Courtesy of the Boston Herald as the Celtics get set to start their run at a repeat against the Cavs tonight:
“We are so prepared,” Ray Allen said yesterday, “that in one-on-ones, it got to the point where guys get in fights. Nobody ever actually fights, but we have a lot of barking on this team, from everybody, and I think you see that machismo among the guys. Everyone wants to feel like the top dog. Ultimately, we take that and translate it to the team concept, and everything we do helps the team.
“I’ve been on teams where guys thought they were good but never showed that passion on the floor. Ultimately, if you care about what you are doing, it shows up on the floor.”
The aggressive tone is set defensively, usually starting with Kevin Garnett.
“[Garnett] is a lot more intense this year,” Paul Pierce said. “I didn’t think he could go to another level, but he has. It’s infectious and you see it in practice - it’s like we never won anything.”
Said Garnett, “My intensity rubs off on Paul and Ray a little bit. The young players are getting to understand the intensity we play with for 48 minutes, that when we play at home, we protect that; what practice is - we come here and we don’t go long but we go hard.”
Said Garnett, “My intensity rubs off on Paul and Ray a little bit. The young players are getting to understand the intensity we play with for 48 minutes, that when we play at home, we protect that; what practice is - we come here and we don’t go long but we go hard.”
“KG just brings an energy to life that has an impact on everybody, day in and day out,” Celtics general manager Danny Ainge said. “I’m not sure there’s an awakening. I think it’s more of a long-term consistency. Anybody can have that energy at times, but he has it every day.
“His presence has changed our culture in that way. It had a great deal to do with our success.”
