Courtesy of NBA.com

By Paul Gotham

Celtics getting taller.

If  Danny Ainge and his staff took one lesson from the recent playoffs, it’s that you can’t teach height.

With Kevin Garnett dressed to the nines the reigning champs struggled to survive the first round before bowing from the post-season.

Since then, the Cavaliers signed Shaq. Boston responded by getting Rasheed Wallace. Ainge and crew haven’t rested.

Last week, Boston signed Shelden Williams to a contract. Since Atlanta took Williams with the fifth pick in the ’06 draft, ‘The Landlord’ has bounced from the Hawks to Minnesota to Sacramento. If nothing else, the signing of Williams  sent a message to Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis.

After expressing his frustration through various tweets, Davis finally came to terms with the Cs. Perhaps, Davis realized he’s a dime a dozen and to make buzzer beaters in the playoffs, one actually has to play on a team that qualifies for the post-season.

However you cut it, Boston will have plenty of fouls to give with their revamped frontcourt.

Nash signs extension with the Suns.

He may not be a dog, but Steve Nash sure is loyal. Instead of testing the free agent waters next summer, the 35-year-old Nash opted to sign a three-year deal with the Suns.

Two years ago, the Suns lost in Conference semi-final to the Spurs. Since that fateful night when ‘Kindergarten’ Marion and Amare Stoudemire each earned a game suspension for doing their finest Lynyrd Skynrd and ‘taking’ three steps, the Suns have been in decline. The Shaq experiment reaped a first-round exit last year and a playoff miss this year.

The upcoming season doesn’t look much better. No one could blame Nash for wanting a change in scenery. Instead the the 13-year veteran is staying put.

Felton still unsigned.

We should create a new category: head scratchers.

This past season Raymond Felton averaged 14 ppg, 3.8 RPG, and 6.7 APG. All of those numbers are pretty consistent with his previous three seasons in the league. Yet, Felton is still looking for a team. There are no teams out there in need of a reliable point guard?

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As amazing happens, however, players need to remember that humility should follow. Amazing attracts the attention of the media, fans, and outsiders alike. So when amazing occurs, as it often has in the 2009 playoffs, players need not forget that doing something incredible does not require an idiotic reaction.

I’ve been more than disappointed in some of the NBA players and their “amazing” reactions. Rather than basking in the glory of a big shot with some form of ethical jubilation, they’ve often chosen words and actions bordering on self-righteousness and obscene.

Chicago’s Ben Gordon displayed histrionics more suited for a prison gang fight after some of his big shots in the first round. After hitting a big three while in Chicago, he turned to the crowd near midcourt and decided to display his excitement by grabbing himself below the equator. At home. To his home fans. Toward his team’s bench. The one’s cheering for him. Ben, rubbing your brilliance in someone else’s face is bad enough, but what sense does it make to rub it in the face of your supporters?

The boastful display of one’s superior performance hasn’t been limited to those playing in the game. Kevin Garnett seemed as visible on the bench in his designer suits as he would have been on the court in his Celtic green. Maybe someone in the Celtic’s organization forgot to tell him this. After many big shots and game-changing plays, the camera often panned to Garnett who most of the time was jawing with the opposing players’ bench using a choice of words not even acceptable in some bars.

I liked Denver’s Chris Anderson and his amazing defense until his moment of foul mouthed absurdity. After picking up his fourth foul against Dallas, he sat down on the bench and the camera caught him at the perfect time expressing his displeasure. He exclaimed the referee made a call equal to bull feces.

This normally doesn’t bother me because players often express their frustrations forgetting for a moment about the cameras capturing their every move.

But this particular one was beyond unnecessary considering “The Birdman” nearly severed a player’s arm at the shoulder in an attempt to block his shot from behind. I’d hate to see what Chris would say in the event a referee actually made a bad call. It might be a tirade that would make former Temple basketball coach John Chaney cringe and say, “Chris – watch the language.”

Eddie House seemed to hit an endless amount of big shots during these playoffs. It’s hard not to think they were big shots, since after every single one he either turned to the opponent’s bench to express his the magnitude of his magnificence or ran down the floor in what seemed like a schizophrenic shouting match. The Magic’s Rafer Alston probably did what most of us non-Celtic fans wanted to do: slap some humbleness back into House’s obviously swollen head.

Thanks to Eddie House, the theatrics after shots can come at any time during a game now apparently. I thought usually such celebrations and superfluous screaming came after game winning shots. Denver’s J.R. Smith proved to me otherwise.

The other night in game three of the Western Conference Finals, Smith hit a three point shot against the Lakers to beat the third quarter horn. He commenced to yelling at the Laker’s Sasha Vujacic as if Vujacic just hit on his girlfriend. Smith was promptly assessed a technical foul as he skipped away like Reggie Miller in Madison Square Garden. Trash-talking at the end of the third quarter didn’t do much good as the Lakers won game three and seized the series lead on the Nugget’s home court.

Please don’t take any of this the wrong way: players should express their exhilaration after amazing moments in the playoffs. I enjoyed watching Boston’s Glen Davis run a 4.2 forty after making the game winning shot against Orlando in the first round. I loved seeing the NBA’s MVP, LeBron James, hit a three-pointer to win it against Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals as his Cavs teammate Sasha Pavolic hung on for the ride afterwards.

All that I ask is that players realize the influence they have and to display a celebratory decorum that all fans can appreciate and watch over and over again. I want amazing to happen in every game. That shouldn’t have to mean that the decay of anything ethical in the NBA occurs with it.