AINGE: 'WE'VE GOT OTHER ISSUES' THAN REFS

WEEI
By: Jashvina Shah



12 Comments
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge joined The Big Show on Friday to talk about the Celtics' Eastern Conference finals series against the Heat. The series resumes with Game 3 Friday night at TD Garden.

There was a Yahoo! Sports report that Ainge had an intense discussion with NBA vice president of referee operations Joe Borgia following the Celtics' Game 2 loss, which included some questionable calls that went against the C's.

"I wouldn't say it was a heated conversation," Ainge said. "We actually weren't talking about the [Rajon] Rondo call or the [Paul] Pierce call or any of that stuff. We were talking about the way that the rule -- the breakaway rule, or the clear path rule -- is written. So, it was a discussion more on philosophy of where our game has gone on that interpretation and that rule specifically. But I would not call it a heated discussion. Joe and I have known each other for years and we were having a debate on how that should be written. But that's probably a conversation that we'll have again this summer."

Ainge, who as he spoke was preparing to board a plane to Boston after attending a two-day pre-draft workout in Minneapolis, said the officiating was a hot topic among NBA personnel at the event. However, Ainge doesn't want the team to lose its focus by worrying about bad calls.

"It's just part of the game, and if you're in this game it just happens," Ainge said. "We have other things to worry about. We've got other issues. We've got to rebound better and defend better and make some more shots, find ways. That's really what our focus needs to be on."

Ainge said Boston's top priority is to show up with the right mindset.

"I've always believed and I still believe that it's attitude and it's the way you go about the game, the confidence with which you play, how you defend, are you instigating the physical play, are you reactive," he said. "Those kinds of things are way more important than any one thing. And I think that's all you can do -- follow Rondo's example of he came out to play the last game. If we all play that way, and play with confidence and aggression, I like our chances."

Ainge said Rondo is proving his doubters wrong this postseason.

"It sort of takes away the myth of what people have been saying about Rajon -- or the critics of Rajon -- for a few years, that the only reason he's a good player is because he has the Big Three," he said. "What you've seen from Rondo this playoff series is he's had his greatest moments when the Big Three weren't playing at the top of their games. In Ray's case, he's not the same player that he once was, with his injury.

"Rajon, I would like to see him do that all time, even when he's not making those shots like he was the other night. I always think he needs to take that open 15-foot shot. I think it's a very important part of the game. It's hard to pass up shots when you're open, but he is so gifted at finding the Brandon Bass for that same shot or [Kevin Garnett] for that same shot at the end of the clock that sometimes I think there's a conflict there."

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Scal said something very important after the game. He mentioned that you can see the process Doc is doing of honing (my word) the Celtics' game in this series. I think he said something like keeping the things that work and weeding out the things that don't work. And he's absolutely right.

The Celts now have KG capitalizing to the max on his height advantage down low. Fifty-eight points in the paint in a playoff game is amazing. They once again have a bench capable of helping on both ends. Doc and Ray have done a great job of getting the most they can out of Mr. Allen. I know everyone says he has no lift, so I guess his big dunk for a 24-point lead was a mirage, huh? I believe Keyon Dooling is emerging as the closest thing to Avery Bradley that they have on defensive pressure. The Celtics are shooting better because (1) their pick-and roll game has improved; (2) their spacing and movement off the ball has improved; and (3) they have been pushing the ball more consistency (exception: first half of the fourth quarter tonight).

Guess who is my pick for best finisher on the team. Marquis Daniels. Watch how smartly he goes in for the same kinds of layups that have been blocked all series long by the Heat. When he gets to the rim, (1) he does a hesitation step while the defender leaps; (2) he turns so his body to protect his shooting hand; and (3) he lays up what amounts to a quasi-fallaway. It's virtually unblockable, and he often gets an and-one.

There's no question that, when the Heat went small to start the fourth, the Celts were taken somewhat by surprise. Their brief malaise seemed to spread to the offensive end. Then, in crunch time, they were once again matching the Heat's momentum, and they closed it out nicely.

And finally, in this mini-rant, the Celtics did a couple of things that champions do. (1) They actually emerged from the heartbreaking Game Two loss a better and more prepared team. (2) They absorbed the first quarter Lebron onslaught, kept their poise, and put the lessons of Game Two to work to break the game wide open.

All of this, of course, is no guarantee of anything in the future. The Heat will come back strong in Game Four, as they'll undoubtedly make adjustments of their own. On the other side of the chess board, Doc will undoubtedly come up with strategy to combat a small Heat lineup if they use it again.

Back and forth, wham, wham, wham. These are the playoffs. These are what good basketball fans should live for. No disrespect to anyone, but immersion in any referee controversy, when energies are more constructively and gratifyingly focused on the on-court action, is seriously, seriously, seriously ill-advised.

Go Celtics!

Sam

It is a bit easier to focus on the game when it is being called fairly.

Great win, withstood a strong run in the 4th quarter by the heat.

Lets home for more fair officiating and spirited play on Sunday.

When Ainge says the officiating was a hot topic among NBA personnel at the pre draft I guarentee they were livid and outraged like all fans, not just Celtic fans and I bet alot of them let Stern and his cronies know it. All this social media can be too much in alot of pop culture like things, but for so many sports media outlets to express the truth had to be heard by Stern, nice try trying to get his for whatever reason favorite team or superstar to the big show, the Final, but don't make it look so obvious you idiot, we all watch the games too. If players can be reprimanded, cut or fined for any level of incompetance or insubordination then the refs have to be treated in the same way for not doing their jobs.

The officiating has been terrible for years, if the game is too fast, figure out a way to get it right, its for the good of the game......I got home Friday around 7 pm so I missed throwing in my 2 cents on the closed thread, but I applaud Mr Kleen, if I was running this league, I would make it clear one way or another that you can't sell your tickets issued by the league, all convicted felons would not be allowed to work for the league if it was up to me. The fact that these refs have gotten so many chances and have done so many deeds to put themselves in those bad positions is shocking to me.....the league should have cleaned up that mess years ago and never let it get to this point. Theres got to be other worthy younger refs that should have been given a shot, to me all this corruption is tied in to how incompetant or how much favoritism there now exists in the league.

Anyway, now back to the game, is there any doubt how much better we are if we had anywhere near our full roster than Heat. Give me just AB and Jeff Green, we don't even need JON or Wilcox since the don't have Bosh spice and we'd be running this team off the floor with our depth just like we did during regular season. If this team just could have had luck with the injury bug, Ainge would have to been in the mix for Executive of the Year. Even NOW we should be up 2-1.

Everyone agreed that fouls would be key in whether or not we won the game ...but most of us were thinking Celtics picking up fouls. Doc looked at it from a different angle and said,, don't give james or Wade any easy baskets at the charity stripe." Result? So few fouls on DW and LBJ.

The Celts played excellently and followed a brilliant game plan. Thank you Doc, KG, RR, PP, RA, Q, Dooling for a great game. 58 points in the paint - wow! Miami's FG % with KG in the game was 38%. With KG on the bench - 83%. That's an amazing stat!

W

that is indeed quite the stat. over a 40% difference in Miami's shooting when he is on the court!

Could not figure out why Miami quit running after the first quarter. Even after made baskets they got the ball inbounds quickly and attacked. Maybe we got back a bit better but it just appeared they flat out didn't try to push it anymore.

Like how PP suckered LBJ into a couple of cheap fouls before the 1/2 basically kept him and wade pretty quiet during the middle 2 quarters. Believe at one point when Bron got his 30th point he had over 1/2 of Miami's total.

Got a few breaks along the way, don't know how the ref missed MP grabbing Bron near 1/2 court, play was right in front of him and he swallowed the whistle.

Nice getting some much needed contribution from the bench gave some bench time to the old legs and Rondo's too.

Miami probably left the Court in a better state of mind knowing they had averted a blow out with the 4th quarter comeback. Not quite sure what to make of it, and what it will mean the next game as far as mindset is concerned for either team.

I know it's been said that the Heat have the best 2 players on the court, Well that wasn't the case the last 2 games and even if it was we have the next 3 for sure.

Need game 4 now. Buzzerbeater or blowout, blow the lead and hang on or slowly pull away, it matters not, we just need 1 more point than they have when it ends, and I think we are of the mindset to make that happen.

beat

Win baby. Win!