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!

Think Positive...

If Bill Belichick ever wanted to wear the underdog label in the post-season, he certainly has scooped it up this year just in time for the playoffs. While everyone writes the Patriots off before the playoffs begin, I look at the playoff teams in the AFC, and see opportunity. The Jets are one-dimensional and Cincinnati is trending downward. Baltimore has lost so much on defense that they will be hard-pressed to win one game. Indianapolis won too many games they should have lost and San Diego is San Diego. There is no one that has been dominant all season long. This is the type of year where any of the playoff teams could end up in the Super Bowl.

DESTINY CALLS:

If Randy Moss were ever going to make the legacy, the Super Bowl signature, to answer the call from destiny and silence the critics, the time is now. To step-up big, to be the offensive nexus, and to be the star who carries the team to an improbable Super Bowl win. That is what is on the line for Randy Moss.

The Welker routes can be run by "King Julian" Edelman, but Edelman does not have that Troy Brown/Wes Welker chemistry with Tom Brady. Edelman is better than nothing, but moving to the slot further weakens an already thin secondary. Is there a warm body to fill the number three receiver role, let alone the number four? Can the Patriots afford to continue to wait for Ben Watson to show-up in the passing game?

No doubt about it, it is time for Randy Moss to ditch the decoy role and show how he can be a complete receiver and run every route and catch everything thrown his way. Moss has got to be the chain-mover over the middle; the deep threat; the intermediate route runner converting the third-and-nine; and being the big target in the red zone.

To be or not be, Randy, that is the question!

Simplify

Dear Management for the Boston Red Sox:

Don't lie to us. There is no shortage of cash in Fenway. Seriously, ask anyone who has been to a game in the past ten years and felt their wallet lighten significantly.

Here's the to-do list:

1. Sign Jason Bay or Matt Holliday--either or, I really don't care. Heck, Bobby Abreau would have been fine had he hit free agency, but left field demands POWER. Yes, I will settle for Hideki "Bobblehead" Matsui for left field in Fenway. Just get some power, patience and average there.
2. Eat $3 million and say good-bye to Jason Varitek and get a Molina/Brad Ausmus type at back-up catcher. Does anyne really believe "El Capitain" would be anything but a whiney distraction on the 2010 Red Sox catching once a week? Get a superior defender to put there.
3. Raid the Eliminator: Chone Figgins, welcome to Fenway Park. There has to be somewhere he can play in the field. Third base is fine (trade Mike Lowell for a bag of balls if necessary). DH is fine (seriously, Big Papi is on the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay downslope). Left field or Right field is fine. He can start 130 games all over the place. There is plenty of room in the line-up for him. Get him, and Terry will find the playing time.
4. Raid the Eliminator Part 2: John Lackey, fill-in that missing part in the starting rotation. Lester, Beckett, Lackey, Buchholz, and Wakefield. Not too shabby.
5. Taka Saito, come back to Boston! Well, him or another decent bullpen arm.

Boom. Five moves to bring the World Series Trophy back to Boston.