PITINO WITH HOLLEY: NO TRADES! SAME GROUP! NO 2ND ROUND CHOICES!

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SHOCKING NEWS TO BE SURE....
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                                [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
                                [Boston Globe Online / Sports]

                               

                                NBA FINALS NOTEBOOK
                                Down, but not out

                                NBA has problems, but Stern emphasizes the
                                positive

                                By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 06/22/99
                                <SNIPS>
                                 

                                Rick Pitino will be here today. The
                                Celtics coach and president is a member of
                                the committee selected to examine rules
                                changes. Why is Pitino on the panel? Well,
                                consider what he said yesterday: ''I have
                                an opinion on everything that is going to
                                be discussed.'' He said he particularly
                                shares Stern's concern that there is not
                                enough movement in the game.

                                Pitino was talking about on-the-court
                                movement when he made that statement, but
                                according to him, it could easily apply to
                                his team.

                                ''Yes, we have discussed deals with teams,
                                but we are not interested in them,'' he
                                said. ''The way it looks now, we'll be
                                coming back with pretty much the same
                                group we had last year. The difference
                                will be a year of growth and maturity.''

                                Although the NBA still has the Celtics
                                scheduled to pick 37th and 55th in the
                                second round of the upcoming NBA draft,
                                Pitino said, ''I don't think we'll have
                                either one of them.''

                                He was asked if there was still an outside
                                chance the team could deal for a
                                first-round pick. Atlanta, which has an
                                astounding four first-rounders, would love
                                to deal one or two of them. The Celtics
                                might even be able to get a Filene's
                                Basement-type discount for a pick.

                                ''If there was a player out there that we
                                really liked and had a chance to get a
                                pick, we would do something,'' Pitino
                                said. ''But we're not going to make a
                                trade just because Atlanta doesn't want
                                those picks.'' The coach also said the
                                draft is ''one of the weakest I've seen at
                                the top.''

                                But if Pitino still has concerns about the
                                durability of Kenny Anderson, this is the
                                draft in which to get a point guard.

                                The league announced the winner of its
                                fourth Sportsmanship Award: Hersey
                                Hawkins, the Sonics guard who is so
                                respected by officials that ''there were a
                                couple of times in the year where I
                                actually tried to get technicals, but they
                                wouldn't give it to me,'' he said. ''The
                                refs would just walk away or something
                                like that.'' Hawkins, Stern said, conducts
                                himself with ''dignity and grace'' on and
                                off the court. He joins Avery Johnson, Joe
                                Dumars, and Terrell Brandon as previous
                                winners ... There are more than 1,300
                                reporters here. That means a lot of
                                coverage worldwide as well as a lot of
                                interesting questions. Johnson found that
                                out when a questioner asked him, ''What
                                does the term ''Who's your Daddy?''
                                mean?'' If you remember, that was the
                                chant that sent Indiana coach Bobby Knight
                                into a frenzy during the season. You know,
                                he coaches the Hoosiers and the chant
                                begins ''Who's your ...'' Anyway, this was
                                Johnson's response: ''I don't know. I
                                guess I'm not that ghettoish.''

                                This story ran on page C07 of the Boston
                                Globe on 06/22/99.
                                © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.