SB Nation Boston - Celtics Training Camp 2011: C's Hold Final Camp Practice On Friday

Paul Pierce Injury: Celtics Captain 'Doubtful' For Season Opener

2011-12-23T19:46:29Z

Paul Pierce is doubtful for the Boston Celtics season opener against the New York Knicks on Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden, according to head coach Doc Rivers, who updated the media on Pierce's condition after Friday's practice.

Doc Rivers said he thinks its "doubtful" Paul Pierce will play Christmas Day vs. Knicks #celtics (via Gary Washburn, Boston Globe on Twitter)

Pierce missed the majority of training camp with what the team said was a bruised right heel. After Thursday's practice, Pierce was seen shooting three pointers and appeared to be moving around well.

Rivers hasn't yet indicated who will replace Pierce in the team's starting rotation, but all signs would seem to point to Marquis Daniels, who has had a good camp. Another option for the Celtics includes reserve Sasha Pavlovic.

Boston and New York tip off the NBA season at noon EDT on Christmas Day (TNT).

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

Celtics Training Camp 2011: C's Hold Final Practice On Friday

2011-12-23T12:01:20Z

Nothing left to do but play for real, right? The Boston Celtics will wrap up their 2011-12 training camp with their final practice at noon EDT on Friday afternoon at Healthpoint, the team's practice facility, in Waltham, MA.

Ready or not, the C's will open the regular season on Christmas Day against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Boston trimmed its roster from 17 to 14 players on Thursday, waiving camp invites Michael Sweetney, Jamal Sampson and Gilbert Brown.

As it stands, the Celtics roster currently includes the following players: Ray Allen, Brandon Bass, Avery Bradley, Marquis Daniels, Keyon Dooling, Kevin Garnett, JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Jermaine O'Neal, Sasha Pavlovic, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Greg Stiemsma and Chris Wilcox.

Rivers wanted to leave one roster spot open so the Celtics could pursue a free agent. It's looking like that free agent could be Mickael Pietrus, who was waived by the Phoenix Suns on Thursday and is reportedly leaning towards signing with Boston if he clears waivers by Saturday night.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

Celtics Training Camp 2011: C's Waive Sweetney, Brown, Sampson

2011-12-22T23:59:57Z

Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics trimmed their roster down to 14 players following Thursday's practice in Waltham, waiving Michael Sweetney and Gilbert Brown in the early evening after announcing that Jamal Sampson had been cut earlier in the day.

Sweetney, Brown and Sampson were all training camp invites who were facing long odds to make the team. Rivers wanted to cut the roster from 17 to 14 so the Celtics would have room to sign a veteran free agent if they wanted.

For Sweetney, this was his second stint with the Celtics at training camp, as he was also with the team at camp two seasons ago. In 233 career games, Sweetney has averaged 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, but hasn't played since 2007.

Sampson is a five-year veteran forward-center who last played for the Denver Nuggets in the 2006-07 season. In his five years, Sampson averaged 2.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 72 games spent with five different teams.

Brown, a forward-guard, was an undrafted free agent out of Pittsburgh.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

Celtics Training Camp 2011: C's Waive Camp Invite Jamal Sampson

2011-12-22T19:56:35Z

WALTHAM - Jamal Sampson has been waived by the Boston Celtics on Thursday, which leaves the team with 16 players on the roster with two more cuts - most likely Michael Sweetney and Gilbert Brown - likely to come before the week's end.

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said after the C's win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night that the team will likely trim the roster to 14 players, leaving one spot for a potential free agent signing. To do so, they will need to cut two more.

Sampson, a forward-center, was drafted by the Utah Jazz with the No. 18 pick of the second round (No. 46 overall) of the 2002 NBA Draft. However, he was traded twice and landed with the Milwaukee Bucks. In his first season in 2002-03, Sampson played in five games and didn't score a point. Sampson has played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets. His best season was in 2004-05 with Charlotte, where he averaged 3.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in a career-high 23 games.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

Celtics Training Camp 2011: Doc Rivers, C's To Trim Roster To 14

2011-12-22T12:01:29Z

BOSTON - Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics will likely trim the team's roster to 14 players from 17 before the start of the regular season, the team's head coach told reporters following Boston's 81-73 win over Toronto in the preseason finale on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

"Not yet," Rivers said when asked if the team had made any roster decisions after Wednesday's game. "We've made a couple but we haven't announced them or done anything yet. It'd be really nice to tell the guy first.

"There's guys still out there unsigned and we're going to want to sign one of them. We're looking around. I still think there will be buyouts, probably starting [Thursday]. There's so many things that can happen and we want to make sure, if that happens, we're able to do it quick instead of delayed. We may keep 15 for a couple more days, but after that we're going to probably go to 14."

Michael Sweetney, Jamal Sampson and Gilbert Brown are the three players who will likely be cut over the next few days. Brown and Sampson did not speak to the media following the preseason finale, but Sampson was seen walking out of a side room in the locker room with GM Danny Ainge and appeared depressed after the game.

Greg Stiemsma, a former NBA D-League player, was invited to Celtics camp and has likely made enough of an impact to stick around with the team, for now. Stiemsma scored seven points and had five rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes.

"He played great. It was good to see," Rivers said about Stiemsma. "It was nice because we played him with some of the starters, which we were trying to do. He can block shots, he can run the floor, he can make the shot from the elbow. That was great when he just jacked it. That was what we wanted him to do. It was a good showing by him."

Boston will another practice at 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday in preparation for the season opener.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

Celtics Or Knicks? Deciphering The Advantage In The Atlantic Division

2011-12-21T12:30:10Z

Those of us who pay attention to the NBA know this -- supremacy in the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division will come down to two teams, the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks. Sure, there's other talent in the division, or at least something close to it. The Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors -- who the Celtics will meet in their preseason finale on Wednesday night -- all have pieces but aren't as complete.

So who's it going to be? Celtics or Knicks?

Between the two, the Knicks have the best player in Carmelo Anthony and may very well have the second best in Amar'e Stoudemire. After that, the Celtics have the next best four in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. New York bolstered up under the basket with Tyson Chandler and added guard Baron Davis.

The Celtics have the advantage in the bigs category, boasting such players as KG, Jermaine O'Neal, Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox and JaJuan Johnson. As far as depth is concerned, the C's have the advantage, although neither team has a huge amount of depth.

At this point, I would give the slight edge to the Celtics. Still, there's no way the Celtics win the division by more than five games, as these teams are still very competitive. Expect a close race in the Atlantic Division, if nothing else.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

Celtics Training Camp 2011: C's Hold Shootaround On Wednesday

2011-12-21T12:01:18Z

Before they take on the Toronto Raptors in their preseason finale, the Boston Celtics will hold a morning shootaround at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday morning at Healthpoint, the team's practice facility, in Waltham, MA.

Late on Wednesday, the Celtics host the Raptors at 7:30 p.m. EDT at TD Garden. Boston (1-0) defeated Toronto (0-1), 76-75, in their preseason opener on Sunday at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The C's were led by Ray Allen (12 points), Marquis Daniels (11 points) and Kevin Garnett had nine points and seven rebounds in the win.

Boston will be without Paul Pierce in the game, as the captain continues to recover from a bruised right heel that has kept him out of the majority of training camp. The C's may make two roster cuts to trim down to 15 players before or right after the game, with Greg Stiemsma, Jamal Sampson, Michael Sweetney and Gilbert Brown all likely in jeopardy of being cut.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

No Paul Pierce? Big, Big Problem For Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics

2011-12-21T12:00:39Z

Paul Pierce is the centerpiece of the Boston Celtics, and there's really no arguing that point. Kevin Garnett may be the heart and soul of the defense and Ray Allen is the shooter with the rubber arm, but Pierce is the glue that holds everything together. Without Pierce, the Celtics just aren't as big of a threat.

Unfortunately, that's a scenario the coach Doc Rivers and the Celtics may be facing.

Pierce suffered from a bruised right heel during the team's training camp and has missed nearly all of camp, as well as the team's open scrimmage at TD Garden on Friday night and the preseason opener against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

"I'm concerned, not long-term, but I'm concerned short-term," said Rivers (via WEEI). "We have those two games right off the bat and he's gone one practice and that's basically it. So, yeah I'm concerned about it."

Pierce will not play in the Celtics' preseason finale and may be out until Friday. Pierce worked out really hard on Monday and was very sore afterwards, according to Rivers, and the C's captains status could be in jeopardy or the season opener.

No Pierce for one game certainly hurts, but what if it's more serious than we think?

As we've already established, Pierce is a very important member of this team. For the past decade, he's been the team's leading scorer and has a chance to finish his career with the most points in franchise history. Think about that -- this is a franchise that has had players like John Havlicek, Larry Bird, Bill Russell and so many more.

Even through the Celtics' resurgence to the top of the Eastern Conference and the league, Pierce has been at the forefront. In 2008, he was the MVP of the NBA Finals, and almost led the C's to another title two years later.

Without Pierce, the Celtics could easily slip to the middle of the pack in the East.

Make no mistake, the Celtics can still (and should easily) make the playoffs is Pierce was to miss a significant portion of time this season. However, upon reaching that point, there wouldn't be much hope for moving on. Think Boston can get past the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls or even the Atlanta Hawks or Orlando Magic without The Truth? Not likely.

Right now, it doesn't appear that the injury to Pierce is a serious one. However, the injury has seemed to drag out longer than expected, which does nothing but create concern. The last time the C's had an injury stretch out this long was Jeff Green, and he is missing the entire season with an aortic aneurysm.

For the record, I am in no way saying that Pierce's injury is even close to Green's, but teams do keep the real news about injuries under wraps for as long as possible. The longer this goes without a definitive end date, the more worrisome it becomes.

For now, it appears that Pierce will be out for a couple more days. If that's truly the case, then all should be well (until the next injury comes around). If it's not, the Celtics are in big, big trouble.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

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Can The Boston Celtics Be Competitive Without Paul Pierce?

Yes.

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