For want of an Egg, the omelet was lost

[dforant1]

See ya praise Ainge short term but stick it to him anyway. So he got lucky, 
he worked hard at getting lucky. Many successful people are considered 
lucky. The Celts are the envy of the League and that frosts them for they 
have to do it the missionary way.

How many teams are building for the future? It's a slow tedious process and 
you still have to be lucky for the obvious reasons.  Oden's an example of 
luck.

Hail Danny

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Snoopy the Celtics Beagle" <snoopy at celticsbeagle.net>
To: "The Boston Celtics Mailing List" <celtics at igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 6:44 PM
Subject: Re: For want of an Egg, the omelet was lost


> The fans are a macrocosm of the Celtics Management, really.  We are
> all fans of the team.  We all want to see them succeed.  The main
> difference is in how it's being done.  There are people, both here
> and elsewhere, who firmly believe that the Celtics should be building
> for the long-term, not rolling the dice in hopes that the C's can
> bring home a Championship or two before Oden and Durant
> improve.  Others are just as firmly convinced that proven veterans
> was the way to go and point to the current record as proof.
>
> We all invest a lot of ourselves into supporting the team and
> sometimes when others disagree with us, there's a near-inescapable
> moment of "Whaddya MEAN, "I'm wrong,"?  I'm RIGHT!".  In come cases,
> the moment lingers.
>
> The reality is, we are all pretty smart people, despite Trader Dan's
> assertion that we're somehow ignorant because we don't earn a living
> working in the NBA.  We know whereof we speak, with varying degrees
> of knowledge based on our personal views and experiences.
>
> So it's unlikely we'll ever change our minds about what the C's
> should do.  We're mostly pretty stubborn fans, else we'd never have
> survived the last decade or so rooting for the Celtics.  By the same
> token, we all need to realize that no matter how emphatically we may
> believe in a viewpoint, no matter how eloquently we may describe why
> we are obviously right, not everyone will agree.  That's cool.  It's
> like a listwide version of Siskel and Ebert, where it's not
> sufficient to make a declaration, you have to be able to put some
> thought into it and back it up.
>
> Sometimes we get a little out of hand, and what is intended as no
> more than literary wit, or a dose of sarcasm is taken as a personal
> insult, and escalation becomes the word of the day.
>
> But even when I disagree, I like reading the "opposition views",
> because sometimes I learn something...even if only what is and is not
> anatomically possible.  :)
>
> But we're all rooting for the Celtics, and at the very least, right
> now, they're winning.  So, I will now descend from my cookie box, and
> put my views out there so at least, I can take them out for a virtual 
> drive.
>
> As it happens, I don't believe Danny Ainge is a total
> incompetent.  At least, not while Thomas still coaches the
> Knicks.  Danny is also not the genius he is currently praised as.  I
> believe that the C's normally should build slowly for the long term,
> however, in acquiring the current roster, the Celtics made the right move.
>
> This is because of the "perfect storm" player situation that hit over
> the summer.  The Celtics had just had their worst season in living
> memory, then the rigged draft (and by rigged, I mean any situation
> that allows the two worst teams to draft out of the top three)
> deprives the C's of their shot at Oden or Durant.  Prior to this, it
> was obvious that Danny Ainge was building teams around Paul
> Pierce.  But there just weren't enough good players out of the draft
> to help NOW.  Pierce, not unreasonably, wanted a shot at the NBA
> Championship, and each day, was looking more and more like Ray Borque.
>
> Given the composition of the team over the Summer, there was zero
> chance the C's could even MAKE the playoffs without killing Pierce in
> the process.  There was no realistic playoff chance for years to
> come--by which time Pierce would be past his prime.  The fact is, the
> time to build around Pierce had come and gone.  To his credit, Pierce
> realized this and presented the C's with a choice.  Either get him
> some help, or trade him to a contender.
>
> Like I said, Danny isn't an idiot.  Had he traded Pierce, they'd be
> running in place, and in any event, nobody wanted to play for Boston
> without Pierce.  The W/L record for this season would have made last
> season look like a Playoff run.
>
> The only way to get him realistic help was to trade away some of the
> best young players.  With only Pierce, there was no shot at Garnett,
> so they got Ray Allen, then Kevin McHale gave the C's a gift.  Yes,
> it cost us Al Jefferson, but look at what happened to the rest of the
> guys we traded.  Gerald Green is invisible.  Delonte West has been
> injury prone and uneven.  Wally Szczerbiak, Mark Blount, and so
> on....all under-performing, when they get playing time at all.
>
> This gave the C's the current lineup.  Yes, the long-term future is
> hazy at best...but realistically, in a few years the WC will be even
> stronger as Oden and Durant, among others continue to grow.  The
> single best chance for Boston to win is now, THIS year.  As to the
> future, you hope that their spectacular season and (anticipated, by
> me at least) NBA Championship in June will serve as a magnet to free
> agents and veterans much like a plate of chocolate chip cookies
> attracts me.  Who knows, in a few years, a more mature Big Al, may
> even be back playing for us, if Kevin is still running the Timberwolves :)
>
> I think that the decision to put it all on the court now, while
> contrary to my preferred method of running a team, was the best
> option in this instance.
>
> As others have said, that doesn't make this group perfect by any
> means.  I believe we need a veteran PG backup, someone who can teach
> Rondo by example.  I think the running game needs to be fully
> instituted, but that probably can't happen until next season....I'd
> want Ray Allen to have a good year on his ankles and Tony Allen a
> chance to prove both legs work.  A veteran Center would be nice,
> too.  Perk has been playing better than I thought he could last
> season, but some nights, it's just not happening.  And while Big
> Beagle Davis is pretty fast, he has to show me he can play above the
> rim, or he might as well be glued to the floor.
>
> But for all that, this team, somehow, is making it work.  Not
> perfectly and not consistently, but enough to approach the mid season
> with a League leading record for wins and losses, among other weird
> statistics which Kim Malo knows I can't do the math for.
>
> So let's enjoy it, even if it doesn't last.  This is why fans have
> fun--because their teams are winning!!!
>
>
>
>
> Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
> Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website
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