The deadliest threesome in the NBA notwithstanding, the Celtics will open training camp at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I., this week with a number of troubling holes in the hull of their championship ship. Kendrick Perkins, recovering from the third shoulder surgery of his young career, is not ready for full contact, though Danny Ainge indicated yesterday the Celtics center should be ready once the exhibition games start.
``Perk will do everything in camp except live contact for the first week,'' the team's director of basketball operations said. ``Then we will progressively add things on as the second week goes on, to the point where we're hopeful that by the third week we're hopeful he'll do everything, including playing in exhibition games.''
That will presumably take Patrick O'Bryant - the underperforming 7-footer they signed during the summer as Perkins' backup - off the hook. But if these Celtics are to become the first repeat champion in franchise history since Bill Russell was the player/coach, then coach Doc Rivers has an enormous task ahead in attempting to rebuild his bench.
He must replace the departures of James Posey and P.J. Brown - the first to free agency and a better contract offer from New Orleans, the latter to retirement. ``Maybe he'll rejoin us in January,'' Rivers said with a laugh, referring to Brown's decision to sign with the Celtics out of retirement last February.
In truth, the Celtics really do hope that Brown has a change of heart. Ainge already has said that he knows the door is open. Rivers also is hoping for a change of heart from the 38-year-old big man, who emerged as such an important part of the Celtics' postseason run.
``I tell him that I'll see him later,'' Rivers said. ``Hell, even if he couldn't play I'd put him on our bench and in our locker room. That's how important he was to our young guys. In that short time, he basically became an invaluable part of that locker room.'' Replacing Posey, however, is beyond hope.
New Orleans offered the defensively gifted swingman a fourth year on his mid-level contract, leaving the Celtics standing alone with their three-year offer. Rivers clearly wanted the player who set the tone for the rest of the bench to come back. The additions of players like Darius Miles and O'Bryant, as well as increased reliance on the inconsistent Tony Allen, clearly don't fill this large hole.
Rivers wanted Posey back but also supported management's decision that at the age of 31, Posey wasn't worth the fourth year.
``I think we all wanted him back, but we all understood the financial part of it,'' Rivers said. ``The fourth year was a little rich for us. He made the choice, and it was to go somewhere else.''
The Celtics, and especially their tenacity off the bench - such an obvious weapon during their dominance of the Lakers in the NBA Finals - now need some repair work.
``He did give us a certain mentality,'' Rivers said. ``We'll miss that. The biggest advantage he brought us last year was that (save for Sam Cassell) Pose was the only one on our team who had won the whole thing. ``On the other hand, our winning the (title) removes that now,'' he said. ``We're all more experienced in that way now.''
This, in turn, puts more of the load on Allen - a guard with Posey's defensive tenacity who could also emerge as an explosive scorer off the bench, albeit with a slashing style as opposed to Posey's timely 3-point shooting.``But they're not the same at all,'' Rivers said. ``Not even close. They're very different players.'' Before the season is out, the same could be said about the contrast between last season's Celtics and the team that takes the floor at Salve Regina tomorrow.
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