Empty the Bench

The NBA regular season is a grueling one, and Empty the Bench has a certain amount of empathy for the bottom-feeding teams in the league that will get nothing more than a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery for their efforts. So we thought it’d be humanitarian of us to profile one of the five worst teams in the Association, winning-percentage wise, every day this week and give you five reasons they’re still worth watching on your League Pass.

The next team on our list is the Boston Celtics. The traditionally proud franchise is batting just .288 this season, going 17 and 42 thus far. That places them squarely in last place in the East, and only ahead of the lowly Memphis Grizzlies overall. Fortunately, it was never the plan to win this year. GM Danny Ainge has been rebuilding, stockpiling draft picks and young talent for years, and they have yet to change gears into a win-now team. They still have Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak, but those are just about the only two veterans on the roster at present. Paul Pierce probably only has a few great years left in the tank, so the guess here is that they start getting serious in the next year or two. Right after the Greg Oden draft.

A team that has suffered a franchise record 18-game losing streak and sits at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, the worst in basketball, doesn’t usually constitute must-see TV. Well, I personally make an effort to watch as many Celtics games as I can for a few reasons:

1. Al Jefferson

Yesterday, Baby Al was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference player of the week. During that stretch he put up 23.5 points, a league-leading 14.5 rebounds, tallied three double-doubles and 1.5 blocks per game. Oh, and the Celtics went 4-0. On Saturday, Jefferson scored a career-high 32 points to go with 18 rebounds and 2 blocks in an overtime win at New Jersey. On Sunday he had 20 points and 14 rebounds in a double-overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwoles, shooting 9-15 FGs in just over 50 minutes.

The kid is carrying his team and becoming one of the best low-post scorers in the NBA in front of our eyes. He has 30 double-doubles on the season, good for 10th in the league. All of this is particularly impressive for a guy who was drafted straight out of high school with the 15th overall pick in 2004. His 26 points and 16 boards this month won’t hold up, but Jefferson’s future is extremely bright and watching Al is already a treat.

2. Tommy Heinsohn

The 72-year-old Boston Celtics color analyst is my favorite announcer in basketball. He has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player for the Boston Celtics, and he also coached the team from 1970-1978. A local legend, Tommy just bleeds Celtics green, and he does it every night. I sincerely hope it never happens, but it just sounds like he’s going to have a heart attack any minute . . . for two hours . . . 60-some times a year. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t cover all the road games.

The six-time NBA All-Star Heinsohn is the most-fined announcer in the NBA, and after listening to a broadcast it’s not hard to figure why. The definition of a homer, he lays into the refs every night, unabashed and unrestrained. I also enjoy the ‘Tommy Point!’ tradition, a regular event where Tommy awards players with a point for displaying some kind of toughness or hustle that won’t show up on the box score. It’s a nice touch to a game that can emphasize statistics a bit too much, but it’s also a laugh to hear how excited the old coot gets every time. Tommy also has a nice rapport with straight-man Michael Gorman, as the two have worked together since 1981 and form one of the longest-tenured announcing teams in all of professional sports.

3. The Four-Game Winning Streak

Yeah, thats right. The team that put together that 18-game losing streak is actually on a winning streak. They’ve beaten the Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves in succession. All of those teams could potentially make the playoffs. What’s really been happening is some of the young talent is starting to blossom, and with Paul Pierce back they finally have veteran leadership and a guy to take big shots. They’ve won 15 of 35 games that Pierce has played in on the season (Going 2-22 in his absence).

This could be a sneak preview of the next few seasons in Boston, and if so, it’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch. But here’s where it gets really interesting: every game they win takes them further away from that coveted top pick in the draft. Doc Rivers is doing his best to look like he’s trying to win now. “(Expletive) the draft pick,” Rivers said. But if they really have the best interests of the franchise in mind, they won’t rack up meaningless wins. I’m curious to see just how hard they play each game, and how well they can mask any ulterior motives they may or may not have.

4. Gerald Green

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2007 NBA Slam-Dunk Champion. Not bad for a guy born in 1986. Gerald is as athletically thrilling as any player in the NBA today, even though he plays sparingly. He was taken with the 18th pick in the 2005 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, and he has continued to impress ever since. In summer league that season, Green had a baseline throw down that became legendary and was frequently called the highlight of summer play. We’re glad he got a chance to show his stuff in the contest this year, because in the next five years he should be a household name. The other thing you always have to mention in tandem with his high-flying antics is his feathery jumper: He shoots 41.5% from long distance (15th in the NBA) and he’s over 81% from the line. So it’s not all flash, Green has legitimate basketball skills. If he can convince Doc to give him some more tick this season, Boston’s games will be a lot more entertaining.

5. The Greg Oden/Kevin Durant Sweepstakes

This draft has long been touted as the Greg Oden draft, as the young fella is considered the best NBA center prospect since Yao Ming. He’s big, athletic, quick and has excellent defensive instincts. Most scouts suggest that Oden is the kind of player a franchise can build around, a guy who can anchor a frontcourt for the next 15 seasons. It’s been assumed that he will be the top pick for years, until this season. Now another name has entered the mix: Kevin Durant. Considered a hybrid power-forward/point-forward, analysts are now suggesting that Durant could be taken off the board ahead of Oden. Durant is a freak athlete in the mold of a Kevin Garnett, but with better ball handling and offensive skills. Scouts say it’s not hard to imagine Durant as one of the top-five players in the NBA.

Either way, it sounds like the fate of two franchises will look a lot brighter after those ping-pong balls are selected. The thing is: Boston already has Pierce, Tony Allen, Gerald Green and Al Jefferson. They also have two very good point guard prospects in Rajon Rondo and Delonte West. Kevin Durant simply wouldn’t fit in, so we can assume the Celts will take Oden if they get the top pick and trade out if they miss out on the big man. However it shakes down, where Boston’s pick ends up will have a significant effect on this season’s draft and the fortunes of more than one franchise.

Monday: the Memphis Grizzlies
Wednesday: the Milwaukee Bucks
Thursday: the Atlanta Hawks
Friday: the Charlotte Bobcats