Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Celtics still are smarting from their loss in Cleveland on the second night of the season, which came just more than 24 hours following their opening night win against Miami. In a small quirk of the NBA calendar, they return to Quicken Loans Arena tonight.
“I think we went in and our thoughts were still in the Miami game, and we didn’t go about it the way we should have played,” Glen Davis said. “Now we can’t do that. At the end of the day, we need these games for home-court advantage.”
As a result, Davis claims his team speaks a new language.
“We don’t know no English,” he said. “All we know is ‘kill.’ That’s it. No more English. Switzerland. That’s all we know is ‘kill.’ Kill, kill, kill. That’s our mentality. That’s how we have to be the rest of the season — not taking Toronto for granted, not taking Cleveland for granted. No days off. We should be undefeated right now.”
Bad grammar and cliched European references aside, Glen Davis makes sense. He claims the Celtics will take seriously the weaker teams on their schedule. We'll see. What I do know for sure, a talkative Glen Davis is gold for bloggers. Pure gold.
While it's hard to imagine a team overlooking the mighty Celtics, the Cavs have a giant distraction looming: LeBron James returns to Cleveland Thursday night. Advantage Boston.
On Page 2, Rondo has high praise for Avery Bradley's defense.
"You try not to put too much in his head," said Rondo. "You let him learn for himself, or he can ask Nate [Robinson] or coach Rivers. He has guys in front of him who are willing to teach him [and] help him learn the game."
And Rondo can vouch for the NBA-ready defense that Rivers had raved about.
"He's way past me," said Rondo. "Defensively, he's way past me now, probably, as far as the pick-and-roll. He's very physical... He's a physical presence. He gets into you on picks, he gets up into you, defensively, and he turns you, makes you dribble with your back towards the basket."
ESPN Boston - Bradley working overtime
I'm excited to see Bradley on the court, pressuring the ball. It's this type of defensive aggression that will earn him minutes. If Eddie House was capable of running bringing up the ball for the second unit offense, I'm sure Bradley can do it.
The rest of the links:
Globe - Davis rolling with punches | Herald - Keep it simple BBD | ESPN Boston - Injuries force Cs to alter plans | Maine Mondays | Cs #3 in power rankings | Shaq's unexcused absence | WEEI - Time for Plan B | CSNNE - Celtics prepare for Cavs athletic bigs |
