Egg on Ryan vs. the rest of us

[Michael Gooen]

[Sorry about cutting off the last post - I mistakenly hit "send" and then
decided to do this one separately.]

While I enjoy Egg's curmudgeonly contrary opinions, I have to cry
foul (um.. fowl?) at her last post:

<<Ravi asked a solid question ... would I change my
 mind if we then also added Garnett.  My answer was "not necessarily."  
For I felt that would mean we had sold our souls and clogged our payroll
for three "fill the seats/increase the revenues" stars all concurrently
beginning the slow descent from their peaks.   And that would leave us
with the weakest bench in maybe the history of the NBA with no $$$$ relief
in sight.>>

"Sold our souls?"  Is it a particular player whose departure you lament? 
Or is it the concept of the "youth movement" you so recently decried?  Is
it that Garnett/Pierce/Allen are (or are soon to be) in their 30s?

<<Celt fans are always in love with what and who we have,>>

Guilty as charged.

<<not what and who we have lost.>>

Who have "we" "lost?"  I recognize that a number of us (including me)
believed that there was a reasonable shot at raising Big Al's #7 to the
rafters after 10-15 more years, but I'm not crazy enough to think of that
as a done deal.  It wasn't even a done deal that Al would stay in Boston,
even if he were to maximize his potential.  

How many other top-flight players (including draft picks) have the Cs
"lost" under Ainge?  Until now, the toughest criticism one could launch
against Danny (and the one you launched against him many, many times) was
that the "youth movement" wasn't working.


<<Remember the high hopes expressed for draft picks Eric 
"First piece-of-the-puzzle" Montross, Jerome "The Greyhound"   
Moiso, Kedrick "Spider Man" Brown, Brandon "Elton Brand" Hunter,   
Joe Forte,   Marcus Banks, Orien Greene, Gerald Green,>>

Fair enough - sum total of their contributions was Montross' role in the
Antoine Walker trade.

<<and now Glenn "l'il Charley Barkley" Davis.>>

And yes, I still have some real hopes for Big Baby, especially with a
mentor like KG.
   
<<"So tell me what's so enticing about this roster?">>

Three Hall-of-Famers who can still contribute at a Hall-of-Fame level, who
are all highly motivated to win a championship, who are not head cases
either on or off the court, and who are capable of attracting experienced
talent to Boston over the next few years.

Oh, and Kendrick Perkins, Tony Allen (in each case if healthy), and Rajon
Rondo don't suck.

<<"He {Ainge} has basically blow-torched his entire body of work here in
Boston. Forget the youth/athleticism/grow-together thing.>>

Again, isn't that a good idea?

<<Forget 2009, 2010, and 2011.>>

Huh?  Unless Ryan has a crystal ball, how does acquiring a 32 year old
(who just scored 26 ppg before suffering a non-crippling injury that kept
him from playing for a non-playoff team) and a 31 year old (who's still an
MVP-caliber player) mean that it's all or nothing in 2008?

<<Despite all of the above being true, Ryan was called grouchy, a
dinosaur, a manic-depressive, even stupid>>

I'd agree with grouchy, manic-depressive dinosaur.  A "not-so-fast there"
tone would have been a reasonable response.  But this was a rant.  Before
these two trades, the Celtics' future rested in hopes for tremendous
strides by Al Jefferson (seemingly warranted), Rajon Rondo (maybe
warranted), and Gerald Green (so far, unwarranted, dunk contest
notwithstanding), and fainter hopes of winning a lottery (both at the
random number generator stage and at the talent-payoff stage).  Egg, you
were as critical of those hopes as anyone.  I think your point about
"abject homerism" was a lot closer to the mark then than it is now.

<<And that's what loyal fans do ... they homerize.>>

Yes, we do.

<<In three trades (Telfair, Allen, Garnett) we have fallen from arguably
the 1st (if you include Brandon Roy and Jianlian) to the 30th ranked team
in promising youth.>>

Who are you and what have you done with our friend Egg?  Since when is
"promising youth" a stat?  

<<After five Danny drafts we are left with Rondo, Perk, and   injured Tony
Allen, second-rounders Powe, Davis, and Pruit,   and the 
undrafted Wallace and Manuel.   Add Scals and House, and that my 
friends, is our bench and our future.   But we do have Garnett and
Allen, with only a finals series or a long-awaited Championship 
proving they have been worth it.>>

I whole-heartedly disagree.  The issue is whether this team outperforms
the "promising youth" team, taking into account as realistic a time
horizon as you want to impose (bearing in mind that some of the "promising
youth" would have had to leave anyway, either because these owners weren't
going to pay luxury tax for anything less than a Garnett or simply because
the "promising youth" wanted to leave).  

<<That the Allen and Garnett trades have been ALL ABOUT MONEY and 
less about actually winning a Championship.>>
<<You can bet on the NBA as being first and foremost a business.   
It's a lot safer bet than that we will actually win a Championship 
with Garnett, Pierce, Ray Allen and this eclectic bunch of 
complementary scrubs.>>

Well, YES.  It's a 100% safe bet that the NBA is a business.  I'm glad the
owners have awakened and are now running it right.  I'm glad they've
sparked fan interest - not by adding cheerleaders, waiters in club seats
or Jumbo-tron worthy distractions, but by acquiring REALLY GOOD PLAYERS
for whom it is impossible not to root.  I hope these guys make tons of
money doing it this way.

Egg, please tell us - if Wyc et al were to have fired Danny after the
lottery debacle and hired you, what would you have done differently?  Is
there anyone else - anyone obtainable under the wildest stretch of
imagination - you'd rather have than Garnett and Allen?  Should we all
just start rooting for the BlazerSonicWolves?  After all, those guys have
just about all of the old Celtic players, plus the two guys we craved
until 5/22.

OF COURSE there's no guarantee that Pierce/Allen/Garnett will bring #17. 
Maybe they will get hurt.  Maybe the supporting cast won't be enough. 
Maybe Doc will be their downfall (my biggest fear for now).  But maybe
not.  There's hope again.  For now, and for the next few years, the Cs are
in the mix.  

Which brings me back to your first point:

<<I love Garnett and look forward to a few exciting seasons for a
change.>>
   
On that, we agree - what else can we fans do, anyway?

Michael Gooen


       
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