This isn't a mid-season report.  We're not handing out grades to anybody.  I just wanted to take a few minutes and give my impressions of your 2007-2008 Boston Celtics.  See how the youngsters are progressing, how the veterans are meshing and even see how Doc Rivers has been handling this group.

We'll be talking about the starters today and the bench a little later.  Without further ado, here's what Aaron has to say:

Rajon Rondo:  I don't want to say he's regressing, but... Rajon seems to be regressing.  He's not expected to do too much beyond take care of the ball, keep the defense honest, push the ball up the court and play solid defense.  There have been a handful of games this season where he'd done all that to perfection.  There have been too many games, especially lately, where he's done little or none of that.  Now, I know he's injured, and maybe he's being bothered more than he's leading on... but he's been looking pretty brutal out there.  I remember a game against New Jersey early in the year where he held Jason Kidd in check.  Every time Kidd touched the ball, Rajon was up on him, pestering him, knocking the ball out of Kidd's hands and away from him every time he tried to put the ball on the floor.  That was a few months ago.  Last night, Rondo couldn't even handle Sebastian Telfair -- the guy we threw to the Wolves (pun intended) because we had Rondo.  I'll admit that Rajon is my favorite player, so maybe I'm being a little too harsh on him, but with our lack of any PG depth, he very well may be the key to our season.  Let's hope he regains his confidence and turns it around.

Ray Allen:  Ray has been a bit of a head-scratcher.  I expected him to be our cold-blooded killer.  With KG getting double-teamed and Pierce drawing the defense in with his penetrations, I knew Ray would get a handful of open looks each night.  He has.  He just hasn't been able to find his shot this season.  While his percentages are down from past seasons, they're really not down that much (2% on FG from last year, .1% on 3's).  The puzzling part is that Ray achieved those numbers with a huge target on his back, facing double-teams each game.  Getting all the open looks, one would think his percentages would be skyrocketing.   It may sound like a silly theory, but the reason may be because he needs that hand in his face to knock down his shot.  He may be getting too much time to shoot, or he's over-thinking his shots.  Either way, he's having too many games where he shoots 4-16 or 3-12.  He's definitely showing flashes of brilliance and has hit his share of big shots.  I have all the faith in the world that he'll be able to find his touch this year, and when he does, we'll be unstoppable.

Paul Pierce:  He's been amazing this year.  For the first few months he played his heart out on both ends of the court.  He knew he didn't need to dominate on offense, so he committed himself on D and was playing at a level we hadn't seen from him before.  Unfortunately, he seems to be wearing down a bit.  He's been averaging 38 minutes a night and I think it's time to shave 5 or so minutes from his PT until the Spring.  While his points are down from last year, he's averaging 1 more assist per game plus half a steal.  There have been too many times where he's turned into what people are referring to as "Evil Paul" (i.e.. putting his head down and ignoring his teammates resulting in a terrible shot or a turnover), but we'll always get that from him.  If he can play at this level all year, we can deal with a few poor possessions each night.  I just think Doc needs to control his minutes, keep him fresh and healthy and let him play his game.

Kevin Garnett:  We can't underestimate what his heart and passion have brought to this team.  He has, almost single-handedly, brought back Celtic Pride.  He's a guy who understands what putting on that green uniform means.  He's a cheerleader on the bench, the first guy to pick his teammates off the court and the vocal leader we need to keep everyone in check.  Oh, did I also mention that many "NBA Experts" have him as their mid-point MVP and Defensive Player of the Year?  He's been everything we could have hoped for and more.  My only issue with him is when he hangs around at the top of the key too often.  This could very well be Doc's choice, and yes, KG can knock down those shots consistently, but our offense isn't nearly as effective as when he's playing in the paint.  He's also been too unselfish.  I'd like to see him take no few than 14 shots a night and more importantly, take over down the stretch.  In the East he's going up against many inferior players each night -- I'd like to see him mop the floor with them.  Beyond that, thank you Kevin McHale.

Kendrick Perkins:  Perk has been puzzling this year.  He's another guy who'd been inconsistent.  I know he'll never be a 20 PPG player, but he should be good for 10 rebounds and 2 blocks a night.  While his FG percentage is up by over 10% from last year (and he has KG to thank for that), there have been too many nights where he makes little to no impact.  Two games ago he went off for 24 points and 8 rebounds, last night he scored 21 with 3 blocks (including some dominating post play down the stretch).  That's great, but there was also a 4 point 3 rebound game sandwiched in the middle of those two.  He's baffling.  I do believe he's starting to hear Glen Davis' footsteps.  Glen is a guy who, despite his rookie status, plays the post like a weathered veteran.  He has a nose for the ball, uses no wasted dribbles or moves down low and has a nice passing touch.  The more he advances, the more minutes Kendrick loses.  It'll be interesting to see how that develops as the season wears on, but if Kendrick can just stick to playing efficient, effective low-post basketball, that's all we can ask.

Doc Rivers:  OK, our record is 34-7 (that's an 83% win percentage people), so he must be doing something right.  Let's examine what Doc has been excelling at, shall we?  He's coaching KG, Pierce and Ray Allen.  It's hard to screw that up.  Even if you come to the game with a terrible gameplan, their skill level alone will net you the 'W' on most nights.  Along with that, the one saving grace for Doc these past few seasons is that everybody loves him.  The media, the front office, and specifically his players like playing for him.  This is crucial when coaching a veteran team like this.  It's one thing for players to say they'll commit themselves to unselfish play for the benefit of the team, but when you group 3 players who have been the Alpha Dog every step of their career, you need a coach who they'll listen to and respect.  Not a Pat Riley military type who demands you respect him, but an honest, likeable guy who the players trust.  Doc is that guy.  Now, there are 3 glaring negatives for Doc this year.  Time management -- I'm terrified he's going to burn these guys out this year.  Early in the season when we were blowing teams away, the Big 3 should've been sitting instead of increasing an already insurmountable lead.  I also don't think it'd be a horrible idea to sacrifice a few wins in the regular season to make sure we have healthy, rested players for the post season.  Next, for some reason our defense cannot defend the pick and roll.  It doesn't matter who running it, we can't stop it.  I'd focus the next 200 practices on just this until we get it right.  Lastly, our offensive gameplan.  I touched on this in the KG section, but the games we lose have been the ones where KG has been hanging out at the 3 point line instead of the block.  I understand stretching the defense and drawing big men out of the paint to open up the middle, but our team is far more effective when KG camps out down-low, draws the double team and either kicks the ball back out or squeezes the ball into Kendrick for an easy two. 

So, that's all I have to say about that.  We're #1 in the league, and I don't see a reason that anybody will surpass us (in the regular season at least).  The one thing I think we're starting to see, which was to be expected I guess, is that everybody is getting themselves up to play us.  Everybody wants to knock off the Celtics.  So, when we play a lowly team like the Timberwolves, instead of walking all over them, they play their hearts out to try to beat the best.  I guess that's the downside to being the best team in the league.