Danny Ainge Takes Full Responsibility for Celtics' Loss

[Chief]

Danny Ainge Takes Full Responsibility for Celtics' Loss


After the Celtics failed to comeback and win Game 6 last night, Danny Ainge owned up for his teams failures.

“I take full responsibility for our team not being as good as New York. That is not Doc’s fault, and that is not KG’s fault or Paul Pierce’s fault or Rajon Rondo’s fault."
Before the regular season began, Danny Ainge appeared to have pulled off a series of excellent deals. He started by stealing Jared Sullinger with the 21st pick in the draft, and days later, he made his biggest move of the summer in re-signing Kevin Garnett.
 
After that, he acquired big bodies in Darko Milicic, Jason Collins, and Fab Melo (we all hoped one of these guys could find a rotation spot), then signed NBA champion Jason Terry for depth and late-game production.
 
When it looked like he was done dealing, Ainge snagged Courtney Lee in a sign-and-trade then beat the Lakers to land Leandro Barbosa, giving us a potentially dominant backcourt.
 
While KG had another elite season as an All-Star starter, the rest of these off-season acquisitions were disappointing. Jason Terry went through huge shooting slumps before finally dialing it up for the last 3 games against New York. Despite solid defense and athleticism, Courtney Lee never found his niche.
 
After pre-draft concerns about his health, Jared Sullinger had back surgery to end what could have been an exceptional Rookie year, and the rest of Boston's new bigs were horrible. Darko Milicic played FIVE MINUTES the whole season, Jason Collins played solid D but was horrid on offense and the boards, and Fab Melo is still far away from being more than a bench warmer.
 
Despite tons of grit and balls, The Celtics were simply overmatched by The Knicks depth and explosiveness.
 
I still think Danny Ainge had a solid offseason. Hindsight is 20/20, but I certainly would not have traded our opening day roster for a blown-up rebuilding team. The season ended when Rajon Rondo tore his ACL, and at that point no move was going to get us to The Finals.
 
That being said, Ainge once again failed to bring in a tall, rebounding center or a backup point guard. We all worried about those two areas during the offseason, and in the end, they turned out to be our achilles heel.
 
What do you think of Ainge's offseason? What about his overall tenure as Boston's GM? Sound off in the comments below.

Is there a link to this quote?

[blink]

I have to agree with these thoughts.  Shav did hustle and he did try hard when he got minutes.  He wasn't an embarrassment.  I will give him that. 

But exactly who would he be matched up with that would have helped the C's in the series versus the Knicks?  I can't think of one one rotation Knick big that would have a good matchup for him.  I mean he would have gotten pounded by TC, way too small to defend Tyson.  He would have had his shorts handed to him by melo.  He doesn't have the strength to fight off Martin for rebounds.

The playoffs are really about matchups and where you can get an advantage.  It doesn't seem like there was any advantage with Shav in the lineup.

Shav Randolph is not some kid who has a bunch of upside or can learn all this new stuff. He will be 30 later this year. He's been around the league since 2005.

Shav is what he is. He is an inept offensive player, a horrible shooter of any kind, has little to no post game, is limited in his athleticism and can rebound above average for his size(meaning 6'10" but kind of thin and no vertical). I think he played well here for what was asked of him.

But he got lost on the defensive rotations, had trouble defending the pick and roll and didn't have the ability to defend perimeter PFs or close out on three pointers very well.

He had no business being on the floor in the playoffs. If he sticks, it will because Wilcox doesn't and nothing better presented itself. But with a non-guaranteed contract, and three others also on the roster(White, Pierce, Williams) I could see his waive-able contract being moved in a package like Sean Williams was last year.

And how did those matchups work out?   I guess we'll never freakin know what woulda worked when you play only 7 guys!

So you would have had Shav as a rotation player for the C's against the front line of the Knicks?  Who exactly is he going to matchup with?  What Knicks player does he guard that doesn't just completely dominate him?

I get that we all have our pet bench players that we want to see get minutes.  But this is silly.  KG on fumes is way better than full strength Shav any day.  Might as well start Melo, because 'you never know'.  Well we do know.  We needed points in this last series and we weren't getting them from Shav.

[Chief]

This reminded me of Doc (Clippers-Grizz):

One of Del Negro’s biggest criticisms has always been his inability to manage minutes and player rotations for maximum effectiveness, and in a move of desperation, played Eric Bledsoe less than 10 minutes and Jamal Crawford just 12 in favor of Grant Hill and Willie Green, who had barely seen the court at all previously in the series.
 
Del Negro repeatedly said afterward that he was trying to go small to get an advantage...

How did that work out?

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/04/grizzlies-advance-to-the-second-round-with-game-6-win-over-clippers/related/

[Lord of Mikawa]

Our rotating bench and constant injuries is the problem. KG and Pierce aren't to blame. We need consistent role players year in and out who know the system. Either that, or Doc should adjust his gameplan. This team isn't good enough anymore to not get an offensive rebound.

[RJ87]

This reminded me of Doc (Clippers-Grizz):

One of Del Negro’s biggest criticisms has always been his inability to manage minutes and player rotations for maximum effectiveness, and in a move of desperation, played Eric Bledsoe less than 10 minutes and Jamal Crawford just 12 in favor of Grant Hill and Willie Green, who had barely seen the court at all previously in the series.
 
Del Negro repeatedly said afterward that he was trying to go small to get an advantage...

How did that work out?

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/04/grizzlies-advance-to-the-second-round-with-game-6-win-over-clippers/related/

I don't think that's similar at all - I wish we had bench players the caliber of Jamal Crawford or Eric Bledsoe. KG and Paul had to play big mins or this series really would've been a sweep.

[bfrombleacher]

I don't think Ainge should take much blame for this season. Just a tumultuous season thanks to injuries.

[fairweatherfan]

This reminded me of Doc (Clippers-Grizz):

One of Del Negro’s biggest criticisms has always been his inability to manage minutes and player rotations for maximum effectiveness, and in a move of desperation, played Eric Bledsoe less than 10 minutes and Jamal Crawford just 12 in favor of Grant Hill and Willie Green, who had barely seen the court at all previously in the series.
 
Del Negro repeatedly said afterward that he was trying to go small to get an advantage...

How did that work out?

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/04/grizzlies-advance-to-the-second-round-with-game-6-win-over-clippers/related/

How on Earth is Willie Green + Grant Hill over Bledsoe and Crawford "going small"?

[nickagneta]

This reminded me of Doc (Clippers-Grizz):

One of Del Negro’s biggest criticisms has always been his inability to manage minutes and player rotations for maximum effectiveness, and in a move of desperation, played Eric Bledsoe less than 10 minutes and Jamal Crawford just 12 in favor of Grant Hill and Willie Green, who had barely seen the court at all previously in the series.
 
Del Negro repeatedly said afterward that he was trying to go small to get an advantage...

How did that work out?

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/04/grizzlies-advance-to-the-second-round-with-game-6-win-over-clippers/related/

How on Earth is Willie Green + Grant Hill over Bledsoe and Crawford "going small"?

Its not.
 On the other hand, Dedl Negro probably should have been fired last year. There are much better coaches out there, and I am being kind.

[SHAQATTACK]

I'm still supporting DA and Doc....they won't play small ball forever....

 

[CelticConcourse]

Blame the injuries

[bfrombleacher]

Danny Ainge Takes Full Responsibility for Celtics' Loss


After the Celtics failed to comeback and win Game 6 last night, Danny Ainge owned up for his teams failures.

“I take full responsibility for our team not being as good as New York. That is not Doc’s fault, and that is not KG’s fault or Paul Pierce’s fault or Rajon Rondo’s fault."
Before the regular season began, Danny Ainge appeared to have pulled off a series of excellent deals. He started by stealing Jared Sullinger with the 21st pick in the draft, and days later, he made his biggest move of the summer in re-signing Kevin Garnett.
 
After that, he acquired big bodies in Darko Milicic, Jason Collins, and Fab Melo (we all hoped one of these guys could find a rotation spot), then signed NBA champion Jason Terry for depth and late-game production.
 
When it looked like he was done dealing, Ainge snagged Courtney Lee in a sign-and-trade then beat the Lakers to land Leandro Barbosa, giving us a potentially dominant backcourt.
 
While KG had another elite season as an All-Star starter, the rest of these off-season acquisitions were disappointing. Jason Terry went through huge shooting slumps before finally dialing it up for the last 3 games against New York. Despite solid defense and athleticism, Courtney Lee never found his niche.
 
After pre-draft concerns about his health, Jared Sullinger had back surgery to end what could have been an exceptional Rookie year, and the rest of Boston's new bigs were horrible. Darko Milicic played FIVE MINUTES the whole season, Jason Collins played solid D but was horrid on offense and the boards, and Fab Melo is still far away from being more than a bench warmer.
 
Despite tons of grit and balls, The Celtics were simply overmatched by The Knicks depth and explosiveness.
 
I still think Danny Ainge had a solid offseason. Hindsight is 20/20, but I certainly would not have traded our opening day roster for a blown-up rebuilding team. The season ended when Rajon Rondo tore his ACL, and at that point no move was going to get us to The Finals.
 
That being said, Ainge once again failed to bring in a tall, rebounding center or a backup point guard. We all worried about those two areas during the offseason, and in the end, they turned out to be our achilles heel.
 
What do you think of Ainge's offseason? What about his overall tenure as Boston's GM? Sound off in the comments below.

Is there a link to this quote?

http://www.celticslife.com/2013/05/danny-ainge-takes-full-responsibility.html

[Who]

This reminded me of Doc (Clippers-Grizz):

One of Del Negro’s biggest criticisms has always been his inability to manage minutes and player rotations for maximum effectiveness, and in a move of desperation, played Eric Bledsoe less than 10 minutes and Jamal Crawford just 12 in favor of Grant Hill and Willie Green, who had barely seen the court at all previously in the series.
 
Del Negro repeatedly said afterward that he was trying to go small to get an advantage...

How did that work out?

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/04/grizzlies-advance-to-the-second-round-with-game-6-win-over-clippers/related/

How on Earth is Willie Green + Grant Hill over Bledsoe and Crawford "going small"?

They played Chauncey Billups (18mins) and W.Green at SG (15 minutes, 33 combined minutes) which limited the number of available minutes for Jamal Crawford and Eric Bledsoe.

Then VDN slid Matt Barnes (37mins) over to backup PF in order to fit Grant Hill (20mins) in at backup SF. This where they went small.

It was their centers that lost minutes. Neither R.Turiaf or R.Hollins played. DeAndre Jordan only played 17 minutes (11 of them with a 2nd big alongside him). The rest of the time it was either Blake Griffin or Lamar Odom at the center position. They barely played alongside each other either (approx 5 mins).

So they only had a true five on the floor for about a third of the game and had PFs in his place the rest of the time + played their three small forwards for the vast majority of the available minutes at both the SF + PF positions (81mins out of 96mins).

Then to end the game they finished the game with no big men on the floor instead playing with the three small forwards (Caron, Barnes, Hill) alongside two guards. Final eight and a half minutes with that lineup. Sort of like Doc playing Jeff Green at center with Pierce alongside him at PF alongside three guards which he has done on occasion.

Barnes played well at PF. Got them 30 points. At times it did work in their favour. Going small I mean. Their big lineups (D.Jordan alongside Odom) were a -15 for the game. Pretty much the difference between the two sides on the night.

[eugen]

DA had a chance to sign for veterean minimum "The bird man" and K. Martin. But he went to bring bench junk from China instead. Please how smart is that??!! He destroyed the team...

[chambers]

People continually whine about not having bigs or Doc not playing bigs. We are in a small ball conference. The bigs mean nothing. What big men could we have picked up that would have made a lick of a difference after Rondo went down?

With Rondo, Sully and Barbosa we probably beat the Knicks in 6 games.
It just wasn't our year.
Our problem wasn't big men, it was scoring. Our distributor and number one playmaker - our all star point guard- was out for the season. We had no back up plan for Rondo going down, and I don't blame Danny for that.

Cut the crap with the lack of big men and focus on our number one problem- putting the ball in the basket and making open shots.
27 point averages in the first halves of those playoff games was pathetic. So pathetic that we set new record lows for points scored in a half.

Remember, if Rondo and Sully don't go down, it's probable that we beat the Knicks. Don't over react to an injury riddled season. Our most important offensive player went down and our most important defensive player was hobbled by bone spurs.
Don't make it something it wasn't.

[cltc5]

DA had a chance to sign for veterean minimum "The bird man" and K. Martin. But he went to bring bench junk from China instead. Please how smart is that??!! He destroyed the team...

how do we even know.  DOC NEVER PLAYED THEM!!!  Kmart and birdman arent that much better otherwise they'd be on teams at the get go.  The only reason people have a comparisson is that they were able to showcase and work into the system while our bigs sat on the bench.  Everyone fell in love with TWILL(from china) becasue he got a chance to play, learn and contribute.  Doc saw how at the least Shave played, new he could help and still chose to sit him when we needed big help.  Doc is stupid and he's killing the C's!