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.

The Celtics host the Chicago Bulls tonight at 8:00, at the TD Garden. My brother Tommy will be at the game, thanks to the fact that my uncle is now dead to me. My uncle had only one extra ticket to the game, and offered it Tommy instead of me. If you ever see me in person, please remind me never to speak to my uncle again. Thanks.

Carlos Boozer recently returned for the Chicago Bulls, which means he has finally recovered from his “I tripped over a gym bag because it was dark in my house” injury. Frankly, I don’t care much about Boozer, nor his health. There’s something about him I always found boring. Sure, he’s pretty good and was also the subject of one of the greatest photographs ever, but Boozer’s game does nothing for me. I’m a Duke fan, too, so I should appreciate him. I just could never enjoy an undersized (yet brolic) big man who loves shooting rainbow jumpers.

With Kirk Hinrich (and his scrappy play) gone for less green pastures, there are only four Bulls I now honestly care about. Sorry, Luol Deng and C.J. Watson, you guys didn’t make the cut. Also, extra apologies to Kyle Korver. I’m normally quite fond of shooters who look like Ashton Kutcher.

Derrick Rose

A hypotethical conversation with Rose:

Me: Exactly how good are you, Derrick Rose? More importantly, what is your ceiling?

Rose: How good am I? 25 and 8 good, as a 22-year old. And, umm, ceiling? That word doesn’t apply to me.

Me: Oh, yeah. And you’re younger than I am? Making all that noise in the NBA? Hot damn.

There aren’t many things in the world better than watching a Rose-Rondo matchup. The matchup was great even before this season — blazing speed everywhere, two entirely different approaches to the same position, young studs on their way to greatness. And this year? The matchup is even better. Not only did both players take the leap to true stardom, but they are also now bigger rivals based on, well, whatever happened in the FIBA World Championships this summer.

One game, Rajon Rondo started over Rose. The next, he received a DNP against Ricky Rubio and Spain. A few days later, Rondo supposedly withdrew from the team. I still don’t know whether to believe that story, but at least believe this: Rondo doesn’t forget that DNP. He believes he’s the world’s best point guard, and probably thinks Coach K is nuts for putting Rose ahead of him in the rotation.

Joakim Noah

Noah’s annoying. He hates KG, and called KG ugly. He’s demonstrative, and his jumper makes people wish they were blind. And did I say he was annoying?

Still, I like Noah. I feel like I should apologize for that, but I will not apologize. Noah may not like KG as a person, but there’s still some KG to his game. The intensity. The motor. The tendency to scream, very loudly, and beat his chest like it stole something. The truth is, Noah plays basketball the way it is supposed to be played. He attacks every rebound, unselfishly finds teammates, and only occasionally forgets to throw an outlet pass near the end of a game. (Sorry, Joakim, I had to bring it up.) In all seriousness, if my unborn child one day plays with Joakim Noah’s passion, I’ll be a proud father.

Tom Thibodeau

There was that one “he forget to make a single substitution” thing during a game Doc Rivers got ejected from, but Thibodeau’s one brief snafu can easily be forgotten amidst his otherwise honorable term as Doc Rivers’ assistant coach. The Celtics are still a staunch defensive outfit, of course, even without Thibs. But he helped instill their defensive mentality. Along with Kevin Garnett, Thibodeau should be given the most credit for shaping one of the league’s most-respected defenses.

The same things he accomplished in Boston, Thibodeau is now doing in Chicago.

“I think that we’re definitely starting to get an identity because of him,” Noah told ESPN Chicago. “He’s a tough coach, nothing’s easy, you gotta work really hard every day. You have to come with the right mindset, no days off.”

“He’s definitely competitive, but that’s what we want,” Noah continued. “That’s what we want our identity to be, even though it’s frustrating at times because you’re tired. But I think he knows what it takes to win. That’s the beauty of it. I feel like he’s been in championship locker rooms before, and not everyone has the chance to play for somebody who’s experienced it before. You know he knows because he’s been there and that’s a beautiful thing.”

“Because of his work ethic you have to take your hat off to him,” Kurt Thomas added. “He’d stay here 22, 23 hours a day if he could. If he didn’t have to go to sleep and get rest, he’d be up here in this gym. If he’s not out here on the floor, he’s breaking down film and trying to figure out the mistakes he’s made and trying to correct them.”

Yup. That’s the Tom Thibodeau I remember. But fear not, Celtics fans: Lawrence Frank has done an admirable job taking over the ”little white guy who can’t stop screaming during games” position.

Brian Scalabrine

Last, but not least, comes Scal. And a picture is worth a thousand words.

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

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston - ”Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett didn’t spend long addressing his spat with Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva on Friday, but sent a terse message amidst the fallout from Villanueva suggesting Garnett called him a ‘cancer patient’ during Tuesday’s game in Detroit. ‘He’s a nobody,’ Garnett said following the Celtics’ 110-105 overtime win against the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden. ‘I’m not paying attention to nobodies anymore.’ … ’I don’t even want to get into that,’ Noah said, when asked about Garnett’s propensity to rile up opponents. Garnett got whistled for a double technical with Villanueva on Tuesday, then got the same infraction after a scuffle with Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut on Wednesday night. ‘I think … whatever. He is who he is. At the end of the day, it cost me $2,000 today [for the technical foul]. Just getting upset at his dumb [stuff]. I’m not getting involved in it. It’s stupid. I let his dumb a– cost me $2,000, so I’m the dumb a–.’” Read more »

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

Reggie Evans.

1. Reggie Evans calls Kevin Garnett a chihuahua

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. C’s Big Three not very efficient

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

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

The leaders in both categories? The damn Lakers.

4. Tweet tweet tweet!

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

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

5. Scal spits Celtics knowledge

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

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

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

6. Zing

Not at all Celtics related, but still:

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

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.

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.