1) Do you agree with Bob Ryan? Is Paul Pierce the greatest scorer in Celtics history? I’m not sure he’s the GREATEST scorer in a literal sense - his single-season high is 26.8 ppg, set in ‘05-’06, and some guy named Larry topped that three times in his career - but understand where Bob is coming from. Pierce probably has more different ways of scoring than any Celtic I’ve seen in my 30 years as a fan. When he’s on, he can knock down the 3, slash as well as anyone not named Kobe or LeBron, has that step-back 18-footer than he terrorized the Cavs with in Game 7, and as Bob said, he’s the best fast-break finisher they’ve ever had. It’s all the more impressive when you realize he’s not particularly quick and really doesn’t jump all that well anymore. So I’d say he’s the most complete scorer in Celts’ history, but I’ll still take Bird when I absolutely need two points.

2) Do the C’s try to move Ray Allen at season’s end? I tend to think not right now - heck, it would be tough to move him if only because his contract doesn’t expire until 2010 - but if his shooting slump from the Cavs series carries over to the Eastern finals, all bets are off on Danny Ainge at least putting feelers out. It’s hard to tell if Allen has really slowed down because everything always looks effortless with him even when he’s at his best, but he is 32, and shooting guards not named Reggie Miller or Michael Jordan tend to lose it rapidly. I do tend to give him the benefit of the doubt because of the Big 3 (or whatever we’re supposed to call this version), he sacrificed his game the most this season; remember this, is a guy who averaged over 26 ppg last season and is used to having the ball in his hands on virtually every possession. He comes to Boston and is relegated basically to playing the role of a rich man’s Steve Kerr, and his coach never really found a way to integrate him into the offense to the greatest of his capabilities. I have a lot of respect for him, even if it hasn’t been much fun to watch him lately.

3) Who would take right now: LeBron, Kobe or Chris Paul? LeBron, without a second thought. Kobe is the most complete player in league right now, and he’s got a killer instinct that you can’t teach, to the point that it sometimes makes him a bad teammate. And Paul is the second coming of Isiah Thomas, though it was somewhat alarming that he shriveled down the stretch in Game 7 against the Spurs. But LeBron has a chance to be the greatest player of all time, and anyone who watched the Celts-Cavs series knows that’s not hyperbole. He’s 6-8, passes like Magic, slashes at will like a young MJ, is built like Antonio Gates, plays the game correctly and completely unselfishly despite sub-mediocre teammates . . . and did I mention he’s 23? If he ever adds a consistent midrange game - and if Danny Ferry ever finds him a legitimate Robin to his Batman - he could average a triple-double for a season. The next five years are going to be something.

4) Better take: Red Sox at Fenway or Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field? Let’s put it this way: I took my daughter to her first Fenway game during the Devil Rays series a few weeks back. Because she’s only 4 and we were the typical paranoid parents about bringing her into the big city, we parked as close to Fenway as possible, which meant sucking it up for $35. That’s more than it cost to take her to her first Sea Dogs game last year, including tickets, parking, ice cream helmet, and everything else. And she really didn’t know the difference, other than that Wally was at one field while the Slugger the Sea Dog lives at the other. So if you have young kids, the minor league deal is definitely the better take, and Portland is a fantastic little city. But if the goal is to see baseball played at its highest level, or to see Papi or Manny in person, there’s still no place better than Fenway. Provided you have an endless supply of cash.

5) Worst Coach or Manager in Boston sports history? Probably one of the racists and drunks who worked for Tom Yawkey in his early days as owner. But among those I’ve seen, the worst was Joe Kerrigan, a back-stabbing, condescending weasel who was the perfect manager for the most reprehensible Sox team of my lifetime. His two worst transgressions: having the gall to suggest Manny alter his hitting approach - think about the ridiculousness of that for a moment - and sending Pedro to the mound in a meaningless late season game when his shoulder was so sore that he was practically throwing sidearm.

6) More likely to revert to form: the surprising Devil Rays or the scuffling Yankees? Neither. Tampa won’t make the playoffs this season, but you don’t need to be Gammons to recognize that this is going to be a very good team for a long time. I think they’re going to wind up taking second place in the AL East, then become a legit contender next year. It’s easy to be impressed with the core bats - Longoria, Upton, and Crawford, who seems like he’s been around forever but is still only 26. And they’ve finally got some pitchers on the way - a lot of them, actually - and the days of Tanyon Sturtze and Ryan Rupe finally will seem like a long time ago. As for the Yankees, I write them off every year when they start horribly, and they’ve had an uncanny knack for coming back from the seemingly dead. But this year is different. Too many old players, not enough pitching, the tense Girardi instead of the calming Torre, and the reckless blather of Hank the Tank. They’re done, and the resulting mess is going to be fun to watch.

7) Last good movie Al Pacino made? You know how on baseballreference.com they show a player’s annual salary on his individual page? They should do something like that on IMDB.com, telling us how much loot an actor got for each movie. The point, obviously, is that Pacino has been doing it solely for a paycheck for, oh, about a decade now. The last good movie he was in? Well, I enjoyed Any Given Sunday, but it wouldn’t call it good, and he was horribly miscast as a Parcells-type. And he’s had some real stinkers: 88 Minutes, Two For the Money, and Gigli, which almost ended Ben Affleck’s career. So I’ve got to go with The Insider, which came out in ‘99. He’s probably paid for a couple of yachts with the money he’s made from all the lousy movies since then.

Most embarrasing song on your IPod? There are so many. I wish I could be a music snob, but the sad truth is that I tend to listen to stuff that reminds me of certain times and moments in my life, and for the most part that is the stuff I was hearing on the radio at that particular time. Like, say, “Oh What A Night” by Frankie Valli reminds of a bar I spent three nights a week at in college. “Off The Wall” by Michael Jackson reminds me of when I was in fifth grade… and I was just starting to get into music. And “Dancing Queen” by Abba reminds me of . . . well, it reminds me of nothing, but it’s on there, and my daughter loves dancing to it. And I like it. So there. I already regret admitting all of this.