Re: Criticism Of The Ainge Press Conference

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 06:41 PM 5/9/03 -0400, Way Of The Ray wrote:
> >From WEEI's Big Show:
>
>1. Timing of press conference - Scheduled before
>biggest Celtics game of the season - should have conducted negotiations
>with Ainge in secret, and waited to announce his hiring after the
>playoffs.

They tried, but by Wednesday night, TNT was breaking word of the talks, and 
Ainge was getting teased about it during the game--which, BTW, was 
unconscionably unethical, as both Harlan and Thompson should have known 
they were crossing a line Ainge was not supposed to cross.  Once word 
leaked, things had to warp up fast before it became an even BIGGER 
distraction.

>2. Ainge says he's here to turn things around: Implies problems with a
>club that is in second round of playoffs - negative association for
>players - tells players and coaches that change will occur.

There ARE problems--even though they've done an incredible job of 
overcoming them to this point, they obviously need a center and point guard 
which is bound to have an effect on playing time for people like Battie and 
it also means Walker will not be bringing the ball up as often.

>3. Ainge says he believe players have overachieved - Tells players
>that they're not that good.

No, it tells them that they beat Indiana, a team that on paper had more 
talent and depth than they did, incompetent coach notwithstanding; and kept 
up pretty well with a Nets team that could possibly have handed out a 
butt-kicking like the Mavs did.

>4. Ainge says he has to evalate coaching staff - Leads coaching staff to
>be distracted and worry about their jobs, while their concentration
>should be on the playoffs.

Ummm--that's his JOB.  And he stressed, in an interview before tonight's 
game on TNT--that he was NOT planning any personnel moves for coaches OR 
players.  He needs to get himself familiar with them first.  I think that 
the staff is ok for next season at least.  How long after that I think will 
depend on how things go over the summer.

>5. Ainge says to have patience - Boston is a quick result town and
>pressure is on to change things quickly.

He's right--and wrong.  It's not that the fans are impatient, it's that 
many seasons of impatience are coming to an end.  Fans can see the light at 
the end of the Pitino Tunnel (which I'm surprised the Big Dig people didn't 
use as a name--it's long, winding, took years to do and was overpriced) and 
want to see the long-promised results.  If anything, previous ownership was 
impatient, as witness all the good players the C's let go.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website