Boston Herald
Pitino makes his point
by Steve Bulpett
Tuesday, April 6, 1999
ORLANDO - Kenny Anderson
apparently didn't take well to
his removal from Sunday's loss to
New Jersey, so Celtics coach Rick
Pitino removed him from the
traveling party for last night's
game against the Magic.
According to sources, Anderson
complained about personal issues
and his matchup with Nets point
guard Stephon Marbury as he went
to the sideline, breaking a rule
Pitino had to put in place
because too many Celts were
arguing about individual matters.
``You can call it a suspension or
whatever you want,'' said Pitino,
who was unwilling to comment on
the specifics that led to the
punishment. ``But I decided he
shouldn't come here.
``Everything's fine, but it's
just personal reasons with me.
It's nothing major, but it's
something that bothered me and I
told him to stay home for a game.
It's just something that I'm
going to handle in-house. I'm not
going to tell you what it is. I'm
just going to tell you that it's
personal and he's going to stay
home for a game.''
While Pitino would not say
whether a fine is involved, he
seemed to indicate not when he
said, ``I think not playing the
game is bad enough.''
After the 106-99 loss to Orlando,
Pitino said he expected Anderson
to practice with the Celts today
and play tomorrow evening against
Washington. He said earlier,
``When I get back, it will be
forgotten if certain things are
met. And that's it. Then it's
over with.''
It is presumed ``certain things''
include an apology of some sort.
Refusing to elaborate on the
infraction, Pitino said, ``It's
just something that I told the
guys from a discipline standpoint
we can't have, and I wasn't going
to deal with it (Sunday) night.
So I just told him to take a day
off and think about things. I set
a precedent about a month ago
that this is what it's going to
be and don't break it. Enough is
enough. Everybody is treated like
a pro. And he just broke it. I
had certain rules that this is
the way we're going to act. What
he did is not serious by nature,
but if everybody gets away with
it, you've got some major
problems on this team.''
According to sources, Pitino
believed he had no choice when
Anderson complained about his
playing time (he went 31 minutes
against the Nets).
``He didn't do anything that
Antoine (Walker) hasn't done for
that matter, but I just told the
guys last time, `That's it and
it's not going to happen
anymore,' '' Pitino said.
``That's the extent of it.
Coaches must be professional to
players; players must be
professional to coaches. Winning
or losing doesn't matter, you're
a pro at every facet of your
life.
``There's just things that we
need to cure up as a young
basketball team. He's guilty of
it as well as other people on
this basketball team right now.
And in order for us to get to
next year where we live up to our
promises, things need to be dealt
with now. And it's not just
Kenny. It's quite a few people.
But if I don't stop certain types
of behavior now, it's going to
have negative effects on the team
for next season.
``I want to get away from stats
and All-Star teams. I want to get
into winning. I want the whole
common theme to be winning. I
don't want, if an individual
doesn't play well, he stops
playing and he deflates and he
doesn't have a good game. It's
all about, `What can I do to help
the team win?' The whole attitude
of the team has to be about
winning, not about stats. And I
think sometimes young people are
into stats, and this organization
has to be into winning. So, in
this isolated incident, it's
about winning for everybody.
``Kenny is no more guilty of it
than anybody else on this
basketball team, it's just that I
had to do something now.''
Pitino went out of his way
earlier to note this is not an
ongoing personal issue with
Anderson.
``Just to set the record straight
again - and I thought I explained
it last time - there's not one
person on this team I do not
like,'' Pitino said. ``I said
that to a reporter to show him
that he's not going to get out of
me that there's a problem that
should stay behind closed doors.
I was using an example, but
apparently people still don't get
it.
``It's the same thing here. It's
not Kenny Anderson. I happen to
like Kenny Anderson. It's just
that right now I decided to make
him stay home because of
something that happened.''