When Danny Ainge and coach Jim O'Brien met the media after O'Brien was given a three-year contract extension last month, the Celtics' new general manager could not have been more blunt.

"We need to get better," Ainge said. "How specific is that?"

Ainge, appointed to his new post on the afternoon of the third game of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against New Jersey, was careful to praise O'Brien and the current cast, but also direct when he said the Celtics he watched as a TNT television commentator did not compare to the powerhouses of the West.

"I think we need to find ways to score easier," Ainge said. "We need to get easier baskets, more often, and there's a lot of different ways to do that. Better shooters, better playmakers, a better inside game, more fastbreak opportunities, offensive rebounding opportunities. We need to get easier baskets if we're going to take our team to a next level."

He said O'Brien had "overachieved" with the players available.

At the NBA draft Thursday night in New York, Ainge will get his first test. With two first-round picks, he's on the spot to reverse a pretty dismal run of Celtics drafts.