NEWPORT, R.I. -- NBA training camps have a way of extracting some of the most glowing reviews of players you'll hear all season. Coaches gush about players, who gush about new teammates, who gush about the organization they've joined and how they're going to challenge for a world title this season. This is true whether you're at Salve Regina University with the Celtics or at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn. with the Timberwolves.

On Wednesday, Celtics coach Doc Rivers tossed more verbal bouquets towards Kevin Garnett. Only time will tell if Garnett's truly ready to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2009-10 season:

"It's night and day [from last season]. I still wish he would take a break in practice more, but that's a whole other issue that we'll have to solve. He's explosive again, especially defensively, and that's great. He outran guys in our scrimmage earlier, at least three times. Once, he got the rebound, threw it out, and still out ran all the bigs down the floor. He couldn't do that last year, and even if he could, he didn't think he could. To me, that's the biggest change."

Garnett admitted Tuesday he only took one break during Boston's three-hour session. For a team that routinely offers breaks to its big men, Rivers and Boston would like to see him save some of that energy until the regular season.