Thank You Danny Ainge

Thank you long over due!

amen on danny. i rank him number one on this whole championship chapter. i remember how red snookered the whole league when he drafted danny. don’t pick him- he’s more into baseball. then red had to convince danny to join. danny learned from red. one reason why i have always diliked big shot bob horry was for his despicable act of throwing at or hitting danny with the towel in phoenix. he’s smart, he’s a clean liver, he’s a man of his convictions, and he is not afraid to act. of course, we all questioned some of his moves, but he is not afraid to make and or to fix his mistakes.

GM of the year in 2008 would be a good thing to put in the Garden in some shape or form to show appreciation for his hard work for many years.

Glad to see the “incomplete team” reference because it’s true. I’ve been vexed, to say the least, by some of the forum suggestions that we don’t necessarily need Posey and/or House.

We absolutely need Posey, and his addition ranks up there with the two trades as key to the championship. The league isn’t exactly full of people who can stone Kobe Bryant.

Danny’s the number one GM in the league. Beside all the other achievements, Jeff forgot to write about his incredible draft resumé and his eye for talent. He also trusted guys like Rondo, Perk, Powe and Davis to be the supporting cast of the Big three. Many “experts” disagreed. But he was right. Only Danny thought Rondo could be the starting point guard of a championship team in his second year. Wow.

Todays I have listened again to an interview made to Danny by the WEEI guys last Carch. In the interview, he said something like: Doc is a Big Time coach, one of the best of the league, and that he always had felt like that about him. Another Wow.

I meant an interview last March.

I would love to see 44 in the rafters, I have felt that way for many many years. Danny being Danny, I cannot see him as GM allowing 44 to be hoisted high above the parquet, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it’ll happen when Danny decides to hang it up.

When 44 does finally make it the journey upwards we’ll all be able to express our appreciation for the role Daniel Ray Ainge has played in the Celtics achieving greatness in multiple decades.

This almost makes up for Telfair Danny..

There really were many steps along the way to #17. Think about it…

To try to build a great team you trade great older players for young guys and draft picks.. or you do the opposite… trade picks and young studs for All Star Vets.

DA decided that PP was good enough to go all-out with and PP decided that he would trust DA. This is CRITICAL!

This is why i am so happy for PP… he proved DA right. I think they probably have spent some great time together in the last few days… They believed in each other!

DA’s alternative was to trade PP before he got too old for high draft picks and good rookies and build around Jefferson, Perkins, Rondo, Powe and BBD.

Instead he mortgaged the future, he sent #5 for Ray Allen knowing that this would be enough to entice KG… Why? Because Ray Allen is Ray Allen. A consummate professional with an excellent reputation. A great player and a great person!

Earlier he had superbly drafted Jefferson.. who had developed very quickly in to a 20-10 guy!

He knew that Jefferson had become a good enough young player to warrant Kevin.M pulling the trigger on “the” trade. He had kept Ratliff’s contract for just that moment.

Then DA was smart enough to try very very hard to get Posey… who’s shooting spread the floor to make room for the offense to operate.. a guy who had Championship experience. Another guy with heart, toughness and the right attitude!

DA knew Rondo wasn’t the best shooter so he bought in House and Sam. Two guys not shy to take the big shot when it needs to be taken. And not just shooters… Good shooters!

DA drafted Powe and Baby who made a huge impact this season. Look at Powe against the Pistons in the playoffs! These guys are both hard working, honest, Big Energy type of guys.. not over-rated hyped-up junk!

DA’s a celtic of old and he knew he needed D. He got Tom.T to build a tough defensive team (probably couldn’t have signed him without KG) and then Doc molded this team into a true “team”.. a Celtics Team..

“no hero shots”
“ubuntu”

This is what truly great basketball is. This is Celtics basketball!

DA made it look easy. To 99% of NBA fans it looks like he built a Championship team overnight in 2 trades. But the truth is he didn’t, this was years in the making and required many correct critical decisions along the way..

Finally i think the smartest thing DA did was choose the right 3 players. GPA. Not selfish superstars who care more about Fame, Stardom, Money and their own stats. Guys that want to win. Guys that want to win BAD!

KG is often criticized for his unselfishness, he’s labeled “soft”.. KG is the ultimate team player. It goes against his very being to force, to be selfish, to take the wrong shot.

RA has not cared one bit about his reduced scoring this season. He has deferred to PP and KG on and off the court all season. He’s a true mature adult. He didn’t care when he went through his slump as long as we were still winning and he was still trying to help. When he got his shot back and they lost the game he was not happy!

PP has has matured into one hell of an NBA player and person. His 10 assists and 35 in Game6 perfectly contrasts Kobe’s 7/22 shooting with 1 assist for -35. For me this says it all.

PP Gets It!

He gets what Celtics basketball is and that is why we have #17!

I am so happy right now!

When Danny was hired for the GM job I was excited about it. He was the first ex-celtic player I felt was qualifed for the position other than LB.

His moves left me scratching my head at times, upset at him for trading Al Jefferson to take a shot at the trophy now. But I have never doubted Danny has the best mind in pro basketball for picking talent at the spots we have drafted at.

I hope DA stays with us for many many years.

I was extremely happy when Red finally coaxed Danny to quit playing third base for the Toronto Blue Jays and come to play for the Celtics. Anyways, Danny was having an inconspicuos season for the Jays, so he came to play for us. I was extatic. Now, many moons later, I have to thank him again for bringing so much joy to my life. Of course, his number should be up there. You cannot look at it on the basis of wining just one banner. Danny took a franchise that had done nothing for 22 years; a once proud franchise that had nothing to show for 22 years and he took it back to the top in just once season. Thats one helluva accomplishment; on the same plane as what Tiger Woods does to mesmerize us quite frequently. Besides, our Baston garden is OUR THING; we dont have to ask permission to anybody to hang aour rafters. We can do wahtever we want to honor those players that we feel have earned to be present forever in our place. We all want Danny to be up there forever with the rest of the deserving few; why not? We dont even have to have Danny’s persmission to do it. He doesnt want to be uip there out of his humble nature. Thats fine; but we owe it to him that we have come back from seasons lost. We are alive again. What more can any human being do to an entire cult of Celtic fans to deserve to be up there. LETS DO IT!.

To Danny’s credit , he could have gloated given all the criticsm he had received by the press in his time as GM . However , Danny remained low key and made sure that the players and the coaches enjoyed the spotlight during this magical season.

His modesty, graciousness and class in victory were even more impressive than his transactions.

Thank you , Danny !!!!

Roy , hindsight is a you know what.