Danny has betrayed himself or is afflicted with tunnel vision. Since Perk and KG added up to a very solid front court, there have always been issues with center and power forward.
Well, Horford is the best big man they have had other than KG since...maybe Antoine? It's been a while.
Ainge, Doc and Stevens were all guards. Could that be the problem? Is it a coincidence they were little guys in their playing days and then as NBA management, they slant their focus unduly towards that position?
Possible. Though I would spin it differently. I would say that they slant towards skill over size and power.
Clifford Ray was the center coach. He got fired in an un-Celtic way or that's how it felt. Then it got pushed under the rug. Is Walter McCarty the center coach now? Because if he is, that is just flat out wrong. Walter was a six foot ten shooting guard from what I recall. Or he played like a tall small forward. It's actually been a while, so I forget what his game was, but he wasn't a center. That's the point.
The Ray firing was weird, and I always thought there was more to it. But even on the surface I still got it. They brought in a big name assistant (Frank), and part of his deal was that he was bringing in his own big man coach. Now could the C's have kept both of them? Maybe. But I am not getting that worked up over this. And honestly I have no problem with the big man coaching they have had since Ray left. They just haven't had much talent to work with.
Remember those heady early Brad days when Humphries, Bass, Zeller, Sully and Olynyk were our bigs? Are our bigs better, the same or worse today? To me, it looks like a wash. To me, it looks like the Celtics always seem to know best when it comes to guards. If you had head issues, would you go to a foot doctor? Do you go to the plumber to fix your teeth? Who on this team represents the knowledge base for center management?
Talent-wise I would say it is a wash, just because I think Sully was incredibly underrated...when he was on the floor. But from an actual production standpoint they are better with Horford, because he can play most nights more than 20 minutes.
I am not seeing your logic about foot doctors though. Especially in todays NBA, position coaches are becoming much less relevant. You want someone who can teach. The C's have that. They just don't have that much talent to work with.
I think that's the basic problem. The game has changed and certain centers have become obsolete. But the position in itself still exists. You still need athletic bigs to protect the rim and grab rebounds.
I think everyone would agree with this. Including Danny, and all of the other GMs who don't want to give up these guys they have without getting a haul in return.
Now all the marbles have been put into Zizic. He may or may not be part of the answer. Yet, it is a possible solution we will have to wait for.
No marbles have been put into Zizic. He was a nice pick and hopefully will work out, but the C's still have the trade and free agent market to find an actual NBA center.
I don't know what the mystery is with Amir Johnson. He is clearly holding us back. What is his malfunction?
His malfunction is that he is a 3rd or 4th big being pushed into a starting role. He is also here because his contract provides great flexibility for a team that is focused on trying to bring in another star that will help them make the jump from a 50ish win team to a contender.
Zeller. What is Ainge's fascination with centers who can't play center? What kind of center is unable to compete with power forwards forced into the center role because he's such a scrub?
Zeller is a 4th or 5th big. He is depth and a guy most teams in the league would love to have. Just not as part of their regular rotation. He is also here because his contract provides great flexibility for a team that is focused on trying to bring in another star that will help them make the jump from a 50ish win team to a contender.
Larry Sanders seems to want some playing time. Is the reason he isn't on the team filling a big hole in the roster because Ainge is fixated on small ball? For all of Danny Ainge's skills as a GM, is he incompetent when it comes to evaluating bigs?
Larry Sanders isn't in the league. No one knows if he can even play anymore. He left the game because he didn't have passion for the game anymore. If he is the savior, then things are VERY dire.
Also, the C's don't currently have an open roster spot...check back after March 1.
Because I look at us as stacked at positions one to three. People claim our defense is not what it was, but how many times can you stop the opposition if they keep getting the rebounds?
This I agree with. But rebounding can be done as a team. This team's focus has sucked this year, and it has really showed on the boards. They do not finish plays. Would it be nice to have DeAndre Jordan grabbing those boards? Sure, but those guys are hard to come by, and most of them take other things off the table to give you rebounding.
Danny got greedy in the off-season. He kept guys like James Young and Zeller, when we could have had Nader and Zizic. It might not have made a difference this year, but we are going nowhere with Zeller/Young the same way Sully and Turner was a dead end.
This is contract minutia, but because of the contracts that were already on the books for the C's, it would have tied their hands a bit more to cut Young loose to bring in Nader, who would likely be sitting at the end of the bench. By keeping Young, they keep the possibility of trading his contract this season, either saving them money, or playing a role in contract matching, and they still get to develop Nader under Austin Ainge's watchful eye (and not costing the C's a dime against the cap or a roster spot), so as he further develops, he can help them in the future. And don't be too swayed by Nader's stats in Maine...Young tore it up in Maine as well.
As for Zeller...Danny was able to sign him to an insanely team friendly contract that at the time gave them the flexibility to trade him on draft day as an expiring contract. This is something incredibly valuable, though I am not quite sure whether it is still possible given the new CBA rules, but they were not known at the time of the trade. He also provides very valuable depth that is hard to find in the NBA.
Olynyk needs to start with Horford and that is what we'll probably see tonight. Smart needs to play 35-40 minutes until Avery gets back. Mere days ago we were a very solid 26-15. It's sad that a few losses with the potential for more could throw away much of what has been established.
I am skeptical starting Kelly does anything, but its worth a try. As for the record. This stuff tends to find a way to a balance. What is pretty clear though is that this team just falls apart when they don't have all of their top 5 guys healthy (Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, Horford, Smart). If any 1 of those guys are out, it throws off the balance so much that they fall to pieces.
Danny needs to get us a center right now. Unfortunately, the center position seems to be his blind spot.
Danny needs to find a 2nd starting quality big man. That is the issue I see. Horford can play PF or Center just fine. The problem is we have no one who can really fill that 5th spot in the starting lineup who is above 6'3".
Unfortunately, finding this 5th starter is not as high a priority as maximizing flexibility to find another STAR. They are not going to give up their probable last chance at cap space this summer, just to trade for a marginal upgrade in the frontcourt, nor will they give up their major trade chips (Nets picks, Jalen, Smart, Bradley, Crowder, Memphis pick) for a piece that will not help them get up into the elite.
Rozier made one of the worst team decisions I've ever seen which was a key turning point last night. He went hero ball like Isaiah and charged into three Wizards at the rim. The way the camera was set up, you could see that he was bottled up, but that there were various Celtics all ready for a pass back for an open three.
Rozier has been a huge disappointment this year. He doesn't seem to know when to be aggressive and when not to. In fact, he seems to do both at the exact wrong times.
I actually blame Jae Crowder the most for this recent negative team run. He had to open the can of worms about individual player situations. He said he didn't need Boston. He said a bunch of stuff he shouldn't have.
I could care less what he said, and I think that had nothing to do with how they are playing...but I think Crowder's play has been a real problem. He has been much more focussed on spot up shooting this year, and his defense has suffered, and he hasn't been driving on closeouts like he used to. I am not sure it has had much of an effect on the win/loss record, but I do think its been rubbing off on teammates in the wrong way.
It actually started with Isaiah calling for the Brinks Truck and then pointing at his Isaiah Time watch.
There is no I in team. There is an I or two in Isaiah.
That's what I think is currently going on. When things go bad, players become aware of roles, minutes and contracts as in future status.
Players stop playing for each other. The focus turns to individual goals. I like how Isaiah was dishing out assists, but by the end of the game he was back to ball hogging and those idiotic turnovers he tended to make and seemed to have resolved. That problem has returned during the losing streak.
I just think this team has been lulled into a false sense of security as Thomas' offense has carried them over the last month, despite the fact they have completely lost what made them a good team in the past. They have been winning despite the fact that their defense has been terrible and they are not moving the ball very well, and it has reinforced bad habits.
Scal is correct. I.T. is pretty good at defense for a little guy, but it is what it is. The dude is five foot nine. Whoever he is defending can get a clear jump shot any time they want. I.T.'s midget status forces players out of position. Now, that can work, but it will only work if Isaiah becomes equally a facilitator to go with his exceptional ball hog skills. Isaiah is only worth the Brinks Truck if he makes those around him much better on offense. I don't see him focusing enough on that. Rondo wanted his ten assists. Isaiah wants his thirty points. Points are nice, but as someone said on the game thread, Isaiah on defense is handicapping us forty points a game. Maybe that was hyperbole. Maybe the sky is falling.
I go back and forth on this. What I come back to is that Thomas needs the right players around him to maximize his value in the NBA. Right now, I think the mix is perfect for him to rack up the stats, but not great for winning longterm. But I do think with a few tweaks (including a second go-to scorer), he can be a 2nd or 3rd best player on a really good team. But I could be convinced otherwise.
The 76er's never won anything with Iverson. Maybe they came close one year. I forget. And he was taller than I.T..
You can say this about 99% of the "stars" in history. Iverson singlehandedly brought his team to the finals. That is better than most. Chris Paul, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce before KG and Allen (and those two before Pierce), Paul George, Jimmy Butler, etc. etc. Plenty of guys haven't "won anything". The goal is to put together a championship team. If you have Lebron, its much easier. If you don't...well, you have your work cut out for you.
Everyone worried about Sully's rebounding, as in how would it be replaced. They forget about how much he hurt our team in every other area.
I strongly disagree with this. While he was up and down a bit, Sully was quietly one of our best big men defenders (at least at times), and a very important part of the offense. There were just two problems. He couldn't stay on the floor, and the rest of their big man rotation was terrible, so they asked too much of him (sound familiar?)
How could we survive without Thomas' offense? Well, for one thing, we wouldn't need it so much if we had a point guard who can defend. And I blame Danny the most for our current rut. If we had a decent center, we could maybe be a winner with Thomas. This center doesn't even have to be that special, just not crap at it like Amir and Tyler.
Give it time. This team is not a finished product. When they find that other big piece, then I have little worry that the center position will figure itself out (and perhaps it will be figured out by the fact that they have a guy who has been an All-Star center multiple times already on the roster).
But maybe we will never get that center because Danny has always been terrible at filling the position and I am starting to assume he got lucky drafting Perkins.
Or Perkins got lucky to get to play next to Kevin Garnett...
Topic: Danny Ainge is afflicted with chronic tunnel vision (Read 4068 times)