Donaldson sticks Pitino

["Bob George" <bgp@lightspeed.net>]

Jim Donaldson, a good Providence Shaughnessy/Ryan wannabe, usually has some
good rips now and then.  Today I think he was wrong in ripping the
Ricktator.

JIM DONALDSON
Why trash Carroll? Pitino is the one who has lost control 

The Coach is having all kinds of problems. 

Emotionally, his team too often doesn't come to play. Too many of his
players aren't in shape because they didn't work out hard enough in the
offseason. There is dissension in the ranks, open bickering on the court
and on the bench.

BOB G:  Look around the league!  98% of the players are out of shape!  Most
every game is of the 83-72 variety.  Yo, Jim, can you spell "lockout"? 

Yet his youthful, presumably enthusiastic Celtics came out opening night
against Toronto flatter than not merely the proverbial pancake, but flatter
than the Kansas prairie. 

BOB G:  Weeelllll, yeah, but I blame that more on the players and not the
coach.  Those two easy exhibition wins lulled our young lads to sleep. 

The Celts so impressed one young fan that, frustrated and angered by their
sorry opening effort, he ran on to the court and threw a handful of dollar
bills on the parquet floor.

BOB G:  This is misleading.  IIRC that fan threw that money at either Kevin
Willis or Charles Oakley. 

There are those in New England who say the Patriots don't play hard for
Carroll. 

BOB G:  Several of those people play football for the Patriots.

Yet the record says that the Pats battled back from a 6-5 start in '97 to
reach the conference semifinals in Pittsburgh, before losing to the
Steelers, 7-6, when Terry Glenn, Ben Coates and Curtis Martin all were
injured in the second half. 

Riddled by a devastating array of injuries this season, the Pats could have
packed it in, but still managed to make the playoffs.

BOB G:  I have written several articles on this.  Comparing Pitino to this
is just not right.  The Patriots, despite the injuries, could ostensibly
have gone 12-4 this year.  In three of their losses (at Miami, at Buffalo,
at St. Louis), those were games we should have won but for bad
coaching/game decisions/lack of preparation.  They made the playoffs
because the rest of the conference was weak. 

In the midst of the trip, Pitino said he was ``bitterly disappointed''
because his players were in such poor shape following the lockout. 

BOB G:  Yeah...again, is that really the coaches' fault?

``My goal,'' he said, ``is to get everybody to live in Boston. I have told
these guys: `Your home is Boston. You may have a second home somewhere --
you can more than afford it -- but your home is Boston.' If not, their home
will be elsewhere.'' 

Unless, of course, you're Antoine Walker. In which case, you may live
anywhere you want. 

BOB G:  This is Donaldson's only good point.  Sometimes Pitino treats
Walker like the teacher's pet, and that has to stop.

Nice leadership displayed by the youthful captain of the Celtics, a
position to which 'Toine was prematurely appointed by Pitino, given the
fact he's an immmature 22 years of age. 

BOB G:  Agreed.  Walker should not be our captain.  I'd go so far as to say
there should be no captain right now.

The Celtics had the third pick overall in the 1997 draft, using it to
select Chauncey Billups in the belief that he would be their point guard of
the future. 

He lasted barely half a season in Boston. 

BOB G:  This stuff happens.  Pitino rebounded nicely by picking up Anderson
in the trade.  Anybody hear anything about Billups anymore?

Yet people question Bobby Grier, who has selected the likes of Ty Law, Ted
Johnson, Martin, Glenn, and the unfortunate Robert Edwards, while
expressing the utmost confidence in Brother Ricky. 

BOB G:  I'm beginning to wonder about Grier's draft acumen.  Since Parcells
left, the Laws and TJs and CMs have turned into a bunch of Chris Cantys,
Sedrick Shaws, Tebucky Joneses, Brandon Mitchells and Vernon Crawfords. 
Gee, wonder if Parcells really was the one shopping for the groceries...

You know all those things fans have been trashing Carroll for? Well, the
same ought to apply to Pitino. In spades. Or in shamrocks, as the case may
be. 

BOB G:  No!  Pitino is a far superior coach.  His team is young and
maturing, and when they finally get in shape will be exciting to watch (and
will be even more fun to watch once we get a rebounder!).  Carroll and
Grier have run a SB team into the ground.  Donaldson forgets that this
Celtic group is still a work in progress, while the Patriots were a
championship calibre team when Carroll took over.

Bob George

Read Bob George's Best Of Boston Sports At
http://www.bobgeorge.com