A Few Random Thoughts After the First Day of Camp

 Media Day and the first day of camp are in the rear view mirror.  We should be getting reports out of camp today as the Celtics meet for their second session of two a day practices.  They are staying close to home for camp this season instead of setting out for exotic locales like Rome or Turkey, or even Rhode Island.  I think that speaks to the practicality and attention to detail of Brad Stevens.  He gave this explanation when asked why he elected to stay in Waltham instead of opting for more glamorous digs for training camp.

"Because my office is here. The computer is there. The TV I know how to work is in the same place," explained Stevens. "The equipment guys don’t have to carry thousands of bags, the video guys don’t have to move their whole life. It made a lot more sense to stay here. We’re in the age and stage where ... the kind of work we are getting done is more important than anything else."

Doc Rivers always elected to go away for camp. This season he is taking his Clippers team to Vegas for camp. He felt that it was better to get the players away from home as a bonding experience. In my opinion, going away for camp may be more of a distraction for the players with more things to see and do. Staying home for camp sets the mood that they are in it to work and not for sightseeing and having fun. I think they can still bond quite well at home.

It appears that Jeff Green has set off a bit of controversy when he made the statement that it's tough to block out all of the talk about his inconsistency but he just says 'blogs suck' and moves on. John Karalis, of Red's Army, has a great reply to Green on Boston.com. You should read it because it really is good. In gathering daily links I see most of the Celtics blogs on a daily basis and I admit that there are a couple of blogs that I avoid because they post things that have no basis in reality. Most blogs, however, are very good sources of information and opinion on the team they write about. I have always tried to be responsible here on Celtics Green as well as trying to stay positive. For good or bad, blogs are here to stay and so hopefully someone will show Jeff the article I referenced above and hopefully he takes it to heart (no pun intended).

You have to love Rajon Rondo. The doctors have projected that he will be out for 6-8 weeks, and I've even heard 10 weeks from some, with his current injury. He was interviewed by Mike Gorman and said he hopes not to miss any games with his current injury. The current time line means that Rondo will miss at least the first two weeks of the season. In an interview with Mike Gorman, Rondo said that he hopes not to miss any games. He mentioned that he didn't think it would take 8 weeks on media day, to which Danny Ainge said that they were going to be cautious with him. I guess we'll have to wait and see whether Danny or Rondo will win that exchange. Here is a part of that interview:

I watched CSNNE SportsNet Central this morning, hoping to hear some news out of the Celtics two practices from yesterday. I waited through 29 minutes of Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins coverage to get approximately 1 minute of Celtics news. That's the way it usually is. They cover everything else in depth and then give a cursory nod to the Celtics. And while I'm at it, Gary Tanguay and Mike Felger shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Celtics coverage. Felger has always been a Celtics hater. I used to really like Gary Tanguay but since being taken off the Celtics pre-game coverage, he seems to be very anti-Celtic. I guess it's a case of which came first, like the old chicken and egg thing. Did Gary get removed from Celtics coverage because he's anti-Celtic, or did he become anti-Celtic after being removed from covering them?

Last season when Rondo was out, Brad Stevens turned to a very unlikely player to take his place at the point. Jordan Crawford was known mostly as a chucker and didn't seem like a very good choice to start at the point. But, he surprised everyone and played some of the best ball of his career and actually played very well at the point. He even won player of the week honors one week. Now, with Rondo out of camp, Stevens is turning to another unlikely player to fill in for him. At 6'7", Turner could be a nightmare at the point for opposing coaches. And think of the big lineup the Celtics could throw out there. This could be fun!

I think every coach begins training camp talking about running more this season. At least most of them starts out that way. And they all talk about how important defense is. But, as the season begins, those promises don't always come to fruition, whether because they don't really mean it and say it because that's what everyone expects or because their players just don't want to run. But, I think this team is built to run. They have Rondo, Smart, Turner and Pressey at the point, all of whom can run the court. This season they have a true canter in Zeller who can run the floor. Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger are both young and can run. With a young team, they should be running on every possession. Hopefully, this is the team who will follow through on their coach's promises to run.

On to day 2 of camp. Just 5 days after today until game time!!!!
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