CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Celtics Week: A Look Ahead

With the preseason over, Celtic fans can look ahead to October 30^th, when our newly reloaded Celtics finally take the floor against the reigning NBA Champions and Eastern Conference roadblock Miami Heat. Throw all the analysis, prognosis and speculations out the window: it’s time for some real basketball to begin.

What else can we look forward to this upcoming week?

The real start of the basketball season: as I mentioned, the games will matter now and teams will begin to play at full strength. The experimental lineups will be scrapped and we will see regular rotations take the floor. Of course, there is only one rotation that we are most interested in, and that will be Doc Rivers’. My money is on a Rondo-Lee-Pierce-Bass-Garnett lineup to begin the season, and hopefully draw first blood in the battle to beat the Heat.

Jared Sullinger’s ‘real’ pro debut: When we saw Sully lead the Celtics in the Summer Leagues, we gushed with anticipation. When he played well with Boston starters in the preseason, we were flooded with excitement. But the real test comes in Sully’s first NBA regular season game, a baptism of ‘fire’ on the road against Miami. If he plays anything at all like we have seen from his first two ‘debuts’, Sully can very well be the steal of the draft. I’m almost thankful to the NBA for red-flagging him during the draft.

Jeff Green’s triumphant return and tempering of expectations: Jeff Green is a feel good story, a young swingman with potential to be very good for quite some time. His preseason was excellent, although one of the things most pleasing about him is his ideal for self-improvement. James Worthy-comparisons aside, Celtic fans see Green as either the heir to Paul Pierce after the Captain hangs ‘em up or an overpaid role player. I think it’s time for everybody to temper their expectations and just let Green play.

The bench comes out to play: A bench this deep can wreak havoc on the second units of most NBA teams. Depth has been a key issue for the C’s for a while now, with loveable scrubs Ryan Hollins (gone to Hollywood) and Greg Steimsma (guaranteed contract with Minnesota) getting big man playing time with Mickael Pietrus (funny guy) and Keyon Dooling (retired) in the backcourt. The dynamic will change drastically this year, with Sixth Man of the year awardees Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa (albeit in a smaller capacity) and the aforementioned youngsters Green and Sullinger, among others.

Kevin Garnett, the anchor: After an offseason in which he kept everybody guessing on his next move, Kevin Garnett is back. We can thank Danny Ainge for talking him into three more years of Celtic basketball and while Doc Rivers never really believed that KG would retire, I for one had to sit through the Game 7 Conference Finals loss to the Heat wondering if this was the last time I will ever see the chest pounding, jump-shootin’, chalk-tossin’ KG in the NBA. Thank God he’s back.

No. 20 sniping against, not for, Celtic green: After five years of the Big Three, Ray Allen is no more. The offseason stories have been written, frustrations have been aired on both sides and now the time has come to play the Heat with Allen in South Beach White. It feels like a betrayal, and I will leave it up to you if it indeed counts as one, but it is all over and done with and now it’s time to play some real ball. Less talkin’ more ballin’, I say.

Stay tuned for our weekly prognosis and summary, including coverage leading up to opening week.

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