Is Ainge becoming the Herb Brooks of the league?

[TitleMaster]

Is Ainge becoming the Herb Brooks of the league? While Ainge isn't a coach, whereas Brooks was, both were mission critical in assembling their respective teams' rosters.

Back in 1979, as by now, everyone's dad/uncle has told 'em about the 'Miracle On Ice' moment at Lake Placid in '80 (if you didn't see it yourself), coach Herb Brooks was scouring the entire collegiate roster of hockey players in America.

His plan was to construct a makeshift crew of upstarts, who on the surface, would have little shot of matching up against the national teams of Canada, Sweden, Finland, or the Soviet Union. But by virtue of intense training, blitzing (while defending) against the enemy at all costs, along with a certain amount of luck, he believed that they could contend for the Bronze medal in the Lake Placid games.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp-j6GJJgJ8[/youtube]

Well, if anything, Brook's team had exceeded all expectations. While the moment above, where the Soviets weren't able to score for a full final 10 minutes is noteworthy, two days later, a similar thing was done to Finland, which is why the US brought home the Gold instead of the Bronze. Those were back-to-back, Miracle(s) on Ice, never to be seen again in sports.

Likewise, today, Ainge is scrounging around, looking for a mix of athleticism, rim protection, pick 'n pop offense, and defensive prowess but w/o any name recognition of the recent recruits to form the most *collegiate* team in the NBA. This would then be an ECF or championship contender, whose eventual defeat, could only come at the hands of crooked referees, granting unlimited free throws to the opposing squad, just to make sure that the league continues to coddle name franchise players.

[celticsfan8591]

I hope not.  The reason that Herb Brooks' story is legendary (and that game is referred to the Miracle on Ice) is that that strategy almost never works.  There are tons of scrappy upstart teams assembled every year, and most of them eventually come across a much more talented team and get wiped out.  I have no problem with what Ainge is doing but I think (and hope) that his goal is to ultimately flip some of these scrappy guys for a star or try to develop some of the younger guys into stars.

[banty19]

I look at Ainge as an investor. I think he's trying to find the best possible assets at a good price regardless of how they fit in his portfolio. And it seems like he believes there's a market inefficiency with defensive-oriented players, combo guards, and skilled bigs.

[aingeforthree]

I look at Ainge as an investor. I think he's trying to find the best possible assets at a good price regardless of how they fit in his portfolio. And it seems like he believes there's a market inefficiency with defensive-oriented players, combo guards, and skilled bigs.

I think he just takes advantage of scenario's and gambles on players he liked in the past drafts if they become available early on in their careers...Jones, Zeller, Turner, Thomas, etc.  They're all so young and talented.  If they can get them to put in the work, and they fit his system, maybe he thinks they can turn it around (Not IT4, but the others) ?  It's been done before.

They sure made Turner look like gold last year.

[rollie mass]

i once played for rollie massimino,this guy won at every level.high school coach of year in usa,while coaching a team small scrappy squad into double overtime loss in state finals of new jersey,took a poorly run program in suburbs of boston(lexington) and turned them in one year to semi -finalists  and then to winning the tech tourney the next year,then off to villanova after a stint in a small college and his scrappy villanova  team beat undefeated  for two years georgetown to win final four-and he is still doing it at a small florida college
 so brad will build a scrappy winning culture and very soon ainge will get some players that brad can turn into stars

[footey]

TP to rollie and OP.

I think Danny and Brad are very much trying to use the ingredients they can get their hands on, which is this current roster of players, maybe subject to some trades, and figure out through great coaching and discipline to reach great results.  I am on board.  We can't obsess about the lack of a super star on the team.  We will eventually land one, but in the meantime let's try to maximize what we have.

[GreenFaith1819]

I like the comparison here.

Danny has assembled a hodge-podge group of players who compete.

Some were cast-offs from other teams (ET, Jonas, etc).

Kept Crowder from the Rondo trade (got a potential high pick from the hopefully woeful Mavs). Crowder has played well in CBS' system.

Acquired Zeller for next to nothing (and got a TE and pick from CLE for him, right?). Zeller has turned into a decent NBA center playing well as a starter under CBS.

Got IT for a great price from PHX, and his play and intensity alone helped to propel us to the playoffs last season. He's till young and fits in well with this group.

We have AB playing well and for a good price. Sully is looking better then ever and can be counted on to play well this season with better health AND a contract year.

KO has looked good and will get better.

Marcus is turning into a leader and a defensive gem. With time and patience his offense will get better.

Coach Stevens finished 4th in the league for the Coaching award....very young AND bright mind with this man. We traded away our top two players, got decent returns for them, and brought in IT and Coach STILL kept the team together and competing through all of this.

Fast forward to now? We turned GW into David Lee, for minimal effect on our salary. He will be a starter and still has several effective years left. Plus I believe he has a lot to prove. He seems to be a locker room guy and will fit in well.

Last but not least we have Amir, who was the heart and soul of TOR. If he can stay healthy he is our best defender and can finish around the hoop. He will fit in well with this group as well.

Danny did all of this without hurting our chances of moving/acquiring other players. He acquired FIT guys...GLUE guys, who can fill roles and compete. We still have numerous picks in the future. We got better (IMO) for next season and could play for a 4th or 5th seed (Truly believe this).

Stay tuned. I'm aboard for this ride. Many teams will sleep on BOS and get bit.

[droopdog7]

It's the red paper clip strategy.  Take upgrades, regardless of how small, when they present themselves.  Over the long term, this will pay off in the end.

And yes, who cares how the pieces fit at this point. 

I think the strategy is brilliantly simple.

[Jon]

It's the red paper clip strategy.  Take upgrades, regardless of how small, when they present themselves.  Over the long term, this will pay off in the end.

And yes, who cares how the pieces fit at this point. 

I think the strategy is brilliantly simple.

I think that's exactly it, which is why I wouldn't be shocked to actually see Danny go into this season with this roster. Sure, in a perfect world he'd love to get a scoring 3, but I don't think he's willing to give up long term assets to make a deal and that'll be content to keep his pieces regardless of the short term fit.

So start getting ready for plenty of 3 guard lineups.

[Ilikesports17]

It's the red paper clip strategy.  Take upgrades, regardless of how small, when they present themselves.  Over the long term, this will pay off in the end.

And yes, who cares how the pieces fit at this point. 

I think the strategy is brilliantly simple.

The problem with the strategy is that the assets expire. Sully and Zeller and even Turner were all examples of adding guys with greater value than it cost to get them. All are underpaid and we basically got all for free outside of Sully who was a steal at 20.

And now Ainge is in danger of losing all 3 for nothing if he doesnt move one by the deadline.

[spikelovetheCelts]

It's the red paper clip strategy.  Take upgrades, regardless of how small, when they present themselves.  Over the long term, this will pay off in the end.

And yes, who cares how the pieces fit at this point. 

I think the strategy is brilliantly simple.

The problem with the strategy is that the assets expire. Sully and Zeller and even Turner were all examples of adding guys with greater value than it cost to get them. All are underpaid and we basically got all for free outside of Sully who was a steal at 20.

And now Ainge is in danger of losing all 3 for nothing if he doesnt move one by the deadline.

Long tim till the season starts. There is a move coming before the season starts. Everyone is asking high at the moment but the closer we get teams like Denver, Portland and Dallas will come a calling for one of guys.