GreenHeadz: Celtics Jeopardize Draft Position, Win 2nd Straight

Hey, look at that...Jeff Green has as many hands as the Celtics have wins for this young season. What, you thought I was gonna say something crazy like, "Two down, eight to go!"? In your dreams! We're winning this Draft Lottery thing!!

In all seriousness, though, nice win for the C's tonight against the Orlando Magic and good two-game run. The guys are beginning to mesh a little bit better and it looks like there's more cohesion executing the game plan that Coach Stevens is trying to implement, though it's important to note that A) As I've stated previously, this team can beat any team on any given night when they run and play decent defense and B) it WAS the Jazz and Magic, after all.

Speaking of defense, though the C's are currently tied for last place in the Eastern Conference, according to John Hollinger's Defensive Efficiency rating chart, the Celtics are 10 in the league. And, while I absolutely abhor writing about rankings of any kind with a mere six games burned off the schedule, I can talk about some of the reasons for the Green's success in the past two games and their general success through the first three quarters of the four losses.

Brandon Bass has been a BEAST. Channeling his inner KG, he's almost singlehandedly shut down possessions of opposing teams with his energetic, tenacious defense. As has been noted in several blogs by numerous writers, Bass has stepped up to take the role of defensive leader with the kind of relish that can fill a dozen giant hotdogs. I have no idea what that means, but Bass is playing his @$$ off.

Jeff Green is also starting to pick up his aggression on a more consistent basis on the long road to becoming the Celtics' go-to option. See what I mean?

Green also had a great baseline jam in this game, and he's been picking his spots with more frequency as the season inches along. The Kelly Olynyk's (who had a very clutch basket), Jared Sullinger's and Jordan Crawford's of the team are starting to gel together with the veterans (Gerald Wallace had some moments off the bench, where he presumably will continue to contribute from) and their tenaciousness and energy are beginning to pay dividends at the end of games.

Again, as was stated before, Jeff Green and Brandon Bass are going to be key to anything positive the Celtics do this year, which we know isn't much more than moral victories and entertaining basketball. While I understand that one or both of these guys may be moved along the road back to championship contendersville, but it would be nice if both could stick around to be part of Banner 18 in a few years.

In the meantime, keep enjoying the development of our team chemistry and...