FIO Preview: Boston Celtics

2008-2009 Boston Celtics season preview and fantasy impact, courtesy of Fantasy Insider Online. Read the team preview here in the Yard, and then visit the FIO link for the rest. - John Karalis Last Season Recap: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly The Celtics came out hot to start the 2007-2008 season and never looked back. They lost only three games in the first two months of the year, and built a lead that sent notice that the new Big Three was here to accomplish one goal: win a championship. The biggest question for the Celtics became their biggest strength -- team defense. A team comprised of virtually no "lockdown" individual defenders meshed into the best defensive group in the NBA. But a smooth regular season turned into a rough postseason. Questions facing the Celtics going into the season (Who will the go-to guy be? Who will back up Rajon Rondo? Can Doc Rivers lead this team to a title?) surfaced in the playoffs. They weren't answered until the second round, when Paul Pierce went mano-a-mano with LeBron James and prevailed. Suddenly, Pierce was the No. 1 option... Ray Allen rediscovered his scoring touch... Kevin Garnett focused on his defense... and Doc Rivers adjusted to re-insert Eddie House as the backup point guard. The struggles disappeared, the Celtics closed out the Pistons on the road, and they dispatched the Lakers to win the title. James Posey was the key free-agent signing for the Celtics last year. He proved to be a glue guy for a bench that was initially seen as a weakness. Nevertheless, that bench proved to be a strength. The addition of star players took scoring pressure off of Paul Pierce. In turn, that let him concentrate more on defense, which was a very big plus for Boston. Rajon Rondo emerged as a team leader with no fear of the star power that surrounded him. How much can go wrong for a 66 win NBA Champion? Not much, really. However, Kendrick Perkins re-injured his shoulder in the NBA Finals, something that has been a constant issue for him. Now, it can be seen as a chronic injury. Perk can be a solid tough-guy on the post, but fear of injury could be a problem down the line. Also going wrong for the Celtics: time. It keeps marching on. Boston does not have much time left with these stars. You're going to hear a lot of "these guys are a combined 90-something-years-old" talk this year. 2008 Draft Impact (Medium) JR Giddens and Bill Walker each could have been lottery picks. Yet, Giddens' off-the-court issues and Walker's knee issues caused both to drop considerably. Both have been saying and doing all the right things over the summer, leading to some good feelings about what they could contribute. If both guys live up to their potential, Danny Ainge will look like a genius. Off-Season Impact Moves Garnett, Allen and Pierce eat up a ton of cap space. So, the Celtics are looking at reclamation projects as ways to fill out their roster. Losing Posey hurt, but Ainge didn't want to lock up a bench player into his mid-30's. Instead, the Celtics brought in Patrick O'Bryant and Darius Miles. Ainge hopes O'Bryant was miscast in Golden State, and some work with big-man coach Clifford Ray could turn this draft bust into a surprise contributor. The Miles signing is a no-risk, non-guaranteed deal. If he is healthy, then he has the potential to be a huge steal. And anyone with character issues is coming into a strong veteran team, where those issues will not be tolerated. Ultimately, that is not really a concern with Miles (or Giddens, for that matter). Eddie House and Tony Allen have both been re-signed, and the hope is that Allen can return to being a lockdown defender. He has the potential to be one of the best individual defenders in the league, but he's mentally soft and dwells on his errors for way too long. Preview for the 2008-2009 Season Team MVP: Kevin Garnett, PF - Pierce has emerged as option No. 1, but KG is the heart and soul of this squad. The big, unanswered question going into this season is: "How will these guys react to winning their first title?" No one knows how the super-intense Garnett will react to finally reaching the pinnacle. Same for Ray or Paul. Will there be a letdown? Breakout Player: Rajon Rondo, PG - Rajon Rondo took a huge step last year, so it's hard to call him a breakout player. His improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 was amazing. This year, he will take the leap into a point guard triumvirate along with Chris Paul and Derron Williams. He's not the scorer those guys are, but Rondo is an equal passer and much better defender. And he might be the best rebounding point guard in the NBA. Bust Player: Ray Allen, SG - After a lot of internal debate, Ray Allen gets the nod here because his game seemed to suffer the most last year. Neither of the drafts picks is expected to do much this year, so it's hard to call either of them a bust. O'Bryant is already considered a bust and Miles is trying to come off a medical retirement. In the end, that leaves us with, realistically, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins. Pierce is a bull who will get to the rim when he wants, so he will be able to rely on that. Perkins might be a bust if he doesn't improve. But Allen has the farthest to fall. His normally reliable jumper showed signs of abandoning him. He played a ton of minutes last year and is not getting any younger. If anyone is going to show a noticeable decline, the money has to be on Allen. Playoff Contender or Pretender? The nucleus is still there. Boston will probably step back from the 66-win juggernaut to a more Pistons-like "cruise to a mid-to-high 50-win season." But while their competition in the Atlantic is better overall, the Celtics are still the best team in the division. Unless something catastrophic happens, this is still easily one of the top teams in the NBA. Repeating is not easy, but the Celtics still have a very good chance to make that happen.