Reloaded

Last night the 2009-2010 NBA season opened up with fantastic results. My Boston Celtics have been pegged as being "reloaded" in terms of its roster. We acquired some big names like Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, and yes Kevin Garnett is back and he has a new knee and was in the starting lineup last night. So all eyes were on the reloaded Celtics. How did they do?

Well they took Lebron's Cavs on the road 95-89! A beautiful thing. Good strong performances by all. Ray Allen said he's in the best shape of his entire career, having a rigorous off-season conditioning routine, which could make a huge difference offensively this year. He was dashing to the hoop and getting lots of great assists. Paul Pierce is just a warrior and continues to prove his worth and greatness to the Celtics franchise. He's clutch, he plays defense, and he's a team leader. KG was impressive for his first game in months, he took a double-double. And the biggest thing that stood out to me is that the Celtics bench gave them the needed push when the starters took a rest. I think the fact that we have Rasheed Wallace coming off the bench for KG will provide a huge boost to the secondary. Marquis Daniels showed promise as well.

So what do we need to do this season? We need to stay healthy. I think if we do that we can be in contention for the title. I am sorry. The Lakers were not the best team in the league last season. A healthy Celtics squad would have taken them in 7. The Lakers have not found a reliable way to score without standing around and letting Kobe do his thing. Which works against an immature Magic defense. The Celtics will not stand for this defensively. If the Nuggets would have played any defense at all I don't think the Lakers would have made the finals. In the words of Paul Pierce at halftime of the 2008 NBA finals, "i'll guard kobe." That led to banner 17. The question this season is who can defend Pierce and the Celtics if they stay healthy. I'll be watching with a certain Irish stout in hand!