Rajon Rondo, Leandro Barbosa, and Jeff Green -- Fastbreak Anyone?

"The Lakers were interested in me, but I think Boston would be better for me," he said. "I don't know why. My agent, we had that talk and he said it would be great for me to be here. It's the kind of situation I'm looking for, especially to play with Rondo. He likes to run, and I love to run, so I think it will work really well. "There were talks, a lot of talks of (the Lakers) and my agent. And I had a lot of talk with (former teammate) Steve (Lakers' Nash). We are kind of close as friends. But nothing happened, so it happened here."

Thank you, Mitch Kupcek et al cuz we Bostonians sure is gonna have fun watching the Leandro Barbosa do that "running thing" with Rondo and Big Game Green. The Celtics were last or near last in three separate categories representing how teams score easy points -- offensive rebounds, points in the paint, and fastbreak points. Somehow I expect Doc to find a way to get Barbosa on the court so he can run with Rondo and Green. Any early success could result in a recurring role for the Brazilian Blur.


Both Barbosa and Wilcox are destined for what is already an athletic second unit built around Brandon Bass and Jeff Green, and eventually will include either Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, or Jason Terry. Last season, the Celtics struggled to get their transition game into gear, especially after Wilcox was diagnosed with an enlarged aorta in mid-March and missed the rest of the season. Getting up to speed should not be a problem for the Celtics when the season begins at Miami Tuesday. "We don't need more [speed], but it's nice to have more," said guard Rajon Rondo. "More is better."

When Rondo is out of the game, the Celtics' tempo of play could be expected to slow. But that was before Barbosa's signing last week. "He had a great practice," Rivers said of Barbosa. "He's just a backup player, so he'll play '1' and '2.' I don't know if we have a backup '1.' It's going to be him and [Terry] on the court - they'll figure it out.

“[Barbosa] was very vocal today. He was the point guard. He moved [Jason Terry] to the side and I think they both liked that situation. JET’s more of a scoring point guard and Barbosa set a lot of those guys up today in practice.”

It might not happen in Miami. It might not happen in November. But at some point this year, the second unit will be cookin'. I can totally see a three guard unit of Barbosa, Terry, and Lee or Bradley joined by Bass/Green and Darko. Darko grabs a rebounds or blocks a shot and the rest of the team is off to the races. 

This is gonna be fun. Possibly more fun than we had in 2007-08