Today I am just really excited!! I know it was just the first game. I know Lebron only played minimal minutes. But what I saw last night from the Celtics has me very happy. They played defense. They played together. They ran. They rebounded. I liked what I saw very much. Rondo is the real deal. I was very impressed with his play. He was poised, made very good decisions, and looked like a true floor general out there, causing Tommy to draw comparisons to Cousy several times.

If I were to pick a starting lineup from what I saw last night, it would be Perk, Al, Green, Pierce, and Rondo. As a unit, they played very well together and seemed to mesh. Aside from my view of the team through green colored glasses, there are a few articles around today worth reading.

Mark Murphy in the Herald focuses on Gerald Green's improvement from last season. He definitely didn't look anything like the lost Gerald of the year before. Much of Green's improvement can be credited to his work with John Lucas over the summer. Coincidently, Perk worked with Lucas as well when he was supposed to be rehabbing.

In Murphy's Notebook, he lets us know that it was only one preseason game but that there were a few revelations we can take from it.

The two revelations - at least for a night - were rookie Rajon Rondo, who almost single-handedly changed the pace of the game with 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and an empowered Michael Olowokandi, who grabbed 10 rebounds (five offensive) and blocked a shot in eight third-quarter minutes.