Re: From Dr. Jack Ramsay on ESPN.com

[Sean Giovanello <sgiovanello@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

***

O'Brien told Ainge they were not good trades and the reasons why 
he opposed them.

***

OB sanctioned the Antoine deal according to both his and Danny 
statements after the trade.  He also agreed with Danny that Antoine had 
a grasp on the team and that he wanted to run in the past but it wasnt 
conducive to Antoine's game...

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle wrote:

> 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