My own opinon is that we didnt succed to what expectation i had for this offseason, we went out and targeted Eddie House, Tony Allen, Darius Miles, Patrick O'Bryant and Sam Cassel. The orginization didnt want to spend the amount Late Game James wanted (and i dont disagree with the assesment made by the Celtics in this case) but the gaping hole he and more importently P.J. Brown left is still a major concern.

From what i can gather Patrick O'Bryant hasnt furfiled the expectations set forth by the Celtics and as such isnt seeing enough playing time, Darius Miles was cut for the same reason, Cassel isnt seeing time as Gabe Pruitt has shown he can play NBA basketball, both rookies are headed to the NBDL with Walker getting few backup minutes.

So as i see it, we lost Late Game and PJ' Brown and switched Gabe Pruitt out with Sam Cassel.. and added bench players that is seeing 3rd unit playing time.

That cant be regarded as a success in my eyes.

I'm kind of upset Walker and Giddens weren't let loose really in the pre-season because with them being rookies it's unlikely that even one of them will crack the rotation on a regular basis unlike next year in Doc's system. That just seems to be how it works with him... Gomes didn't show up till late in his first season, Gerald Green only played a handful of minutes his first year, Powe didn't play much on a bad team, and Pruitt hardly played either.

I think they both can offer something in the regular season, but we're probably more likely to see them in Utah with the Flash.. 

A couple of things I noticed:

- Even though they played limited minutes together, Ray Allen, KG, and Paul Pierce seemed to have forged a much tighter and effective chemistry to their collective game. The obvious increase in chemistry from the first unit will be the main reason why this team will repeat.

A couple of things I noticed:

- Even though they played limited minutes together, Ray Allen, KG, and Paul Pierce seemed to have forged a much tighter and effective chemistry to their collective game. The obvious increase in chemistry from the first unit will be the main reason why this team will repeat.

- There is no doubt that Leon Powe is the Sixth Man of this team and deserves all the accolades he will receive this year. He has elevated his game and was, along with Eddie House, the most consistent bench player the Celtics had this preseason. And although Eddie was as consistent, his game wasn't nearly as effective, to the point of being dominating at times, as was Powe's game.

- Much of the bench, excluding the aforementioned players, are still wildly inconsistent. Yes, this includes Tony Allen who, although he looked dominating for two straight games followed that up with extremely bland games the last two preseason games where his play was a non-issue. O'Bryant appeared soft and offensively confused when playing with the bench and much better when he started. Walker had some highlight reel stuff early and disappeared later on. Giddens was mainly a non-factor and showed why he will be spending much of his year in Utah with the NBDL. Pruitt and Davis both started out slow and out of synch better seemed to play better with every game. Scal was Scal.

- I noticed a couple of new wrinkles in certain players' games. BBD has been successfully working on his 15 foot jump shot and was shooting it with a lot of confidence along the baseline. Pruitt's ball handling skills and overall grasp of the offense improved much and his range is deeper than I remembered. Both Ray and Eddie's shot selection seemed much more natural and less forced. Rondo finished much better during his drives to the basket. Perk looks even more muscular and imposing if that was possible.

- As the preseason wound down, it was pretty easy to detect who will be rotation regulars that get playing time and who will be riding much pine and have a very short leash on them when they are in the game. Powe, House, Tony Allen, and Davis will make up the bench rotation and we will see Pruitt grow into a role and O'Bryant, Walker, Giddens and Scal used sparingly and Cassell maybe not at all. My picks for the inactive list will be Giddens(NBDL), Walker(NBDL and only inactive instead of Scal because he can get a ton of playing time and experience playing elsewhere that will benefit him, Scal is Scal) and Cassell.

- Doc hasn't opened up a lot of the playbook but I did notice a few new double high post offensive sets and a more consistent low post and baseline double screens to open up shots for Ray and Eddie. I was pleased to see they were being run with some effectiveness and consistency.

- Ball movement from the starters was almost mesmerizing at times. Their ability to move the ball to the open spot for the open man was a thing of beauty for most of the preseason.