THE OTHER TWO TEAMS IN BOSTON

With the Red Sox and Patriots annually competing for championships, I often look over the other two teams in Boston. Part of the reason being that it is painful to analyze and philosophize the goings on at the Fleet Center, from the penny pinching of the miserly Jeremy Jacobs, to the bumbling moves made by Danny Ainge.

Anyways, the Celtics are attempting to create a contending team. The NBA Draft saw them acquire two point guards, Sebastian Telfair from Portland, and Rajon Rondo from the University of Kentucky. This gives the C's a trio of young point guards. This means they will probably make a move to acquire on of the numerous frontline players available on the trading block.

The most popular name thrown about in the Celtics trade talkings is Allen Iverson's. Obviously, AI would improve the team. He'd take pressure off of Pierce and generate a great deal of energy. However, if things didn't go perfectly, things could get ugly.

The Boston sports media is relentless, especially when it comes to athletes that don't seem to be giving 110%. When Antoine Walker had his first stint with the C's, he was dubbed a "punk" simply because...well...who knows why. Because he wiggled? Iverson's persona and perceived personality is far more "punk-like" than Walker's was. Already, sports writers are advocating that Ainge not acquire him.

Would Iverson make the Celtics into a legitimate competitor for the title? No. However, is there any individual player who could do that? No. Iverson would help the team, give them a shot to go deeper into the playoffs, make the Celtics more attractive to prospective players, help encourage Pierce to stay by giving him quality teammates, and at the very least, put people into the seats and generate some excitement around the Celtics.

Meanwhile, the Bruins are looking to rebound from a ghastly 2005-06 season. The Bruins will be blown to pieces. According to their front office, Shawn McEachern and Alexei Zhamnov will see their contracts bought out. Hal Gill, Brian Leetch, Tom Fitzgerald and others will not have their contracts renewed.

After letting Mike Sullivan linger, the Bruins finally fired him and hired Dave Lewis to be the new head coach. They also picked up Zdeno Chara on the free agent market. They'll attempt to assemble a semi-competitive team while preparing to build a championship contender sometime in the near future. It's a slow process, but Bruins fans have been patient for 34 years, they will wait another 5 or 6.