Ainge: Celtics Have Talked About Starting Isaiah Thomas
BOSTON (CBS) -- With fall upon us, Boston Celtics basketball is just around the corner.
The C's will hit the hardwood for the first time this weekend, as they begin training camp on Saturday to prepare for the 2015-16 NBA season. And after making an unexpected run to the playoffs last season, there are some actual expectations surrounding this team.
This will be Brad Stevens' third year on the Boston bench, and though Danny Ainge wasn't able to add a star to the roster over the summer, the team is hoping their deep bench will be their best asset for the upcoming campaign. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge joined Toucher & Rich on Thursday morning, and says the Celtics are hoping to still be playing basketball late into the summer.
"We do have a lot of players and we're hoping to play a lot of games this year. We're hoping to get to the playoffs, those are our goals. We're hoping to play 100 games this year, and you need a full roster," said Ainge. "But there will be games, assuming everyone is healthy, there will be guys who want to play but won't get a chance, because you can't play 15 guys a night. But we hope to use our depth to our advantage."
Brad Stevens hasn't come up with Boston's starting five yet, waiting to see who plays best with each other during training camp and the preseason. Everyone is wondering if Isaiah Thomas, whose arrival at the trade deadline last season sparked Boston's run to the playoffs, will come off the bench, where he's a perennial sixth-man candidate, or be out there for the opening tip every night. Ainge said that decision is up to Stevens, but it's something they have discussed as they get ready for the season.
"We have talked about it, but that would be Brad's decision. Our objective is to win. Isaiah is a very unique player in that he is our best scorer and our most efficient scorer," said Ainge. "He has to expend a lot of energy to score, and his size, defensively, can sometimes be a challenge, but he's such an exciting and dynamic player. We want him at his best for 100 games, and those are reasons not to start him. But there are reasons to start him. It's not anything easy. Those will be decisions ironed out throughout training camp and the exhibition season, and maybe change throughout the year."
Given the summer the New England Patriots just had (you know, those cheating allegations surrounding air in footballs), Ainge recently spoke about the great Red Auerbach. Opposing teams always felt Red had a little something extra up his sleeve -- and not just those victory cigars. The accusations ranged from loose screws in the Boston Garden floor to cold showers in the visiting teams locker room. There may have even been a window or two left open during cold winter months.
Ainge said that when the team heard such accusations of tomfoolery back then, they couldn't help but laugh.
"From my experience playing here in the 80s they were all mythical things, and Red didn't do a lot to downplay them. I don't think he was accused of cheating by the league ever, but there were a lot of things that were being said in the media and people were wondering what the Celtics were doing with the floor and the heat in the Garden. All sorts of things like that," he explained. "We laughed at them. We didn't believe in them, but it was funny that everyone thought there was an evil leprechaun in the Garden doing these things."
Ainge also explained why he recently said Steph Curry (and not Larry Bird) was the best shooter ever:
