Leave Obie alone!!

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm the first to admit I don't really follow the college game, and so with 
rare exceptions, I am pretty well clueless about up and coming players.

What gets me, though, is all the people who say that Jim O'Brien should be 
encouraged to leave town and take Antoine Walker with him.

Three years ago, people would have literally kissed his feet--or any other 
portion of anatomy--if it got Rick Pitino out of town.  Now people are 
acting outraged and upset at how he does his job.

So, let's look at how he's done his job.

When he took over the Celtics team as coach in 2001, Rick Pitino had "led" 
them to a season record of 12-22.  The loss at Miami was so embarrassing 
that Rickster didn't even have the gumption to fly back to Boston with the 
team.  Everyone said they were dead in the water.  Jim O'Brien--as interim 
coach--finished the 2000-01 season 24-24, and but for a collapse at the 
very end of the year, nearly snuck them into the playoffs!

The following season, 2001-02, O'Brien was officially in charge, and the 
Celtics went 49-33, and went to the second round of the playoffs without a 
center. By contrast, in the entire 1999-2000 and the part of the 200-01 
seasons that Pitino coached, they were a total of 47-69.  Obviously, no 
playoffs.

In the offseason, Gaston chose not to reward Rodney Rogers and Kenny 
Anderson by making them serious offers.  Instead, he had the gall to send 
O'Brien to Rodney with an offer so insulting that in any other neighborhood 
would have been cause to challenge a duel.  He was allowed to go to New 
Jersey for nothing in return.  Kenny Anderson, among others, was sent out 
of town as fast as Gaston could ring up the profits.  Perhaps he was too 
busy locking the team into a multiyear deal with Fox Sports New England 
that guaranteed him personally another boatload of money--while selling the 
team for even more moolah.

So, instead of having a point guard coming into his own, and needing only a 
true center to shore up the team and do serious damage in the playoffs, 
O'Brien was stuck with the remains of the best defensive team in the 
NBA.  He didn't even have enough players to hold a full scrimmage.  Gaston 
refused to give him so much as a dime to call for help.

So O'Brien was stuck.  There was no chance of improving the team by 
building on what they'd learned on defense the previous year.  He would 
have to start all over with new people and hope it would work.  It didn't, 
as we learned after Vin Baker got here.

New owners at least opened the wallets and gave him enough players to not 
look asinine.  But by then, it was too late.  As Obie said, "We are what we 
are."  That meant a team that had to rely on the three because they had no 
real inside presence.  A running game was pointless because they had no one 
to dominate the inside at either end.  So he took a chance and ran Pierce 
and Walker into the ground.  On any other team, Battie would have had his 
surgery months ago, but he postponed it because the C's had no other options.

Still, the team compiled a decent regular season record and made the second 
round of the playoffs once more.

Does anyone here REALLY think that O'Brien is so idiotic that he doesn't 
know we need to run more?  WE DON'T HAVE A POINT GUARD.   WE DON'T HAVE A 
CENTER.  With no one other than Pierce and Walker to handle the ball, and 
forcing Tony Battie, etc., to play guys that overwhelm them routinely, it's 
amazing the team did as well as they have.

Ainge has said, in so many words, he wants to run.  He wants a point guard 
and a center.  He also says, in so many words, that he's talked with 
O'Brien and they're "on the same page".  I haven't heard word one of 
dissent from Pierce or Walker--who has previously stated personal loyalty 
to O'Brien.

So in my none-too-humble opinion, people should stop trying to shove the 
coach and his two best players out the door and give them a chance to see 
what is accomplished with better ownership, a realistic budget, and the 
players they need.  Let the C's draft and deal for the right people, and 
see what comes of it.  I think that if he gets a real point guard, that 
O'Brien will use him.  But he needs a true Center just as badly.  I like 
Tony Battie a lot, and I have NO complaints about his abilities and 
effort.  But he was run ragged last season and needs help.

O'Brien took what he had and used it in the way he thought would win the 
most games with the talent they had.  I think he--and the team--did a 
spectacular job.  They just need some more help at Center and Point 
Guard.  Until I see otherwise, Coach O'Brien has done his job better than 
anyone had a right to expect, given what he had to work--and contend--with.

So stop complaining and let the man do his job.  If any of us were such a 
wealth of coaching knowledge, don't you think the Pacers or the Sixers 
would have looked us up by now?  Yeek.

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