Bob Ryan: Genius or jerk

[mark at 10thumbs.org]

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Egg wrote:
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How dare Ryan rain on our parade with a bit of logic.   Sure he pointed
out that Celt Nation is way too optimistic over three stars and a bunch
of guys named Joe, and that we have the weakest bench in the league.
Why shouldn't he?    I mean, someone had to say it.   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.   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.
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This is just silly Egg.

Yeah we went from 1st to 30th team in terms of promising youth --- but we
also went from 29th to (say, at least) 8th in terms of promising seasons.
And unlike the 2001 deal that shipped out JJ or the Potapenko trade... we
have now have a GM who values youth and understands how to acquire and
incorporate it.  Building for the now and for the future are not mutually
exclusive.

And yes -- after 5 drafts we're left with Rondo, Perk, and
injured Tony Allen, second-rounders Powe, Davis, and Pruit, and the
undrafted Wallace and Manuel. Well... that and Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett
(since it was the folks from those 5 drafts primarily that netted the 2
jurassic stars). But hey, who's counting

And you're wrong --- that's not the bench of our future.  We have a #1 and
2 #2s next year (maybe we can move up to 29th in the Promising Youth
Standings!), the MLE and LLE next summer and a 2nd round pick + the MLE
the summer after.

Danny's shown he can find decent NBA talent later in the draft --- Tony
Allen, Delonte West, Gomes, Powe, Perkins --- why should we assume that
will change?

I can accept some don't like this trade -- i even sort of see that view
(and miss Delonte and Big Al horribly) --- but lets not make stuff up. I
think it's silly to pick one small point in time to judge this team/the
drafts/ainge etc... it's like looking at building that's just a frame or
has a roof but not windows and crying b/c it won't be a finished house
ever.

(the other) mark