Danny Ainge: "Making the playoffs is not a goal" (12/13)

[BudweiserCeltic]

He wants a shot at Jabari, randke, wiggins etc and why not? Adding one of those top 6-7 guys in the draft to this team with a healthy Rondo would be phenomenal.

I agree with this but I am worried that Stevens has them playing too well.  I think they need to move Bass, Lee or Wallace.....

None of those moves should affect our performance much, it'll only affect our depth at those positions. The only one would be Wallace since we don't have really a back-up SF other than Bogans, but that shouldn't be too hard to find.

No Lee? You play Crawford. Bradley, and Green more.

No Bass? More Sullinger and Humphries.

And so on.

[gpap]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick

I am sick to my stomach that he said this and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship team in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick?

I am sick to my stomach that he said and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

I think you completely misunderstood what Danny Ainge said as nothing you pointed out had to do with what Ainge said here.

[gpap]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick?

I am sick to my stomach that he said and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

I think you completely misunderstood what Danny Ainge said as nothing you pointed out had to do with what Ainge said here.

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick?

I am sick to my stomach that he said and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

I think you completely misunderstood what Danny Ainge said as nothing you pointed out had to do with what Ainge said here.

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

If you ignore everything he says afterwards... CONTEXT, it always matters.

[gpap]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick?

I am sick to my stomach that he said and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

I think you completely misunderstood what Danny Ainge said as nothing you pointed out had to do with what Ainge said here.

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

If you ignore everything he says afterwards... CONTEXT, it always matters.

I guess. My beef is would it have killed him to say "I think we have an unthinkable chance of going really far this year and surprising people. The East is really bad. Perhaps I was thinking more long-term going into the season, BUT seeing as though our players are playing hard every night, it would really make me happy to see us get into the playoffs and be a sleeper team that can do a lot of damage."

That's what I would've said.  Again, I'll continue to root for our team but only because of our players, certainly not because of DA.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick?

I am sick to my stomach that he said and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

I think you completely misunderstood what Danny Ainge said as nothing you pointed out had to do with what Ainge said here.

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

If you ignore everything he says afterwards... CONTEXT, it always matters.

I guess. My beef is would it have killed him to say "I think we have an unthinkable chance of going really far this year and surprising people. The East is really bad. Perhaps I was thinking more long-term going into the season, BUT seeing as though our players are playing hard every night, it would really make me happy to see us get into the playoffs and be a sleeper team that can do a lot of damage."

That's what I would've said.  Again, I'll continue to root for our team but only because of our players, certainly not because of DA.

Thank God you're not our GM then.

[moiso]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick?

I am sick to my stomach that he said and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

I think you completely misunderstood what Danny Ainge said as nothing you pointed out had to do with what Ainge said here.

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

If you ignore everything he says afterwards... CONTEXT, it always matters.

I guess. My beef is would it have killed him to say "I think we have an unthinkable chance of going really far this year and surprising people. The East is really bad. Perhaps I was thinking more long-term going into the season, BUT seeing as though our players are playing hard every night, it would really make me happy to see us get into the playoffs and be a sleeper team that can do a lot of damage."

That's what I would've said.  Again, I'll continue to root for our team but only because of our players, certainly not because of DA.

Thank God you're not our GM then.

yeah.  Talk about short sighted.  I'm happy that Ainge made a comment about the big picture.

[LooseCannon]

He wants a shot at Jabari, randke, wiggins etc and why not? Adding one of those top 6-7 guys in the draft to this team with a healthy Rondo would be phenomenal.

I agree with this but I am worried that Stevens has them playing too well.  I think they need to move Bass, Lee or Wallace.....

If you're worried about the team playing too well, you need to figure out a way to decrease Sullinger's minutes.

[Chris]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick?

I am sick to my stomach that he said and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

I think you completely misunderstood what Danny Ainge said as nothing you pointed out had to do with what Ainge said here.

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

If you ignore everything he says afterwards... CONTEXT, it always matters.

I guess. My beef is would it have killed him to say "I think we have an unthinkable chance of going really far this year and surprising people. The East is really bad. Perhaps I was thinking more long-term going into the season, BUT seeing as though our players are playing hard every night, it would really make me happy to see us get into the playoffs and be a sleeper team that can do a lot of damage."

That's what I would've said.  Again, I'll continue to root for our team but only because of our players, certainly not because of DA.

But what if he doesn't believe that?  What if he believes that if they get into the playoffs, they would get destroyed?  I personally like that he is honest.  If he said what you said, I think it would come across as a bit insincere, and would seem like pandering to sell tickets.

[Jailan34]

Danny Ainge should be embarrassed of himself to even say such a thing. How dare he?

The job of a team's GM should be to see his team succeed on a yearly basis for the FANS, not to see them be bad so they can catch lightening in a bottle with a future draft pick

I am sick to my stomach that he said this and may even quit being a Celtics fan. The only thing that drives me to watch this team is the hustle of the players.

As for Danny Ainge, he can go straight to hell. I am also starting to think that he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of watching the Celtics play poorly instead of playing well.

Like literally, I bet he must've hated 2007-2010 when we were the best team in the league which is why he started to disband our championship team in 2011 by dealing Perk, then trying to trade Ray "only to change his mind."

As for acquiring KG, that was all Kevin McHale!!

If I were a GM of a team, I would NEVER say something like that. Then again, I still look at sports through the eyes of a fan, NOT a business man and not worried more about what the Celts will look like in the year 3029 instead of what they look like tonight.

Not everything is so black and white. Making the playoffs does little to develop this team for the future as I've said many times. I'm glad to hear DA say this because he's not getting caught up in a historically bad year for the east. He's thinking about the future, it doesn't matter so much what they look like this year, it only matters what certain players look like this year. Humphries, Wallace and Bass aren't going to be around much longer.

DA wants to see AB, Kelly, Sully and Fav develop, everyone else it just kind of there.

[Q_FBE]

The goal of the team is to get better and show progress. Based on my observations, they are doing that and I am getting more satisfaction out of watching this team than last years underperforming flounderers.

The NBA forces you to earn a playoff spot and punishes the weak teams long term. I am not interested in revisiting the 1990s and early 2000s. I think that is the message Danny Ainge is purporting to the Boston Media.

One thing the Celtics cannot control is the other 29 teams' businesses. So if two thirds of the teams engage in a race to the bottom - some of those have to make the playoffs just by sheer number.

[fairweatherfan]

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

If you ignore everything he says afterwards... CONTEXT, it always matters.

I guess. My beef is would it have killed him to say "I think we have an unthinkable chance of going really far this year and surprising people. The East is really bad. Perhaps I was thinking more long-term going into the season, BUT seeing as though our players are playing hard every night, it would really make me happy to see us get into the playoffs and be a sleeper team that can do a lot of damage."

That's what I would've said.  Again, I'll continue to root for our team but only because of our players, certainly not because of DA.

But what if he doesn't believe that?  What if he believes that if they get into the playoffs, they would get destroyed?  I personally like that he is honest.  If he said what you said, I think it would come across as a bit insincere, and would seem like pandering to sell tickets.

The reason why pandering is so common is that a lot of people really like being pandered to.

No problem with Danny's remarks, he's right - in what's so far a historically bad conference, making the playoffs is not the benchmark it'd be in a more competitive environment.  Put another way, does going 37-45 and making the playoffs mean you're a better team than a Western squad that goes 37-45 and finishes 12th?  Of course not.

[Mr October]

Well...his quote was "making the playoffs is not a goal."
To me, that's pretty cut and dry. Unless he was joking.

If you ignore everything he says afterwards... CONTEXT, it always matters.

I guess. My beef is would it have killed him to say "I think we have an unthinkable chance of going really far this year and surprising people. The East is really bad. Perhaps I was thinking more long-term going into the season, BUT seeing as though our players are playing hard every night, it would really make me happy to see us get into the playoffs and be a sleeper team that can do a lot of damage."

That's what I would've said.  Again, I'll continue to root for our team but only because of our players, certainly not because of DA.

But what if he doesn't believe that?  What if he believes that if they get into the playoffs, they would get destroyed?  I personally like that he is honest.  If he said what you said, I think it would come across as a bit insincere, and would seem like pandering to sell tickets.

The reason why pandering is so common is that a lot of people really like being pandered to.

No problem with Danny's remarks, he's right - in what's so far a historically bad conference, making the playoffs is not the benchmark it'd be in a more competitive environment.  Put another way, does going 37-45 and making the playoffs mean you're a better team than a Western squad that goes 37-45 and finishes 12th?  Of course not.

If anything the 37 win team out west would probably be a better team since they have earned their record against tougher competition.

I also don't want to see the Celtics get a playoff spot with mid 30s of wins. That feels like the dark ages of the 90s to me.

[clover]

That interview was Ainge stating the obvious.  I wouldn't take it to mean much more than exactly what he said, that their goal this year is to develop players and get better, and that they don't see backing into the playoffs as necessarily a positive.

I got the sense of the interview but it sounds like DA is forgetting that rondo is supposed to be coming back.

I don't think(when Rondo) does come back that he's going to be eased back in, he's going to be full on rondo when he gets back. and imo that makes us a lot better & with our record & the state of the eastern conf. that means a playoff spot.

Danny isn't forgetting anything.  He knows Rondo is coming back.  But he also knows that the East is likely to not remain as bad as they have been. 

More than anything though, Danny knows that Rajon Rondo is by far their best asset (well, maybe their lottery pick in 2014...but right now that could be in jeopardy), and he is not giving up his best asset just to tank.

Yeah, I don't think this is any groundbreaking stuff but his word choice seemed to dictate where he's thinking.

He could of easily said "Well, if the East is struggling we are going to take advantage of it. We have Rajon coming back which will make us much stronger. This team will be a very competitive bunch come playoff time".

Instead he kind of stated the opposite. Again, nothing crazy and I agree with his direction, but I think he made it pretty clear he's not trading for any "win now" pieces.

Thank goodness!