Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
"We knew our big guys would not play every game," Ainge, Boston's president of basketball operations, told CSNNE.com in an interview earlier this month. "We needed a whole team of centers to get through the year, especially with Perk's condition. That's sort of panning out."
But even Ainge could not have anticipated the depth of this team at center, would be tested so mightily, so quickly.
"It started happening a little earlier than we hoped," he said.
CSNNE: Celtics currently losing their veteran gamble
I don't know if Sherrod Blakely is responsible for that headline or not… but I disagree with it either way.
Yes, the Celtics have had injuries… but which of them are related to people being old? Jermaine's is a wear-and-tear injury…. and Shaq has missed time due to age-related injuries.
KG strained a calf… which can happen to anyone. Perkins, who is young, is coming back from his ACL injury. Semih Erden, who is young, has a bum shoulder and a groin pull. Beyond the big men (the focus of the piece) Delonte, who is young, broke his wrist. Rajon Rondo, who is young, has had a variety of injuries. The Celtics are certainly dealing with injuries and a couple of them do have to do with age…. but this is just a case of bad luck.
And, to top it off, how much are they really losing? They had built up such a huge lead that they are STILL the top seed in the East even with playing .500 ball lately. They're probably getting KG back on Monday and Delonte and Perk are a few weeks out. In the meantime, Paul Pierce, an old vet brought back in the offseason, has been carrying this team. Ray Allen, an old vet brought back in the offseason, has been carrying this team.
I don't want to harp too much on the headline because it belies the tone of the piece, which is merely to say the C's are dealing with more injuries than they thought they would and it's changing a lot of plans out in Waltham. But to the casual reader cruising through for headlines, that's one that sticks out and makes it seem like "oh, the old Celtics got bitten in the ass for relying too much on the ol' vets." That's simply not REALLY the case. Young and old have gotten hurt… and it's been the old guys who have kept the C's where they are until everyone gets healthy.
Related Links: WEEI: Delonte West looks smooth in practice | KG close, but won't return Friday night | Semih pulls his groin | Herald: Doc points to Magic return for Garnett | Surgery now or later for O'Neal | Globe: Garnett returns to practice | ESPN Boston: Injured Celtics prepare for all scenarios
On Page 2: Nate is up to his old Twitter tricks with Shaq
That's Nate via his TwitVid account walking around the locker room with his size 11's inside Shaq's size 22 Timberland boots.
We haven't seen these shenanigans since the season started… and this isn't as goofy as some of the other stuff these guys have done… but it's still fun to see them having fun out there.
The rest of the links:
CSNNE: Avery Bradley sent down to Red Claws | ESPN Boston: Silver lining to injuries: Luke's leap
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