Inside the Celtics: Depth could hold keep to deep playoff run

For the past few years, the Boston Celtics' roster has been comprised of Paul Pierce and ... those other guys.

Pieces were brought in, but few seemed to fit and even the home-grown talent wasn't enough to get the Celtics over the hump.

That situation changed this past summer, when Danny Ainge traded away the Celtics' No. 5 draft choice to bring the sweet-shooting Ray Allen to the Green. Now, it was Pierce, Allen, an emerging Al Jefferson and ... those other guys.

But with the acquisition of Kevin Garnett on the last day of July, everything changed. For one thing, the number of pieces needed to move Garnett to Boston decimated the Celtics' roster. But they had an All-Star trio that could be the core of a contending team, and that proved attractive to a number of free agents.

Proven NBA veterans like James Posey, Eddie House and Scot Pollard signed on. There were rumors of a potential Dikembe Mutombo signing, and a flirtation with the retired Reggie Miller.

Gone is the project that is Gerald Green. The underachievers such as Michael Olowokandi and Sebastian Telfair will now not live up to their paycheck somewhere else. Another team will pick up Wally Szczerbiak and Theo Ratliff's medical bills.

Sure, it's bittersweet to part ways with a Ryan Gomes or a Delonte West, two pieces who would have fit nicely with the current Celtics. And even the acquisition of Garnett, one of the game's elite players, will only dull the sting of seeing Jefferson come into his own in a Timberwolves uniform. But the Celtics now had three players with the talent to lead them to the NBA Finals, and three players (Posey, Pollard and the incumbent Brian Scalabrine) who'd already been there.

Still, to many, it's now Pierce, Allen, Garnett and ... those other guys. A team not deep enough to seriously contend with the likes of San Antonio, Dallas or Phoenix for an NBA championship, even despite sporting three starters with a combined 22 All-Star appearances among them.

"They need to worry about making the playoffs first," Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "This is no knock on the three guys they have, but they don't have a point guard, center, or bench. They gave it away in the trade. I'll be (surprised) if you can build a playoff-winning team during the offseason. It can't be done."

The Celtics don't feel that way.

"People want to look at this team as the three of us, but it's really the 12 of us. Chemistry has to be in sync with all of us, at all times," Allen said. "I don't just look at Paul or KG, I look at everybody — I look at Perk, House, Scal — it's everybody, not just three of us. We have to share the pressure and the responsibility."

Part of the reason why the Celtics can feel good about their depth is the versatility of the players they have, and what each brings to the table. Posey is a defensive specialist who can score when needed, House an instant scorer off the bench.

For head coach Doc Rivers, it's all about getting open shots for anybody who's on the floor.

"Eddie House is not going to miss that many wide-open shots," he said. "Neither is James Posey."

Pierce, however, thinks it's the other side of the ball that will be the Celtics' bread-and-butter, and they're much improved defensively over last season, when much of the team was too young and inexperienced to play championship-caliber defense.

"I think the most important thing is (defense). How we're getting after it, how everyone's communicating and having faith in one another," Pierce said. "That's going to be the key to our season. We're going to have off nights. We're not going to be able to shoot 50 or 60 percent every night. But if we can keep our defense as a staple, we're going to give ourselves a chance to win a lot of ball games."

The newfound depth should also lead to the emergence of the second unit, which has been where the Celtics have lost so many games over the past few years. Leads would evaporate, and the starters would be overworked trying to regain them. But with three players like Pierce, Allen and Garnett, there can always be an All-Star on the court.

"The key is going to be to have a focus guy, whether it's Kevin or Paul, two guys who can establish a post presence and help out guys like Posey, myself, Eddie House, Tony Allen, Glen "Big Baby" Davis," Scalabrine said. "All these guys are good at playing off 'The Guys,' and it just makes it that much easier."

"I think the amount of pressure that is off the second team now is huge," he said. "Having a go-to guy in the game will draw the double-teams to the guy who can score, and that's going to make the rest of the second team better."

What's lost in the pessimistic view of the Celtics' roster is the ability of Pierce, Allen and Garnett to make those around them better. Not to say that they could win a ring with that three and a dozen D-Leaguers, but they're certainly going to maximize the strengths of those around them, no matter who they are.

"Obviously, it's almost silly to say but the talent of the big three has improved the talent of the other guys," Rivers said. "That's what you hoped it would, and it's doing that."

And despite what Wallace may have to say, the rest of the league is certainly wary of the new-look Celtics, and not just for the New Big Three. Just ask the star player for the defending Eastern Conference champs, who knows a thing or two about a lack of depth coming back to hurt a team.

"It's not all about those three guys. It's about their team and they all play well together," Cleveland's LeBron James said. "If they keep that up, they are going to be a very good team."