Morning Walkthrough: Daniels’ temporary point guard arrangement
Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Daniels walked out of these summer contests with one overriding message: ‘Length, use my length.’ It’s the same message Daniels kept repeating Wednesday night due to a sudden point-guard dilemma. With Rajon Rondo sidelined with a sore hamstring, Delonte West out until possibly the playoffs with a broken right wrist and Nate Robinson in foul trouble, Doc Rivers was forced to use his swingman as a surrogate playmaker against New Jersey’s Devin Harris, one of the quickest players in the NBA. ‘I just thought, ‘Oh man, just try to pressure the ball as much as I can,’ ’ Daniels said after logging perhaps his finest game as a Celtic. Beyond his modest numbers – four points, four assists, three rebounds – Daniels turned the game around while matched against Harris and speedy backup Jordan Farmar. ‘I can play point guard if I have to,’ he said. ‘It’s not too tough. I just do what I have to do and take my time.’ It’s good he thinks that way. Rivers, who doesn’t plan to use Rondo in tonight’s game against Toronto, may have to hand the ball to Daniels again. ‘For a game, he’s going to have no choice,’ said Rivers. ‘I don’t know how much, but I can tell you it’ll be a lot of minutes. We have no choice. We can play Avery (Bradley) in spots, but we have to protect him. And Nate can’t get in foul trouble.’”
Chad Finn, Boston Globe – “Confidence wasn’t the initial mind-set when the idea of documenting the Celtics was first considered. ‘We didn’t think the Celtics would want to do it,’ said Simmons. ‘Because KG is so private, and they’d had such a tough loss last year. Oklahoma City was always the team that seemed like just a natural. They were the up-and-coming team. It seemed like the right fit. And when it didn’t work, we revisited the Celtics thing and thought, ‘Well, maybe we should ask.’ And I’m glad because I’d much rather do the Celtics. The key to this was that [coach] Doc [Rivers] wanted to do it,’ Simmons said. ‘It always comes down to the coach. If the coach is in, everyone else falls in line.’ For all of the established names on the Celtics, there remains a bit of mystery about certain individuals. For every gregarious Shaq or Big Baby, there is a guarded personality such as Rajon Rondo, or Garnett, who in four years in Boston has managed to remain out of the public eye away from the court. ‘I’m really hoping KG opens up,’ Simmons said, noting that Garnett has a familiarity with the NBA Entertainment since permitting them to film his offseason workouts in Malibu, Calif., a few years ago. ‘There’s not a lot of great KG footage through the years, but this is probably the best thing that’s been filmed with him. I think he trusts that crew a bit. And to be honest, with NBA Entertainment doing it, I do think it gives these guys a certain comfort level, because it’s not in the NBA’s interest to [mess with] these guys. Our job in way is to make sure it’s not a fluff piece either, to make sure there’s a nice balance.’ The premiere won’t feel like fluff to Celtics fans. ‘The theme of the show, of the first episode, is going to be the effect of losing Game 7 [of last year’s Finals] in a game the Lakers didn’t even play well,’ said Simmons. ‘That’s had an effect on these guys. I think maybe it’s a little more traumatic than maybe we realized during the summer. I think they really feel like they lost a title they should have won. And now they want to get it back. And we’ll see that that is driving them.’”
Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Initially, management didn’t expect much from Bradley this season. He is offensively raw, although coach Doc Rivers said he is an NBA-caliber defender. Surgery to remove a large bone chip from his left ankle curtailed his progress, so much so that assistant coach Kevin Eastman estimated the guard has participated in just three practices covering training camp and the regular season. The plan was to work Bradley into the equation slowly as he nears full health. But those projections will be dramatically altered now that Delonte West will miss several weeks with a broken right wrist, suffered in Wednesday’s 89-83 win over the Nets. West was the primary backup to Rajon Rondo, who has missed the last three games with a strained left hamstring and likely won’t play tonight against Toronto. Nate Robinson played well in Rondo’s absence until foul trouble Wednesday night. Although he is only 5 feet 9 inches, Robinson is not a natural point guard and the Celtics would prefer not to assign him full responsibility of backing up Rondo.”
Shaun Powell, NBA.com – “Doc Rivers has coached some of the greats. Tracy McGrady. Grant Hill. Shaquille O’Neal. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, the Big Three of the Celtics. He never coached his second-youngest son, now a senior at Winter Park High School right outside Orlando, though. Rivers says Austin became the No. 1-rated recruit on his own and with help from other coaches, from age-group ball on up, and will get additional tips next year from Mike Krzyzewski, one of the best ever, when he suits up for Duke. But father and son talk, you know. And basketball comes up, you know. And the son is a carbon copy of the father: bright, basketball-smart, strategic and likable, you know. So maybe the father never really coached his son; that much is probably true. What Austin got, and continues to get, is something greater: A father who can relate. Earlier this year, Austin said: ‘You know, he’s just my dad. It’s a pretty normal father-son relationship. But we love to talk basketball.’”
Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.
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About time Daniels is finally utilized the way he should be. He was never strong nough to play SF nor can he shoot it well enough to be a SG. However, he was an excellent playment. he showed that when he played for Dallas his rookie year.
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