Via ESPN Boston:

Both starting center Jermaine O’Neal and backup guard Keyon Dooling did not participate in Thursday’s 90-minute practice session due to knee ailments. Rivers said it was more of a rest day for O’Neal (who appeared to be hobbled by a bothersome hamstring or knee in Wednesday’s game), but deemed Dooling questionable for Friday’s visit from the Bulls. “They’re all questionable,” Rivers quipped of his veteran team. “But, yes, I think Dooling is [questionable]. I think J.O. will go.”

I’m not sure when Dolling injured himself, but I know I’m petrified of the phrase “Avery Bradley, primary backup point guard.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe:

“Up and down, he’s getting beat up,’’ Rivers said when asked about Johnson’s progress in practice. “He’s excited when he actually gets the [scrimmage] refs to come on the floor, I’ll tell you that. But he did a couple of good things today. He’s starting to learn who he is. He knows he’s a jump shooter and he’s starting to become comfortable enough to take that shot.’’

“Today was the first day when he picked-and-popped, he caught it and shot it,’’ Rivers said. “The other two days he tried to make another play and got bumped off the spot, so I think he’s starting to simplify his game.’’

When asked if he expected Johnson to generate an interior game, Rivers said, “Nah. I mean, he’ll dunk because he’s athletic as heck, so we’re going to run stuff to get him rolling to the basket and throw it up in the air and he’ll go get it. But as far as post presence? Not really, but that’s fine. We don’t need that. We’ll try to get that somewhere else.’’

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe:

Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo also did not work out, but are expected to return in “a couple days,’’ Rivers said.

“Paul went [Tuesday] and then his foot got sore,’’ Rivers said. “So we just decided we’ll shut him down for a couple days.

“Rondo did some stuff [yesterday] but we didn’t want him running with a sprained ankle. It’s too early to push that.

“Not having two of your starters really hurts more than the Jeff thing because now the bench can’t get together because two of the bench players are starting. Keyon [Dooling] has yet to play with the second unit except for the first day. Marquis [Daniels] or Sasha [Pavlovic] are there on the first unit.

“It affects everybody. It affects Brandon Bass because instead of having Keyon making decisions, you have Avery [Bradley] and E’Twaun [Moore]. Trust me, the veterans know that, so they’re putting pressure on the bigs because they know our young guards are struggling getting them the ball. So they’re taking them out of the practice, and that’s frustrating.’’

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston:

“Kevin had a phenomenal practice [Wednesday], so that was good to see,” Rivers said. “He had his rhythm. He must have had a great pep talk after he made that tortilla that he had yesterday. That was one hell of a tortilla, by the way. I’ve never eaten a tortilla with all that stuff in it. I’ve clearly missed out. I told him, I didn’t know you fried it and microwaved it. I didn’t know you do both of those things to tortillas.”

When a reporter jokingly told Rivers that he clearly doesn’t know anything about cooking, Rivers nodded in agreement.

“Clearly. That’s what [Garnett] told me too,” he said. “He said, ‘You just don’t know enough about it.’ I said, ‘OK.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston:

Rivers raved about both Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O’Neal after Wednesday’s session. Those concerned about whether O’Neal is fit to handle the rigors of a full season can rest a little easier (for now anyway) with a positive initial report from Rivers. “The other guy that’s been phenomenal has been J.O. He looks great,” Rivers said. “It’s amazing the difference watching him at this time last year in camp, just the fact that he knows stuff, and he’s comfortable.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE:

Not only is he back with the C’s, but the surgery he had following the injury has Daniels in the best health of his career.

“I feel stronger,” Daniels told CSNNE.com. “I feel like I can go to the basket a lot stronger, and just take more contact as opposed to last year or years before where I was like, trying to shy away from it. Now I’m just getting loose and trying to just play my game.”

Peter May, ESPN Boston:

“He’s playing great,” Rivers said of Daniels, who missed much of last season following a scary collision that resulted in a bruised spinal cord. “He’s moving well. He’s not afraid at all of taking charges, being physical and that’s great.”

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE:

When E’Twaun Moore returned from playing basketball with Brian Scalabrine in Italy, the Celtics rookie brought with him perhaps one of the greatest songs you can’t find on iTunes.

The unofficial Italian Scal anthem.

Got a tip? An article you think deserves a link? Email me at jayking@celticstown.com or contact me on Twitter @CelticsTown.

Avery Bradley did not earn Doc Rivers’ trust last season. But before the NBA lockout kept teams from speaking with their coaches, Bradley visited Orlando to spend time with Rivers and try to create a bond. (ESPN)

“It was cool, I was just trying to build a relationship with him,” the just-turned 21-year-old Bradley said Friday of time he spent with coach Doc Rivers. “It was a good experience. I got to work out with both of his sons and play pick-up with a few NBA players down there. It was a good experience. But like I said, for the most part, I was just trying to go down there and start a relationship with Doc, which I felt like I did.” …

“I feel like if someone has trust in you off the court, they’ll be able to trust you on the court,” said Bradley. “That was the main thing for me, to just build that relationship with Doc, let him know how much I want to play. I feel like he’s seen that, now I just have to prove it on the court. When I come in here, from Day 1, I have to go hard and show him that I improved over the summer and, not only that, but I’m looking to improve throughout the year.”

Bradley desperately wants to succeed. He went to play in Israel. He spent time in the Impact Basketball League. He traveled to Orlando to sit in the front of the class and give Doc an apple to earn Doc’s trust and show him how badly he wanted to succeed. I’m rooting for the kid, not just because his evolution would make Boston a stronger team, but because he’s the type of person willing to work out with Doc Rivers’ sons just to prove how badly he wants to earn a spot in Boston’s rotation.

But the key words in his quote were these: “now I just have to prove it on the court.” Doc didn’t keep Bradley on the bench because he didn’t like him. He kept Bradley on the bench because Bradley’s a point guard who doesn’t know how to play point guard. Because Bradley’s handle is shaky, his jumper’s suspect and his rugged defense wasn’t enough to outweigh his shortcomings running an offense. No matter how much time Bradley spent in Orlando — don’t misunderstand me: I LOVE the commitment Bradley’s visit showed, and I LOVE that Doc Rivers is willing to host his players during the offseason — his playing time will be determined by how much he improved during the offseason.

P.S. — I’m half joking, but how badly do you think Bradley got eaten alive by Austin Rivers?

Rajon Rondo can be stubborn, aloof and moody. He can rub teammates and coaches the wrong way. He’s steadfast in his beliefs and willing to share them with any member of the Boston Celtics. But even when he struggled during the second half of last season, there was a belief he had turned the corner personally and become a player the Celtics admired and (mostly) got along with, on and off the court.

Or maybe not.

Donny Marshall told NBC SportsTalk that Rondo still causes trouble in Boston’s locker room.

“My sources tell me he’s started to wear his welcome out a little bit,” Marshall said.

In his book (I haven’t read it yet, so my knowledge is second-hand), Shaq noted that Rondo occasionally ticked off his older teammates. Shaq called Rondo stubborn and said he wouldn’t change. But that’s nothing new. We’ve known Rondo to be stubborn and set in his ways, ever since he was a rookie coming out of the University of Kentucky. Calling Rondo stubborn is like calling Kevin Garnett crazy — yeah, no kidding, but his team needs to learn to deal with it, because like it or not, that’s just part of his personality. Good luck potty training a 25-year old dog.

Sporting News reporter Sean Deveney wrote a column this week saying the Boston Celtics are just using these trade rumors to motivate Rondo.

Fast forward to this bizarre offseason, and you can’t help but get the sense that the Celtics are leaning on the “trade Rondo” tactic yet again—not because they are actually looking to trade Rondo, but because they want to snap him out of the funk he seemed to fall into after the team traded his good friend Kendrick Perkins in a surprise move last February. Before the trade, Rondo averaged 10.8 points on 50.9 percent shooting, with 12.3 assists. After, he was down to 9.8 points on 41.6 percent shooting, with 9.2 assists. The Celtics were 41-14 before the deal, and 15-12 after. Rondo played hurt against the Heat in the second round of the playoffs, where the Celtics lost in five games. …

What it all comes down to is the Celtics looking to give Rondo a kick in the trousers at a time when they know they need their point guard to be at his best. Rondo might not want to admit it, but Pierce, Allen and Garnett are getting older and the championship window is closing. If the Celtics do have another run in them, they need their point man to be well-adjusted and ready to produce the way he had done before Perkins was traded.

These trade rumors will likely prove to be little more than a way to assure Rondo comes in with sharpened focus.

But if that’s the case, why didn’t they try motivating him during the regular season? If what Rondo needs to play well is a kick in the rump, why didn’t Doc Rivers just come out and say, “Look, guys, our point guard’s playing like a drunken Jose Calderon. We know he’s capable of better. Hell, he spent the first half of the season threatening to break NBA assist records and generally playing like a top-three point guard in the NBA. But right now, we’re not getting much of anything from him.”

Here’s what Rivers said instead:

“I don’t know if he’s slumping. He’s not playing great right now, but I don’t think he’s slumping or anything,” said Rivers, who told reporters in New Jersey that Rondo’s ankle was fine. “He’s just going through a stretch. It’s a long season. He’s human the last time I checked, and he’s going to go through stretches just like Paul [Pierce] and Ray [Allen] and Kevin [Garnett]. They’ve all gone through stretches.”

Rivers always publicly backed Rondo, no matter how poorly or disinterested the All-Star played at times last season. Maybe that’s because Rondo’s moody — maybe one negative word from Rivers could send him into a tailspin. But that never stopped Rivers with other players. Glen Davis is as moody as an eight-months pregnant woman, yet Rivers took (admittedly subdued) public shots at him fairly frequently. They didn’t work out — Davis just kept spiraling deeper and deeper into the world of bricked jumpers and shaky decisions. But Rivers didn’t hold his tongue with Davis, even though Davis clearly is the type to be adversely affected by being called out in the press.

Kevin Garnett backed Rondo, too, even during the depths of last season’s slump. After Rondo went scoreless and rebound-less against the Indiana Pacers, Garnett had this to say:

“Rondo’s playing hurt,” said Garnett. “He’s hurting. He’s giving us everything he has. He’s grinding. He’s playing countless minutes for us, and he’s not playing like a washed-up guy.”

That doesn’t sound like someone fed up with his teammate. Nor does the following comment from Jermaine O’Neal, taken after Rondo returned to the Miami Heat game with one arm (pretty much) tied behind his back.

“He’s one of the tougher point guards in this league and he wants to win. And that’s the first thing I asked him when he came back, I asked him, ‘Are you sure that you want to be back out here?’ And he said, ‘Look, we don’t have any games to give,’ and that’s Rondo.”

Rondo can obviously be a nuisance sometimes. He’s prideful, and not always in a good way. He’s stubborn. Nobody would argue with that. But his teammates and coaches speak about him with respect and sometimes even awe. At one of the games I covered last season, I forget which one, Rivers noted that Rondo occasionally disagreed with sets Rivers called. But Rivers wasn’t upset. He was just impressed, because Rondo saw (and understood) things on the court that even Rivers didn’t.

Would I be surprised to hear that Rondo can still be an asshole sometimes? No, not at all. In fact, given his personality, I’m sure he occasionally causes problems in the locker room, at least minor ones. But would I be surprised to hear the Celtics are shopping him around because they’re fed up with his act? Yes. They’re not trying to trade him for 75 cents on the dollar, after all. They’re trying to trade him for Chris Effing Paul, the best damn point guard in the league. If Danny Ainge isn’t simply looking to improve his basketball team, I’d be surprised.

Then again, Rondo’s play during the second half of the season can best be described as “the walking dead.” But here was Garnett’s explanation of that:

“I’ve seen him play through some (injuries). I’m not going to go through the list of injuries that you all are unaware of. I’m not going to put him out there like that but I’ve seen him play through some horrific injuries. [When he returned after the elbow injury] all of us sort of look at each other like, ‘What is he doing out here? Is he being smart right now?’ When he came in, it was just typical Rondo. Shorty is a really tough, young individual and I don’t know what he’s going to be like when he’s 35 but right now he’s playing through a lot. He’s showing a lot of heart (and) a lot of grit. We see it. That doesn’t go unspoken or unseen. We see he’s out there giving his full effort. We’re following that lead.”

I’m not completely discarding Donny Marshall’s report. But if the Celtics are really fed up with Rondo’s act, they had a funny way of talking about it last season.

After certain recent seasons ended, Doc Rivers would return to his family and discuss whether he wanted to return to the Boston Celtics. He was burnt out.

It wasn’t his fault. You try coaching Rasheed Wallace. You try dealing with Kevin Garnett’s insanity, Rajon Rondo’s stubbornness and Glen Davis’ immaturity on a daily basis. You try teaching Mikki Moore how to make a defensive rotation, or coaxing Nate Robinson into actually running an offense.

But Rivers isn’t burnt out anymore. He just misses coaching. (Boston Herald)

“It’s like I was telling (Celtics president) Danny (Ainge),” he said. “The blessing of this is that I’m nowhere near ready to not do this. I miss it. So there’s some good things to this, too.”

Rivers has had time during the NBA lockout to relax with his family. He’s attended Duke games to watch his son Austin. But when you’re used to coaching basketball, when you’re used to competing, and all that gets taken away (by all the greedy bastards involved in the NBA negotiations), teaching Jeff Green the fundamentals of boxing out starts to seem a little more attractive.

I’m busy today with other, work-related, things — yes, a couple people have actually been dumb enough to employ me — but I still need to address Paul Pierce’s birthday. Jermaine O’Neal and Doc Rivers (not to mention Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, whose team hopefully loses this Sunday) were also born on October 13, but Pierce holds a place in my heart above even Doc.

So on the 34th anniversary of Pierce’s birth, I’d like to remind everyone how far Pierce has come. Back when Pierce butted heads with coaches, spatted with teammates, lost his cool at the worst times and occasionally went to press conferences with a bandage over his head — back when Bob Ryan called Pierce’s flagrant foul against Jamaal Tinsley in a 2005 playoff game against Indiana “the single most unforgivable, untimely, stupid, and flat-out selfish on-court act in the history of the Celtics” – who ever would have expected Pierce to grow into a selfless teammate, a true leader, and one of the few NBA superstars who cared enough to represent the players union at labor negotiations?

Sure, Pierce still settles for occasional ill-advised stepback jumpers at the end of close games. He sometimes takes a few plays off, I wish he would rebound more consistently, and his ability to grow facial hair leaves a lot to be desired. But he’s come 180 degrees from that day against Indiana, from the time when it was semi-reasonable for Celtics fans to hope Pierce would be traded. He was immature, a little bit of a gunner, a loose cannon. And now he’s matured into Paul Pierce, The Captain, the star who reshaped his game for the good of his team, the Celtic who grew in Boston perhaps more than any other.

I’ve written about my favorite Pierce moment before, but let me do it once more. It isn’t a game-winning shot. It isn’t him holding up a trophy. It isn’t him scoring 38 points and out-dueling Kobe Bryant in the ’08 Finals.

Against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals that same year, Pierce toed the foul line with 7.9 seconds left. The Celtics led 95-92 and realistically would seal the win if Pierce made one of two foul shots. Pierce had already scored 39 points and held his own in a mano-a-mano matchup against Lebron James. Just one make, and his Celtics would head to the Eastern Conference Finals to play the Detroit Pistons. The TD Garden crowd waited anxiously.

The first shot wasn’t one of Pierce’s best. Maybe a little overeager, he put more power behind the shot than he would have liked. It hit the back rim hard, and had no chance to fall through the hoop. But it bounced straight up, then fell straight down. Later, Pierce would say the ghost of Red Auerbach guided it through the rim.

The free throw was good, the Celtics were moving on, and Paul Pierce stood at the foul line, his face adorned with a smile so big, so wide, so genuine, that it could only come from someone who treaded water in defeat for so long, someone who cherished every second of his team’s revival because he knew how badly it beat where he came from, because he knew how difficult championship opportunities can be to come by.

Happy birthday, Truth. We love you, my man, even if you’re locked out.

The photographer should have zoomed in a little closer, no?

Doc Rivers says some NBA coaching staffs have proceeded “business like normal,” but the Celtics staff is not one of them. (Boston Herald)

“It’s been interesting,” he said. “We have, what, seven signed players. But as a staff, we’ve still watched film, we’ve prepped. We’re meeting in a week again as a staff. I know some staffs have gone on business like normal, where they’ve been in the office every day. I made a conscious choice not to do that, because you just don’t know. The tough part is not knowing the rest of your roster.

“But we pretty much know who we are. We’re not changing much as far as our identity defensively and stuff like that. But there are areas we want to improve on, on offense and defense, and we’re going to do that.”

There are only so many times you can look at tape and say, “Yup, Kevin Garnett is a great defender, Paul Pierce likes the stepback jumper, Rajon Rondo can really pass, and — ya know what? — why don’t we try to get Ray Allen open for jumpers next season?”

Doc Rivers is familiar enough with his team that watching tape every day just doesn’t make sense. So for now, he has been living the life — “golf, family and that’s about it,” he said. Living the retired life well before retirement, and getting paid for it. Sounds like a decent deal.

As Rivers noted, the Celtics currently have only seven players (eight if you include E’Twaun Moore, whose second-round draft selection does not come with a guaranteed contract). One name who might interest the Celtics while filling out their roster: Grant Hill.

The 38-year old small forward is reportedly interested in joining a contender next season, and the Celtics have shown interest in the past. Hill might not be a perfect fit — the Celtics bench was starved for three-point shooting last season, and Hill has never been known as a knockdown shooter — but he’s a solid veteran with a versatile skill set.  The Celtics will be limited by their salary, which figures to be over whatever salary cap is determined in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. But Hill could come cheap.

If he does, he could very well be on the Celtics’ free agent wish list, a list that Danny Ainge has spent more time making this offseason than ever before.

“We’ve done that,” he said, “but we’ve done that every summer, every draft and every trade deadline. It’s the same as usual. We’ve just had a lot more time to go over things.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’ll be prepared. We’ve just gotten organized in our scouting. We’re just more organized now.”

Organization will help, but Ainge will also need to be creative whenever the free agency period begins. Decisions will need to be made on Glen Davis and Jeff Green. Delonte West will need to be wooed. Centers will need to be convinced to sign. Ainge will have to fill eight roster spots despite a severe lack of spending money, and he will have to juggle the success of next year and the desire to leave salary open for a 2012 spending spree.

Godspeed, Danny. Godspeed.

First Tom Thibodeau, then Lawrence Frank. For the past four seasons, the Celtics defense has been under the control of pedigreed, respected basketball minds. But with both Thibs and Frank accepting head coaching positions elsewhere, the Celtics defense will turn to a more unknown commodity next season. At a charity golf tournament this morning, Doc Rivers admitted that Mike Longabardi will become the team’s de facto defensive coordinator.

Longabardi has worked on Rivers’s coaching staff for the past three seasons, but a promotion this summer means he will become an NBA bench coach next season for the first time ever. The promoted coach previously worked behind the scenes in Boston and, for four years before that, in Houston. But now he will take the reins of one of the NBA’s top units, a defensive crew that carried an average Celtics offense last season.

Longabardi will need to fill big shoes, and he will need to do so despite the expected, continued decline (however slight or sudden) of Boston’s Big Three. Especially if Kevin Garnett slows down another step or two, Longabardi’s job will become significantly more difficult. After learning underneath Thibodeau and Frank, Longabardi should be well-schooled in defensive technique and well-prepared to run the defense himself. But taking orders from two of the NBA’s finest defensive minds is one thing. Giving the orders yourself is quite another.

There was some discussion that Boston’s defensive would be led by a “defensive coordinator-by-committee” next season, but Rivers instead decided to appoint Longabardi in charge. Just a few years ago, Longabardi was a video coordinator in Houston. Now, he will be barking orders at Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. If he’s anything like Thibodeau and Frank, Longabardi will have plenty of voice-less nights following close games.

Remember, Larry Brown was reportedly interested in an assistant coaching position with Boston. By promoting Longabardi rather than pursuing Brown, the Celtics offered a vote of confidence to the Frostburg State University graduate. And no, I didn’t know that school existed either. In case you were wondering, other notable alumni include a bunch of people I’ve never heard of, and Jim Riggleman, the Washington Nationals manager who resigned after winning 11 of 12 games because the team refused to discuss a contract extension.

The Celtics have heaped a lot of responsibility on Longabardi, a young assistant whose resume pales in comparison to Thibodeau’s or Frank’s. I admittedly know nothing about Longabardi’s coaching habits or skills, but I hope he’s ready for the big time.

X’s and O’s matter. If Joe Hockey Player was hired to coach an NBA team, he would inevitably struggle, not knowing how to teach help side defense, not understanding the concept of a pindown screen, not wise enough to utilize his five players in a scheme that suits them.

Personality matters too. Think about John Kuester, known as an offensive genius for much of his professional career. Kuester’s first head coaching gig ended underneath a pile of dog crap — his players staged a mutiny in the middle of the season, Richard Hamilton was suspended (more or less) for no known reason, and the Pistons went 57-107 in Kuester’s two seasons. Sure, the record was at least partially due to lacking talent, but Kuester’s abrasive style and unbelievable lack of communication (he reportedly refused to tell Hamilton why he was not playing) managed to alienate an entire locker room in less than two full seasons. When his own team did not want to play for him, Kuester’s X’s and O’s, lauded for years, meant nothing.

Doc Rivers knows his X’s and O’s — Sebastian Pruiti, who watches more game tape than any human being not formally associated with the NBA, selected Rivers as the one coach he would want to draw up a last-second play.

But Dave Cowens believes Doc’s personality is his strongest suit. (ESPN Boston)

“Doc’s a great guy, and he’s smart. He’s a tough guy. When he talks, [the players] listen. They know he’s telling them the truth, and really, players respect that. They respect a guy that’s got the knowledge and he tells them the truth. Because they know a lot about the game, too. They’re not just learning it. They’ve been through five-, six-, seven-hundred games as a pro, as a college player, [and] high school player. So they’ve been around a lot of locker room talks and chalk talks and things like that. So, they understand. And he has a good way with the players, and I think the veterans really respect him, and they’ve got some strong character veterans and that just feeds down to the other guys that play on the team.”

Rivers certainly has faults. He rarely (if ever) trusts rookies, chokes the confidence out of certain bench players (Nate Robinson comes to mind as a prime example), and damn it, I often wish he could teach his squad how to rebound and provide a more consistent effort. But the players know Doc will be straight up with them. Even the ones who dislike Doc have to respect that.

I feel like Morgan, the little sister from Boy Meets World, right now. I’ve been in time out for three years and I’m finally making a return to the show — er, a return to writing.

In actuality, I haven’t been in time out. I haven’t been having recurring nightmares about a drunken, belligerent Kendrick Perkins either. My grandfather Pop Pop passed away from a cancerous tumor, and spending time with my family vaulted over everything else on my list of priorities — my golf swing is now in shambles, I haven’t updated my website in a week, my jump shot is rusty, and, no, I wouldn’t change any of that because experiencing the love my family emanated this week changed my life.

Pop Pop’s in a better place now, a place where he can finally play golf again, a place where his face does not have a tumor, a place where he can reunite with his parents, both of whom died before he was three years old, a place where he can walk without a walker, go to the bathroom without a diaper, sleep without pain, . I assume he’s playing 18 holes now, and when he’s done he’ll wait in the clubhouse for my grandmother Kicki and the rest of us to meet him for dinner.

In the meantime, I’m back to business as usual. That means discussing the major developments that happened during my intermission:

1. Kendrick Perkins arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct

Thinks of Perkins searching for a fight with regulation-sized human beings.

Shivers in fear.

Remembers how many times he’s seen drunken people trying to fight.

Gives Perk the benefit of the doubt . . . this time.

2. Kendrick Perkins claims he is innocent and suffered injuries from the fight

Perk suffered injuries in a bar fight? That can’t be great for his street cred.

3. Kendrick Perkins considering filing a police brutality complaint over incident

Whoa. Now this Perkins story is getting a bit crazy. One second I envision Perkins stomping around a bar looking like Godzilla scavenging for young civilians. The next, Perkins claims injury, denies the police version of the incident, and is considering a suit against the fuzz. Ladies and gentleman, your 2011 news cycle. Also, for whatever it’s worth, as much as Perkins scowls on the court, he’s just about the last person I would expect to get into a bar fight.

4. Kendrick Perkins is no longer a Boston Celtic

Yet I keep talking about him. Ugh. Note to self: it’s time to let Perk go.

5. Ray Allen says a cancelled season will not doom the Celtics

Yeah, a core of Rajon Rondo, 37-year old Ray Allen, 36-year old Kevin Garnett and 35-year old Paul Pierce would definitely return as contenders in 2012-’13. And Lindsey Lohan is a perfect role model for your children.

6. Rondo’s elbow feeling good

Rondo participated in a Kentucky exhibition game and reportedly looked good.

6. Doc Rivers might be searching for a defensive coordinator

The NBA lockout needs to end, mostly because this is what constitutes a rumor right now. I never would have guessed how much I miss free agency rumors that don’t involve foreign countries. I would even kill for a “Celtics work out Adam Morrison and Kwame Brown” headline right now.