Every once in a while, I link to a few articles from other writers around the internet. You know, I throw some dimes.

Reggie Evans.

1. Reggie Evans calls Kevin Garnett a chihuahua

“I’d love to see Charlie and KG in the ring. I’d pick Charlie,” Evans told the Toronto Sun. “I’ve seen KG get his ass whupped. … He’s always barking, and when it’s time to get physical, he’s always been a little chihuahua.”

First things first: spelling chihuahua correctly is no small task. Second things second: I’ve already written about Garnett’s fake tough guy image, so instead I leave you with this:

2. SCAL RETURNS TO BOSTON TONIGHT!!!!!

And so is Tom Thibodeau. Thibs was very gracious when he spoke about returning to Boston.

“It’s going to bring back a lot of fond memories,” Thibodeau told Peter May. “What that [Celtics] organization did for me, from ownership to [director of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] to Doc — it put me in the position that I’m in today. There’s a great appreciation of that on my part.”

“The Boston situation was a great situation for me,” he added. “I wasn’t going to leave unless a great opportunity came along. The Bulls situation was exactly what I was looking for. They had a good, young nucleus. They had cap space. They did a great job of planning. And I was fortunate to be in a position where I could take it. It looked like the best fit.”

Okay, Thibs, you seem like a great guy. But back to Scal. I hope the Celtics give him a video tribute like they did for Eddie House.

3. C’s Big Three not very efficient

In related news, Ray Allen has officially been kicked out of the Big Three.

NBA.com ranked the top ten trios in the NBA, based on average PER and cumulative win shares. The C’s Big Three (Rondo, Garnett, Pierce) had the second-highest combined Win Score but the second-worst average PER. Those damn turnovers.

The leaders in both categories? The damn Lakers.

4. Tweet tweet tweet!

Avery Bradley tweeted, “Minor setback for a major comeback.” Whether that means he’s suffered yet another (!) setback, I don’t know. But I look forward to the major comeback, even though it’s hard to call it a comeback considering he’s never played a second in his NBA career.

And in case you were wondering, Jermaine O’Neal’s day got off to a bad start.

5. Scal spits Celtics knowledge

“Mentally, he’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever play against,” Scalabrine said of Rajon Rondo. “Some players play out of instincts and what they see they can go and attack. He plays out of concepts. He’s like Doc, or a guy like Mark Jackson, they see stuff that could happen and a way that you could beat a team that most of the people, including players, don’t see.”

If you want some Rondo stats, click here. But more importantly, did you know that Antoine Walker once had a game with 14 assists and zero turnovers?

As for KG’s bullying tactics: “Kevin gets in your head probably better than anybody.”

6. Zing

Not at all Celtics related, but still:

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

Kendrick Perkins's happy face. And sad face. And everything in between face.

1. Kendrick Perkins targets early February for his return. “To me, I feel like I need about a month-and-a-half [to be playoff-ready],” he said.
2. Paul Pierce was rated #19 in Slam Online’s player rankings. This sentence from the column had me dying laughing: “It’s also entirely possible Chris Bosh still has to fit the hotel room bed with rubber sheets the night before playing against Kevin Garnett.”
3. GMs give Boston a 100% chance to win the Atlantic, an 18.5% chance to win the East, and a 3.7% chance to win a championship. They say Ray Allen is the league’s purest shooter and Rajon Rondo the best on-the-ball perimeter defender and best defender in the passing lanes. Actually, the entire Celtics team dominated the defensive rankings. Also, more votes.
4. John from Red’s Army strongly believes Shaq should come off the bench. I happen to agree, for this reason: Shaq, against second string defenses, can still get buckets.
5. Brian Scalabrine on why Tom Thibodeau wanted him in Chicago: “He knows that he can count on me.”
6. Kobe Bryant’s the reason we had a recession.
7. If Andrew Bynum has one more major knee surgery, his minutes will likely be limited for the rest of his career.
8. Jersey advertising has the potential to save the NBA from a lockout. Seriously. English Premier League soccer teams made $155 million off jersey advertising last season. My thoughts? Why the hell not? The basketball will be the same, even if the Boston Celtics become the Armani Jeans Celtics. On second thought… the Armani Jeans Celtics?
9. Adrian Wojnarowski on the passing of the torch in Miami: “Opening night of the preseason, Wade was pushed to the side and everyone saw they could leave him the captain, the spokesman, the last man introduced to the laser light show. They could leave everything in place for Dwyane Wade except for the fact that the Miami Heat no longer belong to him. A force of nature showed on the shores of Biscayne Bay, grabbed the ball and never looked back. Maybe this is still D-Wade’s city and franchise, but this is LeBron James’ team now. King James doesn’t do deferential.”
10. I’m pretty sure I could score 10 points per game in the NBA if I had low-post lessons from Hakeem Olajuwon. Hakeem’s forgotten more post moves than most players ever learn. Which makes the thought of him teaching Dwight Howard positively frightening.

“The Scalabrines of the world are rare. They are not a dime-a-dozen. When you get one, you do what you can to keep one.”

- Doc Rivers

I may not stop laughing for a month or two. Read this link for part 1 of CSNNE’s new “Catching up with Brian Scalabrine” feature. No, I’m not even joking. It’s a real feature.

Every once in a while, I link to a few articles from other writers around the internet. You know, I throw some dimes.

1. I thought Scal would win the dunk contest before I’d be afraid of Erick Dampier signing with a rival. But Dampier helps the Heat. They needed his size.
2. Chris Forsberg discusses the Jermaine O’Neal signing: “Regardless of whether he begins the season as a starter or not, O’Neal is likely to end it as a reserve. In many ways, he’s this year’s Rasheed Wallace, the aging veteran brought in at the reduced cost of the mid-level exception with hopes he can still play like someone who deserved $23 million last season.” O’Neal was paid $23 million last season, but I wouldn’t exactly say he deserved it. Let’s just hope he plays like someone who deserves the mid-level exception.
3. Kelly Dwyer compares Kevin Durant in today’s NBA to Kevin Garnett back in 1999. Dwyer says Durant is “not all that’s right with the NBA. He’s not a shining beacon to follow to shore. But he is something special. And he’s worth being giddy about. Don’t ever lose those sorts of good shudders, the ones that get you doing the pogo just thinking about next fall. And, possibly, next summer. Just keep an eye on the sky, with this guy, and prepare for anything. It might take a while, but it’ll be worth it.”
4. Scal is officially someone else’s whipping boy. Bulls By The Horns jokes, “The Bulls have inked Brian Scalabrine to a non-guaranteed deal, making any potential trade for [Carmelo] Anthony redundant. I mean, there’s only so much shooting and scoring a team needs, right?”
5. Paul Flannery argues that Pierce’s legacy as a Celtic was ensured by his contract extension. I would argue that it was already ensured before that, even though he’d look terrible in any other uniform.
6. Rajon Rondo’s Alcatraz adventure keeps looking cooler. If playing basketball at every jail is as fun, I might go ahead and get myself arrested.

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

Brian Scalabrine signed a non-guaranteed deal yesterday with the Chicago Bulls. Because the Bulls currently have only 12 guaranteed contracts, Scal is a good bet to make the team.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau (we miss you already, Thibs) has rallied for the Bulls to sign Scal all summer; he still believes Scal can contribute, both on and off the court.

The Bulls will bring nine-year veteran Brian Scalabrine to training camp on a non-guaranteed contract, which only becomes guaranteed if he lands the 13th roster spot, a league source said.

Scalabrine, 32, spent the last five seasons with the Celtics, where new coach Tom Thibodeau served as an associate head coach for the last three seasons. Thibodeau values Scalabrine’s shooting ability in sporadic spot minutes, as well as his locker room professionalism.

As a basketball analyst (can I call myself that?), I realize that losing Scal isn’t a big deal. Of all the names Scal has ever been called, “NBA star” definitely isn’t one of them. But as a fan? I’m going to miss Scal.

Scal was a little like a real-life Rudy. (Wait, Rudy is the real-life Rudy. Oh, whatever.) Scal’s not exactly five foot nothing, a hundred nothing, but his physique was far from ideal and he hardly had a speck of athletic ability. He over-acheived at every level, battling the steep odds facing a fat, goofy redhead from Enumclaw, Washington. I can even see Kendrick Perkins going easy on Scal in practice and Scal responding, “Don’t treat me like your kid brother. I’m playing defensive end for Purdue.”

But calling Scal “Rudy” is a disservice to the man they once called “Skull-a-brine.” At times he was useful, and he never had his “Rudy (slow clap), Rudy (slow clap), Rudy (slow clap)” moment. Instead, in 2008-09 when Kevin Garnett got injured and Mikki Moore proved himself to be one of the least reliable basketball players on the planet, Scal became an important piece to the puzzle.

Suddenly, Scal wasn’t just a towel-waver anymore. He was a respected member of the team, a contributor. And then – just like THAT — Garnett returned the following season and Scal was back stapled to the bench. Not that he cared, mind you. Scal always wanted to do whatever was best for the team, and he never complained. That attitude is why I respect the hell out of Scal, and it’s why the Bulls made a good signing. Even if Scal doesn’t play a single minute in Chicago, he’ll provide leadership on and off the court. 

Late last season, Doc Rivers said, “If you’re going to have a guy on your bench, his name should be Brian Scalabrine because he’s phenomenal.” I initially laughed at the though of five Scals coming off the bench, and hearing Scal called “phenomenal.” I had never before considered putting Scal and that word in the same sentence. But in a way, Scal was phenomenal. In an era during which players seemingly become more malcontent with each passing year, Scal was a role model for both teammates and fans. He never acted out, never demanded playing time and never gave less than maximum effort. You can say, “Yeah, but he made $15 million. When you’re overpaid that badly, you should do all those things.”

I would agree with you. But look around the NBA. Players receive unwarranted big contracts and many become lazy. Look at Jerome James. Eddy Curry. When you’re rotting on the bench, even if you’re getting paid more money than an average human could ever fathom, the natural process is to mentally check out. 82 games is an absolute grind and it takes a special type of person, a truly humble and selfless one, to stay ready all season long while never knowing when playing time will come. Yet Scal stayed ready, and kept his spirits high, and was never anything but a perfect teammate, even though he could have stopped caring the day he signed that $15 million contract.

So mock Scal all you want. Discuss how the Celtics won’t miss him one bit. On the court, they probably won’t. But don’t forget: in his own way, Brian Scalabrine was phenomenal. That’s why we cheered for him, that’s why we came to love him, and that’s why he became a cult hero in Boston.

It’s also why we’ll miss him.

(The common perception of Scal hurts.)

Sam Smith, long-time Chicago Bulls reporter and author of “The Jordan Rules”, reports that the Bulls might be interested in signing Brian Scalabrine. I guess they didn’t read Tom Haberstroh’s latest column. (bulls.com)

I think Finley is too old at this point, but Scalabrine is a guy the Bulls have talked with a lot this summer and especially with Thibodeau I can see him as possible depending on what goes on regarding Fernandez. I know guys like Steve Novak have been at the Berto working out more in pickup type games, which the Bulls do with guys before the season. The job, for now unless it’s Fernandez, is a 12th or 13th man who might play a day a week. You need a good team guy willing to root a lot and Scalabrine would be that.

Fans spent so much time mock cheering Scal and pretending he was the special needs kid at the end of a fourth-grade CYO bench that they failed to recognize one thing: Scal’s actually not too bad. For a 12th or 13th man, the Bulls could do worse.