Is there any reason left to be a Boston Celtics fan anymore? Just makes one wonder what the Celts might've given Doc Rivers had he actually won a championship. The contract extension just another bad move by GM Danny Ainge.
What exactly has Rivers done to warrant an extension? Some young players have shown some improvement, but the team as a whole has regressed under his tenure.
Rivers won the NBA coach of the year award while with the Orlando Magic, but even with Tracy McGrady, his Magic blew a 3-1 series lead in the 2002-03 playoffs. As for his time in Boston, the team won a division title in his first year, the first since 1991-92 in an albeit watered down Atlantic Division. The Celtics then proceeded to get smoked by the Indiana Pacers in game seven at The Garden.
The win totals have dropped significantly, from 45 to 33 to 24. This past season was an outright embarrassment, one the Celtics haven't seen since the M.L. Carr taxi squad days of 1996-97. It included a season of a horrific trade for Sebastian Telfair, a franchise record 18 losses in a row and a string of purposely tanked games down the stretch.
The Celts obviously have a few nice chips in Al Jefferson, Gerald Green and Delonte West. However with Paul Pierce becoming seemingly injury prone and older and with virtually no point guard, they better pray that if they're so fortunate to be able to draft either one of them, that Greg Oden and or Kevin Durant turns out to be the real deal, otherwise the long drought will continue in Boston.
It's extremely sad to see such a storied franchise get to this point. Theres no excuse for it although I'm sure many are given. If only someone with some kahunas grande could take and clean house. Sometimes you need to do a little sweeping before laying down the new flooring. Good stuff.
You can't judge Doc's performence this year, they were in first place in the division when Pierce went down. Wally was usless again missing most of the year. They are very young and immature. Doc's claim to fame is developing young players and from what I've seen so far he's done OK with Jefferson,West and Allen until his knee injury making significant improvment from last year. Will Rivers have them contending for a championship next year?
Of course not but neither would Larry Brown,Rick Carlisle, Paul Silas or any other big name you want to throw in.
This team is at least 2 yrs away from making a serious run in the playoffs even with Durant or Oden. I think Al Jefferson has the potential to be a perennial All-Star. West and Allen are solid two's with room to get better. With more experience and maturity Green is going to be a big time scorer in this league. I think Rondo can become a better than seviceable point guard in a couple of years. Hopefully they land Oden in the lottery and they're on their way. Unless they get him or Durant no big name coach wants to inherit a young team coming off a losing season with a disgruntled veteran star(Pierce). Rivers is the logical choice to start the next season to give some stability to a young group who are just starting to find their identity
My name is Mike Gwizdala and I live in Albany, N.Y. The Capitol of the Empire State. I'm probably the biggest most knowledgeable , opinionated sports fan I know. First and foremost I'm an avid, die-hard New York Yankees fan. For those of you who don't know Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte amongst others all played their Double-A ball in Albany.
