RE: Isiah Thomas fired

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I give up. I come right out and say I'm not upset with the direction of the
team, yet the "way" I say it isn't right. There was nothing Ainge could have
done to turn this into a championship team. Nothing. I do think we're
spinning our wheels for a season, because I happen to believe nothing will
really change as long as Obie and Antoine are here. By contrast, Bird was
willing to take the heat that will come with the timing of the Isiah firing
because he didn't want to waste this season. Dumars was willing to fire a
guy with a better resume than Obie, because he felt he had a better option.
It took guts. If I had to guess, and it's an educated guess, I'd say Ainge's
first instinct was to fire Obie, but he didn't want to be the guy who fired
a coach coming off two straight playoff appearances. And it would have been
a tough sell. But I'll bet that deep down, Ainge would prefer to have his
own guy right now. And he tried all summer to trade Antoine. Ainge sees the
same problems many of us do. Unfortunately, he didn't/couldn't get them
corrected this summer. I wish he could have, simply because it would have
made the reshaping of this team happen a little faster. But that doesn't
mean he won't get them corrected. I believe he will, and that will be
another step toward building a championship team.

I'll say it again: I'm OPTIMISTIC about the future of the team. I'm just not
sold on THIS YEAR. I expect a lot of the same things we saw last year, and
that adds up to a slightly better than .500 team. Someone said the Celtics
were only eight games behind the Pistons. True. And how many games out of
the lottery? It works both ways. The Celtics are trying to get better. So
are other teams. We'll see how it plays out. But if another season goes by
with Antoine and Pierce dominating the ball, shooting under 40 percent,
playing 40-plus minutes a night, Banks ends up taking 400 jump shots while
losing time to Tony Delk and Mike James, while Kedrick, Jumaine, Hunter and
Perkins fail to progress, I think we'll all concede that some significant
changes need to be made. My ONLY complaint, is that I think Ainge already
knows that. It's a shame to waste a season watching it again.

Mark

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Shawn Niles [mailto:shizzjr@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent:	Thursday, August 28, 2003 1:04 PM
To:	Berry, Mark  S; celtics@xxxxxxxx
Subject:	RE: Isiah Thomas fired

But the way you say it suggests that you are dissapointed in Danny for not 
making moves to turn them into a championship contender NOW. The fact is, 
there were no moves available that would have done that. So it should be 
expected that maybe a few other teams might make moves that look better than

anything the C's have done, even if it's debateable if those moves are 
better.
Personally, I don't see the team being any worse than last year. Who did we 
lose that contributed? No one. And they added a number of players that 
potentially could add quite a bit. And even if they don't, the C's still 
haven't lost any ground because the core is still in place. Of course, that 
core is only good enough to get to the 2nd round of the playoffs and maybe 
the ECF. The real moves that make us a title contender are still a few years

away.


>From: "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: 'Shawn Niles' <shizzjr@xxxxxxxxxxx>, celtics@xxxxxxxx
>Subject: RE: Isiah Thomas fired
>Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 09:05:35 -0400
>
>I'm not upset! How many ways can I say that I like the draft picks and the
>direction Danny is taking the team? All I said was there were several
>Eastern Conference teams putting some distance between themselves and the
>C's-THIS SEASON. I think Ainge is doing things the right way. I just don't
>expect a huge difference this season. Not with Obie and Antoine still 
>around
>and no significant roster changes (as I said, Banks will take time).
>
>"Most of us" may figure the C's are where they should be. But there are
>plenty who still see this team on a par with the Eastern Conference's best.
>They're not. Not this year.
>
>Mark
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>From: 	Shawn Niles [mailto:shizzjr@xxxxxxxxxxx]
>Sent:	Thursday, August 28, 2003 8:45 AM
>To:	Berry, Mark  S; celtics@xxxxxxxx
>Subject:	Re: Isiah Thomas fired
>
>And isn't that wher emost of us figure they should be? When a team is as
>flawed as the C's have been the last few years, you can't change that
>overnight. It's going to take a little bit of time. For the life of me I
>can't understand anyone being upset that Danny has not already turned this
>team into a championship contender.
>
>
> >From: "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >To: "'celtics@xxxxxxxx'" <celtics@xxxxxxxx>
> >Subject: Isiah Thomas fired
> >Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 16:39:00 -0400
> >
> >I guess we know where Rick Carlisle will end up. It's time to take the
> >Pacers seriously. All that talent, Bird and Walsh running the show and 
>now,
> >assuming Carlisle is the guy (heck... anyone is an improvement; is Sidney
> >Lowe available?), the Pacers should become the third power team in the
> >conference over the next couple of years (along with the Nets and 
>Pistons).
> >
> >Some on the list wonder why others aren't more optimistic about the
> >Celtics'
> >offseason. Here's why: The Nets added Mourning, the Pistons added Darko,
> >the
> >Magic added Howard, the Pacers dumped Isiah... Those four teams finished
> >ahead of the Celts last season and made more significant positive changes
> >than the Celts. They increased the gap between us and them. Meanwhile,
> >teams
> >like Chicago are closing the gap from behind.
> >
> >I like the draft and I like Ainge's direction for the team. But with the
> >same coach and basically the same players, things aren't going to change
> >that much this season. I think we're in for some more ugly basketball and
> >some significant roster/coaching changes before things really start to 
>get
> >better.
> >
> >Mark
>
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