From: Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: celtics@xxxxxxxx, Celticsstuffgroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: The pressure is squarely on Danny Ainge now. Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 17:55:48 -0500
I'm an Obie fan. I make no bones about it. I think that he had the right idea and was constructing a playoff-caliber team. Then Danny kept detonating the roster with trades that didn't pan out.
Despite the sound and fury over the other guys, the first trade was essentially Walker for LaFrentz. Walker is fitting in well in Dallas, and Raef is out for the season. In addition, the C's supposedly traded Walker because he wasn't playing the kind of team game that Ainge wanted for Boston. So, we give up Eric Williams and Tony Battie for Ricky Davis.
Now, I admit that Davis is doing better than I expected. He hustles, passes, and does a lot of the "little things" that you want players to do. He also--occasionally--scores a lot of points. But he's a defensive disaster. We were better off with Antoine, who at least played defense. No, Walker didn't believe the running game would work--but that's because he was right.
With Ainge's destruction of the roster now complete, the C's have no big men to go inside, no player like Walker to take the pressure off Pierce, and no one to play consistent offense or defense. The team was forced to go back to shooting a barrage of threes just to try to be competitive, because absent Raef, Chris Mihm, and Vin Baker, there was NO inside presence to mention. Blount is ok, but he drops too many passes under the hoop. I get nervous when someone passes him the ball.
Obie tried. He mostly kept the peace when Ainge kept pulling the parquet out from under his feet with no warning and no choices. He wasn't one to air things in the press. But you could tell he wasn't happy with this situation, and something finally blew--most likely Obie's temper.
I know a number of people blamed Obie for the team's current mess. I say it's not his doing. The Celtics kept putting him back at square one every time he made progress.
Now, Danny has everything he wants his way. Like his friend Larry, he can pick the coach he wants. He's traded away the players he didn't want and gotten the ones he likes. All, ostensibly, because the C's couldn't win this season and he wants the Celtics to win a year or so down the road. Well, he has his chance--and the attendant pressure. If the C's don't play well the rest of the season--an increasingly likely proposition--Danny will have to produce a playoff-ready team next season.
I don't think he can. I think O'Brien had the right idea, but didn't get the support he needed. The notion that players were routinely traded with little or no input from the coach is absurd, especially in midseason. Danny is anxious to "make his mark". well, we can certainly smell it way over here, the way he's been pissing on the team.
In looking at the accomplishments of Danny Ainge vs. Jim O'Brien, I have to say the wrong person left.
Snoopy the Celtics Beagle Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website