Ainge's masterful moves reason for banner No. 17

A roster packed with household names doesn’t always come out on top. The Celtics just happened to take care of business last night; it was by no means a certainty.

In 2003 – after L.A. had just lost to San Antonio in the conference semifinals – Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak assembled his version of the Dream Team, or Big Four, if you will. Kupchak acquired future Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join superstars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. They were said to be unstoppable. A fourth title in five years was supposedly inevitable.

But when the Lakeshow realized that there was only one ball on the court, and not enough individual touches for their quartet of prima donnas, things began to go downhill. Phil Jackson’s crew lost to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals that year in five games. To call it a disappointment would be a vast understatement.

Five years later Celtics GM Danny Ainge took a page out of Kupchak’s playbook, only hoping that his results would be a little more positive than those of his yellow counterpart.

So after posting an abysmal 24-58 record a season ago, Ainge decided it was time to play ball and attempt to feed a championship to Celtics fans, something they had been craving for 22 long years.

But Ainge and Co. were stunned last season after obtaining the fifth pick in the draft, erasing the hopes of landing either Ohio State's Greg Oden or Texas's Kevin Durant, both of whom easily could have helped Paul Pierce turn the team around. The Green was doomed.

Or so we thought.

Then Ainge called his buddy Kevin McHale (just like Kupchak called former Lakers legend Jerry West to acquire Pau Gasol from Memphis this season – funny how that happened, isn’t it?) in the Twin Cities. Five players and two draft picks later, 10-time All-Star Kevin Garnett was donned in green and white.

Ainge had already nabbed sharpshooter Ray Allen in a multi-player deal with Seattle that left Boston fans scratching their heads for answers. Until of course the Big Ticket came along. Then it all began to make sense.

Your average fan may have thought that the trio of Garnett, Allen, and Pierce was enough. But Ainge knew otherwise. The offseason signings of James Posey and Eddie House coupled with the midseason acquisitions of P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell proved to be the difference in getting Boston over the hump, ultimately concluding in the raising of banner No. 17 last evening.

Everyone will remember The Big Three. But do not forget about the four I just mentioned. For without them, this storybook season may not have had such a happy ending.

So Ainge did what Kupchak could not in ’03-‘04. He assembled a team containing multiple (more than two) superstars, surrounded them with just the right role players, and won the NBA Title. But how did they do it, exactly?

What made this Celtics team different than the Lakers of five years ago was their unselfishness. The Big Three became one and each had no problem making the extra pass, giving up a shot of his own. The role players accepted their duties and youngsters Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins flourished around the spotlight of the Amigos.

Yes, those individuals had great seasons. But the real reason this team finished on top was because of exactly that, its ability to play team basketball.

Garnett got them fired up with a plethora of screaming and high-fiving, unlike Kobe whose bitching and moaning at teammates and referees (much like his coach Phil Jackson) alike were evident throughout the entire series. Allen led by example. And Pierce taught them all what it meant to wear Celtic Green.

Ask Doc Rivers, and he’ll tell you that this team won 80 games because of two things: Unselfish ball movement and extraordinary team defense.

Garnett was truly the only exceptional defensive player on this championship roster. But Doc taught them how to hedge, recover, and rotate to perfection. Together.

Phil Jackson did not.

The Boston players bought into the system and the Celtics soon became the best defensive team in the land, en route to last night’s culmination.

Rondo learned what it takes to succeed as an NBA point guard. The Celtics were at their best offensively with him calling signals and the ball being shared quickly across the parquet.

Rivers outcoached Jackson, Pierce outplayed Bryant, and the Boston bench beat that of L.A.

Now, Doc and the Big Three will all be showing off their bling shortly, each for the first time. But it wasn’t because they were hungrier than Phil, Kobe, and the rest of the LaLa Land whiners. It was simply because they were the better team.