From Dr. Jack Ramsay on ESPN.com

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim O'Brien just couldn't take it any more. He had watched powerlessly as 
the personnel of the Celtics team that he had taken to the Eastern 
Conference Finals just two years ago was reduced to two members 
(<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3253>Paul Pierce 
and <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3100>Walter 
McCarty); and last year's squad -- a surprise playoff winner over Indiana 
-- was broken up by trades that he opposed. O'Brien did the honorable thing 
and resigned, forfeiting the last two years of a lucrative, guaranteed 
contract.

O'Brien found himself unable to work with the personnel policies of general 
manager Danny Ainge, who orchestrated the deal that sent 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3112>Antoine Walker 
and <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3086>Tony Delk 
to Dallas for 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3246>Raef LaFrentz 
and <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3614>Jiri 
Welsch; and the deal with Cleveland that replaced 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3176>Tony Battie, 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3016>Eric Williams 
and <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3521>Kedrick 
Brown with 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3264>Ricky Davis, 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3406>Chris Mihm and 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3234>Michael 
Stewart. O'Brien told Ainge they were not good trades and the reasons why 
he opposed them. Ainge listened and made the deals anyway. Ainge feels that 
Davis, Pierce, Mihm, Welsch and 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3716>Marcus Banks 
are the foundation for a contending team; O'Brien does not.

What is left is a team that struggles to win against everybody in the NBA. 
The Celts are 22-24, hanging tenuously to the sixth playoff position in the 
Eastern Conference. The team has two inexperienced point guards: 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3577>Mike James and 
Banks. O'Brien's focus was on building team defense first (the Celts were 
tied for second in the East in field goal percentage defense at .427) and 
then finding the best ways to score with the personnel at hand. Ainge puts 
offense as the top priority.

It's an unfortunate decision that O'Brien felt necessary to make. He has 
done an excellent coaching job with modest NBA talent. His players have a 
high regard for him as a coach and a person, and will sorely miss his 
presence. The silver lining for O'Brien will be that his coaching skills 
have received high marks around the league. He won't wait long for his next 
opportunity.

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