Sports Redux: The Little Nine Speak Out

TO: The Rest of the NBA (address not shown)
FROM: The Little Nine (littlenine@celtics.com)
RE:Remember Us?
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Hi everyone. It's the Little Nine here. You know, the "supporting cast" that was going to be the one thing holding the "Big Three" back from romping all over the NBA this year? Almost to a man, the papers and the Internet said that Pierce, Allen and Garnett would play well, but they had no support and no bench. And that a three-man team couldn't go anywhere in the league.

Well, ha.

We don't know if you've noticed, but we're playing pretty well. Sure, Garnett's playing great, but do you really feel like there's been a game where he's had to exert himself to his fullest? Neither do we. Ray Allen's had a couple of great games, and a couple of pretty bad games. Pierce too, even more so. In fact, there are times when the superstars don't even need to play a full game. And that's where we come in.

Then there are games like last night. Rajon Rondo, 9-of-13 for 18 points. And seven rebounds, not bad for a little guy. So we beat Chicago even without a great game from the You Know Whos. You may remember other games this year, too, when Celtics staffers and opponents were marveling about the play of Eddie House, James Posey, Kendrick Perkins, even Big Baby.

We know what you'll say next. Our schedule has been soft. Sure, we haven't played Phoenix/Detroit/San Antonio yet. But we can only play the teams the NBA puts in front of us. And we've beaten all but two of them. Remember, the Patriots "hadn't played anyone good" until they smoked Dallas. Maybe we're just saving Ghidorah's full wrath for those games. Ever think of that?

Anway, can't chat long. We've got a Wednesday night game to prepare for. Maybe we'll feed Leon Powe so he can score 20.

Love, the Role Players

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Welcome to Boston, Alex Auld! Three days ago, he was a goalie for Phoenix's minor league team; today, he's the toast of Causeway Street as he stymied the Maple Leafs for a 2-1 win that righted the Bruins' listing ship. Auld saved 25 out of 26 shots, and got offensive help from the red-hot Chuck Kobasew and Dennis Wideman.

Eric Gagne can go terrify fans in Wisconsin now; the...um....disappointing Sox reliever is poised to sign a one-year, $10 million deal with the Brewers. Insert line here about how you could have pitched like crap for only $5 million.

The Patriots play Pittsburgh today (you may know that already). Lots of people are quietly or loudly scared about this game being the one that spoils the perfect season. We WERE confident until we read that Dan Shaughnessy decided to list all the perfect things he could think of, which apparently is worth column space in Boston's most prestigious newspaper. As Simmons would say, why not just throw a black cat out onto the field?