Boston looks to be staring at another mediocre season unless newly acquired Sebastian Telfair can begin to live up to his hype.
In the NBA, finish second in your division and you make playoff plans.
Oh, wait a minute. Not in the Atlantic Division.
The Boston Celtics are a pretty good bet to sit directly behind the New Jersey Nets when the regular season winds up. They're also a pretty good bet to go home while 16 other teams vie for a championship.
This group won just 33 games last year, but the odds in 2006-07 favor a few more victories. They just don't favor a postseason berth.
Off-guard Paul Pierce is a given at about 25 points a game. He receives scoring help from inconsistent small forward Wally Szczerbiak, but needs another teammate to step up offensively to deflect defensive attention off him. Power forward Ryan Gomes averaged 12 points a game as a starter last season, and Delonte West was equally potent.
But the most intriguing pickup in the offseason was point guard Sebastian Telfair, who is tremendously skilled and might be ready to blossom after escaping the circus in Portland . Look for Telfair to receive an open invitation to wrest that position away from West.
Key additions: G Telfair, F Theo Ratliff
Key subtractions: G Dan Dickau, F Raef LaFrentz, C Michael Olowokandi
Player to watch: The Celtics had hoped for more from Dickau and ended up starting West at point guard. But they are banking on Telfair to secure that position for quite a while. Telfair, a New York City high school and playground phenom, wasn't ready for the NBA when he was drafted by the Trail Blazers. But he showed flashes of his immense talent last season, increasing his scoring average, assists and shooting percentage while lowering his turnover totals. Telfair needs to shoot better than 39 percent because the Celtics require scoring outside of Pierce and Szczerbiak. And even though West proved to be an acceptable point guard in 2005-06, he doesn't boast the upside of Telfair. If Telfair evolves into the player he is capable of becoming, don't wager against a .500 season and lower-echelon playoff berth for the Celtics.
Outlook: Pierce is a perennial all-star, but this team has been held back by a lack of consistency and depth. Even the streak-shooting Szczerbiak can't be counted on night after night. And the rest of the frontcourt has been a disaster. Young Al Jefferson, another draftee directly out of high school, is the heir apparent in the middle. He's a decent scorer and a strong rebounder for a relatively light 6-foot-6 center. In a league woefully short of talented centers, the Celtics might be able to get by with Jefferson if they receive production from players such as Telfair, Gomes, West and Ratliff . Don't bet it on, though. You can bet on the Celtics being the worst second-place team in the NBA, however.
