Yes, this alley-oop pass from Rajon Rondo to Kenneth Faried was ridiculous. Yes, I’m excited to be writing about a real life basketball play rather than a make-believe deadline David Stern pulled out of his you-know-what. Yes, the announcer — “I’ve gotta see it again. I’ve gotta see it again! Oh, and the dunk. Onions!” — was almost as awesome as the play.

But who in the world are Rondo and Faried playing? It looks like my college alumni game, not an All-Star exhibition that should be featuring NBA players. Either that, or it looks like a beer league softball team won some kind of lottery and got to try its hand against Rondo and the Kentucky All-Stars.

The Kentucky “Big Blue All-Stars” were playing the Union College Bulldogs — yes, that’s right, the Division II Union College Bulldogs, and beat them 125-104. Union spends most of its time trying to defeat teams like Milligan College, Alice Loyd College and Bluefield College, finishing .500 last season, and then, oh yeah, why don’t they try to stop Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins?

No matter what, that’s a sick pass. But if Rajon Rondo ever gets hurt while playing an exhibition game against the freaking Union College Bulldogs, I’m personally marching to David Stern’s house and becoming an arsonist. If Wyc Grousbeck isn’t going to protect his assets, somebody has to do it.

But the real story of this highlight tape is Josh McRoberts, who briefly became Vince Carter at the 0:59 mark. I don’t think I’m hallucinating, but then again, I also don’t think McBob is capable of doing a backwards 360 dunk equipped with a between-the-legs maneuver. In a game that sees Jeff Green pull down 12 rebounds, I guess anything is possible.

The lesson, as always: Jeff Green is far more likely to succeed when the defenders act like statues. Then again, I guess everybody’s far more likely to succeed in that scenario.

But especially Jeff Green.

(h/t Red’s Army)

You thought I would be impressed, right? Wrong. Austin Rivers stole that crossover straight from me. I was roasting 35-year old dudes with the same move in my summer league game Wednesday night. I even almost scored a couple times. I didn’t see Rivers in the crowd at my game, but he must have been there taking notes. There’s no other explanation.

Bill Simmons wrote a piece about the expanding primes of today’s generation of NBA players, including Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Here’s what he wrote about Allen:

I hope you enjoyed the “Reggie Miller versus Ray Allen” debate. It’s been over for a year. Right now, Ray ranks second in 3-pointers made (2,543, just 17 behind Reggie; nobody else is within 800 of them) and second in 3s attempted (6,388), only he’s made 40 percent of them (one of 40 players who can say that). He’s also the fourth-best free throw shooter ever (89.4 percent). Given his phenomenal work ethic, we can safely say 25,000 points, 3,000 made 3s and a 45-40-90 career percentages are in play. I just don’t think we’re seeing that again. His extended prime made him the most efficient shooting guard who ever lived; throw in his clutch shooting numbers (see sidebar) and it’s been a wildly underrated career.

Other than Reggie, you know who the biggest loser is here? Sam Presti, who made a totally defensible trade when he was rebuilding Seattle around Kevin Durant in 2007 (Allen and the rights to Glen Davis for the rights to Jeff Green, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract) and never imagined he was giving up five or six more killer Ray Allen seasons.

You know what’s the perfect description of Ray’s game? It’s exactly like Yosemite Falls. Just ask Bill Walton.

I was proud to call myself a Boston Celtics fan yesterday. More proud than usual.

Only a fan base that understands basketball can appreciate Perk enough to offer him such a long, standing ovation. Only a fan base that values hard work can feel so much love for Perk, the classic hard hat player without very many offensive skills. Some places, Perk’s contributions would go unnoticed. But not in Boston. No way.

I loved how Perk acknowledged his reception, too. Just a small wave, as if to tell the crowd, “I hear you.” Then, as usual, Perk went back to work. He didn’t smile, because he doesn’t do that on a basketball court. He waved his arm to accept the gracious support, then boxed out his opponent like his life depended on securing the rebound. Not even the standing ovation, which must have felt so great to hear, could keep Perk from concentrating on his job.

“They showed a lot of love,” he told WEEI after the game. “It was a great feeling.”

But during the game, Perk remained focus on completing his job. Not even the perfect reception could get him off track.

I wrote a piece for SLAM Online about the game last night, focusing mostly on Ray’s shot and Shaq’s performance.

“I’ve shot the ball too many times,” said Allen. “I don’t question going to the bathroom. I don’t question eating. It’s just that simple for me. If I closed my eyes, I could make a good amount of shots.”

Did Rivers hesitate calling a clutch play for Allen, whose All-World jumper looked to be left in the locker room?

“Not with Ray,” Rivers said. “No, no. Ray is a shooter. Shooters make shots. So, no.”

“He’s one of those guys, he can go 0-10; you know the one guy that believes he’s going to make it is Ray. And the second group [that believes] is our team. When we drew it up, you could tell, they thought it would work and they went with it,” added Rivers.

“That’s just Ray. That’s self-explanatory. You’ve seen him do it a million times,” offered Paul Pierce. “He’s such a great player, such a clutch player. I can’t even describe being out there with him, I love playing with him. He takes so much pressure off of me, Kevin, Rondo, when you’ve got a guy you can go to.”

Click here to read the rest of the piece.

Happy New Year’s, Serge Ibaka.

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

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE – “It didn’t take long to recognize a transformation in Glen Davis this season. It started with the charges, as he sacrificed his body and slammed to the floor night after night. Next came the jumpshots, which he began to knock down on a consistent basis. Then there were the interviews where he spoke about leadership, maturity, and accountability. Davis had come a long way from the player who, just last season, broke his thumb fighting a friend and was fined for shouting an obscenity at a fan. Big Baby was growing up — but what changed him? Why now? As Davis revealed, someone very small has had a huge influence on him. ‘The summer was an eye-opening experience for me, just because of losing in the Finals,’ he told CSNNE.com. ‘Then also it comes to realization of, ‘Hey, I’ve become a father.’ I think that was one of the biggest things that really changed me.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “The first, crafted by Kevin Garnett and Tom Brady, requires at least a year after knee surgery before an athlete reaches his destination: complete health. And then there’s the Wes Welker version — the one that completes the trip in half the time. Perkins, who took an important step over the first half of yesterday’s practice by participating and even dunking in a dummy offensive drill, believes he can follow the faster road. ‘It was two different surgeries, two different guys,’ Perkins, who had the more radical surgery, said of Garnett. ‘Believe it or not, me and KG are mentally different. KG had to take his time getting back, and I’m a guy who will push to get back quicker. It’s the difference between me and him.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “‘Perk looked great for what he did, he actually dunked a couple times,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘That’s good. He’s in great shape and that’s one thing. He’s worked so hard.’ Little more than five months after undergoing ACL surgery in mid-July, Perkins underwent a MRI last week to gauge his healing. With his doctors satisfied with his progress, Perkins was fitted for a new brace for his right knee and cleared by the Celtics’ medical staff to participate in noncontact drills with the team. … Asked if he thought about his knee during the practice, Perkins said, ‘Not today. A couple times I did, like on a pick-and-roll that I went up and dunked, but I didn’t even think about it then, not until after. I was like, ‘Damn, I might be all right, after all.’ I felt pretty good out there.’ One time on the court isn’t enough to clear that mental hurdle, and Rivers knows that is likely the biggest challenge any injured player faces in coming back from a major injury. ‘The mental part is when he comes back, how much he trusts his leg,’ Rivers said. ‘If we can get anything out of Perk this year, we’ll be thrilled. I know he’s going to play, but it usually takes a year after surgery to be completely confident. Some break that barrier earlier — [New England Patriots wide receiver] Wes Welker being one — but Tom Brady couldn’t. He was good last year; he’s the MVP this year.’ Perkins would love to make like Welker, and his ability to get back on the playing field for even the most basic of exercises just five months after surgery is remarkable. But Perkins also stressed that, while he hasn’t suffered any setbacks in his recovery, he’s trying not to be overly ambitious with his timeline to return. In fact, he suggested that Rivers, who usually preaches a ‘take all the time you need to get 100 percent’ philosophy, might have a speedier timeline (late January/early February, according to Perkins) than the big man himself is envisioning (All-Star break in late February).”

Michael Vega, Boston Globe – “O’Neal, meanwhile, drew one step closer to getting back from a sore left knee that left him sidelined for the last 19 games. He hinted that he might play tonight against the 76ers at TD Garden. ‘It’s a challenge,’ O’Neal said of his protracted absence — since the second half of an 89-87 loss at Dallas Nov. 8. ‘We don’t have a ton of practices, so you can’t wait until you get five good practices. You got to play when you feel like it’s doable and I feel like I’m close. I may play [tonight]. I’m just going to talk to the medical staff and see how they feel and how they’re going to gauge it, but I feel like we’ve done enough work to protect the knee. Conditioning-wise, I’m not going to be in tip-top shape, but it happens when you don’t have enough practices. I will [be] when I do have enough practices.’ A welcome sight for the lucky sponsors who attended the open practice was Perkins throwing down a dunk off a pick-and-roll move. ‘Today he was the most active [that he’s been],’ coach Doc Rivers said of Perkins. “He even did the warm-ups, which he’s never done before.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Rivers had an interesting analogy when asked about Garnett’s importance to his defense. ‘I think (Garnett) is the best linebacker in the league,’ the coach said. ‘He’s very much like Mike Singletary was with the Bears — you can see those eyes, and he’s calling out all the coverages. He’s pretty much back to where he was three years ago, and he may be better now because he knows the team better. He sees the floor. He’s the point guard on defense, he sees the coverages, he smells things out. He studies the game. If we call ‘four up three down’ (tonight) — that’s a Philly play — he’ll know the actions. Him and two other guys. That’s why he’s good. (Orlando’s) Dwight Howard is pretty good, too, but they’re different.’”

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

For those of you wondering, THIS is what it looks like when someone does chin-ups with his nuts resting on Amir Johnson’s neck.

And yes, this dunk was from two days ago. It’s worth the wait, no?