Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 The hole left by the "departure" of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday - plus the Achilles injury to Jayson Tatum leaves a major void in the Celtics starting-5 . In some may view as a "rag-tag" roster - still under construction - the starting point guard and center slots may just be filled with Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta - at least to start the season. My personal preference is to give the little guy a shot . Pritchard deserves it - and may flourish in that role. His per-36-minutes stats from last season are: 18.1 PPG - 4.9 RPG - 4.4 APG - 1.1 SPG - .472 FG - .407 3s - .845 FT I don't want the little guy to disappear from the NBA or the Celtics parquet. Guys like K C Jones, Isaiah Thomas and Rajon Rondo were exciting to watch and all three had success in Beantown.  And the old-school center - that rebounded, protected the paint and the rim, and scored in close - has been around since the Bill Russell era . The "stretch-5" is a somewh...

  Payton Pritchard and the Celtics are off to a great start this season, and there is a correlation there . The 6'1" guard is averaging an efficient 16.5 points per game - hitting on 47% of his field goals, 43% of his 3-pointers, and 96% of his free throws . Pritchard also rebounds well and works his butt off on defense - but his one weakness (other than his lack of height) would be his passing skills. Some may feel his lack of height is to blame for his low assist rate this season (2.5 APG) , but two former 6'1" Boston guards may prove that theory wrong. K C. Jones , at 6'1" averaged 5.5 assists/game as a starter in Beantown, and later in the Celtics history, Rajon Rondo (also 6'1") averaged 7.9 APG for his entire career. And while we are on it, Isaiah Thomas - generously listed at 5'9" - averaged 5.8 APG in his three seasons with The Green . Being able to see over the opposition may be an asset to any NBA player trying to get the bal...

 Both the late Dennis Johnson and Marcus Smart are not generally thought of as elite athletes, but both have shown Celtics glimpses of vertical leaps and quick moves that seemed off the scale. There are other comparisons. DJ was such an astounding defender, Magic Johnson labeled him as one of his toughest opponent s. And no present NBA player wants to be guarded by The Wolverine. But now that the buzz of possible Marcus Smart trades have faded, he may want to watch some footage of Dennis in action. Red Auerbach was right. You can't turn a poor-to-mediocre shooter into a dead-eye marksman, K. C. Jones and Don Chaney being Exhibits A and B. Exhibit C would be Marcus . His 38% career shooting from the field and 33% on three-pointers needs to rise.   DJ shot 44% on field goals - but also a putrid 17% on treys - but to his credit, he rarely took the long shot. On point production, Johnson averaged 14.1 PPG, while Smart is at 13.1 PPG. They both show up with three or four board...

Isn't it time to recognize Tommy Heinsohn as a true Boston treasure? After starring at Holy Cross, Red Auerbach drafted him in 1956 with the Celtics' territorial pick, while also finagling a trade with the St. Louis Hawks to acquire Bill Russell. K. C. Jones and future Celtic, Willie Naulls (drafted by Hawks), were taken in the second round. Red was unmerciful with Heinsohn from the start, constantly berating him in front of the troops and bestowing on him the demeaning task of lugging the ball bag - not only in Tommy's rookie year but also in his sophomore season. The following from my interview with Sam Jones: (Sam): "I saw a lot of it. I loved it. That means he (Red) kept off my back. That (Heinsohn) was Red's whipping boy. Better Tommy than me." Tommy had a spectacular rookie season, putting up 16.2 PPG and hauling down 9.9 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per contest. His minutes increased to 37.0 MPG in the post-season, as did his points (22.9 PPG) and board...