Celtics start 7-1

“Is the hunger still there ?”, that’s the question every analyst asked when evaluating the Celtics’ chances of repeating their NBA championship in 2009. Will the new Big Three, now that they have finally won a championship, still be willing to put their stats and bodies on the line in a bid to win a second championship ?

So far, it’s looking good. They’ve picked up where they left off last season and started with a bang.

Ray Allen has always been recognized for keeping his body in top condition and Paul Pierce entered preseason 10 pounds lighter. Considering the shortened summer he had after the playoffs, many were left wondering when he found the time to lose that weight. Not that he was overweight in the first place, just that he wanted to add more speed to his game.

And pretty much every analyst concluded that the Celtics would still be hungry because of one man : the uber-competitive Kevin Garnett. The analysts couldn’t imagine KG letting his team slack, even if they had just won a championship. You can see why - and yes, he really does look like that - all the time.


As for the supporting cast, they were a mixed bunch. James Posey was lost to free agency and P.J. Brown retired. The hope is that the rest of the cast, especially the young ones, would have improved after a season of competing at the highest level. The signs are encouraging thus far.

And all the coaches were back – including the highly regarded Associate Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. Considering the work he’s done for the Celtics and his other former teams, and the numerous coaching vacancies that became available during the 08 playoffs, Danny Ainge must be wondering why none of those teams even initiated an interview with Thibodeau. Not that he’s complaining. He’s more than happy that Thibodeau’s still a Celtics coach, and has made him one of the highest paid assistant coaches in the NBA to boot.

Which brings us up to the present. The team is all set for a deep playoff run and a shot at retaining their title. Danny Ainge still has some work to do to fill out his roster, but that was also the situation last season and that worked out fine. It’s only the second year together for this team so there figures to be some improvement just from knowing their team mates. And the coaches are better placed to devise their sets now that they’ve had a year to figure out the players and systems.

I’m just along for the ride, starting with this Saturday’s match against the Denver Nuggets. It’s quite a change from the seasons when ESPN wouldn’t telecast even ONE Celtics match throughout the season.