Danny Ainge: Patience Is Key In Celtics' Rebuild

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/10/danny_ainge_says_patience_key_in_celts_rebuild




Danny Ainge says patience key in Celts’ rebuild






Photo by: Matt West
STEADY HANDS: Celtics boss Danny Ainge, watching a recent preseason game, is trying to be patient as he builds the team back to championship-caliber.


Tuesday, October 28, 2014
By:  Steve Bulpett


WALTHAM — Danny Ainge is putting on a brave face, which is not to say he’s necessarily lying to himself. But after assembling the 15-man roster that will represent the Boston Celtics this season — or at least to start this season — he will admit to its imperfections.

At a certain point, he begins to sound like Mick Jagger:

You can’t always git what you want.

“I guess in the day of 20-man camps and 15-man rosters, it’s not perfectly balanced,” Ainge said. “But I like all the players that we have. It’s hard to even know who’s going to win jobs and win all the minutes on the team, and that’s fun in a way.

“On a really good team, you typically have your three or four guys that are going to play at the end of every game. I think those are questions for Brad (Stevens). He may have an idea of who he wants to play at the end of games or whatever, but that could change if some guys win jobs.”

And therein lies the difference between the Celtics and honest contenders. Good teams know largely who fits where because their best players have established that position not only on the club, but around the league. The Celts are not in that situation.

“Hey, listen, I’ve got a feeling that Kevin Love and LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are going to be on the court at the end of games for Cleveland,” Ainge said.

When all are healthy, you can probably figure Rajon Rondo and maybe Jeff Green for the Celts. And Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger should probably be in there, too. But does any of that feel like it could be chiseled in stone? And with the lack of size inside, getting the basketball off the glass in crunch time could be problematic.

While Stevens is tasked with moving his pieces into the best combinations, it is Ainge, the president of basketball operations, who hands his coach the box of talent he has gathered.

He put together the 2008 NBA champions and 2010 finalists, and he squeezed what was left of that core for three more years. Now there has been one 25-win season under scaffolding, and, unable to make the desired bold move last summer, another year of measured progress (read: no deep playoff run) is at hand.

Ainge’s job is not in jeopardy, nor should it be. Sources within the organization and without agree he has done what has been available to him. Yet this is not a completely comfortable time.

“I feel pressure from within,” Ainge said. “I have this fear of failing. But I’m also very content.

“I want desperately to put up more banners in Boston, but I know that I can’t be impatient and that I can’t listen to those that don’t really know what’s going on. I have to listen to the people I trust and trust my own instincts. I think just being patient is key.”

Ainge denies that it’s difficult to grind through this phase of reconstruction, though to have seen the competitiveness he displayed as an athlete and in this job makes one wonder whether he’s being entirely honest with you or himself.

“It’s not hard,” he said. “It’s just what it is. . . . Every year, your team sort of determines your goals and what they believe they can accomplish, and sometimes lesser goals are fun to try to accomplish just as much as higher goals.”

Meanwhile, Ainge has a mountain of his own to climb. And the worst part is that he cannot be certain he will make it to the summit again.

So as he explores trades that could accelerate the Celtics’ rise, he tries not to wallow in the frustration of the breakthrough deal that, so far, has been unattainable.

“It would be complaining and whining about things that you really don’t have any control over,” Ainge said. “The competition is fierce. There’s a limited number of superstars available to try to build around. The challenge is building through the draft.

“But it’s also fun,” he added. “I enjoy it. I really like watching our guys play. I’m really excited about the season and to see what sort of strides guys have made over the offseason and what our new guys can do, as well. I’m looking forward to it.”

The roster is in flux, but the face doesn’t change.




bob
MY NOTE:  This is all french for "it's going to be another tough year".  This is just year 2 of the rebuild.  Anybody who thought it would be over by now has never gone through a rebuild, it takes more than 2.  Danny's has a boatload of assets that aren't showing up on the court with draft picks and TPEs.  Danny says "be patient" but he is not a patient man himself.  That's why I'm ok with this, it's because I know, regardless of what he says, he is not content.  That's not Trader Danny's nature.  He's like Gene Hackman, in The Replacements.  He's just another duck on a pond.







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