Auerbach Ponders Personality Conflicts

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Decision shocks Auerbach
He thought pair could work it out
By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 1/29/2004
After hearing the news of coach Jim O'Brien's resignation Tuesday and learning the reasoning behind it, Red Auerbach remains as shocked as anyone. Knowing well the tensions that can exist between coaches and management, Auerbach was somewhat confounded by the fact that Danny Ainge, director of basketball operations, and O'Brien could not work through their philosophical differences.
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"It came as a shock, but I could see it happening because they had two different philosophies," said Auerbach, the Celtics' president and patriarch, who received phone calls Tuesday from everyone present at the meeting where O'Brien announced his resignation. "I feel that O'Brien was a damn good coach and I'm a good friend of Danny's. And I think Danny will be a damn good manager. O'Brien is a little more volatile and when you say you're going to try and work this out, he said, `The heck with it.' He figures he's not through coaching and he can get a job somewhere else. He didn't want to put up with this thing. Knowing Jim as I do, I think it kind of built up in him and all of a sudden, one day, he pops. And once you pop, sometimes you can't unpop.
"Nobody is really mad at anybody, which is a good thing. Nobody is bad-mouthing anybody. I think there's a feeling of misunderstanding, but there's a feeling of mutual respect, which is good for the ball club. Jimmy didn't bad-mouth anybody. He showed a lot of class. I talked to Danny. The same thing. They're both good at their jobs, and in a matter of time, I felt it could have been resolved and they could have worked together. But it didn't last that long."
The players were equally shocked but determined to move forward and focus on the remainder of the regular season under interim coach John Carroll.
O'Brien enjoyed particularly close bonds with Paul Pierce, Walter McCarty, and Mark Blount, the three holdovers from last season.
The players respected the way O'Brien treated them. He kept each Celtic informed about where he stood and what he needed to do to improve and earn playing time.
"You sort of felt [the frustration mounting] at times, but I never thought it would come to this," said Pierce. "Just playing with him the last few years, it was really unexpected . . . You could see in their personalities that they were kind of two different people trying to work together. When you have two different personalities trying to work together, sometimes you're going to clash, sometimes it's going to work. But it didn't work out this time and we all have to move on.
"He was a great leader and he's been a big influence on my career. But now that we've parted ways, we have to move on."
Although it was difficult to see O'Brien depart midseason and add his resignation to the list of distractions that has made this season especially trying, the players believed O'Brien must have had a good reason for the timing of his decision. When O'Brien left, Boston was two games below .500.
"It's always going to be a distraction, but we have to be prepared as professionals," said Mike James. "Coach O'Brien is going to be truly missed, but now we have a new general. We have to give Coach Carroll the same respect that we gave Coach O'Brien. It's definitely tough to see him go. He gave me this opportunity. But I always believe there's methods to a person's madness, no matter what it is. There's a reason why people do what they do. I don't know what his method was, but I know he's not a quitter. And I truly believe that he believes in this team."
) Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.