Maybe it’s a little early in the season to start a diet of crow, but the Celtics sucked so much spark out of me last night, I got a little bird hungry.

I was of the opinion, when the season started, and after the Raps played Boston so tight in the pre-season, and in the overtime game, that the Celtics had three great players, and everything depended on those guys. It’s not true. Everything depended on Kevin Garnett, and THAT is a horse you can ride as far as you want. He has changed everything about that franchise, from the defense of Paul Pierce to the play of perennial role players like Eddie House. There was a quote from Sam Mitchell, in this mornings Toronto Star, that pretty well sums it up.

“It’s amazing when you bring a quality guy in that locker room, what he does to uplift everybody. I played for a lot of coaches. Two things made guys play better defence. Either it’s in ‘em or it’s somebody on that floor that plays so hard, with such a zeal, that lifts them up.”

Garnett has had that reputation of controlled intensity and an unassailable work ethic his whole career. He was bound to have an impact on virtually every Celtic who played for the team. They were predictably going to play harder, whine less, and dig for loose balls. They were predictably going to share the ball, then get back in transition and work hard on the defensive end.

And, as for offense, these are all professional basketball players. They can all hit the basket. Kris Humphries can probably knock down threes in practice. And when you are playing with any two of Garnett, Allen or Pierce on the floor, the wide open shots you are going to get makes it feel just like practice. Where’s the pressure when your three best players are not only collecting an average of 60 points a game, but your team defense is holding other teams to something like 85 points a game?

I didn’t consider the synergistic effect of these major stars playing together, in terms of making everybody around them soooo much better. I mean, I considered it, but way underestimated it. Not to mention their collective experience. Everyone of the Big Three has been depended on to hit game winning shots, make game winning stops and find a way to will their teams to win. They aren’t going to crack under pressure or get frazzled in close games. They are simply going to perform.

I can only imagine their complete and utter joy at having other capable, no, superlative veterans to play with. Do you think Garnett is energized? Hell, he just ran over the bunny and squashed him flat. Can you even begin to imagine how big the smile is on Pierce’s face every night as he tucks himself under the sheets and lays his carefree head down on the pillow? After all the years in the Twilight Zone of professional basketball? As for Allen, he has no emotion, so it’s hard to imagine anything about him, but somewhere behind his stone face, there is a tiny bubble of a smile that will sneak out before the All-Star break. You heard it here first.

The Raptors are what they are. A couple of nice pieces, some potential and a bunch of journeymen who sometimes play out of their heads. To win games they need Bosh and Bargs to be on their games, drawing double teams. They need TJ to not turn the ball over and to keep driving to the basket. They need their shooters, Parks, Kapono and Delfino to be hitting at least their career averages percentage wise. And they need one or two other players, like Moon, Rasho, Joey or Humphries to have a good night. Anything less will result in a loss, if not a blowout.

The Raps aren’t there yet. Games like last nights loss to Boston clearly show that. But they are on the path and climbing. Mr. Colangelo needs to make a two more good trades, two more good drafts, and at least one significant free agent acquisition before the Raps will threaten the Eastern Conference title. That’s not news, but I do have to remind myself of that periodically.