Who would have objected to this lineup?

[Roy Hobbs]

If somebody had told you at the beginning of the season that this would have been our roster, who would have complained?

C:  Perk / Rasheed
PF: KG / BBD / Scal
SF: Pierce / Daniels
SG: Ray / Tony / Finley
PG: Rondo / Robinson

Inactive: Landry, Williams

Now, obviously the team is a little disappointing now, but as a fan, I can't say that Danny did a poor job assembling talent.  Objectively, I've got to be very happy with that roster, even if it is a little long in the tooth.

I do wish the players would play harder, and the coaching staff would do a better job of motivation (and with rotations).  Danny probably isn't completely without blame, but I think his current role in our slump is, at worst, minimal.

[Who]

Danny Ainge did a solid job for this season. There wasn't much more that he could have done.

[Greenbean]

I would have been thrilled at that lineup at the beginning of the season.

In hindsight, I would have let baby walk and go hard at a rebounding/defensive presence like Birdman instead.

They have asked baby to go inside just one season after telling him to get an outside jumpshot (which he did). After we got sheed, Baby became expendable. He has been uncomfortable all season. I didnt really see it then but maybe Danny should have.

Sorry to hijack a little but yeah Danny has done a good job with the roster. The blame has been on the players and the coaches (for not motivating the players enough)

This is encouraging because you cant win without talent, which they seem to have enough of.

[DrGlen]

At his age, Finley is strictly a SF on D, right?

[Donoghus]

At the beginning of the season, I certainly wouldn't have had any complaints.  That's a pretty good assemblage of talent.  Since the season started, my feelings on Wallace & BBD have soured a bit but I certainly don't believe they're destroying the team, either.

My biggest frustations have been the seeming lack of motivation & killer instinct at times, some headscratching rotations/substitution patterns, and lack of rebounding along with defensive concerns.  

I think once the playoffs roll around the first two frustations listed above will be much alleviated.  The rebounding and defensive lapses still concern me.   Same goes for team health.  

It seems like Danny has been set on this roster being good enough to make a run at the title.  He tickered with the subs but kept Ray and left the core intact.  No blowups as some speculated.

[Lucky17]

I would have been thrilled at that lineup at the beginning of the season.

In hindsight, I would have let baby walk and go hard at a rebounding/defensive presence like Birdman instead.

They have asked baby to go inside just one season after telling him to get an outside jumpshot (which he did). After we got sheed, Baby became expendable. He has been uncomfortable all season. I didnt really see it then but maybe Danny should have.

Sorry to hijack a little but yeah Danny has done a good job with the roster. The blame has been on the players and the coaches (for not motivating the players enough)

This is encouraging because you cant win without talent, which they seem to have enough of.

Co-sign.

I couldn't have expected the extent to which BBD is becoming a Big Black Hole on offense (BBH?), but I did fear that his skill set's overlap with Sheed's would leave us wanting for a more physical and athletic rebounder off the bench.

[2short]

I think Danny did a great job.  He let davis shop himself and resigned him once the price went down.  I'm also sure he included glenn in many a trade talk but it didn't work out.  Ainge looked at lots of trades but didn't overpay like some teams.  If healthy (if) I still like our chances.

[Spilling Green Dye]

I was very pleased with Danny's job this offseason, and at the trade deadline.  However, what jumps out the most is the massive decline in talent at the PF position after KG.  This is why the Rasheed pickup, in my opinion, was supposed to be the game changer.  He hasn't fully panned out yet, but until after the first round of the playoffs I will reserve my opinion.  It's a shame that Davis has regressed since he could have had some actual value off the bench.

[WeMadeIt17]

I was pumped and now even more pumped with the addition of Nate and soon to be Finley.

[Edgar]

5 years ago this team would have made a dinasty...lol

[Edgar]

If somebody had told you at the beginning of the season that this would have been our roster, who would have complained?

C:  Perk / Rasheed
PF: KG / BBD / Scal
SF: Pierce / Daniels
SG: Ray / Tony / Finley
PG: Rondo / Robinson

Inactive: Landry, Williams

Now, obviously the team is a little disappointing now, but as a fan, I can't say that Danny did a poor job assembling talent.  Objectively, I've got to be very happy with that roster, even if it is a little long in the tooth.

I do wish the players would play harder, and the coaching staff would do a better job of motivation (and with rotations).  Danny probably isn't completely without blame, but I think his current role in our slump is, at worst, minimal.

pst...wiliams is better than scal
now that we have finley

[PLamb]

I would have been pumped to have that roster

But....as everyone else has thrown in a "but" I thought I should too....the problem with looking at rosters on paper at the beginning of season is you never know what is going to happen

This is especially true with older veterans who tend to be evaluated in the off season based on what they did in their prime or just thereafter when the reality of their situation is often not close to that

Unfortunately, it is all too often that if a graph of a player's performance was made that the graph at the tail end of most veteran's careers look more like an exponential curve decline and not a lineal decline

For those non math people that means the drop off is fast and furious, not steady

With a roster consisting of Pierce, Allen, Garnett, Finley and Wallace I think it pretty realistic to have predicted an outcome very similar to what has transpired

Most prognosticators did predict this and yet we here at Celticsblog ridiculed and derided them as we got caught up in ideas of 72 wins

We might consider ourselves fortunate if we hit 52 wins

So yeah I would have been pumped but I probably would have been just fooling myself

And relying on so many aging vets is something that should be put at the feet of Danny Ainge as should not turning one of those aging vets into a future piece

Doc, for all everyone's complaints of bad rotations and substitution pattern and motivational and preparation problems, I think has done a commendable job given the amount of injuries he has had to deal with and attitude and play of some of his most important players

Don't get me wrong, Doc is maddening with his decisions but I think he has done a great job overall

I think the players are the problems with this team

[DrGlen]

Unfortunately, it is all too often that if a graph of a player's performance was made that the graph at the tail end of most veteran's careers look more like an exponential curve decline and not a lineal decline

For those non math people that means the drop off is fast and furious, not steady ...

Don't get me wrong, Doc is maddening with his decisions but I think he has done a great job overall

I think the players are the problems with this team

But discontinuities do exist in applied mathematics. Kinda like with player performance come playoffs. 

Even Doc's rotation changes in the post season. Sweet! 

And speaking of non-linearities, too bad we can't go for #18, #19, and #20 all this summer. 

[RAcker]

I agree with the kudos for Danny by everyone above.

[Jon Niednagel]

I loved the off-season moves at the time, and I’m still thinking those moves could pay off. I also like the nat-quisition at the trade deadline, but I’m disappointed the C’s didn’t pick up Tyrus Thomas. I think he could have been had considering what the Cats gave up for him. Who knows, maybe Ainge did make a play for him and Chicago just didn't want to deal with us. I can’t really place any blame with Ainge’s moves. In fact, I like this team despite the recent play and think we can make some noise if everyone gets healthy (very uncertain) and starts playing with purpose to build up momentum heading into the playoffs. That said, I'm not going to cry if Danny decides to blow it up in the off season.