CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Friday Odds and Ends

January 19, 2007

The news today is that West is cleared by Dr. Doc to play. Peter May's Notebook in the Globe says that West should be back in the starting lineup tonight. I was interested in this quote from Doc in The Herald Notebook:

“This time has helped the (younger) guys,” said Rivers. “Gerald (Green) has taken big shots, and Allan Ray has shot the ball well. And I think the guy who has really improved his place on this team is Rajon (Rondo). I think he’s moved up to lead the pack."

Doc has been starting Bassy and giving him more minutes at PG but here he says that Rondo has moved to the head of the pack. It will be interesting to see if Rondo is the first PG off the bench tonight.

Scott Souza's article in the MetroWest Daily echos the information from both the Globe and the Herald with information that Wally isn't quite ready to return yet. West is cleared to play and Pierce may not be back until after the All Star Break. His injury is much worse than first thought and they are treating it like a break.

The Patriot Ledger has a piece on the rehab of the injured players. The Celtics' strength and conditioning coaches work them hard to get them back to playing shape.

High Above Courtside has an in depth interview with Celtics Dancer Cherie Blier.

Fox Sports has an article grading the teams so far. Celtics rate a D from them. According to their analysis, there isn't a whole lot good about the team. They also grade Atlanta and Charlotte with a D. Philly gets a D- and Memphis gets an F so at least we aren't alone at the bottom of the grading scale.

Celtics Beat reports on the growth of Gerald Green. His offense has been what you notice most in the box score as he has been doing a great job of getting his jumper off. But his defense may be where most of his growth lies as he has been given the task of guarding the best players on opposing teams and doing a decent job of it. He also promises a night no one will forget if he gets an invite to the Dunk Contest.

In a way that only they can, Red's Army launches Operation Oden. While most Celtics fans are torn between winning now and making the playoffs and losing the rest of the season to get a shot at Oden, it seems that Red has definitely made up his mind. It definitely isn't a bad year to be struggling with one of the strongest drafts in recent history coming up.

Game night tonight against the Kings at home. Kings have been struggling, losing their last 7 games, and they are in the midst of a road trip so could be easy pickings if we can just put together a good game. With West coming back, the minutes at the PG spot will be interesting. Rondo has been playing very well at the point and should get the bulk of the back up PG minutes but with Doc, even though he acknowledges that Rondo has played himself into the front of the pack, you never know. Join us for the Play by Play over on Celtics Green tonight.

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