O'Brien OK with trade

So, instead of a lengthy practice, O'Brien talked at length about the deal, the long- and short-term future of the team and the obvious obstacles ahead. O'Brien met separately with the three new Celtics yesterday, then talked to the team as a whole. He emphasized the importance of character and respect. He reminded his players that they enter tonight's contest against Dallas just a half-game out of first place in the Atlantic Division. O'Brien expects Davis, Mihm, and Stewart will be available to face the Mavericks.

Asked specifically about how he would approach Davis, who has a reputation for being selfish, O'Brien said, "To me, one of the reasons why we have succeeded here is because of the respect the players have for one another. They are people of high character. I addressed the team in front of Ricky, Chris, and Michael. I just wanted to mention to the three guys that are joining us that eight days ago we were 7-12. There wasn't any finger-pointing. There wasn't anybody bad-mouthing anybody else. There wasn't any lack of confidence. There's a group of players that decided they were going to outwork their opponents and flat-out win. That's who we are. And I believe to be a part of a group like that is a privilege. So, I think that's a pretty clear message to send the new people. That's our standard."

O'Brien looked and sounded much more comfortable with the trade last night than he did before Boston played Minnesota Monday. From initial discussions to completion, the deal was essentially done over the weekend. O'Brien was advised by director of basketball operations Danny Ainge about the possibility of a trade Saturday night. The coach learned it was a fait accompli at shootaround Monday morning. The quick progression of the deal combined with the players involved left O'Brien appearing stunned and hurt Monday. But yesterday, the coach went out of his way to comment that he had no problem with how Ainge proceeded.

"I think we are really on the same page from the standpoint of [the kind of] team that he would like to lead as a director of basketball operations and I would like to coach, what that looks like," said O'Brien. "We had hours upon hours of discussions about this. Every trade that he's made has reflected those thoughts.

"He has asked me a number of times, `Do you want every detail of what I do? Every trade talk?' I said, `Absolutely, not. I do not.' Nowhere in his job description does it say he has to get my OK on anything. Nor does my job description say that I have to check with him as far as who I play or what I run. What we do is consult one another at a pretty significant level."

O'Brien noted that part of his reaction was prompted by his close relationship to the players Boston dealt. It was no secret O'Brien had the utmost respect for Williams and counted on the defensive-minded forward to supply leadership and toughness, to instill a strong work ethic and a willingness to play through pain. O'Brien noted that it would be cold not to become emotional with their departure. But while hearing about the trade may not have been easy, O'Brien believes the changes are best for Boston long term.

"Once you get in the fray and you're with guys every day and you're fighting your butts off and you challenge a group of guys that are 7-12 and you see them respond at a level that is wonderful," said O'Brien. "You see how happy they are with themselves and you see the effort and guys playing hurt. Then, all of a sudden, when three guys are leaving you, you'd be the coldest guy in the world not to think, `Gee, this hurts. It hurts them. It hurts us.' It's painful.

"But Danny's job thankfully is to be objective, is to [help the team] grow toward a championship. I think now that I get away from it for a day, away from being in practice yesterday morning with these guys, I really think it's a significant upgrade for our basketball team. Will we have to go back in some respects to build and have a mini-training camp and acclimate? Absolutely. Will I concede that it might cost us games? No. So, that's the way I deal with it. Our job is to win and I cannot walk in front of my basketball team with any other attitude than we're going to win this next game."

O'Brien stopped well short of saying the Celtics are in a rebuilding process. He believes Boston will be a very competitive, difficult-to-guard team in the not-so-distant future. In order for Boston to compete year-in and year-out for an Eastern Conference championship, he knew there needed to be "drastic changes." O'Brien added that there probably needs to be more changes.

The coach said he was excited about the potential of the new group of players, though exhausted from trying to build chemistry with another team since the start of the season. Still, O'Brien looks forward to the "challenge" ahead of him.

"I'd call it a building project," said O'Brien. "When [Ainge] came in, he said, `We need to be more athletic. We need more scorers. We need more guys who know how to play basketball.' He was very straightforward. He said, `I'm going to change things around.' I welcomed the change. I had no idea that as we made these changes that there might be a day like [Monday], where it was painful to a certain extent. But that shouldn't stop him from doing his job and being objective -- I think he made the right decision."