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Here is the 1st edition of the mailbag this season…

Mike, how long do you think it’ll take Rajon Rondo to be an All-Star in this league? He, in my personal opinion, is already a Top 5 point guard.

Mike: Could be awhile but I believe he is on the right track….Rajon has unique talents that ultimately will be recognized

Derek Rivera
Randolph , MA

Mike: Hope not…..don’t need to mess with the great chemistry that already exists on this team. 

Mike: Thanks ……they should hold up pretty well…..each is getting better by the week….the Celtics could ultimately add a PJ Brown type just to get a little more size….but Leon and Glen will do just fine in the interim.

There I was driving home after the Celtics had eliminated the Pistons. I’m feeling pretty good about Boston- LA . Pretty even match up but naturally I like Boston’s chances. Suddenly I’m hearing an ESPN expert say the C’s have no chance. I mean none. Lakers in 5, maybe 6. What? What happened to 66 wins? What happened to the best defensive team in the league? What happened to the 30+ pts difference in the two wins over the Lakers this season? Pau Gasol? Are you kidding me? Sasha Vujacic? Vladimir Radmonavic? Jordan Farmar? Luke ( sorry Bill) Walton? What am I missing here. I’ll give you Kobe. As big a Lebron guy as I am Kobe is the best player in the game at the moment. But after Kobe? Radmonovich is going to shut down Paul Pierce? Pau Gasol is going to swallow up KG? Derek Fisher is going to run rings around Rajon Rondo? It might take him a quarter or two to find Rondo. What are they smoking out there? And then it hit me. It’s LA baby. It’s Jack and Dyan’s brownies. It’s the other Wahlberg and anyone else with a new movie or ridiculous discretionary income. I guess we have to face it. If you are a member of the national media looking to suck up, LA tastes better. But this is way over the top. Every single ESPN "expert" picks the Lakers. Every one? Well, I guess I just have to adjust my prediction.

After the better part of two weeks focusing on one man - Lebron - the Celtics now shift their defensive thoughts to the multi-pronged attack of the Pistons. Chauncey - Rip- Rasheed - Tayshaun - all average between 14-21 ppg. The backcourt of Billups and Hamilton is the best duo still alive in the playoffs. When you think of the Celtics-Pistons you think DEFENSE. However my guess is that there will be more points scored in this series than one may think. The Pistons did not look like their old defensive selves against the Magic. The Celtics are in the midst of a long stretch of playing pressure packed playoff games every other day. No matter how hard the coaches try, in stretches like this it is the defense that ultimately rests. That’s not to say possessions won’t be hotly contested, it’s just that where in the Cavs series games were played in the 70’s and 80’s, this time around I think you will see games in the 90’s and maybe even the 100’s. Prediction : Celtics in 7 (why buck the trend)

There are lots of theories floating around out there as to why the Celtics are not winning on the road. From where I sit it comes down to one thing : aggression. When the Celtics play with passion and abandon on the defensive end it translates to their offense. When they shoot threes and settle for jump shots they become passive on the defensive end. In game three they still did a nice job of making Lebron’s life miserable, but forgot about everybody else. And the reason Boston didn’t have any free throw attempts with half of the second qtr gone was simply that they hadn’t done anything to make the officials blow the whistle. Refs in the playoffs tend to let teams play. You have to be extra aggressive to get a call, any call. The C’s have been that way at home not on the road. If they don’t get their defensive passion/aggression back tonite, we are in for another long series.

Rosalie
Waltham

Mike - I know it took a while to knock off Atlanta, but, why is it so easy for the press and broadcasters (not you or Tommy!), to
jump off the bandwagon of a team that has been so successful all year. Kevin Garnett is taking it on the chin from alot of these guys, and it just doesn’t seem fair. Nor does it seem right that PP has had such bad press also. I guess I take it personally when someone attacks the team they way they have this last week. Written by a die hard, long time
Celtic fan who watched Tommy play!!

Mike: Positive news unfortunately doesn’t sell newspapers or increase talk show ratings. Hopefully fans like yourself will have the last laugh.

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Scott Tomassetti
Rajon vs. Delonte

Back in seattle I can remember that Delonte kind of got the better of Rajon. How do you think that match up will go this series?
Personally, I think Rajon has grown so much since then that he might overwhelm delonte with his D. Delonte still needs to stay close to Delonte to keep him honest at the 3 pt line.

Mike: I’ve always felt that Delonte could be a contributing player on a good team. He showed that last nite and in his time with the Cavs. That said, I like Rondo to ultimately get the edge in the series. Rajon just does more things and has superior quickness.

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Rondo. One minute you’re agreeing with the Chris Paul MVP argument and the next Rondo is playing him even for eight quarters with no indication anything’s changing anytime soon. Rajon’s emergence from the shadow of the big three is the year’s best unexpected storyline.

KG is the MVP. End of subject. C’mon, have you forgotten 20 something wins so quickly? Do you miss wondering if Gerald was going to come around ? That was just 11 months ago.

They’re about to win 60 something games. Last year people felt sorry for the C’s, now they’re afraid of them. Sure Paul Pierce is having his best year and Ray is an assassin and Rondo’s a talent and Perk and Powe are all one could hope them to be. But without KG they’re fighting for first round home court advantage. KG raised the first time he sat down at the table. He makes everybody around him work harder - get better. That’s what MVP’s do. Kobe, Lebron, CP3 all great players, maybe even better than KG. But more valuable, no way, not even close.

A great week of basketball fell just a quarter short of perfection last nite in New Orleans. For the longest time it looked like the Celtics would sweep a five game road trip for the first time since one of Tommy’s teams did it back in the early 70’s. However a flurry of uncharacteristic turnovers enabled Chris Paul to salvage an otherwise un-MVP like game and stop the road winning streak at 8. But even a defeat cannot change the fact that the Celtics are exactly where they want to be with three weeks or so left in the season. The defense is fierce, the offense is efficient, and the chemistry is as good as it has been at any time this year. Sure it would be better if the playoffs started next week, but let’s just savor the games that are left, enjoy the eye popping development of Rondo, and make plans for a spring and early summer of basketball. Something we haven’t had in a long time.

In a season full of superlatives last night’s win in San Antonio has to rank amongst the very best. 22 down to the defending champs in their building in a game they needed like oxygen. No Ray Allen and a first five minutes from Rondo that made you want to send him to the D league. You could just hear those guys on the "family of networks" piling on. But then after 11 points in the first quarter the C’s put up 32 in the second. Rondo was back to being Rondo. Tony Parker was suddenly going to have to play at both ends. Udoka and Oberto were suddenly Udoka and Oberto. Duncan was a ten point eight rebound guy and only the brilliant play of Ginobili prevented the Celtics from turning 22 down into 22 up. KG went for 21 and 8. Pierce was 8 for 13 - 22-8-5 a steal and a block. Sam I am went for 17-5 and Rondo went from worst to first finishing with 20-6-6-3st and just 2 to’s. If this was the first NBA game you ever saw- he was the best point guard on the floor. Bigger wins- maybe if I thought about it. But I don’t want to. 1-0 in Texas and a great match up on tap in Houston. Who thought we could have this much fun in the NBA in March.

Thats the number of consecutive quarters the Celtics have played with the lead. You have to go back to the third quarter against Atlanta a week ago Sunday to find the last time Boston trailed in a game. That’s how dominating they have been in this recent streak. I know some national services want to rate the C’s third to the Lakers and Spurs - Boston by the way is 3-0 against those two. But right now only the Houston Rockets have any place in the discussion and in case you have forgotten, Boston beat them back in the beginning of January. The best team in the NBA right now wears green.

The Celtics systematic destruction of both Chicago and Memphis shows the team is back to where it was during the first 30 odd games of the season. The defense is suffocating and combined with a return of the ball movement we saw in the opening weeks the offense gets either layups of wide open looks at the hoop. Wish they were headed to Texas right now instead of Philly but the schedule is what the schedule is. This team has taken the "one game at a time" cliche and made it it’s mantra. That combined with the possibilty of the Sixers being a first round match up makes Monday’s game at the least intriguing. Another lengthy win streak here is not beyond the realm of possibility.

The win over the Pistons last nite was important and satisfying on a number of levels. Five games in the loss column plus the tie breaker amounts to a six game lead with 23 to go. Even given the tough trip ahead for Boston to Texas and New Orleans and the easy schedule left for the Pistons, Detroit has little room for error if they are going to catch and pass the C’s. To be in the Garden last nite and hear and feel that crowd certainly makes every Celtic fan feel like they haven’t felt in 20 odd years. But that all said, remember the Piston were just back from a west coast trip. Weather had delayed their arrival at a Boston hotel till after 4 AM Wednesday morning.. Rested they are not going to miss the free throws they missed last night. They also won’t have the heavy legs and careless tendencies they exhibited late in the game. This is not to say the Celtics can’t beat the Pistons. I believe they can. But the double digit leads the C’s held for most of last nite and at the end were fool’s gold. These two teams are a coin flip and it may take a full seven games in May to separate them.

All the ducks are in order now. The stretch run begins in what should be a wild building against the Pistons. Dare I say it has been worth the wait ?

Comcast SportsNet’s Mike Gorman answers fan e-mails in "Mike’s Mailbag" presented by Dodge. Mike has been the Boston Celtics play-by-play announcer since 1981. Click here to send Mike Gorman your email.

Name: Joe Cantone
City: Southington, Ct.

Hello Mike, I’m wondering why the Celtic’s don’t give Gabe Pruitt a chance to play. I believe Gabe and Rajon would make a great 1-2 punch! I know the Celtic’s have other guy’s ahead of him, but given the chance, I truly believe Gabe can be an asset to this team.
Thanks,
Joe

Mike: Tommy agrees with you…but with the addition of Sam Cassell this week Gabe is going to have to wait till next year to get a chance at some minutes.

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Name: David
City: Cypress, Illinois

Hello Mike. What are your thoughts on Kendrick Perkins? I have rooted for the Celtics since 1981 and few players have caught my attention the way Perk does. I truly believe this kid will surprise many people over the next several years. Thanks Mike.

Mike: I think you are right and the last two games would sure prove your point. Like you, I believe Perk is going to have a long and productive career in Boston.

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Name: Audrey Desrochers
City: Westford, MA

Hi Mike, I thought that Leon Powe could be someone special from the first time I ever saw him two pre-seasons ago. Why has it taken until recently for Powe to get more minutes. Talk about intensity!