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After the 2004-05 season saw the storied Boston Celtics franchise add yet another Atlantic division championship, the off-season involved a moderate overhaul of the roster for the team. Gone was Antoine Walker, the once former Celtic who returned to a chorus of praise late last season before shooting the Celtics out of the playoffs, reminding fans why he was actually shipped out of there in the first place.

Also, Gary Payton the one time all-star and veteran point guard, was picked up by the Heat.

Control was once again handed entirely to All-Star superhero Paul Pierce, who was ably sidekicked by his own 'boy-wonder' in explosive shooting guard Ricky Davis.

The Celtics acquired three promising yet untested rookies in Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes and Orien Greene and two 'Celtics-looking' guys in Brian Scalabrine and Dan Dickau to add to a likely starting core rounded out by the inconsistent Mark Blount, Raef LaFrentz and young dueling point guards Delonte West and Marcus Banks.

After a promising summer league showing of the rookies and youngsters Kendrick Perkins and Justin Reed, Celtics fans were rampant with speculation of how good this team could potentially immediately be, particularly when one considered the Celtics power forward stud in the making, Al Jefferson and up-and-coming two guard Tony Allen.

Now just nine games into the season the Celtics have shown everything from promising flashes to complete confusion. In light of the team's home heavy opening schedule, the losses have flowed in a hard lesson-learning style. Several issues have come to light about Celtics struggles.

1. The lack of a true point guard leader.

In the pre-season, Doc Rivers experimented at the point guard position, alternating Delonte West and Dan Dickau for the most part, along with Orien Greene as the backup. It quickly became apparent that Dickau can't guard a plank of wood. He had difficulty grasping the flow of what Rivers wanted. Though he's a shooter capable of streaky scoring, Dickau has yet to find his rhythm.

West, on the other hand, brought energy to the point guard position and played his way deservingly so to the starting spot. Defense was the prime reason that Rivers sang West's praises, particularly as West demonstrated early on the ability to stay in front of opposing guards.

After an opening night against the Knicks that saw West with a stat line of 14 points, 9 boards, 9 assists and 4 blocks, Celtics fans breathed premature cries of "We have a starting point guard!" Since then, West has proven inconsistent and unable to consistently hit open shots as well as variable defensive efficacy in the half court situation.

Doc Rivers likes rookie Orien Greene and has said "He's a pure point guard and our best player in the open floor," but Orien is still young and has recently had foot troubles. He will develop as a backup this year.

The injured Marcus Banks' contract option was not exercised and it looks as if he will be let go.

The lack of a spearhead has resulted in the Celtics being a victim of other teams tempo. They play up or down to the level of whomever they are playing. If not for Ricky Davis who seems to be passing the ball better than ever, the assists column would be looking a little thin this year for the Celtics.

2. Offensive Reliance on Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis.

Watching the Celtics this season it is notable that there are times when ball movement and player movement grinds to a screaming halt for a more spectator-like approach of watching the dynamic duo do it all. There is no doubt that either of these guys are up to the task of being the main 1-2 punch. Pierce came out of the blocks hard and after the first 4 games of the season was fifth in the league with a 30ppg average while leading the Celtics rebounding at 8 per game and providing nearly 5 assists.

Davis has been equally as impressive, displaying aggression defensively and a willingness to be selective in his attacks offensively. For the first time Davis seems more willing to be patient and pick his spots to score while seemingly broadening his horizons as far as passing the ball providing 20ppg, 5 boards, 6 assists and 2.5 steals.

Unfortunately, carrying a team early in the season is only going to lead to tired backs and weak wills later in the season. This situation became quite evident late in games such as the home game versus Detroit and the away OT loss to the Bobcats where either Pierce or Davis were left to one on one situations or receiving poor passes from team mates who quite obviously were content to get out of the way. Granted, Mark Blount made a 17 foot shot late against Detroit that seemingly won the game, but when one re-watches that sequence it seemed he was there more by accident than good planning.

3. Team Defense

It's always going to be challenging when you can't shut down opposing point guards. This has been the Celtics biggest problem this season. While West has admirably worked to the best of his ability, players like Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, Luke Ridnour and even Brevin Knight have done what they wanted against him. Not only that, but the interior players, notably Blount and LaFrentz display an unwillingness to step up and put an opposing point guard on the floor, making them think twice about attempting slipping to the hoop for another uncontested bucket.

Davis and Pierce can guard opposing 2-3 players adequately but at the same time expecting them to provide scoring while chasing the opposition's best scorers is too much. For a team that seems to have its best spurts when out in the open floor, the majority of the team's defensive rebounding comes from the backcourt and that's not a good sign for a team trying to trigger a transition game.

4. Doc's reluctance to play the youngsters.

Gerald Green is a project right now, so we are not talking about Green here. Al Jefferson has better per 48 minute numbers across the board than Mark Blount has ever had. Kendrick Perkins is not too far behind. Having said that, Rivers seems to favor a big man that has recently whined about not getting enough touches, while displaying an unwillingness to rebound (2.4rpg in over 30 minutes). Blount is a horrible weak side defender and only blocks shots by coincidence of being in the same place where a shot goes up, usually on a much shorter player.

Jefferson will concede points at this stage, that much is granted, but his potential alone warrants enough consideration to develop him on court rather than leave him for extended periods on the bench. He brings a great energy and enthusiasm to the lineup.

Kendrick Perkins has the potential to be a rebounding machine and grabs more boards in less than half the minutes that Blount does. Considering the marshmallow-like interior of the Celtics lineup, Doc could (and is) do worse that to play these guys.

Justin Reed and Ryan Gomes have shown promising flashes in limited minutes but for now will learn in practice. With the current weakness in their division, the Celtics will still be as competitive as they currently are even if they give the young guys more time.

5. Over-expectation of Celtics fans.

Many Celtics fans seem to think that this team had a shot at winning the Atlantic division this season. In short: a crazy expectation. New Jersey and Philadelphia looked better on paper from the beginning of the year and right now look far better on court. The Celtics are in rebuilding mode; however no-one seemed to want to acknowledge this. Pierce and Davis can only take a team so far and to their credit will probably win games off their own bat some nights. Asking them to carry the load each and every night however is unrealistic.

Gerald Green was never going to step in and contribute right away, if anything he will probably go down to the NBDL along with the troubled Tony Allen, whose off season shenanigans have people now wondering if he will ever play in Celtic green again. Dickau was crazily thought to be an adequate replacement for Payton after a semi-productive year at bottom dwellers New Orleans while Brian Scalabrine was signed to a 15 million dollar, 5 year deal and looks to be worth roughly none of it with a body so out of condition looking that he makes Shaq look trim.

Doc Rivers needs to stop the charade of pretending the Celtics want the Atlantic title, come out and admit this is a rebuilding year and integrate the youngsters better in order to accelerate the development and win more division titles in 2-3 years.

6. The continued disappointing play of Mark Blount.

In 2004 Mark Blount showed flashes of a solid post player with 10.4 points and 7 rebounds, last season without reason, his rebounding numbers and points dropped dramatically. Perhaps the return of Walker taking his share of the shots and boards accounts for that? Now Walker is gone but Blount has regressed further in terms of rebounding and turnovers while playing more minutes than ever in his career.

The Celtics should trade Blount if possible. He's a stop gap measure at best, at least until Jefferson and Perkins step forward or are given more opportunity. Never have I seen a player try to play periods of basketball in a semi-comatose state. Blount seems to sleep on the defensive end as far as following shots to the glass and sits equal 54th in the East in rebounds. Delonte West averages more rebounds and nearly blocks as many shots and Blount has eight inches and 70 pounds up on West! Throw in his 3.4 turnovers per game (7th in the league) and you have what's known as a liability.

I'll accept that people will say offensively he has given the Celtics more points this season than ever before however Al Jefferson would give at least what Blount produces and do it in a manner that involves getting opposing big men into foul trouble at the same time. The Celtics net points, rebounds, turnovers and fouls are all improved when Blount is NOT on the floor. A jump shooting tweener who does not rebound and is a poster buy for defensive slackness is not the kind of inspiration required for a young developing team.

And now:

The team goes on the road for 10 of 15 games in December including two tough West Coast Swings. This is going to set the tone for the season. If the Celtics limp out of a home heavy November schedule with a .500 record, you can bet they are going to be somewhere around .410 at the end of December, not enough for playoffs in the east. By then the realities of expectation will be apparent and Doc can forget the lofty ambitions of making the playoffs.

This year is a rebuilding phase whether the Celtics front office publicly states it or not.

Trading Paul Pierce is not the answer. Veteran leadership is required and it is in the franchise's best interest to hold onto Pierce and let him lead and teach. Danny Ainge has done a reasonably good job of drafting players to be solid future 'trees' in the TD Banknorth Garden. There is still some dead wood that needs to be cleared in future, present contractually difficulties prevent a more hasty remodeling effort.

For now, Doc Rivers needs to play the role of gardener; Weed out chemistry issues, prune some veterans playing time in order to give the youngsters more time and water the future promise of players like Gerald Green to ensure that this team can return to the days of the flourishing jungles of championship glory.

Eric Fontana is a freelance basketball writer from Melbourne, Australia and is the host of a Boston Celtics podcast 'The Parquet Floor' and co-host of the NBA roundtable podcast at mysportsradio.com. He is an all-around hoops junkie who spends far too much time watching, playing and analysing games.

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