re: From Dr. Jack Ramsay on ESPN.com

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Oh that horrible evil Danny Ainge. Bad Danny, taking away that championship team
from coaching genius Jim O'Brien.  They were headed for greatness under O'Brien 
and Ainge ripped the guts out of the Celtics for his personal ego. 

The mighty Obie who led the Celtics to playoff victory after playoff victory 
in the All Star-laden East resigned nobly, and will now leave for France to
awaken the French people to  newfound glory.
Ray

> ** Original Subject: From Dr. Jack Ramsay on ESPN.com
> ** Original Sender: Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> ** Original Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 15:47:11 -0800 (PST)

> ** Original Message follows... 

>
> 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 

>** --------- End Original Message ----------- **