Semih Erden, the C’s 2008 draft pick from Turkey, will be on the Boston Celtics’ summer league roster. Joining him will be 11 other players, including Tony Gaffney, Oliver Lafayette and Luke Harangody. (ESPN Boston)

The Celtics Friday announced their complete roster for the 2010 AirTran Summer League in Orlando:

41 — Jaycee Carroll — G — 6’2″ — 180 — Utah State
50 — Semih Erden — C — 7’0″ — 240 — Turkey
27 — Tony Gaffney — F — 6’8″ — 215 — Massachusetts
45 — Rodney Green — G — 6’5″ — 190 — La Salle
55 — Luke Harangody — F — 6’8″ — 255 — Notre Dame
46 — Matt Janning — G — 6’4″ — 198 — Northeastern
60 — Vyacheslav Kravstov — C — 7’0″ — 270 — Ukraine
40 — Oliver Layafette — G — 6’2″ — 190 — Houston
58 — Art Parkahouski — C — 6’11″ — 260 — Radford
47 — DeShawn Sims — F — 6’8″ — 225 — Michigan
48 — Ryan Thompson — G — 6’6″ — 220 — Rider
49 — Ryan Wittman — F — 6’7″ — 215 — Cornell

I’m excited to see the Celtics debuts of Erden, Gaffney and Harangody, and can only hope Oliver Lafayette is as good as he looked in his brief, meaningless stint during the regular season. Summer league play starts July 5.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steph: "Yo, it was me who hacked your Twitter account." Pierce: "I was wondering what you were up to now."

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “Essentially, everything about Pierce’s tweeting was a lesson in how not to act in the NBA playoffs. But still, in the face of all sorts of common sense, we believed it. And I think I know why. It’s because even though, on paper, Pierce’s statements were antagonizing and offensive, to anyone who’d watched the first two games of the series they made complete sense. It’s because even though the words on Pierce’s Twitter page may not have been his own, deep down, we know that they mirror exactly what the real Paul Pierce and his Celtics are thinking. Bottom line: They think they’re going to sweep the Magic, and they don’t think anyone or anything can stop them. Not Orlando. Or an insane Amway Arena crowd. Or an enraged Dwight Howard. Not the fact that the Magic had beaten them three out of four times. Or that Orlando hadn’t lost two games in a row at home all year. Or that a majority of the experts had picked the C’s to lose. Nothing. They feel like anything they want on a basketball court is rightfully theirs.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “‘I’d love to guard Pierce,’ Barnes told the Sentinel. ‘I got the chance to guard him a little bit the last game and felt that I did a pretty good job. But he’s really rolling right now, so we need to slow him down somehow.’ [...] ‘My third foul in the third quarter, when I tried to beat him over the screen, he fell down like I threw him,’ he said. ‘It was ridiculous. But the refs called it so it was a good play. It was a flop, 100 percent, and that’s how some guys like to play. But if the refs call it, it’s effective.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – By leaving Perkins to deal one-on-one with the No. 4 player in MVP voting, the Celtics are accepting the consequences. The sacrificial Perk is not disturbed. ‘Not at all,’ he said yesterday, comforted more by the 2-0 series lead on Orlando. ‘And if he scores, then you live with some of them. A few of the 30 points he had were too easy baskets that I thought we could have taken away, but we’re just trying to make it tough on him. You know, we’re not trying to overreact to him scoring. We’re not trapping or nothing like that. We’re just trying to make it tough on him, make it hard on him to score – not letting him get deep post-ups and stuff like that.’ Doc Rivers acknowledged the situation, though he didn’t think the Celts executed as well as in Game 1. ‘We don’t want him to go for 30, but when he goes for 30, he goes for 30,’ the coach said. ‘As long as he doesn’t go for 30 and then get everybody else involved, we can live with it.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Boston rookie Oliver Lafayette played AAU ball with Davis in Louisiana. He recalls Davis’ demeanor and focus seemed to change for the better when they faced some of the better teams, ones that featured future NBA talent like New Orleans Emeka Okafor. ‘He always gets excited for those games,’ Lafayette said. “He wants to show his best. He wants to prove he’s one of the best guys that plays this game at his position.’ Following Wednesday’s practice, coach Doc Rivers spoke with CSNNE.com about Davis and his knack for stepping up in big games. ‘He’s crazy enough to be confident,’ Rivers said. ‘That’s what we say. That’s what (former Marquette coach and Hall of Famer) Al McGuire used to say. He used to say, ‘Give me 12 unaware players and I’ll beat 12 aware players every time.’ Glen falls into that category. He just comes out and plays. He doesn’t give a crap where he’s at. That’s confidence.’ Rivers added that Davis’ problems usually come about in games where the pressure isn’t nearly as intense. ‘In non-pressurized games, he’s thinking . . . he’s thinking about putting on a show and doing all that stuff,’ Rivers said. ‘When he just shows up to play, he’s a really good basketball player. In the big games, he does that more. I love it. Now if we can get him to do that all year, he’d be perfect.’”

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “‘They’ve beaten us twice here in the regular season,’ guard Rajon Rondo said yesterday. ‘We didn’t come into this season to win five games in a row in the playoffs. It’s about winning a championship and put another banner up, and we haven’t done that.’ Coach Doc Rivers is attempting to keep the Celtics focused, cautioning against complacency and overconfidence as the team has compiled a 10-3 playoff record. The Celtics’ 92-88 and 95-92 wins in Orlando extended their winning streak to those five games. ‘We’ve done nothing, we really haven’t,’ Rivers said. ‘We’re up, 2-0, but we’ve got to keep playing. Orlando was the favorite for a reason. They were playing better than anyone else in the playoffs, for a reason. Either game could have gone either way. This series is going to be that way. There’s not going to be a game where there’s comfort. Both teams are very good, both teams are very close, both teams are very similar in a lot of ways. So it’s not going to be a comfort game, whether at home or on the road. They have to think both games they could have won. You just keep focusing on execution and improving and getting ready. And each game is a single game. That’s what we talk about — that’s been our speech through this playoff series, all of the series.’”

Jarrod N. Rudolph, Boston Globe – “Magic coach Stan Van Gundy acknowledged the team would make some changes to help Lewis, but he wasn’t willing to reveal any of his plans. ‘No, I’d rather not,’ Van Gundy said. ‘We certainly had a little bit of a focus today both on some things that Rashard has to sort of do differently on his own, and we are going to try to do a couple of things for him. Nothing revolutionary and nothing that’s going to cause Doc [Rivers] and the Celtics coaching staff to go, ‘Wow, how the hell are we going to guard that?’ I don’t have those moments of genius inspiration, and they’re a very good team. But we are going to try a couple of things to give him more opportunities.’”

Shaun Powell, NBA.com – “LeBron James will be a free agent this summer; maybe you’ve heard. And Kobe Bryant is licking his lips because the aroma of another championship is strong once again. Also, the Orlando Magic swept a pair of playoff series and flashed some swagger. Yes, this dominated the NBA postseason discussion. For good reason. And now, another topic has sprung this spring, perhaps the most surprising of all. An old Celtics team came to a city built on amusement parks and like many tourists who flock here have looked young. Revived. Refreshed, even. And at times, convincing. They’re up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals, after stealing a pair against a home team that hadn’t lost since early April. Yes, the same Celtics accused of being beyond their years, and injury-prone, and too unpredictable given their often-bumpy ride through the endurance test known as the NBA regular season. But these Celtics aren’t bringing along much from their recent past, unless you mean the triumphant 2008 season. In which case, yes, there is a championship vibe going on right now.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “He did have something for the national television audience when asked about the possibility of a letdown going home. ‘Our fans aren’t going to let us relax,’ he said. ‘Y’all not going to let us relax. We’re going to try to close this out in two games. Y’all hear me? We’re coming home to close it out.’ Pierce then winked and told the Orlando crowd, ‘See you next year.’ While the Magic fans stew over the statements, the Celtics captain hasn’t taken any local heat. ‘No, I haven’t gotten any feedback,’ he said. ‘Yesterday I was pretty much home with my daughter all day, and she didn’t say nothing. It wasn’t a big deal to me. I’m just saying I want us to go home, I want our crowd to be ready, I want us to play our best, and I want us to win two games. That’s it.’ It’s fair to assume Pierce received a word or two from Doc Rivers. ‘I didn’t like it,’ the coach said of the comments. ‘I don’t mind the confidence part. That’s good. You’ve got to have confidence, but we want to be humble. And we haven’t achieved anything. I think that’s what he was trying to say; it just came out at the end. I wish they would have taken the mic away at the last couple of words. But up until then, he was pretty good. We do have to go home and our fans will help us, but we’ve got to do it on the floor.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Its the playoffs.

After reading Scoop Jackson’s article on Kevin Garnett earlier today, I am fully entrenched in Scoop mode. That is something for which I will never apologize.

Scoop Jackson has always been one of the best. His words. Have soul. Periods, no lack. Confused? Read this. Artistry. Beauty. In writing. Picture says. One thousand words. No picture. His words. At his best.

Scoop Jackson. Misunderstood. Changed. ESPN. Love. Hate. Respect. Admire. Inspire. Basketball. Poetry. Words. Bleed meaning. Bleed love. Hope. Drama. Crash. Burn. Rise up. Phoenix. Not the city. Describe Garnett. Enlightened. Joyful. Wish it didn’t end.

Kevin Garnett hasn’t been himself. Old man. Old soul. Grinding season. Peaks. Valleys. Injury. Psychology. Fewer minutes. Lesser stats. Ray Allen, Garnett’s the same. “Ain’t nothing changed.” Garnett explains. “Playing on one leg.” Still productive. Not the same. Big numbers. No more. Big effort. Still there. Dragging a leg. Profanities. All the time. Rashard Lewis. Kris Humphries. Matt Bonner. Lateral movement, not so much. Decline of a legend. Build on a dream. Leg getting better.

Meet the rest of the Celtics. Starters. On them, nobody else. Paul Pierce. Up. Down. “Best shooter in the world.” “Best player in the world.” Self-proclaimed. Slump. Star. Needed. Nightly. Rondo. Seize the reigns. Go-to guy. Ready. Not sure. Free throw line. Three-point arc. Drive. Dish. Command. Lead. Ray Allen. Jesus Shuttlesworth. 51. Chicago Bulls. Houdini. Orlando Magic. J.J. Redick. Shut down. Playoff time. Crunch time. Sharp-shooter. Ice in veins. Perkins. All-star? Decline. Decent. Not great. Defensive stopper. Dwight Howard, you too. Layups. Keep ball up. Not down. Block shots. Frown. Scowl, more like. Always, scowl.

Bench. To support, not let down. Tony Allen. Improved. Defense. Turnovers. Calmed down. Foul, three-point shooter. Charge, fast break. Trust. No. Maybe never. Marquis Daniels. Sixth man. Point guard. Versatile. Necessary. Disappear. Disappoint. Underachieve. Splinters. Michael Finley. 37. Grandfather. AARP. Surprise. Splash. Swish. Buckets. Defense, maybe not. Nate Robinson. Immature. Gunner. Gun-shy. Rotation, no. Eddie House, miss you. Bill Walker, you too. Rasheed Wallace. Disaster. Bad influence. Weakside rotations, not Sheed. Ball don’t lie. Gut don’t either. Three-year contract. Head. Shoot. Gun, not basketball. Glen Davis. Big Baby, think not. Friend’s face, Glen’s fist. Broken bones, broken season. Salvaged, with hustle. Midrange jumper, not this year. Get blocked, too often. Shelden Williams looming. Scal, not so much. Gaffney, Lafayette. Unknown.

Doc Rivers. Retirement. Family. Extension. Season. Up. down. Frustration. Regret. Glory days, not now. Gary Washburn. Cliques in locker room, Doc says no. Danny Ainge. Rebuild. Stay intact. Big contracts. Tough to move. One trade. Three stars. One championship. So far. Probably ever. Maybe later. Not now. Maybe.

A city lacks hope. Boston. Worried. City, not team. Playoffs, they’re here. The switch. Maybe. Age. Old. Desire. Not there. First-round exit. Banner 18. Anywhere. Anytime. Road wins. Home losses. Beat Cavs. Lose to Nets. Blowouts. Both ways. Cavs. Magic. Hawks. Too fast. Too quick. Too good. Celtics. Washed up. Something to prove. Opportunity knocks. Rebounding drops. Turnovers rise. Losses. Bad losses. Embarrassment. Again. Again. Again.

But the playoffs have finally come. Dwyane Wade. Up first. 40 points. Per game. Nightmares. Double teams. No supporting cast. No chance. Beasley. Don’t scare me. Arroyo. Please. O’Neal. Corpse. Spoelstra. Yes. Wright. No. Haslem. Maybe.

Whispers. Shouts. Truth, not Pierce. Celtics. Too old. Washed up. Not enough. Transition necessary. Road warriors. Home bums. Inconsistent. Unable. Clinging to, thin hopes. ’95 Rockets. ’69 Celtics. Playoffs start. Second season. Win? Compete? Will find out. First-round exit, possible. Beat anyone. Or lose.

The dream. Still there. Flip the switch. Win the crown. Championship. Banner 18.  Parade. Floats. Confetti. T-Shirts. Hats. Rings. Champions. 2010. Euphoria

Pinch self. Wake up. Cold sweat. Reality. Nightmares. Not happening. I don’t think.

Still, maybe.

Another day, another nice piece by Jessica Camerato about old friends.  This one’s about Big Baby and the newest Celtic, Oliver Lafayette.

Glen Davis got a surprise when he arrived at TD Garden on Wednesday.

He entered the locker room and saw his childhood friend, Oliver Lafayette … in Celtics warmup gear?

“I walked in and I was like, ‘What’s up man?! Baton Rouge!’” Davis exclaimed.

Davis and Lafayette have known each other since elementary school and played AAU basketball together in Louisiana. Unbeknown to Davis, Lafayette had recently signed with the Celtics. The former D-League standout received the call just two days ago while he was driving to Baton Rogue.

It’s nice to hear that Lafayette has somebody to talk to on the C’s, but what we really care about is his play.  While we got a nice glimpse of his potential in his solid debut last night (7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) Davis tried his best to inform us what we should expect going forward.

“He’s a scorer,” said Davis. “He’s a scoring point guard. He can play the point, he can play the one, play the two. He’s efficient with his jumpshot, playing defense, he’d be good for our team.” [...]

“He’s a great guy, a wonderful player. I think he’s a great player, actually,” he said. “Oliver, I’ve always though of like a late-bloomer as far as his opportunities. He played high school at Capitol High School … he went to [junior college], every time it was a late-bloomer. He went to University of Houston, played great over there, and now he’s just finally really getting his opportunity.”

And Lafayette was quite excited to get that opportunity.

“My agent called me and told me Danny Ainge had called him. When he called me, I almost ran off the road driving,” Lafayette said before suiting up for his first Celtics game. “I had to pull over for like an hour or two. I had to regroup myself. I called my mother and told her the good news.”

With Nate Robinson in Doc Rivers’ doghouse and no other backup point guard on the roster for next year, the job might be Lafayette’s… if he earns it.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Good luck, Q. The way Pierce has been playing, you'll need it. (Issac Baldizon/NBAE/Getty Images)

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics will have to somehow contain the Heat’s Dwyane Wade, who was a 30-point night waiting to happen at the close of the season. They’ve had their trouble bottling up premier scorers recently, be it James, Kevin Durant or Manu Ginobili. In Wade, the Heat have a player who cannot only change a game, but a series. ‘It’s more than Dwyane Wade,’ Rondo said. ‘[Michael] Beasley, [Mario] Chalmers, Jermaine O’Neal. I think he has a good supporting cast, but the bulk of it is stopping Dwyane Wade. I think if we don’t stop him, we can stop other players.’ The Celtics played the ‘wait until the playoffs’ card for much of the regular season. They are now at a point where they have to show what’s in their hand. ‘Every team that is in the playoffs is here for a reason,’ Allen said. ‘Whatever happens, adversity hits, we pick it up and become a resilient bunch of guys that whatever happens we want to get better and improve. We did that in ’08. As the playoffs went on we weren’t great, we put a lot of expectations on ourselves, but we figured it out on the way.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Clearly, Miami has figured a few things out. ‘Obviously they’ve been playing well,’ Rondo said. ‘They’ve won 12 of their last (13) games. So it’s not going to be easy, but luckily we have the first two games at home.’ The Heat will try to slow the pace, but the Celtics [team stats] still figure to get their opportunities in transition. ‘I think either way we should be able to push the ball,” Rondo said. “If they miss shots, we’ll get in transition and go. But in the playoffs, each possession is pretty much slowed down. It’s not an up-tempo game. You have to value the ball and take care of it.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Responding to a Boston Herald report that suggested Rivers was leaning towards retirement following the 2009-10 season, Boston’s sixth-year coach noted that he goes through the same process each offseason and that this year would be no different. ‘It’s what I’ve said for the last three years, that is what I told [the Herald],’ said Rivers. ‘It’s old news, it really is. I don’t think about it, to be honest. Every summer I do the same thing: I go home, get away from it for a while, and make a decision. It’s no different than last summer or the summer before that. I was a little amused at the question, because I thought it was old news. No, I haven’t thought about it. I don’t think about it. If you thought about it after every game, you’d go a different way each time. If you win, you think you can do this forever; when you lose it’s, ‘Man, I think I’m leaving.’ It’s human nature. Other than that, as a family, we haven’t talked about it. It’s what I said [Tuesday], it’s a non-issue for me now. Obviously a lot of people outside have made a lot of conclusions on what I’m thinking. I always thought I was the best source.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Rivers has gone to different methods to motivate his team of veterans, acknowledging that it’s worn on him. ‘I think this year has worn on everyone,’ he said. ‘This has been a difficult year, but as a coach you’re going to have some of those. It’s been a challenging year, there’s no doubt about that, but that won’t play into it. I love the guys I’m coaching. It’s just been a challenging year when you start out the way you start out and then you become an inconsistent team and every night you’re trying to find the button to push. It’s exhausting, but it’s exhilarating in some ways. In some sadistic way, it’s probably good.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Paul Pierce has said he’d rather not play for another coach, and that sentiment is fairly strong among the Celtics veterans. As long as Doc Rivers will be re-evaluating his status as Celtic coach this offseason – with the possibility he could leave the position – the players will be keeping a close eye on his whereabouts.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Now that rest is the order of the day, Rivers can look into increasing the minutes of his starters. ‘It didn’t look good three months ago, or two months ago,’ he said. ‘We started out in good health, and then it went away. We’ve struggled getting it back, but this is the healthiest we’ve been. I think this is the best Kevin (Garnett) has been since early in the season. I think Paul (Pierce) is feeling fantastic right now. . . . That’s the good part.’”

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe – “Just as Lenny Zakim dedicated his life to helping others, so, too, did Satch Sanders play 13 years with the Celtics in the shadow of more celebrated players, 11 of whom are enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. If you were to ask every one of the Hall of Famers which teammate regularly, and uncomplainingly, did the most dirty work on the team, the unanimous answer would be ‘Satch.’ That’s because his primary job was to play defense against some of the great scoring machines of the day. The most notable, of course, was the incomparable Elgin Baylor, the man who most created modern basketball when he took a game that had been horizontal and only occasionally vertical and made it diagonal with his superb body control, variety of shot-release points, and amazing combination of strength and speed. Guarding Baylor in his prime was a thankless and, for most people, impossible task. No one made life more difficult for Baylor than the 6-foot-6-inch Sanders. I still can hear Red Auerbach praising Satch to his summer campers because “he never lets Elgin get the second shot.’’ Both Auerbach and Bob Cousy swore that on the night Baylor scored 61 points against the Celtics in a playoff game, the only reason he didn’t get 75 or 80 was Satch, who made him work for every last point.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “He admitted he battled nerves before Wednesday’s game, but his natural ability took over on the court. ‘I was just trying to play basketball,’ said Lafayette, a native of Baton Rouge, La., which endeared him to fellow Louisiana native Glen Davis. ‘I was nervous on the bench, watching the guys play. But once I was in the game, that’s just basketball.’ It didn’t hurt that Oliver instantly opened eyes. A minute into the second quarter, he spun through the lane and dished to Shelden Williams for a baseline dunk. A few minutes later he splashed his first shot, a 21-foot jumper, and added a 6-foot runner soon after. ‘It took a lot of the nerves away,’ Lafayette said of his quick start. ‘You don’t have to worry, you can let the game come to you. There’s a lot of great guys out there, all you have to do is get open.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Gaffney was waiting for his FIBA paperwork to be finalized yesterday, and he couldn’t have landed in a more pleasing place, judging from what is still hanging on the walls of his bedroom back in Berkley, including a poster of the original Big Three. ‘Half of my room is still filled with Celtics stuff,’ he said. ‘My parents told me from Day 1 when I was in LA that they weren’t getting rid of any Celtics stuff.’ Gaffney’s allegiance, though, didn’t lessen the surprise when he heard this week that the Celtics were interested. ‘I didn’t see this coming,’ said Gaffney, who added that, in terms of his foot, ‘I’m 100 percent. The injury is still healing, but I’m 100 percent. Hopefully adrenaline will take over from here.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

"What do you think about the Celtics?" "They'll beat us."

It’s official: The Celtics will play the Miami Heat in the first round of the NBA playoffs.  It took the Heat 58 minutes of tanking to somehow still defeat the New Jersey Nets, and thus earn the right to play Boston in the first round.

As for tonight’s Celtics game, ehhh.

Rajon Rondo was determined to bounce back from the brass-knuckles beatdown he took from Derrick Rose last night, and from the outset was a different player than the one we saw in Chicago yesterday.  He scored on the break, in the post and from the line, driving and dime-ing his way to 21 points and 15 assists.

Unfortunately, he was playing one-on-five.  While Marquis Daniels (13 points), Shelden Williams (12 points) and Nate Robinson (12 points) joined Rondo in double figures, Rondo was the lone starter to play as Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins sat this one out.  Short four starters (and Tony Allen), the C’s were relegated to a bench mob for the entire game.  It was nice to see Daniels score in double figures for the first time since March 17, and Williams and Robinson took advantage of their opportunities too. 

But the story of the night, in a night mostly devoid of storylines, was Oliver Lafayette.  Playing in his first NBA game, the D-League call-up notched 7 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists, looking like he belonged in the NBA.  His first move was a driving spin in traffic, which he completed with a smooth underhanded dish to a wide open Shelden Williams for an easy bucket.  Really, Lafayette should have had at least a few more assists if his teammates hadn’t been dime-slayers, missing open jumpers on a few nice kickouts.  He seems to possess a solid outside shot, nice handle, and decent quickness.  Could be a keeper for the future as a backup to Rondo.

*****

Game Notes:

• Brian Scalabrine made his first action since March 28, finishing with 5 points and 2 rebounds.  Clearly, he also drew a nice ovation from the crowd.  Still, I’m not sure watching Scal and Oliver Lafayette was what fans had in mind on Fan Appreciation Night.
• Tony Gaffney was inactive, because he is still awaiting league clearanceafter playing in Israel.  Gaffney is also rehabbing from a broken foot he suffered while in Israel.