Player Preview: Brian Scalabrine

Redhead Brian Scalabrine, above, will compete for minutes on a deep Celtics bench.(Courtesy of NBA.com)

Why did Danny Ainge sign Brian Scalabrine after the 2004-2005 season? It’s not a knock on him; he’s a decent role player on a championship-caliber team. But when Danny Ainge signed Scal Aug 2, 2005, the Celtics were not a team capable of going deep in the playoffs: they had just come off a 45-win season and an early first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Pacers. They lost point guard Gary Payton and forward Antoine Walker, and it appeared the Celtics were headed towards a rebuilding mode. Despite the losses, Paul Pierce still led the team and Ricky Davis was still there, but the Celtics had a lot of youth and not much else and signed Scal to help revitalize the bench.

Perhaps Ainge had good foresight, knowing that he’d be trading most of the young players for good veteran players to surround Pierce, thus becoming an instant contender. Two years later he did just that, trading seven players and two draft picks for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett over the summer. As a result, the C’s became a contender, and Scal moved up the depth chart to become that guy off the bench that every playoff team would like to have.

Scalabrine started his career with the Nets in 2001 and played for a perennial winner in New Jersey for years. He was apart of consecutive runs to the NBA Finals in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, when the Nets lost to both the Lakers and the Spurs. Over the last two seasons, Scal has played for the C’s, during which the team has gone 57-107 (.348 winning percentage).

Scal played sparingly last season before going down with a hand injury and in 54 games (17 starts), he averaged 4.0 points and 1.9 rebounds in 19.0 minutes per game. His best season came in his contract year (2004-2005), where in 54 games (14 starts), he averaged career bests in points (6.5), rebounds (4.5), assists (1.6), steals (.6), and minutes (21.6).

Scalabrine is one of those players that does more than the stat line indicates. Now I’m not saying that Scal should start, and I don’t think he’s one of the top 8 players on this team, but he can contribute on the glass and after loose balls. He can also pitch in at center, even though he is undersized for the position.

It may seem that Scal has no skills, but there is something there (I mean, Ainge is paying him a little less than $3 million). I should note that there is a petition online to bench Brian Scalabrine and not play him for the whole season. Now that may be a little much, but many C’s fans were angry that Ainge gave Scal such a lucrative deal. Maybe he can prove this season that he’s worth his money.

I don’t think Scalabrine will have a chance to prove his worth. With the signings of Scot Pollard, Eddie House, and James Posey, Scal’s minutes will shrink even more, and he will be relegated to the role of third-string forward. He will probably also get some minutes at center if Kendrick Perkins gets into early foul trouble. Look for Scalabrine to be the 8th or 9th man off the bench on the revamped Celtics squad. Scal is not used to losing, and I could imagine he’s tired of it after the last couple of years. Hopefully if he is healthy, he’ll be able to contribute quality minutes, whether he’s hustling for a loose ball or grabbing a tough rebound.

Brian Scalabrine’s player projection for 2007-2008:

Player	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	BPG
Brian Scalabrine	12	3.0	2.3	.5	.3

Key:

• MIN = minutes per game
• PPG = points per game
• RPG = rebounds per game
• APG = assists per game
• BPG = blocks per game

Tags: Brian Scalabrine, Celtics

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