For the past two weeks many of the Celtics have come together in relative isolation each day in hopes of getting a head start on next week's training camp.
Yesterday, Ray Allen gave a little glimpse behind the curtain that has deliberately remained tightly shut in front of the dramatically reconstructed squad. Though the seven-time All-Star is expected to be a mentor for many of the team's young holdovers, it appears he has already taken one, in particular, under his wing.
``I was in the gym one morning and I looked over and noticed that (Rajon) Rondo was on the floor even earlier,`` he said yesterday at a luncheon to celebrate the official launch of Comcast SportsNet (currently Fox Sports New England) on Oct. 1. ``I asked some of the guys: `What time does he get in?' They said he gets in at 7 or 7:30. So I said that I was going to get in here (earlier) so I could work with him. Because he and I have to be on the same page as the starting backcourt.''
For the next few days, according to Allen, he introduced Rondo to his extensive workout regimen as the pair trained and did a lot of shooting together.
``When he finished he was very tired,'' Allen said. ``I tried to explain to him that is what jump shooting is all about. Being able to make shots in the fourth quarter to win games for your team. Being able to shoot consistently over 82 games.''
Though some may be concerned about having a second-year point guard run the show on a supposed championship contender, any concerns from Allen seem to have been tempered in those early morning sessions.
``He is a very smart guy because he asks questions,'' Allen surmised. ``He wants to know what I am doing on game days and what I am doing in certain situations. He wants to be good.
``I think of typically what a two-year player in the NBA is like,'' he later elaborated. ``He is more mature. He is not scatterbrained. He is very excited about the challenges that lie ahead for him and he is trying to get better. There is not a lot of play with him. ... He knows the spotlight is going to start zooming in on him and he has to be ready to answer that call.''
Allen said the goal of the past two weeks has been to bring all of the players into the instant clique that he, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett seemed to develop when the wonder trio was united this summer.
``True basketball takes 12 guys,'' he said. ``Even if the seventh or eighth guy on the bench gets injured, you need someone to step into that rotation. You need everybody.''
Allen related an amusing story about the first time rookie Glen Davis walked in the HealthPoint locker room, saw Garnett, and stood ``in awe'' of his new teammate. He added that part of the purpose of the pre-preseason workouts is to get past the star-struck stuff and become more of a team.
``That sense of amazement is great,'' he said of the Davis reaction, ``but at some point you realize that guy over there is my teammate and he's my brother.''
