Wednesday Insider

Ainge has taken charge in Boston
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, December 17
Updated: December 17
12:18 PM ET

As much as it might hurt Antoine Walker to hear and head coach Jim O'Brien to say, the Boston Celtics now undeniably belong to Danny Ainge, and there isn't anything anyone can do about it except sit back and wait for the next move.

That's right . . . the next move.

"Unless you have the guts to make decisions that are unpopular with your coach or with the fans or the media, then you don't deserve the director of basketball operations," O'Brien said in defense of Ainge in the Boston Herald. "He's not having a problem making tough decisions. Are we closer to being a better basketball team as a result of the trades he has made? My answer is absolutely."

In case you've lost track, in less than one season, Ainge has completely revamped the Celtic roster by trading away Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown. In exchange, he got Ricky Davis, Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mihm, Chris Mills, Michael Stewart, a 2004 first-round pick and a 2004 second-round pick.

But if you thought it was hard reading all those names, imagine how hard it is for O'Brien to figure out his new offensive and defensive schemes as well as substitution patterns and seating charts on the plane, etcetera.

So don't think this has been easy for anyone.


Danny Ainge wasted little time flexing his muscle has Celtics GM.
"Once you get in the fray and you're with guys every day and you're fighting your butts off and you challenge a group of guys that are 7-12 and you see them respond at a level that is wonderful," said O'Brien in the Boston Globe. "You see how happy they are with themselves and you see the effort and guys playing hurt. Then, all of a sudden, when three guys are leaving you, you'd be the coldest guy in the world not to think, `Gee, this hurts. It hurts them. It hurts us.' It's painful."

But make no mistake about it. This is what Ainge wanted and this is what Ainge got. And O'Brien is siding with Ainge.

"I thought it was the best thing for Antoine Walker, considering the team he was going to, and I thought it was the best thing for the Boston Celtics, thinking about where we wanted to grow this to," O'Brien said.

"We wanted more movement in our offense, and having understood that we were not going to (extend) Antoine this year and all the ramifications of that -- both from his standpoint and my standpoint in coaching this basketball team -- I really thought at that time it was going to be the best for all parties. And I think I'm right."

And to make it perfectly clear . . .

"I expressed the opinion to Danny when all the cards were on the table and we knew we were getting Raef, and I knew how high Danny was on Jiri, and we were getting a first (round draft pick) and we'd have some money to maybe pick up somebody -- and wanting Antoine to succeed, and know that he was going to Don Nelson and that group -- I thought it was a win-win. That's what I expressed.

"I think that this team in the long run needed some big-time changes. Was it easy for me to have big changes at this point in time? No, because you're involved. And I don't apologize for the passion that we are involved with.

"But in order for us to compete year in and year out for an Eastern Conference championship, there had to be some drastic changes made. And there probably has to be some more changes made. I think the team Danny has put together, when all is said and done this year, is going to be very, very difficult to guard, and, if I have my way, will be difficult to (score) against."

Did you get that last part?

Despite the fact that the Celtics have traded away five players who totaled 49.1 points, 24.6 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game last season, they still might not be done.

To put that in perspective in terms of quality, Walker being an all-star, and in terms of quantity, those five players averaged 136 minutes of a 240-minute game, the Celtics have done away with 53 percent of their points, 60 percent of their rebounds, 51 percent of their assists, 52 percent of their steals and 57 percent of their blocks.

But they've still got the same coach and, like it or not, they've still got the same guy pulling all the strings.

"It is what it is," O'Brien said of he and Ainge. "He and I are in a partnership, and we have our jobs to do. He's doing his very well, and I hope he thinks that I'm doing my job very well. When he came he said we need to be more athletic, we need more scorers, we need more guys who know how to play basketball. He was very straightforward. He said, 'I'm going to change things around.' And I welcome the change. I had no idea that as we made these changes there might be a day like yesterday, but that shouldn't stop him from doing his job and being objective."

And then he said it again.

"I'd call it a building project," said O'Brien. "When [Ainge] came in, he said, 'We need to be more athletic. We need more scorers. We need more guys who know how to play basketball.' He was very straightforward. He said, 'I'm going to change things around.' I welcomed the change. I had no idea that as we made these changes that there might be a day like [Monday], where it was painful to a certain extent. But that shouldn't stop him from doing his job and being objective -- I think he made the right decision."

O'Brien stepped up to OK Walker deal
Steve Bulpett / Boston Herald
O'Brien OK with trade
Shira Springer / Boston Globe

Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, December 17
Updated: December 17
11:10 AM ET

Atlanta Hawks: Losing is one thing. Losing the same way day in and day out is another. "We go out and play to lose every single night, and we don't change what it is we need to do," center Theo Ratliff said in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "I don't understand how your team can go out and play the exact same way and lose the exact same way every time on the floor --- have the same mistakes constantly made. It's crazy to me, [and] for it not to be addressed is beyond my imagination. I can't call it." And if that sounds a bit harsh, then that's the way Ratliff wanted it to sound. "Every team knows that if you drive on [the Hawks], the only person you have to worry about is me standing back there," Ratliff said, "because nobody is going to help each other. That's bad basketball, and it's why we've got the record we've got. . . . We're talking about we aren't as bad as our record. That's a lie. We are as bad as our record. That's why we keep getting our [butts] whipped."

SzczerbiakMinnesota Timberwolves: The Star Tribune is reporting that Wally Szczerbiak may be out of action until after the all-star break after a foot specialist recommended total inactivity for the all-star for another four weeks. Szczerbiak is suffering from a strained plantar fascia in his foot and has yet to play a single minute this year. "We'll put our heads together and come up with something in the next couple days," vice president Kevin McHale said. "We need to figure it out soon."
New Jersey Nets: First, Jason Kidd denied ever yelling in the locker room following a horrendous Net defeat. Now, he's denying that he ever yelled at his teammates, and the New York Daily News is reporting that he was, instead, yelling at his coaching staff. "What people don't realize is that some teams spend more time together than most families do," Kidd said. "That is how close we are and it is okay to vent and it shows heart and passion. If you're team didn't have that, that is when you should be worried. Everybody can make a guess at who (the outburst) was directed at, but everybody on the team and the coaching staff all know it was directed at everybody including myself." Even head coach Byron Scott wouldn't deny a thing after Kenyon Martin joined in. "They made some good points," he said. "As a coach you've got to listen to your players and apply it."

Orlando Magic: This may be the pot calling the kettle black but so be it. "We got selfish," Tracy McGrady said in the Orlando Sentinel of his team and its latest loss. "We forgot about team ball. Guys just started doing their own thing, trying to get their numbers. Then other guys got frustrated and it carries over to the defense. Things went on that shouldn't go on." Even new coach Johnny Davis isn't trying to put a positive spin on it. "Some guys played selfish in the second half, and that's the first I've seen that," said Davis, who added a new element to the criticism. "We're not that good to play casually."

CambyDenver Nuggets: Don't look now but Marcus Camby and the Denver Nuggets are in love . . . again. "I would like to have him back, and I think he'd like to come back," general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said in the Denver Post. "Marcus has been great because he is understanding that we're not done as far as free agents go. We'll have a lot of dollars next year. He wants to help in the process, help recruit free agents, and he understands that he may have to adjust how he is paid. We've talked about a (contract) range. During the season I don't want to negotiate contracts, for the most part. We sort of tabled it for now with the understanding that we are going to come back and readdress it." Camby becomes a free agent at the end of this season after making $7.2 million this year and the Nuggets having $20 million in cap space next season. "It's a good possibility something will get done. It's great because this is where I want to be," Camby said.
Chicago Bulls: When it rains, it pours on the Bulls. The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Eddy Curry will be out as much as four more weeks with a left knee bruise, joining Tyson Chandler on injured reserve with lower back problems while both of them await news on Scottie Pippen who is out following knee surgery. "I really was surprised," said Curry. "I knew I would have to be out a couple of days, but I wasn't thinking two to four weeks." And there isn't anything coach Scott Skiles can do except wait. "To have this kind of setback is disappointing,'' Skiles said. "We need him to maintain his conditioning while he's out with pool work and those sorts of things. It's disappointing, but he feels bad about it, too. He wants to play, but there's nothing we can do about it."

Detroit Pistons: If the Pistons thought the last four defeats were tough, they had to endure the three tough practices that followed. "Oh yeah," Ben Wallace said in the Detroit News. "We've got everybody's attention now. We understand now that we weren't playing good basketball, not even the last few games that we won. And now that we've got everybody's attention, everyone's been playing a little harder, playing a little more unselfishly, making the extra pass and being more willing to go the extra mile. I don't like teams coming in here and doing the things that we're known for doing and beating us at our own game. I am addicted to winning. I love to win. I'm going to do whatever it takes to win, and I expect my teammates to do the same thing." Even if that means angering off a few teammates by not putting them on the floor regardless of what they do in practice. "I don't know if I will ever be comfortable knowing guys are killing themselves for me and I'm not playing them," head coach Larry Brown said. "But in fairness to these guys, I've got to cut our rotation down and give the guys we decide to play an opportunity to play and become a team. And then hope the guys that aren't playing are the type of individuals I think they are and they will understand it."

Ratliff rips effort in loss
Michael Lee / Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Szczerbiak might be out to All-Star break
Steve Aschburner / Minneapolis Star Tribune
Kidd targets Scott
Ohm Youngmisuk / New York Daily News
McGrady calls players selfish
Brian Schmitz / Orlando Sentinel
Camby mulls ending career with Denver
Marc J. Spears / Denver Post
Knee bruise sidelines Curry 2 to 4 weeks
Roman Modrowski / Chicago Sun-Times
Wallace vows a renewed effort
Chris McCosky / Detroit News