Friday, June 18th, 2010 at 5:23 pm  |  21 responses

Fix-A-Team: The Boston Celtics

Danny Ainge…this is where you really earn your paycheck.

“Fix-a-Team” identifies team’s key strengths and weaknesses, opportunities to get to the next level, and key threats to ascension. You will recognize this as a SWOT analysis. Today, we review the 2010 Eastern Conference Champs, the Boston Celtics.

by Eddie Maisonet, III / @edthesportsfan

The journey that the Boston Celtics took us on was one that exudedCeltics a since passion to do one thing. Win. But these Celtics are now officially old. Let me take that back…these Celtics are old as hell. Is this the end of the “Power Move Celtics?” (The name I’ve given them since their Celtic alumni strong-armed other teams to get Garnett and Allen.) You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers.

Aside….I never said these answers were the “right” answers…but I digress.

STRENGTHS
Boston’s Big Three aka “The Three Musketeers” of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce are as talented of a triumvirate as any in the Association. Plus, the Celtics’ newest star, Rajon Rondo aka “D’Artagnan,” brings a totally different skill set and youth to their team. Also, Boston has one of the top 4-5 coaches in the NBA in Doc Rivers, whose focus and mindset is perfectly suited for this assembly of players.

WEAKNESSES
Look, we know what the weaknesses of the Celtics are. Let’s count them out.

1. The Celtics are old.
2. Their scoring big men do not like playing in the post.
3. The Celtics are old.
4. Rajon Rondo can’t shoot.
5. The Celtics are old.
6. After Rondo, there isn’t an influx of young talent on the squad.
7. The Celtics are old.
8. Boston has shown the tendency to blow 2nd half leads.
9. The Celtics are old.

Here’s the other problem with Boston, besides being old, as of July 1 Jesus (Shuttlesworth, look I know we all know who I’m referring to but I wouldn’t want the man upstairs reading this and getting confused, because the REAL Jesus would never be a…) is a free agent, and Doc Rivers isn’t sure if he’s coming back in 2010 due to his kids all growing up. How does Danny Ainge replace them?

OPPORTUNITIES
Even with the assumption that the Celtics do sign Ray Allen for a two-year deal that would expire when KG’s contract is done; you’ve got to put some extra bodies on this squad that can make a difference. Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Sign two swingmen, one who can shoot and one who’s a great athlete – Two trends I noticed about Boston’s bench while watching the finals against the Lakers: 1) The best shooter coming of the bench for Doc Rivers was Nate Robinson. 2) Outside of Big Baby, there’s no one who can get them easy buckets and makes a ton of hustle plays.

This team missed James Posey in the worst way the last two years, but I think there are players you could get to fill this void. Flip Murray would be a great addition to Boston. (Plus, with as many old men there are on that team, doesn’t there need to be someone named “Flip” on the team anyway?) Great streak shooter and has versatility with his ball-handling and ability to play multiple positions. Also, could you get someone like Travis Outlaw to sign up? Good athlete, plays defense, and can do a bit of everything?

2. Sign a Point Guard – Because of money reasons I don’t see Nate Robinson resigning with the Celtics, so their best option could be to find one in free agency. This seems like such a minor thing with the uprising of Rondo, but the one thing we learned in the Finals is that Rondo is a supreme liability. If you could get a PG who’s smart with the ball and can knock down open shots…they’d be golden. Think of someone like Steve Blake, he’d be perfect.

3. Draft Wisely — The Celtics are going to need to develop some talent at the wings and down low. James Anderson from Oklahoma State would be a great add to Boston as he could learn the proficient skill of Allen and quirky-ness of Pierce, while maybe drafting a big like Florida State’s Solomon Alabi could learn the goon-like mentality and postgame brilliance of KG and ‘Sheed.

THREATS
With the oncoming threats of New York, New Jersey, Miami and other Eastern Conference teams due to the “Summer of ‘10”, Boston is in no position to make any major signings, plus like I said earlier Ray Allen and Doc Rivers are no guarantees to stay with them moving forward. Someone throws enough cash at ‘em…who knows.

CONCLUSION
I personally think Boston’s finished pending the recovery of Kevin Garnett’s knee. He’s only a year away from his knee surgery, and most knee injuries take two years to fully recover from. If he comes back with a vengeance, then the game is totally changed but…are we willing to bet money on that? Will Ray-Ray resign in Boston? Ummm…. Will Doc Rivers return in 2010? Ahhhh…. I’m not. Do we believe that Rondo can get a 15-foot jumper in to his arsenal? Ehhh…

Only the folks who wear the Gang Green actually know. We’ll just have to find out, but we’ll never forget what the Celtics gave us this season, and any free agent should remember the drive and passion they played with before others make the decision to just sign with a team.

Eddie Maisonet is a freelance sports writer, blogger and big time hoops fan from Oklahoma who currently resides in Cincinnati. Keep up with Eddie at SLAMonline as well as his blog Ed The Sports Fan and on Twitter.

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  • james

    ray said he’s willing to come back for much less $. i think if we prep up for one more run doc will come back and then retire after it. garnett is growing every game too. if we get rid of shelden and get a genuine post playing rebounding big man along with a few more nates on the bench we should be in a good place for one more run. i dont think that too much needs to change, if nate can come back that would be great, but if not just a shoot first pg who can shoot threes and a few explosive swingmen scorers off the bench and we should be good. i’d say sheed will come back for one more year because he wants go to out with a ring, so limiting his minutes by signing a post scoring big man and we should be good.
    so close this year it hurt. next year it can still work.
    people say pjax wins championships in groups of threes… thats when he’s playing with the best player of all time. when he’s coaching kobe he wins 2 straight surrounded on each side by a celtic victory. heard it here first!

  • LD

    The Celtics need LeBron. He doesn’t need 7 games to end a series. He can do it in 4.

  • kobesBESTfriend

    ^^^like when he got swept by the spurs???

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    No mention of losing Mr. Tibbs?

  • don

    get E.house back!

  • SMH

    3 words.. “Gasol’s left foot”

  • http://www.twitter.com/gerardhimself Gerard Himself

    I like that you named Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake. The last couple of years I really liked what Outlaw could bring to the table to any team, actually.

  • logues

    3. draft wisely. i didnt know teams were supposed to draft wisely. o, and if the c’s woulda won last night, which if ray coulda hit a f’ing shot last night(he had a lot of open shots), i think they woulda, would this post even be on here?

  • flimo

    They have to do one thing only: make Stern believe, that their championship makes more money than the laker’s.

  • kingboola

    Move ray allen to the bench! Reisgn nate! Sign channing frye! And trade for nazr mohammed or brendan haywood and move perkins to the four

  • JoeMaMa

    @Gerard himself: couldn’t agree more on Outlaw. With the right situation he’d really do some damage for a number of teams. I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about him: young, gotten better every year, good shot, athletic…

  • Tyler Whitcomb

    Bring back everyone that they can with out breaking the bank. Sign Anthony morrow and draft Devin Ebanks.If you can get Travis Outlaw, grab him. I personally think Doc will leave to watch his son in his senior season of H.S and girls play volleyball. Bring in Kevin Mchale as Coach and really try to resign Ray Allen (I know he was broke for most of the series, but you need him if he will sign for alot less money). Morrow would be huge off the bench and you need a 3 man lik posey to defend and I believe Ebanks can if you work with him, he can really rebound from the 3 spot.

  • dishon rucker

    I would have to say that I agree with your evaluation of the Celtics. Yes they are old but as we all saw experience can take you a long way in the playoff’s. I think the current Big Three should stay together throuhg the duration of KG’s contract under one condition. That they rescructure there contracts to get that much needed help. First let’s look at players that need to go….. Micheal Finey , Marques Daniels, Shelden Williams, and age old favorite Brian Scalabrinie. The replacements wish list should be should be Flip Murray, Tyrus Thomas,Jonh Salmons, Luke Ridnor and Brenden Haywood from the free agent pool any combination of those names would inject much needed youth and expreince to the team. Regarding the draft I am also a fan of James Anderson and Udoh the big man from Baylor would be a great fit.Both guys are athletic and have games that the Celtics need. This could all meaning nothing if Doc doesnt come back….. for some reason with the guys they have on that team and there character I doubt that they would just go out like that…. I look for all of them to come back improved.

  • BostonBaller

    Ray Ray was working his tale off defending Kobe which didn’t help his shot. Kobe was working his butt of defending and it caught up to him in game 7 (flat shot and missed FT’s…all that to say Ray still has game and I’m all for signing him.

  • http://twitter.com/pdxgaybball dma

    why travis outlaw isn’t getting mentions: he has some low basketball iq, is purely an iso player or spot up shooter. his defense is non existent, but will have the occasional help/block shot, and he has asthma.

  • Clippers4life

    Bring back Gerald Green!!!

  • irvan siregar

    yesyesyes
    celtics are old
    it’s time to rebuild

    like bring bron or wade..

    hehe

    juz wonderin’

    celtics for life!!!

  • Celts Fan

    Eddie – you’re an idiot. How did they strong-arm anyone for this team? We traded a solid prospect (Delonte) an expiring deal, and the #5 pick to Seattle for 32 year old Ray Allen, when they were in full-fledged rebuilding mode. How’s that not fair?

    Then, they traded a ton of expiring deals – $15M – 2 #1s, a damn good prospect (Big Al, who’s been considered an all-star snub the last few years,) and give-or-take prospect that busted (Gerald Green) and a solid, energy, bench guy (Gomes) for a 31 year old KG that has more miles on the tires than the age indicates based on the fact he came outta HS. When you’re trading an older superstar, you try to free up cap space (done, $15M,) draft picks (2 #1s,) and some prospects (Big Al was the blue chipper, Gerald Green was the flyer-on-potential guy, and Gomes was the rotation guy you know can help but never be a star.) What else would you want??? By comparison, when the Lakers traded for a BARELY IN HIS PRIME YET Pau Gasol, they only gave up Kwame’s deal (about $10M in cap space,) Marc Gasol (solid player, but not even as good as Big Al) and a draft pick or 2. So they traded less for a guy that hadn’t even hit his prime, much less been clearly on the down-side of it. Learn WTF you’re talking about before you start bumping your gums.

  • Celts Fan

    oh, and no one strong-armed Phoenix into trading us the pick for Rondo except Sarver’s cheap ass

  • rainman10

    The Celtics strong-armed teams in the ’98 draft to select Olowokandi, Traylor, and Raef Lafrentz ahead of Paul Pierce.

  • Budda88

    Were fix a teams done for Cleveland and Phoenix??

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