Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge comments on C’s poor season

The Boston Celtics have gotten off to an extremely disappointing start, sitting at 16-17 on the year. This lackluster first half of the season caused Danny Ainge to make comments on the struggles Thursday, the first he’s made about the team’s poor performance.

From an overarching standpoint, Ainge had this to say on the C’s struggles:

"“It’s hard to explain. The intensity level hasn’t been there. I don’t know how to explain it. Our team isn’t playing well. They don’t play hard all the time. I don’t have an explanation. It’s been frustrating for the players and the coaches.”"

Everything he said is true when comparing this year’s team to past Boston Celtics squads.

When the 2020-21 team falls behind substantially, they seem to throw in the white towel much earlier than needed. When they find themselves with a big lead, they let their foot off the gas pedal too much, often leading to winnable games being lost. These are two huge signs of a team that struggles with intensity on a nightly basis, something that Ainge has identified as a key problem.

Danny Ainge recognizes how bad the Boston Celtics are right now

On the other side of the coin, Ainge refutes the sole criticism of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, saying it’s not fair to put it all on them. They can certainly share some of the blame, as both of them have had inconsistent stretches as of late, but they’re still by far the two best players on the team, both earning their spots as Eastern Conference All-Stars.

As for acquisitions needing to be made, Ainge realizes the way he has to build a successful roster – around Tatum and Brown. He wants to surround them with more scoring while adding “dynamic talent off the bench”:

"“We need guys who won’t be subservient to them, but guys who will complement them.”"

This specific comment is promising for the future and present of the Boston Celtics. The Jays are two pieces that you can build a championship team around, but the current structure of this roster doesn’t have enough firepower to contend with the best of the best.

By adding players that can score on their own but don’t take anything away from the two young stars, the Cs will have championship aspirations.

Who are those players, you may ask? We’ll have to wait and see in a month.

For the historic traded-player exception the Celtics hold, it’s unclear when it will be used. Ainge has hinted at using the TPE during the offseason when it expires, rather than rushing to use it during this year’s trade deadline. This might make even more sense if Boston continues to fall down the standings.

Finally, he takes the majority of the blame for the poor start to the season. He stated, “This is a Danny Ainge issue and a player commitment issue.” It’s good to take responsibility for having a poor offseason by the looks of it, but it would be silly to place all of the blame on both Ainge and coach Brad Stevens.

Ultimately, neither the front office nor the players are performing at their best, both contributing to a 15-17 start to the season.

What do you think of Ainge’s comments? Leave your thoughts below!