It's that time again. Ball Don't Lie, the best general NBA blog out there (and a fine friend of SBNation)  has come out with a shiny spiffy super spectacular preview of our beloved Boston "Basketball" Celtics. Some excerpts and thoughts below.

The meat of the preview as always comes from the man with the adamantium fingers, Kelly Dwyer. Basically he uses 800 words to tell us what we already know; that is our season rides on a certain six foot twelve inch power forward with possible office stationary in his knees.However, in proper BDL form he brings the in depth insight.

For one, his injury isn't a typical basketball-styled malady. There's nothing to fall back on, no "oh, I remember Boozer having that a few years back, he wasn't right until January, but he was fine eventually." Apparently his tendons had to be stapled back onto his right knee. Apparently he was limping around in practice last week. Apparently things are going to be fine by the end of October. Apparently, C's fans haven't had fingernails to chew since last February.

Additionally, because Garnett is such a unique player, there's no real telling from game to game just what his teammates need to do in his absence, should there be an absence to make up for. Because he does so much defensively to disrupt a game, alongside the usual all-world stat lines, it's not as simple as looking to run more for Paul Pierce or letting Rajon Rondo dominate the ball a bit more.

The second paragraph especially speaks to what is at the heart of the problem we faced last year. Even with a dramatically improved Glen Davis, and somehow better (for one out of two playoff series) Rajon Rondo, we still weren't THE Boston Celtics from 2008-2009. It wasn't like we were the same but worse...we were a completely different team. Different identity, different style. That's what Garnett brings beyond stat lines and cool commercials.

However, Dwyer isn't all doom and gloom. I don't know if you heard, but we added some decent players this offseason.

On Rasheed Wallace:

Rasheed can't replace what Garnett brings at all angles if KG were to step aside, but he's just about the closest thing there is to that.

On Daniels:

Marquis Daniels can really play. I have misgivings about his ability as a reserve point man, but he can help this team if the motivation is there.

Beyond that, it's mostly rosy with a touch of possible not that terrible gloom. Basically Dwyer's take is that we're going to be as good as Garnett is healthy, but after that we have all the tools.

On Rondo:

Rondo has a great chance to become the fifth All-Star on Boston's roster. That's up to him, and on a team with this much peer pressure, I don't expect Rondo to fall backward like he did for some stretches in 2008-09.

On Perkins:

Kendrick Perkins, assuming he continues to stay in shape, will continue to improve. He's not even 25 yet, and if Kendrick Perkins is the weak link in you're starting lineup, than you're doing pretty well.

And possibly the brightest spot of the article, Dwyer gives major props to the Captain (which shouldn't be that big a surprise considering this).

The rock here is Paul Pierce. He put the Celtics on his back to lead them into the playoffs with Garnett on the pine last year, he carried the team for years with no help, and though he might level off a bit in his 12th season, he should be there again in 2009-10. No matter what's falling or rising around him. Points, points in the fourth quarter, helping the team toward the win.

All in all, Dwyer expects good, but not nessecarily great things.

The team will win. As high as the low 60s, if KG is around and playing as well as can be reasonably expected. Possibly the high 40s or low 50s, if KG struggles. I hope this doesn't come off as flip, but the team is just going to have to try and make it to the playoffs with tendons intact. This group is made for the postseason, and the trick is going to be getting there with everyone on board this time around. You already knew that. Let's see what happens.

The rest of the article is worth checking out, there is this awesome picture:

via a323.yahoofs.com

There's still other stuff worth seeing, so I recommend you check it out in its entirety.

Do I like that I don't even see the words "Unquestioned 2009-2010 NBA Champions"? No. I don't. Do I like that the phrase "Best team ever assembled within the realm of understood written history" does not appear even ONCE in the article? No sir. However that aside, great work.