Boston Sports Then and Now

Doc Rivers had a long and exhausting season on the Boston Celtics’ sideline this year.

The Boston Celtics’ season came to a crushing end nearly three weeks ago when the Celtics fell in Game 6 to the New York Knicks at TD Garden. Doc Rivers made comments after the game that left open the possibility that he might not be back on the Celtics’ sideline next year.

Rivers said, “You know, it’s not anything, I’m not leaning that way of not coming back. If I told you right now, I’m coming back. But like I just said, I immerse myself and I need to detox and we’ll find that out.”

Rivers clearly makes the point that he will be back next year, but he also claims the potential of sitting back and realizing that life may not be so great as the Celtics head coach next year. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce have been very loyal to Rivers and they could be leaving Boston this summer. Pierce has a team option that is guaranteed for $15 million if the Celtics’ front office decides to activate the deal by June 30th. If the Celtics choose not to exercise the option, they will buy out Pierce for $5 million. Garnett made the point that his future in a Celtics uniform is tied to Pierce after the Celtics’ loss in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals even though Garnett is signed for two more years.

The other option is that all three are back next year. Rivers used those comments as a way to deflect attention away from Pierce and Garnett. He could have just been loyal to his aging veterans. Rivers and Garnett have enjoyed such a great relationship since Garnett was acquired by the Celtics on July 31st, 2007. When Rivers took Garnett out with a minute left in Game 6, Garnett asked Rivers how he was doing.

“Doc is coaching next year,” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told the Boston Herald at the NBA Draft Combine last week. “As far as everything I know, he’s going to be our coach.”

If you read into those comments, you can speculate that Ainge might not be sure if Rivers will be back with the Celtics because he uses the phrase “as far as everything I know.” Ainge is allowing Rivers time to relax while Ainge continues to rebuild the Celtics into a championship contender. The Celtics still need more pieces, but they are over the salary cap.

Rivers is signed for three more years after he signed a five-year extension in May 2011. Like his players, Rivers is a loyal man. He agreed to that extension with the understanding that he would not be coaching Pierce or Garnett for much longer. He also does not want to be known as another Larry Brown (a mercenary who does not stay with a franchise for long) unless his family wanted him to be closer to their home in Florida.

In the words of Ainge, Rivers will be back next year because he ultimately loves coaching and he loves Boston.

Paul Pierce (left) and Kevin Garnett (right) may have played their last game in a Celtics uniform.

As the Boston Celtics head into the off-season, they have many questions to answer. The first is whether they should retain captain Paul Pierce?

Pierce could make $15.3 million this season unless the Celtics buy out Pierce for $5 million. If the Celtics choose to buy out Pierce, they will have to do it by June 30th. The issue is that the Celtics are already committed to $76 million for next season. If they buy out Pierce, they still do not have a lot of money to spend since they save just $10 million and they are already over the salary cap (likely to be in the neighborhood of $59 million). If the Celtics do cut ties with their franchise cornerstone, this could lead to Kevin Garnett also leaving the franchise. Garnett said after the Game 6 loss to the New York Knicks that his future is tied with Pierce. Head coach Doc Rivers left the door open  to the possibility of leaving the Celtics in his postgame press conference on Friday.

The free agent and draft class is very weak this summer so it will be tough to rebuild this off-season. This leaves trades as the only potential avenue to upgrade the 2013-’14 roster. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge was unable to ship Pierce or Garnett off at the trade deadline because he was asking for a significant return.

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The Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett (left) and the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony (right) will build on the physicality from their first meeting this year.

The Boston Celtics have overcome adversity this year to find themselves in the NBA postseason for the sixth consecutive season. The Celtics lost their All-Star point guard, Rajon Rondo, to a season-ending torn right ACL in a January 25^th double overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Rookie forward Jared Sullinger was forced to undergo surgery on his back in February that ended his season. Reserve guard Leandro Barbosa suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the third quarter of the 94-91 loss against the Charlotte Bobcats on February 11^th. In a matter 17 days, the Celtics lost three key players in their rotation.

This season has been split into the team with Rondo and the team without Rondo. Prior to Rondo’s injury, the Celtics were 20-23 and they had lost six consecutive games. Then the team improved their play and appeared to rally around people calling for their demise. They won their next seven contests, including a 100-98 overtime victory over the top team in the NBA, the Miami Heat, and were 14-4 in their initial 18 games without their floor leader. The team played well defensively and they spread the ball around. Jeff Green became the player that Danny Ainge hoped he was getting when he sent Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2011. Green was more aggressive on the offensive end and his speed and length provided fits for the opposition. At one point the team was down to nine active players because of all the injuries. Ainge traded Jason Collins to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Crawford before the trade deadline ended on February 21^st. He signed TerrPence Williams, Shavlik Randolph, and D.J. White. All three of these players came from the Chinese Basketball Association and had been unable to stick with a team in the NBA.

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With the return of Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics forward Brandon Bass could get more opportunities to drive toward the basket.

Boston Celtics forward Brandon Bass has improved his play since Doc Rivers inserted Chris Wilcox in the starting lineup for the 93-92 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 27^th.

Over the last eight games, Bass has scored in double figures in seven of those contests. The 108-89 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 31^st was the only game where Bass scored just 2 points. During this span, Bass has been more aggressive in taking the ball to the basket when the lane is open. He is knocking down his mid-range jumper consistently.

The most impressive part about Bass’ recent play has been the fact that the team is not calling plays for him. He is scoring with hustle and energy.

During this stretch, Bass has shot 46-of-83 from the floor and is averaging 13.9 points per game with five rebounds.

When Danny Ainge announced that Kevin Garnett would be out for a couple of weeks with inflammation in his ankle, Rivers continued to use a small lineup with Bass as the center. The Celtics got out-worked at home by the Knicks, who employed an equally small lineup with Kenyon Martin as the center. The Knicks had 15 offensive rebounds which led to 29 second chance points that night. On the following night Rivers put in Wilcox with Paul Pierce at the other guard spot alongside Avery Bradley. Jeff Green was used on the wing. Bass poured in 22 points against the Cavaliers.

When Bass hasn’t been shooting well, his game suffers on both ends of the court because he has trouble defending bigger guys in the paint. He became more communicative in the absence of Garnett on the defensive end. The Celtics continued to allow opponents to dominate the paint without Garnett, but Bass had been reluctant to even talk on the defensive side of the floor in the past.

While Bass had shown glimpses such as the 91-79 defeat in Oklahoma City against the Thunder in which he compiled 13 rebounds (including five offensive rebounds). Bass  had yet to maintain consistent efforts until recently.

Since Garnett returned on Sunday against the Washington Wizards, the Celtics starting unit has become even more dangerous. Bradley, Green, Pierce, and Bass were already playing well with the offensively-challenged Wilcox on the floor. With Garnett back, the lane could be open more frequently with Garnett setting up in the high post or taking the other team’s center out of the paint to defend his jump shot. Defensively, the Celtics have their leader back on the floor and they will not allow teams to get as many second and third chances against them. Garnett frees up the other players to get rebounds by just being active on the glass.

If the Celtics are to make a deep run in the postseason, they will need Bass to provide energy on both ends of the court.

Kevin Garnett (left) cannot bear to watch his team’s lackluster play while Paul Pierce (right) looks on.

The Boston Celtics are in the midst of a four game losing streak and just came off a winless road trip through New Orleans, Dallas, and Memphis. The news got worse today when Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge announced that Kevin Garnett will be out for at least the next two weeks with inflammation in his left ankle.

Garnett missed the 105-88 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on March 16^th with a left abductor strain and the 105-103 loss to the Miami Heat on March 18^th with the flu. He returned last Wednesday when the Celtics traveled to New Orleans to take on the Hornets. Doc Rivers said Garnett aggravated the injury in the 104-94 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. Garnett did not suit up in the loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night. Then Garnett went for an MRI on Sunday.

With a hobbling Garnett, the Celtics suffered too many breakdowns against the Mavericks with Brandan Wright exploding for 23 points and eight rebounds. After the Celtics got off to a hot start, the Mavericks were able to control the paint and get important rebounds from Wright and Vince Carter when the Celtics pushed the Mavericks’ advantage into single digits. The Celtics’ pick-and-roll defense also suffered without Garnett on the floor.

The Celtics were also without guard Courtney Lee against the Grizzlies. Lionel Hollins and the Grizzlies coaching staff took advantage by inserting Jerryd Bayless with Mike Conley in the backcourt whenever Avery Bradley was on the floor. Bradley is more of an on-ball defender while Lee can cover the other guard. With two weak defenders in Jason Terry and Jordan Crawford, Bayless erupted for a career-high 30 points to lead the Grizzlies to a 110-106 victory over the Celtics. Rivers was forced to empty the bench with the Celtics facing a double digit deficit in the fourth quarter. The reserves got the Celtics back in the game, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

The Celtics are fighting for potential home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs while to trying to avoid getting the 8^th seed in the Eastern Conference to face the  Heat.They are four and a half games behind the fourth place Brooklyn Nets while only two games ahead of the eighth place Milwaukee Bucks. There is a crucial home game against the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. The only good news is that Lee is expected to be back on the floor against the Knicks.

While the team is already depleted by injuries, the last thing the Celtics needed was to hear that they will be without Garnett, who is their emotional leader and best defender while there is only 14 games left in the regular season.

Forward Jeff Green nearly carried the Boston Celtics to a win over the Miami Heat.

The Boston Celtics showed they still provide problems for the Miami Heat on Monday night even without Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett on the floor. Despite the consensus that the Celtics are an aging, slow team, they showed that they can match the Heat by pushing the ball up the floor and beating the Heat in transition.

In the past, both Rondo and Garnett gave Erik Spoelstra and the Heat coaching staff fits because the Heat did not have anyone who could defend them even in a half-court offense. If Spoelstra put LeBron James on Rondo, then Rondo would be able to find a smaller defender such as Mario Chalmers on Paul Pierce or getting screened to free up former Celtic Ray Allen.

Jeff Green rose to the occasion in the 105-103 loss to the Heat on Monday and gave Celtics fans a glimpse of what could have been if Green did not have an aortic aneurysm in his heart last year. Like Rondo, Green can match the athleticism and size of James and Dwyane Wade. Green is 6-9, 235-pounds with the ability to be a top player in the NBA. These intangibles were why then-Seattle SuperSonics and current Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti traded Allen for Green during the NBA Draft in 2007. Green has never been an aggressive scorer despite leading Georgetown to the Final Four in 2007. When the Thunder could not afford to keep Green, Presti sent him back to the Celtics for Kendrick Perkins in 2011. What Green gave the Celtics on Monday night is exactly what Danny Ainge and former Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan were saying when they received the most talented player in that deal. The Thunder may have benefited in the short term with Perkins’ interior defense and the lunch-pail mentality that he brings to the court. The Celtics were just unlucky with Green’s heart condition or else they could have went to the NBA Finals last year.

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