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Re: Budy Thomas: Celtics Reflect Stench Of Pitino System
When I see articles like this, I just hit the "next"
button. I have absolutely no respect for this kind of
swaggering horseshit.
--- Way Of The Ray wrote:
>
> 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.
>
>
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