Former Celtics captain trying to earn his stripes

["Belanger,Roger" <rbelange@foxboro.com>]

For those of you starving for "C's" news:

Roger B.

Former Celtics captain trying to earn his stripes

Associated Press, 07/09/97 05:57 



WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) - Rick Fox is gone, meaning the Boston Celtics are
looking for a captain again. 

M.L. Carr is gone, meaning Dee Brown is interested in the job. 

Brown, who was stripped of his captaincy by Carr last year, would like
to resume his leadership role, now that Rick Pitino has taken over the
team. 

``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.'' 

The Celtics have had a captain since Bob Cousy first held the title in
1950. From him, the honor has passed to all-time greats Bill Russell,
John Havlicek, Dave Cowens and Larry Bird. 

But the title - like the franchise itself - has fallen on hard times
lately, bouncing around among five different players in the past five
seasons, from Reggie Lewis to Robert Parish to Dominique Wilkins to
Brown to Fox. 

Now that the team has renounced its rights to Fox, a free agent, the
position is vacant again. And Brown is interested. 

``I know I could be a leader on this team,'' he said. 

Pitino did not make himself available to reporters after Tuesday's
practice to comment on the captain's position. 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.'' 

Brown always has 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.''