For the first time since Chris Ford was roaming the sidelines in the early 1990s, a Celtics coach has a solid nucleus to call upon off the bench. In Eric Williams and Erick Strickland, Jim O'Brien has hard-nosed defensive stoppers for his frontcourt and backcourt. He has a highly capable backup center in Vitaly Potapenko.

But what O'Brien and the Celtics still lack off the bench is that pure athletic dimension that can alter the pace and/or direction of a game. Be it with a blocked shot, a steal or an electrifying dunk, a player who can deliver the type of play that ignites his team. The type of plays, in fact, that Kedrick Brown has been making in practice since training camp.