The Case For Staying The Course

Stand pat for what? So that the mediocre young players become mediocre vets? LOL No thanks. We must trade some of these guys for vets this offseason. Let the winning begin!

“I don’t see it. I still say that if Ainge doesn’t hit a home run this offseason (draft or trade) then he’s failed as a GM. Period.”

Couldnt have said it any better.

Well you can’t fault him for the way the ping pong balls happen to fall.

The central issue with this team is not the draft pick. The central issue is what to do about Pierce. Do you continue to attempt to build around him, or do you move him for younger assets and get his salary off the cap? You can dance around it, but the issue won’t go away.

The problem with trying to hit home runs is that you overswing and wind up striking out, as Ainge did with LaFrentz.

There is no quick fix, and so long is Rivers is still here, there is probably no slow fix either.

Danny Ainge has become Rick Pitino.

Drafting the likes of Jefferson, Green, and Rondo , well, its tough to say a gm has " failed " at anything. These types of players don’t come around too often. There all under 22 years of age.

I agree with Jeff. We need Oden, Durant, Garnett, O’Neil probably in that order before we can be a serious threat in the Eastern Conference. Then after a few seasons we might have take a pop at the title.

If we draft the third pick and try to maintain a ‘youth movement’ we’ll become a glorified nba development team.

Danny Ainge failed as a GM long time ago.

“I still say that if Ainge doesn’t hit a home run this offseason (draft or trade) then he’s failed as a GM. Period.”

Really? Wow. I disagree. Perhaps he fails if he doesn’t bring in a new coach, but I don’t think he has to land Oden or trade for KG to avoid failure.

Oh geez, not this crap about Splitter again.

If Ainge does not get one of the top 2 picks, then he should use the pick to go after Garnett, O’Neal, Ray Allen, or Rashard Lewis. Those are players likely available that would fit very well onto this team.

There is no question that Ainge NEEDS to make some sort of a big splash this offseason, or else…deservedly…there will be much talk of his removal.

this game isn’t over yet…the Celtics offseason will go a long way toward crystalizing Ainge’s tenure as a success or failure…

…standing pat isn’t really an option for a Pierce led team though, players do become “veterans” by aging, but they don’t become winning players until they get into the playoffs and gain the experience necissary to learn how to win…I don’t think Pierce has the time to wait for these youth to develop in that way…

The team needs another big time vet to help stabalize this roster while the young players develop…the team with Pierce is most likely a playoff team now that Jefferson has emerged, but its not a serious contending playoff team and cannot afford to lose Pierce for any amount of time just to sneak into the playoffs…

Its time to crank it up a notch…

Well, with a decent coach and reasonable health, I don’t see why this current roster couldn’t be a .500 or slightly better team. But do you want a team that wins 45 games a year and just hopes to get out of the first round of the playoffs?

If this team doesn’t get Oden or Durant, Ainge MUST package the pick along with Ratliff’s salary and maybe Gerald Green for the best vet available. Or he can try and deal Pierce.

Mike

This will be the biggest off-season for the Celtics in the last 20 years….

Too much at stake is riding on this team…… Fault or no fault the ping pongs do make a difference where we go…..even Paul P has been checking out Oden and Durant…..

A proven Point Guard will go a long way with this team.

I hate to bring this up, but a healthy Wally will benefit this team along with Pierce……….

He’s not going to get Garnett for reasons I explained yesterday. He might have an outside shot at JO, but not without taking a bad contract along with him, e.g. Marquis Daniels or Tinsley. The others (Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis) wouldn’t help at all. Rashard Lewis is a worse defender than Szczerbiak, which is something I didn’t think was humanly possible. And most importantly, Grousbeck isn’t going to pay luxury tax for players like that. Should we be like Denver, with that ridiculous Iverson trade? LOL.

Ainge has failed in large measure because Rivers can’t coach. He can shuffle the roster until doomsday, pay millions in luxury tax and stand on his head and whistle Sweet Georgia Brown, but it’s all for nothing until Rivers is gone.

I’ve heard that Doc would like to step down after this season and take a TV Analyst job so he can spend more times with his kids, so they’re may be some hope after all. But thats just a rumor I’ve heard, so don’t quote me on it…..

But Brickowski is right we need a coach as much as I think Doc has done a good job fathering these kids, we now need someone to Coach them

Playing (correction) Coaching to lose should never be part of staying the course. Half or more of the games lost the previous two seasons were winnable games where our coach simply got outcoached. Now it appears that management has given the directive to coach to lose as even Doc can’t be this bad. If we continue to mail in the last games of this season it will carry over. Won’t matter who’s coaching, who’s playing..where the ping pong balls fall..It’s like a virus, folks.

I agree that the Cs have no chance at Garnett, and only an outside chance at O’Neal.

However, from what Ive heard, I think Allen will be available this offseason, and the Cs will have a great chance to land him. And he WILL help this team A LOT and complement Pierce well.

I don’t know anything right now. Everything is hazy!…But I agree with the Ancient one that this is the heaviest off-season for the Celts since 86, bar none!…I also agree with Brick, although not as vehemently, that Doc has shuffled, hemmed and haw’d us into indecisiveness and mediocrity. I see it as micro-managing the fun out of basketball…But I’m not absolutely sure that I’m correct in this estimation…
I don’t know where you got your info Ancient Red, but it provides for a “dignified surrender” of the reins for both Doc and the Celts…I hope it comes to pass…
Once again, getting back to the off-season, I can’t recall when we’ve had such an interesting array of players, draft picks, and contracts to play with in making this team strong once again…It should be more than interesting and it could be the beginning of a paradigmatic split with mediocrity…Here’s hoping.

Ainge should be shitcanned immediately if the Celts don’t get Oden or Durant. I can not fathom the sort of ridiculous trade he would make in packaging up a pick in the three to six range with Ratliff’s contract. Passing on talent like Brandon Wright, Julian Wright, Al Horford, Noah or Jeff Green is just plain stupid. In return, we’d get some white stiff like Pau Gasol who would immediately break down. Wyc should make the decision to keep or fire Ainge on May 22, right after the lottery. I do not want to give Ainge, with a hideous record of trades, a chance to do anymore damage. His rationale for the Telfair deal is laughable.

Chicago looks like the team we want to be. Young players in abundance and a couple vets to,well, be vets. A fiery coach, certainly different than ours. Why aren’t they doing better? A mutual parting with our coach would be best change up that we can make. Pull hopefully #1 or #2, be happy with #3 (Noah). We can only get better next year. Rondo must shoot better. Telfair can run fast, he just can’t run fast and lay it softly in the basket. D. West is better at the #2. We still have the unmoveable Wally as our veteran. Al is awesome. Gomes is up and down, Gerald getting better but slower than we all hope. He may not be a future all star. Pierce deserves so much credit for growing up and being a complete pro. Do not consider moving him.

The nuggets are one of the worse put together teams in the league right now .. AI did not fall into a good situation like Webber did.

You know what would tear me up? getting the 1 or 2 pick and having these guys stay in school.

I tend to agree with Real GM. There is no need for Ainge to cash in the young chips at this point unless he gets good value. Ainge should only be operating from the standpoint of strength and the opportunity not the position that he has to do something. But this off-season as EricW has explained well may very well offer an opportunity without giving up too much.

Ainge and Celtics management have shown patience and to change from that in midstream by giving up too much young talent for a star veteran could be worse than standing at for another year. The sting from the damage done by impatience should still be fresh with Celtics fans and management. It will be a very challenging offseason, unless we get a top two pick, because a good move will move the Celts along faster and the wrong move will set them back and maybe keep them from long-term success and a chance at it all. But chances for a strong long-term future are very good even without a top two pick.

Ainge has shown good judgment to this point (e.g., Iverson). The other GM’s will want to swoop in and come away with Green or Jefferson and more. Ainge has to find a deal where our youth are valued about as much as he values them or we lose in the long run. To wait one more year for their value to increase further will not be a disaster.

We’re not likely to have another Red Auerbach come along and it’s much more difficult to go out there today and pick pockets as Red did. Patience and shrewdness are called for not pressure or desperation.

As for Eeyore III, I realize that any Eeyore is likely to look for the dark clouds in any situation, but Durant is immensely coachable, hard working, interested in and proficient at more than just shooting, and only a freshman whose probably being told too shoot at virtually every opportunity. In the NBA heâ€â"¢ll be far more confident that his teammates will convert on his passes and have much more incentive to pass. Going to the NBA will help him develop his passing game faster and staying in college will probably continue to stunt that development. I think the author of the AOL article trying to compare him to Glenn Robinson has a very weak case.

On this staying in school business…i read the article where Oden said he “wasn’t NBA ready yet”…I wonder if he’d be NBA ready or even at OSU if he yanked out his ACL next year in Columbus…He’s be doing Big and Tall ads for Gentleman’s Warehouse, and looking good, I guarantee it!
I think of more immediate concern is the fact that Charlotte has shelved Okafor, and Atlanta has yanked Johnson…tonight will be an interesting test of resolve!

You want to know why the Bulls are so much better than the Celtics and why Rivers is 0-8 against Scott Skiles?

Skiles teaches defense. And the Bulls let their crapola no defense players like Fat Eddie leave town (instead of giving them huge extensions) and used the resulting cap space to sign one of the premier interior defenders in the league.

The Bulls are built around defense. The Celtics are built around confusion, mismanagement and a different rotation every night.

It seems to me that being a good GM has to do with a lot of educated guessing and just dumb luck. No GM is sure of their trades and drafts until they see them perform on the court. Already proven stars are a no brainer but they’re also hard to come by.

Good coaching has an element of that but it’s also about health, chemistry and talent. A couple of injuries to certain players and even Phil Jackson can’t maintain a winning drive.

It’s fun reading the opinions of the fans on this blog and I assume that is it’s purpose but I believe that if some of you really were the GM or coach we’d be looking more like last year’s Knicks without a future than the up and coming team with a future that we are now. Right or wrong, though, you gotta love the passion in fans wanting to make the team better.

I agree with Jeff, especially after this year, that by next year a lot of our players will start playing like the veterans that they will be. There are a lot of teams with “veterans” that are losing.

I’m sure there will be tweeking but in general I agree with Tommy in that Ainge is building a team the right way, from the ground up. Remember that while most teams think championship, the Celtics think dynasty.

Frankie, well put.

Hey, we’re 6-3 over our last nine, and Doc has finally figured out Pierce is a full-time small forward — his days as a shooting guard are over. And he’s finally starting Rondo and playing Powe, with good results. But it shouldn’t be enough to save him.

We all know the roster needs to turn over — Wally, Scal and Theo have no future here. But I have no idea how Danny clears them, other than pairing these guys with picks and/or our young talent.

As far as PGs that have upside despite questionable contracts, I think Marquis Daniels and Mike James would be good targets. I’d be willing to part w/ Wally for either of these guys and expiring contracts.