Peter May Castrates Pitino & The Celtics

[Dan Forant Sr <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

Most of the press couldn't wipe their butt if their right hand were in a
cast. So what do we care what the press says. They're never happy. 

>Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 14:55:36 -0400
>From: Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>
>Organization: Way Of The Ray
>
>Boy, he's in a bitchy mood....
>
>
>      Boston Celtics
>      Team Report posted AUGUST 21, 1999      
>
>      By TSN correspondent
>      Peter May
>      Boston Globe
>      The Celtics were in vacation mode this past week, which was a very
good 
>      thing because it meant that Rick Pitino would stay on the golf
course and 
>      away from the telephone. After delivering yet another wrecking ball
to a 
>      team in dire need of stability, the last thing the Celtics needed was 
>      another deal courtesy of its deal-maker/coach. 
>      The Ron Mercer trade is three weeks old and looks even worse as the
days 
>      go by for one main reason: It didn't have to happen unless Pitino
wanted 
>      it to. Maybe he did -- he says otherwise -- but that doesn't matter. 
>      Mercer had been seen as one of the team's "big three," along with
Antoine 
>      Walker and Paul Pierce. When Pitino made his one decent trade since
coming 
>      to Boston -- the acquisition of Vitaly Potapenko -- he added that it
was 
>      an even better deal in his eyes because he didn't have to break up
the big 
>      three. Now he has done it and for what? Money? Please. Does one or two 
>      bargaining sessions count as an impasse? If that was the case, we'd
still 
>      be in a lockout. Come to think of it. . . . 
>      Money was a very convenient excuse. Pitino talks about sticking to a 
>      budget which he has exceeded by quite a bit already. He used that as a 
>      reason he couldn't sign Mercer. In a vacuum, maybe that sticks. But
over 
>      time, he overspent for Travis Knight, Walker, Walter McCarty and Chris 
>      Mills, creating the so-called "budget problem" that he has now. He
lauded 
>      his acquisition of Kenny Anderson because Anderson's contract was
set in 
>      stone. Yeah, millstone. He couldn't move Anderson with a bulldozer. 
>      And what is going to happen when Tony Battie steps up to the plate? Or 
>      Danny Fortson? Or Pierce? Are they going to be traded because they
want 
>      too much, too? 
>      The trade also adds even more uncertainty and instability to a team in 
>      desperate need of neither. With Mercer gone, there's a strong
likelihood 
>      that only one player -- the aforementioned Anderson -- will be
starting in 
>      the same position. Walker may shift to small forward, which in theory 
>      sounds great except for one thing: he can't guard his shadow. 
>      Someone else will play the power forward spot -- Battie, Fortson? And 
>      Potapenko will start with a clean slate at center. Pierce presumably
would 
>      be the shooting guard, which is not the easiest transition for a small 
>      forward. Just ask Kobe Bryant. 
>      If Pitino keeps everyone where they are, then that means the
terminally 
>      underachieving Calbert Cheaney may start at shooting guard. But that
means 
>      the Denver boys will be coming off the bench at the expense of a
classic 
>      two guard who was coming into his own. At least Cheaney is used to an 
>      in-your-face coach, having endured Bobby Knight for four years. 
>      The urge to tinker, tinker and bomb was seen from the start as a
potential 
>      Pitino liability. It has proven to be accurate to the core. He has
blown 
>      up two teams already and is a lock to do something at the trading 
>      deadline. 
>      At the end of last season, even Walker pleaded for continuity, to
give the 
>      team time to grow, develop and see what happens. Pitino saw to it that 
>      this year, like the last two, will be another case of putting new
players 
>      in unfamiliar roles and trying to get them to blend and mesh with the 
>      playoffs-or-bust mantra hanging over them like a sword of Damocles.
Sounds 
>      like just the right atmosphere for a swimming season. 
>      PLAYER PROFILE 
>      New acquisition Eric Williams, of course, once was traded by Pitino,
who 
>      said, flat out, "Eric Williams could never play for me." 
>      Well, apparently Williams has seen the light, which generally
happens to 
>      players when they get traded. While Williams has been a dedicated
weight 
>      room guy since leaving Boston, less clear is what he has left in his
game 
>      (and he's got a long contract which the Nuggets were only too happy to 
>      unload.) 
>      He had a quick first-step before blowing out his knee and he also
got to 
>      the foul line quite a bit. Defensively, he was solid. It'll be
interesting 
>      to see how two unproductive years in Denver affected not only his
body, 
>      but his mind and his game. 
>      WHAT'S NEXT 
>      The Celtics still have 15 players under contract, but one can probably 
>      identify the 12 lucky ones. Greg Minor and Pervis Ellison both are
likely 
>      to be injured for awhile. Minor may miss the season after a freak hip 
>      injury late last season. 
>      A third injured player would be easy to find. Left unsaid is what
the team 
>      plans to do with its own free agents. Bruce Bowen, a onetime Pitino 
>      favorite, probably has lost out to new signee Adrian Griffin. Center
Eric 
>      Riley also is out there with apparently not a lot of people banging
the 
>      door down. Potapenko and Battie constitute what passes for the pivot
right 
>      now (with Ellison and possibly Fortson available to play there as
well. 
>
>
>     
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