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ML Dissapointed With Pitino And The Celtics
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
Carr left at a loss
He expected more of Pitino's team
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 05/05/99
The new job does not allow him to
recite his title quickly. It's not
like two years ago, when ''coach'' or
''GM'' was all you needed to describe M.L.
Carr. Now, as the Celtics' executive vice
president of corporate development, Carr
has a title and job description that
cannot be summed up quickly and neatly.
His feelings, however, can be.
''Disappointed,'' says the 48-year-old
Carr.
His disappointment does not come from the
new job, a position that requires him to
find nontraditional revenue streams for
the Celtics. He said he loves the work.
What he clearly doesn't enjoy is knowing
that the season will end with tonight's
game against the Charlotte Hornets at the
FleetCenter. Carr got a $1 million bonus
for guiding the Celtics to a
franchise-worst 15-67 record in 1996-97.
The team had two high lottery picks and 10
free agents waiting for Rick Pitino in the
summer of '97. As a Celtic-lover and
Celtic fan, Carr said, he thought he would
see more than a 19-30 record at the end of
the 1999 season.
''Because of the way things were set up, I
expected we'd be much further along at
this point,'' he said. ''I never thought
we'd be back in the lottery two years in a
row. The reason I say that is positioning.
We had two high draft picks that turned
out to be two good players in Ron Mercer
and Chauncey Billups. Couple that with
Antoine [Walker] and some of the other
pieces we had, and there was a reason to
be excited.''
Carr discussed many things during a
35-minute telephone interview yesterday.
He praised Red Auerbach. He said chairman
of the board Paul Gaston has shown a
commitment to winning. He said Walker is a
''fine young man'' who handled being booed
well. He said the renounced Rick Fox could
have been a good leader for the young
Celtics. He said a winning Celtic team
invigorates New England and is good for
every aspect of the region.
''The Celtics' championships have been
interwoven into the fabric of New
England,'' he said. ''People say, `I was
at such-and-such company when the Celtics
won their 10th.' Or, `I remember Cousy,
Sharman, Russell ...'''
One person he never mentioned, directly,
was Pitino. But it seemed obvious that
Carr, who has remained in contact with
many former and current Celtics, was not
directing his disappointment toward the
players.
''I'm disappointed for everyone
involved,'' he said. ''I'm disappointed
for the players, disappointed for the
fans. As one of the caretakers of this
wonderful institution, I'm disappointed
that it's been such a grind for us. With
the way the system goes, you have to get
worse before you can get better, and we
took it there. I'm sure if you look at it,
you'd have to be disappointed in not
winning.''
During his two seasons coaching the
Celtics, Carr compiled a 48-116 record,
the worst winning percentage (.293) in
team history. Many observers and players
understood that the 15-win season was an
unabashed attempt to acquire 7-foot center
Tim Duncan in the draft. But Duncan is now
an MVP candidate in San Antonio, while the
first player the Celtics drafted that year
- Billups - is in Denver. And some of the
other teams who participated in that '97
lottery with the Celtics and Spurs, such
as the Pistons, 76ers, and Bucks, are
headed to the playoffs.
Speaking of the playoffs, Carr is not
overwhelmed by having them as a goal,
either. He recalled a story from the early
1980s when the Celtics were celebrating
the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Auerbach asked what the players were
doing.
''We said, `Red, we just finished with the
best record in the East,''' Carr said.
''And he said, `You didn't win anything;
we only celebrate championships in
Boston.'''
Carr has seen comments by Pitino basically
guaranteeing that the Celtics will be a
playoff team next season.
''Sixteen teams make the playoffs,'' Carr
said. ''Obviously you have to make the
playoffs to win a championship. But that
should be a path on the way to winning,
not the goal.''
Pitino was not surprised that Carr labeled
the season disappointing; he called it
''one of my least enjoyable'' in 25 years
of coaching.
''You could talk to John Havlicek and he'd
be disappointed,'' Pitino said. ''You
could talk to Bill Russell and he'd be
disappointed. Quite frankly, M.L. has no
bearing on our organization at all. If he
said positive things, it wouldn't really
have any bearing. We'd rather have
positives than negatives, but there's no
disappointment in his remarks. Because
nobody is content or happy about losing.''
Pitino's current two-season record is
55-76. This will be the first time in his
career that he ends a two-season stint
with a sub-.500 record. He is confident
that will change.
''When I'm done coaching, we'll look back
and say, `How good did you do?''' Pitino
said. ''I took over a team that had the
worst record in the history of the Boston
Celtics. M.L. got his opportunity and now
I'll get my opportunity. It will speak for
itself. The record will speak for itself,
regardless of what anybody says.
''His remarks would only be relevant if he
were the coach. My remarks are only
relevant when I'm the coach. I don't knock
him; I never have. He had his opportunity
to coach, he did his thing, it was an
unsuccessful venture and now we're getting
an opportunity.
''So far, we're not having great success
yet, but we're going to try and build it
and make it back there. I'm on record as
saying that in the third or fourth year
we're going to be a playoff contender and
in the fifth or sixth year we're going to
be at the championship level.''
Carr said his mission was to take the team
through difficult times, get it in decent
position, and then turn it over to a
''career coach.'' But he did not like it
when he saw ''expansion team'' and
''Celtics'' mentioned in the same
sentence. Carr didn't mention names, but
fans may remember that Pitino made the
analogy when talking about building the
current Celtics.
''If this is an expansion team, it is the
first one with 16 championships,'' Carr
said. ''There is too much history and
pride with the organization; there is too
much richness to put it in that category.
Quite frankly, that is insulting when you
have Red Auerbach here and those 16 great
championships.''
Pitino clarified his position yesterday.
''We're not an expansion team; we're
building like an expansion team,'' he
said. ''That's what we're saying. He has
to read it the right way. We're building
the same way that the Grizzlies built,
that Toronto built. We're adding free
agents, we're doing it through the draft.
''When you start over, when you win 15
games, how do you build? You build through
the draft and pick up whatever you can.''
One thing Carr is not disappointed in is
the Celtics' last draft.
''With Paul Pierce,'' he said, ''the good
Lord smiled on us and brought him with the
10th pick.''
He likes Dana Barros, Walker, Mercer, and
Kenny Anderson, too.
''We've got some good pieces,'' he said.
''I'm just really looking forward to next
year. We'll have our new practice
facility, guys will have a full season to
practice.
''I think all of New England is really
dying to see us back on top. It's a real
good feeling, looking to next year. I
think there's a reason to be optimistic.''
This story ran on page C01 of the Boston
Globe on 05/05/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.