Editor’s note: According to certain reports, Carlos Arroyo could play in Europe next season. The Italian team Pallacanestro Cantu is one team interested in the Puerto Rican point guard.

Pondering Arroyo’s future made me think back to his Celtics tenure. One game in particular stood out.

– Jay

*****

During the embryonic stages of Carlos Arroyo’s Boston Celtics career, hope originated from nowhere to build within me. Think the Big Bang Theory, except on a much smaller scale and not so essential to human life. I still expected little from Arroyo; veterans who get cut by a contender during midseason rarely make a major impact elsewhere. But during his first game with the Celtics, Arroyo was a bird who had escaped from his cage, a bird who flew away from Lebron James and Dwyane Wade and, without ball-dominating superstars to defer to, finally spread his wings.

The stats do not tell the story of Arroyo’s first game in Green; he contributed little to Boston’s box score, scoring four points and dishing two assists during 15 minutes of floor time. Even though Arroyo was making his Boston debut, the AP recap did not mention him once. Still, anybody who saw the game and understood its intricacies could see what Arroyo brought to the TD Garden floor that day. Whatever he lacked in statistical production he made up for with contagious energy and an unselfishness that operated as smelling salts for his teammates. The Celtics fell behind by 23 points to the Los Angeles Clippers before Arroyo helped mount a charge.

In retrospect, Arroyo’s debut paled in comparison to other developments from that night. Nenad Krstic scored 20 points and added nine rebounds from his starting role, but he began to reveal the flaws that would eventually land him a spot in Doc Rivers’s doghouse. DeAndre Jordan, who possesses all the offensive talent of a phone booth, scored 21 points against Krstic, almost all of them on uncontested dunks. The Clippers shot 67.6% from the field during the first half. While Krstic could not be blamed for all of L.A.’s hot shooting, his rotations were late and he could often do nothing but futilely watch as the Clippers did chin-ups on the rim. Boston’s Serbian center was as meek as advertised, and fellow midseason addition Jeff Green began to display a tentative demeanor that would plague him all year long.

Amid storylines that would effect Boston’s season and help lead to their demise, Arroyo’s understated art meant little, if anything. He played well enough to lead a comeback, but he did not play well enough to lead the Celtics to a win. He played well enough to vault Avery Bradley in Boston’s point guard stable, but he did not play well enough to find a permanent spot in the Celtics’ rotation. He played well enough to encourage Boston’s crowd and draw praise from Doc Rivers, but not well enough to even get mentioned by the Associated Press. Later on, I would realize the insignificance that Arroyo’s 15 impressive minutes would have on Boston’s season, that he was destined for DNP-CDs and splinters on his butt regardless of how worthy he was on March 9th against the Los Angeles Clippers.

But for that night, Arroyo made me a dreamer. I did not dream that he would become an All-Star or that he would take Rajon Rondo’s starting spot or that he would regularly make the Celtics significantly better as he did on that night. Rather, I dreamed that he would exceed my expectations and become a contributor the Celtics could count on, the first reliable backup point guard of the Big Three era. During Arroyo’s debut, I remembered Stephon Marbury’s pained existence and Sam Cassell’s “I would rather shoot ten jumpers in a row than pass to any of my (better) teammates” mentality. I remembered Eddie House’s “blind man wearing winter gloves” handle, Doc Rivers’ (appropriate) unwillingness to play Avery Bradley, and Delonte West’s season that was (at that point) almost entirely stained by suspension and injuries.

I understood what some of those players contributed to Boston’s playoff runs (House, in particular, earned Rivers’s trust with a barrage of clutch shots in the NBA Finals, and even Marbury almost single-handedly won a playoff game against the Orlando Magic)—but in Arroyo that night, I saw potential for a true point guard who could spell Rondo and keep Boston’s offense plugging along with precision. Arroyo had not been that player for Miami, I knew. But in his first game with the Celtics, he played with an easiness and confidence he had not displayed with the Heat. When Rondo re-entered the game, Rivers even shifted Arroyo to shooting guard in an effort to keep him in the lineup. The Associated Press did not deem Arroyo’s performance worthy of a mention, yet his own coach called it “phenomenal.”

Arroyo did nothing spectacular against the Clippers. He did not dunk, he did not dazzle with no-look passes, and none of his crossover dribbles made opponents stumble backwards. His contributions came in ways that only purists could enjoy—a quick pitch upcourt to Sasha Pavlovic for an open transition jumper; a textbook bounce pass to a cutting Krstic; a crisp pick-and-roll that ended with Arroyo accumulating a hockey assist (he made the pass that led to the assist). He demonstrated the artistry of a natural-born point guard, the instinct to make the right play, the ability to adapt to each situation at a moment’s notice. Arroyo did not make highlights and he did not register a double-double, but his presence on the court allowed Boston to flow like expensive wine.

My long-shot dreams of Arroyo becoming a reliable backup point guard still did not come to fruition. The Celtics went to the NBA playoffs and played Arroyo’s former team, the Heat, but Arroyo did not play a single minute during the series. Doc Rivers rightfully chose to offer Boston’s backup point guard slot to Delonte West, who was more talented and productive than Arroyo on both ends of the court. The Celtics went down while Arroyo did nothing but watch from the sideline.

The NBA landscape is marked by stars who make their teammates better every night. Chris Paul finds David West in positions where he can do the most damage. Lebron James elevates into the air and whips passes to a wide open James Jones. Kobe Bryant relieves pressure from Pau Gasol and encourages double teams that leave Derek Fisher in the clear. Steve Nash creates scoring opportunities from thin air. Dwight Howard turns Hedo Turkoglu’s defensive deficiencies into no big deal. Stars boost their teammates every night, or at least a majority of nights. They boost their teammates to levels their teammates could not achieve by themselves.

But sometimes those stars need a boost, too. Sometimes Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen just don’t have their A-game, and they need Carlos Arroyo or Jeff Green or Glen Davis or Von Wafer to step on the accelerator. “Phenomenal,” you see, isn’t always a permanent state. It can come and it can go, it can vary in extent, and it can sometimes exist even when the AP doesn’t mention it, even when “phenomenal” only results in four points, two assists, and one loss.

The Celtics have decided not to sign Chris Johnson to another ten-day contract, and will reportedly sign Carlos Arroyo instead.

Delonte West should return soon, but his injury troubles have worried the Celtics. Arroyo should man the third point guard role once West returns, and back up Rajon Rondo for the time being. (Boston Herald)

The Celtics, in their search for a backup point guard while Delonte West recovers from a sprained ankle, have come to terms with Carlos Arroyo on a pro-rated veteran’s minimum contract for the rest of the season, according to a team source.

Arroyo, pending a physical, may join the team tomorrow in Milwaukee.

Arroyo had been waived by Miami earlier this week to make way for the team’s signing of Mike Bibby, and was one of two veteran playmakers the Celtics were looking at. The other was thought to be Antonio Daniels, the long-time veteran who is attempting a comeback with the Texas Legends of the NBDL.

Below, I listed a few point guards the Celtics could have considered (including Arroyo). Yes, I started writing this post before the report came out. Keep in mind, there are no Chris Pauls or Derrick Roses on the free agent market right now.

Carlos Arroyo

Arroyo should play the C’s third point guard role reasonably well. He’s not great, and there are reasons the Miami Heat released him this week. But he can run the team with a more steady hand than Avery Bradley (at this stage of Bradley’s career), and he’s a serviceable three-point shooter. His defense has never been lauded by experts, and Arroyo could not beat out Mario Chalmers in Miami. But still, he’s a veteran who shot the ball well in Miami. The Celtics could have done worse.

D-Leaguer

One name in the D-League stands out, because he played twelve years in the NBA and was once regarded as one of the NBA’s top backup point guards: Antonio Daniels. Despite his age, the 36-year old Daniels has been impressing in the D-League. He averages 15.0 points and 9.0 assists, and has even added a three-point shot to his repertoire. Shooting 44.3% from the arc this season, Daniels has drilled seven threes in his past two games.

Other top D-League point guards: Curtis Stinson, who some of you might know from his time at Iowa St; Scottie Reynolds, the former Villanova Wildcat (and first-team All-American) who has developed into a pass-first point guard while in the D-League; Javaris Crittenton, who can play when he’s not bringing guns into the locker room; Blake Ahearn, who has played stints for the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs; and Orien Greene, who once played for the Celtics and spent a ten-day contract in New Jersey this season (but reportedly signed with a Chinese team this week). If I’m missing anyone important, I apologize. D-League basketball’s not my specialty.

Sherron Collins

A big name, mostly due to his celebrated career at Kansas, Collins’ game/physique were never perfectly suited to the NBA. Thus, he was cut by the Charlotte Bobcats a week ago. Collins has briefly played in the D-League this season, and has not at all set the league on fire (five games, 12.0 ppg, 3.2 apg, 39.6% shooting). Granted, that’s a very small sample size. But I had doubts about Collins’ NBA skills while he was still in college, and he’s done nothing to quell those doubts. Does anybody think he’d provide more than Avery Bradley?

I’m thinking about making this segment a regular day-after-game thing. Let me know how you like it.

There are so many plays from last night’s game I could have broken down joyfully. The play that resulted in a Ray Allen three-pointer — the one that was preceded by approximately 553 passes in the span of a single shot clock and resulted in me tweeting, “Holy ball movement Batman!” — was one prime candidate, but there were plenty others to choose from.

Frankly, the Celtics put on an offensive clinic. They scored 112 points on only 93 possessions (an astronomical 120.4 points per 100 possessions) against what had been the league’s top defense. (Not anymore, suckas.)

The C’s did a lot of beautiful things. Their offense was a pleasure to watch, with extra pass after extra pass bringing smiles to my face. Doc Rivers explained, “Tonight was the first night I thought we had complete trust in the next pass,” and that trust was evident throughout the entire game. But one play, which wasn’t even really a play at all but a secondary fast break, caught my eye more than any other.

7:11, first quarter – Carlos Arroyo missed a jumper from the left corner. Kevin Garnett rebounded the basketball, then threw an outlet pass to Rajon Rondo. Rondo dribbled down the left side of the court, but nobody was with him. He probed the defense, but there were no initial openings. Because he pushed the ball upcourt, though, Rondo and the Celtics were rewarded by a defense that didn’t have time to set up: the Heat were forced to switch.

Lebron James picked up Rondo in transition (no mismatch there), leaving Carlos Arroyo to defend Paul Pierce (huge mismatch there). Rondo bounced his dribble outside, offering space for him to work and a view to survey the court. He almost instantly noticed Pierce’s mismatch, which was easily evident. Rondo gave two little waves. The first was to Garnett, requesting Garnett to move to his left, which would gave Pierce space. The second wave was to Pierce, telling him to stay at the top of the key where he could operate.

Rondo then swung a pass to Garnett, who was in the process of giving Pierce space. Rondo’s intent was clear, even without words. He wanted Garnett to feed Pierce. Garnett did, of course, and Pierce had the ball in his sweet spot, just outside the free throw line, with a point guard defending him. Garnett spaced even farther away from Pierce, leaving Pierce on an island with Arroyo. Let’s call it Arroyo island. I don’t have stats on this, but to the naked eye Pierce seems like one of the league’s best at exploiting smaller defenders. He dribbled to his left, spun back to the middle of the floor and shot a 14-footer over the top of Arroyo. Money in the bank.

If you watched the play without an analytical eye, it would have seemed so simple. Pierce was the recipient of a mismatch and made an easy isolation move. Who cares?

But a lot of thought went into the simple play. Rondo’s role in orchestrating the bucket cannot be understated. He didn’t chalk up an assist when Pierce scored, but Rondo saw the mismatch and made sure Pierce was able to pick on Arroyo. The little things like that, rather than his obscene assist totals, are why Rondo’s start to this season so impressive.  They are also why Doc Rivers told Jackie MacMullan that “the trust [Rondo's teammates] have in him is unbelievable.”

Also not to be overlooked was the unselfishness that went into this play. Rondo didn’t care that he wouldn’t get an assist, and Garnett didn’t care that he was simply getting the fuck out of Pierce’s way. They both saw that Pierce had the best opportunity to score and had no qualms about moving aside so that could happen.

One play, very simple. But that’s only if you barely watched.

I didn’t know what to expect entering last night’s game.

I’d never seen the Miami Heat play a regular season game before (“no kidding, Jay”), so I didn’t know if they could possibly live up to the hype. I didn’t know whether the Three Amigos could mesh, and I wasn’t sure whether their bench was talented enough to make a difference. I didn’t know whether Lebron or Wade would be the leading man, and I didn’t know whether the second fiddle would take offense to being the second fiddle.

That was part of what made last night’s game so exciting. Nobody knows how good the Heat will be. People predicted 70 wins or 65 wins or however many wins, but nobody really knows. They have talent, obviously, but until that talent proves itself on the court anything remains possible. A lot of fans and analysts have already anointed the Heat Eastern Conference champions, but the element of unknown remains.

That’s why some tickets for last night’s game sold for $3,000. That’s why 500 media members were credentialed (more than a normal Finals game). That’s why I got texts this morning from friends I haven’t spoken to in months. The Celtics-Heat matchup was phenomenal in and of itself, but the Heat aren’t just a basketball team — they’re a mystery and a soap opera and a main attraction, all rolled into one. They’re something to fear, something to amaze, something to mesmerize you with wondrous possibilities.

And you know what else they are? 0-1.

After a raggedy performance that was almost saved by Lebron James’s heroics, the Heat were downed by a game Celtics team, 88-80. We still don’t know how good the Heat will be, and after last night’s uneven performance they still represent an unknown. But the Celtics? That old and familiar product, that overlooked afterthought of a former NBA champion? Their ways are known. Their ways are respected. And on a night that was supposed to usher in a new era of NBA basketball, a new superteam, the Boston Celtics stood in the way of an Eastern Conference torch-passing just by being themselves.

We can’t learn everything from last night’s game. It was only one game, only our first opportunity to see a Heat team that clearly hasn’t gelled, only our first chance to see a Celtics team trying to beat back age and keep the window of opportunity ajar. But we can take some things from the game, even if it was just a sloppy season opener played by two teams not yet fully formed. Read more »

In a weird way, the Celtics lend a helping hand to their most talented Eastern Conference opponents. In a weird way, the Celtics offer the Miami Heat pointers. In a weird way, they tutor their rivals.

I’m not saying they do it overtly. Paul Pierce doesn’t phone Lebron James and tell him how to execute Pierce’s famed stepback jumper. Ray Allen isn’t going to email Dwyane Wade the proper jumpshot form. Rajon Rondo won’t sit down with Carlos Arroyo and explain how to run an offense. Kevin Garnett doesn’t text Chris Bosh the meaning of the word “defense.” And I can’t imagine Shaq taking Joel Anthony under his wing to teach him how to put the ball in the basket.

But the Celtics laid the blueprint for how a three-pronged group of All-Stars can join together and, in their first season, win a championship. They showed that chemistry can be formed instantly, that egos can be shoved aside for a team’s good. That a team doesn’t necessarily need a single go-to guy down the stretch, that three options (and now, four) can be even more successful. They showed that the offense will take care of itself, and that defense is where teams win games. In short, the Celtics have spent three years demonstrating everything the Heat need to prove.

Chris Bosh told NBA.com’s David Aldridge that the Heat already look to the Celtics for inspiration.

“A lot of people’s concerns is, ‘is the ball big enough?,’ ” Bosh said. ” ‘Are there gonna be enough shots for everybody?’ To be quite frank, I remember ’07, and people were asking the same thing about the Celtics their first year (with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce), and they came out and showed people how to really play team basketball, and how superstars can come together for the team.

“We’re gonna have to do that same thing … we’re gonna have to set screens for each other, have each other’s back on defense. It’s so many other parts of the game where we have to play well and sacrifice for each other, other than offense.”

A lot of people, including the Celtics’ Big Three, point out that the Heat’s Three Amigos are in different points of their careers than Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were in 2007. James, Wade and Bosh are younger and haven’t finished compiling individual accolades. They are accustomed to setting the world on fire with statistics, not passing up open shots to get talented teammates involved. They have each spent their careers accomplishing feats and winning games mostly by themselves. Playing with such a stacked deck will be different, new, and perhaps overwhelming at times. But if used correctly, that stacked deck is an advantage against any team in the league.

Erik Spoelstra understands that winning games will come down to far more than talent, and told as much to the Miami Herald.

“A lot of the things that we want to stress this year have nothing to do with X’s and O’s and strategy, but it’s how we manage adversity and how we deal with tough times, how we stick together as a family and how we sacrifice for each other and how we hold each other accountable,” Spoelstra said. “All those things immediately get tested when you’re on the road, and especially in a tough environment like Boston.”

That sounds a lot like Ubuntu, right?

If the Heat want to learn how to successfully fuse their stable of stars, they should peer across the court tonight. And then they should take notes.

When I was younger, my cousins and I made up this thing we called the Man’s Club. We had to do certain manly things — such as diving into jelly fish-filled waters or lighting a bag of poop on fire on someone’s doorstep – to be considered members in the exclusive club. Why does this pertain to Carlos Arroyo hitting a Mexican opponent across the face? Because a 35-year old female could be breast-feeding one child, pregnant with another, watching Lifetime movies and reading a Nicholas Sparks novel all at the same time… and she still wouldn’t be as much of a woman as Carlos Arroyo. After seeing this slap, there’s no way he ever would have been a member of the Man’s Club. No way.

P.S. - Just another reason the Heat are going to be the NBA’s most-liked team next season.