CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Random Thoughts on Summer League, Free Agency and LeEgo

I got the tee shirt pictured above for my birthday. I love this shirt. It has the Celtics starting 5 on the front and it says "Where Winning Together Happens" under the picture. That is the Celtics in a phrase. The Celtics have always been about team. Not just now, but back in the 50's and 60's and 70's and 80's as well. (Notice I didn't include the 90's as those were the dark ages of the Pitino era). The Celtics have always been about team and Doc came up with the perfect word to describe Celtics basketball: Ubuntu. I love the Celtics.

I've been watching the Summer League games and although at times it has been pretty rough, I've been very impressed with Luke Harangody. Even though he is undersized, he plays bigger. He has a nose for rebounds and plays hard on every possession. He has earned a contract. At first I thought that Erden was a stiff but after watching him through the 4 games and knowing that he had a sore back and sore wrist and knowing that he still doesn't know a lot of English, I kind of like the kid. He played hard and I loved the fact that he plays with a scowl on his face. I think he'll come around to be a player. Lafayette and Gaffney both showed flashes of being able to play as have several others. I like the size of the two big Russian centers but haven't been very excited about their play. Of the others, I was most impressed with Matt Janning in the little time we got to see him play. I was sorry to see him leave for Vegas. Today's game should be interesting with only 7 players available.

While all the hoopla has been going on around the league about Decision 2010, the Celtics have been quietly going about their business. I love what Danny has done so far. Pierce and Ray could have gotten much more elsewhere but chose to stay with the team and without a lot of fanfare. I like the signing of O'Neal and I like the Erden signing. I know that O'Neal didn't show up in the playoffs, but he was being blanketed on defense by Perk. Even Dwight Howard struggles against Perk and so I'm not holding his playoffs against him. He can still play against everyone not named Kendrick Perkins and now that he is with the Celtics, that won't be a problem for him. I'm happy to hear that Tony's coming back. He really matured and helped the team last year finally. Danny still has Sheed's contract up his sleeve to get at least one more good player. Without needing a one hour special to do it, the Celtics are doing some good things.

I'm glad that LeJerk's decision has been made and the circus of all that was his free agency is over. Every other free agent quietly made their decisions and whether staying or going just went about business. If he was going to crush the hearts of the team and the fans that have been so loyal to him for 7 years, the classy thing to do would have been to do it quietly and give them the courtesy of letting them know before he did it. After reading Dan Gilbert's letter I started to think that maybe LeBron planned on leaving Cleveland as far back as their series against Boston in the playoffs.

No one can deny that he quit on his team during that series, using a phantom elbow ailment to do so. If the Cavs had made it to the finals, he would have no excuse to leave Cleveland. But if he wanted to get out of Cleveland, what better excuse to do so than to lose in the second round. He was never going to stay in Cleveland and set up a perfect reason not to do so. I have no problem with LeJerk leaving to try to get a ring elsewhere. It's the way he did it that makes him so despicable.

The Heat will now have to fill out the rest of their team with vet minimum contracts. They will get some good players who will take less just to play with the Miami 3. I am expecting to hear the announcement any day that Erik Spoelstra has been demoted and that Pat Riley is coming back to coach. Let the Heat bandwagon begin. I would so love for that team to fail miserably and then see LeJerk quit on them too.
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