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Peter May: Next Season More Of The Same
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
PRO BASKETBALL NOTES
Celtics show little worth waiting for
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 03/28/99
Even though it's still very much
this year, we are being told to
wait until next year. We can understand
why Rick Pitino can't wait. But every
Celtic fan should be asking a simple
question: Why?
Yes, the Celtics of next year will have
had a summer of workouts, a full training
camp, a chance to relearn Pitino's system,
providing he has decided to stick around.
But so what? Every other team, including
all those currently ahead of the Celtics
in the standings, will have the same
luxury.
There has been a constant with Pitino's
teams. He inherits a train wreck, gets
blood from a rock in Year 1 and then makes
progress in Year 2. He did it at Boston
University, at Providence, at New York,
and at Kentucky. He's not doing it with
the Celtics, for a number of reasons, some
unavoidable.
We can blame the lockout, and there is
some legitimacy there. But other than the
Nets, what club with even modest
expectations has dropped like a stone this
way?
Maybe I'm missing something, but what
exactly is so promising about next year?
You have Antoine Walker, who is basically
the same player he was three years ago
(albeit $71 million richer), has lost none
of his bad habits, and continues to be
protected by the organization.
You have a veteran point guard who is
disinclined to play the kind of defense
that the coach demands and looks for his
own shot. That's not going to change. (I'd
bet that Kenny Anderson is the one Pitino
doesn't especially enjoy coaching.)
You have a promising rookie in Paul Pierce
but right now the basketball court looks
like the last place he wants to be.
You also have a coach who has to wonder
why he left one of the three best jobs in
college basketball, one in which he had
control over his players and was the
undisputed king. You have a coach with a
reputation on the line who's threatening
to trade players, who threatens to bench
players and then doesn't do it, who works
them mercilessly and rides them
constantly.
And you have players affected by that
athletic curse - ''potential'' - whose
hypothetical leader, Walker, was recently
given a choke sign by Ron Harper and
dissed by Chuck Person.
What more can we say about Walker? The
Celtics made the decision to build around
him, either ignoring or refusing to
believe that they might be building a
house of straw. There have been enough
warning signs along the way. You would be
surprised, or maybe you wouldn't, at how
many general managers think he's talented
but too much of a selfish bow-wow.
Pitino made his own bed with Anderson.
He's got him for four more years at pretty
sizable numbers ($31.73 million). Anderson
is what he is, and he's not going to be
magically transformed into Gary Payton
soon. He's a mediocre defender on his best
days. He's best running an offense in a
halfcourt set. He's fragile and he's a
career 40 percent shooter. None of this
was a trade secret when the deal was made.
(We hear that Pitino hopes
defensive-minded Wayne Turner slips to the
second round of the draft.)
Pierce, meanwhile, looks miserable. Is it
his ankle, or is it something else, such
as Walker getting in his way, Pitino
getting in his face, or the simple matter
of the rookie standing futilely on the
perimeter, waving for the ball as if he's
trying to hail a cab in a rainstorm in
Manhattan? We are told that he has been
brought to tears behind closed doors.
Here's what he told columnist Joe
Posnanski of the Kansas City Star eight
days ago when there was that
''miscommunication'' problem in New York
over the status of his ankle: ''It was a
lot more fun at Kansas. Everybody liked
each other at Kansas.''
Pierce said those remarks were made out of
frustration and that he is comfortable in
his new surroundings and with new
teammates. We couldn't tell whether his
nose was growing.
Now we learn from Sports Illustrated that
Pitino wanted to trade two of his better,
unselfish role players, Bruce Bowen and
Tony Battie, for Rodney Rogers, an
overweight slug who is a free agent and
would add absolutely nothing. (Bowen and
Battie would add nothing to the Clippers,
either, which makes you wonder why either
team wanted to do this.)
This is all supposed to fire us up for
next year? Maybe the Celtics are playing
possum. Maybe they're a 50-win team and
will prove us all wrong. One thing they
aren't, contrary to the coach's belief, is
an expansion team.
Pitino inherited a 30-win team that
decided to win 15 games and succeeded. He
could have kept David Wesley, Rick Fox,
and Eric Williams. He elected not to do so
and blew it all apart. That was his choice
and we gave him the benefit of the doubt
as long as we saw progress.
Right now, he's got a team going in the
wrong direction and players going through
the motions who seem to be rebelling
against him. This is supposed to get us
psyched for next year and that guaranteed
playoff berth? I don't know about you, but
based on what I'm seeing, I can't wait.
<snip>
... Hey Celtics players,
take comfort. The Lakers also got booed on
Wednesday night by the Forum faithful
after the Suns jumped on them early.
Phoenix lost the lead, but won down the
stretch, as O'Neal managed 1 point in the
fourth quarter. It was LA's first loss
with Dennis Rodman playing, and the crowd
even resorted to chants of ''Eddie,
Eddie,'' in honor of the departed Eddie
Jones. Luc Longley also finally had a
Foster's moment, delivering an 18-point,
11-rebound effort. Said the Lakers' Derek
Harper, ''We're not there as a team, pure
and simple. We're up, we're down.'' Sounds
a lot like what Fox said last week. <snip>
The Celtics plan to move
into their new practice facility this
week. It's about the only bright news
emanating from the team these days. But
even this development is clouded by the
realization that there isn't much time for
practice no matter where they gather.
This story ran on page C06 of the Boston
Globe on 03/28/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.