Lost In Transaction - Megiola (Boston Sports Media Watch)

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

No smiles for Pierce, Celtics
By Lenny Megliola, 2/26

BOSTON -- It was as fitting of a metaphor for this pitiful season as any, 
when Walter McCarty's 3-pointer was waved off at the buzzer after the 
officials looked at the replay. Call it good and the Celtics would have 
beaten Milwaukee at the FleetCenter last night. But no. Basket disallowed: 
Celtics lose again, 106-104. 
     
Just another nail in the coffin of a fractured, frustrating season. The 
Celtics have lost 13 of 14, not that anyone but Danny Ainge is still 
counting. 
     
Just where the director of basketball operations is taking this team is 
impossible to say. Right now? The Celtics are hard to look at. That's all. 
The captain of the team professes to be an optimist, but this season is 
pushing the envelope. Paul Pierce never expected this. So, how hard is it 
now? "Tougher than ever," he said. And don't ever get into what the future 
might hold for this team, not after all of Ainge's moving and shaking. 
Net result: they're 23-36. The future? "Hard to say," said Pierce. "I don't
know who's going to be here at next training camp." 
     
Pierce is clear on the season's low point though. "The toughest part for 
me to handle was when coach (Jim) O'Brien stepped down. I didn't know 
why, or what happened.  That kinda broke my heart." 
     
Through the shakeups Pierce's play has drawn criticism. He insists it 
hasn't gotten to him. "I can accept it. When you're losing everything is 
looked at a whole different scale. Under a microscope." 
     
Along the road to misery, the new owners have had a rude awakening. 
They saw how this could be a basketball town again when the Celtics had 
their stimulating run to the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago. 
The Celtics smacked the 76ers in a deciding Game 5 at the FleetCenter. 
The crowd went wild. They destroyed the Pistons four games to one, 
clinching it on the road. They had an unprecedented comeback win against 
the Nets which sent tremors through the FleetCenter, it was that good. 
OK, the Nets came back to win the series. Still, it was pretty heady 
stuff for a team that 
had missed the playoffs the previous six seasons. 
     
The Grousbeck group noticed. And bought the storied franchise. 
    
Less than two years later, the Celtics have become, to paraphrase the great 
movie, Lost In Transaction, Ainge making trades at an uptempo pace he 
wishes his team could play at. A superstar gets traded, a respected coach 
gets fed up and walks and Ainge keeps making so many deals that the 
Celtics are the only NBA team wearing tags that say HELLO, MY NAME IS ... 
    
Pierce may be the senior guy on the team and its most valuable commodity, 
but he has had no voice in any of the changes and doesn't expect 
to have any. "I'm not consulted.  I didn't even know about the Chucky 
Atkins trade." 
     
The Patriots win the Super Bowl, the Red Sox are stirring more passion 
than Mel Gibson's flick. The Bruins are doing just fine. How do the Celtics 
respond to all this? By being lousy. No one's paying attention anymore. What 
did they expect? 
    
"The big thing right now is to just get in the playoffs," said Pierce. 
Last night's loss just made that harder. There have been so many new 
teammates to get to know that Pierce is having a hard team getting a read 
on their psyches, never mind their playing ability. He was asked if this 
team had taken on a loser's mentality. Measuring his response, Pierce 
said, "It's hard to say." 
    
Michael Stewart hasn't been here long and isn't exactly house shopping, 
but the little-used veteran said the low point has been "all the losses." 
     
That's understandable. It's Danny Ainge's job to correct it. If he can. 
     
Interim head coach John Carroll was asked if he thought McCarty's shot 
beat the buzzer. "I thought it was late," he said, "but at this point I was 
going to beg for anything." 
     
Understandable.