In Pursuit of a Title, the Aging Boston Celtics Seeing "Red"?

On paper, the Boston Celtics are a talented basketball team made up of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajan Rondo, Shaq, and Jermaine O'Neal. On the court, they're aging stars who'll have to battle younger, stronger, faster players in their pursuit of an NBA Championship. Doc Rivers will have to motivate his older players to compete, and battle throughout the year, without having them run out of gas at playoff time. Boston's ability to accomplish this, depends on their willingness, to see Red.

"Red" is the new film staring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich as retired CIA agents who find themselves targets of their former employer. Though the retired agents are considerably older then their adversaries, they survive, and eventually prevail using team work, and experience. That's what the Boston Celtics will need to do this year. The youthful teams of the NBA will attempt to run the C's off the court. We all know what's happened in Miami. Orlando will be athletic as usual, as will, Atlanta, and Chicago. Heck, even the New York Knicks might be better with the additions they made in the off-season. For the Celtics to keep pace, their acquisitions must step up.

Shaq, now known as Big Shamrock, is a needed big body off the bench. Shaq's career is winding down, but there's still gas in Big Diesel's tank. Jermaine O'Neal is coming off a good year in Miami, and his rebounding ability is greatly welcomed, as the Celtics struggled in that area last season.

The veteran experience of the O'Neal's 18 and 13 seasons, will join Kevin Garnett's 15 years, Ray Allen's 14 years, and the 12 years of Paul Pierce, to make the Celtics one of the oldest teams in the league. Rajon Rondo will be in charge of leading this group, and he showed last year he's up to the task, having the best statistical year of his career. With the personalities on the court, the Celtics will be a fun team to watch.

The Celtics won't be favorites to come out of the East, that honor belongs to the highly anticipated Miami Heat team, but that doesn't mean the Celtics can't be there. Heart, and drive can't be measured by stats. A unified team can beat a team of stars, and experience can't be replaced. Can the big green machine turn red, and plow through the competition, and claim title #18 for the franchise?

Sources:

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rajon_rondo/career_stats.html
http://www.nba.com/celtics/roster/2010-2011-roster.html