Pitino: What a difference a year makes

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Bulpett reports that Danny Fortson is getting most of Pitino's raves.

                   Pitino: What a difference a year makes
                  Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett

                  Thursday, October 7, 1999

                  The Celtics haven't played an exhibition game yet, and
no one's
                  putting points and rebounds in the paper, but Rick
Pitino believes the
                  attitude of his club is very different from the
previous edition.

                  During the 1999 irregular season, the coach carped
regularly about
                  selfishness and players looking for their own numbers.

                  ``This is different,'' he said after yesterday's
practice at The Satch
                  (Sports Authority Training Center at Healthpoint) in
Waltham. ``The
                  team is very together, has great chemistry. Everybody
knows their
                  role and realizes they're going to play a lot of
minutes.

                  ``I don't know what agendas we had last year, but I
know what
                  agenda we have this year. I think we took two steps
back last year.
                  This year there's nobody interested in stats; there's
nobody
                  interested in anything except winning. And you see
that. It's
                  infectious and it's all anybody cares about. Nobody
cares about
                  points. You see the ball being moved. You see
everybody banging
                  each other. You see everybody playing defense. It's so
much more
                  noticeable this year that nobody cares about
statistics.''

                  Surely Pitino has had teams pay lip service to such
team ideals -
                  particularly so early in the process. Does he truly
believe the worm
                  has turned so completely?

                  ``Oh, yeah,'' Pitino said, ``because when guys come
off screens,
                  they're not looking to shoot now; they're looking to
dump the ball
                  down into the post. The truth is in the pudding. You
see them doing
                  it. You see Antoine (Walker) going down the lane and
he's looking to
                  who he can dish it off to. And if we can get him to
average six assists
                  a game, we'll be in good shape. It used to be he was
gun-shy
                  because he didn't know if the guy he gave it to was
going to knock
                  the shot down. But all these guys can shoot now. All
these guys can
                  play. Now we expect him to find the open people.''

                  Pitino sees the 50-game condensed schedule for what it
was.

                  ``Last year was a nightmare. It was terrible,'' he
said. ``It was really
                  a terrible, terrible existence.

                  ``And on top of it, I even screwed it up further
because I tried to
                  get them in shape in a short period of time and
everybody got hurt.
                  The entire team. Good guys like Andrew DeClercq who
keep their
                  bodies in shape, and Walter McCarty, they all had
groin pulls the first
                  day.''

                  Best of bunch

                  Danny Fortson is drawing most of Pitino's raves,
displaying a nice
                  shooting touch to go with his huge biceps and
aggressive board work.
                  And Paul Pierce appears to be using a strong rookie
season as a
                  launch point.

                  ``Paul's just a throwback basketball player,'' Pitino
said. ``A lot of
                  guys will work hard, but they're not enjoying every
second they're
                  working hard. He's thoroughly enjoying it. If we
didn't have practice
                  tonight, he'd be back in here anyway working on his
jump shot.''