HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Peter May

From the moment he took over the Boston Celtics, and continuing on to this very day, Danny Ainge has had one enduring philosophy: think outside the box. As in, way outside the box.

He doesn’t care where you’ve been or what you’ve done. He will roll the dice. Sometimes, it comes up 7’s and 11’s, as it did with Rajon Rondo, Leon Powe and Glen Davis. Sometimes, it will come up snake eyes, as it did with Sebastian Telfair, Marcus Banks or Ricky Davis.

But in virtually every instance where his intuition failed him, Ainge has been able to recover by getting some other unfortunate soul to take on his mistakes. As the saying goes, it only takes one. And there always is that someone (unfortunately for Minnesotans, that someone has more often than not been Kevin McHale.)

The 2008 NBA Draft once again showed Ainge’s willingness to take a chance. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had just won a championship and could afford to gamble. He was doing the same thing when he was drafting after 24- and 33-win seasons. With the last pick of the first round, he drafted JR Giddens out of New Mexico, a somewhat surprising selection among the so-called cognoscenti. (The website NBADraft.net projected him as the No. 58 selection.)

Once the intrepid press went to work, it was discovered that Giddens had basically been booted out of Kansas, where he had been stabbed in a bar fight. An artery in his right calf was cut and the wound required 30 stitches to close. He ended up at the University of New Mexico where, in his first season, he twice wadaaincels suspended for what then-coach Richie McKay termed his inability to adhere “to the pillars of the program.”

Did any of that concern Ainge? If it did, he didn’t let it affect his judgment. He loves the kid’s explosiveness. He loves the kid’s defensive promise. So what if he transferred after a bar fight at one school and was suspended at another?

Ainge has shown himself to be extremely open-minded on matters like these. Take the case of Rondo. After a stunning freshman season, the Kentucky guard went backwards as a sophomore. The body language stunk. There were clashes between a headstrong kid and the do-it-my-way head coach. What, Ainge wondered, had happened to the player the Celtics had targeted the year before?

The Celtics had the 7th pick in 2006. That might have been a reach for Rondo, but Ainge might well have taken him there, especially since Brandon Roy was gone and Randy Foye didn’t excite the Celtics all that much. But instead, Ainge engineered a trade for Telfair.

Then, Ainge went to work to try and get Rondo, as he saw the Kentucky guard drop further and further in the first round. Finally, at No. 21, Ainge got the Suns to draft Rondo, trading a future first-rounder in a loaded draft class (2007.) Where others saw a history of conflict, a cocky kid and a guard who wasn’t anything close to a classic point guard, Ainge saw athleticism, defensive ability and intelligence, and wasn’t the least-bit put off by all the negativity emanating from Lexington, Kentucky.

“You know,’’ he said, “it isn’t always a bad thing when the player and the coach don’t see eye to eye. We interviewed a lot of people before we drafted Rajon. We heard all the stuff; he was cocky, uncoachable, all that stuff. But at the end of the day, we thought he’d be a good addition to our basketball team.”

Clearly, they’re hoping the same thing from Giddens, although he will have to fight for minutes. Giddens had an uneventful senior year at New Mexico (in terms of distractions, that is) The Celtics also are hoping for similar things from their second-round pick, Billy Walker out of Kansas State. His story brings to mind one of the recent Boston successes – Leon Powe.

Like Powe, Walker was a high school hotshot. Like Leon Powe, he suffered two torn anterior cruciate ligaments. Like Leon Powe, Walker went from being a likely lottery pick before the injuries to a second-rounder. (Sonny Vaccaro, the legendary shoe mogul and high school talent guru, told ESPN The Magazine that the pre-ACL tear Walker was the second coming of Vince Carter.)

The actual drafting of  Powe was the result of some quick work by Ainge’s lieutenant, Leo Papile, who had fallen in love with the University of California big man while scouting him in the 2005-06 season. Papile also had seen Powe in high school, when, in 2003, Powe was mentioned (almost) in the same breath as LeBron James. Powe thought about turning pro out of high school; destitute does not begin to describe his home situation at that point in his life. But the ACL tear did him in. Another tear came after his first season at California.

Powe declared for the 2006 draft, despite having two years remaining of eligibility, but the knee injuries and questions about where he would fit in combined to send him tumbling into the second round. Papile started frantically working the phones. The picks go quickly at that point – two minutes a choice – and Papile finally convinced the Nuggets to draft Powe and trade him to the Celtics. The Walker transaction was essentially the same thing. If it works out as well as Powe, the Celtics will really be on to something.

Should Walker or Giddens be any kind of help to the Celtics, they will join the list of late first- and second-rounders who have been able to contribute. Kendrick Perkins was the 27th pick in 2003. Delonte West (24) and Tony Allen (25) were picks in 2004. Ryan Gomes was the 50th pick in 2005. Powe was the 49th pick in 2006 and, in 2007, the Celtics feel they got a couple of keepers in Gabe Pruitt and Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis, both taken in the second round.

While Pruitt should get time this season, Davis was a revelation of sorts as a rookie. On draft night in 2007, there were rumors he had a deal with a team to take him in the first round. It didn’t happen. He was large (to be charitable) and that could have scared away some teams. But watching the guy on the floor, he simply knows how to play. He has power, good hands and even some beguiling finesse. He held his own when Tim Duncan came to town. He personally beat the Pistons in a huge regular season win on the road.

But, knowing Ainge, any or all of the above could also be future ex-Celtics. That was the case for Al Jefferson, Gomes and Telfair, all of whom went to Minnesota in the Kevin Garnett trade. West went to Seattle in the Ray Allen trade.

By now, however, Ainge has enough chips, not to mention newfound cachet, to keep doing what he’s always been doing. Whether it’s trying to coax Reggie Miller out of retirement for one last run, slightly preferring Kevin Durant to Greg Oden, or drafting a kid with so-called “issues,’’ he is not going to shy away. Expect the unexpected.

Where others see potential trouble, Ainge sees only potential. More often than not, history has shown him to be on the mark.

There are no more excuses for Uncle Sam’s fellows. It’s gold medal or bust in Beijing for the US men’s national squad, the so-called “Redeem Team.” Anything else will be deemed as a failure, pure and simple.

Yes, the competition is fierce and, frankly, any number of teams could, if things go well, beat the United States. Spain is a force. Russia is a force. Lithuania is a force. Argentina, if Manu Ginobili plays, is a force. Greece is a force. All of those teams but Russia have beaten a US team within the last four years. That’s a US team with NBA players.

But the United States isn’t planning on losing to anyone. It has prepared for this Olympiad unlike any other. The process started three years ago, when Jerry Colangelo was put in charge of developing an Olympic program. In years before, going back to 1992, when NBA players became eligible, USA Basketball, the nation’s governing body, would select a team, have it train for a few weeks and, due mainly to talent alone, would win the gold and not lose any games in the process.

That proved to be the case in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney. But the gold medal in Sydney in 2000 would be the last for the Yanks in major international competition. There was a humiliating sixth-place finish at the 2002 World Championships, the equally humiliating third-place finish in Athens and then, in 2006, a sobering bronze medal at the Worlds in Japan.

The company line now is that the Japan experience, where the US was beaten by Greece (which had no NBA players) in the semifinals, was a blessing in disguise. It forced the US to qualify in 2007 and while that was a foregone conclusion, it enabled Colangelo and his hand-picked coach, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, to have another summer with the team.

And, the thinking went, with the same team involved over a three-year period with the same coach, the United States would finally be on the same footing with other international teams whose players played together for years. That was the thinking, anyway.

But of The Dandy Dozen who will suit up in Beijing, only six were on the team that went to Japan. All of them, however, save Carlos Boozer, were on the US qualifying team in 2007, but that tournament was hardly a test for the United States. Beijing will be different.

On talent alone, no one can touch the United States’ roster. It has Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd. It’s a star-studded troupe. But stars don’t always shine in these things.

If you’re looking for potential trouble spots, and you know that the other countries are doing just that, you can start in the middle. Dwight Howard is the Yanks’ only true center. What happens if he gets into foul trouble? Given Tim Duncan’s unfortunate experiences in Athens, it seems clear that FIBA referees do not allow the big guys to play the way NBA referees do. Duncan was so incensed by some of the calls that he flat out refused an invitation to play in 2008.

You might ask why, with Bryant and James on the roster, the US felt compelled to have three point guards in Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams, when the only real big man to back up Howard is Chris Bosh, who is a forward. Boozer, who was on the 2004 team, is the only other alternative. The US did have Tyson Chandler on board until he was hurt.

Colangelo has stated many times that the US does need big men. Couldn’t the Yanks have done without Paul or Williams and added someone a little taller? Kevin Garnett comes to mind immediately, but he declined an invitation. But what about someone like Marcus Camby, Emeka Okafor (who was on the 2004 team) or even a young player like LaMarcus Aldridge?

But to be worried about a backup center position indicates just how strong this team is at the other four positions. It has added outside shooting in the persons of Bryant and Michael Redd. That was a big missing ingredient in Athens. Aside from Howard, who can be downright brutal at the line, the US has much better free-throw shooters. That, too, was a problem in Athens, as the US shot a woeful 67 percent from the line.

The US team also had trouble defending the more experienced national teams, whose players had been together for years and who, for the most part, see playing for the Motherland as the ultimate honor. If that were true in the United States, Garnett and Duncan would be on board. But it simply isn’t for many NBA players.

To borrow an oft-used phrase of Larry Brown’s, the non-US teams also seem to play the right way. They pass. They set screens. They help on defense. You can watch a series of non-US games at any Olympics or World Championships and never see a dunk. The US is gradually coming around to recognizing that – at both ends. And, let’s not forget, the non-US teams also are more accustomed to international rules. It’s always strange to see someone swat the ball off the rim in a game. The NBA impulse is to yell “goaltending” and NBA players’ built-in tendencies are to not swat the ball for that very reason. They’re coming around on that, too, but it’s an adjustment after playing under one set of rules for your entire life.

But aside from its talent, the biggest advantage the United States might have is its determination to right the international ship. Krzyzewski has gone overboard in praising opponents, reminding one and all that the US cannot take anyone lightly. It’s hard to envision how that message has not gotten through to the players. There may be a breather in the first round – Angola comes to mind - but after that, it’s going to be cutthroat competition the rest of the way. There can be no surprises any more.

That said, the US was cut down by Greece in 2006 because of an inability to stop a high pick-and-roll for about a six-minute stretch. That was the only loss of the tournament for the Yanks but, in this kind of draw, if you have to lose, it’s as important when you lose.

With the quirky Olympic format, one bad day could doom the Yanks, as it did for Spain in 2004, when Pau Gasol and friends went through the first round undefeated and then lost to the US in the first round of medal play. That would be the only loss for Spain in Athens – the Spanish had the best record of any team - yet they ended up finishing seventh. The US team which lost thrice, got a bronze. Italy, which lost thrice, got the silver. Argentina, which lost twice, got the gold. Go figure.

This United States team, however, has had its eyes set on Beijing gold for three years. Unlike most countries, the United States values the Olympic experience over the World Championships, where the field is bigger and better. The setback in Japan hurt, but it would be a major wound if something similar happened in Beijing. That, clearly, is not a part of plan.

In his first five years on the job as the man in charge of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge made so many trips to Europe he could have arranged for dual citizenship in any number of countries.

This year, he didn’t go at all.

It’s not that the Celtics didn’t scout international players; Ainge is a big fan of the Knicks’ draftee, Danilo Gallinari, having seen him in the flesh many times as well as on tape. But in Ainge’s opinion, the just-concluded NBA draft wasn’t exactly overflowing with jaw-dropping international talent.

“I think it’s deep not with star-type players, but with a lot of role players,’’ he said. “And I think a lot of them will make the league.”

And a lot of them will probably stay exactly where they are.

It may be simplistic to suggest that the bloom is off the international rose, but a number of happenings, including the just-concluded NBA Finals, have managed to at least put a hold on the NBA’s fascination with all things international. Or, we should add, with the NBA teams’ fascination. David Stern can still tell you how many daily hits nba.com gets from the most remote stretches of Slovenia.

The NBA and basketball observers everywhere have been consumed by the international game for awhile, but things really got serious after Argentina took apart the United States at the 2002 World Championships. Since then, US teams of NBA stars have been beaten in major international competitions by Spain, Yugoslavia, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Argentina (again) and Greece.

But with few exceptions (Manu Ginobili, Pau Gasol pre-2008 Finals) those teams did not possess NBA “star-type” players (to quote Ainge) and won mainly because of their teamwork. They were the epitome of the tired but true cliché: the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. They knew each other and played like it. Lithuania did have an unquestioned European star in Sarunas Jasikevicius, but he bombed big-time when tried to make the jump across the pond.

Greece didn’t even have an NBA player on its team, unless you count Vassilis Spanoulis, who sat on the Houston bench for a year, was traded to San Antonio, and then went back to Europe. He may be one of the few players in NBA history to buy his way out of his contract. Usually, it’s the team that does that.

Gallinari was the sixth pick in the draft and the only international player in the top 19. (Somewhere, Dick Vitale and Lou Dobbs are smiling.) Among the other first-rounders taken, virtually all of them had a biographical attachment saying “expected to remain in Europe for more seasoning.”

If Gallinari becomes one of those “star-type” players, he will be the first international All-Star out of the NBA draft in six years. That was the year that Yao Ming went No. 1 overall and he has proven to be well worth the time, money and energy the Rockets expended to get him to the United States.

By that time, players like Dirk Nowitzki (9th overall in 1998) and Gasol (3rd overall in 2001) had proven to be “star-type” players; Gasol was the Rookie of the Year in 2002 and Nowitzki won the league’s MVP in 2007. Ginobili would prove to be a key part of the 2003 NBA champion Spurs a year later.

But a more revealing pick in 2002 came just four spots after Yao. With players like Caron Butler and Amare Stoudemire on the board, the Denver Nuggets selected Nikoloz Tskitishvili. He was reputed to be the next Gasol. Oh well.

Then came the classic goof made by the otherwise astute Joe Dumars, who took Darko Milicic in 2003 over the likes of Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony and Dwayne Wade. Yes, the Pistons won the NBA title that year without much from young Darko, but you get the feeling they might have won another (or two) had Dumars taken any of the other three fellows that fateful June night?

You also get the feeling the Orlando Magic might be further along had they not completely blown the 2005 draft by using a lottery pick on Fran Vazquez, who has yet to play a single NBA minute and quite possibly never will?

Out of all the Europeans drafted since 2003 – and almost 30 of them were first rounders from 2003-2007 – there have been only a few who have had any discernable impact in the league. And that includes the No. 1 overall pick in 2006, Italian Andrea Bargnani. The best thing the Raptors can say about him now is that with the addition of Jermaine O’Neal, Bargnani can go back to the bench. He may eventually become worthy of his draft selection, but, to date, he hasn’t. And the Bucks had one year to look at Yi Jianlian, the No. 6 pick in 2007, and traded him. Eventually, he, too, might become a star.

What do we make of all this? First, the NBA may have exhausted the immediate talent overseas and needs to wait for another cycle. Second, it’s no longer a stigma for some of these players to not  play in the NBA. Jasikevicius is happy where he is. Vazquez, presumably, is as well, along with Spanoulis, who was so homesick in Houston even with his mother living with him. Tiago Splitter is likely to remain in Spain where he can be paid more than what the Spurs can offer him. And in Euros.

But here’s another possibility, which we saw first-hand in the NBA Finals. Most of these international players don’t play defense. (Andrei Kirilenko being the notable exception). That doesn’t necessarily constitute news, or a dirty little secret, but it was painfully obvious to anyone who paid more than casual attention to the NBA Finals.

One of the enduring snapshots from that series was when Ray Allen, who had played the entire game, blew by a bewildered Sasha Vujacic for an uncontested layup in the final minute to seal the remarkable come-from-behind win for the Celtics. Vujacic could be seen holding his hands up as if to say, ‘what happened?’ Similarly, Vladimir Radmanovic was a total cipher and couldn’t stay near Paul Pierce while Gasol appeared overwhelmed most of the series, a performance that undoubtedly drew a lot of chuckles in Memphis.

In the balloting for the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award, Kirilenko was the only international player to get a vote. He got one. When the coaches picked their 2008 All-Defensive team, 36 players got votes. Three – Kirilenko, Ginobili and Andres Nocioni – got votes and none was close to making either of the two teams.

Defense was behind the success of the Spurs over the years. (And no, Tony Parker can’t guard his shadow, but he has been drilled relentlessly by Gregg Popovich into how to play a team concept.) This year’s Celtics’ team, which had no international players, won with its defense. But how many Kevin Garnetts are out there, even in the United States?

NBA executives will still spend and scout extensively overseas for, as we’ve seen in ever NBA draft, it’s a good futures pool. They’re not going to suddenly turn into hoop xenophobes and, as noted, the jury is still out on players like Bargnani and Yi.

But how many more teams need to win a title, like this year’s Celtics, before teams start talking about defense the way they do about offense? No one is talking about Gallinari’s defense - and his new coach in New York isn’t exactly known for it either. And to top it off, the poor kid got booed when he was announced to the New York fans attending the 2008 NBA draft at Madison Square Garden.

What else could he expect from the team that drafted Frederic Weis?