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#Celticstalk: #Celtics Avery Bradley surprised himself in not feeling any soreness in his shoulders 24 hrs after first practice.
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@SherrodbCSN) December 18, 2012
#Celticstalk: #Celtics A. Bradley said he wants to get a few weeks of practice under his belt before he thinks about playing in games.
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@SherrodbCSN) December 18, 2012
#Celticstalk: #Celtics Avery Bradley will travel with the team out West later this month, but no plans as of now for him to play on the trip
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@SherrodbCSN) December 18, 2012
Avery Bradley feeling good the day after his 1st full practice. said he thinks the 1st hit on his shoulder came from kg on a screen
— greg dickerson (@gdickerson_csn) December 18, 2012
Avery says Celts have talked about a D-League stint, but he's planning to travel west on Celts' post-Christmas trip.
— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) December 18, 2012
Outwardly, it looks like the Celtics are being very cautious with Avery's return, but I'm guessing Doc and Danny are also trying to lessen the pressure on his surgically repaired shoulders. There's been a lot of talk of Bradley acting as a defensive "savior" upon his return; Doc has even compared his presence to Perk's. That's heavy praise for a 22-year-old kid that was last seen gutting it out against the Sixers in the playoffs last spring. Hopefully by the time the he comes back in the new year and after that west coast trip, the Celtics will have righted the ship by then.
Although last season's turnaround coincided with Avery's insertion into the starting lineup, he hasn't been on the court for seven months. However, last season, the C's went 14-4 when he replaced #20. The move also pairs Courtney Lee and Jason Terry off the bench and Doc has mentioned that he likes the ball movement when those two are playing together. The real bright side is that he'll help tremendously with dribble penetration by opposing guards and that effort will spark more intensity on that side of the ball. His addition to this rotation probably won't have a huge statistical impact, but there's no doubt his energy and enthusiasm on defense will have a domino effect on the team's effort.
Kool-aid, anyone?