Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 The In-Season Tournament seemed to inspire and energize a Celtics bench that wasn't exactly bringing back memories of Bill Walton, Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting from the mid-80's .  It started with the somewhat-maligned Luke Kornet . He was aggressive while scoring seven points and hauling in nine rebounds - six of which were off the offensive glass . Payton Pritchard had a solid outing that fans were waiting for, with 13 points, five boards (4 offensive) and three assists . He and Luke were fierce on the offensive glass. Then there was Sam Hauser. "The Mauser" was on target , hitting five of his ten 3-point attempts for 15 points. His ability to get his shot off so quickly and hit the trey so consistently really opens up the floor. In all, Boston got 91 minutes, 37 points, 21 rebounds (13 offensive) and five assists from their bench . Not enough can be said for the ability of Pritchard and Kornet to take down offensive rebounds, setting things up for easy hoo...

 I am going with Chris Forsberg on this one. The rumblings on The Celtics going with another big center (read: Jacob Poetl ) to back up Al Horford and Rob Williams is folly. Forsberg figures that a big wing in the way to go if Brad Stevens sees fit to add another player to the roster (Per Forsberg): "But Boston might have a bigger need for a big wing -- someone who could play Hauser’s role, limit the wear and tear on the Jays, and be a trusted defender in a playoff series." Boston recently fully guaranteed Justin Jackson's $2.1 million for this season, but the 6'8" wing doesn't look like a keeper. Jayson Tatum may be an iron man, but he is not made of steel. Jaylen Brown is currently out with a groin injury. Without this pair in decent condition - no Title this season. Tatum is approaching that time in his career where star players peak. Scary thought for the rest of the League since he won't turn 25 uintil March. Stevens needs to discard thoughts ...

 After following the Russell-era Celtics of the 60's - the Cowens/Hondo/JoJo crew of the 70's - the Bird-era team of the 80's - and the Big-3 Title crew of 2008 , I had to give some thought to what the current Celtics troops could accomplish down the road. Since I rate the 1985-86 Green Team as perhaps the best NBA roster ever assembled, we start there. The two main stars were Larry Bird and Kevin McHale , but some fans may forget that Dennis Johnson already had four All-Star apperarences prior to coming to Boston in addition to a Title and Finals MVP Award. Robert Parish and Danny Ainge rounded out the starting five. And how about the bench. Scott Wedman had two All-Star stints under his belt prior to joining the Celtics, and Bill Walton had a prior Championship, MVP Award and Finals MVP with the Trail Blazers. Jerry Sichting rounded out the bench crew. That is an "Elite Eight" that would be hard to beat. So can the Jay Team and their comrades take over ...