Why not hire an ex-Celtic to coach the team?

Why not hire an ex-Celtic to coach the team?

An ex-Celtic understands what Celtic pride and tradition is all about about. That's been sorely lacking recently. If the team is going to rebuild, it's a good idea to inculcate these values in the young players. I don't think there's a shortage of capable ex-Celtics who would be willing to take on the task. McHale, Nelson, Bird ...

As little as 2 years ago we saw a CHAMPIONSHIP with many old timers on hand to watch.

The following fall many were there to bring in the new season and raise the banner.

The Globe is wrong.

Plus the three you mention probably do not want anything to do with the C's as far as Coaching is concerned.

Doc has as much knowledge as any of them and to change now is paramount to giving up.

Not a good idea no matter how you cut it. IMHO

beat

Agree with Beat. Doc is a student of the game and knows all about Celtic Pride. That and $2 dollars will get you a cup of coffee.

If the players dont buck up and start playing hard - they are going to continue to get beat like drums...and no change at Coach of GM is going to change that.

Brandon,

I believe Nellie will hang it up before making a move. He's not in the best of health, and he's around age 70. I think a lot of people on this board would say he's too absorbed with offense at the expense of defense. I'd love to see him as an offensive consultant here, but I think he'd probably rather retire. You could probably forget most of the guys from the Russell era, as they're pretty much in their 70s now.

Bird and the Celtics didn't part on the best of terms. And I'm pretty certain he wouldn't want to go back to the coaching grind.

And I suspect McHale would feel pretty much the same way. I expect his media gig gives him more long-term security, scheduling flexibility, and freedom from pressure.

It's my opinion (for whatever it's worth) that the best coaches come from the ranks of secondary players. Nellie's a good example. Phil Jackson's another. So are Pat Riley, Scott Skiles, Eddie Jordan, Mike Woodsen, Nate McMillan, Mike Dunleavy, Paul Westphal, Rick Carlisle (an ex-Celtic), and Lionel Hollins. For the most part, it seems that the superstars lack the patience to help decent players become good players.

Possibly Dave Cowens might qualify, and I think he loved New England. (Didn't even have an unlisted phone number when he lived in Canton.) He's had somewhat of a checkered and brief head coaching career. Paul Silas might be interested. I wouldn't mind Carlisle.

But first it should be proven that Doc can't handle the job. I don't believe (and neither do many others, including Heinsohn) that this malaise is Doc's fault. There's more going on, and I don't think we know the extent of it (and possibly not even the direction).

Sam

Here's my post from BDC:

1. Bird doesn't want to coach anymore AND he's an Indiana boy and likes it there.

2. McHale didn't accomplish much in all the years he was coaching and GMing in Minnesota. If trading a 32-year old KG to the Celtics helped us win the championship, then what does it say about McHale that he only made a splash in the playoffs one year and he had a young, MVP KG to build a team around for 10 years.

3. Cowens might be interested in coaching, but he didn't produce such great results back when he was a player-coach for us and losing almost killed him.

4. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and watch Nellieball all the time. It's night and day from what we have now. NO positional defense. NONE. It's all running at people and hope you get there before they shoot. You think Sheed takes too many 3s? That's all he'd be taking under Nellie. They give up more points than any other team in the NBA. I'd like to say that's just due to all the injuries they've had this season (one game, they needed to suit up an injured player, who didn't play, just so they wouldn't default) but the reality is they NEVER have played tough defense under Nellie in any year, this one or past. Also, Nellie's the oldest coach in the league and is playing out his string so he can have the most wins in NBA coaching history. You think hiring a 70-year old man whose heart is in Hawaii is a solution?

Every NBA coach has pride and wants to win. Every single one. The idea that you need an ex-Celtic player to understand "Pride" is ridiculous (Sidney Wicks is an ex-Celtic player too). Doc didn't understand "Celtic Pride" in '08? Oh wait, I forgot, the Doc-haters think it was Tom Thibodeau that was responsible for that, not Doc. Ok then, is Tom Thibodeau an ex-Celtic player?

If the team isn't playing with heart and pride the reason isn't because their coaching staff aren't ex-Celtic players.

bob

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