Mario West and Alexis Ajinca Walk off the court following a Red Claws victory over Erie.

With the lack of positive Boston Celtics news to report lately I have somewhat tried to shift my focus to something more positive. Lately that has been the red hot play of the Maine Red Claws, the Boston Celtics NBDL affiliate. Now that I am in Maine for a few weeks I have had the opportunity to attend the last two games in Portland. The first being a win over the league leading Iowa Energy (12-1) , and the second being last night’s game against the Erie BayHawks (4-10).

 It was a snowy evening last night in northern New England as fans packed into the Portland Expo for a 5pm matchup against the BayHawks. Going into the game the Red Claws had already defeated Erie three times on the year and were expected to come out with a victory.

Ajinca clears way for a Trey Gilder jumper.

The team once again started out red hot as they jumped out to a very early double digit lead. The Red Claws starters clearly out played the BayHawks starters for most of the game behind strong performances from Alexis Ajinca and Mario West. Ajinca had his way with anyone that the Bay Hawks threw at him including 6ft 11 center John Bryant.

The Red Claws took a 17 point lead into the locker room but apparently left their game in there when they came out to play the second half. The two teams swapped baskets for the better part of the third quarter before the BayHawks, behind former Washington Wizard, Ivan Harris, charged back to close the lead to seven points at the end of the third quarter.

What you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t at the game was the fact that the BayHawks closed in on this lead with the Red Claws starters on the bench. Coach Austin Ainge quickly got Ajinca and West back into the game and the Red Claws closed out the game defeating the BayHawks 94-86.

Former Washington Wizard Ivan Harris at the line.

Ajinca led the team with 19 points, along with 14 rebounds, for a very solid double-double. For those of you not familiar with the Red Claws, Ajinca is a member of the Charlotte Bobcats and was recently assigned to Maine. Mario West, a former Cleveland Cavalier also had a very solid performance with 16 points. Ivan Harris led the BayHawks with 20 points, while UNC product Jackie Manuel dropped in 17.

Overall a great game for the Red Claws, this expansion team is quickly proving they are force to not be reckon with. They currently stand one and a half game back of the Iowa Energy for the best record in the division. If you are a Red Claws fan keep supporting them, and if you haven’t been to a game get out and support the team!!!

 With the 58th pick in the 2009 NBA draft, the Boston Celtics select Lester Hudson from the University of Tennessee-Martin. These were the words said when the Boston Celtics turn came up during the 2009 NBA draft. The Boston Celtics used their only pick in the draft to pick up Lester Hudson, a young guard who made history in college by recording the NCAA’s first ever quadruple-double.

Since being drafted that day Hudson has signed a contract with the Boston Celtics and wears the green uniform proudly. The sad thing is that he is usually wearing it proudly on the bench while watching his teammates win basketball games.

It is very hard for a unproven young play like Lester to get quality minutes on a team as deep as the Celtics. I do think however that there is room on the team for Lester to get more minutes. The recent injury to Marquis Daniels (hand) really got my hopes up for seeing this young gun play some quality minutes. So far Doc has not chosen to go with Lester off the bench except for in garbage time, like in last night’s blowout win over Chicago.

Instead of bringing the rookie into the game when it matters, Doc has chosen to go with the recently activated Tony Allen and knock-down shooter Eddie House. The problem I have with this is that neither one of these guys are true point guards, and to take it to another level, Marquis Daniels isn’t a true point guard.

If Doc could start working Lester into the rotation with the guards it would allow both Eddie House and Marquis Daniels to play their true positions. Eddie at the shooting guard getting open for shots off the pass, and Marquis Daniels at small forward helping to limit Paul Pierce’s minutes.

It all seems like a perfect scenario but I still think Doc questions whether Lester could handle the quality minutes at guard, being a rookie and all. The problem that I have with all this is that Lester is just sitting on the bench, and for lack of better words, rusting away. This kid is young, he needs to play, he needs to build his confidence, and he needs to get accustomed to the flow of NBA games. The way Doc is using him right now is doing no good for this kid’s future.

My plan: Send him to Portland. For those of you not familiar the Celtics now have a D-League team, the Maine Red Claws, which is located in Portland, Maine. Celtics forward Bill Walker is currently averaging 29.4 minutes a game,  19 points and 7.6 rebounds a game for the Red Claws. Walker is getting quality playing time and reminding himself that he still has it when it comes to the game of basketball.

So why not let young Lester Hudson go there and get those kind of minutes every game? To me it only makes sense, considering he hasn’t played more than ten minutes in a game since his college days. Let him go up to Portland and get back into game shape, then bring him back to Boston when he’s needed. If Doc is going to play him that is one thing, but it’s another if he’s just going to sit there and warm the bench.

Photos via Dave Eggen/NBAE/Getty Images and nba.com

Bill Walker shows his athleticism by getting above the rim for a dunk.

As a native of the great state of Maine I was excited to hear about a NBA developmental league team hitting the Portland area. Before we had the Portland Seadogs (Boston Red Sox minor league double AA team) and Portland Pirates (Buffalo Sabres minor league hockey team) but basketball is my sport and I wanted a team close to home. As talks went on about the team I soon learned that the team was going to be an affiliate of my beloved Boston Celtics. The fact that we could see some Celtics players at times, even if they are bench warmers, excited me.

Today the  Boston Celtics announced that second year forward Bill Walker will be assigned to the Maine Red Claws. Walker is a second year player out of Kansas State who exhibits a electrifying style of play. When in a game he can win the crowd over with high flying dunks and athletic plays. This is very good news for the Red Claws organization as it should boost ticket sales and give the crowd a high caliber basketball player to watch. If Walker stays on the team for a long period of time I know I will soon be getting tickets to a game.

As far as from a Celtics standpoint, I also see this as a smart move. Walker is recently coming off a nagging injury that sidelined him for the preseason and the start of the regular season. So far this year he has played in one game, this was against Utah, where he totaled two minutes of playing time. Getting Walker back into the flow of a game is very important to continuing his development, sitting on the bench at the TD Garden does not help him with this. Going to Portland and being able to play a large quanity of minutes will help him repolish his game back to where it was during his time at Kansas State.

I wish all the best for Bill and hope one day he will be a great asset to the Celtics. After all we all know the talent and athleticism is there, we just need him to stay healthy and build back some confidence in his game.