Tempered Optimism

[Adam Suchocki <Twilight@world.std.com>]

Although I still have a lot of hope that Pitino's intensity and work 
ethic will translate into a strong team and a lot of wins in the next 
couple of years, I'm starting to have second thoughts about the idea of 
making him in charge of all personel moves as well.  Although he hasn't 
screwed up majorly, he is already showing signs of possible big trouble 
on the horizon (Note I said possible, until he actually does serious 
harm or good, I'll remain cautiously hopefull).

The following moves as GM have been very troubling:

1.  The whol Dino Radja incident.  Trading him is not a bad thing if you 
are looking at improving the team over the next several years at the 
expense of the present (which most agree the Celtics need to do) - but 
mishandling Dino, creating a confrontational situation in Philly that 
may have resulted in them trying to screw us back, and making unfounded 
statements about Dino's health only to back off at the last minute 
because his lawyers tell him he has no chance of winning hurt the team. 
 They killed any trade value Dino might have, and probably destroyed any 
value he might have to the franchise as a player.  If Dino and the team 
make up, or Dino goes back to Europe, things are saved.  But this has 
potential to result in the team being worse off than they were before 
Pitino started with the trade.  Better management skills in dealing with 
players would have helped a lot.

2.  David Wesley is gone and we got nothing.  Pitino stressed repeatedly 
that money was the reason we weren't aggressively persuing him, and he 
suggested at numbers on the order of 3+ million a year being a stumbling 
block.  Instead Wesley signed with a team for 1.75 this year.  The 
smarter move would have been to sign Wesley at that price and then trade 
him to a team of his choice after Billups learned enough to start, or 
after Billups won the job at rookie camp or pre-season (if Billups is 
that good).  Wesley said he signed so quickly and for less than expected 
because he felt unwanted in Boston (because Pitino wouldn't talk about 
him straight in public or private) and because he wanted to make sure he 
played where he was wanted for a good salary without risking it all by 
holding out for a big salary.  Wesley has been the hardest worker and 
the most complete player on the Celtics for the last two years.  With 
better player management skills the Celtics could have either had him 
for a good price, or gotten something in return.  It may have failed, 
and Wesley may have signed with Charlotte anyway (but for more money 
becuae Boston was competing) - but taking the time to deal with Wesley 
before the free agent period (and at least talk to him about options) 
would have been worth a try (and Wesley made it clear that Pitino pretty 
much ignored him even though he has been in Boston all summer playing in 
a pro-am league and working out).

3.  The Scottie Pippen deal would have ruined any chance of getting a 
title in the next 5 years.  Depending on who's account you believe, 2 or 
3 first round picks plus Williams and maybe Walker would have been 
dealt.  Even half of that package hurts the team too much, and at best 
we would have won a round or two in the playoffs over the next two or 
three years, and then been worse than ever.

Again, I haven't given up on Pitino, but although I like what he does as 
a coach, as a GM he is starting to scare me.  He has shown a tendency to 
mislead or ignore players who aren't "his" choice.  Other than players 
he either coached or recruited (Walker, Mercer, Billups, Conlon), there 
seems to be communication problems in terms of contract negotiations and 
discussion of the future.  It may just be that Pitino only wants "his" 
players so he can be in control of the entire rebuilding process.  This 
is not neccissarily a bad thing, but we should get the maximum for the 
players we are moving.  So far we have gotten less than optimal 
exchanges for Wesley (and potentially Radja).  I hope the Rick Fox 
situation is handled better.

On the bright side, Pitino's intensity does appear to be rubbing off on 
the players.  I saw Greg Minor at the mall yesterday and he was buying a 
ton of cleaning supplies and household goods (three shopping carts 
full).  It looks like he finally is commited to working out with the 
team all summer long.  I do believe that Pitino's blend of hard work and 
intensity will produce better developed players than ML's system, but 
I'm a little worried that Pitino's management style may lessen 
(slightly) the talent base he has to work with.

Adam