We traded the fifth for Ray Allen, who seems like a nice enough guy. He's a bonified second fiddle kind of player, which is what Pierce needed. Then we drafted Gabe Pruitt, who seems to pretty closely resemble Delonte, now gone to Seattle. That makes Pruitt an undersized, skinny shooting guard who can spell the point and can't defend either position. Sweet. Then Big Baby, from the Mike Sweetney/Robert Traylor school of soft touch and soft belly. Most Celtics fans will note the roster here at PF: Ryan Gomes (can't defend 3 or 4), Leon Powe (jury still out but somewhat small), Al Jefferson (weak side defense only, nasty scorer and rebounder) and Glen Davis (probably a decent scorer, middling rebounder and defensive liability). We can't always be going big or going small, you have to have some kind of balanced lineup. So really it doesn't seem that the team has improved, or is going to improve at the two drafted positions. At least we didn't pick up Josh McRoberts. Now Ray Allen. What can I say? He's a jump shooter who's softer than the stay-puft marshmallow man. This team might win 45 games if he's healthy and they're well coached. He might be healthy, but they won't be well coached. That's a given. He'll save their terrible half-court from Pierce's low percentage junk and might be smart enough to jell with the break. He's a decent passer, so Al should benefit to some degree. He runs off picks well, so Doc is going to have to teach someone how to set one without fouling (I'm looking at you Kendrick.) He can't defend and his presence puts Pierce out of position at the three. Pierce can't defend the three at all. He gets frustrated when he gets killed there and jacks bad shots. He doesn't respect his coach, so that'll continue. The added bonus to that is Gerald Green won't see minutes anymore (I'm ambivalent). We also got rid of Wally, who was pretty much worthless on this team. They might be able to run without him. Rondo should continue his improvement as a passer, as in he will make one pass and never see the ball again. That's good for a quick point guard, they like that. So his one weakness, his jumper, will not improve. As for Kendrick, he's a stiff and we're just going to have to admit that. Tony Allen may play again or he may not, and he won't be the same for at least two years. Sebastian Telfair will be great, I'm sure. Scalabrine will continue to eat well and we have no back up center or point guard. I don't think I'll be buying league pass this year. Thank god football starts soon. I guess this is what you get for tanking.
