today's articles

[Kestutis.Kveraga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Kestutis Kveraga)]

Some really interesting stuff today in the papers. I'm not sure I buy Obie's
claim that he has always detested the "my-turn-your-turn" offense of the past
few years and  wanted a "passing" offense for years. But whether Ainge's
arrival and his disposal of Toine freed Obie to do what he always wanted to do,
or whether it simply served as a warning to get with Ainge's program or else,
I'm certainly liking the sound bytes emanating from Obie's mouth. 

As for the article on Ainge, the stories and quotes about him seem  to directly
contradict what Egg's been saying for months - that he's a lying, wishwashy
scoundrel. Like many others, I don't get that impression at all. However, the
"brain doctor" thing continues to bother me. Larry Bird's advice to Ainge to
ditch the "swami and do his own thinking" was priceless. LB is no one's fool. 

Hopefully, the swami won't do too much damage (except to Grousbeck et al.'s
wallet). If Niednagel's as cunning as I think he is, he simply tries to divine
what Ainge (or any other executive he's "advising") thinks about a player or a
deal, and then repeats it back to him, presenting it as his own opinion and
lacing it with the pseudo-scientific jargon he stole from the famous cuckoo
Carl Jung. The enthralled executive likes what he hears and says to himself,
"wow, this guy really knows his stuff". It's  a simple psychological trick -
people like when their opinions are shared by someone else, even if they're not
fully aware that it's their own opinion. Then Niednagel takes credit when his
client turns out to be right, blames it on the poor schmuck when he's wrong
(giving a new meaning to the phrase "blaming the victim"), and his legend lives
on.The good news is, Ainge MIGHT be doing his own thinking; Niednagel just
serves as a psychological teddy bear for him. The alternative is too scary to
contemplate.

Kestas