Jeff Green will miss the entire 2011-2012 regular season thanks to an aortic aneurism, a discovery made thanks the physical he underwent after resigning with the Celtics on Thursday.

 

 

 

Just as Boston fans were wondering if their team's offseason could have gotten any worse.

 

 

 

If there was one thing that the C's had during their 2007-2008 championship run (aside from a younger Big Three), it was depth at all positions. It started up front, with a force in the paint in Kendrick Perkins, who together with Kevin Garnett, created an imposing interior defense. But the men behind these two guys--Glen Davis, Leon Powe, and P.J. Brown--were important due to their ability to add rebounds and put-backs and eat up minutes in crucial situations. Powe also managed to put together occasional twenty-point performances, the most notable occurrence being in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen's scoring wasn't easily replaced on the bench, but James Posey and Tony Allen managed to play solid defense and provided a good rest for those two. Meanwhile, Rajon Rondo's back up, Eddie House, was a necessary spark-plug and a feel-good story.

 

 

 

While the Celtics' bench has significantly deteriorated with each passing year--exacerbated by the aging of the Big Three--never has it looked more pathetic than this year, even before Green's aneurism.

 

 

 

Gone is the team's center, Perkins, who was traded to Oklahoma City to obtain Green--a move that clearly looks even more suspect now. The closest thing the Celtics have to a presence in the paint is Jermaine O'Neal, who played 24 games last year. Boston has been desperately trying to get rid of him, but to no avail.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Brandon Bass was added to the roster, but he was acquired as a product of a trade that shipped Glen Davis off to Orlando. While Bass is comparable to (and perhaps slightly better than) Davis, the rest of the Celtics bench includes journeymen like Chris Wilcox and untested players like rookie JaJuan Johnson.,

 

 

 

The guard situation is likely worse. The reserves on the perimeter are Marquis Daniels, Avery Bradley, Sasha Pavlovic, and rookie E'Twaun Moore, a second round pick. Backing up Rajon Rondo at the point guard spot is Keyon Dooling, who averaged a whopping 3 assists a game.

 

The team has tried to make improvements--most notably, the failed attempt at acquiring Chris Paul and the sign-and-trade disaster for David West, who ended up going to Indiana. While some free agents remain (such as Kris Humphries), Boston is going to have a very tough fight to advance to the conference finals, let alone taste the championship glory they secured back in 2008.