Quote from: chambers on August 09, 2015, 01:41:36 PM

Just turned 87 years old. Still sharp as ever....
Couz may have a point? hehe


http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/08/08/bob-cousy-boston-timeless-treasure/bGAri28zRmJ7l7wBtihiqO/story.html

Cousy professed “great confidence” in Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and his blueprint for banner No. 18.

But he also offered a pragmatic view of the Celtics’ road back to contention, after a surprising playoff berth last season.

“They’re ending up in the middle, which frankly is the worst place you can be, in my judgment,” Cousy said. “You either get up near the top and enjoy the goodies or you finish last and get the first, second, third pick, and then you’ve got a shot at helping yourself through the draft. When you’re in the middle you’re just not going to get impact players.”

Preach on, Cooz. If the Parishioners of the Parquet aren’t going to listen to bloviating sportswriters (raising hand), maybe they’ll listen to one of their most revered figures.

Nowhere in there it says that he'd rather tank...

Good for him.   Not a popular opinion in new England,  but you can't argue with the man's credentials

Quote from: eja117 on August 09, 2015, 02:37:06 PM

When have the Celts ever gotten a good pick? When have they ever gone into a lottery and came out with "phew. That is exactly why we did this"?  or even "thank gosh we didn't go down"?  Joe Johnson? When they were supposed to be 8th and got 8th?

The lottery never helps the Celtics. They have never gone into it and come away with any kind of advantage over other teams. They have never won, or even moved up, in the lottery. They have only lost the lottery.

Plus this team was far too good, even early on, for a top 6 pick. This team was looking at maybe 9th at best. Frank Kaminsky. Whoop de doo.

assuming the above is a real question and not simply a snarky over generalizaiton, by good pick, do you mean "top 6"? (since bird was taken at #6, it is reasonable to extend "good pick" this far out.)

if so, then a 5 minute search on the web would have shown you this:

2014 - 6th pick
2007 - 5th pick
1997 - 3rd pick & 6th pick
1996 - 6th pick
1986 - 2nd pick
1980 - 1st pick, traded down to 3rd pick
1978 - 6th pick

Quote from: eja117 on August 09, 2015, 02:37:06 PM

When have the Celts ever gotten a good pick? When have they ever gone into a lottery and came out with "phew. That is exactly why we did this"?  or even "thank gosh we didn't go down"?  Joe Johnson? When they were supposed to be 8th and got 8th?

The lottery never helps the Celtics. They have never gone into it and come away with any kind of advantage over other teams. They have never won, or even moved up, in the lottery. They have only lost the lottery.

Plus this team was far too good, even early on, for a top 6 pick. This team was looking at maybe 9th at best. Frank Kaminsky. Whoop de doo.

assuming the above is a real question and not simply a snarky over generalizaiton, by good pick, do you mean "top 6"? (since bird was taken at #6, it is reasonable to extend "good pick" this far out.)

if so, then a 5 minute search on the web would have shown you this:

2014 - 6th pick
2007 - 5th pick
1997 - 3rd pick & 6th pick
1996 - 6th pick
1986 - 2nd pick
1980 - 1st pick, traded down to 3rd pick
1978 - 6th pick

Quote from: hwangjini_1 on August 09, 2015, 02:50:07 PM

Quote from: eja117 on August 09, 2015, 02:37:06 PM

When have the Celts ever gotten a good pick? When have they ever gone into a lottery and came out with "phew. That is exactly why we did this"?  or even "thank gosh we didn't go down"?  Joe Johnson? When they were supposed to be 8th and got 8th?

The lottery never helps the Celtics. They have never gone into it and come away with any kind of advantage over other teams. They have never won, or even moved up, in the lottery. They have only lost the lottery.

Plus this team was far too good, even early on, for a top 6 pick. This team was looking at maybe 9th at best. Frank Kaminsky. Whoop de doo.

assuming the above is a real question and not simply a snarky over generalizaiton, by good pick, do you mean "top 6"? (since bird was taken at #6, it is reasonable to extend "good pick" this far out.)

if so, then a 5 minute search on the web would have shown you this:

2014 - 6th pick
2007 - 5th pick
1997 - 3rd pick & 6th pick
1996 - 6th pick
1986 - 2nd pick
1980 - 1st pick, traded down to 3rd pick
1978 - 6th pick

Let's evaluate our success with what is considered "tanking" (a newfangled catch-all word for describing bottoming out).

1978 - 6th pick - Larry Bird.   Nice
1980 - 3rd pick - Kevin McHale.... nice
1986  2nd pick - Len Bias - ouch.  Unprecedented situation.  Could have been amazing.
1996 - 6th pick - 3x All-star Antoine Walker
1997 - Considered a 1 player draft with Duncan.  Maybe a 2 player draft as some folks like Van Horn.  We got Billups #3 (5x All-star and Finals MVP).  #6 - Ron Mercer... not great, but he averaged 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals with 43% shooting and 79% from the line his second year in Boston.  I'd gladly take that from any of our rookies.  Mercer peaked in Chicago by averaging 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals.  Again... I'd take it.  Marcus Smart just averaged 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals and people talk about him like the second coming of Christ.  Not a bad haul all things considered.
2007 - #5 pick - We flipped it for Ray Allen, which opened the door to bringing in KG... and directly lead to us winning a championship.
2014 - #6 - Marcus Smart.  Again, the jury is out on Smart, but he's very clearly our most valuable asset and many believe he's a future star.   Not bad.

Aside from Bias, I'd say "tanking" has worked fairly well for us.