Remember when Walker came back?

[skinnyantoine]

Looks like we went 45-37 that year after a strong 2nd half after the antoine trade. Our starting lineup was Blount, LaFrentz, Pierce, Get Buckets, and Payton. Our bench included Justin Reed, Perk, Big Al (rookie), and Marcus Banks. Not exactly primed for a playoff run.

[miraclejohan]

Oh boy do I ever remember that year.  https://miraclejohan.bandcamp.com/album/green-17-vol-1-2004-2005

[rickyfan3.0...]

That was my favorite team EVER. No lie. That team played so hard. Wish they got past Indy.

[skinnyantoine]

I still listen to 'no layups' on a semi regular basis during the season. Classic!

[the_Bird]

I still listen to 'no layups' on a semi regular basis during the season. Classic!

No easy baskets, no layups!  Nothin' I can't foul!

[Beat LA]

Looks like we went 45-37 that year after a strong 2nd half after the antoine trade. Our starting lineup was Blount, LaFrentz, Pierce, Get Buckets, and Payton. Our bench included Justin Reed, Perk, Big Al (rookie), and Marcus Banks. Not exactly primed for a playoff run.

That was my first year watching the Celtics, and I was pumped because we had gotten Gary Payton, lol, so I was ticked when he was traded, but at least he re-signed with us (although it probably would have been better for him to have joined the Pistons, since that team needed depth after losing guys like Okur and Mike James, but I digress).  Ricky Davis came off the bench and had an awesome year, and he would have won 6th man of the year, too, if it hadn't been for that meddling Ben Gordon.   I think he only lost by a few votes, but he got robbed, imo.  Man, could he flat out fill it up and he HATED the Cavs, which made those games all the more fun, because when he was into it, Ricky Davis was an excellent defender and a guy who would take, and make, the big shot.  I think that Doc alternated between Tony Allen, him, and another guy at the 2 for most of the year, with Allen starting for us in the playoffs.  It was the only time that I actually was excited about TA's potential, lol, that came crashing down after he dunked after the whistle.  What a moron.

Antoine definitely re-energized Pierce and we started playing pretty well, but the move didn't make sense to me, because 1).  Adding him didn't make us a contender, and 2).  Danny didn't even resign him at the end of the year.  I've also seen people say things online (which doesn't exactly mean much, lol) that Ainge told Doc to lose game 7 against Indiana so that it would be easier for him to let Antoine go, I guess because if we had gotten to the second round and made some noise against the Pistons, which wasn't going to happen, perhaps Danny would have been under more pressure to add other veterans to the squad, so I'm glad that that didn't happen. 

That first round series was bull-crap.  The Pacers got away with murder on every possession of every game, especially in game 7.  It wasn't even close.  God did I hate Jermaine O'Neal (he acted like a punk), Stephen Jackson (again, a punk), Jamaal Tinsley (same thing), and Jeff Foster.  Those guys were all thugs.  I don't know who said on the first page that we could have 'easily made it to the eastern conference finals that year,' but no.  Just no.  We would have had to beat the Pacers and then the defending champion Pistons without homecourt, obviously.  Yeah, no, lol.   That's a 5 game series at maximum. 

Also, if you look back at that move now, now that we know what Ainge was trying to do, the question is why didn't he just leave the team as it was?  We probably would have landed somewhere between 8-10 in the lottery, which could have yielded a guy like Danny Granger or Andrew Bynum in the first round, and possibly even Monta Ellis (who I guess that Ainge wanted to take that year) in the second round.  That is, if Danny actually took them, lol.  Ugh. 

Still, getting guys like that would have definitely sped up the rebuild, or, and I hate to even think about this, but Danny possibly could have traded Pierce for Chris Paul (ugh), and gone forward with a core of Bynum, Big Al, and CP3 (not to mention Delonte).  Phew.  That was too close, lol.    

[Donoghus]

Bringing Walker back was an instant gratification thing.  Much like the Joe Johnson trade back three years before it (and subsequent moves following that).

Idea being that the team had blown for quite some team and it was after three years of going backwards in the playoffs (CF, CFSF, 1st round), I think ownership and Ainge (who was only a couple of years in on the job) decided the heck with it and try & make a run.  It blew up in their face but this was 2005.  Different time, place, and climate.   Knowing what he knows now, I bet Ainge would've approached things differently.  Indirectly, this failure indirectly set the stage for 2007.

Sad thing was that the Celtics were the better team and probably should've won that series.  Can't still can't believe they got trucked AT HOME in Game 7.  Talk about disappointment.

[Celtics4ever]

I could have told you is was not going to work.   Basing a team going to the playoffs on AW and spare parts is not going to get it done at the championship level.   Walker can be a part of the team as he proved in MIA.   But dude was never a good shooter, no matter how much people liked him.

I hated most of the Walker teams.   They fought hard and played hard but sometimes they played the wrong way in shot selection especially.   That being said AW and crew had a grit about him and a certain level of moxy.  In many ways, they were handicapped by poor GMs and coaches who only coached to a system rather than to the strengths of their players.    I was in retrospect much fonder of the Bird teams and 2008-2011 teams than than AW teams.

[Donoghus]

I could have told you is was not going to work.   Basing a team going to the playoffs on AW and spare parts is not going to get it done at the championship level.   Walker can be a part of the team as he proved in MIA.   But dude was never a good shooter, no matter how much people liked him.

I hated most of the Walker teams.   They fought hard and played hard but sometimes they played the wrong way in shot selection especially.   That being said AW and crew had a grit about him and a certain level of moxy.  In many ways, they were handicapped by poor GMs and coaches who only coached to a system rather than to the strengths of their players.    I was in retrospect much fonder of the Bird teams and 2008-2011 teams than than AW teams.

I'll love that 2001-02 bunch to the day I die.   That was such a fun ride while it lasted.

[LB3533]

The 2nd Walker trade may be least favorite move of the DA era.  It was so pointless.  Sure, we only gave up a 1st rounder, but for what?  A first round playoff exit?

I loved that trade as a fan.  It brought so much excitement to the team.  It sucked that we didn't go farther in the playoffs, and it turned out that Danny had no desire to re-sign him, but it was an exciting time.

It was a trade that was good for the fans, and probably good for Wyc's bottom line.  It probably wasn't particularly good for long-term planning, but luckily we were able to re-acquire the pick.  (Although it did cost us a shot at Afflalo or Splitter in 2007.)

I also, was one who loved the trade. At the time, though, I had not yet realized how smart Danny Ainge was at his job....he basically didn't really give up any thing for re-trading for Toine since we were able to re-obtain The Glove afterwards.

That '04-'05 Celtics team, after retrading for Toine, went 11-1 over their initial 12 games, losing at home 99-97 to a KG (21p/13r/9a !!!) led T Pups team, along with Wally World (20/4/4), Sprewell (bad game). It was MIN's bench that won them the game, outscoring our bench 38 to 18. Doc could have played Big Al more than 6 minutes.

A 1st rounder to rent Toine and juice up your fan base, your team's locker room, and first year C's headcoach for Doc....was well worth it, IMO and it seemed worth it for Ainge and the owners.

After that inital 12 game jolt.....the riding the high of that wave seemed to taper down, the team lost 4 in a row including a shameful 25 points loss to the Knicks in NY.

After that 4 game losing streak, the team seemed to find itself again, closing the season 7-4.

The team was 18-9 in total since re-acquiring Walker, though walker missed, I believe 3 games due to some injury or illness, sorry do not know the exact details.

To be fair, the last two losses that season, Doc and the Celtics didn't really care too much to win those last two games since the C's had already locked up the Atlantic Division over Jim O'Brien's Sixers about a week before. Both PP and AW didn't play more than 30 minutes in either game, maybe one or two Celtics played 30+ minutes in either game.   

That playoff series with Indiana was exciting, though a big let down. Big Al got a taste of playoff action and, I believe he hit a big shot in OT of Game 6 and a key assist on an Antoine 3 pointer, all ended up helping us win in Indy.

But we lost Game 7 in Boston by 27 points.......yowzers!!

It was a 35-32 game at half time, Indy in the lead. We were better scoring wise in the 2nd half, scoring 38.....but Indy was also better scoring in their 2nd half....netting 62 points after half time.

In that G7, we could not stop Stephen Jackson (24p 5-6 threes). Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller were not really good that game....or that entire series for that matter.

The story of that Game 7 was the Celtics supporting cast, or lack of support. [PP & AW 39 points on 46.6% FG shooting, entire rest of C's team 31 points on 30.2% FG shooting.]

So it makes some sense that the C's lost by nearly 30.....when the parts of your team is shooting 3-10 from the field......yea....it's gonna be ugly!

Oh, as an aside, but somewhat hopeful future......Big Al Jefferson has player's option for '15-'16 season @ 13.8 million.

Any chance he declines? Any chance Danny could trade our many draft picks? Would we give up a top 1st rounder for Big Al? Do we want Big Al back? Can he play Center?

More questions to be answered haha!

[Beat LA]

The 2nd Walker trade may be least favorite move of the DA era.  It was so pointless.  Sure, we only gave up a 1st rounder, but for what?  A first round playoff exit?

I loved that trade as a fan.  It brought so much excitement to the team.  It sucked that we didn't go farther in the playoffs, and it turned out that Danny had no desire to re-sign him, but it was an exciting time.

It was a trade that was good for the fans, and probably good for Wyc's bottom line.  It probably wasn't particularly good for long-term planning, but luckily we were able to re-acquire the pick.  (Although it did cost us a shot at Afflalo or Splitter in 2007.)

I also, was one who loved the trade. At the time, though, I had not yet realized how smart Danny Ainge was at his job....he basically didn't really give up any thing for re-trading for Toine since we were able to re-obtain The Glove afterwards.

That '04-'05 Celtics team, after retrading for Toine, went 11-1 over their initial 12 games, losing at home 99-97 to a KG (21p/13r/9a !!!) led T Pups team, along with Wally World (20/4/4), Sprewell (bad game). It was MIN's bench that won them the game, outscoring our bench 38 to 18. Doc could have played Big Al more than 6 minutes.

A 1st rounder to rent Toine and juice up your fan base, your team's locker room, and first year C's headcoach for Doc....was well worth it, IMO and it seemed worth it for Ainge and the owners.

After that inital 12 game jolt.....the riding the high of that wave seemed to taper down, the team lost 4 in a row including a shameful 25 points loss to the Knicks in NY.

After that 4 game losing streak, the team seemed to find itself again, closing the season 7-4.

The team was 18-9 in total since re-acquiring Walker, though walker missed, I believe 3 games due to some injury or illness, sorry do not know the exact details.

To be fair, the last two losses that season, Doc and the Celtics didn't really care too much to win those last two games since the C's had already locked up the Atlantic Division over Jim O'Brien's Sixers about a week before. Both PP and AW didn't play more than 30 minutes in either game, maybe one or two Celtics played 30+ minutes in either game.   

That playoff series with Indiana was exciting, though a big let down. Big Al got a taste of playoff action and, I believe he hit a big shot in OT of Game 6 and a key assist on an Antoine 3 pointer, all ended up helping us win in Indy.

But we lost Game 7 in Boston by 27 points.......yowzers!!

It was a 35-32 game at half time, Indy in the lead. We were better scoring wise in the 2nd half, scoring 38.....but Indy was also better scoring in their 2nd half....netting 62 points after half time.

In that G7, we could not stop Stephen Jackson (24p 5-6 threes). Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller were not really good that game....or that entire series for that matter.

The story of that Game 7 was the Celtics supporting cast, or lack of support. [PP & AW 39 points on 46.6% FG shooting, entire rest of C's team 31 points on 30.2% FG shooting.]

So it makes some sense that the C's lost by nearly 30.....when the parts of your team is shooting 3-10 from the field......yea....it's gonna be ugly!

Oh, as an aside, but somewhat hopeful future......Big Al Jefferson has player's option for '15-'16 season @ 13.8 million.

Any chance he declines? Any chance Danny could trade our many draft picks? Would we give up a top 1st rounder for Big Al? Do we want Big Al back? Can he play Center?

More questions to be answered haha!

I remember that game.  It was the first time I'd ever seen KG, and he hit a halfcourt shot at one point at the end of a quarter or something and he was so fired up, as you'd expect, even though I  didn't know that about him at the time.  Sprewell might have had a bad game, but iirc, he fit the game winning shot with virtually no time left.  That Minnesota team never duplicated its success from 03-04, and they were trying to make the playoffs that year, but ultimately missed it.  Man, talk about a disappointment.  Going from the WCF to missing the playoffs in 2 years, smh.  Wasn't it after that that Sprewell said that he couldn't feed his family on the offer given to him by Minnesota, lol?   Frankly, I'm surprised that he retired, because he could still play.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I remember the first game Toine was back in Boston (he had already played away games) and it is one of my most vivid Celtics memories.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap/_/id/250302002/gameId/250302002/la-lakers-lakers-vs-boston-celtics

My dad could get random games from his work at the time and we luckily had them for that one.  Things I distinctly remember:

1.) Ricky Davis reverse dunking at the half time buzzer and everyone losing it

2.) The Celtics won

3.) The place was absolutely electric with energy

4.) Celtics fans chanting "no means no!" in the stairwells as everyone was leaving in celebration (due to the Kobe scandal at the time). 

Bonus thing from the end of the article: Walker is 1-for-8 from 3-point range since returning to the Celtics.

[Redz]

That trade and the impending return of Gary Payton after the Hawks bought him out were what first drew me to Celtics blog.  It was seen exciting time.

[Hemingway]

Well it sure looks like Brooklyn would like to get rid of KG to shed some money. We COULD take him with our TPE. I think KG for out TPE and worst second pick we have works. The real question is how many more games do we need to win before the deadline for this to make any sense?

KG/Zeller/
Sully/KO/Bass
Prince/Crowder
AB/Thorton
Turner/Smart

If we can win some more games in the next 3 weeks so it starts to look like we will make the playoffs without the trade, maybe it makes sense to do it. Sure we lose the TPE, but we would probably lose it anyways. Our pick would be worse but thats a terrible reason not to try to win. The east is so bad right now.

[miraclejohan]

I still listen to 'no layups' on a semi regular basis during the season. Classic!

Thank you!