Q's Annual Celtics Review

[Q_FBE]

I feel like I am writing this prematurely but then again maybe not.

The Celtics started out strong as they usually do in November and December. They took a horrible loss on Christmas Day to Orlando. They had My Hammy's number by winning the close games because Lebron, Wade, and Bosh could not execute in the closing possessions in close games. They forged a three or four game in the EC race for HCA in the 2011 playoffs and then a funny thing happened in February. The Celtics traded away Perkins, Marquis Daniels (injured), Nate Robinson, Harongody, and Semih Erden (productive in his minutes) for Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green plus a couple of future 2nd round picks that have no value in todays market. Danny Ainges gamble was he would get Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal back in time to compete for HCA. Chicago and My Hammy both drubbed the Celtics. Celtics were dropping games to Mamby Pamby teams like the Wizards and the Bobcats.... lost twice to the Rockets who missed the playoffs and then proceeded to falter to 3rd seed after mathematically clinching the Atlantic Division.

Danny's trade is now I consider an epic FAILURE because he expected to have both the O'Neals back at Center and Jeff Green in the playoff rotation. He got about 3/8 of that right. 75% of Jeff Green, 50% Jermaine O'Neal, 0% Shaq (epic failure signing). Had he kept Perkins, Baby's minutes would have been reduced (possibly to nothing) and the chemistry would have been maintained to finish possibly as the #1 seed and no worse than the #2 seed...... Significance HCA in Rounds 1 and 2 including My Hammy...... How big did that end up being? I think the Celtics lead 3 to 2 over My Hammy or even better are waiting to see who they face off against in the ECF - My Hammy or the ThibaBULLS.

But, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.... Danny Boya had to go and trade Perkins and messed up a perfectly good starting lineup that only lost Games Six and Seven in Fakerville when Perkins knee gave out on him in Game Six and then it was NO REBOUNDS, NO RINGS.....

Rebounding cost us Games 2 and 4 against My Hammy in which both games were WINNABLE. But Perkins is playing on with Durant, Hardin, Nick Colison, Sefolosha, and Westbrook in Tornado Alley. And I sit here whining on the keyboards about another opportunity LOST.

Look I understand that some teams benefit in the offseason (My Hammy, Bulls, OKC, Memphis, even the Bricks) while others get completely screwed (Cleveland, Utah, Phoenix, Houston)..... What is galling is self inflicted pain by gambling on trades at Mid-season (witness Orlando and our own Celtics).

What is worse is that no role playing free agent who thinks they are worth their salt and can contribute to a contender is going to want to come to Boston. Danny can't just go out and magically trade his Big 4 and Glen Davis for Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Brandon Roy and Blake Griffen then pull in a healthy Greg Odin, and three FA wings. So I say we are stuck in decline and on hold until a new CBA comes out defining the rules on compensation and trading. I can't possibly come up with trade ideas or FA signings until I have a firm grasp on what the new CBA rules are.

So with all due respect for the fellow bloggers I would like to sit back and not comment on what the Celtics should or should not do from here.

So the individual player evaluations:

1) Paul Pierce - Always a Celtic and a true basketball professional - want him back.

2) Ray Allen - The greatest outside shooter in Celtic history since Jo Jo White - want him back

3) KG - Always want KG on my team - made BBD and Perkins much better players - also helped Semih Erden and is helping Nenad Krstic learn the ropes.

4) Rondo - Needs to shoot FT and midrange jumpers better - but a keeper unless we can obtain Deron Williams or Chris Paul (preferably).

5) Jeff Green - He has the young legs and we need somebody to lead the team once 1) 2) and 3) retire.

6) Delonte West - Proven young veteran who I think can gain a Dennis Johnson like stature as time goes on - KEEPER

7) Jermaine O'Neal - A tough old pro who has to keep battling injuries but played really well against My Hammy - Keep

Glen Davis - He has the Spirit but something bad happened to him in a critical career year.... He played way too minutes and wore down. He tries but does not have the athletic talent and he thinks he is a starter..... Good luck on your Job Interviews Kid.

9) Avery Bradley - Not ready yet

10) Carlos Arroyo - Von Wafer - Troy Murphy - Shaquille O'Neal

Well I think this sums up where we need the most help. The war of attrition was lost and next year will get worse, possibly a lot worse - like a one and done team - which will be confirmation that it is time to overhaul the roster with new space coming in.

Hey but at least we had 4 nice Celtics years and one Championship and a Game 7 of the Finals appearence in Jack Nicholsons lap.

I hope that we get a fifth season in this Big Four run and that help is on the way for the future. 

[Q_FBE]

I was hoping for some comments on this article - I'd like to add that I am delighted to see Doc Rivers return to coach and I challenge each of you Doc naysayers to step forward and state your replacement coach and state why.

I also want to know if want the core back and which of the current role players deserve to come back and why.......

I guess this topic got lost in the shuffle which is understandable since we all have time to write now that we have been relieved of our Celtic playoff watching duties.

[thirstyboots18]

Big Three...keep.  Would love to see any or all accept bench roles and mentoring duties as their careers wind down.  I hope their ego's will let them do this in the future.  (Wouldn't they look great coming off the bench?)  That would also help bring talent to the Celtics, and extend their windo to win championships.

Rondo...keep.  My only concern with Rondo is that the way he plays lends itself to injury.

Delonte West...keep.  Mult-talented, can play different positions and also can start.  Like Rondo, he plays all out and that can (and has) opened the door for injuries.


Jeff Green...Keep.   I would like to see Green with a training camp under his belt.  I think he can run with Rondo and Delonte and will become, at the very least, a good backup for Paul Pierce, or a good trading chip.

Nenad Krstic...think Krstic still has possibilites (?)
Jermaine O'Neal...like JO...backup center/power forward(?)
Shaq...retire, possibly bring back if in good health for a
          title run

Glen Davis...let him test the waters again, and only bring him back for a very good price, or if you can include him in a trade...or not if you can find a replacement 10th player.  IMO he has a limited future in the NBA because he is unable (or unwilling) to get into shape, and his weight is already causing injuries, and as long as he is here, I think Doc will continue to overuse him.


Wafer...Wafer played well when he played.   
Arroyo...trade ?
Bradley...just another project

These three guys just don't seem important to the future of the Celtics.


Our main need is a big, intimidating, healthy, smart center who can defend, rebound, and score.  No small task to find. Danny, do you have any magic left in your bag of tricks?

[Q_FBE]

Thirsty - What happened to your Tommy Points?

Some of Danny Ainges quotes from his interview:

"I would have fought harder to bring Tony Allen back," Ainge said. "We tried to sign Tony, we tried to come within our rules of staying in our two-year program. I think that Tony would have helped us.

"We offered Tony a two-year deal out of the gate, but then when Memphis showed him some love and he started thinking about the idea of more playing time ... Then, he wanted a change of scenery."

With coach Doc Rivers saying last night that he was leaning heavily toward returning next season, Ainge said that the notion that Rivers was wedded to the Big Three Era only was false and that he sees Rivers as a coach who could be with the franchise for several years in the way that longtime Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was in Utah before retiring this season.

On Rivers's long-term future with the team:

"I think that’s the wrong assumption about Doc," Ainge said. "That’s what most people think, he would just be here with this group of guys. I think Doc is a coach at heart. I think Doc likes the idea of staying in Boston.

"If there comes a time where our goal change in a year or two, where the goal is to make the playoffs, I think Doc would welcome that challenge too. He knows that every year of your career, you can’t be fighting for an NBA championship.

"I think he likes the idea of being a Jerry Sloan type coach and being with a franchise for a long time."

Glen Davis said he thinks he ready to be a started in this league, Ainge didn't address it, but he said that he wanted to try to bring him back next season. Ainge said he didn't think conditioning was the reason for his subpar postseason.

"We had a weight clause with Glen in his contract. He did good [with that]. I didn’t see it on the court. I saw him competing hard. I know Glen had some sore knees. There’s just a lot of factors."

The likelihood that Shaquille O'Neal retires is strong, Ainge said, but Jermaine O'Neal, who spoke with Ainge today, could return.


Tony Allen would have been useful guarding against Dewayne Wade who is CLEARLY My Hammy's MVP (and not for breaking Rondo's arm although that was probably the breaking for the C's and tonight we would be focused on the closeout of My Hammy followed by breaking down the ThibaBulls).


A lot of Rondo for Chris Paul Rhetoric is starting up around here. Danny says no we are not Rondo but then again anything is possible if there is a good trade opportunity. Having Doc Rivers sign up for five more years is a GOOD development for the Celtics. That would not have been said 4 years ago around the Celtic blogging public.

Can we get Emeka Okafor with Chris Paul? If NOLA Hornets are looking for a do over and think BBD is marketable 

Rondo + KG + BBD for CP3 + EO + DW (That would be Dave West if healthy) is an equitable trade - Not sure if that is a great trade and how all the parties would react to this.

[Roy H.]

To me, this is the third year in a row that injuries intervened to derail a team that was a potential champion.  This year was more frustrating than the prior two, though, because of the trade.  I thought a mid-season shakeup like that was a bad idea from the beginning, but such is life, I guess.

I do think that if this team was able to go into the playoffs healthy, with the starters (including Perk) + Shaq + JO + Baby + Tony + Delonte, we would have won the championship.  Oh, well, such is life.

I agree with most of your player assessments.  We differ on BBD; I'd bring him back if we strike out on other options and if the money is right.  Also, I'm probably more hopeful on Bradley than you are. 

In an ideal world, I'd like to see us get CP3, and add some post scoring while bringing just about everyone else back.  Do that and our team is back in business.

[thirstyboots18]

I hate it, but I lean toward agreeing with you, Roy. I like a pass first point guard, but because of Rondo's style of play, I am afraid he is going to suffer lots of injuries in the future. (I have been saying for years that it scares me the way he gets tossed around when he goes inside, and to be effective he has to attack the basket.) Rajon is an very talented player with great heart, but he is an accident waiting to happen. I really don't want him traded, but could live with it.  As far as Glen Davis...10th man, maybe?  Not sixth man, and especially not getting overplayed.  He does try hard on the court and he does (usually...not in the playoffs) provide energy. He does not make good decisions or have good court sense, and is not a good shooter or rebounder, IMO.

[greenpride32]

I don't agree that the Shaq signing was an "epic failure".  He got injured and couldn't play; it happens and was an unfortunate situation.  Look at the Delonte situation. 

The fans need to realize that the C's would NOT have been a top championship favorite earlier in the sesaon had it not been for Shaq.  The C's were 20-4 when Shaq played more than 21 minutes.  Rondo was within reach of Stockton's all time APG record with a healthy Shaq in the line up.  This team was unstoppable.  Take away Shaq and this team is not holding the top east seed for the first half of the year.

Our fate would not have been any different had we signed another center within our budget or had we not traded Perk.  By the time Perk got healthy and could be on the court we would have been a 3-5 seed in the standings.  I'm not saying Shaq was the key to this season, because we all know this team is the some of it's parts.  But you take away any key cog of this team and it degrades significantly.  All the proof you need is the team's performance with Shaq in the lineup; if you don't see that than there is really nothing that can convince you.
 

[Evantime34]

To me, this is the third year in a row that injuries intervened to derail a team that was a potential champion.  This year was more frustrating than the prior two, though, because of the trade.  I thought a mid-season shakeup like that was a bad idea from the beginning, but such is life, I guess.

I do think that if this team was able to go into the playoffs healthy, with the starters (including Perk) + Shaq + JO + Baby + Tony + Delonte, we would have won the championship.  Oh, well, such is life.

I agree with most of your player assessments.  We differ on BBD; I'd bring him back if we strike out on other options and if the money is right.  Also, I'm probably more hopeful on Bradley than you are. 

In an ideal world, I'd like to see us get CP3, and add some post scoring while bringing just about everyone else back.  Do that and our team is back in business.

I think the minutes were managed the best in terms of preventing injuries out of the past 3 years. None of the big 3 had legit injuries. It was the back ups that got hurt. The problem is we signed injury prone back ups and played Rondo too many minutes.
However, I think this team was deeper than it has been in the past (from an individual back up perspective, I know that we've had better second units). If the progression of getting deeper every year continues we should be better this year.

I think it is starting to hurt us that our draft picks have not been able to contribute right away. I think this is the year that one of our draft picks gives us something. You have to remember how young this kid is.

I bet we grab a good project big in the draft, bring back baby and sign someone who can give us big minutes with the MLE. I also expect a decent wing player at the LLE.

[greenpride32]

To me, this is the third year in a row that injuries intervened to derail a team that was a potential champion. 

During the regular season I kept thinking what-if Shaq/Delonte/JO were all healthy; shouldn't we win 70 games?

But then I realized it's part of the game.  If Manu doesn't get hurt the Spurs probabl don't fall off the face of the planet.  Their fall coincided directly with his injuries.  What about DAL and Butler?  How scary would they be if he was healthy all year?  The Heat's big off season role player signing was Mike Miller; very respected shooter, defender, and rebounder; hurt all year and ineffective.  And the Heat's existing top role player Haslem out for most of the year and probably won't be effective for this year's playoffs.  How much better would that team be with those guys healthly?

[eugen]

Folks. This is a technical judgment about failure of this yes of Cs team. If we think that trading Perk was the reason why this team was eliminated Vs Miami, you are wrong. I thing  that this team did not have backup bench for shooters like RY + PP. Look in game 4, last 17 second when we did not close the game. Same thin in game 5, last 4 horrible minutes. We really need other great shooters if we like to get another championship.