Troubled Times

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

I'll tell you what.  I'm almost ready to take arms
against Pitino.  Me!  What kind of twilight zone am I
living in when Michael Holley matter-of-factly reports
that the team tried to trade Antoine Walker for Dale
Davis?  Even if we do trade Antoine, he is the
cornerstone of the whole team future?  it's crazy, and
it does seem more likely that the deal discussed was
for Potapenko.  Still, these are troubling times. 
What if Ron (who you can see now is a bad guy or at
least misled by retards) doesn't show up in Denver? 
This deal could stil fall through!  But to get back to
Walker, Pitino knows what kind of talent he is.  Why
would he just give him away.  Even the "fifty cents on
the dollar" trades of last year were for talents like
Brian Grant.  What kind of a future could this team
have with only one prime time scorer on it?  I think
Holley must be working with bad info, and the
Indianapolis Star writer too.  Maybe Lorenzen Wright
was the original target?  I wish there was a trading
moratorium until next July.  I am very nervous and
unhappy, and I should be ecstatic this week.  I wish
someone would clear this up.

--- Dan Forant Sr <dforant1@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> For punishment, this writer should be made to re-run
> 2-3 years of game film
> before Pitino got here. It was sad. Mr. Donaldson
> must completely soak his
> pillow at nite with drool! This is an example of the
> negative Boston area
> press. New York writers who can be cranky at times
> do it with more class
> than these small time scribblers.
> 
> At 07:07 AM 8/5/99 -0400, you wrote:
> >        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.
> 
=== message truncated ===

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