The "small" two.

After watching the second quarter of the Celtics game tonight against the Miami Heat, before I officially start this post I would like to say that Wyc Grousbeck is frickin excellent. I would bring in Wyc over Tanguay if Mike or Tommy goes down (no offense Gary).

As halftime's incessant commercials begin, I have come to a realization that perhaps many Celtics fans have already had this season. Interestingly enough however, it has not been heavily discussed in the context for which I am aiming. Specifically, what I have realized is that while the members of our beloved big three have shown streaks of brilliance this season, the other starters, Rondo and Perkins, have been consistently delivering exactly what we expect, night in and night out.

While no one can fault KG or Pierce for suffering injuries or Ray Allen for going into a shooting funk, Celtics fans should have noticed by now that they aren't getting what they expected from the trio. Yet.

In the meantime, look at who has been holding down the fort. At center, NBA's forgotten position, we have Kendrick Perkins, my favorite player in the NBA right now (yes, duh, I'm biased. I'm wearing his jersey as I type [thanks Cristina!]). You know why Perk is my fav? 'Cause Perk plays an old-school game baby. He's tough as nails, he rejects fools like Harvard, he runs, his interior defense literally hurts and you wanna talk old-school, he fucking hook shots like he was fucking blackbeard the pirate. Oh and he leads one of the best teams in the league in rebounds. Perk is destined to be one of those players who's effectiveness cannot be understood by reading stats because so much of what he does is simply pure basketball intelligence and the resultant benefits. Just like the Matrix, one cannot be told what Perkins is, you must experience it for yourself. Enjoy that picture; it's one of my favorite moments ever captured on digital film.

On the other side of the position numbers, we have Rajon Rondo. Rondo, in my opinion, has been the best player on our team this season. I'm not saying he is the best basketball player out of everyone on our roster. Please don't come at me sayin I said he's better than KG or Pierce. All I'm saying is that this season, looking at our team and the number of quality minutes each player has given, I think Rondo comes out on top. Rondo may even be, or may soon become, the best point guard in the NBA. He leads he NBA in steals. Not the division, not the conference... he has more steals this season than any of the other BEST BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THE WORLD. That is not a stat that relies on having good teammates, like assists, that a stat that is entirely based on the individual. Rondo rebounds, he gets assists, he is fast as the times at ridgemont high, and he is a deft scorer. Just try to think of how many times you've heard Tommy say, "Now take a look at this play by Rondo..." You can't think of that number, it's too big for you to understand. Defense, offense, it don't matter to Rondo (much like it don't matter to Jesus... small Lebowski reference, for my people out there).

Sure this team has holes and various things to fix, but remember, reader, that given our consistant 1 and 5, as soon as 2 comes around and 3 and 4 (4 is looking good recently) are healthy again, the celtics will once again have the best starting 5 in the universe. And don't forget, TA is playing like Michael Jordan, but better.