Bird & Pitino, etc.

[Brian C Lee <leexx179@gold.tc.umn.edu> (Brian Lee)]

Coming out of my usual lurking mode...

After observing the comments made as of late regarding the woes of the C's
and the whole Bird/Pitino situation, just wanted to throw in my $.02 worth...  

Regardless of whether Gaston keeps the team or not, the C's _need_ to have a
stable and decisive management team.  When Red ran the team, it was a given
that the decisions made were his alone.  It is imperative that the C's
return to this type of management whether it be Bird, Pitino, a combo of the
two, or someone else yet to be named.  Too many cooks spoil the broth.  IMHO
running a successful basketball team is not necessarily a democratic
endeavor -- given that the chief decision maker understands basketball.

I live in Minneapolis and have watched what McHale has done with the Wolves
in just a little over 2 years.  And Kevin deserves all the accolades he is
receiving for revamping the team.  However, the one factor that rarely  is
brought up is that the turnaround also coincides with the change in
ownership of the team as well.  The team was sold to Glen Taylor, and his
first decision was to fire Jack McClosky and let McHale have the reins.
Taylor keeps his nose out of Kevin's decision process, and his ego allows
him to completely trust Kevin's  judgment.  There is NO doubt in Minnesota
who calls the shots for the Wolves.  Obviously many people don't get that
feeling about the Celts, especially from Bird's comments as of late.

Seems like to me that if a similar decision is not made in Boston, the team
will be doomed to fail (meaning mediocrity at best a.k.a. failure in the
eyes of the C's fans).  So many times a team's success comes from the top
down, and the C's have been lacking in that area since the days of Dave
Gavitt.  

As for Bird's merits as a GM, who is to say?  History has proven that being
a great player doesn't always translate to being a great executive or coach.
However, IMHO the Celts have few options for finding a proven, quality GM
who would want the job at this time.  The team is bad and have a long
rebuilding process ahead, and Gaston looms as a major fly in the ointment.
Whoever takes the job will assume an awful amount of risk -- even more than
for other jobs in the NBA.  The C's have their tradition to uphold,
something many franchises do not have to be concerned with.  At least in
Larry, you know the effort will be there and his dedication would be
unmatched.  The unknown is Larry's ability to evaluate talent, and piece
together components into a competitive team.  Larry may be the only person
with enough clout to make the changes needed, and even Thanksdad can't be
blind to what the public relations nightmare could be if he let Larry go
elsewhere.  No amount of towel waving by ML could repair that blunder.

Pitino is a fine coach, and again no one can say for certain how his second
go round in the NBA would turn out.  I think he is an excellent college
coach, and made the most of what he had with the Knicks.  I would be happy
to see Pitino as coach (I've been hoping for 2 years now) but I don't think
he's the linchpin in the winning equation.  I do think that Pitino has
interest in the C's job, but is waiting for the axe to fall on ML before
stating so.  If Larry gets in as GM, its a good bet that he'll do what's
needed to get Pitino.

As for other choices I think that DJ is a preferable choice to Larry Brown,
and I would also see if former Celts like Ainge or Cowens would have any
interest (can't hurt to ask, although its doubtful either would or could).
Westphal would also be a good choice I think.

Bottom line is that the C's need to get their house in order before they
begin trotting in prospective coaches.  
Thanks for tolerating my $.02, going back into lurking mode :)

Brian
C's fan in Minneapolis
- -------------------------
Wish of the day...
Bird/Pitino/Duncan coming to an NBA arena near you in Fall of 97.