Staff Exit Interviews, Edition 1: Tom Bellinger

And of course after it became 2-1. I really thought they would keep the momentum going, make it a long series, force the heat into pressure situations and figure out what to exploit. Basically what the Mavs did, but obviously it didn’t work out this year. Liked the answer to the last question, things definitely went awry even if Ainge and some hardcore Ainge supporters won’t admit it. Hopefully Danny can make it up to us by drafting well.

We were already seeing a rerun of last year’s playoffs, with the Big Three too exhausted to last through the 4th.

But none of that mattered: our most important player was so injured he was playing with one arm. Whether or not it was tied behind his back, the C’s weren’t beating the Heat or Chicago or Dallas without a healthy Rondo.

Couldn’t agree more.

I know that the Perk trade was predicated on Shaq being healthy. The team was virtually unbeatable when Shaq was healthy and Rondo was having the best year of his career when Shaq played. The odds seemed very low that Shaq would not be able to return so Ainge did the smart thing. He got a potentially solid player in Green (give him some time) and a draft choice in the low teens in a good draft year (2012) to begin the rebuilding process while believing the present team could still be competitive. He also set up the team to have major cap space in 2012. Ainge is rebuilding on the run which is hard to do but because he is such a good GM with vision (see trading a bunch of potential for Ray and KG) that he can pull it off. So in 2012, he will have cap space, two first round draft choices, Rondo, Paul and the possibilities of signing KG and Ray to friendly contracts. Of course, he can use any/all of the above to also make a trade. The last thing Anige or the fans in Boston want is to revisit Lottery Land. Ainge has proven he can be trusted.

I just wanted to add my very humble opinion about the Heat. This is as good as they are ever going to be. Wade is 29, oft injured and can’t string together two monster performances in a row. By the time playoffs roll around next year, he will be 30. His prime is ending. Perhaps quicker than most pundits think as he seems to slow down for a few games after he has to play hard. LeBron and Bosh are in their primes, and we can see where their upside is. They have 3-4 more years of improvements, but the improvements will be minor and will not make up for the diminishing skills of Wade.

You can count me in that camp that Miami’s window is also closing, and as they are presently constructed they don’t have the financial flexibility to change their fate.

Well before the season started, everyone knew we were near the end of The Window. The one hope was that we might squeak by with some luck. There was no way of knowing what Perkins would be able to deliver come the playoffs. But the O’Neal brothers came in and we rolled the dice. Daniels went down, Shaq stayed down, and that pretty much was it – with Rondo’s dislocated elbow being the final blow as we crashed to the mat. Sometimes luck isn’t with you.

As to the finals I just think the Heat, as a game plan, wore us down physically by continually attacking the basket and we were unable to stop that. I also think the Heat, late in games were forced by us to take difficult shots which they continued to make. At the same time we weren’t able to score, alot of which was due to good Miami defense at the end of games. A few made shots by us and a few missed by Miami could have given a totally different picture.

I didn’t like us going into the playoffs. I still thought that if Shaq could play like he did at the start of the season we could have gone to the finals. But I thought injuries which lead to lack of continuity on the court and to fatique, especially of KG were they main reasons we lost. The screwed up play at the end of game four (I believe) which could have given us the win as opposed to going into overtime (when we wouldn’t have a chance) was a sign of all the physical to mental fatique. That is a play that worked for us all year and we screwed it up badly. Some credit should be given to James for making Pierce get the ball further out than was wanted, but there was plenty of time for him to get in the right place to get the play going.

Another reason I think we lost was the poor play of BBD. He looked hurt or tired or both, but he gave us nothing. Also, I thought DWest played great, but was never near 100%.

The trade didn’t help or hurt. Although I love Perk and I think we could have played better with him because of his team defense and his knowledge of the plays, I don’t think he would have made a difference in the light of all else going on. I thought the trade hurt us in that players find it hard to adjust to this team so late in the season, especially because of their schedule and lack of practice time. We got off to a good start with the new guys who probably just played when they got here. Kristic looked great. But, then as they started getting used to our system, which was totally different from where they came from, they started to think and that is bad. They never did get into a real groove, especially Kristic who also got himself injured.

As to Jeff Green, I wouldn’t judge him on what we saw. He has skills and he’s just coming in at a time when he is really ready to learn how to play winning basketball. I think he will be quite good for us in the future, especially with a training camp under his belt and the mentoring by our vets.

I hated the trade, but thought it had to be done. When Marquis got hurt, that totaled our bench, especially with Davis forced to play starter minutes. With fatique a problem, I thought it more important to bring in someone to help the bench (Green) than to have Perk who was just overcoming an injury and got injured again. It usually takes the next season for a player with that injury to come back. Also, Kristic showed early signs that he could make up for some of Perk’s absence with his offense and rebounding (which he didn’t show before), but that didn’t work out.

Tommy Heinsohn said at the start of the season that we could have won the championship with the team we had on paper IF we stayed healty. I think that’s the story in a nutshell.

Going forward I see problems. We really don’t have a reliable Center and I think we only have 7 players under contract (and that’s including Green). I don’t think BBD will be back. The draft looks terrible and there aren’t many free agents who could have a great impact on the team. Plus, we still don’t have lots of money to spend. Danny will need to find an impact player we can afford and will have to fill in the bench with minimum contract players as he’s done since 2008. That’s going to be tough to do.

So many things went wrong during the BOS VS MIA series. The Celtics had a few things against them; no HC, injured Shaq, Rondo, Jermaine, Kristic and West, big baby playing poorly, inconsistency from the Celtics bench, bad weak side defense against Wade and Lebron and the refs.

I think had the Celtics won games 4 and 5, because both games they led during the 4 quarter the series would of turn in their favor, but sadly the C’s couldn’t close out both games. I think had the Celtics played the way they did in the Knicks series they could of made it pass the Heat and to the conference finals. But the Heat lost anyways! lol

1. Danny knew Perk was not coming back after this year and, was injured at the time of the trade and MIGHT not have been back this year. And Perk did not play well for OKC. Not just the fourth quarter either….just not well period.

2. Davis hurt us the most. I’m so glad he will be gone. I hate his attitude of “I’ve the ball…it’s my ball…I’m gonna keep it and I’m gonna shoot it regardless of who or how many are tryin’ to guard me”.

3. Of course it really hurt us to have RR hurt. That was Wade’s best play of the entire playoffs…putting RR down. BUT, we were also hurt by D West’s injury! Losing your point guard, 2nd best defender and 3td best rebounder, and then his replacement’s injury was the killer.

4. I guess I’m the only one who watched all of Green’s games and plays since the trade. Yes he didn’t play like LeBum, but he wasn’t that bad either. He was vastly better then Davis.

5. Yes PP and RA didn’t do a whole lot offensively, but they had GREAT athletes defending them. We knew going in that Paul and Ra were going to be outgunned and we needed to win the1, 4 and 5 spots. We didn’t.

I am starting to think that Ainge had Dwight Howard in his plans before
the Perkins trade. Ainge was looking towards the future: Shaq filling in along
with J.O. for 2011, a potential lockout for 2012, and Howard a free agent in 2012.

Ainge did not want to lock up cap space with Perkins so Howard could be signed.

Howard mentioned last week that he would be working out with Doc and Rondo
this summer so we CAN get our hopes up about Howard becoming a Celtic.
If Howard does come to Boston next year then the Perkins trade will be forgotten
forever.

 “The best is yet to come and won’t that be nice.”

Were Moses Malone and Dr. J. without the killer instinct before pairing together
to form one of the best teams ever? Howard, teamed with Rondo, Pierce and
a few other good players could be good enough to win a championship.

You may be right on the other point – there may not be enough money to
sign Howard. We don’t know what the new CBA is either.