LOY's PLACE a celtics green blog: Fiddlin' and Diddlin' on 8/31

Much of the Celtics news today centers on Pruitt and Thibodeau. The Herald has a very short piece mentioning both. The Globe has a short piece on Thibodeau and another on Pruitt that gives some details of his contract. The Thibodeau signing is significant because if you recall, he agreed to become an assistant with Washington and after working with their players for a couple of weeks decided not to. So, it is good to hear that after a couple of weeks of working with our players (Perk and Wallace in particular), he has signed a contract.

The Oregonian proudly reports that most of the Blazers are already at work in Portland. Former Celtic Raef LaFrentz is one of 3 players not in camp already. The Celtics have had quite a few players in Waltham for much of the off season. Perk took 2 days off and has been there ever since. Paul Pierce has moved back to Boston and has been in the gym working out there, and Perk, Rondo, Pruitt, Wallace, Davis, Manuel, and Tony Allen have all been regulars for much of the summer. Last night on FSN, they reported that by the end of next week, the entire team should be in Boston and working out together.

Celtics 17 takes a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of James Posey. Red's Army sees the Celtics as getting defensive. Green 17 discusses the face of the franchise. Parquet Pride looks at our projected starting lineup. Some Bloggin' on the Noggin asks if Banner 17 is on the horizon.

Section F Sports feels that the Clippers are signing players who should be in Boston. I agree with him that Brevin Knight may have been a good fit for the Celtics but just don't see Reubin Patterson as Celtics material. Wages of Wins Journal has a good article that looks back on Larry Bird's rookie season.

Charles Barkley called the '80s Celtics the ugliest team in the history of the NBA. Grey Matter feels that Danny needs a 10 step program.

SLAM is wondering if Rondo is about to get demoted. I don't see that at all. Rondo is the team's starting PG and the only way that would change is if Rondo doesn't come into camp in shape and doesn't do the job. I just don't see either of those things happening. It would be nice to have a veteran back up though in case of injury and for the playoff experience. FanHouse reports on why KG isn't a cornerstone player. KG is going to be in the HOF and will be remembered as one of the top players of all time. It isn't his fault that he hasn't had the players around him to win a championship. That is, until now.

Finally, there is an article on YES Network that I enjoyed reading. It starts out by saying that the Nets have owned the Celtics since that ECF matchup in 2002. It then goes on to say that Thorn and Stefanski are better executives than Danny Ainge and have made much better moves. But this is the part I really enjoyed.

The Celtics had, far and away, the best offseason of any team in the NBA and you could make a case that they did it at the Nets' expense.

Really, it's Boston against the entire NBA, but the Celtics landed four players, two of the whom Thorn always coveted, another whom the Nets really wanted and were close to getting and another who left them to play in Boston.

Their names are Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Eddie House and now James Posey. To be fair, Thorn and just about every other league exec covet Garnett and Allen.

The Nets had no shot at Allen, and frankly, haven't needed him ever since they got Vince Carter. They made the obligatory calls for Garnett, but Minnesota wasn't interested. They tried to re-sign House, but the Celtics gave him about $500 Gs more and Posey was also a money thing.

House wouldn't have made or broken the Nets' season, but Posey would have been a great pickup, especially for the bi-annual exception of about $1.8 million.

Last week, the Nets were close to getting the versatile swingman who can defend multiple spots and has buried them with his three-point shooting. But Ainge kept upping the offer, nearly doubling what the Nets' could pay without doing a sign-and-trade.

Sweet!! We managed to make Kobe very upset with Pierce getting help with the Celtics signings this summer and the Lakers still haven't made a move. Now, we have the Nets mad that we took the players they wanted. Very, very sweet! 32 days until training camp. Things are getting ready to heat up and I am excited!

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