Welcome back to the MVP rankings, James Harden — even though guys on sub-.500 tams usually should have no mention in MVP discussions.
We grant you leniency here, Mr. Harden, because the season is less than three weeks old
Bernucca: In case you haven’t noticed, Celtics have issues, too
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While all of the focus has been on the soap opera swirl around the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA’s other 
similarly storied franchise has its own set of issues.
The Boston Celtics also raised expectations by adding some key pieces in the offseason, then promptly stumbled out of the gate. But there were no death stares, insurrections, coach beheadings or panic moves.
But there are some problems in Beantown. Let’s allow team leader Kevin Garnett to explain.
“You can’t speed chemistry up,” Garnett said. “I think the more practice, the more you get familiar with each other. There’s no hit the fast forward button here. You’ve got Comcast; some shows you can’t fast forward through. You’ve just got to let it go through and watch the silly ass commercials and be pissed, right? This is what this is.
Sheridan Hoops MVP Rankings After Week Two
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Special mention atop this column is deserved for Andre Iguodala, Nicolas Batum and Tony (SLJW) Allen, three of the league’s best man-on-man defenders who all had a chance to guard James Harden over the past week.
Not that Harden is a marked man or anything, but after going for 37 and 45 in his first two games — and earning the No. 1 ranking in last week’s edition of these rankings — the guy should strike a personal endorsement deal with Target.
To review, Harden shot 8-for-24 against Portland (loss), 5-for-15 against Denver (loss) and 4-for-18 against Allen and the Grizzlies (loss).
“I knew he was capable of getting that 30-something number,” said Allen, whose “SLJW” nickname up above is my creation, not his, although he is welcome to appropriate it. (The letters stand for Samuel L. Jackson’s Wallet. If you’ve seen “Pulp Fiction”, you’ll get it.) “He’s been coming out there with a vengeance. I just wanted to go out there and compete and not be one of those guys getting hit up for 30. I just took it as a challenge.”
Harden’s week was not a complete loss as he went for 20 points (but shot 6-for-14) in a win Saturday night over the Pistons. But it was the Pistons, ya know?
And Harden’s 3-point percentage is down to 22 percent. So he ties David H. Petraeus for biggest fall of the week.
That means we have a new man at the top this week, and he is no flash in the pan.
He is a guy who lost his Car (explanation after the jump).
SH Blog: In early stages, remade Celtics emphasize big picture
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BOSTON — From the beginning of the 2007-08 season until the final horn sounded after Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Hea last June, the Boston Celtics were encapsulated by the Big Three +1 of Paul Pierce, Kevin 
Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.
If anyone needs a refresher course on what was lost when Ray Allen decided to head down to Miami to team up with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, last night’s performance by the Celtics against the Washington Wizards helps to put things in perspective.
Playing the Wizards for the second time in less than a week turned out to be a solid overtime test for a team that is attempting to find its identity. Boston fought through stretches of sloppy play and confusion despite winning by the score of 100-94 in overtime.
“Obviously, there were some parts of the game that you can look at and see that we have to improve,” said Kevin Garnett. “We came out strong but we kind of got calm a little bit and we got it back in the second half, but that’s not up to our standards.”
Clearly a jump-shooting team that has the potential to thrive as the result of floor balance and spacing, along with the the strong and wide screens that can be set by Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox, Jeff Green and even Darko Milicic, the Celtics are working to make forward progress daily as teammates both new and old learn the offensive principles as well as the teammates they are now playing with.
