Celtics Reloaded: The Story of the 2009-2010 Boston Celtics

[rjsuperfly66]

Using NBA 2k9 (Sold 2k10 last week)
Difficulty: All-Star
Rosters: Updated From 2010 Trade Deadline

Celtics Look to Make Reloaded Run to the Championship
Bob Ryan
Boston Globe
October 25th, 2009

The addition of Rasheed Wallace and the return of Kevin Garnett have Celtics fans excited for a reason. Their difficult Game 7 loss at home left the team upset and disappointed in their performance, as a fourth quarter collapse of epic proportions allowed Orlando to win the series and eventually make it to the NBA Finals.

"Sure we were disappointed with how last year ended, but we are all professionals and are looking forward to this season," were the words of the captain, Paul Pierce, who is as excited as anybody to get this season underway. "Adding KG and Rasheed back to the picture gives us depth that we didn't have last postseason. Against the better teams, you just can't get by based off of your starters. You need a complete team effort."

Expectations for the Celtics are not very high this season, but maybe that is where the teams wants them to be. The C's are projected to finish 4th in the East, behind Cleveland, Orlando, and Atlanta.

"We know those teams are good, but we still believe we are better," was the sentiment of Doc Rivers press conference after practice.

Cleveland added Antwan Jamison and Shaquille O'Neal as key pieces to a team that lost in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, Orlando made a key offseason move, adding Vince Carter to replace free agent Hedo Turkoglu. Atlanta, without making any key offseason additions, has developed their young players, believing they can all future NBA All-Stars.

However, the continued development of Rajon Rondo into a all-star caliber player is something that Coach Rivers thinks is important in keeping the Celtics as a contender.

"When we won two years ago, it was the Big 3. They had to do it by themselves. But now we believe we are the Big 3 +1. We believe Rajon Rondo is as important to our success as Paul, Ray or Kevin."

In a few days, we will see which Celtics team will show up this season. Will it be the team that collapsed against Orlando on homecourt in Game 7, or will it be the new Celtics, a team that mentally and physically, is reloaded.

[rjsuperfly66]

Celtics Roster

Point Guard

#9 Rajon Rondo
6'1
Kentucky

Shooting Guard

#20 Ray Allen
6'5
Connecticut

Small Forward

#34 Paul Pierce
6'7
Kansas

Power Forward

#5 Kevin Garnett
6'11
Farragut Academy (HS)

Center

#43 Kendrick Perkins
6'10
Clifton J. Ozen (HS)

Bench

#30 Rasheed Wallace
6'11
North Carolina

Bench

#11 Glen Davis
6'9
LSU

Bench

#42 Tony Allen
6'4
Oklahoma St.

Bench

#40 Michael Finley
6'7
Wisconsin

Bench

#7 Marquis Daniels
6'6
Auburn

Bench

#4 Nate Robinson
5'9
Washington

Bench

#13 Shelden Williams
6'9
Duke

Reserve

#10 Marcus Landry
6'7
Wisconsin

Reserve

#44 Brian Scalabrine
6'9
USC

Celtics Coaches

Head Coach

Doc Rivers
Entering 6th season with the Celtics
451-380 Career Record
39-34 Postseason Record
1 NBA Championship

Associate Head Coach

Tom Thibodeau
17 Seasons Coaching
His defenses' have finished in Top 10 of NBA 14 Times

Assistant Coach

Armond Hill
18 Seasons Coaching
Former IVY League Player of the Year

Assistant Coach

Kevin Eastman
23 Seasons Coaching
Served as Nike Basketball's National Director of Skill Development for One Year

Assistant Coach

Clifford Ray
23 Seasons Coaching
Drafted in 1971 by the Chicago Bulls

Assistant Coach

Mike Longabardi
12 Seasons Coaching
On Coaching Staff that led Lafayette to the NCAA Tournament

Celtics Trainers

Head Athletic Trainer

Ed Lacerte
23rd Season with the Celtics
Athletic Trainer of the 1992 "Dream Team"

Strength and Conditioning Coach

Bryan Doo
7th Season with the Celtics
Doo has consulted and trained various NHL, Olympic and elite athletes

[rjsuperfly66]

Celtics Facilities

TD Garden


TD Garden is a sports arena in Boston. It is named after its sponsor, T.D. Bank, N.A, and is often simply called The Garden, or the traditional Boston Garden. It was formerly known as the FleetCenter and the Shawmut Center (title sponsor Shawmut Bank was bought by FleetBoston Financial, and the TD Banknorth Garden until July 16, 2009, when the TD Banknorth name ceased to exist. before the arena opened). TD Bank, N.A. has been in control of the arena's naming rights since 2005, with the arena called
TD Garden is the home arena for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association, and the Boston Blazers of the National Lacrosse League. It is the site of the annual Beanpot college hockey tournament, and hosts the annual Hockey East Championships. The arena has also hosted many major national sporting events including the 1999 and 2003 NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball regional first and second rounds, the 2009 Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, the 2004 Frozen Four, and the 2006 Women's Final Four.

TD Garden is one of two NBA arenas (along with Amway Arena, home of the Orlando Magic) with parquet floors. The Celtics are best known for the tradition of the parquet floor, originally built after World War II because of cost and the scarcity of lumber in that time.



Practice Facility


The 23,000-square-foot, $32 million fitness center includes everything from a parquet basketball floor to leather chairs in a mahogany locker room and a sauna with a Celtics logo in the tiled floor.

The Celtics training facility is actually a private training center within the 139,000-square-foot HealthPoint wellness and fitness center, which will offer memberships to the public.

The facility was developed by CareGroup healthcare system in conjunction with New England Baptist hospital and Deaconess-Waltham Hospital.

Along with the replica parquet basketball court and the championship and retired numbers banners from the old Boston Garden which decorate the walls, the Celtics practice facility also boasts a rehabilitation machine and large-screen $45,000 Smart Board. The state-of-the-art television and computer can show highlights from Celtics games and play-by-play of any team in the NBA.

[rjsuperfly66]

Schedule for October and November

10/28 Cleveland
10/31 Chicago
11/1 @ Indiana
11/4 @ Houston
11/5 @ Oklahoma City
11/7 Milwaukee
11/9 @ Detroit
11/10 Toronto
11/12 Atlanta
11/14 Denver
11/15 @ Milwaukee
11/18 New York
11/20 Detroit
11/21 @ Minnesota
11/23 @ Toronto
11/26 Golden State
11/28 Philadelphia
11/29 @ Charlotte

[blakjak12]

Sweet Dynasty. I am big Celtics fan, so I'll follow this for sure!

[rjsuperfly66]

Celtics (0-0) vs. Cavaliers (0-0)
October 28th, 2009
TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts

Starters

Rajon Rondo Point Guards Mo Williams

Ray Allen Shooting Guards Anthony Parker

Paul Pierce Small Forwards LeBron James

Kevin Garnett Power Forwards Antwan Jamison

Kendrick Perkins Center Shaquille O'Neal


Cleveland Shows Toughness, Routs Boston
Bob Ryan


Lebron scored 24 with 8 assists in 32 minutes.

This was supposed to be Boston's night. They were supposed to be the team showing the heart of a champion. They were supposed to be the team with the slogan, "Reloaded." But it was Cleveland who came to the Garden tonight, and showed Boston what a team that is reloaded is supposed to play like.

The first half mainly belonged to Cleveland. They grabbed the lead earlier on a Jamison jumpshot, and seemed to have control the whole way. Although they had the lead for almost the entire first half, they never led by any more than 6 points, and led at halftime by the score of 41-37. LeBron was the driving force for Cleveland in the first half, pacing them with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Kevin Garnett made sure to remind us all that he was back, scoring 10 and grabbing four rebounds in the half. Paul Pierce scored 11 to lead the Celtics in the half.

Cleveland came out the aggressors early in the second half, opening up a 56-46 lead with 5:14 left. Much of this had to do with the foul discrepancy, as at this point, the Celtics had 20 fouls to Cleveland's 9. By the end of the third quarter, Cleveland had opened up a 69-53 lead, as LeBron and Mo Williams eached scored 10 points in the quarter and got their teammates involved as well. The Celtics continued their disappointing play for the remainder of the game, and fell 94-72 to the Cavs.

This disappointing play in the second half is the same sort of problem that plagued the team late last season into the playoffs. This lack of passion was supposed to be answered with the return of KG, but unfortunately that was not the case.

LeBron torched the Celts for 24 points in only 32 minutes, while Mo Williams scored only 12 but had 8 assists. Newcomers Antwan Jamison and Shaquille O'Neal combined for only 13 points, but smothered the Celtics all night with their defense.

Pierce scored 21 for the Celtics, and Garnett added 18 in the losing effort. Fortunately for the Celtics, they get Chicago in their next contest, and team that lost Ben Gordon in the off-season, who was the heart and soul of their offense. Derrick Rose is a great player, but Rajon Rondo is better, and that should be the difference in this one.

Box Score For Starters

Celtics

Rondo - 1 Point (0/5), 5 Assists, 2 Rebounds, 1 Steal
R. Allen - 6 points (3-11), 3 Assists, 2 Rebounds
Pierce - 21 Points (6/18), 3 Rebounds, 2 Assists
Garnett - 18 Points (7/9), 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists
Perkins - 4 Points (2/3), 2 Rebounds, 1 Assist

Cavaliers

Williams - 12 Points (3/11), 8 Assists, 1 Rebound
Parker - 4 Points (1/7), 1 Rebound, 1 Assist
James - 24 Points (10/15), 8 Rebounds, 3 Assists
Jamison - 7 Points (3/6), 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist
O'Neal - 6 Points (3/5), 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 3 Blocks

[blakjak12]

Quiet nights from Ray and Rajon. You'll need much more out of them obviously.

[rjsuperfly66]

Celtics (0-1) vs. Bulls (0-1)
October 31st, 2009
TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts

Starters
Rajon Rondo Point Guards Derrick Rose

Ray Allen Shooting Guards Kirk Hinrich

Paul Pierce Small Forwards Luol Deng

Kevin Garnett Power Forwards Joakim Noah

Kendrick Perkins Center Brad Miller

Bulls Second Half Stuns Celtics
Bob Ryan

Hinrich scored 23 Points with 8 Assists, and played terrific defense all night

The Celtics were supposed to be "Reloaded." But after a second straight double-digit home loss, maybe it is time for us to consider this team a failure. The Bulls looked like a JV team in the first half, but when they wanted to score in the second half, they did at will, and defeated the Celtics 101-90.

In the first quarter, the Celtics led from start to finish, not able to put away the Bulls, but keep some distance, having a 26-19 lead at the end of one quarter. The importance of this was not only the score, but the fact that Rajon Rondo began to get on track after an awful first game, having 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the quarter.

In the first four minutes of the second quarter, the Celtics went on a 9-2 run, opening up a 35-21 lead with 7:59 left. However, the Celtics allowed the Bulls to go on their own 9-2 run to end the half, closing the Celtics lead to 47-44 on a buzzer beater by Jannero Pargo. Luol Deng was an important part of this run, scoring 5 of the 9 points on his way to scoring 13 in the half. However, Ray Allens' 13 points and Rondo's 7 point and 6 rebound effort were great to see after the duds they through up against Cleveland.

Chicago stormed out in the third quarter and got their first lead of the game with 8:46 left on two Derrick Rose free throws, giving them a 52-51 lead. The Bulls would grow that lead to 6 with 4 minutes left in the quarter, but Ray Allen would hit back to back three pointers to tie the game at 63 with 3:19 left in the third. After that, Boston struggled to find their rhythm, and with 7:42 left in the fourth, Chicago would have an 80-73 lead, their largest of the game. Boston would call a timeout to talk strategy, but it did not work. Chicago opened up a 12 point lead which Boston would cut to 6, but it would be too little too late. Chicago would leave the Celtics stunned, 101-90, at TD Garden.

The second half struggles continue, and its tough to begin to diagnose the problem. The Celtics need an answer, a sparkplug, and they are struggling to find it. Rasheed has filled his role perfectly, scoring 12 points with 7 rebounds, but lackluster performances by others is the reason for these problems.

Kirk Hinrich played a complete game, scoring 23 points with 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals, making several clutch shots in the fourth quarter. Luol Deng also added 21 points in the win.

For the Celtics, they would be led by Ray Allen's 19 points. The Celtics return to the floor tomorrow night at Indiana, a team who is simply not very good. A loss here, and the Celtics could be in big trouble.

Box Score For Starters

Celtics

Rondo - 12 Points (3/8), 9 Assists, 9 Rebounds, 2 Steals
R. Allen - 19 points (5-13), 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists
Pierce - 13 Points (6/13), 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists
Garnett - 13 Points (5/15), 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists
Perkins - 0 Points (0/1), 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Blocks

Bulls

Rose- 9 Points (3/6), 5 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Blocks
Hinrich - 23 Points (8/10, 5/5 from 3), 8 Assists, 4 Rebounds, 3 Steals
Deng- 21 Points (8/18), 2 Rebounds, 1 Assist
Noah- 2 Points (1/6), 13 Rebounds, 2 Blocks
Miller - 8 Points (3/9), 2 Rebounds, 2 Assists