Budy Thomas: Celtics Reflect Stench Of Pitino System

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

  New Bedford Standard Times
  4/8/99

  Something is rotten in Celts' system                  

           Buddy Thomas                          
          senior sports editor/columnist               
                                                       

                                                         
                                                           
  It's all falling apart.

  Like a two-year-old cheap suit, the Rick
                                                        
  Pitino era in Boston is beginning to unravel,
  exposing the naked truth about the Celtics.
  They stink.                                 
                                                          

  Not that any Celtics' fan expected a            
  quick return to the Glory Days when Pitino                
  assumed the coaching reins prior to the start of         
  the 1997-98 season. After all, the Celtics hadn't
  had a winning record since the 1992-93 season.            
  But the hiring of Pitino at least gave us hope    
  they were headed in the right direction.
  [Image] Last year, Pitino guided the Celtics to         
  36 wins in 82 games. That's still 5 games under   
  .500, but it was the most wins by a Celtics' team        
  in five seasons. And when Pitino drafted Paul
  Pierce out of Kansas hope continued to spring              
  eternal.
  But thanks to a string of questionable          
                                                            
  acquisitions and some recent in-fighting, the
  smooth ride back to respectability has hit a            
  series of potholes and, sadly, the Celtics under          
  Rick Pitino are looking very similar to the         
  Celtics under M.L. Carr.
  This is a team with no leader, no big
                                                            
  man, no point guard and no hope. Defensively,          
  they are as effective as a submarine with a            
  screened-in hatch and sinking just as fast. It's
  a team out of control — out of Pitino's control
  anyway — and one has to wonder how or even if he      
  can ever regain it.                                        
  The latest example is Kenny Anderson, the        
                                                         
  veteran point guard who was acquired in a                  
  seven-player deal with the Toronto Raptors during
  the 1997-98 season.                                  
  Getting a seven-year veteran to run the         
  show looked like a good deal at first glance. But
  who knew it would turn out to be a sideshow?             
  Didn't Pitino know Anderson was troubled        
  by injury? And didn't the coach question why             
  Anderson had been traded three times in the last        
  four seasons? Didn't Pitino even look into why            
  Anderson refused to report to Toronto after being          
  dealt to the Raptors prior to bringing him to
  Boston? And why would Pitino include a rookie
  (Chauncey Billups) he had labeled the Celtics'     
  point guard of the future in such a deal?
  If the coach didn't have any questions            
                                                        
  then, he certainly should have a few now.               
  It took Pitino less than half a condensed
                                                       
  season to realize Anderson is not the answer at    
  point guard. And after vocal outbursts with
  teammate Antoine Walker and Pitino himself,
  Anderson was told to stay home during Boston's      
  trip to Orlando earlier this week.
  Think Pitino is having second thoughts
  about that trade? Then again, he's probably
  having second thoughts about a lot of the moves
  he's made. Like the most recent one that sent
  hard-working, mildly-talented Andrew DeClercq and
  a provisional No. 1 pick to Cleveland for a
  hard-working wide-body named Vitaly Potapenko.
  There's nothing wrong with the latter if
  you're looking for a complement to a legitimate
  center. But those guys can be had for a lot less
  than a No. 1 draft pick. And has anybody noticed
  how well DeClercq is playing in another system?
  And what about cutting David Wesley
  loose? Remember him? He's probably the best point
  guard Pitino ever had in Boston. At least he's
  one of the few who was trained to think pass
  before shoot.
  This is Pitino's fourth year as an NBA
  coach (two with the Knicks and two with the
  Celtics). When it's over, he'll own his third
  losing record and second straight in Boston.
  Certainly it's going to take time to
  remold this team from pretender to contender, but
  patience has never been a Pitino virtue and for
  that reason Celtics' fans are starting to become
  impatient with him.
  Pitino is determined to find players who
  will buy into his system and, apparently, is
  willing to trade anyone to find them.
  Published reports had him dangling
  multi-talented Ron Mercer at the recent trading
  deadline, the same day he reportedly offered
  Bruce Bowen and Tony Battie to the Clippers for
  Rodney Rogers, an overweight 6-7 forward who
  probably runs harder to the dinner table than he
  does on the court.
  Hey, Rick, the Celtics stink but only
  because they reflect the stench of your system,
  which clearly doesn't work in the NBA.

  Buddy Thomas' column appears on Thursday
  in The Standard-Times.


         Copyright © 1999 The Standard-Times.All rights reserved.