Ainge: "Brandon (Bass) may be with us next year and the year after that"

http://www.celticsblog.com/2015/1/31/7956341/ainge-brandon-bass-may-be-with-us-next-year-and-the-year-after-that



Ainge: "Brandon (Bass) may be with us next year and the year after that"
By wjsy on Jan 31 2015, 1:42p 54





David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports


In a statement that might surprise many Celtics fans, Danny Ainge suggested yesterday that despite the fact that Brandon Bass is rumored to be on the trading block with his expiring contract, he could be back next season as part of Boston's rebuilding project.


Here's the quote from DA:

"Right now, Brandon is with us and Brandon may be with us next year and the year after that as well," Danny Ainge, Boston's president of basketball operations, told CSNNE.com prior to the Celtics' 93-87 loss to Houston on Friday.

...

"What I like about Brandon, he just ... he's never satisfied with his role," Ainge said. "He goes about his job the same, every day. He's a rare guy in that he's getting better. I think he's better right now than he's ever been in his career. And I think his upside is still ahead of him."

That's right.  Danny said the 29-year-old Brandon Bass still has upside.  Our friends at RedsArmy.com outlined a few motivations that could be behind Ainge's comments: 1) he's being honest, 2) he's making an example of him and trying to motivate the younger players with Bass' professionalism, and 3) he's trying to drive up Bass' trade market value.  As Jeff points out, Ainge talked up Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green years, months, and days before trading them so this could all be GM speak and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Personally, I'd love to have Bass back next season and I've outlined his value here.  Ainge's "upside" comment is not  so much a suggestion that BB is blessed with untapped potential and talent; Bass just works so damn hard.  He's undersized and lacks the length and athleticism that could truly make him a big time impact player, but his motor is unmatched by any Celtic player besides maybe Avery Bradley, another Brad Stevens' favorite.

Is there room for Bass on a rebuilding roster?  There are 8 contracted players returning next season and 10 if you include Phil Pressey's non-guaranteed deal and a qualifying offer to Jae Crowder.  Ainge will more than likely have 5 picks in this year's draft (2 firsts and 3 seconds) and cap space to bring in two near-max players.  It's doubtful that Ainge would use all five picks--probably packaging a few together to move up in the draft or stashing a Euro for a year or two--and even more doubtful that Ainge will be a big spender in free agency unless he can convince a big fish to speed up the rebuild.  That could mean a generous but short term contract for Bass.  He's said in the past:

"I feel like day-in and day-out, I just try to take advantage of my opportunities to get better," Bass said. "Guys gravitate to that. If they see some of the things I do and they can use some of those things for them to improve, cool. But I do think it's about time for me to take responsibility and make sure I'm doing the right thing, because I know the young guys are watching."

Still, it would be pretty nice to be magically transported to a championship contending team and be assured of playing deep into the playoffs, wouldn't it? Green and Rondo sure haven't complained, and parachuting into a winning situation has become an NBA cliche. It's not for Bass, though

"I'm not hunting for a situation like that," Bass said. "I've never been the type of player who hunts for a situation to go win a championship, hunt a situation to be in the playoffs. My thing is, work with what you've got. That's my motto. I'm going to work with what I've got, so if it's these guys in the locker room, cool."

Come on.  This isn't a guy you want in Celtic green next season?



bob
MY NOTE:  He is definitely a guy I want in green (Caveat:  unless he must be part of a deal for a key need).  I mean, c'mon, look at that pic!  He's practically dunking Maxiell and the other guy along with the ball.  Having said all this, though, I don't put much weight into Trader Danny's assurances...



.

The kiss goodbye in professional sports seems to be when management feels compelled to say they want you to stick around.

May as well call the movers.

NYCelt,

I think that applies to most other teams, but I can't recall Ainge doing that.

I have to admit that the first thing I thought was, "Good, they're lucky to have him," followed closely by "Uh oh, the stereotypical kiss of death is an overt endorsement by the owner or GM."

If one looks at the three prototypical power forwards of the Celtics ("prototypical" meaning I'm discounting Wallace and Prince even though each has spent a few minutes at the position), Bass, Sully and Kelly all have physical limitations (ranging from length—including arm length—to lateral agility to jumping ability to lack of speed, etc.).  Of the three, which consistently one does the best job of offsetting his limitations in one way or another?

I'd have to say it's Bass.  His main limitation is lack of height, and he balances that with leaping ability and persistent toughness.  I'm a little tired of hearing how he's a one track pony on offense because he has complemented his semi-automatic mid-range jumper with increasingly aggressive drives to the hoop (a quality the Celtics need in spades).  And who does a better job of guarding taller opponents than Brandon?  He has become one of the most versatile Celtics whose impact on the game is arguably among the best on the team.  He ranks among the team's leaders in terms of reversing opponents' runs or enhancing Celtics' runs.  And he's an iron man.

Quick, now, please name a Celtics player who has been more valuable this season than Brandon Bass.  I can't think of anyone on the team who is a better example for young players to emulate in terms of his intensity, work ethic, commitment to improvement, and illustration of what being a Celtic is all about.

I'm fed up with hearing all the pundits say he's as good as gone.  They may be right.  I'm just fed up with hearing it.  With all deference to Prince and Thornton, both of whom I really like a lot, I'm hoping Danny would let them go before doing so with Bass.

Sam

Sam,

I think that most Cs fans will agree with you as far as Bass making many contributions to the team since he arrived from Orlando.  But, I also think that the many folks who think that Bass is "gone" have been influenced by several factors which include: the Cs are rebuilding with tons of draft picks, lots of cap space, the many trades of veteran players in the last two years for draft picks or trade exceptions, that Bass could help playoff teams and that Bass is on an expiring contract.

Bass has been a true "pro" in every aspect since joining the Celtics from all that I have read and heard.  If he was 4 inches taller, he would have been the starting center since arriving in Boston and we all would very likely be very happy with him in that position.

However, he is a smallish power forward who has been forced to even play center on a team without much of a center presence, and the team has lost a lot of games in his tenure in Boston.   Losing games is certainly not entirely his fault, but many fans see the losses before much of anything else.

I would not mind Bass returning next year, but it appears that Ainge and Stevens like both Sullenger and Olynyk better.  Unfortunately, neither of these two guys seem to be able to handle the center position well enough against most opponents, so having three power forwards is probably one too many for a second year in a row.  Playing time has been tough to handle for all three guys this season, and it makes no sense to do the same thing again next year with the same three guys.

I like Bass, but can easily see Ainge trading him by the trade deadline if he can get back a decent return of some sort.  I doubt that he will just dump Bass for a low level return like he may with Thornton or maybe even Prince.

I could see Bass back for a 2 year deal in $15Range.

but if so, then I see either Sully or Kelly moved in some deal.

as wide clyde said, there is not enough minutes for all three.

if Sully or Kelly could be moved in a package for a starting grade NBA center ,so be it.

or even Sully or Kelly along with our top draft pick to move into the 1or 2 spot this coming year (Okafor or Towns).

Here we go again,if Ainge loves Bass that much,why he drafted 2 power forward in a row?with Gobert,Dieng and Plumlee available.

international,

I cannot imagine Ainge being willing to say anything that disparages Bass at this point because he may still be able to trade him for something valuable. Anything negative relating to Bass would drop his return like a rock in water.

Just because he drafted two power forwards does not mean that he has to dislike Bass, but rather could mean that he likes the potential of both of the guys he drafted better than Bass.

Bass has been a very serviceable pro while in Boston and does not need to have bad things said about him in any way even if he is not thought to be the power forward of the future.

1.  Just because Danny says he likes you that doesn't mean he does.

2.  Just because Danny likes you that doesn't mean he won't trade for an upgrade, at your position or another.  Danny liked Rondo but he tried to trade him for Chris Paul.  Rondo liked Rondo but would have traded him for a high quality starting NBA center because they would be a clear upgrade over what we have at that position now.

3.  Just because Danny drafts you that doesn't mean he sees you as a keeper.  Every story I read last summer had Danny offering Sully or Kelly, Minny's choice, as part of a package for Love.

Right now I'm in Siem Reap, Cambodia to see Ankor Wat.  Maybe when I get back and have more time I'll resurrect my post where I compared Danny's draft hits and misses vs other GMs to show how he does against his peers.  It's easy to talk about how he passed on Gobert (whom I liked pre-draft) and Dieng (who has not yet showed he is strong enough to be anice NBA starting center for 82 games) and Plumlee but so did every other GM between Danny's pick and the one who took them.  Because we care about the Celtics, and therefore Danny's choices matter to us, we take his decisions out of context vs his peers.  Drafting is a crap shoot and not even the most successful gamblers win them all.  The fans of the Rockets crow about drafting Chandler Parsons in the Second round, but they also drafted Royce White in the lottery.  The Clippers drafted DeAndre Jordan in the second round but picked Eric Gordon #7 that same year.  Everybody talks about the acumen drafting Jordan but never about taking Gordon with a high lottery pick.  Larry Bird drafted Kawhi Leonard #15 but traded him draft night to the Spurs, with some never-used spare parts, for George Hill.  Everybody talks about what a great job Larry has done building the Pacers but not about trading away the Finals MVP for a mediocre point guard.  



bob



.

I agree Bob.

I look at where players were ranked PRE-DRAFT more so than looking backwards years later.


for instance, many seem to think Kelly O. Was ranked lower than Dieng , Gobert and Plumlee in 2013.

but if you go back and look at PRE- draft ranking, that simply isn't true.

Draftnet for instance had Kelly at 18, Dieng at 24, Plumlee at 25 and Gobert at 30.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say that the draft is a crap shoot ( I think when you have a top 10 pick, you should always be able to get a quality player), it certainly isn't a science.

kdp59 wrote:I agree Bob.

I look at where players were ranked PRE-DRAFT more so than looking backwards years later.


for instance, many seem to think Kelly O. Was ranked lower than Dieng , Gobert and Plumlee in 2013.

but if you go back and look at PRE- draft ranking, that simply isn't true.

Draftnet for instance had Kelly at 18, Dieng at 24, Plumlee at 25 and Gobert at 30.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say that the draft is a crap shoot ( I think when you have a top 10 pick, you should always be able to get a quality player), it certainly isn't a science.

Kdp,

Fair enough.  A medium-to-high draft pick, certainly one in the first half of the lottery, should be a more reliable pick. At #13 Kelly was just a few picks away from not even being a lottery pick.

On the other hand:  Oden, Olawakandi, Robinson, Joe Smith.  And those are just the #1s that disappointed, off the top of my head, the list gets longer as you head down towards #10.  Clearly, not a science.


bob


.

I have said all year long that trading Bass would be wrong. There comes a time when they have to look at their bench and see who they can trust night in and night out. Brad needs some of that security, dealing with a bunch of young kids has got to be taxing. I think Bass as been the seadiest player on this team since KG and Paul left. He worked on his game every year and always came back in good shape.

Not only that the young players need a guy that they can look up to and watch improve even though he is a veteran. Much has been said about Bass and his trade value, I think it is a bunch of baloney. You know what, Danny was not going to give him away. I bet Doc would love someone of his composure and personality on the Clips. Everyone thinks it is sure thing that this means he is gone. I think they are wrong. If Bradley is worth $8 million plus, Bass is worth the same or more.

Steady Eddie is a Celtic

Rosalie

I give up,always is the same if nobody wants my opinion just let me know.I cant believe this ,now I am  against the Celtics players according to the members of this forum.I just think that in order to have a good team y ou need to draft the players you really need,if Boston had Bass who now is the greatest power forward in the league and also Sullinger a very good prospect at the power forward position and also Jeff Green played some at the 4 ,the logical move was to draft a center a real center .Dieng was coming from a championship with Louisville a 4 year player a very good international player with the Senegal national team.Gobert was  a freak of the nature in terms of rich(7-9) 7-2 height and a 3 years playing as a professional in France.That is not rocket Science people,i don't like that theory of drafting the best player available ,you draft according your needs and more if you are suppostly rebuildind a priority had to be a young CENTER and not another power forward.But don't worry from now on I wont made post ,I will be reading post without react and since I know that is second time I say this I give my word I will do it.Good luck with Danny and his great movement to a 5 year rebuilding to win a championship,but remember that in 5 years the Celtics will have to face other young teams like Phila delphia,New York,Lakers,Orlando and Detroit.

International,

No need to stop posting and just read others thoughts; keep writing.

No one here is an expert, not even close, or we would all be running an NBA team.  It's all just opinions and board members guessing, and your opinion is as valuable as anyone's

Your opinion just may be proven to be the right one; keep at it.

Besides, if everyone here thought alike, the forum wouldn't be nearly as entertaining.

Regards

International...Please do not take things personally! Keep posting, you have some wonderful thoughts. Do not worry about anyone having a different view. That is what makes this forum so interesting and fun to come to.


I, for one, always have different views about subjects because, as many have told me, I lead with my heart and not my head.
This forum is made up of so many people from all over the world that to lose someone like you would be a shame. I am
sure Sam would feel the same way.

Living in Boston, I have seen them all, Russell, Jones boys, Havlicek, Cowens, Bird and all the rest. I find it so interesting that someone like you loves the same team I have loved since I was a teenager.

Rosalie

NY Celts and Rosalie,
Thanks for your words,i really gratefull for your kind words.But I believe that for some reason my opinion is not respected and I can probe it.my opinion may be wrong but is mine and I am not fighting the opinions of the other members .One example of what I don't like is this.Right now I'm in Siem Reap, Cambodia to see Ankor Wat.  Maybe when I get back and have more time I'll resurrect my post where I compared Danny's draft hits and misses vs other GMs to show how he does against his peers.  It's easy to talk about how he passed on Gobert (whom I liked pre-draft) and Dieng (who has not yet showed he is strong enough to be anice NBA starting center for 82 games) and Plumlee but so did every other GM between Danny's pick and the one who took them.  Because we care about the Celtics, and therefore Danny's choices matter to us, we take his decisions out of context vs his peers.  Drafting is a crap shoot and not even the most successful gamblers win them all.  The fans of the Rockets crow about drafting Chandler Parsons in the Second round, but they also drafted Royce White in the lottery.  The Clippers drafted DeAndre Jordan in the second round but picked Eric Gordon #7 that same year.  Everybody talks about the acumen drafting Jordan but never about taking Gordon with a high lottery pick.  Larry Bird drafted Kawhi Leonard #15 but traded him draft night to the Spurs, with some never-used spare parts, for George Hill.  Everybody talks about what a great job Larry has done building the Pacers but not about trading away the Finals MVP for a mediocre point guard......I felt offended by that post,sorry for that and my best regards to you.

International,

BobHeckler is the one who posted that, and while I can't speak for him, in no way did I interpret that post as disrespect toward your opinion or intending any offense toward you. What about that post do you find offensive or disrespectful to you?

In fact, since your recent series of posts began, it seems to me that the opposite has been true -- people have gone out of their way to specifically show your opinions respect. I wrote a post to emphasize that I liked you presenting your point of view and that people here sharing different opinions is a good thing. BobHeckler wrote his own post just to say that he agreed with that.

Intl,

Drafting for need is one approach.  Drafting the best talent available is another.  Disagreements, when done politely, are what make for good horse races and Interesting sports boards.

As far as having a blind spot for centers, maybe Danny does have one, although he did draft Perk.  Maybe he thinks that centers have such a long development curve as they grow into their bodies height and weight-wise it's better and safer to draft players more likely to highlight their abilities sooner than later because of their talent and then trade them for a proven NBA center.  Draft a project and wait 5 years òr draft talent that will develop faster and trade them in 3?  I don't know if their is a "correct" answer.  Sam Presti had 3-4 years of great draft picks when he took KD, Westbrook, Harden and Green.  GREAT talent.  Have they won anything yet, after all this time?  No, but they got closer when they traded for Perk.  Atlanta drafted great talent with Smith, Horford, Childress, Bibby with the plan to develop them together as a young core.  They went nowhere.  Hinkie has drafted some spectacular talent.  Not all of them are on the court performing (Embiid,  Saric) but he does have ROY Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Mbah Moute (sic) and Tony Wroten and while they are a little better than last year that isn't saying much.  Let's wait a couple of years and see how many of those great young talents are still on the team and how many have been traded for veterans because the talent didn't pan out or because they needed to fill a hole elsewhere on the roster.

I don't have a lot of confidence in the draft, so I'm probably not a good one to talk.  We're looking for a peg to fit into a VERY special shaped hole.  Ever hear the expression "go take a flying leap at a rolling donut" (I have, many times, with often a few adjectives inserted in the middle, but that's another story)?  It is saying "do multiple things that are all variable (running and jumping) at another unrelated variable (a moving target), and doing that successfully is difficult (at least, that's the clean interpretation).  That is what this is like.  Managing contract lengths and costs, talents, needs, other desired players' contract lengths and costs, the relative ages of the roster and then matching all that up with other GMs' who are juggling the same balls and your fans' expectations (and Celtics fans, of ALL NBA fans, have the highest expectations and shortest patience).  

The NBA isn't any other league.  It isn't Europe.  That doesn't mean Euros are bad players, it doesn't mean the Euro style of play isn't better, but it is different.  Different style, different refs, different rules.  The NBA isn't college either.  Different style, different court (closer 3pt line), different rules and different referreeing.  Tyler Hansbrough won a NCAA championship too, just like Dieng.  In fact, Hansbrough was a more critical piece in that championship than Dieng was in his AND was NCAA POY, 3x All-American.  He came into the NBA with impeccable college credentials, absolutely impeccable.  Tyler Hansbrough has yet to crack the starting lineup on two different NBA teams.  Can you imagine the screaming if he was picked high in the lottery, because of his undeniable college achievements, instead of #13 (Kelly Olynyk's spot)?  It's like trying to find a needle in, a now, global haystack that has hundreds of pins that look like they could become needles.

If building an NBA championship was easy, everybody would do it.

Keep giving us your ideas and opinions, they're giving us food for thought.  Also, don't assume just because people don't agree with you that they're against you.  What makes this board different from every other one I've seen is our ability to DISagree without being disagreeable.  That doesn't mean we always agree.  Case in point, I've been beating the Kristaps Porzingis drum now for about 9 months now.  I post another video of his and I can almost see board members' eyes rolling up into their heads as they think "not again!"  I only have maybe one other ally on the board regarding him, that's you,  but that doesn't stop me.   When I see I'm wrong I'll stop but right now I'm thinking package Kelly and someone for a legit, proven starting center and draft Porzingis,  rather than draft Cauley-Stein and hope he can become one.  Porzingis creates a mismatch at PF, Cauley-Stein doesn't create a mismatch at center.  EVERYBODY on the board disagrees.  Oh well...they are entitled to their opinions and I am entitled to mine.


bob



.

I just saw your post that you are offended by my earlier post.  I honestly don't understand where I was insulting anybody.  Cowen agrees with you about Danny, so does KJ (especially about Danny's  drafting record).  They don't take it personally when I take a different view from them.  I'm defending Danny, more and more, against board members who are tired of losing and blame Danny (mention the Perkins trade to Cowens and watch him explode on Danny.  How many years ago was that?).  Don't I have the right to do that too, even if I'm the last man standing?  And if I can substantiate my opinion with facts that can stand up to scrutiny, and am willing to invest the time to do that, shouldn't I?

Nobody is out to get you.  Nobody.  Nobody has called you names, suggested you don't know basketball or aren't a true Celtics fan.  Nobody.  In fact, if you read everybody's comments they are all telling you to relax, that you are appreciated here.  

And you are.  That is me saying that.


bob


.

Bob and Outside,
What I did not like is this part..... It's easy to talk about how he passed on Gobert (whom I liked pre-draft) and Dieng (who has not yet showed he is strong .To me that sentence means that I enjoy talking about the bad move made by Danny in the past,but believe me I don't enjoy traying to explain Dannys failures.Like I did not like to watch my team yesterday loosing with a depleted Miami Team that was without Deng and Wade and been killed by Whiteside who one month ago was in the D-League available but the scouts of the Celtics did not make their job.

bobheckler wrote:Intl,

Drafting for need is one approach.  Drafting the best talent available is another.  Disagreements, when done politely, are what make for good horse races and Interesting sports boards.

As far as having a blind spot for centers, maybe Danny does have one, although he did draft Perk.  Maybe he thinks that centers have such a long development curve as they grow into their bodies height and weight-wise it's better and safer to draft players more likely to highlight their abilities sooner than later because of their talent and then trade them for a proven NBA center.  Draft a project and wait 5 years òr draft talent that will develop faster and trade them in 3?  I don't know if their is a "correct" answer.  Sam Presti had 3-4 years of great draft picks when he took KD, Westbrook, Harden and Green.  GREAT talent.  Have they won anything yet, after all this time?  No, but they got closer when they traded for Perk.  Atlanta drafted great talent with Smith, Horford, Childress, Bibby with the plan to develop them together as a young core.  They went nowhere.  Hinkie has drafted some spectacular talent.  Not all of them are on the court performing (Embiid,  Saric) but he does have ROY Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Mbah Moute (sic) and Tony Wroten and while they are a little better than last year that isn't saying much.  Let's wait a couple of years and see how many of those great young talents are still on the team and how many have been traded for veterans because the talent didn't pan out or because they needed to fill a hole elsewhere on the roster.

I don't have a lot of confidence in the draft, so I'm probably not a good one to talk.  We're looking for a peg to fit into a VERY special shaped hole.  Ever hear the expression "go take a flying leap at a rolling donut" (I have, many times, with often a few adjectives inserted in the middle, but that's another story)?  It is saying "do multiple things that are all variable (running and jumping) at another unrelated variable (a moving target), and doing that successfully is difficult (at least, that's the clean interpretation).  That is what this is like.  Managing contract lengths and costs, talents, needs, other desired players' contract lengths and costs, the relative ages of the roster and then matching all that up with other GMs' who are juggling the same balls and your fans' expectations (and Celtics fans, of ALL NBA fans, have the highest expectations and shortest patience).  

The NBA isn't any other league.  It isn't Europe.  That doesn't mean Euros are bad players, it doesn't mean the Euro style of play isn't better, but it is different.  Different style, different refs, different rules.  The NBA isn't college either.  Different style, different court (closer 3pt line), different rules and different referreeing.  Tyler Hansbrough won a NCAA championship too, just like Dieng.  In fact, Hansbrough was a more critical piece in that championship than Dieng was in his AND was NCAA POY, 3x All-American.  He came into the NBA with impeccable college credentials, absolutely impeccable.  Tyler Hansbrough has yet to crack the starting lineup on two different NBA teams.  Can you imagine the screaming if he was picked high in the lottery, because of his undeniable college achievements, instead of #13 (Kelly Olynyk's spot)?  It's like trying to find a needle in, a now, global haystack that has hundreds of pins that look like they could become needles.

If building an NBA championship was easy, everybody would do it.

Keep giving us your ideas and opinions, they're giving us food for thought.  Also, don't assume just because people don't agree with you that they're against you.  What makes this board different from every other one I've seen is our ability to DISagree without being disagreeable.  That doesn't mean we always agree.  Case in point, I've been beating the Kristaps Porzingis drum now for about 9 months now.  I post another video of his and I can almost see board members' eyes rolling up into their heads as they think "not again!"  I only have maybe one other ally on the board regarding him, that's you,  but that doesn't stop me.   When I see I'm wrong I'll stop but right now I'm thinking package Kelly and someone for a legit, proven starting center and draft Porzingis,  rather than draft Cauley-Stein and hope he can become one.  Porzingis creates a mismatch at PF, Cauley-Stein doesn't create a mismatch at center.  EVERYBODY on the board disagrees.  Oh well...they are entitled to their opinions and I am entitled to mine.


bob



.

I don't know about Cauley-Stein, last year he had alot of games where he had 4 points and 2 rebounds, supposedly hes improved this year, but he could easily be the next Thabeet as he doesn't have a strong base and still lacks muscle....who knows?

International,

If people on this board didn't want or respect your opinion, they wouldn't spend so much time responding to you. They would just ignore you. Disagreeing with your opinion is very different from disrespecting your opinion. In fact, when people agree or disagree with your opinion, they are showing respect for your opinion just by responding. If their responses become disrespectful, it's my job to step in and stop it. But I'm sure you would want people to write their honest opinions rather than lying to make you happy.

People may or may not agree with all your opinions, but I can guarantee that we all agree on one thing. Your posts contain honest opinions and great personal integrity in discussing a sport you love. You say what you believe, and you give logical examples.

Personally, I can say that your posts have taught me a lot about the international game and international players. It was because of your posts that I was interested when the Celtics hired an international scout, and I'm still hoping that will give Danny Ainge more complete information on international players than he now has.

Even though I tend to stay away from criticizing past moves or non-moves by Danny because I know I cannot change them, I have to say that your comments about Danny have given me a lot to think about.

I now have much more to consider when I look at Danny's actions in the future. That's because of you, International. Please remember that responses to your post are not the only indicators of the impact you have on this board. You also offer us a different way of thinking about the international "market."

As I've said several times before, I thoroughly appreciate your contributions to this forum. If I were worried about the number of times in which people have disagreed with my opinion, I would have left the board long ago.

But my opinion is that the majority is not always right. If I believe something as strongly as you do, the number of dissenting posts will never change my mind. But the content of some of the dissenting posts may change my mind, just as you have changed my perspective on international players.

So I hope you will continue to post your opinions, and I know that board members will respect your opinions whether or not they agree with all of them.

All the best,

Sam