Reynolds: Pitino's Dilemma Explained

["Ozersky, Joshua A" <OzerskyJA@corning.com>]

I find this much more persuasive than Holley's article, which basically
consisted of Michael "my homie" Holley writing down all the players'
bitching, and then concocting a psychological malady out of it.  How about
this, Mike?  The players are acting like a bunch of little bitches, and if
Pitino doesn't seem to respect them as men, maybe there's a reason.


BILL REYNOLDS
Painful lesson for Pitino, Celtics 
He has become one of the coaches of his generation, complete with
motivational speeches, books and national television commercials. But the
thing to understand about Rick Pitino this morning is he's never gone
through anything like this. 

Not even close. 

The only time that was even faintly reminiscent was when he took over the
Knicks in the 1987-88 season, trying to resurrect a franchise that had
become all about the echoes of past cheers, and struggled the first part of
the season until finally turning the team around and eventually making the
playoffs. 

So what's happened? 

Why is a coach who took a Celtics team that had won only 15 games in 1997 to
36 wins last year struggling so much now? Especially someone whose history
is that his teams get significantly better in his second year, whether that
was at Providence College, the Knicks or Kentucky? 

There are a couple of obvious answers. 

One is that the Celtics are a young team, and in the NBA young teams usually
struggle. Kevin McHale stressed that Wednesday night when asked about both
his own Timberwolves and the Celtics. Young teams struggle, McHale said;
it's a fact of NBA life. 

The second is that the Celtics' schedule has been front-ended with road
games -- 16 of the first 25. This is another sure sign of disaster in the
NBA, where the road is a cruel mistress even for veteran teams that know how
to win. 

But it's more than that. 

The one thread that's been present through the tapestry that's Pitino's
coaching career, the one constant for 20 years, is his style of play. From
Boston University to PC to the Knicks to Kentucky and to last year's
Celtics, his teams always have played the same way: pressing and trapping on
defense, uptempo on offense. 

This style has been the article of Pitino's coaching, his attempt to use
tempo to both define the pace of the game and disrupt the other team's
rhythm. It's what has made a Pitino team distinctive. Close your eyes and
think of a Pitino team, and in your mind's eye you see a scramblimg,
hustling team that dives all over the floor, a testimony to overachieving. 

Not this year. 

By Pitino's own admission, his press is now a sham; it doesn't bother
anyone. Teams go through it like some invading army that meets no
resistance. His press has been so futile that he doesn't even use it very
often. 

Why? 

Because, according to Pitino, his team isn't in good enough shape to be
effective pressing. And given the frenetic nature of the schedule, there's
not the practice time -- or the time, period -- to change that. 

This is no small thing. 

The other article of Pitino's coaching philosophy, not to mention being the
very cornerstone of his motivational techniques, is his belief in good,
old-fashion hard work. 

In his motivational book, he says he can put up with virtually any
idiosyncracy from a player except the unwillingness to work hard. That you
have to deserve victory, and the only way you start that process is by
working harder than your opponent. 

So you know it was a particular annoyance when so many of the Celtics failed
to show up in what he considers the proper shape, especially Antoine Walker,
the captain and designated star. Pitino says he knew then that this season
was not going to be easy, that there simply wasn't enough time to get his
team ready to play the kind of style that's always been his trademark. 

And without it? 

The Celtics are just another young team that can't guard anyone, and Pitino
now looks like just another coach with no answers, a magician who has run
out of rabbits. 

``Sometimes you just can't do anything about it,'' Pitino said the other
day. ``Sometimes you simply cannot be successful at the present time.'' 

That, however, comes with ramifications. 

For no one wants to hear about rebuilding. Not fans. Not media. No one. No
one has the patience for it anymore. After all, Pitino is supposed to be a
miracle worker, right? And Celtics fans have been hearing about rebuilding,
in one form or another, for a decade now, right? 

So there has been the inevitable second-guessing, the trashing on talk
shows, the speculation that his style won't work in the NBA, that he's
really a college coach. All the slings and arrows that come with losing, the
mud smeared on the reputation. All a reminder that no one is immune. Not
even Pitino, one of the elite coaches of his generation. 

``How are you dealing with this?'' he was asked the other day. 

``Better than I thought I would,'' he said. ``But I know why we are the way
we are.'' 

He says it would be different if this were a normal year, if his players
were playing the style that's always defined him as a coach, through all the
years and all the stops -- every step of the way. It would be different if
he felt his players deserved to be successful now, instead of simply being a
young team that hasn't learned what it takes to win in the NBA, a young team
that isn't ready yet to deal with the adversarial currents the players now
find themselves swimming against. 

``This just verifies everything I believe in,'' said Rick Pitino. 

Even if it has become a painful lesson; the first time in his career that
he's ever gone through anything like this. 
Joshua Ozersky
Marketing Communications
Environmental Products Division
Corning Incorporated.
HP-CB-02-C6A
Corning, New York 14831
Phone:  (607) 974-8124
Fax:      (607) 974-2233