The Celtics don't even try. I can live with a team that is too young, too inexperienced, hell, even just not that good. But to go out there like you've already lost, like the Celtics have done since Pierce went down, is inexcusable. Ainge and Rivers have to go. This is an embarrassment to the Celtics. Wods can't express how bad this team is.
And while I've often felt like we need to deal Paul, I think we might want to see what we can get for Gerald and Jefferson now. The problem with rebuilding is that we are essentially an expansion team. And I don't mean like a team that came into the league two years ago, I mean a team that hasn't yet started the NBA and needs to build from scratch. Gerald Green is like Michael Bishop; ridiculous athleticism, zero sense of the game. Telfair is a backup PG, as is Rondo. Big Al is solid but nothing special.
If we can't get the right pieces to build around Paul, then I saw blow the whole thing up, commit to being laughable for two to four years and try to get the top picks of the next few drafts. The current course has failed. How Danny Ainge has a job right now is beyond me. He and Doc Rivers are the worst GM/coach combo in the NBA. Bar none.
For the past four years, it's been said that Danny Ainge's plan was to acquire assets so that he could make the big trade to put the Celtics over. Two things happened in that time, the Celtics became worse and are now two trades away from really contending and now, one of those big trades has presented itself. While I was not a fan of the AI deal, it seems odd that Danny refused to pull the trigger when a deal like this is what he'd been waiting for.
If Danny isn't willing to give up Gerald or Big Al unless he's getting back someone better than AI, then I think we should all wake up to the reality that the team we have is the team we'll be having for quite some time. Unless a KG or JO deal come about (and it should be interesting to see just how much we'd offer for Jermaine), the Gerald/Pierce/Jefferson trio is our core for the present and the future.
While I know most people like to use the impending new year as a time to look back, I think it's reached the hour in which C's fans have to look forward. Where do we go from here? The most obvious move is for the Celtics to try to upgrade at point guard and add a more athletic big man (one who can defend centers AND hit the high post jumper). With Al holding his own in the middle, it might be time to look to find a new power forward. Everyone loves Gomes but he is a bench player. Telfair, Rondo, and West are nice but I think the best case scenario for any of them would be that they might become a consistent NBA starter by next midseason and I'm not sure if we want to waste any more of Pierce's prime waiting on young guys to mature.
Of course, all of this could be yet another deferral from Ainge. NEXT YEAR, when hopefully JO or KG will be moved, is when we make our big push. If that's the case, it will be another year of hope and the status quo.
Any other rebuilding plan, as we've learned from the discussions here, has its drawbacks, be it giving up too much potential for a veteran or not getting enough potential back for a veteran. Most GM's don't have time to wait for the trade that is just right. They are going to make the moves they need to make to help rebuild their team.
The brilliance of the Ainge plan, from a job security standpoint, is that it is completely defensible while never actually having to accomplish anything. He can sit back and wait for that one great trade because people will defend him saying, "The team has assets. Trades could happen. Hope is always on the horizon. He hasn't made a bad trade. And we have the veterans who SHOULD keep us competitive in the Atlantic."
It is in this last sentence where Ainge messed up this past offseason and has brought the ire of Celtics fans unto himself.
The one mistake that ruined Ainge's plan was misjudging the readiness of Sebastian Telfair. Had we gotten a more veteran PG, Ainge would be sitting pretty. He'd have assets that could pan out or be traded and three good veterans who can win games now. The team would have hope for the future and any present problems would be on Doc's doorstep. Say we got Danny's initial target, Jarrett Jack. Jack and Wally should seem like competent complements to Pierce. Any issue with the team would either be Doc failing or our young guys disappointing. It wouldn't be on Ainge that Doc can't coach or Big Al, West, and Perk can't stay healthy. Danny would have the luxury of sitting around and waiting for just the right trade to come his way.
However, because Telfair is more prospect than veteran, the team dropped below mediocrity and now Danny is on notice. If you try to blame Doc, you get, "How's Doc supposed to win with a team full of high schoolers?" Now we're two legit starters away and the future DEPENDS on at least two of these young guys panning out or a trade happening. You can survive waiting for the Just Right deal if you're always that one trade away but once you slip into the bottom of the lottery and only have two veteran players, people start to wonder what the GM's been up to.
In order to salvage the Danny Plan, the easiest move is to deal your young un's with the least potential for a solid veteran. For this reason, I see us trying to move Ratliff, West, and Gomes for a vet big man. If Danny thinks things are really dire, he could also reshuffle the deck and move Wally for a different veteran or two. After those moves, he'd buy himself more time and be able to go back to holding out for the one magical deal.
However, if the pressure gets to be to much, Danny could decide it's time to make a move, in which case we'll most likely overpay for veterans (because he simply can't get away with blowing it up and dealing Pierce and expect to keep his job). This move could make us competitive but if we don't make the most of our chance (and the young guys we deal start to blossom) it's likely the end of days for Danny.
The easiest month of the Celtics schedule is over and done and the C's find themselves tied for last place. Thankfully, the upcoming month has us facing three Atlantic division foes and the Bobcats again so it isn't as if the schedule is impossible. Still, this is a team going nowhere fast.
Doc Rivers has arguably the worst job in the NBA. Is he trying to win or help cultivate young talent? Rajon Rondo is the fan favorite but Delonte West might actually be the better suited PG for the offense we have. Brian Scalabrine is one of the headier players on an absent-minded team but do you play him or go with young guys like Leon Powe? While Doc's job is tough, let's not act like he's a victim here. He abandoned the running game after a few games, inexplicably thought small ball would work, and has taken a month to come to a makeshift rotation. And then there's the whole issue of our offense not matching our talent. Clearly Doc is a problem.
But he isn't the only problem. While our offense doesn't fit our roster, it's hard to really come up with one. Telfair and Rondo are best creating with the ball. Paul Pierce is better with the ball in his hands. All three of them should be attacking the hoop but our big men are mostly low post guys who can't hit the mid-range jumper. People like to sing praises of Don Nelson and Jerry Sloan but the fact is that their rosters actually make some sense. The players in Boston, quite simply, aren't a team.
But none of this is news. The Celtics were an assortment of mismatched talent to start the season and they are playing like a bad team a month in. More problematic is the fact that Ainge might think we're still that One Trade Away and make a move soon. The thing is, we're three moves away from really being any good. While dealing for a more proven veteran might give us a chance to compete in the pathetic Eastern Conference, we won't be a serious title contender and, in the end, all we'll accomplish is getting ourselves a worse draft pick.
A month in and nothing has changed for me. I still believe we should blow this team up; we'll never win a title with Paul Pierce bringing in close to 20 million dollars a year.
