I’d like to introduce a new feature (or gimmick if you like) to this site that I hope everyone will enjoy. I’ll be doing 3 bullet points on various topics about the Celtics. I’d love to say that I’ll do these every day, but I’m not going to promise that. Just expect them very often during the week (Mon. thru Fri.). Three seemed like a good number, and it lets me call them "Three Pointers." Hope you enjoy.
- Everything is wrapped up now. The rest of the regular season is just a second preseason. Oddly enough, Doc’s job may be getting harder. He has to balance opposing goals of resting his veteran players and keeping the best team in the league in the right kind of rhythm to enter the playoffs. This goes beyond figuring out people’s minutes. It is about managing personalities. Pierce is probably happy to take a day off here or there while KG would rather chew on nails. I’d argue that managing these players is nearly as important as drawing up plays. I don’t know of many coaches that I’d trust with that delicate balance more than Doc.
- On the flipside, nobody is quite sure how Doc is going to handle the rotation once the postseason begins. If PJ Brown and Sam Cassell get up to speed in the next couple weeks, we’ll have 12 legitimate guys that could contribute to this team. 13 if you want to count Scalabrine. Will Doc try to use them all? Will he at least get it down to 10? If so, who gets left out? Whoever he leaves out, someone will second guess that decision. My guess is that he’ll let matchups dictate when he uses someone like PJ Brown rather than Big Baby (and vice versa). He could switch between Eddie House and Tony Allen for offense/defense. Regardless, Doc will be under the microscope.
- It looks more and more likely that we’ll be seeing the Hawks in the first round. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that we’ll beat them, but I don’t think we should overlook them either. Three big reasons why are named Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, and Josh Smith. Two more reasons are named Al Horford and Marvin Williams. Bottom line: they are young and talented and anything can happen if they get going. Good thing the Celtics specialize in not letting anyone get going.