David Wesley's comments to the Charlotte Observer prior to last night's game

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Published Tuesday, March 30, 1999 

Wesley: Pitino's act already old

Hornet says NBA players tune out critical coaches

By RICK BONNELL
Staff Writer 



Ex-Boston Celtic David Wesley has some advice for Boston coach Rick Pitino:

Maybe it's time to lighten up.

``These are grown men,'' said Wesley, who left the Celtics as a free agent
to join the Hornets a few months after Pitino became Boston's coach. ``In
college you're afraid of losing your scholarship, and in a lot of cases you
know your parents can't pay for college without it.

``It's different in the pros. As big an ego as Pitino has, he's coaching
players with bigger egos who make just as much money. They aren't going to
listen to that but so long.''

The Hornets host Boston tonight, and it's clear these Celtics are tense and
troubled. They've lost 6-of-7, including four by 16 points or more. Pitino
recently called his roster an ``expansion team'' and hinted he questions
why he left Kentucky for this.

His players are tired of the criticism.

``It was a lot more fun at Kansas,'' Celtics rookie Paul Pierce recently
told the Kansas City Star. ``Everybody liked each other at Kansas.''

Pitino acknowledges his players are in a confidence crisis. Boston lost by
19 at home to Minnesota last week, and several Timberwolves thought the
Celtics gave up.

``They quit on him,'' one Timberwolve told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
``But you can't rip your players in the papers the way he does.''

If the roster is flawed, Pitino must take some of the blame. He has been
flipping players in and out throughout his 1 1/2 seasons in Boston. Chris
Mills, Travis Knight and Chauncey Billups are gone. Kenny Anderson arrived
from Toronto as the point guard, but seems an odd fit on a team emphasizing
a scrambling, pressure defense.

Wesley said if Anderson wasn't working out, it's the Celtics' fault, not
Anderson's.

``You want the guys who fit the system. I don't think anybody would
recognize Kenny as a defensive player,'' said Wesley, who played with
Anderson in New Jersey. ``That's not a knock on him, that's just the way it
is. Putting Kenny in that system is like putting (undersized power forward)
Joe Smith in the Eastern Conference. It doesn't fit, and that shows, the
way Smith is thriving in Minnesota.''

The Hornets beat the Celtics by 18 March 9, and Wesley said it was clear
Boston didn't have the intensity of last season. Pitino has pulled back on
his running, pressing style, saying the lockout hurt his team's
conditioning.

Wesley thinks that system still could work. But it has no chance unless
Pitino and the players have complete faith in each other.

``It can work if the troops believe in you,'' Wesley said. ``I don't know
what's going on, but it sounds like they're not behind him.''