After waiting what seemed like an eternity we finally have real Celtics news to talk about and real video to watch of the team we have anticipated all summer. KG was quotable as always
"Well we have continuity," said Garnett. "Obviously, you've got to keep it continuous and stay consistent with it. But, for the most part, we're hanging out, we're being social. Turkey will probably amplify that, because we don't know anybody over there. Other than that, it's a lot of new guys and Doc's changing up the system a little bit, so it's a lot of new stuff, so I can't get a read on it. Give me a couple of days and I can give you a fair assessment. But right now, we're all trying to get this new system, we're all trying to figure each other out.
"I will say this, though. And this is totally off the record -- well, not off or on the record, but -- yesterday we had a [team] dinner that we were driving to and we've never followed each other, none of that. Obviously, the new guys learning the city and stuff. And the way we were driving in formation, this guy getting over, letting him in, blinkers -- it was all cohesive. So, I'm going to chalk that up, that's like solid chemistry for me being able to follow you or driving or anything like that. That was some good driving continuity, so I'm going to chalk that up as some team chemistry in there somewhere, you know? It's like gumbo. I'm throwing everything in there. I got driving, I got social, I got Turkey and Milan, so, yeah, we'll see how this tastes at the end of the day."
The inside of KG's mind is a scary place to be. Gumbo, huh?
Speaking of KG being quotable, Ray Allen responded to his quote at Media Day about not having Ray's number any more.
"That's a shame," Allen said. "I'm a good person to talk to on the phone. ... I've been in weird trade situations the last few years. You always felt you had one foot in and one foot out so I can't worry about it."
And a snarky Dwyane Wade had to add this little tidbit:
"(Garnett) doesn't need to be talking to our team anyway, so it's all good."
And while KG was cooking again, Pierce prefers to use dating analogies.
"Well, you can't know everybody in one week, so it's going to take time," said Pierce. "I mean, you get familiar with one another, then there's that stage where you understand everything that person does. So, it takes time, and that's what builds chemistry. It's like in a relationship. You don't know the girl after one week. You've got to get to know them, just like teammates when you develop that chemistry. That's going to be the good thing about going overseas. We're going to spend a lot of time with each other, we're going to hug, we're going to go on some dates, and get to know one another."
Paul Pierce was impressed with Rondo's first day in camp: I've felt for a couple of years that some of Rondo's shooting problems have been mental, and a lack of confidence. Maybe his new leadership role is giving him the confidence he needs to knock his shot down on a regular basis.
“Rondo looked great today,” said Pierce. “He’s pushing the ball. He looks strong. He’s knocking down his shot. He’s TAKING his shot. But that’s what we want from him, and that’s what we’re going to expect from him.
“You know, he’s our leader. We’re going to look for him to do a lot of good things for us.”
Courtney Lee joined the returning quartet of Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Brandon Bass and Kevin Garnett on the first team. I'm sure that Courtney has his work cut out for him trying to keep up with 4 teammates who already know each other very well. Rondo touched on it a bit.
"I kinda confused [Lee] a little bit, I was calling a bunch of different [plays]. But I told him where to go and he picked it up pretty quickly."
Jeff Green is in great shape and is very happy to be back on the court with his teammates after last season's surgery. He said that he played most of his time at the 3 in practice, while Chris Wilcox played most of his minutes at the 4. I'm seeing a 2nd unit with Jet at the point, Lee or Bradley at the 2, Green at the 3, Wilcox at the 4 and one of our 7 footers at the 5 (whichever one impresses the most). I'm getting giddy again!!! Like Paul Pierce said, this team is going to be scary good.
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