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With just a few preseason games left and the regular season approaching, join Celtics.com as we wrap up our Depth Chart series over the next few days. We've broken down three of the positions and have just two left.

Today we take a look at the shooting guard position. There's not much debate at this position as Paul Pierce is a three-time All-Star who plays around 40 minutes every game. Look for rookie Tony Allen to spell Pierce.

Paul PierceTale of the Tape: 6-6, 230 lbs, Kansas, 7th Season2003-04 Stats: 23.0 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 5.1 apg.Skinny: If anyone on the Celtics is set up to benefit from Doc Rivers new offense, which is based on ball movement, and the addition of point guard Gary Payton, it's Paul Pierce. In Coach Rivers system Pierce doesn't have to initiate the offense, he receives the ball when he's already in a position to shoot, and with Payton he has a guard who knows where to get him the ball. This should allow Pierce to be a much more efficient scorer, and maintain a high energy level throughout the year. Look for Pierce to have a big year and return to the higher shooting percentages he enjoyed early in his career.
Questions: The only question about Pierce is how he'll react to not having the ball in his hands at all times. This should be answered pretty early, since Pierce has asked for more help and has shown throughout his career that he's a team player and is only interested in winning.

Tony AllenTale of the Tape: 6-4, 213 lbs, Oklahoma State, Rookie2003-04 Stats (College): 16.0 ppg., 5.5 rpg., 2.1 spg.Skinny: Looking at the depth on the Celtics roster it's most likely that Pierce, Ricky Davis and Jiri Welsch will rotate between shooting guard and small forward and spell each other, but Coach Rivers like this young rookie and the emotion that he brings to the game. If Allen keeps up his defensive tenacity and shows he can get to the basket like he did in college, then he could see more minutes than the normal rookie, and serve as Pierce's backup.
Questions: For Tony Allen it comes down to just how ready is he to contribute right away. He's already shown he's ready to play defense at this level, but can he hold his own offensively? Those are questions he'll have to answer early in the season.

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Depth Chart: Set At The 2

BOSTON, MA (August 27, 2004) - The Boston Celtics announced today that the club has signed second round draft selection Justin Reed. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Reed, a 6-8, 240lb forward played his college basketball at Mississippi, where he averaged 14.6 points per game in 122 career games. As a senior, Reed averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as he was named to the All-SEC First Team and the NABC All-District 6 First Team.
Reed, the 40th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, finished his career at Mississippi fifth on the schools' all-time scoring list and sixth in rebounding. He became the first Ole Miss. player to earn All-SEC honors in each of his four seasons. Reed competed on the Celtics 2004 summer league entry in both the Pepsi Pro Summer League and the Vegas Reebok Summer League, appearing in all 10 games.

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Celtics Sign Second Round Pick Justin Reed

BOSTON, MA -- The Boston Celtics today announced the signing of free agent forward Tom Gugliotta. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We're getting a very versatile player," said Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge who coached Gugliotta in Phoenix. "Along with his versatility, I think his physical and mental toughness are his greatest assets."

Gugliotta, known for his solid rebounding and soft shooting touch, was a 1993 First Team NBA All-Rookie selection. Selected sixth overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by Washington, Gugliotta averaged 14.7 points and 9.6 rebounds in his rookie campaign with the then Washington Bullets and would continue to improve eventually achieving All-Star status with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1997.

"He is a guy that can play a little bit of center in a pinch for Doc (Rivers)," continued Ainge. "He can play small forward, can play power forward. He can pass, he can shoot and create off the dribble. He's a complete basketball player. He really knows how to play the game."

The 6-10, 250-pound forward played two-plus seasons with Washington before being traded with first round draft picks in 1996, 1998, and 2000 to the Golden State Warriors for NBA All-Star Chris Webber on November 17, 1994. Gugliotta played in 40 contests for the Warriors over the remainder of the 1994-95 season where he averaged 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds. Traded by the Warriors to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Donyell Marshall on February 18, 1995, Gugliotta turned in his best season as a pro in 1996-97, averaging 20.6 points and 8.7 rebounds, earning a spot on the 1997 All-Star team. He was signed as a free agent by the Phoenix Suns on January 23, 1999 and most recently was a member of the Utah Jazz after being traded by the Suns to Utah with a first round draft pick for Keon Clark and Ben Handlogten on February 19, 2004. The 12-year veteran saw action in 25 games with the Jazz, including 24 starts, and averaged 3.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game.

A superstar at North Carolina State, Gugliotta became only the third player in school history to amass more than 1,500 points and 800 rebounds. As a testament to his versatility, in his senior year Gugliotta was the only player in the country to lead his conference in both scoring (22.5 ppg) and three-pointers per game (3.1). He also averaged 9.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists that year.

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Celtics Sign Free Agent Forward Tom Gugliotta

BOSTON, MA (July 14, 2004) - The Boston Celtics announced today that the club has signed center Mark Blount. Per team policies, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Blount, the only Celtic to have played in all 82 regular season games in 2003-2004, set career-highs with 10.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 29.3 minutes per game last year. The four-year NBA veteran, ranked second in the league in Field Goal Percentage, behind Shaquille O'Neal, shooting 56.6 percent (342-for-604) from the field. He was tied for the team lead, with Paul Pierce, and set a career-high with 19 double-doubles. On March 1, 2004 against the Orlando Magic, Blount scored 28 points to go with a career-high 21 rebounds (the most rebounds by a Celtic in a decade).
Originally signed as a free agent by Boston on August 1, 2000, Blount appeared in 64 games his rookie season, posting averages of 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds, while leading the team in blocked shots with 76, the most by a Celtics rookie since Kevin McHale in 1980-81.
After appearing in 44 games with the Celtics in 2001-02, averaging 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game, Blount signed with the Denver Nuggets prior to the 2002-03 season. He was reacquired by the Celtics, along with Mark Bryant, in exchange for Shammond Williams, February 20, 2003 and finished the year with averages of 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. The Celtics re-signed Blount to a multi-year contract July 16, 2003.
Drafted in the second round, 55th overall, by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1997 NBA Draft, the 7-0, 250 pound center played in the USBL, IBO and IBL before joining the Celtics for the 2000 Shaw's Pro Summer League, when he appeared in 8 games, averaging 10.3 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field.

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Celtics Sign Mark Blount

Draft time in the NBA can be quite an anxious time, players wondering where they're going to be selected, teams wondering if their guy will still be on the board when they pick. But what goes into determining where a player will be selected?
There are many things, such as the player's performance the previous season, how they perform at the pre-draft camp in Chicago, the dreaded word "upside", as well as the individual workouts when players visit different teams.
You often hear that a player increased his stock or is dropping down the draft board because of these individual workouts, that aren't usually individual. Most likely a team will have as many as four players in for one workout. But what do the workouts entail, and what are teams looking for in workouts?
"One thing with the workouts, a lot of times it's the first impression for coaches to see players live," said new Celtics assistant coach Dave Wohl, a 30-year NBA veteran. "What we're really looking to find out about players is their athleticism, their basketball IQ, how they react to certain situations on the court, and certainly any specific skill sets they have."
To find answers to those questions players are generally put through a battery of tests before actually touching a basketball. They'll have their vertical leap tested, go through a series of timed agility drills and usually get some kind of stretching from the trainer. The worst thing for a prospective draftee is to get injured in a pre-draft workout.
Once the initial testing is done the players and coaches take the court to see how that athleticism translates into actual play on the hardwood, or parquet to be specific in the Celtics case.
To start, coaches will usually put players through a series of shooting and ball handling drills, looking for mechanics, ability to shoot off the dribble and off screens from both the left and right, as well as what kind of range the player has.
"You try to find out different things in the shooting drills," commented Wohl. "You can at least see how a player's form is, what kind of stroke he has, where his range is. He's certainly not covered by anybody, but you can get an idea whether his mechanics are pretty good as a shooter."
This is where it becomes difficult for the coaches. Someone like Danny Ainge has been scouting these guys for a year or two, but for coaches, like Wohl said, it's their first time seeing them.
"It can be misleading," said Wohl. "You can have a kid that's a pretty good shooter, but he's gone to four other teams that week and he's just tired and can have a really bad shooting night and you're going 'Gee, I thought he was a good shooter'. That's why you really have to take the workout as part of the whole equation because the guys like Danny (Ainge), Chris (Wallace) and Leo (Papile) have a much better feel for who that player really is and weather that workout was normal for that player.
After spending a good amount of time on shooting, it's time to go live and see what these guys bring to the table in one-on-one and two-on-two situations (NBA rules stipulate that there be no more than four players on the court at a time). But as Coach Wohl mentioned, they're not just looking for scoring, they're looking for basketball IQ and how players react to different situations.
"When you start to get into live drills where they're playing one-on-one or two-on-two, you get to find out whether the shooting drills correlate with a defender on them or whether he's even able to get his shot off with a defender on him," said Wohl following a workout at the Sports Authority Training Center in Waltham. "You're trying to equate a lot of different things to come away with an impression that he's a player that has NBA skills, NBA attitude, he works hard, he hustles.
As for the workouts as a whole, they're a very inexact science. Some player's skills are more designed to look good in individual workouts, but their game may not translate into the team concept of basketball.
You can also have the opposite, where a player brings a lot to a team, but his skills don't necessarily stand out in a workout. But over his 30-year NBA career, Coach Wohl has seen it all.
"I've seen so many players in pre-draft workouts," said Wohl. "Michael Finley had a terrific workout when I was with Miami. Going back even further, Glenn Rice had a terrific workout. But Carlos Boozer is an example of a guy who had a good workout, but nothing made you think he would be able to step up and be as productive as he's been. He's turned into a terrific pro, so it's not an exact science."
The key according to Wohl is using the workouts to reinforce what the people in field have already seen from these players. That's why you have GM's and scouts around the world and in the video room all year long.
"You can be fooled in workouts, that's why it's great to have Danny, Chris and Leo," said Wohl. "Coaches can fall in love with a player in 45 minutes, so it's great to have the people who've seen them all year and say 'look that is not really who he is.'"
Bottom line is that these individual workouts you're always hearing about give the teams a chance to get a little more personal with the athletes and see what they can do up close. But beware one workout does not make a player.

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What’s In A Draft Workout

The Boston Celtics are launching the first OFFICIAL Boston Celtics Basketball Camp. The goal of the camp is to provide children ages 8-16 years old with a structured learning environment that encourages team participation and personal development.

At the end of the week awards will be presented and an All-Star team will be selected. Award recipients will be acknowledged during half-time at a Celtics game.
In addition, the Camp All-Stars will scrimmage during a half-time at The FleetCenter during a Celtics home game.

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Celtics Basketball Camp

Black History Month Chat Transcript With Walter McCarty and Cedric Maxwell

As part of Amtrak's and the Celtics' celebration of Black History Month Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell and current fan favorite Walter McCarty will be chatting live on Friday at 1:00 p.m. EST on Celtics.com.

Maxwell was a first round pick (12th overall) by the Boston Celtics in the 1977 NBA Draft and played over 7 seasons in Boston. He won championships in 1981 and 1984 and averaged 13.7 points per game as a member of the Celtics, including 19.0 points per game in 1978-79. In the 1981 playoffs Maxwell averaged 16.1 points per game on 58.0 percent shooting from the floor en route to the Finals MVP. His other famous playoff moment came in 1984 with the Celtics facing the Lakers in game seven of the finals. Prior to taking the court Maxwell uttered the famous phrase "just hop on my back boys, and I'll take you on in", Maxwell went on to score 24 points, grab 8 boards and dish out 8 assists, as the Celtics won their 15th NBA Championship. Maxwell currently works the Celtics radio broadcasts for WWZN.

McCarty is currently in his 7th season as a member of Celtics, and enjoying one of his best years. McCarty is averaging 7.7 points, on 38.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc and 3.1 boards in 23.1 minutes per game. McCarty has long been a fan favorite of Celtics fans with Tommy Heinsohn's famous "I Love Waltah" call during game broadcasts. McCarty has also established himself off the court in the Boston community, becoming the first member of the Celtics to win the Hometown Hero of the Month Award for his community outreach efforts during the month of July 2001.

The Celtics and Amtrak are proud to celebrate Black History Month. Check out Celtics.com for more information

Got a question for Walter or Cedric? Send it in now and check back on Friday at 1 p.m. for the live chat.

Taylor: Waltah, after hearing cedric on the radio, you ever think about broadcasting when your career ends?

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Black History Month is Time for Reflection on Past, Future

I am proud to be a member of the Boston Celtics organization, but I am especially honored during Black History Month. This franchise was a pioneer in the integration of professional sports in the United States - the first NBA team to draft an African-American player, the first team in the NBA to field an African-American starting five, and the first team in professional sports to have an African-American head coach.

I have benefited so much from the sacrifices those who came before me.  In my role as a Celtics player and a leader, it is important to know about the people who opened up the doors for me.  I enjoy reading about Black history, especially learning about the important contributions to society that African-Americans have made - not just athletes and entertainers, but also inventors, scientists, doctors, lawyers and teachers. Teaching our youth about these pioneers can help inspire kids who might otherwise think, "I can't become this" or "I can't do that."

Black History Month should not just be a time for learning and reflection - it needs to be one of action. It is vital that we do everything we can to help make our communities better and safer places to live and work.  There will be a day when future generations look back on us and ask,  "What did they do? What did they do to help us become a better race, a better culture, a better world?"  Step out and take a risk.  Try to learn new things; to improve, you must expand your mind.

Throughout the month of February, I will be working with the Celtics and Amtrak on a program that gives me the opportunity to share my love of history with young people.  One of my favorite elements of the celebration is the "Promote the Quote", which uses the words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to teach them about one of the most trying times in our history, the Civil Rights movement.  It also demonstrates that, although the struggles may have changed, his words remain as powerful and relevant as ever.  Children today must be educated about our past, and use that knowledge to feel empowered to make a difference in their future.

Black History is not just for African-Americans - it is for all.  We must learn about our rich heritage and embrace the people who helped shape it.  Black History Month gives us the chance to reflect on how far we have come - and remember how far we have left to go.
First published in the Worcester Telegram &amp; Gazette