Ainge defends not making a move as Ojeleye quiets the critics for a night

I’m among those who believe the Celtics should have made a move to pick up a shooter for the bench, if not at the trade deadline then now among available free agents.

Specifically, I’m thinking a veteran like Jamal Crawford would fit the bill nicely and that it would be worth giving up one of the kids to get someone who could be your P.J. Brown for this playoff run.

Clearly, however, Danny Ainge is of a different mind. He wouldn’t speak directly of Crawford, but he’s certainly not enamored of the available stock of buyouts and those returning early from overseas commitments.

“It’s my impression that they’re rarely as good as people think they are,” Ainge told the Herald. “A lot of people, including myself and coaches and players, think that a player is still what he was two or three years prior or that he can return to a time of (when he was a) better player. But there’s always a reason why players are available.”

And not to support Ainge’s claim or anything, but his is not the only team that has passed on Crawford, who’s been in the free agent store window all season.

Then again, we’re probably not having this conversation if the Semi Ojeleye we saw making 5 of 8 treys and going for a career-high 22 points in Cleveland Wednesday was the Semi Ojeleye we see on a semi-regular basis. That kind of scoring is welcome, and he’s unquestionably a better defender than Crawford, who will turn 40 two weeks from Friday.

One could point to the inconsistent playing time Ojeleye gets. Said Jayson Tatum, “It just shows how mentally tough he is. Obviously he wants to play. He works as hard as anybody, but once he gets the chance, he shows what he can do.”

Not always. Sometimes Semi is his own stopper. One needs to have a measure of spit-in-your-eye swagger, quiet or otherwise, to be a scorer in this league — particularly coming off the bench. Ojeleye often isn’t as quick on the trigger as his talent and base of hard work indicate he should be. Hell, the most positive sign from his game against the Cavaliers may have come when he gave a shimmy after scoring inside while being fouled.

Ojeleye even acknowledged the difficulty in staying confident, of keeping the faith.

“It’s a challenge,” he said, “but I’ve got a great family and a lot of people that believe in me even when it’s tough to believe in myself. So I thank God for putting those people in my life, and I’ve just got to keep going.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Ojeleye’s opportunity is similar when the Celts host Utah Friday night. Jaylen Brown (strained hamstring) and Gordon Hayward (knee contusion) are still out, but Kemba Walker will be back.

And Marcus Smart will again be in the rotation, having dodged a suspension for confronting the officials and having to be restrained from going after ref John Goble following Tuesday’s overtime loss to Brooklyn. The league fined Smart $35,000, saying the size of the penalty “also reflects his multiple prior violations of acceptable on-court decorum.”

But health concerns aside, with 21 games remaining, the question of whether the Celtics have enough to truly compete for a deep playoff run is coming into greater relief.

And with it the issue of them standing pat at the trade deadline and, so far, beyond.

According to Ainge, efforts were made.

“There were some trades that I would have liked to have done,” he said. “But they were good players and the teams that would be giving them up didn’t want to give them up, so they needed to get a home run of a trade in order to do it. And that’s typically what happens when you’re trying to get players that the other team still wants.”

The Celtics wanted some size, though the anticipation that Robert Williams would be returning may have calmed their pursuit. Against Cleveland in his second game back from a hip injury, he had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 14 minutes.

“Time will tell,” said Ainge. “But we really like what we’ve seen in Rob this summer and in training camp and early in the season, so I think that Rob has been watching and learning, and we’ll see who Rob is. I’m excited to see him.

“We feel like we have a really fresh guy who knows our system and is part of our future, and we’re excited about Rob’s future. When Brad (Stevens) and I talked at the very beginning of the season, we thought that the most important development this year of all of our players was the development of Rob, just because of how important he could be. So, yeah, you don’t want to bring someone in that might stunt that process — unless they’re clearly better. I mean, if they’re clearly, clearly better, that’s a whole different story. But those players are rarely available.”

And more games from Ojeleye approximating his Wednesday performance would quiet the calls for a scorer off the bench. If the Semi Shimmy becomes a regular dance move at the Garden to rival the minister of all that is cool, Gino, the need for a Jamal Crawford is diminished.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2v2MtS0