CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Fiddlin' and Diddlin' on 7/11

First of all, last night on the late edition of Sports Tonight on FSN, Mike Gorman said that the buzz in Vegas yesterday was that the Celtics main emphasis now is a back up Center. The main buzz yesterday was that the Celtics may be focusing on Marcus Camby but that Theo's contract year may make him helpful on the court this season. He also said that as of right now, Telfair is our #2 option at the PG and that the Celtics. The Herald also covers Telfairs improbable rise from the ashes as does Celtics Blog.

Celtics.com discusses Green's push to diversify his game. With the Boston media, you never know if they are high on a player and just reporting good stuff or they are trying to hype up their value for a trade so they can get rid of them. There have been a lot of articles lately on Green's hard work to diversify and on Telfair's reformation and that makes me wonder.

The most intriguing article today comes from Scott Souza in the MetroWest Daily News.

Doc Rivers has an answer to critics who say that his teams in Boston have been indifferent to the concept of defense since he arrived three years ago.
He's taking over.
After guiding the offensive play his first three seasons, while top assistant Tony Brown oversaw the defense, Rivers revealed he will be the main person handling the defensive scheme now that Brown has left the Celtics for an assistant's job with the Bucks.
"Right now it's with me and I don't mind that," the coach said after watching his team play a second straight spirited defensive game in the summer league on Monday. "My first year as a coach (in Orlando), when I won Coach of the Year, I didn't let anybody but me deal with defense. Since then I've tried to focus on offense and have always hired a defensive coach. It's been Tony here.
"Offensively, we've run the same system and we know that now," he continued, "so I am going to give that to one of the other coaches. I will have (summer league coach) Armond (Hill) run the offense this year and I will take over the defense, along with whomever I hire (as another assistant). That will be my focus."
According to Hill, the head coach's emphasis on defense has been a focus of the practices leading up to and during the summer league.
"Doc is taking the lead and everyone else is following," said Hill. "What we have done in the first five practices is that we have worked on defense. We have explained to the guys what is expected of them, where they should be, how they should play."

I am not sure if I buy the fact that our lack of defense was all Tony Brown's fault. Doc didn't put much emphasis on defense either. In my opinion, Danny issued an ultimatum to Doc and told him either we play defense or he was gone before the All Star break. And Doc conveniently turns into a defensive guru and Tony Brown is a convenient scapegoat. One thing is for sure, however it happens, an emphasis on defense is a good thing and the team has played good defense so far in Summer League. I just hope it continues with the regular season.

Speaking of defense, there are a couple of articles on Brandon Wallace on the USC website and on NBA Glue. On another front, Paul Pierce is out in LA for the ESPY's and is playing soccer. I don't think he is going for a career change but looks like he is having fun with it.

Davis has done well on the boards but has been very underwhelming on the boards and Gator Sports and SI.com are both discussing the fact that the Celtics are waiting on him to prove that he can play on both ends of the court. Ryan Gomes is playing basketball in Connecticut. Can Danny takes a look at the new Luxury Tax level. The Celtics are getting closer to it and whatever moves Danny makes, he will have to keep that in mind.

I am looking forward to tonight's game. It should be a good one. I am excited about the fact that the team may actually be putting an emphasis on defense, even if it is Doc doing it.

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