ALL THAT JAZZ

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

How long can media-friendly Senator Ainge get away with all these 
contradictory statements?  Despite so many past quotes which infer 
the opposite, does Danny really think he and Obie after a one hour 
tete-a-tete are suddenly and miraculously on the same wave, and 
that we should continue to build our team around Toine?   

Our own Bill Frist-like Danny sounds so refreshingly sincere stating 
in North Carolina that he is all for boosting tobacco sales.  Problem is,
he also comes off equally as clean-cut and sincere in New York stating 
he is all for banning tobacco use in all public areas. 

Would the real Senator Ainge please step forward? I have confidence in
you, Danny, and feel ''it'' is somewhere hidden in your bosom.  But could 
you please just let it out -  not in forked tongue but in bold actions?  

Two future-upside draft picks along with the re-signing of McCarty, 
Blount, and Bremer, even with the addition of Best, just ain't gonna 
hack it.  

It is a bad plan that succumbs to no modification.

Egg
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FROM THE ARCHIVES - 

Ainge: It's personnel: Says Celts can't build around Walker
by Jim Baker (Jan. 10, 2001)

Danny Ainge yesterday blamed Rick Pitino's demise as Celtics president
and coach on ``bad personnel decisions'' and said he'd explore trading
Antoine Walker.

``Walker and Paul Pierce are perceived to be franchise players and
they're not,'' said Ainge before working last night's Spurs-Magic game
for TBS.

The ex-Celtics star of a much happier era, indicating he might have
interest in a C's front-office post (but not coaching), said he'd place
a priority on ``finding someone to build the team around.''

``Walker is a nice player,'' Ainge said, ``but if he's expected to take
you to the promised land, you're in a lot of trouble.

``I'd explore what I could get for him, but that's a huge decision.
Making a bad trade would just set the Celtics back further. I've heard
rumors about what they'd have received in (Walker) trades and thought,
`No!' ''

Ainge said he had similar reactions over the 3-year Pitino regime's
moves. ``Almost every time a decision was made, because of my 
attachment

with the Celtics, I'd say, `What?' I never understood the things they
did,'' he said. ``The team that's there can't win. They haven't put the
right chemistry together and there's no quick fix.''

Ainge said he has much respect for Pitino's coaching ability and thought
he was a good hire, ``but a lot of players were miscalculated. I thought
the Travis Knight trade was bad and couldn't understand giving up a
lottery pick for (Vitaly) Potapenko and then paying him $30 million.''

But Ainge's bewilderment goes right back to Pitino's first draftees -
Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer.

``I couldn't understand those choices,'' he said.

Ainge expressed happiness with his Turner role, joining Kevin Harlan 
and John Thompson on Tuesday nights. ``I'm enjoying the lifestyle,'' he
said, alluding to quitting as Suns coach for a good family life. So he
can relate to the relaxed smile on Pitino's face now.

But would he return here - perhaps with ex-teammate Larry Bird? 
``Larry would be a great choice, but I'd be shocked if he went back into
coaching,'' Ainge said. And what about an Ainge front-office role - GM
perhaps? ``I'm not familiar with the ownership, but I'd be interested in

listening,'' he said.

CBS college hoop guru Billy Packer said Pitino's exit and 76ers coach
Larry Brown ``taking a rest in midseason'' are two examples of ``what's
become glaringly obvious to everyone - even (commissioner) David 
Stern - that major changes need to be made in the NBA.''

``You have to say pro basketball is the problem, not Pitino. Seton
Hall's Eddie Griffin got in a skirmish and was told to sit down. In
college, the coach doesn't have to go to the owner, agent, etc. It's a
whole different circumstance.''

Told that Walker said he isn't ``getting enough touches,'' Packer
reacted: ``That's where the game is now. A relative of a player I won't
mention came to me after the Stanford-Arizona game and said, `My man 
has to get more touches.' It just keeps on going, down to even the high
school level.''

Packer said if Pitino joins CBS' NCAA tourney team, ``that would be a
nice way to get back into the college game. The college and pro game 
are two entirely different sports.''