Ainge On Celtics Postseason, D'Angelo Russell Video, Coach K Controversy
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Celtics are entering the final stretch of their season and are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot. While reality dictates that they're not quite a championship-caliber team, Celtics president Danny Ainge is looking forward to the postseason experience his roster is about to gain and hopes the team can finish strong enough to get the No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
"Home court is an advantage," Ainge said Thursday on Toucher & Rich. "They call it home-court advantage for a reason; it certainly is an advantage. It's not an end-all be-all. I'd much rather have a hundred percent health and freshness than have the home court. But we're striving to win as many games as we can to get as good a seeding as we can, and we still have a tough schedule ahead of us, and it's going to be a challenge.
"I'm excited that we're going to have a postseason. We haven't secured that yet, but it looks like we're heading for the postseason. And that will be a great learning experience again for our players."
With all eyes turning to the Final Four this weekend, Jon Wallach asked a thinly veiled question about the hypothetical interest the Celtics may have in a hypothetical undersized scorer who in theory might be playing this weekend in Houston. (Think someone like a Buddy Hield.) Ainge laughed, and answered directly while remaining vague, so as not to violate any sort of rules about talking about any one player directly.
"If you are a really, really good college player, and you're a really, really good player when the chips are down, and you make a lot of shots at crucial times throughout your college career, you probably should be taken pretty high," Ainge said.
The other big story in basketball right now involves the bizarre story of Lakers rookie D'Angelo Russell secretly filming teammate Nick Young discussing his personal affairs. Young is engaged, and the story has really blown up into a giant distraction.
Ainge -- who is obviously a former NBA player and now runs a team -- was asked how long it would take for a player to earn back trust and respect from his teammates after such an incident.
"It would take a long time. I just don't understand the motive. That's just strange," Ainge said. "I know D'Angelo is young. I don't know the whole story. Anybody who records, videotapes private conversations and then leaks it out ... that's one thing to record it and have it as a joke and say, 'I'm holding this over you,' but then to actually leak it out, that's really bad. I don't know how you overcome that.
"I just know what's being reported, so I don't want to comment too much on it. But it's a troubling situation, he's a terrific young player, and I don't know the answer what they will do. My guess is that he's 19 or 20, he's a very young guy, and it's an awful mistake and he's owned up to it, and hopefully it can be overcome in time."
Ainge was then asked about the big story coming out of last weekend, when Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told Dillon Brooks not to show off after Brooks and Oregon beat the Blue Devils. Ainge said the controversy was really unwarranted.
"Well I sort of thought it was much to do about nothing. I think that Coach K was obviously frustrated after a tough loss. It is sort of an unwritten rule that you don't take that shot and then celebrate after it. I don't think that's a big deal, what Brooks did. I think that Coach [Dana] Altman might have appreciated Coach K saying that. Coach K has a lot of cachet amongst all college players," Ainge said. "It's like if somebody is telling your child some good counsel and good advice, and you had told them [that message] before. It's good to have somebody else tell him. I don't think Coach Altman should be offended in any way, shape or form. For Coach K, ideally it's probably not the right thing to do, but it's not a big deal. And I think that Coach K's covering it up -- if that's the term that you want to use, I don't know the circumstances behind that -- he was probably just protecting the kid. He didn't want to make it public. He just whispered in his ear. He wasn't trying to show him up."
If anything, Ainge thought Krzyzewski's message to Brooks was a positive thing.
"That's my take. I just think it's not a big deal," Ainge said. "Coach K is a great class act in college basketball and has been for years and years, and college kids look up to him. So if he can give them a word of advice, what the heck."
Ainge also discussed Tyronn Lue's struggle to gain respect as Cleveland's coach, the life of scouting college games, and a look back at the thought process going into the famed Brooklyn trade from a few years ago. Listen below!