Re: rotation?

[damekmo@teleport.com]

>By the way, the closer the season gets, the more optimistic I get. I
>really see
>this team as a playoff contender. Considering Pitino's second-year record
>and a
>full season of Kenny, plus the additions of Popeye and Pierce, I don't see how
>this team can't improve drastically. Plus, just another year of experience for
>Walker and Mercer should work wonders, as well as the benefits for the entire
>team having played the system for a year. Factor in the advantage of
>having most
>of the roster back from last year and I expect big things.

Big things? If by big things you mean making the playoffs and finally
seeing the light at the end of the seemingly endless tunnel of mediocrity
and incompetence that this team has been driving through for almost a
decade now...I agree with you. It goes against everything I believe in and
stand for, but I have to admit, I'm also pretty optimistic about this team.
And I have to admit that I may be sold on Pitino as BOTH a gm and coach.
Kim said it a while ago and it's true, Pitino does have a way of working
through his mistakes and coming up with, in the end, something positive.
Yes, he's made some mistakes as gm...but at the end of the day, this team
seems to have something the Celtics haven't seen in a long time: real NBA
talent. The kind of talent that could actually develop into something.
Maybe Pitnino's genius is to see three steps ahead while he's seemingly
screwing up. I thought at first it was all just dumb luck. He screws up, he
turns it into something positive. He lucked out. But he keeps doing it! I
don't know, but the guy really has put this thing together pretty
well...pretty quickly. Now...don't get me wrong, I fully expect teams like
the Lakers, Rockets, Pacers, Spurs and others like them to beat the Celtics
into the ground on most nights. This team obviously desperately needs a
center. No center...first round and out at best. But...Pitino just might
come up with someone. I don't see how it's possible because it seems like
the team is going to be way over the cap once Mercer gets re-signed and
unless teams really screw up the draft....the center possibilities do seem
pretty bleak. But Pitino does seem to have a way about these things.
Now...watch...they'll start the season going winless in their first 20
games and I'll have to revert to being a raging a-hole. Jesus...I love
basketball.

Paul M.