Older is Better? We’ll Find Out!

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Friday, July 09, 2010

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Forget about LeBron. This is about the Celtics. It is very clear what general manager Danny Ainge and the Celts are trying to do. They are gearing up for two more years of trying to compete for a championship with an aging team.

First it was re-upping Paul Pierce for four more years. Then it was bringing Ray Allen back for two. Now they have added a soon to be 32-year old center in Jermaine O’Neal who has accepted the mid-level exception to come to Boston. It will be a big pay cut for O’Neal who earned 23 million last season in Miami. Now he’ll take home about 5.7 million this year.

But there were only two choices for this organization – get older or get younger. Staying old means the risk of injury. Getting younger means the risk of becoming irrelevant. They decided to get older which won’t be a problem if the veterans stay healthy or, at the very least, are healthy at the end of the regular season for a playoff run.

O’Neal addresses a clear need for this team. With Kendrick Perkins out until possibly February of next year, the 6’-11” center will be expected to log serious minutes at the five spot. And while he can no longer be counted on for 20 and 10 each night like he was 5-10 years ago in Indiana, he still should be able to give Boston 13 and 7 per game in 25-30 minutes of play.

Conventional wisdom tells us that the age of this team will bite them in backside at some point during the 2010-2011 season. Hopefully, the games lost to injury will be minimal.

But something tells me that this is a prideful group of veterans who will not be satisfied with mediocre results. What their approach to the regular season will be is somewhat of a mystery, but you just know that they generate enough moxie to at least put up one hell of a fight come playoff time.

The Boston Celtics are old. But they are also talented. And they will fight to the bitter end as they did this past season.

I can think of worse things for Celtics fans to worry about.