Just a great picture, no?

A commenter today asked me why I never started an All-Star campaign for the Boston Celtics. The answer to that question is easy — the All-Star game’s the last thing I care about. This season’s not about Rajon Rondo starting rather than Derrick Rose, or Kevin Garnett starting instead of Amare Stoudemire. It’s about a championship, folks, and only a championship.

It doesn’t phase me that no Celtics will start in the All-Star game. In fact, I kind of love it. In a strange way, it validates everything the Celtics stand for. They don’t have a single All-Star starter, but they still hold the East’s best record. They don’t have a single true MVP candidate, but they’re one of the two or three favorites to win a title.

The way the Celtics play, the team is valued far more than the individual. Which is why, since the Big Three came together in the summer of 2007, only one Celtic has ever averaged 20 ppg — and that was just barely, when Pierce averaged 20.5 pgg in ’08-’09 (which was the year KG missed a whole slew of games). Nobody forces shots. Nobody becomes selfish. Nobody gives a damn about who scores the buckets, or who grabs the rebounds, or any other stat. As Kevin Garnett said yesterday, “I’m more into letters, than numbers.” In other words, all KG wants is a ‘W’. It doesn’t matter how that ‘W’ comes. And his teammates echo that mentality.

As a fan, you can care about who starts the All-Star game. You can care that Rondo got beaten out by Rose, or whichever other Celtic you feel deserved to start. Personally, I don’t think any deserved to. But, really, it doesn’t matter either way. Quick, name last year’s All-Star starters. (*Waiting.*) (*Still waiting.*) No? Don’t worry, I can’t name them either. The only one I remember is Allen Iverson, and that’s only because his inclusion on the team was such a monstrosity. I assume Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard also started, but I’m far from positive. And I couldn’t begin to tell you who started in the West, although I assume Kobe did.

Now, name last year’s NBA champion. It probably makes you want to puke, but you remember. At the end of the year, when it’s all said and done, people don’t remember who starts the All-Star Game; they remember the NBA champion. And championships aren’t won in a meaningless ballot in February. They’re won on the court in June.

Next time you care about no Celtics being named All-Star starters, think first about the team’s mentality. Or, more specifically, the team’s team-first mentality. Then, realize that individual accolades mean nothing to this team. Kendrick Perkins recently spoke about the minutes crunch in the frontcourt, and about how he and Shaq will have to split minutes. “We’re trying for a championship,” said Perk. “It’s bigger than the both of us.”

That the Celtics are on pace for more than 60 wins without a single All-Star starter reminds me of a phrase: Ubuntu. Together, we are more valuable than we are alone.

If I could make a career in the D-League starting tomorrow, I’d consider myself the luckiest person in the world. Long bus rides? A meager pay check? Less-than-five-star hotels? Who cares. If I could play basketball for a living, no matter how much or little money I made doing it, my face would permanently look like Kendrick Perkins’ scowl — except the exact opposite. I’d be living a dream I had when I was little (a dream I admittedly gave up a long time ago).

But for Antoine Walker, a return to the D-League isn’t so exciting. Walker accomplished his own dreams a long time ago, and his dreams were far grander than mine. He earned more than a hundred million dollars. He made All-Star games. He won an NBA championship. And then he lost everything — his job, his money, and also (in the eyes of some people) a fair deal of his respect. As such, Walker’s trip to the D-League isn’t the culmination of his childhood dreams — it’s one last-ditch attempt to regain some of what he’s lost. (CSNNE)

“It’d mean the world for me right now to get back, because it’s what I love to do,” said Walker. “I think I still have a lot of basketball left to play. I think I can still be competitive. I think, if I get [with] the right team, I can still win championships. It’s just that I left the game not on my own merit . . .

“If a GM [says] to my face, ‘Antoine, you can’t play at this level [anymore],’ then it’s time to do something else. But until I’m told that, I’m going to continue to try to fight and get there. But I’m not going to chase it; if it’s not there, it’s not there. But I’m going to work and give myself every opportunity to get back.”

For now, Walker lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Boise, Idaho. His most well-known teammate is Luke Jackson, he of the 37 career NBA games and 28.5% career NBA field goal shooting. His career rewind is like if I got a job with ESPN.com and became famous (fat chance), then — 12 years later — ended up back in my parents’ basement, blogging and freelance writing for pennies.

As I said, at this stage of my life, playing in the D-League would be ideal. (Never mind that I couldn’t even earn playing time for my Division Three school, or that I’m a point guard with Desagana Diop’s perimeter skills.) But for Antoine Walker, it’s just another humbling step to his ultimate goal, reaching the NBA — an ultimate goal that, I must say, may never be realized.

The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Paul Pierce, who had 17 points, suffered what team officials are describing as a bruised right thigh injury. That diagnosis came shortly after coach Doc Rivers had initially believed Pierce suffered a knee injury. ‘Stuff that happens throughout the course of a game, bang knees, turn ankle,’ Pierce said. Knee. Thigh. It doesn’t matter. Pierce’s status is up in the air heading into Friday’s game at Phoenix. ‘Hopefully it doesn’t swell up too much,’ Pierce said. ‘It swelled up a little bit, but not too bad. Hopefully it’ll be all right for [Friday].’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “As he works his way back into the Celtics [team stats] lineup, planning to return tonight in Phoenix against the Suns, Shaq is taking full advantage of modern chemistry — at least the stuff allowed under NBA guidelines. He went heavy with the anti-inflammatory drugs to get through a shin and calf injury from a collision with Amare Stoudemire, though he had to slow down when he had an adverse internal reaction. And he recently took a shot of Synvisc, an arthritis medication, to help him with his troublesome right hip and general maintenance. ‘I got one in training camp, and I figured it was time to get another one,’ said O’Neal before last night’s 88-78 victory against the Trail Blazers. ‘It helps me get some lube in my hip.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “Since coming to the Celtics, Garnett has had to do less than his Minnesota days and his numbers have dipped across the board, but he has always been a willing passer. He flashed his skills in a stunning minute-and-a-half stretch in the third quarter when he assisted on four straight baskets. Twice he hit Ray Allen for open 3’s and he also hit Perkins for a dunk and Allen for a layup. Ironically, one of his greatest strengths has always been looked at as a weakness. Garnett was always so willing to make the pass – to make the right play – that some people questioned whether he wanted the responsibility of taking the shot himself. True to his nature, Garnett wouldn’t change for his critics. This, he believed, was the correct way to play the game and this was what he would do. Everyone else, frankly, could go to Hades and leave him alone. As much as Garnett has given Boston in his three and a half seasons here, we shouldn’t forget that we never got to see him truly at his best. For 90 seconds Thursday night, he gave us a glimpse.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “But in typical KG fashion, his impressive night statistically didn’t mean much. He was reminded that LaMarcus Aldridge, who finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds, had a double-double in the first half. Garnett then reminded a reporter that Aldridge’s big game also came with an ‘L.’  ’I'm more into letters, than numbers,’ Garnett said. ‘All right?’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “The Celtics have the best record in the Eastern Conference, but they were runners-up all the way around in the final fan balloting for the NBA All-Star Game starters. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce finished third and fourth at forward behind LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire; Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen were third and fourth at guard behind Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose; and Shaquille O’Neal came in second at center behind Dwight Howard. ‘To look at our record and to have no starters is surprising,’ Doc Rivers said before last night’s win against the Blazers. ‘But not really, because we’re such a team. We’re not a team where individuals will stand out, but I think because of the record they should stand out. Hopefully all four (Pierce, Garnett, Rondo and Allen) are on (as reserves). I think they should be, and we’ll see.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Rivers never harbored any concerns about minutes, roles, or egos. He left that to the fans. He hopes the second half of the season brings more normalcy regarding injuries, but the depth certainly helped make the first half a successful one. ‘I would prefer to have them all,’ Rivers said. ‘Then we could rest guys and we could do a lot of other things. Right now it’s working out that we have enough bigs. But I’m looking forward to the day where [having too many] becomes a problem. That would be great.’”

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

An ugly win.

According to Bill Walton, Ray Allen’s jumper is as flawless as Yomesite Falls. That would make tonight’s game as flawless as Tony Allen’s outside shot, Ronnie Brewer’s shooting motion, or Shelden Williams’ 2010 NBA Finals. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t as flawed as Shelden Williams’ 2010 NBA Finals — not much could be. It was bad. Really bad. Somehow, after all the turnovers, missed box outs, and Portland points in the paint, the Celtics escaped the Rose Garden with a  88-78 victory.

For all the game wasn’t (i.e. pretty to watch), it was a win. In a hostile environment, while playing their “D” game (or so), the Celtics still managed to start their West-coast road trip the right way. These are the wins that separate the one seeds from the two seeds, and so on. Prevailing on the road, against decent teams, while playing a brand of basketball that can only be described as “raggedy”, is actually a good recipe for gaining homecourt advantage in the playoffs. (Though I’d also take “steamrolling opponents every night” for $800, Alex.)

Paul Pierce continued to show his improvements from last season. I hate to keep harping on last year with Pierce, but the difference is night and day. With the Celtics struggling through a first half that made the sport of basketball look ugly, Pierce took things into his own hands. He drove to the hoop. He drained three-balls. He generally did what he wanted, whenever he wanted to, affording the Celtics a 41-37 lead after a half in which they were severely outplayed. Just the latest evidence: Pierce’s body is again right, and his game has followed suit. Of course, as I wrote this paragraph, Pierce left to the locker room to get his body checked out (the CSNNE telecast said it’s a knee injury of some sort — update: it’s a right thigh bruise). Remind me never to write anything positive about Pierce’s body again.

But I will gush about Kendrick Perkins’ body, which hardly seems affected by a six-month layoff and offseason ACL surgery. What did Perk do tonight? Oh, just 10 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes. That’s all. Just a near double-double. Just his normal stout defense, quarterbacking of the defense, and garbage pail effort. Just a permanent scowl, even as he makes Celtics nation smile everywhere. On one play, Perk defended Rudy Fernandez on the perimeter. Fernandez put the ball through his legs approximately a million times, attempting crossover after crossover to try losing Perk. But Perk wasn’t going anywhere. He stayed right with Fernandez, hopping left and right to stay in front of the quicker, more agile player. The leg looks, if not 100%, pretty good.

Perk has vastly outperformed my expectations through two games of his comeback, even if he still becomes easily winded, hasn’t quite reached top game shape, and still enjoys the slowest layup release in post-George Mikan NBA history. Those negatives are nothing more than the picking of nits, as we couldn’t possibly have expected more from the beast. At least not this soon.

For the losers, I couldn’t be more impressed by LaMarcus Aldridge. He was frustrated at times, yes, and I imagine most players defended by Kevin Garnett feel the same way. But Aldridge reacted to his frustration as any coach would love — he just worked harder. His shot wasn’t falling? Aldridge found easy tip-ins. He couldn’t breathe against KG’s defense? That’s fine. He worked off the ball to free himself and find easier looks. Tonight was far from Aldridge’s crowning moment. He couldn’t get any rhythm going, and the Garnett-Perkins tag-team tandem can’t be fun to play against in the post. But Aldridge is not the same player we saw last season. He’s not the same player who can be deterred by bad shooting. He’s different; a bad man on a mission to get his, a mission to help his team even on nights when it’s not pretty.

Aldridge’s aggressiveness on the glass helped to highlight a nagging Celtics rebounding deficiency, which resulted in 19 Portland offensive rebounds and a -7 rebounding differential for Boston. Tommy Heinsohn, who was in the studio rather than at the game, said he wished he could play against the Celtics — rebounds would come easy.

Of course, rebounding wasn’t the only thing the Celtics missed tonight. They also missed Rajon Rondo. He played, sure, but this wasn’t the Rondo we’re used to. He accumulated a season-low five assists, while throwing away more turnovers (six) than dimes. I have yet to check the stats, but I’d wager my left big toe that tonight was the first time this season Rondo registered more turnovers than assists. As Walton said, “Rondo’s pretty much taken this game off.”

Indeed, Rondo pretty much sat this one out, and the Celtics struggled as a unit. But a win’s a win, and a 1-0 start to the Western Conference road trip ain’t bad. As somebody once told me when I played golf, there are no pictures on the scorecard. After this win, thank God for that.

Also, Nate Robinson may have finally found Doc Rivers’ dog house for good. When the Celtics’ second unit made a run during the fourth quarter, the Diminutive Dunker’s keister was stapled firmly to the bench.

I’m off to coach a couple basketball games, so I’ll be MIA until my game recap. To tide you over, here are a few tidbits from the morning shoot-around. (Comcast)

1. Shaq will not play tonight, but likely for tomorrow (Phoenix).
2. Marquis Daniels WILL play tonight, and has rejoined the team after missing a few days to handle a family issue.
3. Kendrick Perkins felt soreness after his first basketball game in more than six months, but — phew — not in his knee.

Do you remember the scene in Cool Runnings, when the crowd all starts to get Jamaica fever?

The Jamaican team, led by Derice Bannick (and Sanka’s egg-kissing technique), is taking over the Olympic bobsledding track one surprisingly fast run at a time. Their push starts, aided by three near-Olympic sprinters and the best pushcart driver in all of Jamaica, allow the Jamaicans to fly down the ice, and not even a fat, former cheater of a coach can keep the world from falling head over heals for this lovable band of bobsledding rookies. The announcers discuss the increased adoration being thrown Jamaica’s way, ultimately unzipping their jackets to reveal their own Jamaica shirts.

“Ah, what the heck,” says one announcer. “Go Jam!”

I’m kind of like those announcers. I normally try to stay away from discussing college basketball in this space, but last night drew me in. Ah, what the heck. Go Jimmer.

But this post isn’t an ode to Jimmer Fredette — I imagine there will be enough of those written in the coming months. Fredette’s a certified star, a scorer without a conscience, a scorer who has yet to be stopped by any amount of double- (and sometimes even triple-) teams. If he hasn’t already (and, after last night, I suspect he has), Fredette will become this year’s Stephen Curry or Adam Morrison — a one-man show in a lesser league, destined to tear out opponents’ hearts while intriguing fans by the boatload. He’ll get his (well-deserved) shine this season, even if I don’t write a single word about him.

No, this post goes out to Fredette’s teammates. The selfless, gritty blokes who sacrifice shots and touches on a nightly basis, all so they can help their team win. The all-heart bastards who would rather pass the ball to their superstar teammate than shoot a lower-percentage shot themselves. The tough guys who throw their bodies around, who set mean screens for 40 straight minutes, who box out, who hedge screens, who dive on the floor, and who do it all with zero fanfare. Fredette’s teammates are the offensive linemen of college basketball. They help make winning possible, but never accumulate gaudy stats or the average fan’s adoration.

One thing last night’s BYU-San Diego St. affair reaffirmed is this: a team doesn’t need to have more talent to win; it just has to have pieces that all fit together. BYU wasn’t more talented than San Siego St. Not one through twelve, at least. If San Diego St. played BYU in a Ryder Cup-like string of one-on-one matches, San Diego St. would win every time. But this isn’t the Ryder Cup, it’s basketball, and so group synergy plays into the final results. BYU didn’t have more collective talent, but the Cougars have Jimmer Fredette, and they surround him with four players who all know their roles and remain committed to those roles all the time. On most nights, that synergy will be enough to win games.

Which (finally) takes me to the Celtics, and the NBA. There are certain teams that play beyond their individual capabilities. It’s difficult for me to say the Celtics are one of those teams, because they (still, even at their ages) have so much star power. But I’m going to say it anyway: these Celtics play better as a whole than they would as individuals. There’s something about “Rondo as distributor; Pierce as slasher/scorer/occasional playmaker; Allen as shooter; Garnett as provider of all things; and PerkShaq as big man/enforcer/occasional finisher/(hopefully) rebounder” that meshes perfectly. These Boston Celtics play off each other like Abbott and Costello. Which reminds me, Who’s on first.

The synergy I speak of is part of the reason James Posey didn’t play nearly as well once he left Boston. In Boston, the Celtics needed Posey to do only what he does best. He needed to defend, dive on the floor after loose balls, annoy the opponent, make open three-pointers, and, yes, hug his teammates before games. When his next teams (New Orleans and Indiana) needed playmakers, Posey could not oblige. That’s not his game; he can’t operate as a playmaker. Never mind that Posey has gotten older and lost a step (or two). Even in his prime, Posey fit best on good teams, teams that already had talented playmakers. Posey frees playmakers to make plays, and the playmakers free Posey to provide everything else. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, one that doesn’t work if a team doesn’t have enough playmakers.

Never mind that I just said the word playmakers 12 million times in a single paragraph. There are about 30 players in the NBA who would fit into any situation in the league.  Lebron, Wade, Kobe, Howard, Paul, and I refuse to list the rest, because listing 30 players is quite tedious. After the top 30 (or so), players only help matters when they fit in. Look at Hedo Turkoglu as perhaps the most obvious example. In Toronto, and I’ll put this mildly, Hedo sucked. In Phoenix, same thing. Now, back in Orlando, Turkoglu once again makes a positive impact.

Think about a player like “Old Shaq.” Either the Cavaliers didn’t know how to use Shaq last season, he simply didn’t fit into their system, or the players surrounding Shaq did not help him. Whatever it was, Shaq held the Cavaliers back. His mere presence not only made them worse, but a lot worse. Did Shaq have nothing left in the tank? No. We see now he can still help a team, but — at this stage of his career — Shaq’s a role player who has to be placed in the proper role to succeed. For players like Old Shaq, and most of the NBA, the situation has to be right. If you throw the wrong player into the wrong situation, what results is disaster.

The circle of life (or, in this case, the circle of a rambling post) leads me back to Jimmer and the Fredettes. If Noah Hartsock (one of BYU’s tall, tough bastards) played for North Carolina, he probably wouldn’t play a single minute. North Carolina isn’t ranked, but still has a stable of big men far more talented than Hartsock. Yet BYU, the country’s ninth-ranked team (and probably climbing), is perfectly content with Hartsock playing his role and playing it well.

When you see Hartsock, maybe you see a limited player who couldn’t score 20 points if he was left all alone, in a gym, for two straight hours. But me? I see pride. I see power. I see a bad-ass mother, thriving in the perfect situation, who don’t take no crap off of nobody.