Jared Sullinger Named Eastern Conference Player of the Week

Very quietly this season (since nobody is watching), second-year power forward/center Jared Sullinger has turned into the second best player on the Celtics. Today, he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. It is the second time that a Celtic has won it this year, joining Jordan Crawford (long gone and now on Golden State).

With the NBA trade deadline a week from Thursday, there have been plenty of trade rumors involving numerous players currently on Boston: Jeff Green, Rajon Rondo and Brandon Bass among others. I try not to pay too much attention to those until the top reporters (Woj!) are talking about it but I have to say that other than maybe Rondo, Sullinger is the one guy I want the Celtics to keep. Green is way too up and down, Avery Bradley is always hurt and still can't really shoot consistently while Bass is one-dimensional.

Sullinger has his own injury history with his bad back but if he's on the court, odds are that he's playing well. Unlike most young players in the NBA, he knows how to play the game. That's why he's made it this far since he's not athletic or particularly tall. His dad was a high school coach and you can tell he's been around the game forever.

In all three games last week (where the C's went 2-1, ugh), he posted double doubles: 19 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks at Philadelphia; 31 points and 16 rebounds vs. Sacramento; 11 points and 12 rebounds vs. Dallas. For the season, he's averaging 13.4 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game as he's been starting at center with the other lack of big guy options on this lottery team.

I'm not going to lie to you and say that it's worth it to watch Celtics games this season just to see Sullinger but if you have no other options and you get stuck watching them, Sullinger is a nice piece and hopefully a part of the future when they'll be relevant again in another few years.

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Now I've Seen Everything: Jordan Crawford Named Eastern Conference Player of the Week

No single player better epitomizes Boston's (10-12) unexpectedly good (relatively speaking in the wasteland that is the Atlantic Division) start in 2013-14 than Jordan Crawford. When he was acquired last season from Washington, he seemed like a terrible fit: a me-first guy on a team of mostly unselfish players. That's why then head coach Doc Rivers buried him on the bench.

It's been a completely different story for Crawford this season, with Rajon Rondo still out recovering from knee surgery and Brad Stevens in charge, Crawford has been the de-facto point guard since Avery Bradley is an awful ball-handler and can't be trusted with the most important job on a basketball team. To everyone's surprise, Crawford is playing better than he ever has in his four years in the NBA. Today he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week while Portland power forward LaMarcus Aldridge received the honors for the Western Conference.

In three games last week (all Celtics wins), Crawford had 25 points and five assists against the Bucks on Tuesday, 22 points and eight assists against the Nuggets on Friday and 23 points and seven assists in Boston's blowout win at New York yesterday afternoon. He's also shooting 3-pointers at a very high clip lately. He had four vs. Milwaukee, two vs. Denver and six vs. New York.

What remains to be seen is what the C's do with Crawford once Rondo returns, then again maybe that won't be for a while (a man can dream, right?). Regardless, Crawford has proven to be a solid NBA player and now he suddenly is valuable either to Boston's future or they can trade him for something decent in return.

Boston is at Brooklyn (6-14) tomorrow night (7:30, CSN) to face the ghost of Kevin Garnett with bozo rookie head coach Jason Kidd intentionally spilling drinks on the court.

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Kevin Garnett Named Eastern Conference Player Of The Week

Not that anyone will remember Jermaine O'Neal when this season is over but it turns out that his injury has been a turning point in the Boston Celtics' 2011-12 regular season.

Kevin Garnett shifted to center, a position he had never really played with the C's, and as a direct result, he has played some of his best basketball in years. For his great week, helping Boston to a 4-1 record even though he sat out last night in Charlotte, KG was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Over four games, he averaged 20 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1 block per game. Garnett also posted three double-doubles in that span (wins over Miami, Atlanta and New Jersey and a loss to Toronto).

April 10 at Heat: 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks in a 115-107 win.
April 11 vs. Hawks: 22 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, three steals in a 88-86 win.
April 14 at Nets: 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists in a 94-82 victory.

This was the fourth player of the week honor for a Celtic this season: Paul Pierce had two and Rajon Rondo had one. A healthy and consistent Garnett is what makes the C's a legitimate title contender and threat to the Bulls and Heat in the Eastern Conference since they all know that this has to be their final playoff run together with this cast.

Boston has five more games left in the regular season, starting with a contest against the Knicks tomorrow night in New York City.

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