Point Forward, KG's Knee, and the Last Roster Spot

The last month or so has been very quiet, but that is starting to change.  Training camp is coming up soon, most of the players are in Waltham working out, and news is starting to trickle out.  Yesterday there was a charity golf tournament  (the Shamrock Classic) which was attended by Danny, Doc, and several players.  So of course the beat writers were there to get an early jump on Media Day and get some quotes.  Here is a sampling of what I found most interesting.

Rivers sees new Celtics adding a lot - The Boston Globe

"Marquis, that’s the guy no one talks about,’’ Rivers said. "I’m really looking forward to coaching him. I didn’t like coaching against him; I thought he was very difficult to match up to. He can play 2 or 3 and he has the ability to handle the ball. We’ll use him at point forward. "Defensively is where I like him. I thought last year, without having Posey, we didn’t have that other guy that could guard guys off the bench, and that put a lot of stress on Ray and Paul. And this year, we’ll have another guy to defend. "He’s going to replace [Posey] as far as minutes, but they are totally different. Both of them are very tough-minded, which is good. Posey was a guy who spread the floor more, Marquis will be a guy with the ball in his hands more and making decisions.

So there you have it.  "We'll use him at point forward."  That should be interesting to watch.

BostonHerald.com - Blogs: Celtics Insider" Blog Archive " Notes from Nashawtuc

Finally, Rivers and Danny Ainge each downplayed the importance of filling the 15th roster spot. "I don’t know if we need to fill that spot, really," Rivers said. "There’s no rush. We’re not going to play 15 guys. We’re not going to play 12 guys. So I don’t think that’s a big a deal for us at all."

Again, they are really downplaying the need to make any further moves.  These quotes seem to indicate that the team is done and ready to go into camp.  I am sure that if they can get another player that they think can help them, they'll still do it. But it sounds more and more like they'll give Hudson a shot at the 15th spot and call it a day.

Danny Ainge plans to talk - BostonHerald.com

The cautiously optimistic updates on Kevin Garnett’s progress from offseason knee surgery continued yesterday. "Kevin’s doing well," Ainge said. "He’s progressing. I guess we don’t know anything until we officially start going 100 percent live, but he looks good and we’re anticipating he’ll be ready for training camp." Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he’s been able to tell Garnett is returning to form by listening as much as watching. "Kevin’s good," Rivers said. "He’s been running, playing, jumping, talking - that means he’s back." These comments may provide little comfort to Celtics fans who recall the team offering similar assessments at the end of last season, only to see Garnett miss the final nine games of the regular season and the playoffs. But more conclusive answers are imminent, as training camp opens on Sept. 29 in Newport, R.I.

Bill Simmons is questioning the truthiness of the Celtics statements surrounding KG's injury via twitter, but I'm not buying it.  It makes sense that they would be taking things very slowly with KG right now.  There's literally nothing to play for an no reason to rush anything.  The cautious approach is the right way to go.  But you never know I guess.  Maybe we're all being lied to and this is going to be much worse than anyone is letting on.  We'll find out soon enough.

Update: I missed this earlier (h/t Celtics Hub) but Doc's comments indicate that Sheed will be in the lineup during crunchtime.

Rasheed has the ability to spread the court at the end of the game. His presence will probably affect Rondo the most, in a positive way. At the end of games, it will be difficult to come off of [Rondo] when you have four guys standing behind the 3-point line, or three guys [at the 3-point line] and Kevin on the floor. I think it will make Rondo a lot more dangerous.''

I support that.  Perkins is great, but he's not a threat at the end of the game.  As long as Sheed can provide most of the intangibles that Perk brings, you don't lose anything with him on the floor.

Training camp starts in a little over a week.  Who's ready for camp?