’
“I swear, maybe Danny [Ainge] was the one putting out bad info about his back, or this and that. We really were thrilled to get him.”
The idea of being able to throw the ball into a widebody who actually knows his way around the low post is going to be a nice experience, the coach believes.
Globe: Doc Rivers refreshed ahead of milestone
A couple of years ago, Doc seemed ready to hang it up, take a break, and possibly be coaching someone else right now (It’s a good thing he didn’t, because the timing worked out pretty well for him to have gone back to Orlando). Instead, Doc Rivers will pass Tommy Heinsohn this season as the second-longest tenured coach of the Boston Celtics. Only Red Auerbach has coached for longer, and Doc would have to stay here for 7 more years to catch him.
We’ll see how things work out for Doc in the future. As for this season, he’s going to have a few new toys to play with. He’s clearly excited about the new signings, but I’m interested in his plans for using Jared Sullinger.
Doc’s leash with rookies is notoriously short, but he’ll be the first person to remind you that the leash was a lot longer pre-Big-3. And Greg Stiemsma was a rookie last year who got plenty of time. So it’s not impossible to break into Doc’s rotation as a rookie. Sullinger has told everyone with a microphone that his focus will always be on rebounding. And we know the Celtics have a… how can I put this nicely… deficiency in that department.
If he can slide in and be a strong rebounder off the bench, it will radically change what the Celtics second unit is able to do. Sullinger and Wilcox can man the 4/5 spots off the bench and leave Jeff Green to play a majority of his time at the 3, which I think is his most natural position. Then you throw in Lee and Terry, and suddenly you’ve got a team that goes 10 deep.
It’s amazing, but for a team whose window was supposed to shut years ago, they’ve re-booted into a younger, more dynamic squad and they’ve only sacrificed Ray Allen to do it… and he was the oldest of the bunch anyway. I can see why Doc’s excited. He should be. This team might not have the flash of the Miami Heat or the big splash additions of the Lakers… but it’s a quality team that’s going to be in the mix.
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