The Eastern Conference's two best point guards.

Rajon Rondo started Team USA’s first three exhibition games this summer. He looked to have the team’s starting position all but locked up, until the third game. That’s when everything started to fall apart.

Playing against Lithuania, Rondo turned in his first poor performance of the exhibition tour. One bad game isn’t the end of the world, but that game clearly marks the time that Rondo’s brief run with Team USA started to sour. The next exhibition was against Spain, a hyped matchup of the world’s two best teams, and for the first time this summer Rondo didn’t start. He sat there waiting to play, and kept waiting. The first quarter passed by, and Rondo hadn’t yet played. The second quarter went by, same thing. The game ended, Rondo shook hands with the Spanish players, and he definitely wasn’t very sweaty. He had received a DNP-CD.

A few days later Rondo withdrew from the team. So they say, at least. There was speculation that he was actually the team’s final cut. Whether Rondo was cut or not, one thing is for certain.

Derrick Rose had already stolen Rondo’s starting spot. Read more »

Yup, the Celtics are playing that guy tonight.

In other Chicago news, the Bulls just gave up 120 points to the New York Knickerbockers (including a staggering 132.1 points per 100 possessions in the first half). Then the fourth quarter came around, the Bulls cut the lead to nine, and Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah spent the game’s final minutes on the bench. Wait, what? On the bench? In a semi-close game? What did Thibodeau do, forget that he could make substitutions again?

No, he was simply riding his bench’s hot hand. The subs went on a 10-0 run and Thibs wanted to reward them. Can you blame him for that? Not really. But as soon as the run stops you have to put Rose and Noah back into the game. Right? Not in Thibodeau’s eyes. “The second unit I thought fought hard to close it, and I wanted to see what they could get out of it,” he told the New York Post.

Don’t sweat it, Thibs. You’ve got something up your sleeve for tonight. You know all the Celtics’ plays.

Thinking a little more about Thibodeau’s decision to keep his stars on the bench than I probably should care to, I kind of love it. It was the type of move that makes you scratch your head for now, definitely. But when the Bulls’ bench scraps together a gutty performance in a big game some time later this season, people should think, “Ahh. So THAT’S why Thibodeau left the bench in against the Knicks.”

He was building confidence in his second unit and rewarding them for good play. Sure, he might have lost his team a game, but they probably weren’t going to win anyway. They were still down nine points with just three and a half minutes to play. Thibs will surely catch a lot of heat for the move, but I’m on board. It was a ballsy decision that could pay serious dividends in the future.

A scout told ESPN’s Chris Broussard that only an injury could keep the Celtics from winning the Eastern Conference. Apparently, he forgot about a couple teams down in Florida.

The scout said this is the worst-case scenario for the Celtics:

53 wins and lose in the Finals to the Lakers in seven games. Only an injury can keep them from winning the East.

The worst case is that the Celtics get to the Finals and take it to seven games? Look, I’m the biggest Celtics fan on the planet and I’d love to think the Celtics will have no problem with the East. But to say that their worst-case scenario would be winning the East and taking the Lakers to seven games is like saying the worst-case scenario for my life would be writing for ESPN.com, becoming a millionaire and marrying the woman of my dreams. Okay, maybe the scout wasn’t being quite that exaggeratory, but you get what I’m trying to say.

The Miami Heat are going to be damn good. They will be a threat to win the East. So will the Orlando Magic. Even the Bulls could become a contender. Boston should be damn good too, but the East won’t be a breeze. Even if the Celtics somehow stay healthy all season long.

The scout must have been one of David Kahn’s.

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

Slim.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Paul Pierce started FitClub34 as a public service to encourage children to exercise. Perhaps he didn’t know it at the time, but it became a personal initiative as well. An athlete who sets himself up as a spokesman for fitness can’t then go to seed. It wouldn’t have been kosher for the Celtics [team stats] captain, in the wake of last June’s Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, to go home, get married, sign a new deal and spend the next two months at a luau. Instead, Pierce went home, got married, signed and lost five pounds. ‘I’ve got to lead by example, right? I can’t tell people to eat right and exercise and train and I don’t do it,’ he said. ‘It’s all a part of me and what I do in the lifestyle.’ … ‘I’d say I’m a week away, truthfully,’ he said. ‘Each and every year it’s been my focus to do a better job on my fitness, coming in in better shape with each year, especially the last four years. The older I get, it doesn’t get any easier. It’s important that I take care of my body, eat right, exercise and do the best I can to be healthy. That will take the stress off my knees. Last summer I had surgery on my knees, a hard time on my foot, so if I cut down on my weight it cuts back on the problem. That’s what I’m trying to do, especially at this point in my career.’”

Gary Washburn Boston Globe – “O’Neal is bigger and less nimble than Kendrick Perkins, so some adjustment is necessary. Garnett said O’Neal’s presence actually makes things easier defensively (Celtics Town note: offensively?). ‘It makes things more simple,’ he said. ‘Being out there with Shaq, everything’s open. I’m used to counter moves and setting up things, and for the most part I’ve been able to attack and not have double teams, and when they do, I have a great option in dropping it off. So it’s a good addition.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “With a revamped roster and improved health, the Celtics are hellbent on returning to that inside-outside game. To prove that point, Boston has attempted to post up just about everyone on their roster this preseason, including point guard Rajon Rondo. … ‘We’re posting everybody, even Rondo,’ said Rivers. ‘We told them on the first day [of training camp], ‘We’ve got to get back to being an in-and-out team.’ We want to run and get easy baskets, but we also want to look early to post. [Friday vs. Toronto], [Kevin Garnett] had five of them where he sprinted down the floor, beat everybody, and got into the deep post. Last year he was the last guy down the floor, dragging his leg. So we did what we had to do [last season]. It’s nice, it allows you to stop runs. When you have a post team and teams are on an 8-0 run, you can call timeout and usually you get something out of that. When you don’t have that, you have to hope you’re making shots.’ … Rivers has raved about the renewed confidence Garnett has in that leg and how he’s demanded the ball in the post, unlike last season when he shied away. Rivers also noted how even Paul Pierce was skittish to return to the post because of his variety of injuries a year ago. ‘Paul was injured too, and we forget that Paul missed a big chunk of time and it took a long time for him to get back to health,’ said Rivers. ‘When you have injuries, guys try to stay outside. That hurt him. You look at some of his bigger games in the playoffs, we didn’t have a post presence. It’s a difficult way to play and win.’ Some say the Celtics overcame that deficiency to come within a half-quarter of a title. But Rivers doesn’t buy it. The team didn’t walk out of the Staples Center with another title, so the coach says it’s time to get back to the championship ways of 2008.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Wake up, Celtics Nation! The C’s 97-84 preseason win over the New York Knicks on Saturday rang the alarm, loud and clear, that the regular season is right around the corner. ‘We feel like, it’s one preseason game left (against New Jersey on Wednesday), so we have to start sharpening up the tools going in,’ said Paul Pierce. … Celtics coach Doc Rivers believes that being banged up, more than boredom, was the main culprit in the C’s struggles last season which ended with Boston losing Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road to the Los Angeles Lakers. ‘When Paul and Kevin got injured, we weren’t going to win a lot of games with injuries,’ Rivers said. ‘This year, we would like to have Game 7 at our place.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “Despite playing in Tuesday’s game at Philadelphia, Avery Bradley has been experiencing setbacks in his recovery from ankle surgery. ‘I’m more upset for him because this is not the way you want to break into the NBA,’ Rivers said. ‘Where you’re frustrated and you can’t play. We probably have to try something else because what we’re doing is clearly not working. [Celtics trainer] Eddie [Lacerte] and I talked about it [Friday] night. I don’t know what, but what we’re doing is not working.’ What possible avenues could the Celtics travel? ‘It’s just so sore, maybe he’s just not ready to play right now,’ Rivers said. ‘And we may just sit him down and let him do rehab. Maybe we pushed him back too soon.’”

John Schuhmann, NBA.com – “And as good as their starters have been, the Celtics’ bench will be just as critical to their success, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. The veteran stars of the team need to be fresh come April, but the Celtics do not want to take their foot off the gas at any point. Though they more than proved that they can flip the switch, they would rather not coast into the postseason like they did last year. ‘If we want to do the things that we hope we can do, we’d like to have home-court advantage all through the playoffs,’ Ray Allen says. ‘That changes things a lot. So that requires us to make sure that we take care of business all [season].’ The upgrades to the bench will help make that possible, and they go beyond the two O’Neals. In fact, it may be the return of Delonte West that will be most critical in keeping the Celtics at the top of the standings.”

Tim Povtak, NBA Fanhouse -”There is no point in playing the game if you’re not trying to be the best. I’m just trying to be the best in the NBA,’ [Derrick Rose] said with his typical quiet confidence before the Bulls played the Magic Thursday night. ‘If that’s not the case, retire and start doing something else.’ Rose doesn’t care that most everyone else believes that Kobe Bryant, James, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Deron Williams, and even Anthony have a better chance to be the MVP. Rose doesn’t see it that way. He likes his Bulls, and he likes his chances. ‘Why can’t I be MVP of the league?’ he asked.”

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

“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.

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.