Re: Former Celtics captain trying to earn his stripes

["JLyell" <jlyell@concentric.net>]

Could Rick be pumping Dee up simply to raise his stock and move him to say
Phoenix or Jersey ?

- ----------
> From: Belanger,Roger <rbelange@foxboro.com>
> To: 'Boston Celtics' <celtics@igtc.COM>
> Subject: Former Celtics captain trying to earn his stripes
> Date: Wednesday, July 09, 1997 6:01 AM
> 
> 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.''