* Boston Celtics | Preseason comes to an end.

[Mandich]

Poor Raptors......now they going for a 1st pick....nice team you have now, Lee,Peterson off the bench

[Fresh8]

Bosh, Pierce, Redd are a nice core. Good work man!

[Oskar]

mandich, sooner or later it would have happened and you know, Raptors suck now, so I decided to give them another path, like the T-Wolves, who're quite good under McHale right now. Thanks anyway.

Sit, I really appreciate that, thank you.

[Oskar]

TRAINING CAMP

"HERE, THREE !", "TRAILIN' YOU !" and so on, the Sports Authority Training Center fulll of shouting, sound of squeaking shoes and so on, it was clear that the Celtics were excited and looking forward to the season. Ainge was sitting by the sideline, having an eye on everyone. Usually he didn't go to the workouts or anything, but this time, he wanted to see the Celtics team he just had built.

"C'MON, RUN ! WHAT ARE YOU DOING JJ ? " shouted assistant head coach Kevin Eastman as James Jones took another contested, hard shot without even looking at the clock or knowing what's going on. At the same time, Doc Rivers returned to the hall, greeted Danny and then noticed that everything had stopped.

"What's going on ? I was out for five minutes and it's a mess .." asked Doc. Kevin went to Doc and told him quite quietly, as he didn't want the team to hear it.
"You need to work on this team's chemistry, tell them their roles and all. JJ was playing the hero this time." he said.
"Alright, I'll take care of it, " Doc replied. " Boys, line up ! 10 minutes of jogging, I want to talk with all of you." he said as all the ooh's and aah's came in response, but everyone did what was told. He blew the whistle and everyone started running.
"See.. I'm sure all of you want to in the championship more than anything and you'd rather score 10 points and win it, than score 15 and be a lottery team, if not, you might be a 5 point player with 10 minutes a game," said Rivers, as whole team was running. "Listen - you've got to represent the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back of it. You're all together, you're the Celtics, you're Boston. You're not Pierce, Bosh, Redd and everyone, you're the Boston Celtics. We'll play our game all season long, not the game our opponents force us to. We've got a team that can go deep into the playoffs for the next five, ten years possibly, if we play good and focus, we'll get the 17th, 18th and so on. Without focus, it'll all be negative.. you know, like photography."

Ainge laughed to himself, so did Eastman next to him.
"You know, that was a quite good one. Old quote though, but a good motivation." said Ainge.

"We have three main scorers, Paul, Chris and Mike, more scorers in Delonte, Lee, Mo-Pete .. the rooks," said Doc as it was 1 minute left to run.
"COACH ! about sco-" James Jones shouted while running.
"Say what? You score when we ask you to, we'll ask you to score JJ." Doc said with a little laughter.
"Thanks coach !" he responded.

It was already the fifth day, the guys were getting back in shape, the shot was falling once again, new game plans were explained, some gelled, some did not .. typical, but could be better. The last two days of the training camp were all about roles, discipline, motivation, focus and fundamentals. The team was awful on the defensive end, when your big three consists of scorers, you're not in a good position. When you're best defensive big man is Steven Hunter, you're in trouble again. Fortunately, Doc Rivers, a defensive minded coach, has the tools and chance to turn it all around.
_____________________________

Seventh, the last day of the training camp, not too much left til' the preseason in Las Vegas, where this time only 6 teams will participate and the Celtics are among those 6.

"So you know what we're about to do this season. We WILL play defense, we won't try to win just by points, which would get us some wins, too," said Doc. "You know, I see some of you worked hard during the practice, some of you worked really hard, which is good."
Majority of the team smiled and enjoyed it, all that while being slightly proud of themselves and even more at the coaching stuff, they enjoyed it all and had gelled nicely.
"I guess that's it .. our training camp is over, get rest, there will be a shootaround on Friday, so be here. Get ready for the trip to Las Vegas, though. You're all going. Anyways, go take a shower now, get dressed and go home. Have fun." said Doc, looking at the players proudly walking to the locker room, scratching, talking, laughing and all that. Only Lidstorm didn't go.
"Hey coach.. I'd like to have the permission to just shoot here all day long, work out harder all the time and all. I need to develop my skills and I thought I'd ask first, you know. My team needs me to be the best player I can be." he asked, holding a ball in one hand and a gatorade bottle in the other.
Doc laughed, but that made him even more proud, the look in the rook's eyes made him even more proud, it told him that Basil wanted to become the best ever and he was willing to sacrifice everything.
"Sure, 'Storm," Doc replied. "I'll tell Danny 'bout it."

The locker room was full of talk and laughter, some already taking shower, others still chatting, some stretching and so on.
"Ey, Mike, where's Storm ?" asked Delonte from Redd. Storm was Basil Lidstorm's new nickname that Pierce had given to him, and everyone was calling him that way.
Michael looked around the locker room, didn't see his clothes and gave a quick response, "Probably working out, AGAIN."
"Good lord, he's goin' to be better than all of us if he keeps up on that pace, he's crazy.." he said.

[Mandich]

The story is great, really hope you make this one last, good luck mate

[Oskar]

mandich, thanks. More updates will come in the weekend, school and practises take a lot of time so, it's hard to update it on the weekdays. Hope it's not a problem.

[Mandich]

DOesn't sound like a problem to me

[Oskar]

PRESEASON

BOSTON, 9th September, '06 (AP) -- As the training camp got to an end and there's still over a half of month left before the season, the NBA Preseason is about to start. The preseason will be held by Reebok, who've also announced, that only 6 teams will participate in it from now on. Each year, there will be different teams and one team will never be in it for two straight years. In the 06-07 NBA preseason, the invited teams are Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Seattle SuperSonics and New Orleans Hornets, 3 from both conferences. See the schedule for the Celtics below,


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12th September; 07:30 P ET

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15th September; 09:00 P ET

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17th September; 08:30 P ET

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21st September; 07:00 P ET

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24th September; 06:30 P ET

After all the six teams have faced eachother, the two with the best records will meet again, in the "NBA Preaseason's Finals." Doc Rivers said, that he'll only let his teams' most important players play limited minutes, which is what most of the coaches will do. He also stated, that he'll not start his star players, or play them in the clutch, all that to stay away from injuries and such.

[Oskar]

WELCOME BACK, TINY

Danny was driving to the hotel from the arena, he had just watched his team play the Seattle SuperSonics. He also watched the game against the Hawks. He was proud of his team, the bench, young core, chemistry and all together, but most notably, his second round rookie, Demian Ludwig. When he got home, he knew he had to put in some serious work with him. He had just witnessed a killer performance from the rookie, as Ludwig played with the tripledouble, finishing with 27 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds. Three days before, against the Hawks, he had another great game, 18 points, 7 assists and 10 rebounds. Despite doing that in preseason, without having too good guards on him and often not even being guarded, just because Mo-Pete or someone getting doubleteamed, Demian proved them wrong and showed he's the one who can lift the team to the win, as the Celtics are 2-0 in the preseason now. Danny took his phone to call Nate Archibald, who himself was a second round steal and ended up as an Hall of Famer.

"Yeah, who is it ?" - Tiny asked as he picked up.
"Hey Nate, it's Danny Ainge, the general manager of the Boston Celtics." he said.
"I see, I see .. What's up ?" Archibald asked.
"We'll, I got a little offer. Listen, I'm not sure if you even follow us right now, but we drafted a lightning quick, 6'6" point guard in this years draft. We got him in the second round and if you haven't watched the preseason, he's been awesome so far. In the first game against the Hawks, 18 points, 7 assists and 10 rebounds, carried us to a win. Few hours ago against the Sonics, 27 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds. Now, I know it's preseason and he hasn't faced the real good defenders or anything, but he's got the physical tools to become a really good player," Danny explained. "I'm offering you a job as a special assistant, you would help our young point guards, in particular, Demian Ludwig."
"Depends on the paycheck and all. I mean, I have to move to Boston and all, it's not easy." said Nate.
"We're offering you a 2 year, 500K deal. You'll work with Demian a lot and you'll make him really good. You'll also take care of Delonte West's skills, he's more of a shooting guard than a point guard, same goes to Demian, that's got to change, if you accept it, you'll develop the our guards to the best they can be, one way or another." said Danny.
"Pffft... I'll have to consider it, but I'll call you back, probably later today."
"Alright, later." Danny responded.
"Bye."

Danny decided to tell the teams' owner, Wyc about it. He had bought the team fully now, but he was a co-owner before, despite that fact, he made the financial decisions and everything, but had less power. Now he owned it all.

"Hey mr. Grousbeck, it's Ainge."
"Oh, good evening Danny. How's it going ?"
"It's going just wonderful, our second round draftee Demian Ludwig has had two wonderful games already. About that, I got some more news - Nate Archibald might be returning." said Danny.
"Excuse me?"
"As an special assistant. You remember him, he climbed all the way from the second round to the Hall of Fame. I feel he could help Ludwig improve a lot too, he's got the physical tools to walk the same path." he explained.
"I see. I remember Tiny and I heard about Demian's performance. What did you offer him, anyways ?" Wyc asked.
"A 2 year, 500K deal. So he'd work with our guards, mostly with Ludwig. Trust me, this will work out." said Danny.
"I trust you. You have a green light to sign him to this contract, if he accepts it. Don't offer him any more, though." the owner said.
"Alright, roger that. 500K over 2 years will be the deal." Danny agreed.
"Okay. Wait, but, tell me more about the team's success, I heard we were 2-0 so far in the preseason, but tell me how's everyone been ?" Wyc wanted to know.
"Well, I've enjoyed watching the team, should be interesting for the fans. 'Storm' was quite good too, he finished with 16 points, 9 boards and 4 assists against the Hawks and 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists against the Sonics. Bosh, Redd and Pierce have only combined 54 minutes over the two games, I told Doc not to take the risk, to make sure none gets injuried. Steven Hunter has 11 blocks and 26 rebounds over two games, he had 7 blocks and 15 rebounds against the Sonics.. just 4 points over the two games though, both against the Hawks. West had a 24 points against the Hawks, but what's awesome, is that Mo-Pete scored 36 points against the Sonics, he was 7 from 10 from downtown ! This season will be amazing.." said Danny.
"Good for you. Alright, see you." said Wyc before he hung up.

[Oskar]

BEGINNING OF THE STARDOM

Demian Ludwig, James Jones, Pape Saw and David Lee were at the gym just shooting around, they had their plans set for the night - club. There was still a day left to the game against the Bulls, so there wasn't much to be worried about. Despite them trying to be as private as possible, there were still a few paparazzos outside, one of them had talked to Demian before and asked him for a conversation later.

"Daamn, JJ, that was sick man !"
"Oh my .."
"Saay whaaat?" The gym was full of laughter, Jones had just knocked down 4 out of 5 half court jumpers. They had been in the gym for two hours already and were about to leave.
"Ey, ya ain't stretchin or what? Ya'll be like a pipe tomorrow if not.." said Lee.
"What's wrong with pipe!?" joked Saw.
"Oh, you dirty pothead, pay me or I tell the coach, what about that?" asked Jones.
"Ahh shit, man, y'know I was just foolin' !" Saw responded.
"Ahh, well you should know that so was I !" said Jones, once again laughing over Saw.
"I wonder what the media wanted again .. It was much easier in Moscow." wondered Ludwig.
"Demian Johnson, or Magic Ludwig, what's the difference ? They'll probably just ask thousands of questions that have already been asked from you..." said Lee.
"...about a thousand times." continued Saw.
"Or ask you to be a cover of a magazine or something, w'd be coo', eh." thought JJ.
"You and your jokes, JJ, I'll not be on a magazine unless I drop 50 tomorrow and I'd rather not watch us lose.." he said, laughing a little bit.

After like one hour, after useless chatting, taking shower and all, they were ready to leave. Demian was really worried, yet excited, maybe the magazine thing is true, but even if not, it was interesting to be interviewed, as he always thought. Maybe after a little time, he might get annoyed by it, but right now he was cool with that. As they exited the building, most of the media had already left, but the man who had talked to Demian earlier, was still standing there with some others who quickly threw tons of questions, but Demian didn't listen to them, he went through the small crowd to the man and without greeting, the man suggested to go back inside privately, because the crowd wasn't allowed inside, which they did.

"Hello Demian Ludwig, I'm Rick Rowen, I work for the Hoop magazine, I suggest you know it." the stranger said.
Hoop magazine, Demian wondered as his eyes started shining, he was even more excited and didn't think as a strange, random paparazzo of the man anymore, he was interested and wanted to know about the topic, but yet, he chose to act calm and professional, just incase.
"Hello," he said and accepted a handshake he had been offered. "Nice to meet you. What's it all about ?"
"We'll, there's not much to choose from for our this months magazine, we thought to make an article about you, about your past your way here and everything you'd like to share with us. It might sound not so attractive to you at first, but you know, you'll be the first player ever on the cover of it, that's how we thought about it. Fans might not be so excited at first about you, but I think we can even help you prove them wrong, or just help you do it faster, because we know you can do it, one way or another." said the man.
"Well, mr. Rowen, I'd like to thank you, at first and secondly, I'll think about it, but I think I'm going to accept the offer. Would be good if I could get your phone number or any contact information so I could tell you my decision sometime - which is probably going to be tonight." answered Demian.
"Alright," said Rowen as he took his visiting card out of his chest pocket and handed it to Ludwig. "Here you are."
"Okay, thank you. I'll have to go now, busy schedule today." said Ludwig.
"No, why, thank YOU. Good night." said the media man.

Sow, JJ and Lee were waiting for Demian in a white limo JJ had ordered, ready to drop everyone home. Bill Clarence was the driver, a funny driver - running everywhere, opening doors, doing everything before he was told do, which they loved, it was funny, but comfortable, as well. Jones had used the same driver quite many times before and he was satisfied, so this time - the same driver.

"What he told ya?" asked Lee as Demian entered the limo.
Demian only hold his laugh behind that excited face, looking at JJ.
"Ahaaa, I told you ! You're going to be in a magazine, ain't that right ?" guessed Jones while laughing his ass off.
"That's true ! A cover of a magazine that's coming in the end of the month, "Hoop" or something." said Demian.
"Ouuch, congrats man, you're definitely getting what you deserve right now, lil' Magic !" said Saw.
"Word up !" added Lee.

The chatting continued til' everyone had gotten home, later that night they met in a club, served like deserved, they were easily one of the main guys in the club and that's how they enjoyed it, it was all good for them and they liked it that way. Next day, Demian informed Ainge about the magazine thing and Danny agreed to it, he even liked that Ludwig was getting the attention he deserved so far and he was sure that he'll take it positively and use it as a boost. Danny also told, that he got Nate Archibald to work with him and help Demian develop his skills, mentality, fundamentals, understanding of the ball game - everything. Just one thing is sure, this will actually be something.

[Fresh8]

So I'm guessing your rookie is pretty good huh?

[kibaxx7]

Forgot to check before, I'm telling you, you now have your own Big 3 with Pierce, Redd and Bosh, I really like it Props to you.

[Oskar]

mandich, good.

Sit, I was really surprised he was that good. I didn't think there's a chance he'll be a 10/5 guy, even in the preseason, but there you have it.

thierryhenry50, True dat. The only thing that bothers me, is that there's not a single good defensive player besides Steven Hunter - who in real life, is nothing, but a good player without knees .. means he's not a player. Thank you, by the way.

[Oskar]

PRESEASON

BOSTON, 27th September, '06 (AP) -- The Celtics, who managed to end the preseason with a 5-1 record and face the 6-0 Chicago Bulls, who were led by their 6th pick of the draft, Quint Hamilton. Hamilton had scored more than 20 points in every single game, most notable one was probably his game against the Celtics, with exactly 20 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. The preseason finals were rather good to watch, with rookies, such as Lidstorm and Hamilton going head to head, Hinrich shutting down Demian Ludwig to just 11 points and 6 assists, despite averaging 19 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds in the other 6 games.

The Celtics took an early lead that lasted til' the end of the third quarter, when the Bulls stepped up and managed to take the game back, winning it - 109:104.

Quint Hamilton also won the preseason's MVP, which would've probably gone to Celtics' second round draftee, Demian Ludwig, if the Celtics would've gotten the win, but that wasn't the path. Other notable Celtics are Morris Peterson, who finished the preseason with the averages of 23 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Lidstorm, the 7th pick in this years' draft, knocked a game-winning shot at the buzzer against the Lakers on 21st. He averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists over the preseason. Delonte West, who shot over .500 percent from the 3pt line, ended the preseason averaging 15 points and 8 assists. Steven Hunter and David Lee were the other two notable, particulary David Lee - 27 points a game while grabbing 12 boards and shooting .56 percent from the field. Steven Hunter, the not-so-good-offensively averaged 6 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Celtics are now ready to go into the season and deep into the post season, which is the main goal.

[Robert]

Was Hamilton your #1 pick in the draft?