In terms of surprises to the coach, the clear-cut winner for the Celtics thus far has been James Posey. Doc Rivers pretty much knew what he was getting from the ultra-intense Kevin Garnett and the smooth Ray Allen. He had no real read on Posey, other than hearing that Posey was a good guy to have in the locker room.
"To me, being good in the locker room means he's not bad in the locker room," Rivers said. "That's how coaches think. But when we got him, we soon realized what they meant by 'good in the locker room.'
"He says the right things and he's not afraid to be a dissenter. If he feels, as a team, we should do something different, he speaks his mind. But in the right way.
"I didn't know any of that. It's been a very pleasant surprise and it's been very important. He is the guy who has won a championship, so he comes with some cachet."
Here's something else Rivers didn't know about Posey: The guy stands at midcourt before every game and gives each starter a hug and some words of encouragement. These aren't just hugs. These are HUGS, the kind a mom gives her son just returning from the service. Each guy gets one, from Garnett to Rajon Rondo.
Check him out this afternoon, if you're lucky enough to be among the 18,624 in attendance for the first of two visits by the LeBrons.
"It's not necessarily the hug. It's what he's saying to me and reminding us what we need to do to go out and be successful," Garnett said. "It's kind of good before you hit the floor. He's not just talking the talk. It really means something.
"You guys see it as a hug, but it's the unity of what he's saying. It's all motivating. It's all positive."
Posey said he has been doing the hugging thing for a while.
"At first, it was talking to certain players to get them going," he said. "Then, in Miami, I did it to everybody. I tried to get them to go out there and get them thinking positive. You know, a little pep talk. That's what I try to do. 'You guys hold the fort down and when I get in I'll try and do my job.' That sort of stuff."
Posey must have a long list of motivational speeches.
"It's always something different every game," he said. "I say something different to each guy. Sometimes I may repeat it to another guy, but I try to do something to get them going.
"I think they appreciate it. It's the last thing they hear, so I want it to be something positive and encouraging."
Rivers has noticed the routine. In his mind, it's 100 percent genuine.
"Whatever helps," the coach said. "It's pure. It's not fake. That's what I like.
"He's been great. I've been extremely surprised and happy. And he's playing well, which helps. If he couldn't play, they wouldn't listen. And the reason they do listen is because he walks the walk."
Rivers points to a couple of Posey moments that have made an impression on him. One was just before the team was to begin the second half of the game in Indiana. The first half had been a bit chippy and, according to Rivers, Posey said, "Cut the crap. It's got to be about our play."
"I was about to say the same thing," Rivers said. "I'm thinking, 'That's my line.' But it's better when it comes from a player."
Another occasion came when Posey, one of the best in the NBA at drawing charges, was trying to persuade Kendrick Perkins to be more conscious of the art. So when Posey took one, and Perkins was watching on the bench, Posey got up, pointed to the bench, and said, "That's how you do it."
Posey said he has no qualms about speaking out, even though he's new.
"There's a time and place for everything," he said. "You got to pick and choose. If something needs to be said, there's a time and place for it. But through the course of the game, everything is positive."
And before the game as well. Which leads to the question: What happens if he starts?
Buying into Bynum
If the only time you saw Andrew Bynum play this year was when the Lakers came through Boston, you'd be scratching your head at the thought that this kid would be a deal-breaker in any trade, let alone one for Jason Kidd or Jermaine O'Neal.
But in the three games after his dismal Boston showing (4 points, 9 rebounds, and one horrific memory of Kendrick Perkins kicking his butt), Bynum responded with three straight double-doubles as the Lakers won twice and almost took a third. And the kid just turned 20 last month. As he himself put it while passing through Boston, "I can't say that I know everything. Nowhere near that."
Coach Phil Jackson must like what he sees; he reupped for two more years. Jackson specifically pointed to Bynum's better conditioning this season as one reason for the kid's improvement.
"It's enough to carry him through games," Jackson said. "Last year, he'd tire in five or six minutes, get in foul trouble, make mistakes, or something would happen to curtail his playing time. This year, he's able to play through things."
Kobe Bryant, who wasn't happy that Bynum held up the Kidd deal, has also come around. He noted that when the Lakers worked out the day before they played the Celtics, Bynum stayed and lifted weights with Bryant afterward.
"We were the only two," Bryant said. "When I see that, it shows me he has a lot of fire in his belly."
Bryant said that was not the case last year.
"I didn't see him," said Bryant. "And I should know because I was there. But he's in there every day this year. You can see it in his body. You can see it in his confidence. He has a lot of talent, a lot of potential."
In November, Bynum averaged 10.9 points and 10.3 rebounds in 25.8 minutes a game.
Plot twists in rookie scripts
Whoever thought last June that the best Ohio State rookie in November would be Daequan Cook of the Heat?
It has been a tough year for the more heralded rookie Buckeyes. No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden, of course, is out for the season following knee surgery. And Grizzlies guard Mike Conley Jr., the No. 4 overall pick, is on the shelf with a bum right shoulder (posterior labral tear) that he hurt against Dallas Nov. 17. He is expected to miss a couple more weeks.
While Conley had not exactly taken the NBA by storm, his minutes were increasing, and he was leading all rookies in assists while averaging just 14.4 minutes a game. The upside for the Grizz is that (a) doctors didn't think surgery was necessary and (b) they had Juan Carlos Navarro on call.
Actually, Navarro, Kyle Lowry, and Damon Stoudamire had been doing most of the point guard work, and Navarro has come on so strong that he's getting mentioned in Rookie of the Year chatter, a domain previously thought to be that of Kevin Durant and only Kevin Durant.
Navarro has cracked the starting five and in his first four starts averaged 18.8 points and 3 assists. He made eight of nine 3-pointers vs. the Hornets Nov. 16.
Among rookies, Navarro was second in November in scoring to Durant, and just ahead of Cook, who is starting to get a lot of playing time for Pat Riley, normally a guy who doesn't shine to rookies. Navarro was sixth in minutes behind Durant, Al Horford, the even more surprising Jamario Moon of Toronto, Yi Jianlin, and Jeff Green.
Etc.
Wresting minutes from Garnett
Kevin Garnett wasn't kidding. After the Thursday night obliteration of the Knicks, a game in which Garnett played 23 minutes, he said, "I can't even remember having that type of a rest." Can't blame him. Garnett routinely plays in the high 30s and low 40s; you have to go all the way back to Nov. 3, 2003, when he played fewer minutes than he logged Thursday night. He went 16 minutes that night against the Utah Jazz, but that was because he was ejected. Utah won, a result coach Jerry Sloan attributed in part to Garnett's absence. (No!) Also, Garnett tallied only 8 points against the Knicks, which snapped a string of 411 straight games of double-figure scoring. The last time he was held below 10 was April 17, 2002, when he scored 6 points in 23 minutes against the Nuggets. It was the regular-season finale for Minnesota.
Not so easy to follow
So many times with the schedule, it's not necessarily whom you play, or when you play them, but what you and your opponent did the night before. The Cavaliers came off an emotional overtime victory over the Celtics last Tuesday and had to travel to Detroit for a game against the Pistons. Detroit, which had not played the night before, crushed the Cavs. (OK, LeBron James was out for much of the night, but it was still a tough back-to-back.) Cleveland has played five back-to-backers so far, and, every time, the team it faced on the second night had not played the night before. The Cavs are 2-3 in those games and face a similar situation this week when they play Washington Wednesday with the Wiz having had Tuesday off. The Celtics have had four back-to-backs this season and only once, the game in Charlotte, had the opponent played the night before. Boston is 4-0 on the second night of back-to-backs following the victory Friday in Miami.
Just pointing out the numbers
This one may be hard to figure out. Steve Nash is leading the Suns in scoring, which would be a first for him in his second incarnation with Phoenix. But when he has big scoring games, the Suns don't always do well. In Phoenix's four losses, Nash is averaging 26.8 points and 8.3 assists. In the team's 12 wins, he's averaging 17.2 points and 11.8 assists. This is Nash's fourth season since rejoining the Suns and his scoring average of 19.6 would represent a career high. In that first year back (2004-05), the year he won his first MVP, he averaged 15.5 points, fourth highest on the team. He improved to 18.8 in 2005-06, second on the team, and was second last year as well at 18.6 .
Rocket gets a chance to launch
Steve Francis is finally getting a chance to show his stuff in his second go-round in Houston. New coach Rick Adelman kept Francis on the bench until he played 23 minutes Nov. 17 and then sat him for another week. However, starting on Nov. 24, Francis has been a regular rotation player, logging 20 or more minutes in three of four games. The highlight of his limited season came against the Suns last Wednesday night, when he scored a big basket down the stretch (on a drive) and then stripped Amare Stoudemire to help preserve a victory in Phoenix. "That's what I've done throughout my career, help teams finish games," Francis told reporters. Yao Ming grabbed the game ball that night and delivered it to Francis, who cradled it in his arms while romping to the locker room. The Rockets, by the way, had played the NBA's strongest schedule heading into the final weekend of November, according to an index used by ESPN.com.
Warriors show some heart
Forget that 0-6 start. The Warriors finished November by winning their last five and eight of their last nine, the sole loss the one in Boston, where coach Don Nelson said his team didn't play well enough to beat the Pismo Beach Panthers. The return of Stephen Jackson after missing the first seven games was a big help. But so, too, was the return of two guys we didn't see in Boston: Al Harrington and Matt Barnes. Harrington missed the game in Boston for personal reasons but was back for the next game. Barnes was another story - an emotional one. He stayed behind for the Warriors' five-game Eastern swing (in which they went 4-1) to be with his mother, Ann, who was dying of cancer. She succumbed Nov. 27. Barnes had returned to the lineup the night before and had 8 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds in a 129-114 victory over the Suns.
Host of possibilities
International eyes will be on Chicago next weekend, when the poohbahs from FIBA are scheduled to announce the site of next summer's Olympic qualifying tournament. Three teams from the 12-team field will win berths in Beijing, and there are some strong teams (Germany, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and New Zealand) in the field. In that group alone, you have the silver medalist from the 2006 Worlds and the bronze medalist from the 2002 Worlds. The tournament will be in July, a month before the Olympics. One city rumored over the summer as interested in hosting the tournament is Toronto.
Peter May can be reached at p_may@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
