I get off on 57 Celtics

[Q_FBE]

Tried posting this on the Celtics Blog main page:

Well not really but I am going to the Eric Clapton concert (at the Dennis Johnson Memorial Colusseum at Seattle Center - otherwise known as Key Arena in Seattle former home of the Seattle Sonics - Now the Oklahoma City Thunder. I find that ironic that the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City -  a 2 hour drive south of my former home and I moved from Wichita to Seattle with no local team to follow. The Portland Blazers are like Wichita State of the NBA - a midmajor team who can't quite compete with the Big Boys of the NBA consistently but they make Laker life miserable in Portland.

So I have my reasons to be meloncholy over this Kendrick Perkins deal. Good young centers are hard to come by in this day and age. Greg Oden is looking like another Trailblazer Bust. Perhaps the key to winning a title is to get three stars to mesh properly together - at least two. Perkins is a strong role player who will help Oklahoma, hopefully for a long time. His defense and rebounding and anchoring the defensive paint plus his on court demeanor will carry Oklahoma to the second round, perhaps the third. The Celtics have left themselves a hole in the middle that must be filled by Shaquille and Jermaine O'Neal. Last time I checked, Shaq was not due back for two weeks and Jermaine was not going to be available for at least another month. With the Celtics trying to acheive the top seed in the Eastern Conference, this does not bode well and I was disturbed by the poor play in Denver (who not surprisingly turned into a temporarily better team after the Melo trade).

So what can Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic give us. Nenad is a nice offensive player but is as soft as a marshmellow on the defensive end. When incorporated, the Celtics will have an easier time scoring. Jeff Green is a 6' 9" athlete who can do it all a la Scottie Pippen and was that pick we traded to the then Sonics for Ray Allen and started the 3 month rebuild process to take us from 24 and 58 to the 2008 NBA championship. Danny Ainge engineered the most remarkable turnaround in NBA History

So if I asked you if we traded Wally Sczerbiak and Kendrick Perkins for Ray Allen, Nenad Krstic, and a future Clippers pick would you like that deal? That is essentially what we did here with the Jeff Green pick and the Delonte West resigning washing out. Compare what Ray Allen has given us vs Perkins and Sczerbiak as far as scoring, defense and over all play and come to your own conclusions. I argue that the Celtics have the potential to be much better this spring than last year and they will need a higher level of play to get back the NBA finals and win the 18th Championship in 2011.

I conclude my Diatrabe with the Eric Clapton song "Rock and Roll Heart"

I get off on '57 Celtics,

I get off on screaming at the refs,

I get off on Bill Russell rebounds,

I get off on Tommy Hiensohn's hustle

I've got a Boston Celtics heart.