Green Bandwagon is in serious danger of going from being an "Unofficial Boston Celtics blog" to "Officially not a Boston Celtics Blog". In my defense it has been a slow summer. No summer league team. No Olympians. And not that I'm complaining, no major trades, depending upon how you feel about Bill Walker of course. Ultimately it has been quiet ever since James Posey left town, opening the door for Eddie House and Tony Allen to re-sign. Still I wanted to throw out a few questions I have as the '09 season approaches, while simultaneously holding on to an admittedly tenuous grip on Celtics themed blog status. Here goes:

5. Will Gabe Pruitt bring anything to the table for a team that does not play its home games in Utah? This squad is all of the sudden full of questions. Will J.R. Giddens prove to be a model citizen while capitalizing on his potential? Will Bill Walker sign, pull a Leon Powe, and overcome a difficult injury past? And see #4. As a result Pruitt is flying under the radar a bit. For a guy entering his second NBA season I know shockingly little about him. He's not afraid to shoot, has good size if he ends up as a 1, and possesses a good looking jumper. What else is there?

4. Will redemption be spelled P.O.B.? That's right Patrick O'Bryant. He's 7 feet tall, with tremendous upside. At the same time Kevin Garnett provides a little MJ/Kwame Brown potential. And that's not a good thing. For the record I spent a fair amount of time last off season thinking about Jackie Manuel and Brandon Wallace. This seems better.

3. What's next for the Tony Allen experience? It's been a long, strange ride as is. He's allegedly healthy/confident and, believe it or not, is heading into his 5th NBA season. I'm hopeful because he's still in the NBA despite 2 knee injuries and the White Palace Grill incident. It will be huge if he provides perimeter D off the bench, while helping keep Ray Allen and Paul Pierce's minutes in check.

2. How much better will Rajon Rondo be this season? He improved significantly between his first and second seasons, will turn 23 in February, and, outside of roller skating, appears entirely focused on basketball. I encourage you to click on the roller skating link, read the 1st comment, remember how the 2008 season ended, and exchange a sick high five* with a friend. Bonus points if you are at work.

1. Last time I checked Doc Rivers' assistant coaches did not have contracts. Of course with all my focus on the Olympics this may have been resolved. Still my Internet searches have been futile. Just know that I expect to see Tom Thibodeau and Clifford Ray on the sideline when the LeBrons come to town for opening night (October 28th).

* If you are alone, a fist pump will suffice.

This is the 5th preview in a series here at Green Bandwagon and At The Hive, as we anxiously await for Olympic basketball to get under way. You can check both of our sidebars for the archive or simply click on these links: China, Greece, Russia, and Argentina. Catch Australia here today and head over to At The Hive tomorrow for the next installment.

Population: 20,600,856

Size in Comparison to a US State: A little smaller than the US, minus Alaska and Hawaii.

Suffrage: Universal and compulsory at 18.

Interesting Fact: Utah Utes went first in the NBA (Andrew Bogut) and NFL (Alex Smith) drafts back in 2005. Are the 49ers and Bucks happy with their decisions?

Interesting Fact #2: I realize that the Simpsons have faded when it comes to animated TV shows. As far as I can tell Family Guy and South Park have left it in their dust. Long gone are the days when the Simpsons were must see TV for me every week and some of my friends were not allowed to watch it. As a side note I can't imagine how the people who were offended by, "Eat my shorts man" are dealing with the South Park era. Yet I digress. Even though it's odd to reference the Simpsons in back-to-back previews, I want to point out that the Australian episode was easily in the top 5 all time. For what it's worth the Prohibition/Beer Baron episode is #1. It's not close. And yes I feel good about taking the high road and not talking about a certain Paul Hogan movie for my obligatory pop culture reference.

Recommended Reading: Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel is an interesting read, whether you agree with it or not. Meanwhile, On the Beach is a classic, albeit a depressing one.

World Rank (Courtesy of FIBA): 9

Qualified: Oceanian Champion

Dream Match Up in Beijing: China

Dream Match Up That Did Not Qualify: New Zealand or UK

Recent News: The Australians are known as the Boomers and have quite a streak going in terms of qualifying for the Olympics. 

Catch player profiles after the jump.

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I wrote off Celtics Now before I ever watched it, only to see it surprise me on numerous occasions. In the long run I was wrong. It had plenty of nice moments, including a story on Eddie House's son, Jalen, attending home playoff games. It killed me for three reasons:

1. Tony Allen knocked Jalen down during one mini-celebration.

2. Jalen took part in one of the shirt throwing promotions.

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As I mentioned earlier Eddie House and Tony Allen appear to be back in the fold for two more seasons. With their imminent signings I thought it would be interesting to dive into the archives and look at some posts I wrote about them in the past year. There was a profile of House. Other than that he was mentioned in parts of numerous other posts. He's a role player in that regard. And yet Allen received way more attention. And he was somewhere between the 10th and 12th man. Still that attention was not without reason. At the start of the 2007 season I was incredibly focused on 7 young players - Tony Allen, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, and Delonte West. They developed as follows:

Gomes - solid role player, traded
Green - talented enigma who will probably never get it, traded
Jefferson - double-double guy, traded
Perk - defensive beast
Rondo - defensive stalwart, rapidly improving, potential star
West - solid third guard, starting point guard with LeBron, traded

That leaves Allen who unlike the other six did not either get traded or develop significantly. In fact outside of possibly Green, Allen easily regressed the most, due in large part to that epic knee injury.  And yet I continue to pull for him. Check out the following posts:

Player Profile
2007 Season Recap
The Road Back
A Random Post detailing his possessions against the hated Bulls.

If you're too lazy to read those posts, and quite frankly I don't blame you, you can still enjoy two of my favorite exchanges from the 2007 season:

Tommy Heinsohn and Mike Gorman reacting to Allen's season ending knee injury:

"Dire straits. Dire straits. You know where dire straits is?" - Heinsohn

"Africa?" - Gorman when he finally got a word in.

"Just south of frustration." - Heinsohn

I still have no idea what that means.

And...

Allen's response to his mother when she complained about Brian Scalabrine driving them to the hospital. "This this is better than an ambulance. This is Scal!" - Tony Allen

The word out of Boston is that Tony Allen and Eddie House will wear the green and white for two more seasons. The pending deals would also leave the C's with some of the mid-level exception. As a side note I tend to underestimate the complexity of these dealings. Just last week Eddie House's agent told me I insulted his client in NBA Live 08 and then cut off all talks with the club. And I offered more than Boston did last year. Meanwhile, from a continuity and emotional standpoint it's good to see these guys back in the fold. Hopefully Allen has another good summer of working out, rehabbing, confidence building and all around (i.e. dribbling) improvement.

Hat tip to CelticsBlog for the link.

Well the off season is officially upon us. To that end I enjoyed this Steve Bulpett article because it was packed with info:

1. Perkins may need more surgery on his left shoulder. Not cool. As a result he turned down USA basketball's offer to scrimmage with the Olympic Team this summer.

2. Rajon Rondo turned down his offer as well. No reason was given. Of course in addition to working on his shot and other aspects of his game Rondo has a strict roller skating regime. I'm not even remotely kidding.

3. Due to his drop in playing time at the end of the season Eddie House may not be back. Bummer...

4. Some interesting names thrown around for free agent bigs.

5. Tony Allen's future is a mystery.

Thanks to Loy's Place for the heads up on this one.

You have to give the folks at Reebok credit. The Rondo'd ad campaign was well done. In fact it inspired me to make verbs out of the rest of the Celtics. Obviously it's forced and given the way the season ended, overwhelmingly positive. Such is life. I'll start with Rondo, provided by Reebok, and go alphabetically from there.

Rondo'd

1. To move smoothly between large objects with dexterity and purpose.
2. To remove an object quickly without being detected.
3. To create a distraction followed by a quick change of direction.

Ray Allen'd

1. To rain 3 pointers down upon a squad with reckless abandon even if said squad has given up.
2. To run a defender off of numerous picks, slowly eroding his desire to defend.
3. To obsessively adhere to rituals, superstitions, and a lifestyle at all costs.

Tony Allen'd

1. To injure one’s self on a dunk after the whistle.*
2. To infuriate opposing fans, players, and broadcasters with off the back board alley oops, self-pass windmill dunks, and reverse alley oop slams, regardless of the situation.
3. To possibly black out briefly following dunks.**
4. To raise the blood pressure of a fan base with numerous ill-advised decisions primarily related to dribbling.

* It killed me to include that. But fair is fair.
** This is one of my favorite Celtics related theories. I'm not sure who came up with it. And though it sounds far fetched, watch this dunk. And this one. You think he has any idea where he is? As always thank you freeTA42.

Brown'd

1. To always let a player know he was fouled when an infraction is whistled.
2. To engage in stare downs, exchange trash talk, and then walk away with a subtle, “I would eat this guy’s lunch” smirk.
3. To play in a physical manner that includes moving screens, hard box outs, and essentially non-stop contact in a way that makes people wish you still had your athleticism.

Cassel'd

1. To talk to fans, teammates, referees, opponents, coaches, really anyone who will listen in such a non-stop fashion that it is simultaneously endearing and maddening.
2. To reveal one’s self to be the ultimate ball stopper who shoots without a conscience or a concerted effort to set up one’s teammates.
3. To provide the opposing team with a tremendous offensive advantage.
4. To establish one’s self as one of the most confident individuals within a 5-mile radius on a basketball court.
5. To create a celebratory dance that is easily more offensive than wearing jeans and a t-shirt to a game and yet never face the wrath of a fine happy, image conscious NBA.

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In looking at Boston's current roster/salaries as well as its needs a few things become obvious. For starters the Celtics have a ton of money committed already and therefore do not have a lot of money to bring free agents into the fold. In addition to that the Celtics must decide what they will do with their own free agents, most notably James Posey once he exercises his player option. Furthermore, given its financial situation Boston will not be in the running for high profile names. Not only could the Celtics not pay such a player, but they would also have to fit that star in with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce who have already spoken a great deal about their sacrifices to the team. Another star, more sacrifices. Still it would be nice if Boston acquired a reliable ball handler. Enter Delonte West. As I see it there are several problems with this scenario:

1. West is a restricted free agent. He worked his way into the starting point guard role in Cleveland, showing some promise in the process. One can assume he would be even more comfortable after a full training camp. Meanwhile, I can't imagine the Cavaliers would let him walk to a conference rival unless the offer sheet were too ridiculous to match. And given Boston's aforementioned financial obligations that is unlikely. In fact this point alone probably renders the rest of this post meaningless. And yet I will forge ahead.

2. Why would West go from being a starting point guard, with LeBron James no less, to Rajon Rondo's back up? In fact word on the street is that West wants to return to Cleveland:

"The qualifying offer to West is worth $2.76 million. West also wants to return to the team. His agent, Noah Croom, said the Cavs have indicated to him that they want to re-sign West." - Bob Finnan

3. He hates the Mass. Pike and I don't blame him. The tolls are ridiculous.

4. Boston's owners don't like controversy. Remember how quickly they acted after Sebastian Telfair was arrested? And even though this was not West behaving badly and it was not a major story, it could hurt his cause.

Having said all that I still think it's worth exploring the possibility of West returning. He can handle the ball, is a defensive upgrade over Sam Cassell and Eddie House, blocks shots surprisingly well for his size, is a better than average shooter, and arguably the funniest player in the NBA. Of course that last one does not matter. Regardless, even if the climate around the Celtics has changed dramatically I'd still like to see West pick up where he left off in terms of marketing:

Delonte West Hanger Commercial (via TonyAllen06)

With the Celtics bringing the NBA season to a close on Tuesday it is time to change gears a bit around here. What can you expect?

1. I'll be following the draft. At some point I'll be involved in at least one mock draft and will look to put the "mock" right where it belongs. And of course next Thursday I'll be watching. In fact I just watched the 1997 draft on NBA TV. It deserves its own post. Remember that was Rick Pitino's first draft.

2. I will follow how next year's team is built. Right now Tony Allen, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell, Eddie House, Scot Pollard, and James Posey may or may not be back. Let's rank the possibility of them returning.

Not Going to Happen - Pollard
He Recently Said he'd be Back But I Don't See It - Cassell
Probably Going to Retire But maybe They'll Work Out a Special Deal - Brown
I Have No Clue - Allen, House, Posey

In reality it all comes down to that last group. I'd like them all to return. Stay tuned.

3. I'm going to do a summer book review series that runs every Monday in July and August. I've already read several of the books. Expect a look at some classic Celtics and the NBA in general. Should be good.

4. I'd love to do some more interviews. I won't name names but I've got a few in mind. As a side note I won't name names because it would subsequently be embarrassing when they turn me down.

5. There's a decent chance that I'll take another shot at some movies. Although this time around they will be much shorter and easier to take than the over the top Rondo movie.

6. Finally I'm going to write some over at ROOMOFZEN. I've wanted to expand beyond the Celtics for some time now and that's a good forum for all sorts of ludicrous stuff I tend to think about. My first post is up now. Look for more in the future.

These are the pictures I took. I actually had to stop because my section became a bit of a mosh pit and I felt the need to defend myself, or at the very least not have my hands raised above my head as I took photos. I was with people who got some great shots and I'll pass them along at some point. Some notes on the day.

- The whole "rolling rally" concept is what it is. I assume it was instituted for safety reasons, which makes sense after disasters following Red Sox and Patriots championships. But it would have been cool for the players to speak, especially if someone had a Steve Kerr moment. 

- Gorman, Felger, Tanguay, etc. stressed this but it is worth repeating. It was a young crowd. I'm talking mainly high school and college aged. Granted a lot of older people have real jobs. Still it was a young crowd, completely decked out in green. I've never seen anything quite like it.

- Speaking of the crowd. If you are from the greater Boston area and dating someone, male or female, and it does not work out, for whatever reason, that may be hard. Someone will tell you there are more fish in the sea. I'm here to tell you not only are there more. There are some incredibly similar ones as well.

- There was a massive police presence. Just massive. So much so that I wonder if crime spiked in other parts of the city. Police on horses, bikes, in cars, on top of a menacing vehicle, standing, walking around. I included a few pictures after the jump but could not do it justice. One point that killed me. The crowd took to throwing small inflatable balls (think mini beach balls) back and forth across the street. Often times throws fell short and the ball sat in the street, unreachable. At times the police would throw them into the crowd. Other times they ignored them. I saw one officer actually pop one though. The crowd booed but it was hysterical. They should have brought in Bob Stanley. He would have loved it. At least that's how I remember him.

- Given the massive number of police I was a little surprised to see the guys to the right of me passing around and chugging a handle vodka. That's commitment.

- It was fun but not in a "wow I need to do that again" sort of way. Still great weather, tons of Celtics fans dressed for the occasion, and by my count several people too drunk to walk by noon. I'll close with my favorite jerseys from the day:

Honorable Mention: Curtis Martin's New England jersey, Ty Law's New England jersey, Glen Davis' Celtics jersey, Rajon Rondo's Celtics jersey, and several guys who should definitely have worn shirts but did not see it that way. Always kills me.

Honorable Honorable Mention: Ricky Davis' Celtics jersey with a matching arm band (speechless), Ryan Gomes Celtics jersey (big fan of his but really?), Raef LaFrentz Celtics jersey (and it looked like the most expensive one you could buy), and a KG Timberwolves jersey. Not sure what to say about that last one. It did make me think the following: If Minnesota somehow traded for Pierce and Allen, signed House and Posey, and won a championship, well...I'd hate the Timberwolves. That gave me perspective. And then Tommy Heinsohn rolled by and I started clapping again.

1. Bill Russell's Celtics jersey.
2. Paul Pierce's Inglewood jersey.
3. Pierce's Kansas jersey.
4. Bird's Celtics jersey.
5. McHale's Celtics jersey.
6. Tie: KG and Ray Allen's Celtics jerseys
8. Tie: Eddie House and James Posey's Celtics jerseys. Glad to see them represented.
10. A home made Brian Scalabrine t-shirt. It was just a green shirt with the sleeves cut off and white paint. I was too shocked to reach for my camera and he was moving fast.

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