It's not time to panic...yet.

Oh man, sweet mother of Jesus, the Celtics are 0-2. The sky is falling, woe is me, insert other ridiculous season ending statement here. Are you done? Take a deep breath and think about this logically. What you've seen in the first two games are the effects of the lockout and not having your leading scorer. You were expecting the season to be all sunshine and blow jobs?

The Celtics had a week of training camp, which mostly consisted of 8-9 people with small nagging injuries to some. The significance of this? THEY COULDN'T EVEN SCRIMMAGE!

The one thing you have seen with a Doc Rivers coached team the past 5 years was fundamental defensive basketball. There is a host of new players outside of 4 of the starters. Brandon Bass, Keyon Dooling, Chris Wilcox, E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson, Michael Pietrus and Sasha Pavlovic. (Unrelated side note Pavlovic just sounds like a slang term for the male genitalia. Think, "Get your Pavlovic off my table!" In which case I'd really like to have my Pavlovic in smaller doses please) What this all means is that these players have not yet learned Doc's defensive rotations which are still the best in the league.

Doc is a weapon for the Celtics that not many other teams can match. In the game against the Heat, he once again out-coached that Eddie Haskell-looking toad on the end of the Miami bench. It was almost as if these guys had never seen a zone before and that small defensive change allowed the Celtics to come back only to have a stake driven through their heart by a rookie, Norris Cole. Who by the way scares the ever-living piss out of me.

While Ray Allen and Rondo have both elevated their games in the first two matches, Pierce's absence was certainly felt on the floor. Rondo's shot which has certainly improved is not the dynamic presence that Pierce commands on the floor. You know what I'm talking about, the one-dribble into the lane, up-fake, then fade away. Yeah that one. The Celtics could have used a few of those in the first couple games.

A Few Things I've Noticed with the C's and Around the League

• If the Celtics "Championship window" is closed than the Lakers has been, shut, locked and cemented over. They are not good.


• The defending Champion Dallas Mavericks are not better than last year. Getting rid of their two best defensive players (Tyson Chandler and Caron Butler) on an already mediocre defensive team is really going to come back and bite them.


• The Clippers are going to tear up the league. Their starting 5 can match up with any in the NBA. I really like how they constructed their team. Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Caron Butler, Deandre Jordan and Chauncey Billups...that's a title-threat.


• Is there any chance that when Dick Bavetta is on the court that his cataracts don't get in the way of his job? The guy is pushing 112 years old and looks like The Cryptkeeper's father.


• Danny Ainge is actually really smart. If you've noticed that the Celtics roster is much smaller than year's past, you would be correct. Ainge realized that he didn't need to compete with the 7-foot triumvirate in Los Angeles. He needed to get smaller and more athletic and get more scoring to come out of the East. Chicago isn't that big, nor is Miami or New York. Ainge realized this and has been adjusting his roster accordingly. Bass is a more consistent offensive player than Glen Davis. Michael Pietrus is an above average 3-point shooter. JaJuan Johnson if he can get on the floor is a big man that spreads the floor with his 18-20 foot jumper. Bravo Danny.


• I am not at all worried about Orlando, am I crazy?


• Count me in on the Sacramento Kings moving to Seattle to re-start the SuperSonics franchise for the simple fact that the public could have Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton bobblehead night's at least once per year.

For the Celtics fan's pushing the panic buttons slowly remove your hand from said button and place it back in your pocket. Let's get Pierce back in the lineup and let's see what the record is after 15 games (roughly a quarter of the schedule) and then get back to me.

Stay Tuned

Norton