What do we think of this?

[JOzersky@aol.com]

GETTING INSIDE
Rick Pitino would love to live in Boston. He is very interested in the
challenge of coaching the Celtics and 
winning an NBA championship.
But the advice of those closer to the situation has convinced him that now is
not the time to make the 
move. The Kentucky coach stated also that the front office problems may also
cost the Celtics the services of 
Larry Bird.
"Too much has been made of a casual conversation," Pitino said about the
Celtic inquiry from Bird.
But that talk left him wary of leaving a situation in Kentucky that he finds
perfect -- from a basketball 
standpoint.
"I really have it great at Kentucky," he said. "I just look at what I'd be
going into up there and ask myself 
why I would do that in a million years. There are too many people who have an
agenda there. That makes it 
almost impossible to win.
"If things were different, then I'd have to look at it in a different light.
But it's not going to change. I can't 
see it. No one knows outside of (owner Paul) Gaston who makes the decisions.
Larry talked to me about the 
organization and he said that things were just intolerable to him. He said he
didn't know what his role 
would be but that if things didn't change he would not be a part of it."
Pitino said Bird made no offer when the two spoke Wednesday, adding, "He's
not in a position to do that. 
He's in a position to find out who's interested in coaching the team and
who's not interested. Right now 
I'm not interested."
That he would back away from an opportunity with the Celtics -- that he would
be forced to by the 
circumstances -- is difficult for Pitino, who has said often that he and his
wife Joanne consider the Boston-
Providence area to be home. In addition, the couple has a son attending
Milton Academy.
"The only reason I can see to come there right now would be personal
happiness," Pitino said. "There are a 
lot of personal reasons why I could be interested in coaching the Celtics,
but basketball is my life. Outside of 
my family, it's what I live for.
"For me, there's just too big a risk in that situation. And it's not that I'm
worried about losing or rebuilding. 
I have no problem taking a challenge. But in order to be successful in
basketball or in business, you have to 
have a management structure that works. From the owner to the trainer,
everyone has to be committed to 
the same thing. I don't get that feeling at all when I think about Boston."
And lest you think Pitino is merely taking an outsider's perspective of the
Celtic position and drawing too 
much inference from the team's second worst in the NBA record, he admitted he
has investigated the club's 
situation with several involved sources, "and no one had a lot of good things
to say about what was going 
on there."
It was also clear that Pitino did not appreciate the call from M.L. Carr in
the summer of 1995 in which the 
Celtic director of basketball operations, then in the search for Chris Ford's
replacement, said, "You're not 
interested, right."
Pitino traces the Celtic troubles on the court to larger issues.
"I know they've had a lot of injuries and there's a lack of talent in some
areas, but there's a lack of 
organization, too. Whether you like Pat Riley or not, you have to be
impressed with what he's done in 
Miami. You know exactly who's in charge and what is trying to be accomplished
there. He's surrounded 
himself with some great people and together they've moved that team forward.
"I think I have that at Kentucky. If I was in another program, I'd probably
be able to look past some of the 
things in Boston and just be very excited with leading the Boston Celtics
back to prominence. When you're 
24-to-34, blind ambition makes you go to the Knicks. But now I'm 44 and I
have to take a much closer look 
at things. There are a lot of things that make Boston very interesting to me,
but there's nothing here at 
Kentucky that I'm trying to get away from, so what I'm going to would have to
be right.
"I've really got a great situation at Kentucky," Pitino said. "We've got
everything in place, from the athletic 
director on down, and we're built to be successful year after year. I like
the area a lot. It's not Boston, but I can 
always get on a plane and fly to New England -- and I do that often."
Unfortunately for Celtic fans who wish to see him coaching their team, it
appears Pitino will continue to fly 
into Logan Airport in the midst of a round-trip ticket.
NOTES, QUOTES, ANECDOTES