Former Celtics captain trying to earn his stripes

[Phe Meas <pmeas@user1.channel1.com>]

                  Former Celtics captain trying to earn his
                  stripes

                  Associated Press, 07/08/97 19:05

                  WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) - Being the captain of the Boston
Celtics isn't the
                  same honor it used to be.

                  In the early years, the names were Bob Cousy, Bill
Russell, John Havlicek,
                  Dave Cowens and Larry Bird. But the title has bounced
around among five
                  different players in the past five seasons, from
Reggie Lewis to Robert Parish
                  to Dominique Wilkins to Dee Brown to Rick Fox.

                  And next season, it could go back to Brown again.

                  The busted captain could be returned to his former
leadership role now that
                  Fox is gone. And M.L. Carr, who feuded with Brown and
stripped him of his
                  title after he asked to be traded, has been replaced
by $50-million man and
                  Brown fan Rick Pitino.

                  ``It's like in the military: All of the sudden, a guy
comes up and rips my stripes
                  off,'' Brown said this week after practicing with the
team's rookies and
                  prospective free agents.

                  ``I would love to be captain again. If it doesn't
happen, I will still be a leader on
                  this team. If it's the `C' on my chest, I would love
to have it.''

                  Pitino did not make himself available to reporters
after Tuesday's practice to
                  comment on the captain's position, which was vacated
Monday when the team
                  renounced its rights to Fox and eight others to clear
salary cap space for
                  center Travis Knight.

                  But since taking over the Celtics, Pitino has praised
Brown's talents and
                  offered an amnesty for the bickering that led Brown to
ask for a trade.

                  ``I'm very, very excited about Dee Brown,'' the former
Kentucky coach said.
                  ``I think you're going to see a wiser person who has
learned from his failings
                  and mistakes and is going to be as good as ever.''

                  That used to be pretty good.

                  The Celtics' first-round pick in the 1990 draft, Brown
first made his name by
                  winning the slam dunk contest at the '91 All-Star
game. He averaged 16 points
                  in '93-94 and '94-95, but his scoring dropped to 11
points in Carr's first season
                  as coach and eight points last season, when he played
in just 21 games
                  because of injuries.

                  ``I wish I had those two years back,'' Brown said.
``The light at the end of the
                  tunnel wasn't there. It was dark. When you've been in
the league eight or nine
                  years, you feel like now's the time to be shooting for
that ring.''

                  Still, he doesn't blame Carr for his problems.

                  ``It wasn't me versus M.L. I think it was more me
versus myself,'' Brown said.
                  ``I just didn't get myself ready for those
situations.''

                  With Pitino, he vows not to make the same mistakes.
Brown has been working
                  out twice a day, six days a week this summer. The
Celtics' strength and
                  conditioning coach visits once a week to check on his
progress.

                  In the past, Brown has come to training camp purposely
overweight in order to
                  be bulked up for the long NBA season. But Pitino is
hoping that a slimmer
                  Brown will be quicker and more elusive.

                  Asked what his ideal weight is, Brown said, ``Coach
Pitino wants me at 185.
                  I'll be at 185.''

                  Even at his most unhappy, when the Celtics were a
laughingstock of the
                  league and the players were seen joking around with
fans during games,
                  Brown always said he would like to be a part of the
Celtics' future. But only if
                  that future included winning.

                  Now that Pitino is running things, it doesn't seem so
bleak.

                  ``I never thought I would be at the point where we
would be losing games that
                  way,'' he said. ``We've been rebuilding since Reggie
passed away (in 1993). It
                  doesn't take that long to rebuild a team. We've been
putting a tape job on
                  something that needs to be torn down.''