Jim Donaldson: Pitino All Over The Map

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

        Providence Journal 

        8.5.99 00:02:14
        JIM DONALDSON
        Celts' new direction? This Pitino guy has been
        all over the map

SMITHFIELD -- Watching the promising Patriots on a
pleasant, sunny, summer afternoon, but thinking about
the Celtics and what promise to be long, cold, dismal,
winter nights ahead . . .

What do you think the always-cerebral, never-emotional,
profoundly-patient sports fans of New England would be
saying if the Patriots had had the third and sixth
picks overall in the draft two years ago and now, at
the beginning of training camp in 1999, neither one was
still on the team?

Nothing printable in a family newspaper, that's what
they'd be saying.

Yet Rick Pitino continues to be cut even more slack
locally than Hilary gives poor, psychologically-damaged
Bill.

The Pats get rid of Chris Canty, taken with the 29th
pick in the first round in the '97 NFL draft, and
everybody says how stupid they were to have taken him
in the first place.

Ricky bids bye-bye to two picks in the top six in just
two years and nobody says a word.

Yes, Canty was a bust. A mistake. A bad pick.

But, in '96, top pick Terry Glenn (7th overall) played
a critical role in the Patriots' surprising drive to
the AFC championship, setting an NFL rookie record for
receptions with 90. And, in '98, first-round choice
Robert Edwards (18th overall) stepped right in for
Curtis Martin and ran for 1,115 yards and 9 touchdowns.

Then we have the Celtics.

In '97, their vision apparently blurred by the tears in
their eyes following the disappointment of losing Tim
Duncan in the lottery, selected Chauncey Billups with
the third choice overall and Ron Mercer with the sixth.

Billups lasted just half a season before Pitino dumped
him and brought in Kenny Anderson. The Celts now would
love to unload Anderson, but nobody else is willing to
take on him or his excessive salary.

Mercer, one of Pitino's beloved Kentucky kids and a
truly promising young player, managed to stick around
for two years. Now, he, too, will be joining Billups in
Denver.

In return, the Celtics got a rebounder in Danny
Fortson, along with Eric Williams -- a guy they got rid
of two years ago. And that was before he had
reconstructive knee surgery.

This year, lest we forget, the Celts traded away the
first pick in the draft (12th overall) for hulking
center Vitaly Potapenko.

Can you imagine if the Patriots made picks like that?

While Ricky P. wheels and deals -- or should it be deal
and reels? -- away his top picks, the Pats get
criticized for having too many draft choices still on
the team.

I used to -- and I stress used to -- call Pats coach
Pete Carroll ``California Clueless.''

That was before he took two injury-riddled teams to the
playoffs; before, two years in a row, he kept in
contention teams that could have packed it in during
midseason slumps.

Now I have to wonder if Pitino has a clue.

The Patriots at least appear to have a plan. Whether it
works, in what is a crucial year for Carroll and player
personnel director Bobby Grier, remains to be seen.

But what, exactly, is Pitino's plan?

He has guaranteed the Celtics will make the playoffs
next season, yet his approach to achieving that goal
has been as scattershot as Antoine Walker's jumper
during those games when disgruntled fans were booing
him out of the FleetCenter.

Billups and Mercer were not merely high choices. They
were Ricky P.'s first picks. They were supposed to make
a statement.

But the statement turned out to be: ``See ya!''

Those two high picks should have been the future of the
Celtics. Instead, after just two years, Mercer and
Billups already are a part of the past.

And now there is talk that Walker may be following them
out of town.

A year after being given the maximum allowable contract
under the collective bargaining agreement -- a 6-year
deal worth $71 million -- Walker is being shopped by
the Celts.

Since Carroll and the Patriots have had to live in the
considerable shadow of Duane Charles Parcells, perhaps
Pitino should be reminded of the Tuna's philosophy of
how to build a championship team:

``It's trying,'' said Parcells, ``to put a philosophy
in place and to find people who can make you
successful. Watch how good teams have been built. You
have to have a consistent philosophy and know what
you're looking for. Now, if don't know what you're
looking for, you've got a problem. You have to get good
players, they have to play well, and they have to stay
healthy.''

Carroll's problem the past two years has been that his
good players haven't been able to stay healthy.

Pitino's problem is not only lack of patience and
consistency, but also that, more and more, it seems as
if he doesn't know what he's looking for.



    Copyright © 1999 The Providence Journal Company
               Produced by www.projo.com