Re: We're left with blind faith. Egg's right.

[Ryan W <ubiquitous_am_i@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hell yeah, Paul.  This is exactly what I'm talking
about.  People on this list want to make it an
either/or argument.  Those who question what Danny has
done are immediately put into the
keep-Obie-and-win-ugly-but-never-win-championships
class, while those showing continued support are put
into the
blue-eyed-tomorrow-will-be-better-we-weren't-going-to-win-a-championship-anyway-so-let's-suck-this-year-because-we'll-be-so-much-better-next-year
class.  It's not that simple (not that my hyphenated
monstrosity makes that clear).  And, yes, Egg was
right (this means you should post more frequently
Egg).

However, I'm not as down on are supposed talent
upgrades as you and Egg are.  Mihm I like for obvious
reasons.  As Stacey King said last night, he's an
athletic big man.  However, he doesn't seem to make
many shots that aren't of the
I-just-dunked-in-your-face variety; that is, his
spot-up and back-to-the-basket game is very weak right
now, which is odd because I thought every white stiff
was supposed to be able to hit a 15-footer (all these
damned hyphenated words are a pain in my ass, btw). 
Ricky, I like, and I'll always like, no matter how
"individual" his game seems in the midst of a team
game.  He needs to be motivated (note to Carrol:
motivate Ricky by starting him and basically telling
him that he better start becoming the Antoine to
Paul's Paul or this season is dead) and whoever said
it was right...Ricky quit playing defense the day
O'Brien left.  And that's why it was such a shame to
see him leave.  At least we showed heart on one half
of the court when he was here (I hated O'Brien's
inability to coach offense as much as anyone, but
still it would have been a very good thing if he'd of
stayed at least till the end of the year).  As much as
I hated the Antoine trade, Jiri has been good, though
he's not a point guard as I had suggested earlier in
the year.  As Tam is want to repeat, when was the last
time he made a great pass?  He'll make the right pass,
but the great pass isn't happening.  And when he's at
the point, he's very tentative.  And sometimes his
shot is WAY OFF in an Antoine Walker sort of way.  I'm
hoping it's an injury issue, as his thumb still seems
to be still bothering him.  We'll know next year,
assuming he comes back fully healthy, what kind of
player he'll be (I'm cautiously optimistic).  Finally,
I think the jury is out on Raef at this point.  As my
brother said to me last night as we were getting
killed by the Bulls, Raef is good by being steady.  He
won't pull a Walter, in other words.  He's smart in
that he takes care of the ball and knows where
everyone should be (and thus the coach will always be
comfortable with him on the court).  He also blocks
shots, rebounds decently and runs the floor.  These
are all good things.  However, he lacks drive.  He'll
never get in a guy's face.  He's not ever going to be
a team leader.  He doesn't really strike fear in
opposing players.  He'll never command a double team. 
He'll disappear for long stretches.  Basically, he's a
piece of siding; necessary, but only noticeable by his
absence, not his presence.  Was he worth Antoine? (oh
yeah, I'm not going to have that discussion).

In the end, Paul you're right; it is a matter of blind
faith.  But, seriously, that's what it will always be
with sports.  Sometimes, you get lucky and follow a
team that is managed brilliantly.  With us, we don't
know yet where Danny will end up taking us.  For me,
alot depends on what happens during this off-season. 
Will he hire a good coach?  Make smart draft picks (we
need Okefar Danny...take everything and try to get
Okefar)?  Sign free agents wisely?  In a lot of ways,
this off-season is like the draft of 2001, in that it
could create success that would last for 10 years. 
But will it?  Who knows...but I say we hold off
crucifying Danny until he fucks up the upcoming
offseason; after that, the gloves come off.

Ryan


--- pmaurice <damekmo@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Shawn Niles" <shizzjr@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> 
> > It's going to be so much fun to hear all of the
> naysayers backtracking at
> > this time next year.
> 
> And Shawn, I hope you're right. But I've just spent
> some time with the
> in-laws in Texas. Don't hate me because I've been
> watching good basketball.
> But all is not lost, yet. From Gerry Callahan via
> Way:
> 
> - Ainge was brought here to blow things up and
> rebuild and he's doing that,
> "and for the most part it's too early to pass
> judgment...."
> 
> He's right. For the most part it's too early to pass
> judgment. Danny might
> turn this whole thing around. He might make the
> right trades. He might know
> exactly what he's doing. Maybe. But right now, as
> much as it pains me to say
> this, Egg is right. Egg's been right about
> everything, the whole time. When
> Danny started making trades, with every trade there
> was almost a universal
> belief around here that there was an upgrade in
> talent. I keep waiting for
> the this upgrade in talent to translate into wins.
> When the team kept
> looking like crap, everybody blamed the coach. Get
> rid of that coach, and
> now the new coach is the problem. In the past week
> we've read how the team
> is trying to figure out a way to use Paul Pierce
> effectively. For the past
> three years Paul Pierce has had "Hall of Fame"
> written across the back of
> his jersey, and now the team has to figure out how
> to use him effectively? I
> thought they already knew how to do that? He looked
> pretty good to me.
> What's the problem? Here's a quote from this list,
> post-Ricky Davis trade:
> 
> "The knee-jerk, idiot talking head analysis of
> 'Pierce needs more help and
> misses Antoine' is ridiculous."
> 
> That very day, on the Globe website, from Paul
> Knee-jerk Idiot Pierce:
> 
> ``It's just tough on us right now, because there's
> no one else on this team
> who is commanding a double team, like in the past,''
> Pierce said in obvious
> reference to Antoine Walker [news].
> 
> And yes Mark, that first quote is from you. Look, I
> read every one of your
> posts Mark. You're brilliant, a great writer, very
> insightful. I look
> forward to every one of your posts and learn a lot
> reading them. If I were a
> real man I'd fly out to Ohio and show you how I
> really feel, but
> unfortunately I'm spending all day making Valentines
> for Antoine. But you
> don't have to be a "knee-jerk, talking head idiot,"
> to think that Danny made
> the trade for Ricky Davis to get some scoring help
> for Pierce, and take some
> of the scoring pressure off him. It's not working. I
> never liked Williams or
> Battie that much, and at the time I liked the Ricky
> Davis acquisition. Ricky
> can play. But the stiffs that came along with him
> are just that, stiffs.
> When the trade was made suddenly I'm reading how
> Mihm's career is going to
> be rejuvenated. We're going to love him. He's a big
> body with lots of skill
> and just needs a change of scenery. He was going to
> really help up front.
> Chris Mihm is nothing but a very large, stumbling
> foul machine. He's
> miserable. Worthless. Jumaine Jones is worthless.
> "But Raef's coming back!"
> Raef is an inconsistent, disappointing, foul prone,
> backup who might give
> you something one day and disappear for two more
> games. Raef and Mihm are
> nothing but trade bait because they're big, so by
> definition, "seemingly"
> have potential. Jiri Welsch is a nice player and
> after his little spurt of
> great play he's come back down to earth. Mark Blount
> is the team's best
> frontcourt player. Think about that. And no, you
> aren't getting Josh Howard
> for Mark Blount. I just read another post blaming
> O'Brien's system and
> O'Brien-lite for the team's most recent loss.
> 
> "I guess Carroll is the one left holding the Obie
> bag and he decided he will
> take the responsibility and go down with the ship.
> Such an honorable man,
> just like Obie. Convinced they are right, regardless
> of circumstance,
> stubborn to the
> end...."
> 
> Please, I'm getting a headache. Who's name is
> missing from this list of
> honorable but confused, stubborn and clueless men?
> How about "Danny Ainge?"
> This team needs a center, a power forward,
> rebounding, a point guard,
> leadership, discipline,....am I leaving anything
> out. Oh yeah, talent.
> There've been no upgrades in talent around here.
> When Egg wrote about the
> one-dimensionality of the majority of these players,
> she wasn't kidding.
> Don't keep blaming the coach. Here's something I
> heard down in Texas: "Don't
> pee on my head and tell me it's raining." Don't keep
> telling me they have
> more talent now that Danny's made all these moves
> when they keep losing,
> looking worse and worse with every game. Danny Ainge
> might turn things
> around. But Egg is right, pointing out that there
> are an awful lot of  "red
> 'flags" flying right now. Does Danny care about
> chemistry? He says all the
> right things, but can he actually put the right
> players together to make his
> vision come true? If we're to go on what he's done
> so far you I don't think
> it's unreasonable to think that Danny might be the
> wrong man for the job.
> And it's not just chemistry. This team has two
> players who would be starting
> on a "decent" NBA team. One of them has proven to be
> an idiot every now and
> then, and unfortunately the future Hall of Famer
> might heading in that
> direction. Every other player has "maybe,"
> "potential," "might be,"
> "someday," "could be," "career disappointment," or
> "just another stiff,"
> written next to his name in the box score. We're
> (and I'm including my self
> here) looking for signs of hope from garbage time
> players during garbage
> time which seems to go on forever these days.
> Pitiful. If Danny actually
> thinks this team should be winning more this year,
> he's a fool. And the real
> problem isn't the coach. That's the least of Danny's
> worries. If Danny cares
> anything about chemistry, I haven't seen it. It's
> too early to pass final
> judgment on the Danny Ainge era. That's true. I hope
> things work out. Maybe
> his next few trades will actually put more talent
> and the right chemistry on
> the floor. Maybe his draft picks will work out. But
> I was told that if you
> were naive enough to think this team, pre Danny
> Ainge's sweaty little grip,
> was going to get better, you were kidding yourself.
> No discipline, no
> leadership, less talent, no chemistry, fewer wins.
> Pretty funny.
> 
> Paul M.


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