Barbosa, Musings on

"I've been to Phoenix, I know how [winning] is and with this team I know it's going to be [demanded]," he said. "And I'm very, very excited. I mean there's no words I can explain to you how I feel right now. I just want to work, give them what they expect, and win games and a championship. In my mind I have the championship and I'm sure those guys have the same thing. So we're going to

Rondo, Bradley, KG and C.Lee -- Try that Defensive Quartet on for Size

When it was suggested that, while Jason Terry was a key pickup for the Celtics, Courtney Lee may have been the tipping point in Doc's recovery from Ray's departure, Rivers smiled. "Yeah, that helped," he said. "That did. Getting Courtney helped a lot." Now Lee is in a better position to help even more. Even though he's still made just 4-of-15 3-pointers, his outside shot is coming around — and there's a physical reason for that. He was injured on Sept. 6 and didn't get back playing until Sept. 28, a critical period to miss for a player seeking to come full speed into training camp.

"A lot of people don't know that I was out three weeks before training camp, so I'm still trying to get my legs 100 percent back," Lee said. "So you notice a lot of my shots, they're not long they're short. So that means I've got to get my legs back into it." Rivers is most pleased that Lee is getting his defense back into it. He had four steals against the Nets Thursday and could be a killer in the passing lanes. "He was our best defender," said Rivers. "He was terrific. He ran the floor, which he does. He does a lot of tough things. Courtney's important for us. We want a defensive unit to start games.

There are 100 reasons I'm excited about the 2012-13 Boston Celtics. But the above line-up is one of them.

Remember KG and the Four Guns?

Fresh Blood and a Bag of Chips

Ah, Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics.

Damn, has this been a great time to be a Celtics fan or what?

Maybe I'm getting older, but I've come to appreciate rooting for the underdog in Boston. Perhaps my experience as a Red Sox fan has rubbed off on my Celtic fandom because I've changed. Where once I expected my Celtics to be revered by the league for their ability to dominate from stem to stern, I now expect the Green to be dissed by the media, and forced to earn their respect game by game, win by win. This is all good. Life in a nutshell, as far as I'm concerned. I still measure the season's outcome the same way as ever -- only championships are saluted. Kudos go out for heart, desire, teamwork, and sporadic

instances of greatness. But only championships are celebrated.

Which brings me to installment #2 in the series I call Sensational or Sleepwalking?

What can we expect from the Boston Celtics this year?

Will it be a season where we claim moral victories because a championship again proves elusive? Or might we set our sights a bit higher and start the season with realistic title aspirations? No one knows the answer to this question, but that doesn't prevent us from analyzing it to death.

Sensational or Sleepwalking?

The Boston Celtics of the Kevin Garnett Era have been feast or famine. The Era started out like a sprint, with the Celtics bolting to a 66-16 regular season record in 2007-08, followed by a less dominant playoff run in the Eastern Conference, only to reach new heights of excellence in the NBA Finals against the Lakers. Each year that followed, save last season, the Celtics started out with a sprint, only to get winded (bored?), fall back from their breakneck pace, and leave fans wondering which team would show up for the playoffs -- the sensational team that started the season or the one that sleepwalked through the second half.

Last season, I began the year predicting that the Celtics would skip the sprint, and sleepwalk through the entire season. For a while, it looked like I possessed some inside information because the Green underwhelmed and underachieved for a good spell. But then Doc moved KG to the 5, and somehow the Celtics sprinted to the finish line after a very slow start.

What will it be this season?