Sports Radio Interviews

Danny Ainge: “I Think We Can Even Play Better Than We Are Playing”

Early November is never a time to overreact to how an NBA team is playing and its only six games into their season, but the Celtics look really, really good.  I’m here in Cleveland and I have said on the air numerous times that I think the Celtics are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.  Because of that, I have taken a lot of criticism.  I’ve heard all the naysayers repeatedly.  They’re too old, they’re too slow, they’re going to run out of gas.  Say what you want about this team, but before the injuries a season ago that derailed their season, the Celtics were the best team in the NBA.  So far this season, they look every bit like the team that started 27-2 a year ago.  Despite not having Glen Davis, the Celtics are rolling thanks to the great play of Paul Pierce, the renewed health of Kevin Garnett, the improved play of Rajon Rondo and thanks to some new acquisitions that are fitting in nicely. 

The Celtics are riding high right now as they are beating their opponents by a combined 18 points per game and this past week their future got a little bit brighter as well.  There had been ongoing discussions between the Celtics and Rajon Rondo about a new contract and this past week the Celtics locked up one of the fastest rising stars at the point guard position in the NBA for next half-decade.  Rondo gets better every year, has a chance to be one of the five best point guards in the league in my opinion if he continues to develop his jumper and he will be wearing the green and white for the next five years.  It’s safe to say the season has gotten off to a good start in Beantown.

Danny Ainge joined The Big Show on WEEI to talk about the Celtics hot start, the offseason acquisitions of the team, Rajon Rondo’s new contract and the goals of the team this season.

On the hot start to the season:

“Yeah, it’s been great.  Our defense has been excellent and we’re really making shots every night.  It’s been Paul (Pierce) plus one or Paul plus two or three guys.  It’s been fun so far and I think we can even play better than we are playing.”

On what has surprised him, if anything, at the beginning of this year:

“Probably the only surprise is Glen Davis not playing and Shelden (Williams).  Shelden has stepped up and had a couple of double figure rebounding games and three double figure scoring games.  That’s been a big boost for us.  I think as far as everybody else, I knew there would be games where Rasheed (Wallace) would be hot, Eddie (House) is hot every now and then, and Marquis (Daniels) is just a good, solid player (that) makes timely plays and baskets.  I guess I expected that and I think our starters can play better than they’re playing also, which is very encouraging.”

On the negotiations with Rajon Rondo:

“We were all hopeful that we would get a deal done.  There’s a lot of little things that have to be worked out in contract negotiations.  If it didn’t get worked out, I think both sides were fairly comfortable that we still had a bright future with one another going forward.  I think it’s better for this year and for the future to have a deal done with Rajon.  He can concentrate on playing.   I think it is a burden no matter what they say.  I’ve been that player; I’ve seen players and played with a lot of guys that go through these negotiations.  I’ve been around other teams and have watched them just in recent years when these things become issues and how for whatever reason players don’t play as well as they’re capable of playing and teams don’t mesh or gel as well.  So from that standpoint we were certainly trying to get a deal done.”

On why there was a sense of urgency to get a deal done with Rondo:

“Yeah I think a lot of the negotiations and what numbers we try to go to is based on trying to predict the future the best we can and the same on their perspective.  We felt first of all that Rondo is young and he’s getting better.  He had a great training camp, he’s improving on a lot of the areas that we discussed in the offseason, and I saw great signs from Rajon.  Second of all there’s a lot of money out there.  There’s a lot of teams that are preparing for the 2010 free agent market.  And then third, this summer, as a lot of you are aware, with all the trade rumors, we discovered even though we weren’t close to doing a deal for Rajon, we discovered that there is a great deal of interest in him.  There are a lot of teams with cap-space and with money that have him high on their list, that would love to have him and add him to their team.  I think all those things are factors of why we wanted to push this signing also.”

“On whether Rondo getting a big payday will hurt his play at all:

“I have seen it on occasion, but I’m not worried about Rajon.  He loves to play, he’s a basketball junkie, he’s a great competitor and I’m not worried about that at all.  He’s a kid that’s very confident in himself and I think he’s going to be better as a result of this contract as the pressure is relieved a little bit more.  Even though there is some pressure for getting a new contract, I still think the burden of wondering and always thinking about it…it will help our team a lot to not have that burden.”

On why veterans fit so nicely with the Celtics:

“I think that there’s obviously teams that aren’t playing for championships.  They have their own goals to make the playoffs or whatever their team goal may be.  Our goal is to win a championship.  That’s an easier sell.  Everybody in our locker room knows we have a chance.  If we do our job and play well, we’re in the hunt.  There’s a lot of teams that know they don’t have a chance, they have different agendas and that’s a tougher sell for a coach.”

Listen to Danny Ainge on WEEI in Boston with The Big Show

Tags: Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge, Eastern Conference, Kevin Garnett, NBA, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, WEEI