Mark Murphy reports that Doc was so disgusted by what he saw in practice today that he sent the team packing off to the weight room an hour early.

“It wasn’t one of our better ones,'’ he said. “But I just had to end it.'’
To illustrate, Rivers took an example from his other favorite sport.
“When you’re playing golf, you can sit on the range and hit bad shots all day,'’ he said. “Well, you can practice bad habits all day, too.'’

“The tough part is when you have so many guys who can play a lot of different positions - as we have - that you have a lot more to go over,'’ he said.

The Celtics have announced that all their facilities will be professionally cleaned and all players tested for bacterial infections as a result of the infections that sidelined first Delonte and then Pierce.

As a result of the infections, all Celtics players and basketball operations staff are also being tested for bacterial infections. It's not as uncommon as you may think, and many college and professional teams have had issues with bacteria infections in the past. Players have thrown out personal hygiene items as part of the sanitization process.

Chad Ford has his Rookie Report out and he has some good things to say about our Rookies. He divides the Rookies into groups: The Good, The Solid, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Sleepers.
Rondo is included in The Good category and here is what he had to say:

Rajon Rondo, PG, Celtics
I had Rondo ranked at the top point guard in the draft almost all year and thought he should be a top 10 pick. He became the steal of the draft when he fell into the Celtics' lap at No. 21 (via trade from Phoenix).

So far in the preseason, Rondo has played as well as, if not better than, Boston starting point guard Sebastian Telfair. Only time will tell whether Rondo will be able to beat out Telfair for the starting job, but the facts are in his favor: Rondo is a much better defender and rebounder, and he has played virtually mistake-free basketball so far.

If he can learn to consistently knock down the mid-range jumper, he's got a chance to be a star.

Leon Powe, F, Celtics
It's doubtful that Powe will see much run on a stacked Celtics squad this year (in fact there's no guarantee he makes the team), but the C's have to be happy about his early play. The last few games he's been a force on the boards and in the paint. Powe has first-round talent. If the knee holds up, he could be a player down the road.

As expected, the team cut 2 players today. Bulpett reports in the Herald:

The Celtics took a fairly expected route today with their last cuts, dropping Luke Jackson and Brian Grant by the 6 p.m. deadline to get down to the maximum roster of 15.
Players have to be on waivers for two business days, so today’s cuts were necessary to meet the Monday 6 p.m. deadline for finalized rosters.
Jackson was acquired in an October 13 deal with Cleveland and was unable to get much of a look. Grant was acquired from Phoenix in the trade that netted the draft rights to Rajon Rondo, but he never joined the club in person.
In addition, the Celts will pick up their option for a the 2007-08 season on Tony Allen. That move could come as soon as today or Friday.

Kind of hidden in all of the media frenzy over the Telfair robbery and subsequent Fabolous shooting is the fact that Doc wasn't honest with the players or the press. It hasn't set well with ownership, press, or fans.

I am not the biggest Doc fan and most of that stems from his inability to coach defense or use his bigs to their strengths. I am a big fan of defense and love my bigs to play under the basket and own the paint. Doc coaches offense and expects the players to learn defense by playing it while practicing offensive sets. He also likes bigs who wander on the arc looking for an outside shot. I didn't think much of it at the time, but Doc's deceit that night was a big blunder. Things have settled down and Telfair's lawyer is saying that the investigation is over as far as Telfair is concerned, but there is still talk about how Doc handled the matter.

Chris Sheridan brings it up in his Insider Column on ESPN:

With a camera beaming his words back to the living rooms of New England, Rivers looked one of his beat writers in the eye and perpetuated the untruth, going so far as to say he had joked with Telfair that he must have gotten sick from dominating his cousin, Marbury, in the first quarter of the game.

The lie was exposed the following day, and owner Wyc Grousbeck was livid over the way the matter was handled, saying the team should communicate in two ways: By telling the truth or not commenting.

Word going around is that Wyc was furious that Doc lied to the press after Bassy was pulled from the Knicks game and that the Celtics are already thinking about replacing Doc with Rick Adelman, Stan Van Gundy, and possibly Jim Obrien.

The Celtics would have preferred Doc no commented Bassy's departure then appearing like liars to the press.

I'm beginning to think that the "Telfair Incident", when Doc's first instinct was to lie, will be the excuse Wyc needs to replace Rivers.

For an owner trying to establish a nice, clean image for his team, this transgression by his coach must have been unforgivable. Certainly in the cases of Tony Allen and Telfair we're obliged to believe that they are victims until proven otherwise. Doc doesn't have that luxury, he's guilty, with millions of witnesses. His image is permanently tainted with fans and more importantly the Boston media. To Wyc this is deadly serious.

Well, only one more game left in the preseason and I know that most fans as well as the players are ready for the regular season to begin. Hopefully the team is ready. I really, really wanted a win last night just to get that monkey off our backs that we haven't won 3 in a row dating back to preseason last year. Here is what is going on around the Celtics Nation today:

The Herald reports on Pierce's finger infection that sidelined him for last night's game. It does seem ironic that Pierce, who is known for playing hurt, is sidelined with a paper cut. He played the night after 9 hours of dental surgery to repair 3 teeth that had been knocked loose the previous night, played 3 weeks after almost dying from 11 stab wounds, and played last season with bursitis in his elbow, often having to drain it before taking the floor, but now he is sidelined indefinitely with a paper cut. I feel like I am in Bizarro World.


More from the Globe on Pierce's paper cut in the Celtics Notebook. Also covered is a brief recap of last night's game and some thoughts on the final cut. Mentioned as on the bubble are Kandi, Jackson, and Brian Grant. Two cuts have to be made and Grant isn't a definite because of Danny's hope of still making a trade.

Jeff over on CelticsBlog does a good job of breaking down the big name market of players that could be available for a trade.

Hoopsworld continues on the Leon Powe bandwagon. With all the hoopla surrounding the Telfair trade on draft night, the drafting of Rondo and Powe kind of went under the radar but both signings are paying dividends as both of these players get a chance to play and show what they can do for the team.

Celtics Pride has a good interview with Eric Weiss of Draft Express. He has some good insights and some positive thoughts on the Celtics.

The fact that most of our youth now have 2 full seasons under their belts should also help to alleviate some of that inconsistency, so the need to rely on the less experienced youth should be lessoned to some degree.

I think we’re going to have a productive season, one that will be fun to watch and should yield a playoff birth in my opinion because most teams in the league cannot compete with our depth of talent. This depth will help to keep most games close.

Game day and only 2 games left in the preseason. The last time we played New Jersey, we had to come back from a 23 point deficit to win the game. We also learned that Leon Powe can indeed play. Hopefully we will see more Powe tonight. His energy and effort just seems to get everyone else going and we have needed someone like that. Here is what is goin on around the Celtic Nation today:

There are a few articles on Powe this morning and I love it. The first is a great article in the Herald. Pierce is a Powe fan too and has given him the nickname "G-Unit", as in Gorilla Unit. I love it!!!

And when Powe went down hard in the fight for a rebound, Pierce laughed and shouted to the referees, “Hey, see if the floor’s all right.”
Pierce always has had an affinity for tough guys, bemoaning the loss of Danny Fortson years ago.
“Yeah, I like the guys who like to get down and dirty,” said Pierce, who agreed Powe might be a less psychotic version of Fortson.

“I just try to go out there and sometimes be the enforcer,” Powe said. “I try to get all the rebounds. Whatever I can do to help my team win, that’s what I do. Rebounding is all about effort. It’s all about effort and positioning. Whoever is quick to the ball, that’s who’s going to get it. That’s the attitude you’ve got to have. May the best man get it; that’s how I look at it.”

"So (in the games) I have to try to get offensive rebounds, and transition buckets, and fight for loose balls," he continued.
"By running the floor (in games), if I see a guard running up with the ball I can flash all the way to the post. Then it’s his choice. He can either hit me, or he doesn’t hit me and I get out of there and just get in position for the rebound."
His improved play of late is already putting him in a better position for more looks all the way around.
"We ran a game-ending play for him today," Rivers said. "I did it more to see if he could execute it, and he did. But I wouldn’t have done that two weeks ago. He is starting to get more comfortable and starting to understanding what we need out of him."

The following quote by exceptionally enticing Celtic rookie Leon Powe warrants wood-framing in locker rooms throughout the NBA: "It isn't about what I can do. It's about what Doc [Rivers] and the team need."
Selected No. 49 by the Nuggets last June and traded for an '07 second-round pick, the 20-point, 10-rebound (last year for California; both Pac-10 highs) macho forward is averaging nine and 8.3 in 18.3 minutes.
Why was Powe taken so low? He's a bit undersized for his position. He hasn't developed an outside shot (that's a plus, in my book) and his knees have twice gone under the knife. "We need someone to play hard, be physical, be a man," Rivers accents.
Considering the Celts' cavity in that category last season, as well as their rebounding issues, Powe's presence is very welcomed. At the same time, his transfer from Denver to Boston is shaping up as one of the draft's biggest hijackings.

In an early Heat practice, O'Neal lost the handle on the ball three times in 15 seconds and predicted that turnovers would increase dramatically because of the new ball.
But Shaq had played with that very same ball last February in the All-Star Game in Houston. He was 7 for 9 from the field in 22-plus minutes. Nash had six assists in 27-plus minutes in the same game. Nary a discouraging word was heard afterward.

After doing the Odds and Ends for today, I came across a couple more good articles.

First, ESPN has an article by Chris Sheridan on the Celtics in their Training Camp section. He begins with this premise:

With the exceptions of Paul Pierce, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West, Danny Ainge is willing to trade every single member of the Boston Celtics.

"Right now it's just making proposals and listening to proposals. I've been proactive for four years, but one thing I learned from Red [Auerbach] is sometimes the best trades are ones you don't make. So it's activity in seeing what's out there and what's available, but not necessarily trying to move people. I want to see them develop and see them play.
"That doesn't mean that I wouldn't if the right deal comes along, but I'm not looking to trade anybody on my roster right now."

Every time I bring a deal to ownership they'll say I'm not sure I want to get rid of our young guys for that, that just give me another sign that they're really sticking to their guns. But I still listen to phone calls, and I still make proposals and run it by ownership.

"I feel our talent is such that we can beat anybody, anywhere."

The four best quarters the Celtics have played this exhibition season have been with Rajon Rondo at point guard and at least one, usually two, legitimate front court players.

Yes m’am, Rondo can run and he has lead the team to it’s best defensive efforts, but he seemingly can’t do it without toughness, rebounding and interior defense.
The emergence of Leon Powe has given Doc Rivers another big man, who can run with that up tempo unit and pairing him with Jefferson seems like a great move.

As for Powe; in the midst of a four minute in four games stretch, where his coach was decrying that he didn’t get off the bench because he couldn’t grasp the system, he was given a few minutes in that New Jersey game and learned the “system” to the tune of 15 rebounds in 28 minutes.
He backed that up with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks and 3 steals against the Knicks on Saturday.
Can you imagine what he could do if he could follow the game plan?

As Leon, “Grown Man” Powe has played himself into solid minutes, Rivers should let him play himself out of those minutes.
His contributions have been too important to leave his playing time decision to the whim of a coach who never met a novelty lineup that he didn’t love.

The Herald Notebook reports that West's return to the lineup paid big benefits. He was everywhere and pretty much filled up the stat sheet. He didn't look the least bit rusty and that was good. His best play of the night was a great block on Eddy Curry. Also, Doc called Al out on his effort in games and Al responded with a very good game last night in spite of receiving 3 stitches after bumping heads with Miller in the first quarter and playing with a bandage over his eye the rest of the game.

Bulpett also reports that Pierce is very much enjoying his role as a mentor to Gerald Green. Green has improved in leaps and bounds since last year, and Pierce takes pride in the fact that he is able to help his possible successor learn the game. I love this team. The chemistry is great and players compete for playing time but also help each other and back each other up. It is a great atmosphere. When asked about Powe after the game, Perk had nothing but good to say about him. Telfair can be seen cheering Rondo on when he does something good. This is good stuff!!

The Herald also has a piece with several items of interest. Marcus Williams is using the draft snub to motivate him. The same can be said of Rajon Rondo and especially Leon Powe. And Al is using the unwarranted criticism the received last season as a motivation as well. The article also backs up the rumors that Danny tried to get Boozer this summer. It seems that his trade efforts have stalled with teams evaluating what they have and not looking to trade before they know. I do expect Danny to make another trade before the trade deadline, though. That is unless all our guys start playing so well he doesn't want to give any up. PETA may be the only people who really like the new ball. I love Pierce's comment on why it should be ok to use leather balls.

“Why not?” C’s captain Paul Pierce said of how the old ball was made. “We’re eating the rest of the cow anyway, right?”

Playing New Jersey, it just brought me back to reality, knowing what I can do and knowing all the work I did in the summer is going to pay off. In practice there weren't that many reps because there were so many big people. I needed to go up and down the court a few times in live action. I've got work to do and, hopefully, I can keep my play up."