Two of the league's top young stars.

“If he played that to bank it on, I’ll give him a thousand bucks.” — Tommy Heinsohn

If tonight’s game had ended after the first quarter, I would have peacefully spent my night dreaming of sky rockets in flight. The Celtics shot something like 124% that quarter, and looked like a team set to take care of business rather than coast during the second night of a back to back.

But NBA games have four quarters (earth-shattering news), and the Celtics weren’t up to playing well in each of them. So it was that the Celtics missed 1,359 easy fourth-quarter shots, John Wall’s banked three broke their hearts, and Paul Pierce missed his shot — a routine stepback jumper — that would have won the game.

Sadly and excitingly (both at the same time), the Wizards remind me of the 2006-2007 Boston Celtics. They stink, and they look completely lost at most times, and they may or may not have the same basketball intelligence as my dumbass JV high school team. But if you squint your eyes hard enough, you could convince yourself they have talent worthy of acquiring a superstar.

The 2006 C’s had Gerald Green; the Wizards have JaVale McGee. The 2006 C’s had Tony Allen; the Wizards have Nick Young. The 2006 C’s had Rondo; the Wizards have Wall. The 2006 C’s had Al Jefferson; the Wizards have, umm, Yi Jianlian? Okay, so the comparison isn’t perfect. But these Wizards, like those Celtics, are young, dumb and talented.

Moving on, John Wall makes Rajon Rondo look slow. Not slow like Brian Scalabrine, but slow like Rondo normally makes opponents look. It’s a little disconcerting to see a point guard blow past Rondo like he’s a mere mortal, but Wall’s not exactly human. He’s tall, long and fast, like a cheetah with the basketball. And when he gets a full head of steam — or, even sometimes when he doesn’t — Wall can make Rondo look like an average athlete.

Of course, basketball isn’t all about who’s faster, or who can jump higher, or who would win an arm wrestling match. If it were, JaVale McGee might be the greatest player ever to walk the earth. At this stage in their careers, Rondo simply understands the point guard position in ways Wall can’t yet fathom. To be fair to Wall, Rondo understands the position like few others do, and Wall is only a rookie still undergoing a learning process. But I was struck tonight by how advanced Rondo’s knowledge of basketball is, when compared to a young wonderkid like Wall. Rondo has mastered quantum physics, and Wall’s still in freshman bio. That’s not to say Wall won’t become a master physicist himself one day — he’s on the honors track. But for now, Rondo thinks on an entirely different level.

Not that it matters. On this night, despite a stellar rebounding effort from Semih Erden, the Celtics weren’t meant to win. Or maybe they were meant to win, but decided not to try after the first quarter. Either way, a loss to the Washington Wizards is a loss to the Washington Wizards.

My dreams about sky rockets in flight will have to wait for another day.

I tried to translate “poster” from English to Turkish, but the results said, “poster, duvar ilanı, afiş, afiş yapıştıran kimse,” and that seemed a little too complicated. So I’ll stick to English instead. Actually, I won’t used words at all. A picture is worth a thousand of them. Read more »

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

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘You can only say sorry so many times,’ said West, who had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 21 minutes in his season debut. ‘As a man, you have to apologize if I make a mistake, which I did. But that doesn’t reflect on my character as a person. It’s about being a little more cautious about places where I hang out and the company I keep around myself. But being on house arrest throughout the season and the playoffs, I’m just able to focus on basketball. I go here and I go home. I come back here later in the day, and then I go home. My grandma Joyce always told me, you have ups, you have downs. If you stay the same, they come back around, so here we go.’”

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE – “West felt a surge of emotion when he took his first step on to the court since serving a 10-game suspension. Then he was hit by reality. ‘I was anxious,’ he said after the Celtics victory over the Washington Wizards. ‘I was wondering how the crowd was going to respond. They showed me a lot of love. I almost had a tear in my eye. Then Nick Young gave me like four buckets in a row and then the tears dried real fast. I remembered I’m back in the NBA.’ … ‘I just thank the Lord that the ownership here and coaching staff and [director of basketball operations] Danny Ainge, they know what I’m about,’ he said. ‘They knew the difference between a bad decision and a bad person. I’m just blessed to have this opportunity to do what I love to do.’ … ‘Last night I stayed up til 3, 4 o’clock in the morning trying to put a nice ensemble together, laying my clothes out on the floor,’ he said. ‘I realized, hey get some sleep.’ But West doesn’t have to rummage through his closet anymore. The outfit that suits him best is hanging in his locker.”

Peter May, ESPN Boston – “‘I thought after halftime that he got his legs a little bit and he was just terrific,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of West. ‘Obviously, he gives us offense. But he gives us another tough guard on the floor, and that’s good for us.’ It’s huge. West can back up Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. He can play with Rondo and Nate Robinson. He is relentless, competitive and knows that after everything that transpired last summer, he is on a very short leash. ‘The Lord gave me a second chance,’ he said. ‘I want to make the best of it.’ Or, as former and current teammate Shaquille O’Neal noted, “I think he’s just misunderstood at times.’ Eleven games down for the Celtics. The rest of a season remains. The Celtics might not have missed West in the past few weeks, but they feel they can sure use him going forward. The feeling is mutual.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘It felt great,’ West said. ‘For a minute there in the summertime, I thought I wasn’t going to see an NBA court again. But I just thank the Lord that the ownership here and the coaching staff and (GM) Danny Ainge, you know, they know what I’m about. They knew the difference between a bad decision and a bad person, and I’m just blessed to have this opportunity to do what I love to do. The Lord gave me a second opportunity, and I’m going to make the best of it.’ The Celtics are counting on it.”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “That he is because now the Celtics have a complete backcourt. West was the missing piece to that puzzle and now it’s coming together fully. It will take time, of course. Not every team is going to play ‘defense’ like the Wizards played, but the next one will get easier, and the one after that. ‘Glad I got it out the way,’ West said. ‘Now you guys can go back to bothering them and leave me alone.’ He was joking. After so much that’s happened, it was good to laugh.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “As Rivers noted, ‘Players — they have memories.’ Garnett responded Wednesday by connecting on 9-of-11 shots for 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds over 23 minutes as the Celtics atoned with a 114-83 thrashing. Garnett also limited Blatche to 10 points and three rebounds. ‘This team gave us problems last year, and we haven’t forgotten that,’ Garnett said. ‘I haven’t. Paul [Pierce] and I got here and could hear [former Celtic turned Wizards assistant coach] Sam Cassell [boasting] about how young they were and how they are going to come at us, but this team gave us problems last year. We made note of it.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Semih Erden, whose reward for working out against Shaquille O’Neal every day is a damaged left shoulder, admits that the joint eventually will require surgery. ‘After the season, yes,’ said the rookie, who plans to work through the season with the injury, despite the cringe-inducing diagnosis. ‘It’s a partial dislocation,’ Danny Ainge said. ‘He actually played with it in the summer. A lot of guys play entire careers with it. But he could go the way of (Kendrick Perkins) and eventually have surgery on it.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “In addition to plenty of fourth-quarter rest, O’Neal’s effort helped pave the way for the season’s first in-game appearance of Gino, the American Bandstand JumboTron dancer. Garnett and O’Neal stood shoulder to shoulder, laughing throughout the sequence as the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing” blared through the arena. ‘[Shaq] asked what was that? And I told him that any time we get up by a lot, it’s the Gino Show,’ explained Garnett. ‘Paul and I took him through, clip by clip. They got some new clips up there that we haven’t seen in a minute, we had to blow the dust off of Gino tonight. But we were testing him because Shaq’s a 70’s kid, he knows some of [the dance moves], The Bump, The Wap — some of those weird dances. Not all this weird, Dougie-ing and all that. So he recognized some of the moves, The Robot and all that. He enjoyed that, so hopefully we can get some more Gino up in here.’ O’Neal claimed to be aware of the Gino phenomenon, but had never been able to enjoy it from the opposing bench. ‘I’ve seen Gino before, he’s cool,’ said O’Neal. ‘I’ve seen Gino, [while] playing on other teams. I’ve been here 20 years, baby.’”

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

After the Celtics 114-83 blowout victory against the Washington Wizards, Greg Dickerson asked Delonte West if he still needed some time to work into a rhythm. West immediately likened himself to two soul musicians, Donny Hathaway and Curtis Mayfield.

“I was born with rhythm,” West said. “It just comes natural from the good lord above.”

It sure looked to tonight, for both West and his team. The guard, returning from a ten-game suspension to play for the Celtics for the first time since April 16, 2007, contributed 12 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds as the Celtics ran away from the Wizards. Mr. West, it’s nice to have you back. Read more »

John Wall is unlikely to play in tonight’s game. That means one thing:

I’M NOT WATCHING!!!

I kid. While it would have been heavenly to see the Wall-Rondo matchup, I was one who stuck it out during the Marty Conlon days. I don’t care if the Celtics are playing St. Anne’s School for the Deaf and Blind, I’m going to watch.

But they aren’t playing St. Anne’s, they’re playing the Washington Wizards – who happen to have an exciting (if painfully inefficient and poorly put together) team. Even if Wall doesn’t play, this should be fun.

Three things to look for (besides whether Wall suits up):

1. Delonte West’s return – Mr. West is in the building, swagger on a hundred thousand trillion. Or something like that. I don’t know what to expect from West tonight. He has kept in shape, but game shape is a different animal. Once West works himself into top gear, though, the Celtics have themselves a new weapon. No pun intended. But speaking of weapons:

2. Gilbert Arenas – Say what you want about Arenas’s odd-duck behavior, or his complete (and initial) lack of remorse for the whole gun incident, or his shot-happy (basketball-wise) tendencies. Gilbert, on the court, has always been fun to watch. He’s an ultimate showman, whether he’s screaming out “Hibatchi” before shots or simply lighting up the scoreboard at a phenomenal rate.

I’m not even an Arenas fan, but the NBA has been a different place since Gilbert stopped being so quirky. There was something enjoyable about Gilbert’s tell-all blog on NBA.com, something about his personality that just seemed genuine. He was always odd, that’s for damn sure, but he was real. There are a lot of NBA stars that aren’t.

I’m not the only one who misses the old Gilbert, am I?

3. Kevin Garnett vs. Andray Blatche – First Garnett made Blatche cry. Then Blatche just about made Garnett cry, scoring 31 points and 11 rebounds against the Celtics and causing everyone to stand and shout, “The demise of Kevin Garnett!!!!!!!” The only reason Garnett didn’t cry was that he only cries to John Thompson.

Now Blatche won’t let the feud die. When asked what he would do if Garnett talked more trash tonight, Blatche replied:

“Who? I don’t think I know nobody I’m going to talk back to. I ain’t got nothing to say. I’m going to play my game and help my team win.”

… “and help my team win.” Umm, we’ll see about that, Andray.

General Manager O'Neal?

1. Shaq wants the New Jersey Nets to stay in Newark, and — who knows? — maybe they’ll even name him the GM.
2. Rajon Rondo was named to NBA.com’s All-Hustle team. Notably left off the roster? Kevin Garnett. I defy you to find someone who works harder than Garnett.
3. Semih Erden’s translator, Ilker Belgutay, who is to unintentional comedy what Hank Aaron was to home runs, set up Tony Gaffney with Erden’s former Turkish team, Turktelekom. Belgutay received a phone call from Faruk Akagum, Turktelekom’s coach, shortly after Gaffney was released from the Celtics. “He called me and asked who was around,” Belgutay told the Boston Herald. “I mentioned that he would like Tony.” Soon after the call, Gaffney was offered a contract that he couldn’t refuse.
4. Kevin Garnett didn’t look great yesterday (actually, he didn’t do much of anything), but one thing I read today encouraged me: he wanted to pressure the ball full court. “He looks good,’’ Rondo said of Garnett. “He’s running the floor. He wanted to pick up with me a couple times defensively, but I wouldn’t let him.’’ Before his injury, KG used to pick up the opposing point guard full court and harass them. Since the injury, he hasn’t. If he wants to pressure PG’s again, he’s feeling better. At least, that’s how my theory goes.
5. Anybody else see Perk’s watch yesterday? That damn thing almost blinded me.
6. Ron Artest, on stopping Kevin Durant: “You gotta be Ron Artest. If you’re not Ron Artest, you don’t have a chance!” Me, on stopping anyone else: “You gotta be Semih Erden. If you’re not Semih Erden, you don’t have a chance!”
7. A fan who went to the C’s game yesterday: “We came to see how the big boys play,” Craig said. “It’s amazing how big these guys are when you see them in person — and it’s amazing how small Nate Robinson (5 feet, 9 inches) really is.”
8. Shaq’s got Semih fever. When Erden failed to take advantage of a matchup against Mareese Speights, Shaq screamed out, “Semih, kill him.” I hope Erden’s translator didn’t take that literally. Shaq also said, “Going up against three great big men each day in myself, [Jermaine O'Neal] and [Kevin Garnett], [Erden's] going to be a force for us.”
9. Adam Morrison, on whether there’s still enough time to resurrect his career: “I guess so. We’ll see.” Me, on whether there’s still enough time to go back to college and get a 6.0 GPA, then be the first man to walk on the moon, then be the first person from Longmeadow, MA to get drafted into the NBA: “I guess so. We’ll see.”

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