Celts/76ers Trade Rumors;Gerald Green Off Limits;Rivers Will NOT Be Fired

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Ainge: No firing in near future
By Shira Springer, Globe Staff | December 10, 2006

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- This news will come as a great disappointment to those who blame Doc Rivers for most, if not all, of the Celtics' problems this season. Executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said yesterday that Rivers would remain the Celtics coach through the end of the 2006-07 season.

When asked if Rivers would remain the coach even if the team did not win another game this season, Ainge said, "Yes."

The Celtics won last night, beating the Nets, 92-90, on Paul Pierce's last-second shot.

With the season barely a month old, Ainge did not care to look further into the future than this season. But if Ainge is true to his word, there undoubtedly will be postseason evaluation in which both sides review whether it is a marriage worth saving. Financially, ownership may find it more palatable to move on.

But in the meantime, Ainge believes others should share responsibility for the way the Celtics have performed. That list includes Ainge and the players, in addition to Rivers.

"The way I look at is, when I was a player when we lost, there were always things I felt I could do better to make our team better," said Ainge. "When I was a coach, I felt there were always things I could do that could have gotten us over the hump that night. It's no different than here. I always feel there's things I can do better, things I need to keep trying to do to get better to help us win to get us over the top.

"Absolutely, I accept responsibility for what we have on the court. But I ultimately place blame on the players because they have to get things done. When I say place blame, it just means there's a lot of things I'm seeing that they need to do better that they're capable of doing.

"I never think our coaches are perfect, that they make every single right decision. That coach doesn't exist. That doesn't exist with the Pat Rileys and the Phil Jacksons and the Don Nelsons.

"They'll all tell you that they make mistakes. But what I'm saying is, and I've said this pretty consistently for the last few years, it's not about the result of the game. It has a lot more to do with what I see every single day happening within the organization. That evaluation process is different than the average fan and the media. And I know that."


Four for one?
Although Ainge had nothing new to say with regard to speculation that Allen Iverson will soon be a Celtic, a league source said the Celtics would be very interested in a deal as long as it did not involve Gerald Green. The source said one possible scenario was sending Theo Ratliff, Delonte West, Sebastian Telfair, and Al Jefferson to Philadelphia for Iverson. The salary numbers would work. But whatever happens, Rivers wants it to be sooner rather than later.

"I turned the TV on and there were rumors galore," said Rivers. "I think I read that Bird, McHale, and Parish were going to be in the deal.

"It's crazy what's going on. I hope it gets resolved for a lot of reasons. For every team whose name's involved, I hope it gets resolved. Two, Al has been great in the league and I hope that it's resolved for him and the Sixers."

When asked if he would like to coach Iverson, a diplomatic Rivers said, "I like coaching the guys I coach right now."


See you later
The daily injury update was not encouraging as Rivers raised the possibility of Ratliff missing the entire season with lower back soreness caused by a bulging disk. At the very least, Rivers said, Ratliff, Michael Olowokandi (abdominal tear), and Kendrick Perkins (plantar fasciitis) are "probably weeks" away. Rivers doesn't believe Ratliff will call it a career because of his back. "In his mind, he has to think he clearly can still play," said Rivers. "That's what I would think. But that's a good question. You should pose that to him." Ratliff made the trip with the team to see a doctor in New York . . . Wally Szczerbiak will be back soon, but Rivers doubts it will be before the Celtics finish this three-game trip Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

[Bob Lanier]

I guess Gerald "I have nine fingers and a career average of 5 points per game" Green must have a very rare brain type.