Re: Credit Pitino with the loss

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

DJessen writes:

> I don't get it Alex. So you can comment on the Celts but the rest of us 
> can't? Or we can say positive things but not negative things? Also, you don't
> think that perhaps some of us have played a little ball or even coached it? 
> Do you have to be a grand master at chess before you can comment on the pros 
> and cons of a move? Like I have said before, this is just basketball, 
> something most of us have played and possibly coached before. It isn't brain 
> surgery. If you have ever coached any kind of organized sports, you would 
> have an opinion on how Pitino is handling is players. Perhaps it is because 
> you don't think the Celtics are any better than their record. I do. You can't
> have it both ways, Alex. Their record is their record. It cannot be changed. 
> Either the Celtics players are no better than their record or they could be 
> coached better ( a couple of tweaks). BTW, some of the things I have said, 
> Tommy Heinsohn has also mentioned...

I don't mean to say that you can't comment on the Celtics, positively
or negatively. I think I was getting tired of the negative posters
(which you are not in my opinion) with their relentless Pitino-bashing
and expressed my opinion too strongly about the typical Pitino
criticisms in my response to your post, when I really didn't mean to
single it out. I apologize for that. In my original response to your
post, I called your overall conclusion about Pitino fair and that is
more appropriate.

I'm not trying to have it both ways, though. My problem with the
negative posters has been their simultaneous criticisms that the
players suck and the coaches suck too. That is having it both ways. My
opinion is that the Celtics are around where they should be, given the
injuries, and that Pitino is doing a decent job - not a coach of the
year candidate, not someone who should be fearing for his job.
Generally I feel that it's too early in the season though. My feeling
is that he's probably made mistakes - every coach does - but I doubt
that we are qualified enough to give him advice that would improve it.

The chess analogy is a good one, although not in the way you intend.
If you ask some average guy or even an experienced club player to
comment on the moves of a grandmaster, you'll generally get simplistic
garbage. Can you imagine writing to a chess magazine, "If only
Kasparov (or any other GM) would listen to my advice and attack more
on the queenside, he would win so many more games!" There's a reason
they have world-class chess players annotate world-class chess games,
and they get the benefit of reviewing the game carefully at their own
leisure afterwards - similar to breaking a game down into its smallest
elements on video. It may be that world-class basketball coaching is
not the same as world-class chess or brain surgery but it seems that
most fans seem to underestimate the complexity of it and the ability
and effort it takes. It's not as easy as "play man-to-man D and ride
the hot hand on offense." 

Anyways, we're all Celtics fans (I think) and we're all frustrated
by the losing streak, myself included. I hope we can all enjoy the
holidays in the meantime and hopefully enjoy some winning streaks
and deserved positive commentary in the new year when Fortson and
Pierce return.

Alex