Celtics Column

["Steve Brown" <browney2o@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey this is a Celtics Column I wrote for my school paper a couple weeks 
ago...I think its a good read as the trade deadline approaches


               With the resignation of coach Jim OBrien it has become 
clear that Danny Ainge is the master and commander of your Boston Celtics.  
That grasp of the franchise Ainge once lamented Antoine Walker for, is now 
on his conscience.

	As a navigator Ainge is green.  He became a first time NBA executive last 
May, but inexperience has not deterred Ainge from going full steam ahead.

	It might be in Ainges best interests to look at the route traveled by a 
man who has already made a similar journey.  No, I am not talking about 
NBA-types like Rod Thorn, Jan Volk, or Jerry West, but of maybe the most 
famous ship captain of all, Noah.

	Granted Noah came sometime before James Naismith took a popular Scottish 
childrens game called duck on a rock and modified it into modern day 
basketball, but Noah did know a thing or two about successful first time 
navigation.

	Ainge two his credit has already learned two things from Noah.  The first 
is to plan ahead.  Ainge is basing all his actions on his three year plan, 
which promises to have Boston competing with the upper echelon of the NBA 
for a championship.  The initial phase of Ainges plan calls for the Celtics 
to take a step back before moving forward.  A decision that does not seem to 
be sitting well with the Celtics faithful, which leads us to the second 
thing Ainge picked up from Noah, dont listen to critics.

	Ainge was criticized in the local papers for his trading of Walker, but 
that did not stop him from trading Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown, and Eric 
Williams a few months later.  He also took the brunt of OBriens 
resignation but handled it in stride.

	However there is more to steering the Celtics away from the NBA Draft 
Lottery, The NBAs Bermuda Triangle, then having a plan and deaf ears.

	Ainge like Noah should build his team on high ground.  Ainge took the low 
road by acquiring Ricky Davis, a man who once intentionally missed a shot on 
his own net in an attempt to earn himself a triple-double.  Worse Ainge 
ridded the Celtics of the player the Eagle-Tribune referred to as the 
Celtics locker-room glue, Williams.  In fact the team that traded for 
Williams the Cleveland Caviliers, did so he could be a positive influence on 
rookie Lebron James.  Coincidentally, in keeping with the religious theme, 
James was once hailed in a Sports Illustrated cover story as The Chosen 
One.

	Noah also knew the importance of traveling in pairs; Ainge apparently 
missed the boat on this and as a result broke up the Bostons one-two punch 
of Paul Pierce and Walker.  Now without Walker Pierce looks lost on the 
offensive end.  At times forcing it, at others disappearing for minutes at a 
time, in fact Pierce is regressing in his basketball education without the 
influences of Walker and Williams.

	Everything Danny Ainge has been about with the Celtics is speed, he was 
quick to make trades and the players he sought in those trades were faster 
and more athletic than their predecessors.  Noah knew speed was not and 
advantage the snails were on board with the cheetahs.  In his haste Ainge 
has turned-over a roster that could have competed in the Eastern Conference 
to one struggling to make the playoffs.  As for the players he has brought 
in, yes they are more athletic but there is a difference between being 
athletic and being an NBA basketball player, just ask Michael Jordan if he 
would draft Kwame Brown a second time.

             My advice to Danny Ainge is this: take a deep breathe and like 
Noah, float awhile.

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