Danny has betrayed himself or is afflicted with tunnel vision. Since Perk and KG added up to a very solid front court, there have always been issues with center and power forward.
Ainge, Doc and Stevens were all guards. Could that be the problem? Is it a coincidence they were little guys in their playing days and then as NBA management, they slant their focus unduly towards that position?
Clifford Ray was the center coach. He got fired in an un-Celtic way or that's how it felt. Then it got pushed under the rug. Is Walter McCarty the center coach now? Because if he is, that is just flat out wrong. Walter was a six foot ten shooting guard from what I recall. Or he played like a tall small forward. It's actually been a while, so I forget what his game was, but he wasn't a center. That's the point.
Remember those heady early Brad days when Humphries, Bass, Zeller, Sully and Olynyk were our bigs? Are our bigs better, the same or worse today? To me, it looks like a wash. To me, it looks like the Celtics always seem to know best when it comes to guards. If you had head issues, would you go to a foot doctor? Do you go to the plumber to fix your teeth? Who on this team represents the knowledge base for center management?
I think that's the basic problem. The game has changed and certain centers have become obsolete. But the position in itself still exists. You still need athletic bigs to protect the rim and grab rebounds.
Now all the marbles have been put into Zizic. He may or may not be part of the answer. Yet, it is a possible solution we will have to wait for.
I don't know what the mystery is with Amir Johnson. He is clearly holding us back. What is his malfunction?
Zeller. What is Ainge's fascination with centers who can't play center? What kind of center is unable to compete with power forwards forced into the center role because he's such a scrub?
Larry Sanders seems to want some playing time. Is the reason he isn't on the team filling a big hole in the roster because Ainge is fixated on small ball? For all of Danny Ainge's skills as a GM, is he incompetent when it comes to evaluating bigs?
Because I look at us as stacked at positions one to three. People claim our defense is not what it was, but how many times can you stop the opposition if they keep getting the rebounds?
Danny got greedy in the off-season. He kept guys like James Young and Zeller, when we could have had Nader and Zizic. It might not have made a difference this year, but we are going nowhere with Zeller/Young the same way Sully and Turner was a dead end.
Olynyk needs to start with Horford and that is what we'll probably see tonight. Smart needs to play 35-40 minutes until Avery gets back. Mere days ago we were a very solid 26-15. It's sad that a few losses with the potential for more could throw away much of what has been established.
Danny needs to get us a center right now. Unfortunately, the center position seems to be his blind spot.
Rozier made one of the worst team decisions I've ever seen which was a key turning point last night. He went hero ball like Isaiah and charged into three Wizards at the rim. The way the camera was set up, you could see that he was bottled up, but that there were various Celtics all ready for a pass back for an open three.
I actually blame Jae Crowder the most for this recent negative team run. He had to open the can of worms about individual player situations. He said he didn't need Boston. He said a bunch of stuff he shouldn't have.
It actually started with Isaiah calling for the Brinks Truck and then pointing at his Isaiah Time watch.
There is no I in team. There is an I or two in Isaiah.
That's what I think is currently going on. When things go bad, players become aware of roles, minutes and contracts as in future status.
Players stop playing for each other. The focus turns to individual goals. I like how Isaiah was dishing out assists, but by the end of the game he was back to ball hogging and those idiotic turnovers he tended to make and seemed to have resolved. That problem has returned during the losing streak.
Scal is correct. I.T. is pretty good at defense for a little guy, but it is what it is. The dude is five foot nine. Whoever he is defending can get a clear jump shot any time they want. I.T.'s midget status forces players out of position. Now, that can work, but it will only work if Isaiah becomes equally a facilitator to go with his exceptional ball hog skills. Isaiah is only worth the Brinks Truck if he makes those around him much better on offense. I don't see him focusing enough on that. Rondo wanted his ten assists. Isaiah wants his thirty points. Points are nice, but as someone said on the game thread, Isaiah on defense is handicapping us forty points a game. Maybe that was hyperbole. Maybe the sky is falling.
The 76er's never won anything with Iverson. Maybe they came close one year. I forget. And he was taller than I.T..
Everyone worried about Sully's rebounding, as in how would it be replaced. They forget about how much he hurt our team in every other area.
How could we survive without Thomas' offense? Well, for one thing, we wouldn't need it so much if we had a point guard who can defend. And I blame Danny the most for our current rut. If we had a decent center, we could maybe be a winner with Thomas. This center doesn't even have to be that special, just not crap at it like Amir and Tyler.
But maybe we will never get that center because Danny has always been terrible at filling the position and I am starting to assume he got lucky drafting Perkins.
Topic: Danny Ainge is afflicted with chronic tunnel vision (Read 4088 times)