Panic in January

The Green are evoking panic withtheir myriad issues:
* A losing record in January;
* Kevin Garnett's knee injury being worse than reported expected AGAIN;
* Rasheed Wallace standing at the three-point line and firing up bombs;
* Interior defense deficiencies with Kendrick Perkins in foul trouble all too often;
and
*too many minutes for Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

Well, the good news is that it is February 3rd, not May 3rd.  The Celtics have three months to get their groove going to go into the playoffs on a roll and pick-up a top three seed.  How to get there?

KG's knees: Rest KG as much as possible.  Yes, he needs to work into shape, but there is plenty of time to get ready.  His healthy presence on defense is the difference beween championship contender and first-round exit.

Rasheed Wallace: Rasheed meet bench.  Bench meet Rasheed.

Presence in the Middle: Danny Ainge needs to find a big man on the cheap to back-up Kendrick Perkins and KG. Glen Davis is as much the answer in the middle as Glenn Davis was the answer at first base for the Baltimore Orioles in the 80s (aka NOT the answer!).

Minutes:  A healthy Tony Allen solves a lot of problems.  He was showing more bounce in the last two or three games than seen from him since pre-KG days here in Boston. Getting back Marques Daniels and integrating him into the rotation before the playoffs will help as well. 

The elephant in the room: Ray Allen and his expiring contract.  Keep him? Trade him?  I say 2010 is not the Celtics year anyway, so trade away.  But whoever they get for him had better be worth it!

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