The Luck Of The Irish

            The Celtics this season, as similar to last season when they tried to defend their title, have been hit by a rash of injuries.  Except this time the injury bug knows no age limitations.  Hitting the usual suspects (the elders) although Ray Allen hasn't missed a game yet this season; also joining the party this year is Rondo and new addition Marquis Daniels.  As bad as this look on the forefront, this is a blessing in disguise.

            First, this gives much needed rest to the older joints of the elder three.  Enabling them to be fresher for the playoffs where their presences is more important.  Truthfully this is something Doc Rivers should be doing even before injuries occured.  Resting the Elder three at different times during the season.  A classic example of this would be mastermind coach Greg Poppavich's  approach.  Knowing how many games his stars have logged over the years and being in their 30's (Duncan, Ginobli), he sporadically throughout the season sits them out.  This allows for a fresher Duncan or Ginobli, which is part of the reason they are able to log more minutes and put up bigger numbers in the playoffs, even the young Tony Parker sit out a couple games also.  So while luckily the injuries sustained by Celtics were for the most part minor injuries, Doc Rivers needs to change his flawed ways and rest his stars from time to time especially KG because we know big men wear out faster in the NBA.

            Another blessing from the injuries has been the development of the Celtic bench which had significant additions and subtractions in the offseason.  They lost a critical part of their bench in Leon Powe who was instant offense and energy off the bench but they got Rasheed Wallace as a replacement, which I would say is definitely an upgrade.  However, Rasheed in the Celtics system is just a spot-up 3pt shooter but with KG out especially or one of the other Elder three this allows Rasheed to get into the post where he has always been and still is unstoppable.  Basically, when one of the Elder Three sits out it allows Boston to hone and sharpen their bench for the playoffs where they will be facing quite a few deep teams in the East (Orlando, Atlanta, Toronto just to name a few).

            Hopefully the Celtics capitalize on the lesson they were forced to learn and take advantage of their depth and rest the Elder Three.   So the chances for everyone to be healthy and clicking increase dramatically.

Guru