First, we totally disagree about one fundamental point: This team is not better than last year's team, and the primary reason is a bench that is missing a multitude of skills fundamental to a champion - length, outside shooting and most critically, a competent backup 5.
People tend to let wins - several of them difficult over second-rate teams - delude them into a false sense of security that a badly flawed bench simply will not support in playoff crunch time. I've been clear about this on this board: This team as currently constructed will not repeat, and will not win the Eastern Conference championship.
And further, we are one Kendrick Perkins significant injury away from cratering.
It makes no sense whatsoever to me to make the Garnett and Ray Allen deals if a worry about 2011 and beyond trumps your desire to win multiple titles. It makes more sense to keep Jefferson and continue maneuvering to acquire talent, so I think you're giving Ainge and Wyc more credit than they deserve.
They went all in in the summer of 2007 to win a title, and it worked. Good for them. That investment, though, makes no sense to me at all unless you're committed to thoroughly utilizing the window of the Pierce-Garnett-Allen careers to make serious title runs.
Paul Pierce is on the record as saying the Boston Celtics are about multiple titles. Close doesn't count. Today, I'm quite uncertain that his GM and owner share that sentiment.
Danny laid an egg this summer, and I suspect it was driven by budgets and ego rather than some grand master plan.
Believe me, part of me really wants to agree with you on this, because I certainly see where you are coming from. But when it comes down to it, I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this, and we can look at it again at the end of the season. To be completely honest I just don't have much else I can add the argument at this point, because my side of the argument lies all in hypothetical future moves, and improvements by other players.
But I will say one thing, the way Ainge handled this past summer was the exact same way he handled things the last few years. Basically, he has stuck with his philosophy of stashing his resources until the right opportunity comes along, rather than settling too early. That is how he ended up with Ray and Garnett, as well as Posey. That won us a championship last year. Some call it luck, and yes, luck is involved, but as much as it was luck, it was being prepared for when the opportunity presented itself.
It doesn't always work, and I understand how it rubs people the wrong way, but I personally don't think it is any riskier in todays NBA than signing someone to a long term contract that you are not confident they will be able to fulfill. All it takes is one untimely injury, and you lose your championship window, and are suddenly in a much worse position to be able to "reload".
Both sides of the argument are hypothetical. Actually, yours is less hypothetical than his. Coach Bo is blaming Danny and Wyc for an outcome that hasn't even occured yet. You have some pretty solid evidence on your side: an NBA title. What tactics did Danny use to put together last year's championship roster? The same ones that Coach Bo is faulting him for using this year. If the Celtics don't land any vets, and they exit the playoffs early via the Cavs, then I'll listen to what Coach Bo is saying. But it's still January, and we don't know yet what 12 men will make up the Celtics active postseason roster, and the Celtics are 29-5. So for now, Coach Bo needs to save the accusations of penny-pinching and inflated egos.
And a couple of more things about what Coach Bo is saying. Having a budget is a reality of a sports team. It's easy to get angry at filthy rich owners for "penny-pinching", but even they don't have an unlimited amount of money to spend. Also, maintaining flexibility for future years is important whether a team is a contender or not. As far as Danny goes, I don't get the big ego thing at all. He's doing what he thinks is best for the organization. If you think he's wrong, then say he's making the wrong decision. Your assumtion that a large part of what he's doing is based on a belief that he can outsmart everyone else is unfounded, and it sounds to me like you simply don't like the guy.
These owners spent a bunch of money to land Allen and Garnett, yet some on this board want to praise them for saying no to the NBA equivalent of chump change to resign a guy whose versatility they have not approximated replacing - despite the revisionist history on this board. My issue with Danny isn't the failure to resign Posey; it's the failure to even begin to replicate the skills he brought to this team in the others he resigned.
As for the trades themselves, one of this board's great canards is that Danny traded value for Garnett and Ray. I guess that validates - in some minds - the deep and abiding love that the Celtic youth movement was held in on this and other boards, despite its abysmal failure on the floor and the fact, thus far, that none of the players traded has a well-rounded NBA game. Al Jefferson still can't defend anyone on the block, for example. But again, where are the facts? Looks more to me like Danny was in the right place at the right time for two fire sales, because you won't find a soul in the NBA who thinks the Celtics got Garnett and Ray for more than 30 cents on the dollar.
The guy did a great job in the summer of 2007. He has not done an adequate job in other summers, including the last one. He isn't the God some of you want to make him out to be, and you need look no further than the shocking lack of due diligence done on O'Blount to see that there are other factors than a "grand master plan" at work here.
There's been a lot of hopeful rhetoric from management about adding players. Fine. You certainly need to, or someone named James or Howard will be leading their teams into the Finals.
I personally don't think this team healthy is deep enough to beat Cleveland or LA. But that's subject to debate. What isn't, however, is one inescapable fact: This roster today cannot survive an injury to a starter in the playoffs. And it will happen: Perkins' shoulder, Pierce's knee.
Talk is cheap. Cheaper than passing on Posey. I believe I'll wait until the talk turns into action before falling back into blind love with Celtics management.
