How are Wyc & Co. escaping the majority of the blame here?

[jdpapa3]

I don't get this blame Wyc angle at all.

Yea, no kidding. We have one of the highest payrolls in the league and he is not supposed to be in charge of personnel decisions.

[Kwhit10]

Wyc supplies the money, not the know on NBA players and constructing a team.

[guava_wrench]

Wyc supplies the money, not the know on NBA players and constructing a team.

No matter how much you know, there are never guarantees of success. That is how life works. You might have the best plan and the best effort, but sometimes you fail.

I suppose this shows the ownership the "what have you done for me lately" attitude of many Boston fans. We went from one of the worst teams in the league to where we are now due to their willingness to spend money.

[KungPoweChicken]

The majority of the blame, with this specific team, belongs on the players, then Danny, then Doc. I don't see any reason why Wyc should be held accountable. In my opinion, he has gone beyond what has been expected of him and has done some great things.

[Q_FBE]

I don't get this blame Wyc angle at all.

That is simple and to the point. Wyc invests in winning championships just like us fans. We are lucky he bought out Thanksdad Ga$ton. If he hadn't the Lakers would be tied with us for total championships (including the Minneapolis ones.

[rav123]

The team only looks good on paper because of the reputation of the Big 3.  If you look at the roster only in terms of production and efficiency it looks like a solid, perhaps even pretty good team, but nowhere close to a great one.

In hindsight, perhaps.  But coming into the season, you had a team returning that had won 62 games (despite KG missing a large chunk of the season).  You had a blossoming BBD that was coming into his own, and it was expected that Perk and Rondo would continue to improve.  You added Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, both players who were starters on other teams.

When we wrote articles / did polls on the strength of the team in the off-season, the overwhelming majority of fans were very pleased with the off-season.  On paper, this team looked like the best team in the NBA, and they were playing like it for the first quarter of the season.

Ultimately, that's why I give Wyc a pass.  He spent the money to upgrade the team, and is paying over $10 million in luxury tax.  He relies upon the professionals beneath him (from Danny to Doc to the training staff to the players) to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.  Those under Wyc have failed him thus far, and I can't point the finger upward at him.

Sure, it would feel good to see the owner voice some of the fans' displeasure once in awhile, just to show that he gets it.  However, ultimately his decision not to do so is not something that I'll criticize him for (so long as he isn't endorsing the team's play).

Nice post. And with that, you have 4600 TPs. Everybody thought that we'd win more than last season, if not the 72 'Sheed predicted. On paper, we still might have the best team.

[freshinthehouse]

We've been over this again and again.

What are these mythical deals for Ray we should have made?

I wanted him moved too but clearly he didn't have the market value we all assumed.

Thank you.  What exactly were we supposed to get for Ray's contract?  Who were these young, talented players that teams wanted to give away for an expiring deal?  Oh yeah, that's right.  There weren't any.

I think some fans get stuck in this video game mentality that just because you think of a trade that could theoretically happen on paper, that your team's GM should do the move ASAP, and if they don't, they're not doing their job.

And like guava wrench and Q said, this is not ownership's fault.  Wyc and the gang are fantastic.  They spend a ton of $$$ and they don't act like they're GMs.  That's all you can ask of an owner.  Apparently not everyone was around during the day's of Gaston Jr's legacy of brutality.  Now that was bad ownership.

[openairmovie]

Yah, I know, the players have been playing like dogs since Xmas. Doc's coaching abilities outside of the realm of (over-respecting? or is it fearing? or is it pandering to his veterans?) being a player's coach and the occasional good play call out of time-outs (which have become fewer and farther between, especially with those stupid, ineffective Pierce or Rondo iso's at the end of quarters) stink, especially regarding rotations and in-game strategies and adjustments. And Danny didn't make any significant moves at the trade deadline (I still like the Nate move, but only as a complimentary one and not the only one) to cash in on Ray's contract. While all these things on the surface seem to be the causes of our team's current sad state now and into the future, I think they are actually the result of Wyc & Co.'s posture and business decisions about this team. Let me explain.

How many times from Doc's from Danny's and from Wyc's mouth have the words "I Like This Team!!!!" spewed? From whence do these words come? WYC. Doc has been saying them since Christmas because he has to. Not because Wyc literally tells him to say them, but because he knew that the team that he had at Christmas was most likely the team he was going to war in the playoffs with, so what else could he say?

Danny said those words many times prior to the trade deadline and subsequent to his inaction at the deadline. Again, Why? Some will say it was GM-speak for "No, we're not desperate" so as to not be dealing from a position of weakness before the deadline and covering his butt after the deadline for not making a deal. Danny's position (really Wyc's)before the deadline was that they wanted a young player and expirings for Ray's expiring contract and that they were not interested in taking on any even mildly offensive contracts, and they held to that stance.  In no blankin' universe that I know of, not even in pre-2008 Chris Wallace land, could they have gotten a deal like that. So Wyc sent Danny to war with blanks in his gun "hoping" someone would give up the store. The result: no Butler, no Haywood, no Jamison, no Ty Thomas, no Hinrich, no Salmons, no Hakeem Warrick, no nothing, and this team needed something.

The something it needed was a message to the team, the veteran's especially, that no one was safe: if you play like a chump with a lack of effort, you're gonna get treated like a chump.

This lack of effort has been going on since after the Xmas game in Orlando. A change needed to be made and new blood needed to be infused into our team to shake it up. And by not doing this, this sent the message loud and clear to all, especially those dogging it and who infected others with the same lack of urgency, that the status quo was OK. Great blankin' move, Wyc, because the status quo is not OK.

But it is OK for you Wyc, despite your disgusted look and protestations to the contrary now. You created this situation because you "Like our team" because it was and still is financially expedient to spew that rhetoric, or so you thought. The fans may be angry now, but you kept the pink hats happy by keeping This 3 together, and those who bought season's for this year have already paid for them and their playoff strips. Hopefully for our sake, not yours, you won't be reimbursing those patrons for their tix for the second round and beyond.

And, by the way, Wyc, I hope that you don't still "Like this team" so much that you won't spend the full MLE on reinforcements. Your message of "I Like This Team" forced upon Danny and Doc has further eroded the credibility of the team and their public postures that, I thought reached their lowpoint during the KG injury reports last season. But, I understand. It's all about the bottom line. Keep the public thinking KG is coming back, and there is still hope and they will still spend money. If Doc and Danny spew your party line of "I Like This Team", some people will keep spending the money.....because they want to believe...... and hope is all fans really have.......

lets face it...this team is filled with a bunch of lying fools in our executive branches... How many times did we hear last year "KG will be fine"   "KG wont play this round , so he can play next round"  then it was "KG Wont play this round so he can be fresh for Cleveland "    and then we were never fully told about his injury until he had surgery   it was always  he said she said     and this has been the case with trades,  signings , and team disputes   its always a merry go round of lies and excuses . The apple rots from the top down . Look at the Red Sox  they keep their fans in the loop      the Celts are trying to be like the pats  but its just annoying where as the pats you understand what they're doing.

[CoachBo]

The team only looks good on paper because of the reputation of the Big 3.  If you look at the roster only in terms of production and efficiency it looks like a solid, perhaps even pretty good team, but nowhere close to a great one.

In hindsight, perhaps.  But coming into the season, you had a team returning that had won 62 games (despite KG missing a large chunk of the season).  You had a blossoming BBD that was coming into his own, and it was expected that Perk and Rondo would continue to improve.  You added Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, both players who were starters on other teams.

When we wrote articles / did polls on the strength of the team in the off-season, the overwhelming majority of fans were very pleased with the off-season.  On paper, this team looked like the best team in the NBA, and they were playing like it for the first quarter of the season.

Ultimately, that's why I give Wyc a pass.  He spent the money to upgrade the team, and is paying over $10 million in luxury tax.  He relies upon the professionals beneath him (from Danny to Doc to the training staff to the players) to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.  Those under Wyc have failed him thus far, and I can't point the finger upward at him.

Sure, it would feel good to see the owner voice some of the fans' displeasure once in awhile, just to show that he gets it.  However, ultimately his decision not to do so is not something that I'll criticize him for (so long as he isn't endorsing the team's play).

Well said.

It's really humorous to see people trying to shift the blame to Grousbeck when it's perfectly obvious that the judgment of his basketball people failed him - this year. They were wrong about Wallace and, to a lesser extent, Daniels - as were several of us, myself included. I continue to fail to see any point in the Nate Robinson deal, and I cannot wait until he's a footnote in Celtics history.

The humor lies in the constant attempts to shift the blame away from Ainge, who is what he is - an ordinary NBA general manager with a few hits and a few bad misses, not the genius that several of you want to convince everyone he is.

C-man is correct: I have no issues whatsoever with the trades two summers ago. We got a championship out of it, and now the window is gone.

The trick is keeping this team viable as it transitions. I personally don't have a lot of faith that Ainge can do that intelligently.

[Jon]

Also, at this point in the season, should any blame be assigned to anyone?  Don't get me wrong, I've been consistently disappointed this season: I though this team had a shot at the Bulls' record.  However, poor play in the middle of the season and hot-and-cold play as of late doesn't preclude the possibility that they can still win it all.

We should probably hold off on the blame game until this team is eliminated from the playoffs. 

[BballTim]

The team only looks good on paper because of the reputation of the Big 3.  If you look at the roster only in terms of production and efficiency it looks like a solid, perhaps even pretty good team, but nowhere close to a great one.

   This is pretty much hindsight. The drops in production and efficiency are based mainly on Paul and KG being injured.

[Eja117]

I think Wyc escapes blame mainly because he's not the one that jacks up threes like a drunk Antoine Walker, shows less heart than a dying tree, and blows double digit leads at home on a consistent basis while getting paid millions of dollars.

Just a guess.

[jpd985]

Wyc has opened his wallet for Danny and Doc to build a championship caliber team. If the team assembled doesn't perform it doesn't and shouldn't fall on Wyc. The blames falls on the players, Doc, and/or Danny. The injuries too had a negative effect but don't excuse the team when they mailed in games.

[wdleehi]

To me, the owner has the following responsibilities.


1) Hire the right people.  Let them make the decisions.  (Ainge has won one title already.  Plus 1 for the owner)

2) Give a workable budget to the team.  (the Celtics are not a cap slashing team.  Plus 1 for the owner)


So, what part do we blame the owner for?