1. Avery Bradley, who sprained his ankle in a pre-draft workout for the Oklahoma City Thunder and underwent surgery on July 2, won’t be ready for the start of training camp. “”I don’t think Avery will be ready for training camp,” Ainge told ESPN Boston. “He’s a couple weeks away, at least.” That’s one hell of a sprained ankle, huh?
2. Paul Flannery chimed in from the C’s charity golf tournament with a bunch of interesting tidbits. Danny Ainge said that… 1) Kevin Garnett is “in much better shape than he was last year starting training camp.” 2) “I think this is the most talented team we’ve had in quite a while. Now it’s just a matter of it all coming together.” 3) “We feel like in our defensive schemes we’ve really improved our defense.” 4) Perk is “ahead of schedule according to him and the doctors.” And 5) “Marquis outplayed all of our bench players throughout October, November and December until he had the [thumb] injury. We know what Marquis is capable of doing.”
3. Flannery also sang Doc Rivers’ praises. “Talent wins in pro sports, but within the coaching profession there are a handful of certified experts at getting their players to band together for the cause: Phil Jackson, Gregg Poppovich, Larry Brown (on his best days). And after last spring, Doc Rivers has joined their company. Ask yourself this question: How many coaches could have shepherded a team like the Celtics through the season they had, and then get them to play at such a high level in the playoffs? … There are a lot of people in the NBA that would like the opportunity to coach this team, but there are few, if any, who can do it as well as Rivers.”
4. Shaq “strongly considered doing his swan song on Broadway before signing with Boston,” according to the New York Daily news. He reportedly wanted another chance to play with Amare Stoudemire. I’m sure Shaq will be okay playing alongside Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo instead.
5. Chinese people love the Celtics more than they love Yao.
6. Nate Robinson needs to work on his putting stroke… and his golf wardrobe.
7. Kelly Dwyer calls the Lakers “basketball at its best.” Hold on, do you hear that? Yup, that’s the sound of me puking.
8. Dwight Howard says Kevin Durant is better than Lebron James. Slow down, Dwight. Relax. Take a few deep breaths.

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