GM Danny Ainge: Welcome to the official Boston Celtics Preseason pity party, uh I mean Press Conference.
I'll start by saying nobody is more disappointed in these last 2 seasons more than I am. Missing the playoffs was depressing, following that up with a 7 seed and being swept is unbearable. Drastic changes had to be made and that's what has led us to where we are today. It was hard to say goodbye to Chris we will wish him well. Shaq, Grant, and Sam we were sad to see them leave as well, but Chris has been with this organization since the league's creation and it was always our plan and his to have him retire in Boston, but for his best interests and ours we moved him to a place he can continue contending for championships.
All nostalgia wasn't lost though we did bring back Eddie Jones who spent a season and a half away from us, he may have left on not so great terms, but we know he's happy to be back in Boston. We do expect to compete this year, Stephen Jackson is an excellent wing player, and Antonio McDyess is a savvy vet and a double double machine. We are used to competing for top seeds, but the bar is set much lower this season and we will continue to try to make transactions that set us up for the future. I'd like to say this will be a quick turnaround, but for it to be done right we must exercise patience which is something our fanbase, organization, and myself will freely admit we don't have a lot of. But at this point it is our best option.
Any Questions?
Boston Celtics Pity Party
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08-14-2013, 09:15 AMConroyBoston Celtics Pity Party
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08-14-2013, 09:31 AMTrayWithAnA
DANNNNNY!!!! What are your expectations for the season?
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08-14-2013, 09:42 AMIamQuailman
Will Maukie: Will Maukie here. BucksNation.Com/BuckTheWorld.htm
What are Bill Simmons thoughts on your moves? -
08-14-2013, 10:18 AMConroyDanny Ainge: I always have unreasonable expectations and for every season, recently I've been disappointed. I've lowered the expectations this year, but they are still to at least fight for a playoff spot. The odds are against us we know we've regressed as far as talent goes, and nearly every Eastern Conference team has improved. But we have to fight for a playoff spot or we will be giving division rival a top pick in next years draft, something we simply cannot afford to do.Quote:
Originally Posted by TrayWithAnA
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08-14-2013, 10:46 AMBowToTheBill23
Jack Markson here from The Golden Take, with a (seemingly) lack of talent on your team and no draft pick to look forward to, what are your you looking forward to this season? What players are you particularly interested in seeing?
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08-14-2013, 11:45 AMConroyDanny Ainge: Bill is an emotional guy, at first he obviously wasn't excited about the movesQuote:
Originally Posted by IamQuailman
An obviously drunk Bill Simmons: **** you Danny!! You traded one of the all-time greatest Celtics how can you live with yourself?!?! Would Red have traded Russell NO!!
Danny Ainge: Bill we've talked about this, you can't interrupt a Press Conference. Someone get him out of here.
Simmons is escorted to a back room slurring his words and shouting WHY WEBBER!!WHY!?!?
Danny Ainge: Well that's embarrassing Bill obviously doesn't like the moves, we've spoken privately about it, and he knows Doc is on board with the rebuild and would never quit on this team. They made a pact to never argue on live television about quitting on the team and to be a helpful resource for me to construct the new Boston Celtics -
08-14-2013, 11:53 AMConroyDanny Ainge: Well I'm very excited to see what Stephen Jackson can do as the leader of a team. Last time he was asked to lead a team was on the 04 Pistons and he did so very well averaging nearly 25 ppg. Then he was put on a Knicks team that had a lot of pieces but not much direction. We know what McDyess can do. But the 2 young guys we are looking forward to most have to be Josh Boone and Trevor Ariza. Josh Boone will be our main big man sub and we expect him to have a pretty good season with more playing time. Ariza has always flirted with starter, status and as a scoring option, but has mainly been used as a defensive specialist. He is going to have to step up big time for us to have a reliable 3rd scoring option.Quote:
Originally Posted by BowToTheBill23
That being said I really think Stephen Jackson is going to surprise some people this year and carry this team. -
08-14-2013, 08:26 PMPelicans78
Jason Friedman from the Houston Chronicle:
What made you go in this direction of rebuild of acquiring veteran stars instead of completely starting over from scratch and going with a youth movement and obtaining draft picks and young prospects? -
08-20-2013, 07:16 AMConroyThe reasoning was two fold we sent out some pretty big contracts in return we had to take some back. As everyone also knows we don't own our pick this year. So while we realize we'd be lucky to fight for a playoff spot we can't be the worst team in the league this year and deliver our divisional rival a top pick in the draft.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pelicans78
With that being said given the circumstances we are pleased how the roster turns out which I will now introduce the starters and key reserves.
Starting 5
C: Jamaal Magloire The Big Cat may be overpaid but he does bring A- defense and improved his rebounding in the offseason, which is all we will ask him to do. Be an anchor on defense and rebound the ball.
PF: Antonio McDyess McDyess has been an excellent #2 option behind Kobe for the past 3 years and had the best statistical season of his career last year. He is one of the few big men in the league with at least an A- rating in the 3 major categories for big men (Inside, Def, and Reb). We expect him to maintain his 22ppg and 12 rpg as the team's #2 option.
SF: Trevor Ariza Trevor had a quiet training camp, but didn't regress. He's always played a 6th man / spot starter role for his career so this is the first season he's coming in as a clear cut starter and going to get at least 36 minutes per game. The plan for him is to guard the opposing teams best wing player and work on his scoring. He will also be a consistent scoring option for the first time in his career. He will be the 3rd option and will just be asked to make easy shots and drive to the basket and finish, something we are confident he can do.
SG: Stephen Jackson Stephen Jackson is going to have to put the city of Boston on his shoulders. He will be the #1 scoring option and we as an organization are ready to go as far as he can take us. We have studied how he was utilized in Detroit in 2004 when he averaged 25 ppg before he went to New York which had little structure and direction until recently. Stephen is going to have to carry the offense, we plan on having a solid defense but we realize our offensive struggles and we know Stephen can be that legit #1 option.
PG: Jeff McInnis While we know he's not a household name, Jeff played very well while Sam Cassell was injured last year. Add that to the fact that he improved his handling to an A- in Training Camp and we know Jeff is a capable starter. We expect a solid campaign and for him to average around 10 ppg and 7-8 apg. He knows he just needs to feed SJax and McDyess and not turn the ball over
The Key Reserves will be Josh Boone and John Amaechi at Center. We feel comfortable starting either if we are really struggling to score as both would provide an offensive upgrade over Jamaal Magloire. Amaechi was top 3 in FG% last year and Boone is training his inside game and really improved over the course of last season. We brought back Eddie Jones to be the backup SF and SG and will be a great insurance policy if Ariza isn't ready to start and is more comfortable as the 6th man. Another blast from the past is Jamaal Tinsley I still remember trading up to draft him in the first rookie draft. And he can start or back up the 1 and the 2. We will find a way to get him minutes.