Not only have the winning ways returned to Boston, so has the Celtic pride with the arrival of the 'Big Three.'
Everyone was anxious to see how the "Big Three" of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce would do in Boston this year. If you're a Celtics fan it's so far so good. But there is much more to the success than meets the eye.
There were plenty of questions at the start of the season like: How will the three stars mesh? Which one or two will sacrifice? Who becomes the "go-to" guy when a game hinges on one possession? And finally, will the contribution from the supporting cast be enough to have the team be successful?
Right now, Boston is providing all the answers by using the Al Davis credo: "Just Win Baby." Personally, I figured with three experienced all-star caliber players the Celtics would eventually be good, but I didn't see it coming together this quickly.
The three stars are getting along just fine with each averaging just around 20 points per game (Ray Allen 19.4 points per game, Kevin Garnett 19.5 PPG, and Paul Pierce 20.2 PPG) and the role players are doing exactly what is being asked of them. But it is Garnett that has stepped forward and set the tone and it's not a surprise to Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell.
"When you look at his attitude and what how he plays and what he brings to a team, he makes everybody around him better," said Mitchell shaking his head at folks who posed questions about Garnett's ability and willingness to be a total team player.
"What he brings on the court is infectious," continued Mitchell. "It just spreads through the locker room and that's what people never give him credit for."
"Kevin will not let you let up in practice or a game. Not that he's going to say anything to you it's just that he doesn't let up. He never takes a day off."
Boston started the preseason literally saying the right things as they broke each team huddle with the African word, Ubuntu. The concept loosely means sacrificing individual glory for the collective good of the group. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers says Garnett has been tremendous and has let everyone know about sacrificing personal gain for team good. In a blowout loss over the New York Knicks, Garnett had his streak of consecutive games scoring in double figures end at 411. At one point in the second half of the blow out win, Rivers asked Garnett if he wanted to go back in the game to preserve his streak and Garnett said to Rivers he would stay put on the bench with his eight points.
According to Rivers, KG's response was an emphatic, "I don't care about that, man!"
Ray Allen's game has been the one that has proved to be the most challenging to Rivers as he had to work on different offensive sets to get Allen shots and have him more involved. Rivers notes that Allen has also been solid on the other end.
"He's a better defender than I thought he was from afar," said Rivers.
Pierce was the known commodity in Beantown and he has added all the same elements he did in past campaigns but with two other stars, his contribution has been more than ample.
The supporting cast is playing well and working on other parts of their games in the event of an emergency. During the pre-game warm up against Toronto last week, long before many players took the floor to start shooting, there was the well-traveled Eddie House working on his ball handling against full court pressure in the event he is called upon to bring the ball up against a press. Have you noticed the swagger on Kendrick Perkins, a career 4.3 point per game scorer, now that Garnett "has his back" on the front line. James Posey, who knows a thing or two about playing with big stars after winning a title in Miami with Shaquille O'Neal and Dwayne Wade, has been solid as he currently sits as the number five three point percentage shooter in the NBA taking advantage of the attention afforded his all-star teammates. And finally, Rajon Rondo is doing his part as he is not forcing the issue and trying to make plays but just getting the ball to one of the three other decision makers.
With a 17-2 record, Rivers is careful not to let the team become too enamored with the early success.
"When we jumped out of the gate at 8-0, I came into the locker room and said 'Did I miss something here. It wasn't our goal to be 8-0'," said Rivers. "Our goal is to keep improving and getting better over the season."
Raising a championship banner to the rafters in the Boston Garden used to be a fairly regular occurrence but it has been 21 years since Boston had one of those ceremonies. There are no banners being awarded now but if there are no major injuries and Doc Rivers can keep the minutes at a reasonable level for his stars (he like to see them play a maximum of 36-38 each game) they may not be beat by anyone in the east.
