Re: Ange WEEI Comments Today

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

I was also troubled by Danny's comments today. I have been very supportive of 
Danny throughout, both because of his vision and because of his moves which 
he done well on 90% of them. I thought the plan was to make the Cs like the 
Kings. Yes, it takes a little bit of luck in any business. However, we are 
already well on our way in achieving that goal of building to being like the Kings. 
We are already the youngest team in the Eastern conference. We have athletes, 
scorers, guys who can dribble the ball at every position. We have gone to 
uptempo basketball.You just now have to let them mature and with that little bit 
of luck, see what you have after a few years. You add the five draft picks as 
wild cards to find a couple more guys that are keepers and sign another guy 
with the MLE.  Maybe you can get a veteran or two to sign on for cheap in a 
couple of years that likes the style of play and the chance for a championship. 
That should be it.

But now, Danny is seems to be implying that getting an impact player in the 
lottery draft or another superstar is a requirement to achieve his vision. 
First, the Kings don't have that. They have a lot of above average players but 
they don't have a Duncan or Shaq. (Of course, they haven't won anything either.)  
But the Kings never finished in the lottery to gain a player. (Please don't 
start an arguement of how good you think Webber, Pedja or Bibby are. That 
weren't that good when the Kings traded for them and none of the them are top 10 
players.)

Second, two guys that NBAdraft.net has listed as the 7 and 8 players are Ben 
Gordan and J Nelson. Both guys would have come out last year if the Cs would 
have guaranteed to take them at 16. Therefore, you can get lottery players at 
16 but you need another year to develop them. Sure the odds are better because 
you are taking a risk that they don't turn out the way you expected. However, 
you can still get the players, they will just be more raw and a little more 
risky. You just have to have a coach committed to long term and  developing them.

So Danny threw me a little curveball here. Now maybe some of his words got 
lost in translation. Danny is the most assessible GM I have ever seen. Maybe he 
needs to go scouting for awhile and stay away from the mike. Or maybe he is 
tired of all the flak and now wants to make it look like he was planning to hit 
the lottery this year. Danny, we know we lost Vin, Raef, had a coaching change 
and are changing a style of play. But I think we have hit bottom. We have 
turned the corner. We don't want to become the Bulls.  Build through power, not 
through weakness. Getting a 7-8 player over a 15 player just reduces the risk. 
Forget the lottery. Push these guys through the playoffs and you might be 
surprised what you find. There isn't anyone I'm afraid this year in the East 
except for the Pacers. You shouldn't see them until the ECF. You don't see West 
trying to get the Griz into lottery and you could argue them don't have anymore 
talent or a better chance in the West than we have. You might find you may not 
need Ben Gordan....

DJessen33

<< Danny Ainge was on WEEI's Big Show with Glenn Manboobs Ordway,
 Steve Longsnapper DeOssie and Mike Where Are The Drugs Adams
 Here's a summary:
 
 
 BS: Danny How are you?
 A: Enjoying the gig, so far.
 A: I Enjoy the challenge.
 BS: Expect some of the negativity
 A: Yes ~ Not take too much of a step back ~ Talked to Agents and Players
 past summer, no one wanted to play for the Celtics because: 1)Climate;
 2)Selfish Style, 3) Lottey Team, etc.
 BS: Biggest Barrier you face is to get a legitimate big time player
 A: Players don't even know who Havilicek is (past Celtics greatness)
 Getting that star player is obviously the key to being great.
 A: Time Frame: None of us know ~ Old Celtics got lucky ~ A lot
 of misfortune in recent times: Lottery, Lewis, Bias ~ Bad tough luck 
 We're trying to change things, Glen, need to have some fortune to get that
 star player in here
 BS DeOssie: Why not blow team up?
 A: Cites Chicago
 A; I don't think you have to blow it up - no guarantee.
 A: If you become really bad, you may be really bad for 4 or 5 years.
 BS: Understand why you had to trade Walker, but why not wait until a more 
attractive
 package ~ Why deal at that time?
 A: Two reasons: Luxury tax/Cap: Impossible to take on multiple contracts,
 I felt Walker's value wouldn't change  Two teams interested in Walker
 BS: Why not let Walker's salary run out?
 A: Only can replace Walker's salary with mid level, got better than that in 
Walker trade
 cites 2 firsts, Jiri, LaFrentz, Atkins.
 A: Walker not the kind of leader I wanted on the team
 Paul is not that type of leader either; Chucky Atkins better leader than 
anyone
 on our team.
 BS: Banks should play more.
  A: Banks should play more
 BS: Atkins buries Banks. 
 BS: Conflict going on over winning games and developing players
 BS: Almost better if you lose. 
 A: Good in both situations, playoff experience and playing Banks,
 other young players; Morale needs win, fruit of hard work and energy
 BS: You won by 21 points; Banks played 11 minutes.
 A; I think that that is not good
 A: We want to be a good team next year; I don't think a champoin team, but 
good
 as team as last two years - a 6th seed next year
 BS: Fans won't be patient enough to hang around untill Celtics better
 ~ Going to have trouble finding a good mid-level guy either,
 they'll opt for Lakers and better clubs.
 How can you get Celtics competetive in  a short period of team
 A: I don't think we're that far away.
 A; We can't recruit a player if in the lottery ever year
 A: We've got to do a real good job in the draft
 BS: Jiri a nice find, but problem,  easy to get complimentary players
 find star players hard part.
 BS: How do you get them?
 A: Songaila: I've never saw him play before getting to Boston; 
 his numbers embelleshed there in Sacramento.
 BS: Songaila playing well
 A: Told by Celtics coaches that he couldn't play in the NBA;
 told by coaches that Walter McCarty was a better player;
  Coach and GM need to be on the same page. 
 BS: You had an opportunity to bring in your own coach, why re-sign
 O'Brien, why not bring in your own guy?
 A; Two reasons: Who is my guy and O'Brien and I agreed with each other then
 on running, execution of offense, being more attractive to players,
 but season started, and when it came down to
 it, OBie felt comfortable in the defense and didn't want to take a step back.
 O'Brien didn't want to create a running game or develop young players.
 BS: Paul Pierce sticking around for retooling?
  A: Paul Pierce has a challenge ahead of him, play hard every night, teach 
other players
 how to win, very difficult; players live in the moment.
 A; New Coach huge asset to recruit player.
 BS: How do you without having a top 1, 2, 3 players turn things around
 A; Have to get lucky; cites other factors.
 A; I believe our owners, when time is right, will pay to get us over the top
 Cap Wise, we have restraints
 BS: You need to go out in the draft this year, and have to find the next 
great 
 guy, top  5 or 10 player down the line.
 A; No other way than the draft
 A; No way to put a time frame on becoming an elite team in the NBA
 A; You have to get lucky
 A; Competetive and entertaining
 A; Some difference between 8 and 15
 A: By next year, a 40 - 45 win team and a more entertaining
 team
 BS: This year's draft, is there a player out there who is LeBron James?
 A; No, not in the next three drafts
 BS: So not a great player, no James, and you're telling me the only
 way is too build in the draft, how in the hell do you get this guy?
 A: Maybe James top player in the league in 4 years, but
 occasionally you get players in the draft; bloomers like Jordan who
 players develop into great players. 
 A: Sacramento most entertaining team in the league and philosophy
 of having guys who can shoot - ballhandling
 A:  I believe you need guys who can score.
 A; Carroll has the most dificult job in the league, not enough practice or
 playing time to teach fundamentals, talk to McHale about this
 
 A; Talked to Bird, Auerbach, Mchale about most important quality in a coach.
 Need to have coach on same page as GM, be able to disagree, but then go 
 out and play golf  or have dinner. >>