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.
With the 2012-13 training camp opening in less than two weeks, one encouraging sign for Boston is that the team as a whole appears to be ready for the new season. Younger players like rookies Jared Sullinger, Fab Melo, and Kris Joseph, and first-year guys Jamar Smith and Dionte Christmas had the benefit of summer league and worked out together in Waltham for much of the summer (training camp bodies like Rob Kurz have joined up in recent weeks).
Veteran bodies like Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, Chris Wilcox, Brandon Bass, and Courtney Lee have jumped into the informal workouts in advance of camp. Kevin Garnett just wrapped up a promotional tour of China, but there’s little reason to worry about his conditioning. Paul Pierce spent the summer rehabbing the left knee that hampered him in the postseason and his health will be one of the few question marks when camp opens in Waltham on Sept. 29.
ESPN Boston: Shaping up for a strong start
First of all… media day for the Celtics is in TEN days. As in the number after nine and before eleven. Then the Celtics embark on an overseas trip where they will, without a doubt, build an unbreakable bond that we’ll look at fondly as we reminisce about it while the parade winds its way past City Hall and down Tremont street.
But I might be getting ahead of myself there.
Regardless, it looks like the boys are in shape and already enjoying each other. That picture is from Courtney Lee’s Instagram account. You can see Chris Wilcox peeking into the shot on the left, and you can see a clearly animated Jason Terry, who has sort of become “captain of the new guys,” decked out in his red Reebok gear. He mentioned Rondo and Jeff Green as part of a group trip to the West Coast. Other guys like Kris Joseph and Fab Melo have been tweeting from Los Angeles… so they might be part of the run. And then there’s Paul Pierce running an insane set of stairs in Santa Monica.
I’m not sure yet how it’s going to translate on the court, but this team is getting ready. And by the looks of Pierce’s stairs workout, I’d bet his knee is just fine. Fitness won’t be the problem it was a year ago.
So maybe the Celtics are getting together for a little private court time out west so they don’t get bothered.
Or if you’d like to believe something I totally just made up, then the Celtics are out in LA working out to show the Lakers how it’s done… and so they can begin and end their season the same way… having a great time after a successful run on a court in L.A.
Speaking of L.A… check out this piece on the Lakers, and how this new CBA will either make them the New York Yankees of the NBA (and then, undoubtedly, the subject of the next lockout) or force them to break the team up (and then, undoubtedly, make them the new face of this past lockout).
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