By: Oliver Lynch — Australian Correspondent — It’s been almost a month since the Celtics somewhat surprisingly waived both Kris Joseph and Jarvis Varnado, and in the process, set social media alight among it’s faithful about what bigger deal it may precede. But the return of Avery Bradley and a 6 game winning streak all of a sudden hushed some of that talk. All it took was greater defense (inspired by Bradley) and the Celtics had the right roster and were going to be just fine. That was until Sunday night’s roller-coaster against Miami.
The one clubman that the Celtics could ill-afford to lose for the season – they lost. Rajon Rondo had amazingly kept news of his ruptured anterior cruciate ligament out of the ears of team-mates that night. So minus any motivation and undermanned, the team got the job done against its No.1 rival in 2nd period of O/T. As I commented at the time, gutsy stuff! By the time team-mates were informed, word had already spread around the world.
After the shock and sadness of losing such a pivotal player in the desire for Banner 18 this season, volume on the topic of “What should Danny do?” has now reached cinematic levels. Scenarios from left, right and center-fields have been thrown up in all celticstalk tweets.
As an avid Australian fan, I’m hoping that Danny literally broadens his horizons upon considering how to replace, or rather make that ‘sufficiently cover’ Rondo’s 2013 absence. While Boston still has a pressing need for a talented big man at 5, I believe this latest setback needs to be addressed directly. Contrary to many an opinion, I don’t think Boston has sufficient Guard stocks in 2012. Outside Rondo, only Avery Bradley’s minutes on court have been of consistent high quality. Therefore, any trade for a ’5′, can be used with pawns, Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa, Courtney Lee, and even Forward, Brandon Bass ‘for value’. Whether it’s age or headspace issues, these guys simply won’t be part of the Banner 18 win.
That’s where Australia can maybe help in this 2nd half of the season. Jonny Flynn is a young, excitable Guard out of Syracuse College, currently plying himself here with the Melbourne Tigers in the National Basketball League. So what you say? Well, he already has 3 years of NBA experience to his name with the Timberwolves as #6 Overall 2009 Draft pick, the Rockets and briefly Portland. Why is he playing here? After having hip surgery, Flynn found himself on the outer and became quickly disgruntled with being overlooked for game-time. Unlike others who are happy to wait on the bench and rack up DNP’s (Coaches Decision), Flynn took Melbourne’s call to fix it’s revolving door of imports. A win-win scenario his arrival here was being heralded. Melbourne finally after a couple of tough seasons had an NBA-qualified man-on-a-mission and Flynn himself, first and foremost, a regular starting role in a semi-professional, but passion-filled League.
And his stats with the Tigers are backing this up. Around the three-quarter mark of the current NBL season, Sporting Pulse stats have him ranked 2nd and 3rd in the League for PPG (17.3) and Assist averages, respectively. Not bad going in a foreign country and for mine, a strong audition for returning to the NBA in Celtics colors. Whereas Flynn would bring the spark in offense, Avery Bradley shines in defense – plus that youthful athletic combination RR and Bradley formed is duly kept, a stark contrast to the ageing and lethargic Nash-Bryant pairing over this side of the U.S.
If the Celtics were interested, here’s the best part! Flynn has a clause in his Tigers contract that allows him to leave to an NBA club at a moments’ notice, proving his desperation to dismiss his doubters and establish a new career in the big time. He’ll bring heart and he’ll come cheap. After all, passionate green-bloods like me still want to make something of this season rather than irrationally blow it all up.
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