Under Pressure July 6, 2007

Since the Red Sox continue to hold the best record in baseball, Dan Shaughnessy has set his negative sights on Danny Ainge and the Celtics. 

Ainge has overhauled the entire roster (except for Pierce) since taking over the Celtics. He has talked about a “vision,” while appearing to be blind a good deal of the time….He has presided over a train wreck of a team that won only 24 games last season.

Actually, that’s some fair criticism. We think Danny should get one of those F-You shirts made popular by A-Rod’s wife. But I digress. Shaughnessy wants you to believe the trade for Ray Allen takes some pressure off Ainge, and sets it squarely on Paul Pierce’s shoulders. Whatever. The only useful information in the column is the near-trade for Chris Paul two years ago.

“Everybody’s been saying, ‘We’re too young. We’ve got to make a choice — Paul or go young.’ Two years ago, we thought we had the opportunity to get Chris Paul for Paul Pierce. That was something we wanted to do, but it fell through, not from our doing. Since that time, there’s been nothing tempting regarding moving Paul Pierce. We made a choice to keep Paul and try to get an opportunity to win in Boston.”

I must admit the prospect of a Chris Paul-Al Jefferson tandem intrigues me. Ainge vaguely talks about the prospects of adding other players to this roster. For those seeking information minus the opinion, I would read Steve Bulpett’s interview with Ainge in the Herald.

In other news: Schizo Kobe Bryant apologizes to the Lakers, Jerry Stackhouse has re-signed with the Mavericks, Grant Hill moves to Phoenix, and Mikki Moore is in demand.

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The Morning After June 29, 2007

So I’ve slept on it… I’ve had my coffee… I’ve considered all of the arguments… and I still like the deal for Ray Allen.  Scroll down for my argument… it hasn’t changed.  We’re in a position to go with what we’ve got… or to make another deal.  Of course… some of the local frauds columnists are twisting things to make an argument… like Dan Shaughnessy:

Of course, there is the distinct possibility that the Celtics are not yet done. Makes sense. Maybe they still can get Kevin Garnett and storm the Eastern Conference with fossils Pierce, Allen, and Garnett.

You know… it’s funny… last week everyone was saying how Paul Pierce is in his prime RIGHT NOW… and we’ve either got to get him help or trade him and start over.  Now we got him a guy who only a couple of years older and suddenly everyone is a fossil.  Hey Shaughnessy… isn’t there a Babe Ruth column you should be writing? 

Let’s just blow through the rest of the links here:

Herald: Celts Land Ray Of Hope  |  Ray Allen Is Saying The Right Things  |  It Worked Out For Jeff Green 

Bulpett does drop this nugget:

According to one source, the Celts still aren’t sure whether they should close the door on a trade for Kevin Garnett, though Minnesota was looking for the fifth pick, as well as Jefferson, to make that work

Peter May hits that Danny might be looking at a trade deadline deal… Other Globe links are Shira Springer’s take on the trade and a piece on our 2nd round picks.

And our friends over at WBZ have done it again.  They’ve posted more reaction from the Celtics brass than you’ll find anywhere else.  We’ve got 8 minutes of Doc and Danny talking about last night.  And they’ve even got reaction from Tommy Heinsohn.

We’ll be posting a lot more throughout the day… so check back often.  We’re always here to serve you, the loyal Celtics fan.  I’m not going to make a ton of bold claims here… I’m just going to say that on one of the most important nights for the Celitcs over the past 10 years… many Celtics fans were seeing this:

While others were seeing this…

Just an FYI